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General Meeting July 19, 2017

President Martha Rasmussen opened the meeting with introductions

Treasurer Report: Steve Somsen – The balance is $**,055.55 inclusive of all DS Divisions & Committees.

Division Reports:

· DARA – Kevin reported that DARA is still waiting for paperwork and communications to come for the Pave The Loop Project. The feasibility funding has come through. Martha added that the Geologist and Geo Tech Engineer has been on the damaged portion of the Circle Creek Road and will be drawing up a plan to submit to the Forest Service. One big leap forward to getting this road reopened.

· FFPU – Martha reported that volunteer work-parties are ongoing on the White Chuck Ridge / Upper Conn Road, FSR #2435. This road has become very brushy and has had some visibility problems. They left off on this road last fall and are back up working again. It has been a long wait this year for the snow to melt off.

· FNM – Rick reported that there have been some work-parties up at the lookout. Interior painting has been getting done. A little snafu installing the lightning arrester system as when this was sent to FNM some parts were missing. The goal will be to open the lookout as a rental by 2018.

Committee Reports:

· Darrington Business Round Table – JoAnn reported that there have been a lot of good things said about the new Darrington Street Fair. Her committee is already working on plans for the 2018 Darrington Street Fair! The next Darrington Businesses Round Table Meeting will be on August 28th, 7pm at the Mountain Loop Books & Coffee.

· Visual Impact, Dot Park – Martha reported that the new trees at the park have been handling the hot summer pretty well. There is still a lot of planting to do this fall. We now have a volunteer mowing the grass. Only two small grass fires for the park this 4th of July which is better than last year. This fall we’ll be raffling two quilts donated by Jimmie King as a fund raiser for the park!

Other Reports:

· Ashley gave a report for the upcoming Darrington Library events. There’s always something going on at our library! Developing your business classes starting off with Social Media Marketing For Creative Professional on July 29th, 1 to 3pm.

· Nils “Buster” Landin introduced himself to the group and explained how the Sauk-Suiattle Tribe have been working on a disaster preparedness program. As we all know now disaster can happen in our remote locations! We hope to be learning more about this.

· Jacob Kukuk spoke about the proposed Darrington Internet Users Association. Darrington Internet Users Association (DIUA) is a project to establish local not for profit internet service around Darrington, WA. We plan to develop the system to run an Internet Service Provider (ISP) locally with volunteers as the backbone of the project. DIUA will Improve Access, Enhance Public Safety, and Enable Commerce

New Business:

· Darrington Street Fair Raffle – PJ explained how the raffle happening during the Darrington Street Fair worked. This was sponsored by the Red Top Tavern and proceeds will go to a family in need. PJ purchased a ticket for Darrington Strong and we won a whiskey barrel coffee table created by craftsman Todd Schmidt. We will be raffling this coffee table as a fundraiser.

· New Whitehorse Park Collaborative – The DS Board passed a motion to put together a collaborative for the future vision and development of the park. The motion reads as: “I move that Darrington Strong create a Whitehorse Park Collaborative to encourage local groups and residents to identify the best use of the park for both short term and long term use”. This collaborative will create collectively working to support projects, have a better understanding what community members and other stakeholders want to see in the development of this park. Amy Lucas, Snohomish County Parks & Recreation Senior Planner, gave a report on plans and progress happening both for the Whitehorse Park and Whitehorse Trail. We will be scheduling a field trip out to the Whitehorse Park

In Attendance:
Marla Skaglund
Amy Lucas
PJ Wieferich
Ken Milton
Toni Larson
JoAnn Milton
Ashley Bryson
Steve Somsen
Sylvia Stauffer
Rick Knight
Gordy Beil
Ron Wolff
Kevin Ashe
Paul Wagner

Guest:
Loki Smith Apple
Tasha Smith
Nils “Buster” Landin
Jacob Kukuk

Our Next Meeting is August 16, 2017