June 1st 2006 Board Meeting Minutes
SIA Board Meeting
June 1st 2006
members present:
- Wayne Jones
- Steve Howard
- Wanda Pate
- Ron Dougherty
- Ron Corder
- Beth Corder
- Sarajane Smith
Apologies from Pascal Gill and Nadine Nicolls
The meeting began at 5:30 PM.
- Dorothy Jones attended to give a report on the progress of the Farmer's Market. Sarajane also confirmed that she had spoken to the most immediate neighbors of the proposed market, and met with general support and approval for our plans. After a brief progress report on the market from Dorothy, with additional comment from Sarajane and Steve, a sub-committee was set up with Dorothy Jones, Sarajane Smith, JoAnne Munghia and Nadine Nicolls and headed by Steve Howard to pursue the Farmer's Market.
- The first thing on the agenda was to finish defining SIA. It was decided that SIA is the Board and the Offices. This definition was accepted .
- July 17th is the date of the community meeting. Sewer and Water will be discussed at this meeting.
- We need to prioritize the community plan. Sewer, water, zoning, monitoring roads, architecture and beautification, welfare, health, education, and recreation should be at the top of the list.
- Beth Corder proposed a community newsletter. This would let the community know what is in the plans for Saucier. Steve pointed out that the Saucier Community Blog, and irregular newsletters sent out by email currently keep web-connected members of the community informed of the SIA efforts. Wanda made a motion to make Beth Corder the reporter and Lisa Gregore the editor sarajane seconded it. It was passed.
- Steve reported that he should soon receive the interim 601 report from MDOT. This report would be on all the information gathered from the community. It was suggested that the board write a letter in response to the report.
- Mr. DeCoux , retired from Gulfport Parks and Recreation, has offered his services in identifying recreation needs of the community.
- Steve reported on Our Town Workshops. It is a two and one-half day planning workshop. He is going to follow up with more information.
- Wanda Pate gave a suggestion on board rotation Wanda made a motion that all board members stay in place until 2007. Then the rotation policy would go into effect. Steve Howard seconded it. It was passed by the board. Wanda made a suggestion that we look at the list of volunteers and make suggestions to fill vacancies.
- The number of Board Members to make a quorum was discussed. It was tabled.
- Ron Corder tenatively asked if he could resign . Wayne asked Ron if he could stay on until his position was filled. Wayne stated that he appreciated Ron and Beth contribution to the board.
The next board meeting will be Thursday, June 8th.
Community Meeting - July 17th
Water, sewer, zoning, SmartCode
We all know growth is coming to Saucier - we see new developments starting all over our community
The SIA wants to empower the Saucier Community to choose where that growth should be concentrated, so we are planning a community meeting to discuss the issues that affect where growth and development take place
The SIA is busy organising itself and the community to ensure that our future growth is conducive to the rural community we have today. One of our major concerns is the provision of sewer to our area. We are advised that commercial and residential development will naturally concentrate where sewer is in place, so we are hoping to be able to influence where sewer goes in order to help constrain growth to acceptable locations that would create positive and benificial growth instead of 'traditional' urban and suburban sprawl.
To that end, we are planning to hold a Community meeting on July 17th at the Comminity Center where we will discuss a number of issues - water, sewer, zoning and the SmartCode - with the aim of asking the community what sort of growth you are willing to support, and thus show us the areas where sewer would be acceptable. At the end of the meeting we plan to have a good understanding of your wishes so that we can then advise the DEQ and other interested organisations of what Saucier wants.
We are very motivated to work *with* the DEQ in a positive way so that we can have the Saucier that the residents want in the future, rather than being victim to the whim of developers who would make decisions motivated only by profit.
Public notices will advertise this meeting closer to the 17th July. As always, your comments are welcomed on this Blog, so feel free to tell the SIA your views on the future of Saucier.
May 26th 2006 Board Meeting Minutes - special meeting
A special meeting was called May 26, 2006 to discuss how to mobilise our efforts
We are making good progress, but some of the board are concerned that it is hard to see what we are achieveing, so we want to try to move forward a little quicker towards getting more sub-committees and action groups up and running.
