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Saline County Study Meeting
Monday, November 23, 1998
Spainhower Building, Marshall Habilitation Center

Steering Committee Members Present: Mark Belwood, Kathy Borgman, Vince Buck, Richard Clemens, Ruthie Cramer, LeAnn Haling, Roy Hunter, Wayne McReynolds, Becky Plattner
Steering Committee Member Absent: Marc Harris

Saline County Commissioner Present: Richard Pemberton
Saline County Commissioners Absent: Russell Dehn, Mike Dillon

University Partners Present: Chris Barnett, Chris Fulcher, Mubarak Hamed, Tom Johnson, Kathy Miller, Vincent Burk
County Extension Staff Present: Cynthia Crawford, Gerry Snapp
County Extension Staff Absent: Darin Starr

Media Present: Chris Post, Marshall Democrat News

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Chairman Mark Belwood. Mark announced business cards are again available with the web site address, please take and distribute. Anyone who doesn’t have a picture on the web site can submit a photograph to CARES or get your photo taken tonight during the break.

Minutes of the October 26 meeting were approved as distributed.

Commissioner Richard Pemberton reported that the study memorandum for year two has been signed with the University. A new Presiding Commissioner, John Stouffer, will take office in January. Roy Hunter has visited with him briefly about the study. In order to bring Stouffer up to speed on the project the study group recommended that Ron Powers invite him and Roy Hunter to the campus.

Odor Committee Report -- Vince Buck (no meeting since last time)

John Hoehne and Charles Fulhage, experts on the animal nutrients issue, are not able to meet with us until February. Darin Starr will ask if they can give a presentation at our February 22 meeting. Mubarak Hamed presented a written initial report on the effect CAFOs are having on land value in Saline County. More analysis will come at the next meeting. Chris Barnett reported he has talked with the people working on the odor plume in Iowa. They still do not have a model they are confident in sharing. Chris said it appeared to him it is only a model that deals with the source point of odors and does not take in account local geography or the number of hogs at the location. They are to supply him with formula information by Thanksgiving.

Options Committee Report -- Richard Clemens (no meeting since last time)

Tom Johnson is currently preparing a proposal to fund Jerry Organ from the MU law school to assist us in learning about legal options for land control on the county level.

Communications Committee Report -- LeAnn Haling

Kathy Miller asked if anyone needed to see a copy of the draft brochure explaining the study group. She will mail if anyone needs one. Kathy Miller and Chris Fulcher presented a draft presentation of 20 slides and a cam-video of the web page. The presentation is designed to explain the study group and be shown around the county. The group critiqued the information provided and Kathy and Chris will make revisions. The presentation will be put on the web page for further critique. The communications committee will meet following the meeting to set a date for their next meeting.

Break

Scenario Committee Report -- Kathy Borgman (met November 19)

Vincent Burke is working on the County Parks feasibility study but has no report at this meeting. Tom Johnson and Kathy Miller presented a written draft report on the economic impact of Saline County’s health sector. Tom Johnson reported the Aspen Institute is including a profile of our study in one of their publications. Tom Johnson also told the study group about a pilot program of the Department of Economic Development to help target industries a community wants to come to their area. The idea is to get the community to decide what they want to be like and to weigh which kinds of industry can help them meet their goals. They also study how attractive industries are to the county/community and how attractive the county/community is to industries. The study group thought it would be great if Saline County could be a pilot program and urged Tom to pursue the project.

Cynthia Crawford reported on a meeting with Kate O’Dubhchair from Ireland. She works with Tom Johnson and CPAC. During their meeting they talked about the list of "20 Clues to Rural Community Survival." Cynthia passed out copies for the study group.

The Scenario Committee presented to the board for discussion the idea of broadening the base of the Saline County Study to include representation from minorities, industry, and youth. There was discussion of establishing a youth sub-committee focusing on how to keep young people interested in staying in Saline County. There may be a possibility of having some links to Irish youth involved in similar community efforts. Roy Hunter suggested the Scenario Committee establish a youth committee under them. Jerry Snapp commented the involvement of youth seems to be a good idea, but we may need to think more about how to make it happen, how to get representation from all youth of the county, and consider they might want to set their own agenda. Roy Hunter moved each person talk with some young person(s) in the next week and see if there is interest and we can decide at our next meeting how to proceed. Becky Plattner seconded, carried.

Concerning the discussion of minority involvement on the board, again it was noted we could only bring this to the attention of the commissioners who appointed the committee. It was noted the issues that precipitated the study were not ones that obviously called for minority involvement. Tom Johnson noted that as the study process develops we will face new issues such as realizing our current population growth is changing the composition of our community. In the future these issues may need to be addressed and minority involvement will become more important.

Web-tech Committee Report

Cynthia reminded interested people to sign up for the February 2 Morenet meeting in Columbia to learn about high speed connectivity. There is space for 60 to attend. Chris Fulcher suggested the best route the county could take at this time to continue the study web page is to instruct several people on the use of Frontpage 98 to post directly on the web page. It was decided Cynthia Crawford, Mark Belwood, and Kathy Borgman would take training from Chris Fulcher and Chris Barnett to do so. Chris Fulcher announced there is a new map web tool, the perimeter tool, enabling one to mark an area and see how many acres are in it. The cultural sites data layer still needs to be added to the web site.

Mark Belwood noted the opportunity exists for local government agencies to apply for a grant to secure ESRI software. In discussion, Chris Fulcher, Vincent Burke, and Chris Barnett indicated while this is user friendly software it is key to have a person who can be trained to use it, preferably an employee. Roy Hunter moved we apply for the grant. Vince Burke seconded. Roy Hunter amended the motion that the issue be turned over to the county commission and they coordinate with CARES and university partners in applying for the grant. LeAnn Haling seconded. Motion carried. Amendment carried.

The next meeting will be January 25, 1999.

Meeting adjourned 9:55 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Borgman, recorder

This web site is hosted  by CARES- University of Missouri - Columbia
This web site is maintained jointly by the Saline County Study Steering Committee and CARES
For problems or questions regarding this web contact the Saline County Steering Committee or  Chris Fulcher (CARES).
Last updated: October 13, 2000