MAINE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION

ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING MINUTES

Friday, December 9, 2005

The Maine Community Development Association held an organizational meeting via teleconference on Friday, December 9, 2005. In attendance were:

Isaac Wagner, President Washington Hancock Community Agency

Chris Spruce, Vice President Island Housing Trust

Joella R. McBreairty, Secretary Northern Maine Development Commission

Mathew Eddy, Past President Town of Brunswick

Mary Walton, Board Member City of Caribou

Jim Gulnac, Board Member Town of Sanford

Rodney Lynch, Board Member City of Rockland

Mike Baran DECD – Office of Community Development

Tony Levesque Town of Fort Fairfield

Don Kaiser Town of Houlton

Al Smith City of Bath

Darryl Sterling Town of Richmond

Steve Dyer O’Brien, Kelsey, Engineer

Cyndy Carney Coastal Enterprise, Inc.

Dan LaPointe Town of Van Buren

I. CALL TO ORDER

Isaac called the meeting to order at approximately 10:00 a.m.

II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

October 6, 2005: A motion was made by Mike Baran to approve the meeting minutes as presented; seconded by Chris Spruce. The vote was unanimously in favor.

November 4, 2005: A motion was made by Al Smith and seconded by Chris Spruce to approve the meeting minutes as presented. The vote was unanimously in favor.

III. TREASURER’S REPORT:

In Ron’s absence, Isaac gave the Treasurer’s Report as follows:

Income This Month: $ 0.00

Expenses This Month $ 163.85

Net ($163.85)

Fund Balance as of 12/07/05: $7,499.00

A motion to approve the Treasurer’s Report was made by Tony Levesque and seconded by Jim Gulnac. The motion was approved unanimously.

IV. DISCUSS SUBCOMMITTEE FORMATION AND ACTIVITIES FOR 2006:

New members for the following subcommittees are as follows:

1. Professional Development – Cyndy Carney (Chair), Joella McBreairty, and Executive Committee Members

2. Communication – Same members as last year: Mike Baran, Joella McBreairty, Mary Walton and Don Keiser as new member.

3. Membership – Tony Levesque (Chair), Al Smith, Steve Dyer, Mike Baran, Jim Gulnac, Darryl Sterling

4. Advocacy – Chris Spruce (Chair), Al Smith, Isaac Walton, Darryl Sterling, Ryan Pelletier

5. Financial – Ron Harriman (Chair), Mathew Eddy, Executive Board Members

Professional Development: Cyndy and Isaac provided a brief summary of the upcoming Housing TIF program to be held on February 10, 2006 in Augusta. The location of this workshop will be announced at a later date. More discussion on this topic under Item V. A second workshop is scheduled for June 9, 2006 at Brunswick Naval Air Station. Cyndy suggested that a listing of presentations and workshops be included in the Newsletter.

Communication: Joella asked Isaac, Rodney, Al and Mike to provide brief articles to be included in the December newsletter. Articles should be submitted as early as possible so that the December newsletter can be completed during the last week of December. The Communications Committee will hold a teleconference on December 28, 2005 at 10:00 a.m. The same phone number and password as this teleconference will be used.

Membership: The letter drafted by Chris Spruce will be mailed out today to all renewing members. Other items of discussion included; 1) Have MMA send out a listing of all those they send the renewal form and letter; 2) On the renewal form, ask members to update their address, phone and e-mail information; 3) reach out to members of Council of Governments and Planning Commissions; 4) use regional organizations as an outreach mechanism; 5) get listing and send mailings to all community development, economic development, tribal councils, and CAP agencies; 6) update the membership and contact information on the website.

Advocacy: This committee was very active last year and it is anticipated that this year will be no different. Since Matt deals with the congressional delegation frequently, he offered to discuss with them any issues that MCDA may have. Because of the anticipated issues with the CDBG program and other issues, it was the consensus of the group that Ryan Pelletier’s name be added to this subcommittee. Ryan is the President of MMA and also discusses issues with the congressional delegation often.

Financial: Some of the tasks that will be required by the Financial subcommittee are to review the contract between MCDA and MMA. Some discussion was heard regarding pros and cons of this affiliation. Working out the terms of the contract will be a top priority for this subcommittee. The subcommittee is also tasked with revenue generation, dues structure, and various other goals.

V. DISCUSS ORGANIZATION OF HOUSING TIF WORKSHOP:

Noreen Norton of Eaton Peabody has agreed to present the technical issues of the TIF program and has invited Tom McDonald to give a presentation geared towards municipalities. All housing development corporations, community development organizations, MSHA, and any other organization involved in housing will be invited to attend. Possible locations for this workshop are Legion, Maine Motor Transport, Arboretum, MSHA. Because of the fee involved to rent space for this workshop, a minimal fee may be required to attend. The City of Caribou has worked on a Housing TIF. Mary Walton will discuss with Steve Buck, the Town Manager, the possibility of using this as a template for other TIFs.

VI. DISCUSS MEMBERSHIP DRIVE FOR 2006:

Tony Levesque will be sending out information to all other members of the Membership Subcommittee regarding a teleconference call, fee structure, etc. All potential candidates for membership on this organization shall have their names submitted to Tony Levesque.

VII. QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS: Mike Baran committed to hosting all teleconference calls for future MCDA meetings.

The meeting adjourned at approximately 11:10 a.m.

Submitted by,

Joella R. McBreairty

Secretary