White Mountains Land Trust
Board Meeting, March 11, 2008

Minutes


Attendees: Board members: Jim Anderson, Norris Dodd, and Sue Sitko. Jim Anderson held Richard Remington’s proxy; Sue Sitko held Dottie Baker’s proxy. The Board then had a quorum. Other attendees: John Vuolo, Pinetop-Lakeside Parks and Recreation Department Director.

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. The minutes from the February 12 Board meeting were reviewed and approved with no correction, with Norris making the motion and Sue seconding.

Treasurer’s report. Norris presented the Treasurer’s report. The Compass checking account received little activity this past month. The latest balance is $7,301.00, which included an addition of $300.00 from Red Devil Pizza for a “Walk for the Park” sponsorship. Norris succeeded at transferring monies from the Trust’s and Save Our Park’s online PayPal donations, and moved $500.00 (the maximum amount allowed for transfer at any one time) to the checking account from donations to the Trust. The Save Our Park campaign has had no activity other than a $23.97 donation through the PayPal system ($25.00 minus the PayPal fee), which was also transferred. The SOP account now holds $14,075.15. Norris also moved these funds to a money-market account making 4% interest, improving the interest gained from the original savings account (<1% interest). The Wells Fargo stock portfolio has lost $22,375.05 in value (9.8%) due to the market fluctuation, with a February 29 balance of $208,447.65. The Wells Fargo money market account has a balance of $8,247.22, an increase of $3.15 from last month.

Action Item: Norris will provide the SOP account information to the Town per our MOU in order for the Town to also track this account.

Adopt-A-Highway. Norris announced that the Arizona Department of Transportation finally approved the Trust’s Adopt-A-Highway application.

Next steps needed by the Board:

Pine Lake Meadow. Norris provided an update on the Pine Lake Meadow development. The development consists of multiple phases. The majority of Phase 1 has been completed, and the developer is in the process of obtaining final approval for the remainder of Phase 1. Preliminary approval for this part of Phase 1 was granted at the November 1, 2007 Town Council meeting, and was based on the developer meeting 12 conditions in 90 days. The next decision-making vote has been scheduled for Thursday, March 20, where the Council will review the status of those 12 conditions. This part of Phase 1 consists of developing additional townhomes adjacent to already-existing townhomes in an upland area. Phase 2 of this development is planned for the wetland/meadow parcel. This parcel holds the headwaters of Walnut Creek and has a high value as open space for both the Town and the surrounding homeowners.

Both the last part of Phase 1 and Phase 2 are controversial with many residents and surrounding homeowners. Three homeowner associations are working together to look at various options for compensating the developer for not developing Phase 2, thereby protecting the wet meadow. The Trust is looking to partner with these homeowners and possibly the Town to identify and pursue alternatives to ensure protection of the majority of the wet meadow for open space purposes. The Trust will track Council action on Phase 1, which has been scheduled for the Town Council meeting on March 20.

Norris indicated that the Army Corps of Engineers has yet to set up a public meeting to discuss the potential impacts associated with the filling of the wet meadow in Phase 2. He will continue to track Corps action.

Action Item: Board members may want to consider attending the March 20 Council meeting (7:00 p.m., Town Council chambers).

Open Space Assessment. Sue Sitko provided an update on the Pinetop-Lakeside’s Open Space Assessment that is being conducted by The Nature Conservancy. Preliminary review by several entities and individuals occurred in February, including Pinetop-Lakeside town staff and Council. Several comments were received, which will be incorporated into the document. Most, if not all, comments were positive. The focus of the Conservancy’s efforts in March and April will be to develop site descriptions, maps, and conceptual designs for each of the 25 parcels, and to continue refining the Introduction text.

