Minutes of the Spring Meeting of the West Liberty Business Association held on April 8, 2008, at the Liberty Gathering Place at 6:30 PM with Bob Rabenstein as the “Master of Ceremonies”.

27 members & guests were present.

Bob Rabenstein welcomed everyone and Willie Yoder gave the invocation. Following the invocation a buffet dinner with a choice of baked steak or chicken, mashed potatoes or a baked potato, green beans, tossed salad, roll, drink and pie was enjoyed by all.

Following the dinner the business meeting was held.

Bob Rabenstein presented a proposal from the Board of Directors that only one annual meeting be held each year in the spring rather than 2 semi-annual meetings in the spring and fall. The Board had discussed this and felt that perhaps there would be more participation if only 1 meeting were held each year. A couple of members commented that they felt having 2 meetings each year was important and they would hate to see only 1 meeting a year. After some discussion Jay King suggested that perhaps personal contact to each member inviting them to attend the meeting might help to increase the attendance. It was finally agreed to let the Board decide taking into consideration the comments that had been made.

A copy of the minutes for the meeting held on April 10, 2007, was given to each person present. Bob Rabenstein asked for an approval of these minutes. The vote was unanimously in favor of approval.

Bob Rabenstein then reviewed the Treasurer’s Report, a copy of which had been provided for each member present. He stated that all bills have been paid and the Checking Account balance is currently $9,968.43. There were no questions and the report was approved as presented. A copy of the report is attached to and made a part of these minutes.

As a follow-up to the previous discussion regarding only having 1 meeting a year Willie Yoder suggested that if each person present were to invite one other business person to the meeting in the fall the attendance would be doubled. The Board agreed to consider this suggestion as well as the others previously made.

Bob Rabenstein reported that presently there are 2 vacancies on the Board due to the resignation of Steve Mast and the expiration of his own term. Two individuals, Marilyn Bowman & Becky Pennington, have been asked and they have agreed to serve on the Board. Bob asked if there were any nominations from the floor. There being none, Marilyn & Becky were unanimously elected to the Board of Directors.

Bob told the membership that the Board had invited several representatives from different local organizations to attend the meeting and share the activities and concerns of their respective organizations so that everyone might be better informed of what is going on in the West Liberty Community as well as some plans for the future.

The first speaker was Greg Hostetler, Mayor of West Liberty representing the Village Council. He shared some of their main priorities and concerns. First were the completion of the Columbus Street project, painting the water tower and complying with the EPA mandates for the Water & Sewer department by the use of already increased water & sewer rates. Second, was the loss of income from the elimination of the Personal Property Tax. Some ideas to help replace the loss of this income are the consideration of a city income tax, working to attract more business to town and encouraging the renovation of the Opera House to attract more people to the community resulting in more income for the local businesses. Greg felt that the Opera House renovation could revitalize the downtown, but it was important to determine how willing the community is to support the project and then make a decision to either proceed with the project or table it. Finally he encouraged attendance by the local community at the Village Council Meetings.

The second speaker was John Simon representing the West Liberty Lions Club. John reviewed the responsibility of the Lions Club for the upkeep of the Lions Park. They are always looking for new projects to pay for the costs of maintaining the park. This not only takes a considerable amount of money but labor from the members as well. As a consequence they are always looking for new members, especially young ones! One source of funds that will need to be replaced is the $3,000.00 they earn from manning the West Liberty recycle center every Saturday. Plans are for the recycle center to become self service with the customer responsible for the separation and drop off of waste to be recycled with no need for any attendants.

The third speaker was Jay King from the Historical Society who enthusiastically talked about the proposed renovation of the Town Hall/Opera House. Interviews with various community members and a recent public meeting suggest that the community is in favor of seeing this project completed. The total cost is estimated to be about $1,800,000.00. Present plans are to first preserve and restore the outside of the building and complete an adjoining addition to the north with money for that part of the project to come from the community. Then the downstairs will be renovated with funds for that part of the renovation to come from grants & donations. Finally the upstairs will be completed with that money also to come from grants & donations. A CD is available for a virtual tour of the completed building. It was suggested that perhaps the building could be made available for public tours. The West Liberty Business Association is sponsoring an Ice Cream Social on June 17^th and the idea was given that perhaps the building could be open for tours during the Ice Cream Social. Jay’s opinion was that since this project has been discussed for so long that now is the time to do it or cancel the project forever.

John Horsley & Mitch Smith from the Mac-o-chee Fast Pitch Association gave the group a report and an invitation to participate in a Girls Softball Tournament that they are sponsoring on June 6^th, 7th and 8^th involving 48 teams participating in games at the Lions Park, Dodge Park & West Liberty-Salem High School during those 3 days. This will bring a large number of people to the West Liberty area with ample opportunities for businesses and organizations to profit. They stressed that West Liberty is a popular location for these participants and that the community can benefit by continuing the spirit of hospitality shown in past years.

Kathy Lowry, President of the West Liberty Business Association gave a presentation concerning several topics. One concern was that the past winter had been tough for many of the local merchants. The increasing number of bus tours stopping in West Liberty will help as would increasing the number of business. There is a definite need for the Business Association, Lions Club and Village officials to continue to work together to keep West Liberty an attractive and desirable place to visit so that the local merchants can continue to stay in business. Some of the support the Business Association gives is the organization, printing and distribution of about 13,500 brochures in the past 2 years. New and updated brochures will soon be printed and distributed. Also, the sponsoring of an Ice Cream Social with the Mac-o-chee Valley Folks performing on July 17^th as well as the activities during the Labor Day weekend, Autumn Fest and the Christmas Season.

The meeting ended with Bob Rabenstein thanking everyone for their attendance and support and having a door prize drawing for the 6 baskets used as centerpieces.

Respectfully,

Stephen H. Mast, Secretary