Cyricx
03-04-2009, 03:23 PM
Dear Friends,
It has recently come to my attention that I have now served a full year as President of Earth Rising, which comes as a shock to my system as it does not seem to have been that long. I look back upon this year and the accomplishments the board has made towards delicately increasing our visibility, encouraging public involvement and a board that has a greater eye towards succession planning.
We currently reside at 6 board members with as many interns and a number of individuals that regularly attend the meetings. Our visibility, involvement and spreading of work load has increased greatly! While we still have alot room to grow as many board members hold 2 or more stations, we are definately making progress.
Succession planning also continues to improve as we make progress towards SOPs for the positions.
I'd like to think that my tenure as President has seen some positive changes, despite an economy that challenges our every step. One of our recent projects got hit hard by the recession as soaring material and transportation costs increased the construction of the shed out of the range of what we could accomplish at this time. Where will we go from here on that project remains to be seen in what the economy will do, and if the prices will come back down from their extraordinarily high level.
I feel that's the one area that I have had the most difficulty shouldering. The expectations of the community and communicating with them on the possibilities that lay before us.
One common area I hear alot of incorrect information on is the playground project. The community obviously has a great desire for this addition to Gaea, shown with the huge fundraising effort and amount raised over a single festival! Many wonder what became of that project? We've had many issues with this. Unfortunately, we can't just go out to Lowe's or Home Depot and buy a $2,000 playground system that has a slide and swings and all this nifty climbing options. Why? Insurance. Insurance carriers that help make sure that Gaea will be here in the case of legal issues will not allow a playground to be placed on the property unless it is "Commercial Grade". The cost of such is extravagent. Most playground systems you see at schools cost upwards of $30,000. In fact just purchasing a swingset that has but 2 swings costs a whopping $1,500! That's for only two swings! This is a topic that has been on a majority of the agendas over the last year as we go rounds with the insurance company and continue to explore options.
We worry that the community would go crazy if only 2 swings were put up for the amount that was raised.
Also, a huge concern is the cost it could raise the insurance as we struggle to stay on track for the 2013 payoff.
2013 payoff you ask? YES! June 2013 the mortgage will be paid off! What does that mean? Currently 1/3 of our yearly budget expense is land payment. I shiver at the thought of the day when we get there. I'm not sure if I'm excited or scared of that day. The possibilities it will open qouls make my head explode!
All in all, I hope I've added my own gentle nudges to this great Board of Directors to help accomplish these tasks and more.
How long will I stick around? I guess that depends on how long you all will put up with me! :)
Meanwhile, I'll be looking forward to Earth Day 2009!
It has recently come to my attention that I have now served a full year as President of Earth Rising, which comes as a shock to my system as it does not seem to have been that long. I look back upon this year and the accomplishments the board has made towards delicately increasing our visibility, encouraging public involvement and a board that has a greater eye towards succession planning.
We currently reside at 6 board members with as many interns and a number of individuals that regularly attend the meetings. Our visibility, involvement and spreading of work load has increased greatly! While we still have alot room to grow as many board members hold 2 or more stations, we are definately making progress.
Succession planning also continues to improve as we make progress towards SOPs for the positions.
I'd like to think that my tenure as President has seen some positive changes, despite an economy that challenges our every step. One of our recent projects got hit hard by the recession as soaring material and transportation costs increased the construction of the shed out of the range of what we could accomplish at this time. Where will we go from here on that project remains to be seen in what the economy will do, and if the prices will come back down from their extraordinarily high level.
I feel that's the one area that I have had the most difficulty shouldering. The expectations of the community and communicating with them on the possibilities that lay before us.
One common area I hear alot of incorrect information on is the playground project. The community obviously has a great desire for this addition to Gaea, shown with the huge fundraising effort and amount raised over a single festival! Many wonder what became of that project? We've had many issues with this. Unfortunately, we can't just go out to Lowe's or Home Depot and buy a $2,000 playground system that has a slide and swings and all this nifty climbing options. Why? Insurance. Insurance carriers that help make sure that Gaea will be here in the case of legal issues will not allow a playground to be placed on the property unless it is "Commercial Grade". The cost of such is extravagent. Most playground systems you see at schools cost upwards of $30,000. In fact just purchasing a swingset that has but 2 swings costs a whopping $1,500! That's for only two swings! This is a topic that has been on a majority of the agendas over the last year as we go rounds with the insurance company and continue to explore options.
We worry that the community would go crazy if only 2 swings were put up for the amount that was raised.
Also, a huge concern is the cost it could raise the insurance as we struggle to stay on track for the 2013 payoff.
2013 payoff you ask? YES! June 2013 the mortgage will be paid off! What does that mean? Currently 1/3 of our yearly budget expense is land payment. I shiver at the thought of the day when we get there. I'm not sure if I'm excited or scared of that day. The possibilities it will open qouls make my head explode!
All in all, I hope I've added my own gentle nudges to this great Board of Directors to help accomplish these tasks and more.
How long will I stick around? I guess that depends on how long you all will put up with me! :)
Meanwhile, I'll be looking forward to Earth Day 2009!