WILLOW AREA COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION, INC.
WACO meetings are the first Wednesday of every month at 7:00 PM at the Willow Community Center.
WACO Meetings
WACO Community Meeting
The first Wednesday of each month at 7:00 PM
Willow Community Center
Latest News
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WACO Board/Community Meeting 10/6/21
Call to order: 700pm
Quorum - 7 board members and 5 community members
Pledge deferred
August minutes deferred
Agenda accepted – additions added to reports in the consent agenda:
Matt Beck added to persons to be heard.
From the chair - Regarding Liability Insurance, Linda had a phone meeting with Matt and Jennifer Evans of Northern Advantage Agency who are brokers for Church Mutual. This insurance company focuses on non-profits, both 501c3’s & 501c4’s. (We are a 501c4) They would add all of our grooming equipment into the coverage (currently only one piece of owned equipment is covered for loss but they are all covered for use) and they expect that the price will remain about the same as it is with Integra. They are looking into adding coverage for increased use of the ice rink and looking into directors insurance.
Currently we have only the basic insurance which excludes anything not stated as covered. Their goal is for us to get ‘special form’ which covers everything unless it is stated as excluded so would no longer need special event insurance. They will be attending our next meeting with a quote. It sounds very promising. Our policy runs through December 20 so if we decide to switch, hopefully we can just switch over then and only pay one company.
LeeAnn will hold off discussing the tshirt art update until the next carnival meeting.
Youth Forum will meet at Newman Park 7 October at 1pm.
News from the Borough with Tam - 23 October is National Prescription Take Back Day at the community center from 10a - 2pm
18 October is early voting in Houston.
2 November is election day at the elementary school.
Election officials still needed. You can apply to the borough online, training is required and it pays approximately $200.00. Hours are 6a-about 9-10P.
There are 3 candidates on the ballot for mayor but Caudle has pulled out of the race. Tam Boeve and Ron Bernier are running for assembly. Also on the ballot; a $60M road package.
16 November is Mayor Halters last assembly meeting.
The Mat-Su Borough uses a fog machine to disinfect and we could possibly use it before and after WACO meetings.
New business –
Lisa - how should we get back into the community center? We should be able to get back in by 1 November and once we have the building back we can set our own rules. No insurance covers covid but if we do all possible for prevention, we cannot be held liable. So we need to decide what type of guidelines we would like to put in place. As far as anyone knows, no one has filed a claim based on covid. We are also checking into stronger filters.
The Iditarod is going to Nome no matter what. Everyone participating is vaccinated. They are not yet sure about using the community center. They may just use the outdoor areas. We do still have a lot of time to decide how this will affect the community and a lot could change in these months. We will find out when they need to know for sure that they can use the inside or outside. We are also checking to see if we are still on for 1 November.
After much discussion by all meeting attendees, we are putting off a decision on when or how to open until the next WACO meeting when we will decide on a solid plan for reopening so that we can set an expectation. The kitchen will need a full cleaning.
Community reports:
Chief Snell for Fire/EMS - Fire crew membership is up to 19. There were 21 calls in September. Fire with fatality yesterday. It has been found that most power outages by downed trees are in previous fire areas. Looking at possible further clearing. The dept. is ready for winter with snow tires and plows. Montana Mountain land has been purchased for better reception in the area. The library has been inspected and found to be very well protected. It’s Fire Prevention Month and they are looking into an outdoor activity at the ice rink.
Chief Snell thanked Tam Boeve for all of her support of the fire dept. and there may be a new public safety building.
Julie Mitchell- The library has now been open for 2 weeks and the meeting rooms are already being booked. 2/3 of the furniture has yet to arrive and there is a temporary front door but the parking lot is now nicely lit.
Dog Mushers - There will be a rabies clinic this Saturday from 10a - 2pm at the Baptist Church and all are welcome.
WHWF - There was a recent Open House which was required for a received grant. Some finishing products are still on back order and they acquired an additional $100,000 for a well, septic and restrooms. An opening date is being discussed.
Person of interest - Matt Beck - Running for mayor.
Served 2 terms on the sssembly. Please ask any questions you may have via email.
Brenda McCain (CERT)- Tomorrow the State of Alaska will be at the elementary school with flu, covid and booster shots. And again the following day at Susitna High School.
Adjourn 845pm
Attending – Linda Oxley, Lisa Schooler-Nuss, Debbie Cook, Al Felt, Barb Ensley, LeeAnn Reicks , Trygve Erickson, Tam Boeve, Brenda McCain, Steve Charles, Julie Mitchell and Chief Snell.
