Monday, May 17, 2010

Rockford Horizons Poverty Reduction May 3, 2010 Meeting Minutes

The Strategy meeting held on April 28th was intended to provide the committee with strategies for the last part of our program. This was attended by Mary-Lou Benson, Kathy Creeed and Vivian Plank.
Patrick Malone (our coach) laid out the areas:
Asset Building
Earned Income Tax Credit
Micro-enterprise i.e. through SNAP
Community Leadership
Community Capacity
More people are needed for these programs
Public Policy
Community Endowments
A way to increase the money received (our $10,000!!!)
Wealth Sustaining
The group learned of the existance of The Book Parlor in Spokane that carries new and used books at reasonable prices, has a coffee shop and "Fair Trade Gifts". This is one example of micro-enterprise.

Vivian Plank and Mary-Lou Benson attended a luncheon presented by AWALL (Adolescent Women Actively Learning Life's Lessons). The purpose of this organization is to provice a sense of empowerment to adolescent girls who are from low-income families, by mentoring them and giving them skills and confidence to improve their lives.

Bill Benson offered an example of micro-enterprise by citing the impact of the closure of the Rockford Mini-mart (excluding the gas station). The Town has lost a place to purchase small essentials, truck drivers and local residents have lost the quick and available coffee in the early morning and the Rockford Emergency Response Committee has lost the use of coolers and food keeping capacity in case of emergencies. His proposition is that there be a co-op that would maintain the Mini-Mart, open a coffee shop/internet cafe and a deli for quick "to go" sandwiches and pizza. He reminded us that the Mini-Mart used to have pizza but the owners did not want to maintain the ovens, so no pizzas were sold. The plan would add jobs to manage the deli, Mini-mart and internet cafe. Mayor Micki Harnois noted that several people have looked at the Mini-Mart to puchase and are waiting for the price to be lower.

The Rockford beautification project is primarily in the City park along the fence, the basketball court and around the memorial. The bush by the south entrance of the park is blocking the view inside the park. It was the consensus that it should be trimmed back due to the return of drug paraphernalia being found around that side of the park. Local businesses and organizations will be contacted and invited to take part in this project. It is thought that if the park is a safe place and it looks as though the people care about the appearance of the Town there will be more interest in businesses relocating here.

The discussion about public development authorities is on hold.

The Community gardens will be tilled once the ground is dry enough. The local 4-H group is willing to help because they need service hours. Barb Gady is the contact person once there is a schedule for planting.

Approval was given to use retaining stones for the triangle area in front of the restrooms in the park. The cost of $200 will come out of the Community Center budget. There was a suggestion that people can donate a tree, preferably a willow, to plant in the park. Keith Wigen explained that the willow trees will absorb alot of the water and the park won't be so wet. By having the park drier, there won't be a large amount of standing water thus decreasing the mosquito breeding grounds, making the park a healthier place. Also, the existing trees should be sprayed to control the aphids. A suggestion was made to find ladybugs to solve the problem.

The Town webmasters are scheduled to meet with Mayor Micki next Thursday, May 6th at 4:30 pm at the City Hall.

The next meeting will be on May 17th at 6:30 pm at the Harvest Moon Restaurant.

Respctfully submitted,
Mary-Lou Benson

No comments: