The Benton Partnership
Minutes March 11, 2016
The March 11, 2016 meeting of The Benton Partnership was called to order by Vice Chair Elena Blevins at 8:30 AM in the Council Room of Benton City Hall.
Members in attendance were:
Gene Gilliland Sherra Riley Dian Temple Tina Fox
Elena Blevins Tim Ferrell Dave Puckett Ann Riley
Lisa Peck Dallas Peck Mayor Dotson
Minutes of the previous meeting were delivered to the members electronically by secretary Ann Riley. Vice Chair Blevins declared the minutes approved.
The Financial Report was distributed both electronically and in hard copy by treasurer, Tina Fox reflecting four new memberships for 2016, Long & Long PLLC, DQ Grill & Chill, Pinnacle, Inc., and Morgan, Trevathan & Gunn, Inc. There were no receipts for this month. The new balance is $10,409.2. It was noted that all the Christmas lights have been paid for. Dave Puckett presented a bill for the removal of the Christmas lights in the amount of $4,294 which included $660.00 for the rental of a crane and Elena Blevins presented a bill in the amount of $725.00 for the ad in the Travel Guide. Motion to accept this report was made by Gene Gilliland, second by Lisa Peck. Motion carried. Treasurer, Tina Fox is compiling a Directory of paid members.
Old Business:
MCAC:
Ann Riley reported that the Children’s Art Show which will be on display at the Center this month has been very successful. Children from every school in the county participated. There was an appreciation reception held in honor of the art teachers throughout the county held on Wednesday afternoon and considering the weather that day the attendance could be considered “huge”.
Master Plan Update:
Gene Gilliland reported that he had been in contact with Benton Mayor, Rita Dotson, Murray State Regional Outreach Director, Gina Winchester, and Marshall County Judge Kevin Neal about assessing the needs of our city and to develop a vision to attract people and businesses and to develop civic pride. His plan is to involve and receive input from many partners including but not limited to civic clubs, Tourist Commission, Arts Commission, city and county leaders, etc. Mayor Dotson is getting him a map. He reported that grants from the NEA must begin with SAM (System for Award Management) which is a form that they require in order to participate
Membership:
Ann Riley reported that Kayla Teckenbrock had asked her to share the fact that we have a new business on the square who actually inquired about our organization. It is a maintenance and retail sales of printers and copiers and run by Jim Dema who is a former employee of Zerox. It will be located on the corner beside MTG. We decided to make personal calls to all our new members and ask them to attend our meetings. Volunteers were designated to visit specific new members. A “welcome basket” was also discussed.
Updated Business List:
Mayor Dotson will check on the time frame for the completion of this.
Cruise-In Report:
Update on Tee shirt art work:
Lisa Peck reported that Jeff Sills is not available to work on the design at this time but that she had contacted Eric at Kennedys and had worked with Trista and a new graphic designer and they think this can be completed timely. She is in need of large boxes for storage for the Cruise Ins. Several volunteers spoke up that they could help with this need. A new sponsor is Bob Ferrell with Sheafer’s Lub & Oil. She also needs a map to share with the Swap Meet vendors showing the location of the Meet.
New Business:
Supper on the Square was discussed with a lot of interest and questions and concerns about how we could do this. Ann Riley reported that Kayla Teckenbrock has met with Lizzy Wood who is forming an organization called Kentucky Lake Farmers Market and is very interested in working with us. We will invite her to our meeting when Kayla returns.
A “Local Shopping Campaign” was brought to our attention by Mayor Dotson. She had been approached by Rachel Keller who wanted to do a “Shop Local” event but was told that it was not news but if someone could “kick off” a local event then it would be newsworthy. As this is something that fits with our purposes it seems that we are the logical ones to undertake this. Elena Blevens volunteered to serve on a committee to plan this along with David Puckett (or his designee) and Rita Dotson (or her designee) and Wendy Baxter and Kayla Teckenbrock.
Reminder:
Benton City Council will meet at 5 PM on March 21, 2016.
Adjourn: Motion to adjourn was made by Tina Fox.