Respectfully submitted,
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Secretary/Date
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Chair/Date
Tam Boeve regularly attends WACO meetings. Matthew Beck has attended the last two WACO meetings. Community Council meetings are a great way to stay informed on local issues.
Thank you for the update. Question : Can WACO invite Ms Boeve, Mr Bernier,also Edna Devries and Matthew Beck to an informal night for willow community? Can the library accommodate us? If not can the Willow School auditorium accommodate this? It would be so helpful to the community. Thank you 😊
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Youth Forum Meeting
Thur. Oct. 7 at 1pm
Newman Park
Hope to see as many as possible for wrap up and updates on the summer park!
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WACO ZOOM MEETING 6 OCTOBER 2021
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WACO COMMUNITY MEETING OCTOBER 6, 2021 7PM VIA ZOOM
Check Facebook or WACO-AK.ORG for details September 30th
MEETING AGENDA:
A. CALL TO ORDER
B. DETERMINATION OF QUORUM
C. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM PAST MEETING
E. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
F. CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS
1. Board Officers' Reports – Attached
a. Chair, Linda Oxley
b. Vice-Chair, Lisa Schooler-Nuss
c. Secretary, Debbie Cook
d. Treasurer, Al Felt
e. At-Large Representative 1, Tryge Erickson
f. At-Large Representative 2, Chris Stitt
g. At-Large Representative 3, Barbara Ensley
h. At-Large Representative 4, LeeAnn Reicks
2.. Committee Reports – Attached
a. Carnival
b. Trails
c. Youth Forum (40-acre park)
d. CERT
e. Recycling
f. Lions Club
News from the Borough – Tam Boeve
G. NEW BUSINESS
1. What should the criteria be for using the community center in the pandemic?
2. Seeking volunteers help with the voting process this year...
H. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
K. Community Groups/Clubs
Fire Service Area, Library, Community Enrichment, WDMA, Lion’s Club, PTA,
WHO, WHWF, Garden Club, Willow Ice
L. ANNOUNCEMENTS/PERSONS TO BE HEARD
M. ADJOURN
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waco-ak.org
Information about WACO meetings, minutes, agendas, committee work, the Willow Community Center and, groups in Willow, Alaska.
Consent Agenda Report 10.6.21
Chair
Hi all, We are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to resume activities at the WCC. Work continues, looks great and same with the old Log Cabin. We probably will be zoom meeting on Oct 6 WACO meeting as it has gotten chilly to sit for two hours at the Park, as beautiful as it is…. We will post on FB…
Covid is still racing thru our community. So far, our schoolkids remain in the green zone so that means the virus is spreading primarily among our adults. The vaccines are readily available and I beseech those of you who have held off getting them to line up with your sleeve up…. The information about who is eligible for what changes so frequently because the collaborative science projects from around the world and within the USA are providing new information almost daily and decisions are made accordingly. It is confusing to many…. Your best resource about YOUR options is your provider and if you don’t have one, contact the Sunshine Clinic or your Public Health nurse. In general, the Pfizer vaccine studies and data have gone thru the most FDA and CDC decisions. At this time, it is a fully approved vaccine for those age 16 years and up. It is expected to be approved on an emergency basis for kids aged 5-11. The details about eligibility and availability for the kids is not yet defined. Moderna and the J&J vaccines are still approved for emergency use for adults. Final approval is expected once these companies finish organizing their collected data and they submit to the FDA. Additionally, the Pfizer vaccine has been approved for a 3rd ‘booster’ dose for those of us over age 65, those of us with medical problems that make them immune vulnerable and for those of us who work in vulnerable occupations: teachers, health care workers, etc. Again, please check with your provider, the clinic or a public health nurse about YOUR situation.
Consistent with our responsibility for supporting public health and managing the community center, we plan a conversation to organize how we will reopen to the public and to what degree. Please consider joining our Oct 6 meeting to share your thoughts. As part of the renovations, the HVAC system was repaired, not replaced and its filtering quality is not at the best level for pulling virus from the air. (No HVAC system, however, can protect you from someone in your immediate air space from spreading the virus to you, but a good HVAC system will help keep the overall viral load lower in the air…)
I’m excited to report the CAP funds for 2021 have arrived and Al has issued the approved funds to those agencies funded. We expect the CAP funds for budget year 2022 relatively soon….
