Minutes from October 27 Board Meeting

First quarter financial reports were presented but could not be approved because we did not have a quorum.

Presentation: Children and Nature Network (C&NN) Program Manager Lee Baker presented information about the project the C&NN is undertaking with the SunRay branch Library.  C&NN was founded by Robert Louv, author of The Last Child in the Woods – about the effects of depriving children access to the natural world. The organization has a series of programs that bring children and nature together in efforts to build leadership, healthy activity, and literacy. The project at our library will involve bringing literacy-promotion activities into the parklands around the library and Conway Rec Center. There will be a series of focus groups with identified communities in the area to help define cultural relationships with nature and to develop a curriculum around wanted and needed activities. Then in May of 2015 there will be a celebration of the roll-out of the curriculum that will include the planting of 50-60 trees in the park. Both the Mayor and Robert Louv are expected to attend the May celebration. The redesign of the library incorporates various themes about nature with an outdoor children’s reading/play area. The SunRay branch of the library is being used as a model of a “Nature Library” that will be evaluated and applied in other cities in the future. C&NN is in partnership with both 3M and Wells Fargo, in addition to the community here, as it develops the curriculum and defines activities.

Attendees were reminded that the grand re-opening of SunRay Library will be Saturday, November 15 from 1-5p. There will be an opportunity there for residents to weigh in on the types of activities they would like to see at the Library and in the park.

Residents Tharbs and Harper introduced themselves. They, along with Ali (not in attendance) are seeking to fill vacancies on our board created by the departures of Xiong, McDonough, and Nixon. Because we did not have a quorum, we could not take action on this request.

Sawyer discussed the departure of staff member Young and the process underway to hire a new Youth Organizer. The award of our grant from McNeely Foundation enables us to increase hours for the Organizer, and to shift funds so that the Exec Director/Organizer can also have increased hours. This reforming of the staffing plan will allow us to increase the overall weekly coverage by two full days per week.

Leach presented the draft budget and workplan for first discussion. A final draft of each will be brought back at the November meeting for final approval.

The November Board Meeting will be November 24 at 6:30 at a location to be determined.

Meeting adjourned at 7:43p