Members Present: Steve Zelinski, Ted Gerber, Tom Berg, John Richards, Ed Peterson, Rick Anderson, Stan Peer

Others Present: Michael Kornmann, John Strochine, Sandy Eng

Press: Nancy Jappe, Chet Newman

CALL TO ORDER:

Meeting called to order by Steve Zelinski at 3:30 pm in Room 165 of the Burnett County Government Center on March 3, 2004.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Motion made by Ed Peterson , seconded by John Richards. Motion carried.

VOUCHERS & FINANCIAL REPORT:
Superior Days $1,000
Northwest Regional Planning Commission $3,025.00
Stan Peer $316
Motion made by Gerber, second by Berg to approve vouchers for Douglas County/Superior Days ($1,000), Northwest Regional Planning Commission ($3000), and Stan Peer (316.00) totaling… Motion Carried unanimously.

Discussion regarding the Voucher ITBEC voucher for $8,400 ensued. The discussion centered around previous discussions regarding the benefits of ITBEC to Burnett County. Gerber presented the idea that the ITBEC money may be better spent locally for the Birding Trail Festival. Further discussion included whether or not the Finance Committee would accept BCDA's recommendation if different from years past. It was noted that Burnett County's ITBEC representative is Ro Endresen and has not discussed ITBEC with BCDA. Several members said that they would like to hear from the Finance Committee regarding the role of BCDA's voucher recommendations.

A motion was made by Gerber and seconded by Peterson to draft a letter to northwest ITBEC asking for the economic benefits to Burnett County and northwest Wisconsin, arrange a meeting with Finance Committee, Ro Endresen and the BCDA executive committee, and to table the ITBEC voucher. Motion carried unanimously.

Sandy Eng presented a request for promotion funding of $2,400 or other amount for the Great Wisconsin Birding Trail Festival. The board discussed the budget line items where this might be appropriate and the details of the event. A motion was made by Geber and seconded by Richards to fund the Birding Trail/Friends of Crex in the amount of $2400 from the promotion account. Motion carried unanimously.

OLD BUSINESS:

Strategic Planning:
UWEX Community Development Agent Mike Kornmann continued with his strategic planning program with BCDA. The group review its previous planning work and discussed the key elements of a good mission statement. At the request of the BCDA Kornmann wrote a draft mission statement as a starting point. The board discussed it and modified it slightly. The new mission statement agreed by consensus is the following:

"To promote economic opportunities for the residents, businesses, and communities of Burnett County."

The board also identified ten issues affecting BCDA. After ranking the issues the top four issues of most importance are:

1) How do we involve more board members?
2) How do we involve more people outside of the board?
3) How do we control our budget?
4) How do we market the county?

The next step in the strategic planning process is to develop action plans for the top four issues. Peer suggested doing this section via email to speed up the process. The group concurred.

The new business agenda items could not be addressed due to time constraints.

Set Next Meeting Date:

The next meeting date was set for April 7 at 3:00 p.m. in Room 165 of the Burnett County Government Center.

Adjournment:
Meeting adjourned by Steve Zelinski at approximately 5:10 p.m.