One issue that will be coming forward in the next couple of months (probably…) is the management of the old Log Cabin!! Its renovation is also moving along very nicely. The current plan is for the borough to offer WACO the chance to manage it as we manage the WCC via contract. Consistent with that possibility, the Willow Historical and Wildlife Foundation is considering asking WACO to adopt them as a standing committee with the expectation that we will delegate the actual management of the building back to them. They have demonstrated YEARS of incredible and passionate dedication to the salvage of the building, it’s designation on the National Register of Historic Places and the upgrades currently happening with the building.
Youth Forum
We decided to hold up on a second mulching of the trails in the dog park within Newman Memorial Park and see what the winter weather conditions do to the layer we put down in the spring. Next summer we will decide what, if any, ground work will happen for those trails.
The grant we applied for with the state of Alaska Division of Agriculture for monies to build a community greenhouse and raised beds is not yet decided. They have had so many requests it’s taking longer than expected to review and decided. Fingers remain crossed.
We are also submitting grant requests to MEA, maybe MTA (if our project meets their criteria) and MSTPF to work on phase one of the bike park next summer. We are so pleased to have received $8,000 from the 2022 CAP funds as seed money and hope to generate the $62,000++ needed to build this venue in the park.
The AMMC kiddee snocross folks will again be using the park for quite a few of their events over the winter!! We are so glad for their presence their and the help they provide in its evolution.
Susan Bartel has created a number of geocache sites within the park. Check out GeocacheAlaska! via their website or FB page!!!
We are scheduled to meet Oct 7 but stay tuned as we may cancel….
Carnival
We continue to meet on the 3rd Monday of each month and are still focused on outdoor events March 11-13 and maybe March 18-19. We are hoping to attract food truck vendors as our awesome kitchen crew, the Miller family, are not available on the first weekend. We are looking into tents to see if we can migrate some of the indoor things to a warmish place outside but for sure looking at expanding our outdoor offerings. Maybe carnival rides???
We are looking for one or three people to organize and run out ice hockey and some of the snow-machine events. If anyone would like to work with those events please call Linda, 841-3421. We are exploring options for special event insurance for the snow-machine events as we were unable to obtain that last winter.. Hoping that by starting much earlier, we can be successful…
We are also looking for folks who might like to develop additional outdoor events. Got some creative and fun ideas???
Willow Trail Committee Report
Congratulations to Doro, John and Maura for their full passports as they hiked all thirteen Willow Trails Challenge trails this summer…and thanks to Marty for providing t-shirts for their efforts.
Whoa, that windstorm we had was a doozy and as you guessed, provided lots of chain saw time for our volunteers. If you have a favorite trail, a chain saw and some time, your help is greatly appreciated. Make sure you cut back off the trail enough to get our 12’ of snowcat through.
The leaves are falling which means its time for winter grooming grant applications. As usual, the Borough and the State will be providing funding for clearing and grooming our winter trails. Please make sure your snowmachine is registered as that fee goes directly into the groomng.
To get good information on Willow’s winter and/or summer trails, , visit:
www.waco-ak.org/committees/trails/
The Willow Trail Committee meets the 3rd Wednesday of each month, 7pm at Newman Park.
All are welcome. Ask to join us at [email protected]
Join us on Facebook: Willow Trail Committee
LIBRARY
The Willow Library is open in its new building!
Hours are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday Noon-8
Wednesday and Friday 10am – 6pm and Saturday 10am – 3:30pm.
Computer Classes began on October 1st.
Storytime begins October 7th.
Other programs are slowly returning, watch for information.
October 31st – Trunk-or-Treat 5:30pm – 7:00pm in the Willow Library and Community Center parking Lot.
Willow CERT Consent Agenda for WACO October 2021
Since May Willow CERT volunteers have participated in six outdoor events in the community promoting Emergency Preparedness!
We began on May 8th, Willow and West Lakes Fire Dept., July 2 Willow Farmer’s Market, August 21st Founder’s Day in Houston, Sept. 10th Willow Farmer’s Market and Sept 25 Mat Su Borough Emergency Expo,
September 10th the last Willow Farmers Market was as great as we had hoped!
Willow CERT hosted the State of Alaska DHSEM staff with the Earthquake Simulator trailer and the State Mobile Emergency Operations Center (MEOC) as well as FEMA!
We were very pleased to bring this provide this very interesting and important event to the community.
Farmer’s Market Manager Tiffany Davidson gave us an awesome place for us to all set up just north of the usual exhibitors.
