Citizens for Fairfax Community's October Report

Citizens for Fairfax Community, Inc. (CFC)
10/19/11 Meeting Minutes:

HEADLINES:
▪   Ann Cousins, from Preservation Trust of Vermont, shared her perspective on where CFC stands currently and options for moving forward, based on her first-hand experience with virtually all of the community center initiatives that have taken place in VT in recent years. Her main points:
o   Independent nonprofit organizations have played key roles in most of the successful community center projects in VT, regardless of the level of involvement of the municipalities. So in answer to ‘the big question’ we had been asking ourselves recently —whether there continues to be a meaningful role for CFC to play in creating a community center for Fairfax— Ann convinced us that there is.
o   Although grant funding may well be hard to come by for the next few years, carrying on modest community activities would enable us to raise some funds, while also increasing public interest, awareness, and involvement. The board agreed that this will become our focus for the immediate future.
o   She also suggested that we initiate a meeting of representatives from all the key interested organizations, as a way to get us all on the same page and begin creating a game plan that we can all get behind. Our board agreed that this is a good next step, and will set up such a meeting for sometime during the first two weeks of November.
▪   We will hold our Annual Membership Meeting in the first week of December from 7:00 to 8:30 PM. Stay tuned for the date. It will be a dessert and beverages potluck. Board Elections will be held at this meeting. We are still looking for suggestions for additional nominees.
▪   CFC and the Fairfax Recreation Dept. will team up with the Masons to help put on the Deer-Hunters and Families Breakfast. The Masons will send us a list shortly of the specific jobs and shifts for which we need volunteers.

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Called to order: 7:03 PM
In attendance: Amanda Duling,* Katrina Antonovich,* Doug Stuart,* Mark Hunziker,* Mary Taylor,* Elizabeth Griffin,* and Ann Cousins (* indicates Trustees)

9/21 Minutes: The Board of Trustees meeting minutes of Sept 21, 2011 were approved unanimously. (Moved by Mary, seconded by Liz.)

‘The Big Picture:’ Ann Cousins, from Preservation Trust of Vermont (PTVT), shared her perspective on where CFC stands currently and options for moving forward, based on her first-hand experience with virtually all of the community center initiatives that have taken place in VT in recent years. Her main points:
•   Independent nonprofit organizations have played key roles in most of the successful community center projects in VT, regardless of the level of involvement of the municipalities. So in answer to ‘the big question’ we had been asking ourselves recently —whether there continues to be a meaningful role for CFC to play in creating a community center for Fairfax— Ann convinced us that there is.
•   Although grant funding may well be hard to come by for the next few years (as those funds will probably mostly be directed at urgent situations resulting from the Hurricane Irene damage), there are still ways for us to move forward.
•   Carrying on modest community activities would enable us to raise some funds, while also increasing public interest, awareness, and involvement. The board agreed that this will become our focus for the immediate future.
•   Ann offered to take CFC Trustees to visit two VT community centers that have successfully dealt with similar challenges to ours: the Rochester Community Center and Main Street Arts in Saxton’s River.
•   She also suggested that we initiate a meeting of representatives from all the key interested organizations, as a way to get us all on the same page and begin creating a game plan that we can all get behind. She offered PTVT’s help with that meeting. Our board agreed that this is a good next step, and will set up such a meeting for sometime during the first two weeks of November. Katrina, Mary, and Mark will determine and schedule a workable date and invite participants.

Annual Membership Meeting:
•   We will hold the meeting in the first week of December from 7:00 to 8:30 PM. Stay tuned for the date.
•   Katrina will look into the venue.
•   Amanda will coordinate the logistics. It will be a dessert and beverages potluck.
•   Board Elections will take place during the annual meeting. We are still looking for suggestions for additional nominees.

Deer-Hunters and Families Breakfast:
•   CFC and the Fairfax Recreation Dept. will team up with the Masons to help put on this event.
•   The breakfast’s hours will be expanded this year; so more help will be needed than in the past. The Masons will send us a list shortly of the specific jobs and shifts for which we need volunteers.

Haunted House: Katrina reported that the process of ironing out logistical issues has delayed things to the point where it became too late to adequately set up and advertise the event this year. She is already working on it, though, for next year.

Meeting adjourned: 8:45 PM (Moved by Mary, seconded by Liz.)

Next Meeting: Once the new composition of the board is finalized at the Annual Meeting, Mark will survey the Trustees on meeting date options, and set a date for the January meeting. (Tentative) January Agenda:
•   Election of Board officers
•   Debrief from ‘key organizations’ meeting and plan next steps and events.

Respectfully submitted,
Mark Hunziker, Secretary