ECO² Commission

April 5, 2007

The April 5, 2007 meeting of the ECO² Commission was called to order at 7:35 a.m. by commission chairman Trudy Rice.  Those present were Bruce Liese, RoxAnne Miller, John Pendleton, Rex Buchanan, Bob Rhoton, Trudy Rice and Margaret Kalb.

John Pendleton moved, and Rex Buchanan seconded, that the minutes of the March meeting be approved as mailed.  The motion was carried.  Trudy Rice noted that an addition to the agenda would be needed to discuss the use of key contacts to promote the plan.

Members discussed the final draft plan.  It was noted that the reference to the use of excise taxes for funding would needed to be removed.  It was also noted that the reference to the appendixes need to be added back to the body of the draft.  Rex Buchanan moved, and RoxAnne Miller seconded, that the plan be approved as presented.  The motion was carried.  The commission members decided to publish 100 copies of the plan in spiral form and have 100 CD’s made with the plan.

The commission discussed the formal presentation to the City and County Commissions.  Those commissions will meet on May 1^st and May 2^nd.  RoxAnne Miller volunteered t set up meetings with the Lawrence City Commissioners.  The May 1^st City Commission meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. and the County Commission meeting will be at 6:35 p.m.   Trudy Rice will call the commission offices to be put on the calendars.

The commissioners discussed their thoughts on making the presentations and the points that should be made to the City and County Commissioners on funding projects, the amount of work that has been put into the development of the plan, and that the ECO² Commissioners will go out to the outlying communities to explain the plan and work for their support.  The commission also discussed the budget for the next year.  The commission decided to ask for $7500 for public education and outreach and $10,000 for administrative expenses.  They will drop the mapping and public opinion survey.  The possibility of setting up a website to promote the plan was also discussed.  Bruce Liese volunteered to help with the website development.  Trudy Rice will prepare the budget for the County and City commissions

The commissioners split up who will contact the individual City and County Commissioners to discuss the plan prior to the meetings.  Trudy Rice will contact Charles Jones, Mike Dever, Rob Chestnut and Sue Hack.  Bob Rhoton will contact Bob Johnson, Jere McElhaney and Mike Amyx.  RoxAnne Miller will schedule the appointments and email the commissioners.  It was also suggested that the work groups be asked to contact the City and County Commissioners about the adoption of the plan

RoxAnne Miller reported on a proposed development at the airport on the eastside that has not been evaluated by the ECO² Commission.  The development is being proposed by a private developer, Jess Santalauria.

Trudy Rice asked the commission to think about what will happen to the ECO² Commission if the plan is not adopted by the City and County Commissions.

In other business, the commission decided to meet on April 26^th at 7:30 a.m. at the Douglas County Courthouse, instead of the May 3^rd regular date, to finalize the presentations to the City and County Commissions. 

The meeting adjourned at 8:50 a.m.