Sister Cities

APPROVED 11/09/23 Sister Cities Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes September 14, 2023 In Attendance: Amanda Logan, Lisa Armstrong, Laura Combs, Rae Moss, Jim Francis Not Present: Cindy Ozaki and Chloe Doucette Action Items ● Roll Call and Confirmation of Quorum o Roll was taken and quorum established. o Discussion: City Council will soon be voting on a non-voting member for the advisory committee. They will be in higher ed. Amy Brumfield will be presented to the council. Charlotte will be taking Stephanie’s place as the youth association representative. The City is currently looking for a member of the business community to take her place. Still have a position available for a person who will be a local service club representative. Recommend looking for a current active member from Rotary. Rae will be resigning so we will need a new INL representative. ● Approval of August 10, 2023 Meeting Minutes o Rae moved to approve. Laura seconded the motion. Motion passed. ● Election of Vice Chair o Amanda recommends we have a vice chair as per the code. Vice chair duties would include financial review and reimbursements to go to Karla. - Lisa volunteers. o Laura moved that Lisa be the Chair of the Sister Cities Advisory Committee. Ray seconded. Motion passed unanimously. ● Approval of Distribution of Funds Raised at 8/19/23 Farmers Market to Youth and Adult Associations o Review Farmer’s Market community outreach. Youth Association made a big difference. We were surprised by the number of people who participated. Thanks to Chloe and the organization of the craft. o Raised $92.00 in Venmo and $101.00 in cash. Chloe transferred the Venmo funds to Amanda. o Lisa moved to have Amanda give $96.50 to each association to be used as they see fit. Laura seconded. Motion passed unanimously. o Article in Post Register on the youth was a great highlight with photos. David Pace is also aware of upcoming events and will work with Eric for upcoming PR connections. o Note: Number of children and families who were excited. Rae ran into Rick from KPVI and they talked about Sister Cities. Rae recommend connecting KPVI representative with the city publics information officer. o Questions we would like to have clarified: ▪ May Youth and Adult Associations reach out to the media directly? ▪ Should city council advisory committee members only will work through the city public information officer? o Banner: Youth Association and Adult Association able to use it at any time. It will be housed at the City Hall. Associations should contact Amanda when they want to use the banner.  APPROVED 11/09/23 Discussion Items ● Review of FY23 Expenditures: o Amanda has recorded reimbursements within google sheets. She noticed we are under-spending with 50% of it currently not being spent. Discussion of adult association spending. Note: will Yellowstone bus really cost $300? Still need “placeholders” for the upcoming expenditures like the reception and hotel costs. Appreciated the estimates from Tom Pizza and recommend estimates for other items as well. (e.g. association getting estimates for breakfasts). o Will take $54.00 from the youth association to pay for the community outreach over expenditure. o Receipts are submitted and approved, but reimbursements have not yet been received. Amanda thinks she need to resubmit them. We need clarity on how people will receive their reimbursements. o Adult association (Cindy) must provide placeholders with specifics for the budget. Amanda will send the accounting of what has already been spent as well as what to expect to Bud and Karla with cc to Jim. ● FY 2024 is fully approved $15,000 o At next meeting we will review the budget process and continue on outreach ideas. ● Committee’s Role in the Tokai-Mura, Japan Adult Delegation’s Visit o Clarify: City to City gift will be a painting by DeAnn Halley o Mayor to Mayor will be a photo of Friendship Garden o Sister City to Sister City gift will be a photo from the Adult Association. o Email from Cindy Ozaki on September 14 “The Advisory Committee is invited to attend City Day on Friday, October 29. We start at City Hall at 8:50 with a meeting with the Mayor,council members and directors available in Council Chambers. Business dress. We are touring the new police station but there is very limited space so only some Sister Cities members and the delegation will be allowed. We will then proceed to the library to view the Sister Cities gift exhibit (12:05) and lunch at the library (12:30). We will walk to IF Power for a presentation (1:25) and then be in the Friendship Garden for a tree planting (1:50) at 2:35 we'll go to the Community Food Basket for a presentation. The delegates will then go back to their homestays at 3:25. I just need to know if you plan to be at the library for lunch. We also start on time as we have a full schedule and the Japanese are very prompt (part of their culture). Sunday afternoon there will be a picnic with the JACL and the IFSCY groups. The Committee is invited to attend. Please let me know if you are coming and if your family will also attend. I will need a headcount. The picnic is at Tautphaus Park Shelter 1 from 4-6 PM. The Committee is invited to the community reception on Monday, October 2, 6-8 PM at The Art Museum. Each of you were mailed an invitation. You may also bring your spouse. Please RSVP. The reception is business formal and the official gift exchange occurs at this event. There will be 100-150 people at the event. On Wednesday, October 4, we will be touring CTEC from 1-2:30 PM. The Committee is invited to attend. Business casual dress.”  APPROVED 11/09/23 o September 29: We would like as many committee members as possible to show up. Ask the group to reply to Cindy’s email and let her know what we will be attending. Hope Amanda can carve out the day and be there the entire day with the delegation. We hope to invite the city council staff and members to be part of the reception. o Amanda and Jim will speak at the afternoon picnic. o Community Reception on Monday at the art museum which is adult only. Invitees include community and civic leaders. Recommend ensuring CEI president and the school district superintendents. The committee may want to reflect on the event and the people involved. We may be able to identify ways to increase outreach after participating. (e.g. airport welcome committee, consider how to use the Sister-Cities Banner at places like the City Hall and picnic) o Possibly purchase Japanese flags for future events- laminated images, small flags ● Sister Cities Youth Association Report: o Working on preparations for upcoming picnic, winter carnival o Currently have 5-6 involved families with 10 kids participating. Would like the City committee to help brainstorm ways to bring in families.. YAS would like more parents and kids to join. This will sustain the group. Next meeting: how can we grow the enrollment? ● Upcoming Outreach Opportunities: o First complete the upcoming adult visit and then we will work on building the restDoes the Chambers visitors center say anything about the Friendship Garden? o What other organizations can we partner with in order to build knowledge and visibility? o Hotel flyer idea ● Thank you to Rae for serving. ● Date and Agenda for next meeting: o October 12th 5:30 next meeting; location: Amanda will email Bud to get the City Hall o Budget- turning in receipts o Read out from Cindy on Adult o Come with ideas for outreach for youth enrollment and building connection with residents and visitors. Adjourn Seeing no further business, the meeting adjourned at 6:44PM