General
Meeting (Teleconference Meeting)
Friday,
February 8, 2008
The Maine Community Development Association held a
general membership meeting via teleconference on Friday, February 8, 2008
beginning at 10:00 a.m. Present were:
Tony Levesque, President Town of
Jim Gulnac, Vice President Town of
Stephen Dyer, Director RansomEnvironmental Consultants, Inc.
Michael Baran DECD
– Office of Community Development
Al Smith City
of
Joella R. Theriault, Secretary
Wade Hansen Town
of
Christopher Spruce, Past President
Rodney Lynch, Director City of
Dan LaPointe Town
of
Suzie Paradis Town
of
1.
CALL TO
ORDER: T. Levesque called the meeting to
order at 10:04 a.m.
2.
REVIEW OF
DECEMBER 14, 2007 MEETING MINUTES: Moved
by J. Gulnac to approve the meeting minutes as presented; seconded by A.
Smith. Motion passed unanimously.
3.
TREASURER’S REPORT: President Levesque presented the following
information:
·
Per Balance
Sheet ending 12/31/08 – All bills are paid to date
·
$792 balance
in the checking account
Moved by W. Hanson and seconded by S. Dyer to
accept the Treasurer’s Report.
Discussion was to table this article until such time as R. Harriman was
present. Moved by D. LaPointe and
seconded by J. Gulnac to table the article.
Motion passed unanimously.
4.
CORRESPONDENCE: President Levesque has a signed copy of the
agreement between MCDA and MMA for a total of $1,656 per year. The agreement includes the cost of
maintaining the website.
5.
REPORT OF
COMMITTEES:
Membership: According
to Chairman Dyer, there are 15 members paid to date. Discussion ensued regarding the individual
who paid early and as a result paid the old membership rate. Moved by M. Baran to have President Levesque
contact the individual and use his discretion to deal with the matter; seconded
by S. Dyer. Motion passed
unanimously. President Levesque will
also check on current memberships.
Discussion on the Plus One proposal.
Professional
Development: Chairman Gulnac reported that the American
Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) requires training and perhaps there
could be an opportunity for a joint training session with Maine Association of
Planners.
Financial: Tabled
Communication: Chairwoman
Walton was not available. J. Theriault
requested newsletter articles be submitted.
Advocacy: Chairman
Smith reported on the following L.D.’s:
o LD 677 – That bill was signed. Resolve 46 directs the State Planning Office,
with assistance from the State Fire Marshall’s Office, DECD, and the Maine
Historic Preservation Commission, to develop a plan for implementing the Maine
Model Building Code. Mandatory training
would be required, particularly training of Code Enforcement Officer’s to
understand the International Building Codes from an engineering
perspective. LD. 1038 – An Act to
o LD 262 – According to the Legislature’s Office,
nothing has gone forward on this document, but there has been much discussion
on LD 2008.
o LD 2008 is an Act to Provide Ongoing Funding for
the Historic Preservation Tax Credit. It
is scheduled for public hearing under the Taxation Committee on February 12,
2008.
o LD 1962 – An Act to Amend the Informed Growth –
This was voted on February 6, 2008 with an “Ought Not to Pass” vote. It will be voted again in committee.
o LD 2159 – An Act to Advance the
o
o Governor’s Council on Maine Quality of Place – The
governor’s regional development strategy establishes 15 recommendations, one of
which is to take funding from state agencies and make them available to
regional organizations.
Nominations: President
Levesque urged all MCDA members to encourage one new member to join this year.
6.
UPDATE FROM DECD/OCD:
The governor
is proposing a 2007-2008 budget curtailment of spending in the amount of
$37,000,000+, which includes a cut in the DECD budget of $500,000. Orman Whitcomb has been asked to work through
OCD’s budget. MSHA is again looking at
taking over the CDBG program.
The 2008 CDBG
budget has changed. The final budget is
$12,690,754, down from the anticipated $13,082,613. This means that programs have been cut back
somewhat. The 2009 budget is
anticipating a 30% cut, which means a budget of under $9,000,000. HUD is also looking at restructuring the
program from a current 70:30 split to an 80:20 split. This means that entitlement cities would
receive 80% of the CDBG funds and states would receive only 20%. Orman Whitcomb is assembling figures that
will show the negative impact on communities.
There were a
total of 14 Public Infrastructure applications and 11 Public Facility
applications submitted. OCD is reviewing
these applications and hopes to make the announcements by the published
timeframe.
Regarding the
Maine Investment Trust Fund (MITF), M. Baran reported that the program
application should be available within 2-3 weeks. The bond is $1.5 million. DECD will do a mailing to service center
communities. This program carries a
dollar-for-dollar match. CDBG funds can
be used as a match.
The Maine
Riverfront Development bond is a $5,000,000 bond for doing a broad array of
things along Maine Rivers. The rules and
regulations are nearly completed. The
MRD committee will be made up of representatives from the Department of
Conservation, State Planning Office, DECD, two members from the Speaker of the
House and two from the President of the Senate.
The Committee makes the decision on grant approval. M. Baran will e-mail a listing of committee
members to MCDA members.
7.
DISCUSSION ON
TRAINING NEEDS/CERTIFICATION CREDITS:
President Levesque asked for comments on training needs. Offering training or certification workshops
will augment MCDA’s revenue. Possible
joint sessions with Coastal Enterprise Inc., Maine State Housing Technical
Assistance, Grant Writers Association, etc. to offer a grant writing workshop
may be a good choice. Possible workshop
topics: (1) Construction Management and (2) Fair Housing.
8.
9.
10.
UNFINISHED
BUSINESS: Discussion on the Brochure. J.
Theriault will submit the revised brochure as soon as possible.
Moved by J. Gulnac and
seconded by M. Baran to adjourn. Meeting
adjourned at 11:30 a.m.
Submitted by:
Joella R. Theriault
Secretary