Sustainability Planning: answers to the questions
One of these days I won’t be new to all of this and I will have these answers off the top of my head. If someone walks up to me off the street and asks me a question like this I will be able to fill them in without the bat of an eye. In the meantime I have to go around asking the same questions. In fact I have already been asking questions about where is the money for these projects coming from? Why would anyone want to do a community review for us for free? and so on. I also asked the question about how we will keep up the momentum once the startup money is gone in June.
On Thursday night, March 27, we had a board meeting (my first). There were reports made by all the committees and I learned a lot. Cell towers are in the works. Application has already been made to Verizon and they are sending people out to examine the locations that have been chosen as ideal spots, on top of Crystal Peak and on a mountain near Emida. They have great coverage–Crystal Peak’s site may reach clear up to Avery and Emida’s may go as far as to the Tensed area. It will be to Verizon’s great advantage to locate these towers here because of the tourist industry and also because of the number of people who currently don’t own cell phones because there is no coverage here, but they would like to. These towers could also provide high speed Internet which the school, library and individuals would all benefit by.
A first fund raiser is in the works to help with administrative costs of the board. The 501c3 committee is finishing up work on their application for tax exempt status which would make obtaining grants easier. The Entreprenurial Committee is sponsoring and encouraging people to take classes in starting a business, and blogging, as well as applying to the U of I extension office for a Community Review to help us determine the best direction to go to improve the economic status of the community and strengthen the unity among the various communities that make up The UpRiver Community. From this we will be able to draw up a strategic plan.
We talked about the possibility of a future grant writing committee. In the meantime the bricks for the foundation are still being laid. With the Building Committee looking into the creation of a new Community Center and doing some upgrades on existing buildings in Emida and Fernwood, there will be surveys sent to everyone in the three communities to get a feel for what people think they want, how they feel about the projects in mind, and how best to pay for them. (Land has been donated, or at least promised.) Hopefully this will draw much more attention to what is being done and more people will rise up to help in every area. With a community center and some community gatherings sponsored by the Community Pride Committee, people should begin to develop stronger loyalties to one another and to UpRiver and its vision. This will help keep the momentum going and grow new leaders in the work.
We are optimistic that as major projects are accomplished for the good of the Community, the Horizons group will become more visible and more credible in the eyes of the citizens of the area. People like to be where things are happening and they like to be on the winning team. The people of the UpRiver Community are pioneer-minded and should catch the vision and begin to get more involved. I see great possibilities and I see the groups morphing into different committees both large and small as new projects get under way and those with special talents lend themselves to the work.