Chamber election soon

The Odessa Chamber of Commerce met November 8 at Any Occasion Banquet Hall, called to order at noon by President Zach Schafer.

Treasurer Larissa Zeiler was not present but left a report with Schafer who reported that as of November 4 the Chamber has a total in the bank of $62,608.39. Year-to-date income is $94,944.91, and expenses are $101,216.95, for a net loss of $6,272.04 to date this year.

Fest income was $63,049 and Fest expenses were $56,266 for a Fest net income of $7,583. A question about how the donated tips, which are earmarked for youth activities, are accounted for and whether the tips are included in the net income will be clarified when Zeiler returns.

Installation of the new freezer for the commercial kitchen has been delayed due to payment difficulties related to the Chamber’s credit card limit and problems with setting up a PayPal account. Therefore, use of the freezer for a Girl Scouts project will not be possible. Alternate arrangements have been made and the project will still take place. A check has been issued for the new freezer, which will be 8 feet wide, 10 feet deep and 7.5 feet tall, and will have a floor.

The old back cooler has been removed from the community center and was sold for $500. Its removal left a hole in the wall which was boarded up by Schafer.

The front cooler will be checked out by a service company the next time its employees are in town.

Kitchen committee chairman Jeff Huiras reported that the Girl Scouts’ project is expected to be completed successfully. There may be issues to discuss later but for now that project is the number-one priority.

Schafer requested that committees and Chamber members provide him with information and dollar amounts for requested budget items before the December board meeting, so they can be reviewed as part of the budget discussion.

Nominations thus far for 2017 Chamber offices are:

President: Zach Schafer

Vice president: Nominations are open for this position. The current vice president has declined to run again.

Secretary: Mo Sheldon

Treasurer: Larissa Zeiler

At-large board members: Jeff Huiras and Lise Ott.

The third board member will be the 2017 Biergarten chairperson. To date, no one has stepped forward to volunteer to fill the position.

Nominations will remain open until the December 13 meeting of the Chamber when voting will take place.

Lise asked about establishing written procedures for welcoming new businesses to town. In the absence of a current procedure, Ott and Terrie Schmidt-Crosby volunteered to visit the new owners of the NAPA store. The new business will receive a free one-year membership in the Chamber.

The Town of Odessa will assume responsibility for the downtown trees donated by the Gies Foundation. A letter will be sent to the town clerk/mayor stating that the Chamber has no interest in the trees. Administrative assistant Marcus Horak will be asked to draft a letter for Schafer’s signature.

The interior of the dining area of the Old Town Hall has been repainted and new tables and chairs for the dining room have also been received and are in use. Kudos to Lauren Fink who did the painting.