Members Present
- Wayne Jones
- Steve Howard
- Sarajane Smith
- Nadine Nicolls
- Wanda Pate
Teresa Jones also attended as an invited guest
Minutes
- The Board has decided to work together to condense the Community Plan so it will be in a format more easily understood with priorities defined and listed in concise terms.
- Steve Howard spoke with Dorothy Jones. She is still interested in helping with the Farmer's Market. Ms. Jones came by and sat in on part of the meeting. She agreed that the neighbors in the area of the future market should be visited. Sarajane Smith volunteered to speak to these people and get their opinions about the market. She will report on what she finds out.
- Ron Corder has a sign stating that there is a Farmer's Market coming soon. The sign will be placed once we have spoken to the neighbors and to Dalton McGuire.
- SIA needs to work on organizing the many volunteers who want to help. It was decided to have a community meeting to do this. Tables would be set up for each area of interest. The people would be given an opportunity to study the information and decide in which area they would like to volunteer. To prepare for this, each Board member should have definite goals set for his/her area, and work on refining these before the community meeting. Each committee should have step-by-step plan in order to implement the goals. It was determined that the community meeting should be in August. August 8, 2006 was chosen as the date.
- Your Town workshops may be a possibility in our area. Patrick Bonck contacted Steve Howard about this. Steve will get more information on this and report back to the Board. Wanda Pate will check on a possible location for the workshops and report back to SIA. It was noted that yourtowndesign.org is a good website to check out.
- The community center is the main focus of SIA at this time.
- In July the architects will be visiting. SIA will invite them to attend a meeting.
- SIA has decided to explore boundaries for installation and maintenanceof water and sewage. This falls under the area of Environmental Resources.
- Wayne or Steve will check on projected population figures for 2010, 2020.
The next meetings have been set for Thursday, June 1, and Thursday, June 8. Both will begin at 5:30p.m.
May 22nd 2006 Board Meeting Minutes
SIA Board Meeting
May 22nd 2006
Members present:
- Wayne Jones
- Steve Howard
- Pascal Gill
- Nadine Nicolls
- Sarajane Smith
- Lori Sauls
- Eli Sauls
- Wanda Pate
- Ron Corder
- Beth Corder
Minutes
- The meeting was called to order at 5:40p.m.
- The blog is in good working order; however, some board members are unable to register to be able to post.
- Ron and Beth Corder submitted roles and responsibilities of Architecture and Beautification.
- SIA is hoping for a grant to help Andrews University travel to Saucier.
- SIA voted on and approved the motion to open a bank account at People's Bank.
- MDOT will give a report on the feedback of the Saucier Community concerning MS 601.
- Ricky Lee has turned over the idea of reflectors at turning bays to the Safety Committee.
- There will be a follow-up meeting with the Office of Recovery and Renewal. A list of possible grants will be given at a later date,
- The by-laws were examined, changes made, and approved.
- It was decided to table the debate of the definitions of SIA and membership until the next meeting.
- Steve will invite Dalton McGuire to a July meeting.
The next meeting will be Thursday, June 1, at 5:30p.m.
SR 601 preliminary Scoping Report
The preliminary 601 scoping report was published on Friday June 2nd
The SIA received their copy on Monday June 5th. Here's a very brief summary.
- there is broad support for the SIA viewpoint
- The report suggests dropping either route 2 or route 3
- The report suggests dropping route 1 or 1a
- There appears to be a suggestion to consider a more westerly route
- The report includes comment that the possible industrial park to the south
of Saucier should be considered in any route.
A decision as to how MDOT will proceed will be made in two or three weeks. At that point we should (I hope) learn what routes are to be dropped and what new ones are to be given consideration. At that point we may have reason to consider if we need to start more determined campaigning.
If you are keen to read the full report, you can (temporarily) download it from here:-
Scoping Report May 2006Note that the file is 48Mb - that's huge! You may not have to patience to get it if you have dialup - it will take around 8 hours to download! If you have a broadband connection it may take anything up to an hour, or maybe just 5 minutes. Depends on the speed of the connection.
I have been trying to find an official download location for this file and will publish the link to it when I find it.
