President Martha Rasmussen opened the meeting with introductions.
Steve Somsen gave the treasurer’s report:
Grand total of three accounts at Coastal Community Bank: $19,924.52
Membership: 37 members (17 business, 14 community & 6 non-profit) with 16 due for renewal.
Other Reports:
Darrington Area Resource Advocates (DARA): Kevin Ashe said they are bypassing the first public meeting while waiting for the new round of oversight & stakeholder committee meetings for the Mtn Loop feasibility study to get underway sometime next month. They are working on some timber items “behind the scenes”. There will be a catch & release steelhead season on the Sauk this year & they hope to make it a two-month season next year for native steelhead. The grizzly bear issue was discussed; it is not a “done deal” yet but it doesn’t look good for the local communities who are apparently being ignored by those doing the environmental impact study.
Friends for Public Use (FFPU): Martha said that the scheduled cleanup was cancelled due to inclement weather & will be rescheduled with the date to be announced. There was a recent meeting about reopening Circle Creek road and progress is being made in spite of the difficulty of working with government agencies. Martha is optimistic that the necessary approvals will be forthcoming and the work can begin soon.
Friends of North Mountain (FNM): Rick said there will be a meeting in late May to plan for the upcoming season.
Committee Reports:
Darrington Events: Joanne Milton reported on the upcoming Darrington street fair and plans to include a Darrington visual arts show if we can secure an indoor space to display the artists work. A committee meeting was held last week to discuss the plans & possibilities for the show. She also discussed the events calendar/poster that will be displayed at business locations around town and requested that any Darrington events be reported to her for inclusion on the poster.
Visual Impact: Martha said there are 800+ tulips that will be coming up in Dot park this spring. Ironically, they are named “stop the car” tulips!
Other Reports:
Darrington Internet Users Association (DIUA): Jacob Kukuk reported that the biggest task right now is preparing the legal documents including the bylaws & articles of incorporation and reviewing liability issues to protect the organization. They are working with four volunteer lawyers assisting with drafting privacy documents, reviewing the bylaws and making sure that the members funds are being used wisely. They will have a community outreach “tour”, focusing on local events such as the Bluegrass Festival, the rodeo, the Darrington street fair and the Arlington street fair. The display booths will display the equipment that will be mounted on the side of each members’ houses to connect them to the internet and they will have a dollhouse showing where the equipment will be mounted on the buildings.
There will be an ISP simulator utilizing ping pong balls and tubes to assist kids in understanding the complexities of the ISP program.
There will also be a three-fold brochures to hand out and mail to those in the proposed coverage areas. DIUA recently received a $5,000.00 grant toward equipment purchase and are exploring lower costs and alternative ideas. Larger grant providers will cover the greater costs of system deployment. Part of phase I would be to provide service to the town of Darrington first. There are currently 40 members and 4 hardship members. DIUA board meetings are held the first Thursday of each month (7:00 PM at the Darrington firehouse), are open to the public and meeting minutes can be found on their website.
Darrington Collaborative: Paul Wagner said you can almost drive to the Segelson 2.0 site. They are currently doing some GPS mapping work and inventory on the mostly Douglas Fir stand. Matt Medina & Mayor Rankin attended the collaborative summit and gave a short report. Last month they took a tour of Hampton Mill, hosted by Tim Johnson & Angeline Price.
Mansford Grange: Gordy Beil said that the annual plant sale will be held on Saturday, May 5 from 10 AM to 3 PM. The harvest festival has been moved one week later to Saturday, October 20. Plans are being made for next year’s 100th anniversary and activities will be announced at a later date.
Oso Women’s Auxiliary: Marla Skaglund reminded us of the Oso garage sale to be held on May 5 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the Oso fire station. There will be tables for community projects and the bookmobile will be there from 10:00 AM to noon during the sale and they are hoping that the bookmobile will return throughout the summer for the kids.
Darrington Fire Dept: Drew Bono reported that there were135 calls to date, some being minor collisions. The event season was discussed…the Easter egg hunt was a huge success. The fire dept awards banquet was held last Saturday. The fishing derby at Fortson Pond is coming up at 6 AM on April 28. There are five locals attending “Wildland Firefighter II” for firefighter training. They are also sending at least two people for EMT training this summer. There will be another fire levy this coming August as FD operating costs increase daily. Efforts are being made at reducing costs in addition to securing future grants by partnering with local non-profits. Improvements must be made to the Whitehorse Community Center and they are looking at federal grants requiring matching funds. They are working with local event planners to participate in the street fair, the July 4th parade and post-parade celebration and fireworks bluegrass festival, Meltdown, etc.
Darrington Library: Asheley Bryson reported that Friends of the Library will hold their annual book sale this coming Saturday from 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM. April 17th was the “Bike for Books” talks and there were two bike winners. The business class that was originally scheduled for April 14 has been rescheduled for April 28. There will be another “starting a home-based business” class on May 12. She discussed the upcoming library levy and answered pertinent questions.
HWY 530 Mudslide Memorial Project: Martha reported that Chalamar raised $888.00 for the memorial fund (the fund requires $6 mil for project completion). There will be a meeting held by the county at the Darrington Community Center on Thursday, April 19 to inform the community of the their plans for the memorial site and all are encouraged to attend. Martha suggested that additional funds could be raised via a community garage sale and solicited other ideas for raising funds, such as a music festival.
Good of the Order: Mayor Rankin reported that the four planters in front of Town Hall will be filled with edibles planted by GPI kids later this spring.
Our next meeting will be May 16 and we’ll be meeting some of our locally crafted and produced businesses!
In Attendance:
Members:
Asheley Bryson
Dan Rankin
Dave Bell
Drew Bono
Gordy Beil
Jacob Kukuk
Joanne Milton
Ken Milton
Kevin Ashe
Marla Skaglund
Martha Rasmussen
Mathew Medina
Olga Kukuk
Paul Wagner
Rick Knight
Ron Wolff
Steve Somsen
Guest:
Olga Kukuk
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