Minutes of Menno Area Development Meeting

June 20, 2006

 

The Menno Area Development Corporation held its annual meeting at the Open Door Café on June 20 with the following in attendance: Peg Thranum, Wilma Liebl, Darlene Mehlhaf, Bill Headley, Randy Quast, David Bender, Morna Anderson, Larry Tolzin, Glenn Kirschenman, Shannon Herrboldt, Brent Haberman, Nancy Larsen, Erin McDonald, Lee Friesen, Donna Zeeb, Marsha Schelske, Teresa Anderson, Wesley Schaeffer, Gary Herman, Cindy Nelsen, and Cindy Aisenbrey.

 

In the absence of the president and vice-president, Board Member David Bender called the meeting to order at 12:15 p.m.

 

Wesley Schaeffer made a motion to approve the agenda with the following additions: Small Business Workshop and Making Connections Workshop. Larry Tolzin seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.

 

Wilma Liebl made a motion to approve the minutes of the May 16th meeting. Darlene Mehlhaf seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.

 

Bills for any routine, day-to-day maintenance at the clinic are to be paid by the clinic; the corporation will pay bills for major repairs. Bills for mowing may be paid when received, as the motel isn’t mown until President Weiss calls them.

 

Teresa Anderson made a motion to pay all bills; Wilma Liebl seconded. Following further discussion Anderson retracted her motion; Liebl seconded. All present in favor.

 

Larry Tolzin made a motion to cash CD #41216 in the amount of $1011.73 and CD #41217 in the amount of $709.57 and deposit them in the checking account to have money available to pay for the motel cleanup. Brent Haberman seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.

 

Marsha Schelske made a motion to pay any outstanding balance for the serve project lunch. Shannon Herrboldt seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.

 

Larry Tolzin made a motion to approve the finance report. Marsha Schelske seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.

 

Nancy Larsen continues to received new inquires, clients and started another business plan. She introduced her intern, Erin McDonald. Erin’s position was made possible through a national grant SEFP was invited to participate in by Citibank. Erin is working on a processes manual for SEFP. The manual gives a general background of SEFP, what they do, why they do it and walks you through the steps a client would take while working with SEFP. If SEFP would expand its territory with a second facilitator, this manual would help facilitate that process. Nancy mentioned a Making Connections workshop to be held in Freeman hosted by South Dakota Rural Enterprise. Nancy stated she would help us file for the 501c3 status as the fee goes up from $500 to $750 July 1.

 

Wilma Liebl made a motion to pay the $15 registration for the “Making Connections” workshop to be held in Freeman on June 28 from 1-8 p.m. Morna Anderson seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.

 

One director seat was open for nominations, currently held by Shannon Herrboldt. Glenn Kirschenman made motion nominations cease and cast a unanimous ballot for Shannon Herrboldt to serve a 3-year term on the board. Brent Haberman seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.

 

Committee Reports: Lee Friesen is compiling information for a grand total figure an investment group would need to purchase the grocery store. People that aren’t attending development meetings need to be encouraged to participate. We all need to work together to keep our community going.

 

Peg Thranum made a motion to have the motel property cleaned up today. Brent Haberman seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.

 

Larry Tolzin made a motion to let the board decide on how much to compensate Jeff Huber for his expenses in cleaning up the motel property. Wesley Schaeffer seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.

 

Donna Zeeb said she heard very good comments from the Tour de Kota riders. They enjoyed the food and friendly people. Riders she visited with were from Michigan, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Texas, California, and Wisconsin. It was suggested we have some type of souvenir if we ever have anything like this again.

 

The serve project is lined up and ready to go.  They will work from around 11-4.

 

We have had someone express an interest in the motel property for storage units. Some would like to see some type of business come in that would bring jobs and find a different place in town for storage units. Larry Tolzin made a motion to sell the motel property to the first person that paid us $15,000. Teresa Anderson seconded. Three voting aye, eighteen voting nay. Motion failed. It was felt now that the lot is cleaned up, maybe others will show an interest in it.

 

Cindy Nelsen made a motion not to install the fence on the motel property at this time, but to do it later this fall if necessary. Brent Haberman seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.

 

Our next meeting will be July 18 at the Open Door Café at 12:00 noon.

 

Wilma Liebl made a motion to adjourn at 1:20 p.m. Darlene Mehlhaf seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Peggy Thranum, Secretary