Sister Cities

APPROVED 08.08.24 SISTER CITIES ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES 05.09.2024 Meeting held in the President’s Conference Room (Room 310A) in Building 3 (aka Christofferson Building) at College of Eastern Idaho (1600 S 25th E Idaho Falls, ID 83404) and remotely via Zoom. ACTION ITEMS 5:42 PM Roll Call and Confirmation of Quorum ● In attendance: Amanda Logan, Cindy Ozaki (via Zoom), Laura Combs, Jake Durtschi, Jim Francis, Sunny Katseanes, Lisa Armstrong (joined late via Zoom) ● Absent: Chloe Doucette, Jeremy Crook, Charlotte Combs, Catherine Smith ● Welcome to Sunny Katseanes whose application to fill the INL representative slot on the Sister Cities Advisory Committee is pending before the City Council! Approval of March 14, 2024 Meeting Minutes ● Motion to approve the March 14, 2024 Meeting Minutes made by Jake Durtschi. and seconded by Laura Combs. Motion passed unanimously. Approval of April 11, 2024 Meeting Minutes ● Motion to approve the April 11, 2023 Meeting Minutes made by Jake Durtschi. and seconded by Laura Combs. Motion passed unanimously. Approval of Reimbursements ● Youth Association: $23.11 in printing expenses for posters and brochures. o The Youth Association submitted the receipt for the printing expenses to the Committee/City in advance of the meeting. o The Committee had previously discussed that this expense could come from the Community Outreach line in the budget. o Motion to approve $23.11 to reimburse the Youth Association for printing expenses from the Community Outreach budget made by Cindy Ozaki and seconded by Jake Durtschi. Motion passed unanimously. ● Adult Association: $1,197.01 in administrative expenses, broken down as follows: $159.90 for an annual Zoom account; $860.00 for an annual liability insurance payment; $5.01 for certified mail to send in the liability insurance payment; $176.00 for an annual post office box rental o The Adult Association submitted receipts for the above expenses to the City/Committee in advance of the meeting. o The Committee had previously discussed that these expenses could come from the Administrative Costs line in the budget. o Motion to approve a total of $1,197.01 to reimburse the Adult Association for an annual Zoom account$159.90, an annual liability insurance payment ($860.00), certified mail to send in the liability insurance payment $5.01, and an annual post office box rental $176.00 from the Administrative Costs budget line made by Jake Durtschi. and seconded by Laura Combs. Motion passed unanimously.  APPROVED 08.08.24 Approval of Local Educator Grant Application ● Tabled until LIsa Armstrong could be present. DISCUSSION ITEMS Updates from City ● The City requested three spots during the Adult Association's visit to Tokai-Mura (October 30th - November 8th) for the purpose of building economic ties. Report from Sister Cities Adult Association ● The Adult Association is continuing with planning for their upcoming visit to Tokai-Mura. Report from Sister Cities Youth Association ● $1,260 was raised through the Snow Eagle fundraiser last month! ● The May 10th Cherry Blossom fundraiser went well! Thanks to all who supported and attended the event. ● The Sister Cities gift basket went over well at the Symphony Gala silent auction. Thanks to Adult Association member Linda Milam for the beautiful items that she donated, which Laura combined with other Japanese items to make a beautiful basket. ● The Japanese youth will be here July 26th to August 5th and the Youth Association is preparing to host them, with Zooms with TOkai taking place to help with the planning. ACTION ITEM TABLED UNTIL PRESENTER WAS AVAILABLE Approval of Local Educator Grant Application ● The Local Educator Grant application was circulated to Committee members ahead of the meeting and Lisa provided an overview during the meeting. ● Lisa Armstrong reported that a maximum award amount of $250 per grant should allow for the educators to do something meaningful with the award. All grants will be approved by the Committee based on budget availability. ● Lisa will distribute the Local Educator Grant application to the local school district and charter schools and the Committee will review applications at an upcoming meeting. In the future, Lisa would like the applications/notice about the applications to be given to educators in April in order for teachers to have more time to apply. ● Motion to approve the Local Educator Grant application made by Jake Durtschi. and seconded by Cindy Ozaki. Motion passed unanimously. DISCUSSION ITEMS, CONTINUED Community Outreach Opportunities ● Youth Association Social Media Marketing o No updates at this time. ● Friendship Garden Sign o No updates at this time. ● Fall 2024 Museum of Idaho Minidoka Exhibit o No updates at this time. ● Potential Exhibit at The Art Museum of Eastern Idaho o No updates at this time.  APPROVED 08.08.24 ● Potential Sponsorships from and Involvement with Local Businesses o Jake has communicated with several local businesses about getting involved with/making donations or sponsorships in support of the Sister Cities exchanges.This will need to be an ongoing conversation with the businesses to help them see the benefit of getting involved. Discussion around increasing awareness of and publicity around Sister Cities events and exchanges as well as whether businesses could be invited to an event. ● Booth at June 15th Community Heritage Festival, just north of the Farmer’s Market o The City invited the Sister Cities Association to have a booth similar to what we did at the Farmers Market last summer. ▪ Amanda to send a signup genius around to the Committee for shifts of volunteers as follows; Adult and Youth Association members more than welcome to volunteer: ● 9:00 - 11:00 AM (includes setup; Festival officially starts at 9:30AM) ● 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM ● 1:00 - 3:00 PM (includes takedown/cleanup; Festival officially ents at 2:30 PM) ▪ Museum of Idaho to supply the Koi fish for the craft activity ▪ Amanda to secure a popup tent. ▪ Jake to supply the tables and chairs. ▪ The Sister Cities banner and other necessary supplies used last summer at the Farmer’s Market are stored in City Hall and will need to be picked up ahead of time. o All are also invited to the Willard Arts Hall on June 19th for a diversity celebration event. Doors open at 6:00 PM (art and cupcakes). Programming begins at 7:00 PM. ● New outreach idea: Helping draw publicity when the Library switches out the Japanese exhibits in its lobby. FY 2025 Budget ● The FY 2023 Sister Cities budget overseen by this Committee and approved by the City Council was $11,000. This year (FY 2024) it is $15,000 and was increased in part due to the work of this Committee. ● Discussion about what the FY 2025 budget should include: o $3,000 for Administrative Costs (up from $2,406 in FY 2024 and $1,000 in FY 2023) o $5,000 for Community Outreach (up from $ 2,000 in FY 2024 and $1,000 in FY 2023; Increase largely due to the planned sign for the Friendship Garden) o $8,500 for Hosting Costs (up from $7,700 in FY 2024 and $7,000 in FY 2023) o $3,500 for Visiting Costs (up from $2,894 in FY 2024 and $2,000 in FY 2023) o $1,000 for translation services for the Mayor to use with her correspondence with Tokai Mura. This would be a new line in the budget. ● It will be helpful to demonstrate to the City Council how the FY 2024 and FY 2023 budgets were spent when making this request.  APPROVED 08.08.24 Date and Agenda Items for Next Meeting ● Next meeting: Thursday, June 13th at 5:30PM in the President’s Conference Room in Building 3 at College of Eastern Idaho. ● Agenda items: o Review and approve the FY 2025 Budget o Review and approve Local Educator Grant applications. o Review and approve and reimbursements, if applicable o Standing updates from City, Adult Association and Youth Association o Updates on community outreach opportunities, with a focus on finalizing plans for our booth at the Cultural Heritage Festival on June 15th. ADJOURNMENT 6:55 PM