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St. Joseph
Area Chamber of Commerce
April Minutes 2008
Place:
First State Bank of St. Joseph
Date: April 15, 2008
Sponsor: First State Bank of St. Joseph
The meeting
was called to order at 12:13 p.m. by President, Janelle Von Pinnon.
Von Pinnon greeted everyone and thanked them for hanging in there
for this first quarter . She stated there are a lot of great things
planned for the rest of the year.
Introductions
Secretary’s Report:
Meeting minutes are being sent out by email to those individuals
having email and by snail mail to those who do not. If you are not
getting them, please see Jean Dotzler. In the future, the agenda
will be sent out one week before the meeting. A motion was made to
approve the minutes by Troy Gunderson and seconded by Dennis Stueve.
All approved and the motioned carried.
Treasurer’s
Report:
Treasurer, Jane Litchy, presented the treasurer’s report and noted
not much activity had taken place. Sr. Miriam Ardolph made a
motion to accept the treasurer’s report, Dr. Jerry Wetterling
seconded it, all approved and the motion carried.
By-Laws
Review:
There was a short by-laws review reminding everyone there is one
vote per membership no matter how many people from that business
attend. Only one person may vote. Also, 10 percent of the
membership must be in attendance for a quorum (right now that is
about eight people). Clarification was asked for if more than one
person paid would there be more than one vote. Yes, as stated, one
vote for every paid membership.
Top
Four Priorities:
From the March brainstorming meeting, here are the top four
priorities that we will need chairs and co-chairs for.
Increase
status/significance of Chamber - Chair: Brenda Brown- CSB;
co-chair Cory Ehlert-Edina Realty
Support an
annual event
Hire support
staff
Create “shop
local”
Some
suggestions/notes on the above
Increase
status/significance of Chamber
– we should be involved in Habitat for Humanity. Vendor at the Lake
Wobegon Trail.
Support an
annual event -
It was
questioned whether or not we should limit our exposure to one event
and if only one, how big/small did we want it to be
Hire support
staff
– there was some discussion about organizing a committee, no one
volunteered. Discussion continued about paying a person versus it
being a volunteer position. Later in the meeting it was decided the
board should come up with the criteria for this position and make
the decision as to who to hire. Ehlert offered to provide office
space and a computer for the Chamber’s use. Also the chamber needs
to elect a secretary for 2008 to have someone casting a ballot
during board meetings. The hired staff would not receive a vote in
any chamber business.
Membership:
There was some
discussion on getting new Chamber members; if anyone was or wasn’t
doing it. It was noted we are not doing anything extra to obtain
new members. Jane Litchy noted Ken Jacobson had worked on getting
new members while he was president and so had she while she was
president. It was noted if we wanted to move the chamber forward,
we need to be proactive rather than reactive. Janelle asked if
anyone wanted to work on this and no one came forward. The issue of
increasing the annual dues was brought up and a central
location/computer for all the information was suggested for the
hired staff or one of the board members.
Holiday
Lights:
Ken Jacobson noted the old holiday lights need replacement.
Originally the Lions Club had purchased them and the St. Joseph Fire
Department hung them. Jacobson noted most of them are hardly worth
putting up any longer and they are in need of replacement. As part
of the St. Joseph Fire Department, Jacobson is looking for money to
start replacing them and suggested adding a box to the invoice for
membership for voluntary donation. Greg Reinhart of the First State
Bank said he felt this was a perfect project for the chamber.
Jacobson said replacement lights are between $500 and $1,000 for the
lamp posts and $2,500 or more for the ones that go across the
street. After some discussion, Reinhart made a motion the chamber
donate $1,000 per year to be put toward new holiday decorations,
Ehlert seconded it, the majority approved and the motion carried.
Troy Gunderson opposed because he said no budget is yet in place to
determine how much money the chamber has and if this amount is
feasible.
Von Pinnon
entertained a motion to raise the annual membership dues from $75 a
year to $85 a year. Jean Dotzler seconded it and there was some
discussion. Chad Davey then amended the motion to increase the
yearly membership dues to $100 per year, Corey Ehlert seconded it,
all approved and the motion carried.
Donation
Requests :
Millstream Arts Festival
- Mary DeGiovanni, the Millstream Arts Festival chair, spoke about
the festival and their plans for this year which included bringing
in more artists and food vendors. She requested the same donation
as last year ($700). Troy Gunderson made a motion to approve the
$700 donation, there was a second, but, the group was struggling
with the process for these requests. After more discussion, Dr.
Jerry Wetterling made a motion to set aside $500, Gunderson seconded
it. Jacobson asked if St. Joseph businesses were being included as
food vendors and DeGiovanni said yes, they were being given the
opportunity to participate. The motion was then voted on, all
approved and the motion carried.
Dollars
for Scholars
– Doug
Danielson of First State Bank representing St. Joseph Area Dollars
for Scholars noted we have participated for 12 years in the Dollars
for Scholars giving two scholarships of $250 each. Davey made a
motion to approve the two scholarships, Matt Kreuzer of Central
Minnesota Federal Credit Union seconded it; all approved and the
motion carried.
Holocaust
oratorio
– there is an
April 25 concert for the European trip. Four local students will be
going on this trip. No request for funds was made.
Standing
Committees:
Lake
Wobegon Trail Update –
Molly Renslow
was ill. Jane Litchy will be the chamber liaison for these meetings
which take place in the spring, summer and fall. The building fund
is $10,708 in arrears. Some further discussion will need to take
place and a committee formed on how to raise funds to cover this
shortage.
Upcoming
Events:
Fireworks
–
Jane Litchy reported the cost for the 12-minute show was $5,000 with
the St. Joseph Jaycees contributing $2,500 toward that cost. She
also suggested we add a box for voluntary donations to the
membership invoice.
Riverbats
–
Chad Davey from Edward Jones will chair this event and Matt Kreutzer
will assist. The St. Joseph night will be in August. The exact
amount earned last year was not available.
Teacher
Recognition
– This
involves getting apples to each of the teachers at Kennedy and the
St. Joseph Lab School in late August. Apples need to be prepped and
delivered. Renslow was not in attendance, but, Margie Hughes was
filling in for her and she said Molly would chair this.
School
Board Update
– Diane
Moeller stated the district was down to three finalists for the
superintendent position. The new Kennedy school is on schedule. The
community support has been phenomenal. They have had some exciting
things happen with the attention the green spaces have received and
the collaboration with CSB/SJU. The wind turban is now going up.
City
Representative Update
– Judy Weyrens
stated the city is working on a comprehensive plan and a master park
plan.vCentraCare will be building on Highway 133 and 75. Work is
being done on corridor facilities.
Half-Cent
Sales Tax Chamber Representative
– There will
be approximately $3 million in funds over the next three years in
the half-cent-sales-tax fund. At the city level, there is a core
committee that will decide how those funds are spent and they would
like a representative from the Chamber to be on that committee.vTroy
Gunderson had been appointed at a previous meeting, but, there was
some question as to that procedure. Greg Reinhart was interested in
representing the Chamber and had sent emails regarding this after
the fact. Gunderson stated how he felt about these emails. After
much discussion, Dotzler made a motion that anyone interested in
representing the Chamber let Von Pinnon know and that it would be
voted on at the next Chamber meeting. Sr. Joyce seconded it, all
approved and the motion carried.
Announcements
– Margie
Hughes announced the Women’s Walk at the CSB campus.
Presentation
- First State
Bank passed on their presentation due to the length of the meeting.
Meeting
adjourned at 1:28 p.m.
Respectfully
Submitted,
Jean Dotzler
Vice President
St. Joseph Area Chamber of Commerce |