Attendees of all ages tried out the Earthquake Simulator and toured the State Mobile Emergency Operations Center and played the Willow CERT Spin and Learn Disaster game. It was especially fun to engage the youth in the community in the activities.
We are very appreciative of Michelle Torres, State of Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for accepting our invitation and making it happen.
Willow CERT is also thankful to Talon Boeve, Mat SU Borough, Emergency Operations Specialist for providing us with prizes for our Disaster Game and Emergency Preparedness handouts on many subjects for the community.
13th Mat Su Borough Emergency Expo
On September 25th, Willow CERT participated in the
Mat Su Borough Emergency Expo in Wasilla with an outside exhibit. Our team has been part of this valuable event since 2015.
It was wonderful to see how many families attended. The children were eager to learn, as well as share their knowledge of emergency preparedness! The parents were impressed by how much their children knew.
We were pleased that many community members (including teens) signed up for more info about CERT training.
For more info about Emergency Preparedness in the Mat Su Borough go to the Borough Preparedness site. HYPERLINK "https://ready.matsugov.us/pages/home" ready.matsugov.us/pages/home
Because of COVID-19, it is not possible at this time to have an in-person CERT Basic
Course, but we will as soon as it is feasible.
Willow CERT has been meeting monthly at Newman Park since 4/21. We will move to Microsoft Teams meetings after our Oct 2nd meeting.
Interested in CERT? Contact Brenda McCain at: HYPERLINK "mailto:[email protected]" [email protected] or call 907-355-1418
Brenda McCain Willow CERT Program Manager/Team Leader
www.waco-ak.org
Maps, descriptions and planning for winter and summer trails in the Willow, Alaska area.Nobody is interested in your two cents on covid and it is not your place to be sharing your opinion. This is one of the biggest reasons people can't stand those meetings.
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The Mat-Su Borough’s regular election will be held November, 2, 2021. We are still in need of election officials and are hoping that the community councils can add to their agenda or mention at their meetings we need workers. Currently, we are about 30 workers short. Please see the attached Election Official application.
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Willow Winter
Carnival Meeting!
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Tonight 6-8pm
Newman Park
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Notes on information provided by Sabrena Combs, long time MEA employee at WACO informational meeting September 1, 2021.
Being offered to the community because of concerns surrounding electricity outages and length of time for service to be resumed in areas of Willow service area.
Please call MEA directly for your specific home’s electrical issues: 907-745-3231 (main line) 907-746-7697 (outage line)
MEA will be having two Lunch and Learn seminars on net metering (solar, wind, etc.) on 14 and 21 September. The links to the Zoom sessions are on MEA Facebook page and website.
Electric charging stations are being installed in the Parks Highway corridor between Homer and Fairbanks.
There are currently 12 job openings with MEA. See MEA.COOP for more details regarding application.
Operation Roundup - apply for grants for nonprofits online. Third quarter deadline is September 30th.
Outages experienced in Willow-
Response time:
Crews are on the clock usually until 7pm. When an outage occurs after hours, crew members must be called in and there must be at least 2 people to go on a call. Crew members need to respond to the MEA stations within 40 minutes but holidays can take longer. Then the crew assures truck ready to go; usually takes about 2 hours to get to the area of the outage once MEA aware.
Planned outages are communicated to affected customers by email and website. Crews will do as much work as possible while the lines are live before having to cut power to finish maintenance.
Finding/fixing the acute problems:
Pings to towers can make it easier to isolate an outage but outside of their range, walking the line is required. Spruce bark beetle falling trees is a high cause of outages. Many spans of wire have been replaced that were over 35 yrs old with newer and bigger conductors installed, this has helped reduce overall numbers of outages.
MEA redirects current from the different substations which gets the power back up for many customers once they have narrowed the area for searching the outage source.
Communications staffs are on call 24/7 to update the website about outages. The on duty staff must notify these folks within 15 minutes who update from home computers.
Other info:
There were several scheduled outages during the early summer for various upgrade projects.
The July outage for 1000 customers was a giant tree down that required manual work including getting the equipment across the creek. This took significantly more time to resolve.
Danger tree requests can be filled out online for free removal of trees near residential power lines.
Damage from power surges can also sometimes be reimbursed by filling out an online form.
Off peak pricing is currently not cost effective but they are evaluating for the future.
September 2021 Willow eBreeze - mailchi.mp/871788026113/d9hig9tko3
There are no FDA approved shots in the U.S. so quit misleading people
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