All seats on the council board will be up for election.  The annual meeting will be held January 6, 2005 at 7 pm. for the purpose of electing board members and for voting on a resolution for changes to the by-laws.    The board of directors positions are 3 year positions on a rotation schedule.   There will be 3 directors chosen for 3 year seats, 2 for 2 year seats and 2 for 1 year seats.  

Please plan to attend this very important meeting.   Everyone should give serious consideration to serving the community.  This is a very worthwhile effort.    It is not for the faint of heart.    While it appears that things are not moving as quickly as we would like everyone is working as quickly as possible to ensure that each project is successful.   Most of the paperwork is very, very lengthy. 

 The bid packet alone for the community hall is approximately 1” thick.   Imagine the time it takes to just read that information as well as digest it, study it, make changes to it, etc.  That is only a very small part of the hall project.  The hall committee will have the task of keeping the building rented to see that it will pay for it’s upkeep. 

The grant applications for the park are anywhere from 20-30 pages in length.  It’s not as simple as requesting money.   You send an initial application, then a final application, a report of the progress and a final report.   Also included is tons of paperwork involving the bookkeeping. 

The storm siren project includes another large stack of paperwork for a grant, many visits with county officials, attending meetings and still not having answers. 

 There is a file on the post office efforts that is over 2” thick.   We still don’t have that resolved. 

Getting the sign on the corner of 47 & 69 is a major task. Just when we thought it was all worked out we ran into another roadblock. It's surmountable but it required more paperwork, more phone calls, more visits, etc.

Every project is met with tons of paperwork.  The days of just saying “let’s do something” are over.   All the paperwork must be completed.    It is a daunting task.   We welcome anyone to review any books, minutes of meetings or to ask any questions about what has been done, what is being worked on and future projects and expectations.  

There is no way to estimate the number of hours that the volunteers have devoted to these projects. Also note that everyone is working as a “volunteer”.  There are no paid positions on this board.   The grants that are received do not end up in the pockets of the locals.  There must be an accounting for every penny spent and it must be spent according to the directives of the grant.    We welcome new faces and hope that some of you will consider serving on the board or at least on one of the committees to “lighten the load”.   Community service is a very worthwhile cause.   Make your hometown a place to be proud of.   Contact any of the board members if you have an interest in serving and be sure to mark your calendars and come to the annual meeting January 6, 2005 at Henry Ashbacher’s building.