John Vuolo provided an update on a meeting held Monday, March 10 between John, Mary Ellen Bittorf and John Jarchow (both representing the White Mountain Nature Center), and some members of the Rhoton family to discuss the future of the Rhoton Barn property (one of the Town’s priority open space parcels), which is held in a trust by several extended family members. The Rhoton family appeared interested in leaving a legacy by protecting that property in some form, which could potentially be a Town gateway historical park. Due to the numerous family members affiliated with the family’s trust, the Rhoton family members participating in this meeting promised to set up a discussion with the entire trust between now and June 2008 to seek unanimous support for such action. The Town, Nature Center, and the WMLT will follow up with the Rhoton family in June.

Action Item: A member of the Board should represent the WMLT at the next meeting with the Rhoton family.

5K Walk for the Park pledges. John Vuolo presented three additional $300.00 sponsorships for the June 7 Walk for the Park event. Two of the three were from Cellular One ($600.00), and one was from Summit Healthcare ($300.00). The Red Devil Pizza sponsorship had already been included earlier in the Treasurer’s report, thereby bringing $1,200.00 to the effort.

Save Our Park mailings. Dottie has agreed to take over the follow-up thank-you letters and DVD mailings for SOP donations from Sue, which will occur sometime in late March. Dottie will work with Norris and Sue to get her computer system prepared, and both Dottie and Lindy Sayward will assume this responsibility. Thank you, Dottie and Lindy!

Action Item: Sue and Norris will meet with Dottie upon her return to review the procedure.

New Board Member nomination. Dottie informed the Board via e-mail that Lindy Sayward is interested in becoming a Board member. Due to Lindy being out of town, and having only three Board members present, it was felt that a discussion and vote on Lindy’s Board member application be postponed until the April meeting, where hopefully more Board members and Lindy can attend.

Action Item: Jim will follow up with Dottie to ensure Lindy is invited to the April 8 Board meeting. The Board also would like to obtain Lindy’s contact information.

Earth Day celebration. Many individuals have formed a committee to initiate the first annual “White Mountain Earth Day Celebration” (Lindy Sayward is also on this committee), which will be held Saturday, April 19, at the Show Low campus of Northland Pioneer College. This committee is asking many organizations to participate by hosting a booth for the public. The Board discussed and approved hosting a booth for the event. The booth may also be shared with The Nature Conservancy. The Board also discussed the potential for a “cluster” of numerous local entities to become involved, including the Nature Center, the SOP committee, the Town’s Open Space Committee, etc.

Action Items: Sue will register the Trust’s booth with Chair Kay Dyson. Dottie Baker was tasked with ensuring the SOP committee was aware of this opportunity.

Trust for Public Land. The Trust for Public Land will be meeting with the Woodland Lake Park Steering Committee at 9:00 a.m., Thursday, March 20 (Town Council chambers), to initiate a discussion and action plan for the Town of Pinetop-Lakeside to solicit and obtain input from its residents on the alternatives for Town acquisition of the Woodland Lake Park Tract and also the Town’s general open space desires. This is a critical step in determining the level of support by the community for supporting and funding open space needs. Sue and Norris, who both are involved in the Woodland committee, requested that members of the Board attend this meeting. Jim volunteered to attend, and the entire Board is encouraged to attend this critical meeting.


Action Item: Board members should try to attend this meeting.

White Mountain Nature Center land acquisition funding. Norris provided an update on the Center’s plan for raising funds for fully acquiring the land recently purchased from D. Mattice. The Center came to the Trust’s March meeting to ask for $100,000 to assist in this purchase, and the Board requested the Center provide a detailed fundraising plan for the rest of the monies required (approximately $250,000). Norris indicated that the Center is still working on a plan, which should be ready for our review soon.

The Board postponed any decision for committing these funds, but did approve that we could design a letter of commitment or intent to provide the requested donation, which could include stipulations regarding the need for other funds to be in place prior to distributing the Trust’s funds, or some other actions determined by the Board. This letter would be very useful for the Center to use in grant applications and donor requests, as it will act as a “pledge” or “challenge” for others to help meet the Center’s goals.

Action Item: Jim will draft a letter for Board review at the April 8 Board meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.

Minutes taken by Sue Sitko