Graham Revitalization Economic Action Team Minutes

July 19, 2012

Location and Sponsor:  Robbinsville High School, Graham County Schools

Welcome/Introductions

A.      Welcome:  Claudie Burchfield, GREAT Chairperson welcomed everyone to the meeting and recognized first-time attendees.

B.      Call Meeting to Order:  Claudie Burchfield, GREAT Chairperson, called the meeting to order.

General Items

A.      Approval of Minutes of Previous Meeting:  The minutes from the May 24, 2012 meeting were approved with a motion by Dave Dodson and   second by Alicia Parham.

B.      Approval of the Agenda:  The agenda for the July 19, 2012 meeting was approved with a motion from Rhonda Anderson and a second by Alicia Parham.

After approval of the agenda, Jill Lieberman read letter from Governor Perdue congratulating GREAT and recognizing the involvement of many citizens in work on revitalization activities for the Town of Robbinsville. 

Guest Speakers

Chris Joyell, Asheville Design Center and David Salvesen, UNC-CH Center for Sustainable Community Design were guest speakers for the meeting.  Asheville Design Center presented renderings of locally-lead ideas for revitalization of Main Street, Rodney Orr Bypass, and a proposed greenway and sidewalk system for Robbinsville. After the presentation, a question and answer session was conducted related to the renderings.

After the presentation, Rick Davis spoke of the history of the project, the accomplishments to date and the needs in the near future for partnerships to see the ideas presented come to fruition.

Reports/Discussion Items

A.      Committee Reports

  To allow time for the guest speakers, committee reports were provided via handout for today’s meeting.

B.       GREAT Financial Report—Pam Shaffer

Ø      Pam Shaffer presented the financial report.

C.       County Updates

Ø      Greg Cable spoke about fiber optic cable work in the county to reduce redundancy and complete a communication loop that could potentially make Graham County the most “connected” county in NC. He also reported that the comprehensive transportation plan would be beginning soon.

D.      Regional Updates

Ø      Sandy Zimmerman provided updates from Congressman Shuler’s office, emphasizing the role of the office in advocating for the needs of this area. She also spoke of a 5-year, $700,000 grant for entrepreneurship skill training for WNC that was awarded to WCU.

Ø      Freddie Harrell informed the group of a streetscape grant opportunity with the National Endowment for the Arts.

Ø      John Mitchell provided updates from Representative Burr’s office, especially on a ¼ trillion dollar Farm Bill.

Ø      Mike Sabad with Alcoa provided an update on the purchase of the Tapoco division. The Tapoco division of Alcoa was purchased by Brookfield Renewable Energy Projects and all 34 employees of the Tapoco division will keep their jobs. The Cheoah Dam is also continuing work on the $140 million modernization project and now has 2 generators running.

Ø      TJ  Holland Director of the Junaluska Museum congratulated the group on the revitalization efforts, offered to partner with the group on the efforts, and provided information about potential funding with Cherokee Cultural Resource office.

Ø      Other updates were provided by Pam Hysong with the USDA, Jill Lieberman with Governor Perdue’s office, Amy Hollifield with the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, Judi Jetson with Handmade in America, and Leigh Pettus with Manna Foodbank.

Announcements

Director’s Report—Rick Davis

Ø      Rick thanked Alcoa for their partnership and generous support of GREAT and expressed interest in partnering with Brookfield.

Ø      Brush Fork Annual Institute, September 12-14, 2012, Berea College.

Ø      GREAT Board of Directors meeting August 13, 2012.

Ø      Next GREAT meeting September 20, 2012, Phillips and Jordan.

Adjourn

Graham county is a place where traditional Appalachian culture lives, people flourish and businesses thrive and prosper