July 2021 minutes

Baker Chamber of Commerce Minutes - July 8, 2021, Tavern

Members present: Jade Boggs, Tammy O’Donnell, Karol & Steve Zachmann, Alissa Miller, Vaughn Zenko, Dean Wang, Trish Barth, Mary Lou Ryden, Rolph Tunby, Jane O’Connor, Beth Epley, Roy & Melissa Rost

President Jade Boggs called the meeting to order.

Alissa moved and Vaughn seconded to approve June minutes. All in favor. Minutes approved

Financial: Karol has an appointment at Rachel’s Accounting on July 20 to do the audit. LIFFT joined the chamber.

OLD BUSINESS:

Joint Executive Director Position: There are 4 applicants so far. Jade, Dean and Alissa will be on the hiring committee. They will do interviews when the SMART board members get back from vacation.

Rec Dept.: The Rec director would be a separate position from the Executive Director. A group met with the County Commissioners and presented the income and expense sheet from the Rec. Dept. in 2017-18. They were receptive to helping, but have to look at some statutes to see what they can do. They also met with the City Council and the city agreed to let us use the equipment and facilities. Will also need to meet with school board about use of facilities.

NEW BUSINESS:

Crazy Days, 3 on 3 basketball tournament: Will be held July 9 & 10. Will have courts by Bank of Baker, and the youth center. Grades 3-6 will be Friday and 7-12 on Saturday. Bike parade will be at 10 a.m. Saturday starting at Russell’s. Police Dept. will escort the parade and hand out treats at the end in Reynolds parking lot. Bank of Baker will have root beer floats Friday. There are 110 contestants registered with 55 games being scheduled between the 2 days.

Fall Festival: October 2. A committee of Karol Zachmann, Steve Zachmann, Beth Epley and Melissa Higbee will meet to start planning.

REPORTS:

Karol Zachmann, FMC: reported that the Lights of Life will be August 8 in the city park. They will also have an Open House for the new providers, Caleb & Brittany Bettenhausen and DeDe Anders.

Steve Zachmann, Mayor City of Baker: The city now has water restrictions. Lawn watering and bulk sale of water are not allowed at this time. The water main project is completed. Replacing surfaces of streets are in progress. They will be 2 weeks by Cenex, July 19-30 at 1st St. & Harriet Ave., and August 2-13 on George Ave. Other areas will be done in August. Wyrick Construction is doing the project. The city agreed to let the Rec Dept. use their equipment. Beth Epley & EPEDC got the city some grants through ARPA. There was one fire reported from fireworks.

Vaughn Zenko, SMART: Great Northern Development and Ingraham Construction are doing the abatement on the Baker State Bank building. After that, the offices will be able to be used. 

EMEDA: They met with childcare providers and recommended drastically scaling down the childcare center project. The current plan could be built in stages with plans to expand in the future.

Alissa Miller, EPEDC: The logo from the Baker Branding Project is finished and ready to be used. Shyla Hadley designed it. Dept. of Ag has grants coming available. Pat Hanley is organizing a Project Market that will start July 10 and run thru September.

Beth Epley, EPEDC: Reimagining Rural will be Sept. 13, 27 & Oct. 4. You have to apply to attend. They are working on ARPA grant applications, City Zoning Regulation Grants and applied for County Growth Policy.

Melissa Rost, O’Fallon Museum: Heritage Fest went well. There were 200+ at the museum and 100+ downtown at the petting zoo. There is a STEM Camp at the lake today and they are having a painting class with Kayla Heiser.

Rolph Tunby, Lions Club: The Lions Club will man the shuttle bus at the fair and help wherever else is needed. August 29, 1946 the Baker Lions Club was chartered. They plan to have a 75th anniversary celebration and were looking for ideas on how to celebrate.

Roy Rost, Fallon County Commissioner: Millennial Sidewalk project is in progress. Parkview One is finishing up the remodel. They are working on finalizing budgets.

Stanton Memorial Golf Tournament is this weekend.

Baker Oilfield Open is July 24. This will be the last one.

Boarzie Softball Tournament (Dave Straub Memorial) will be July 31

Trish moved and Alissa seconded to adjourn the meeting. All in favor. Meeting adjourned.

Next meeting is Thursday, August 5 at noon.