Meeting Minutes
March 11, 2008
Call to Order:
President Wayne Langston called the March 11, 2008 MCEC meeting to order at 11:55 a.m.
New Board and Staff Members:
Wayne Langston introduced new committee member John Hewkin, Crawford County, and new staff member Tonya Price.
Committee Members Present:
Byron Baker, George Gruendel, John Hewkin, Wayne Langston, John Petersen, Russell Scheulen, Darrell Skiles, Larry Stratman and Randy Verkamp
Staff Members Present:
Lesley Bennish, Jodie Branson, Chuck Cantrell, Richard Cavender, Linda Loughridge, Tonya Price, Bonnie Prigge, Lisa Warnke and Connie Willman
Approval of minutes:
Russell Scheulen made a motion to accept the minutes from the September 11, 2008 MCEC meeting as submitted. George Gruendel seconded the motion. Motion passed.
Approval of financials:
Linda Loughridge, Fiscal Department, presented the MCEC Revenue and Expenditure for period ending February 29, 2008 and Balance Sheet as of February 29, 2008. Linda also presented the Revised Budget for FY July 2007 – June 2008.
Randy Verkamp made a motion to approve the financial reports and the revised budget as submitted. John Hewkin seconded the motion. Motion Passed.
Linda Loughridge discussed the lack of funds available to purchase another house and requested ideas on how to raise money to continue the funding for this program as the state funding is no longer available. At this time 30 homes have been rehabbed and sold.
Connie Willman mentioned the possibilities of using MCEC’s CHODO (Community Housing Development Organization) status to apply for funding to continue housing related programs. Bonnie Prigge suggested that we continue the rehab program but not to the extent of purchasing homes and doing the total renovations. USDA does renovation program for very low income families. This program offers the option of just doing spot repairs on low-income family homes i.e.: purchasing a new furnace, redo existing wiring, etc. and more families may be assisted with less dollars. We need the communities’ input on their needs.
John Petersen spoke on the current problem of people losing their homes due to mortgage/loan foreclosures and that it has become a crisis situation. Connie Willman mentioned that we do offer counseling but it is difficult to get training and funding because we are in a rural community versus a metropolitan area.
Chuck Cantrell mentioned that people inquire about available funding to fix roofs, foundations and other major repairs as well as helping with utility or mortgage payments.
Connie Willman said that we are still checking on funding options to other programs that provide assistance with utility bills or mortgage payments.
Lesley Bennish discussed the Home Repair Program along with MHDC (Missouri Housing Development Commission) and the program funding we get from them.
Bryan Baker suggested that we should go out into the community and get a program or organization together to do rehab volunteerism through churches or civic organizations.
Business:
Missouri Foundation for Health:
George Gruendel, MFH board member, presented information on the Missouri Foundation for Health organization. Mr. Gruendel distributed a flyer that had a listing of the funding efforts, history and service area of the organization.
Mr. Gruendel informed the committee of the 211 number that the community may use to call for information on services in their county. Mr. Gruendel pointed out that the service providers in our counties needed to be informed of this program (211missouri.org ) so that more services are put on the data base for our area i.e.: food pantries, clothing, health providers, emergency organizations, etc.
Child Care Grant:
Connie Willman updated the committee on the $3,485 grant the Phelps County Community Partnership has received from MCEC to purchase blocks for its Early Care and Education program. The PCCP has placed the order for the blocks and have received part of the order but some of the blocks are on back-order.
Ft. Wood Transit:
Connie Willman updated the committee on the progress of the Ft. Wood Transit System. The program started in May 2007 with 280 rides per month from the Rolla area. Numbers declined to 203 in December; weather was a major issue during this time. The Lebanon numbers are small, the program uses a van and there are 101 rides per month.
The ‘Cab-ride Home’ has been discontinued. People were taking advantage of the cab use during the bad weather. This is something that the committee will need to discuss as it was an important part of the initial program to create this service. It was designed so that passengers could get a ride home once or twice a month if situations arose that they were not able to ride the bus home at the designated time. The committee might look at the possibility of limiting it to one cab ride per month per person if they pay the full monthly price.
Federal Home Loan Bank:
Bonnie Prigge reported that four grant applications were submitted to the Federal Home Loan Bank, including Cuba Retirement Home, Dixon Manor, Owensville Senior Citizen Housing and Vienna Homes. This round of grants is based on the low-income, elderly and disabled population, self-sufficiency and energy efficient. All four of these apartment complexes house this population and all buildings are at least 30 years old and are in dire need of updates. MRPC has been written in to these grant applications to do site inspections and grant administration. There are two cycles per year for this program so MRPC should hear something back by July for the first cycle.
Public Transit—Human Service Transportation Coordination Plan:
Bonnie updated the committee on the formation and completion of the Human Service Transportation Coordination Plan. The plan was approved by the MRPC board on February 14, 2008 at the monthly board meeting. This plan will have to be updated every 5 years.
Staff Reports:
Home Repair Program - Lesley Bennish:
Lesley Bennish update the committee on the Home Repair Program. This year MCEC received two sources of money for the Home Repair Program, funded by the Missouri Housing Development Commission. The first grant, in the amount of $203,500, was for projects across the entire region and the second, for $52,000, was for the City of Hermann – a DREAM community.
Home Ownership Program - Chuck Cantrell:
Chuck Cantrell updated the committee on the Home Ownership Program. The Cuba house is listed with a realtor at $67,500. The rehab on the house is almost completed. Interior work needs to be completed then cleaned-up. Chuck explained that they are really pushing the house through the PHA and rural development Homeownership voucher program.
The Leasburg Federal Home Loan Bank project is almost 90% complete. The walk-through is scheduled for Thursday, March 13 for the parking areas and sidewalks. The project should be completed by May.
Next meeting:
The next MCEC meeting is scheduled for June 10, 2008
Adjournment:
Being no further business Randy Verkamp made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 1:15 pm. Russell Scheulen seconded the motion. Motion passed.
Approved by the Board ______________________________, 2008
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Wayne Langston, President