“I have friends in overalls whose friendship I would not swap for the favor of the kings of the world.” ― Thomas A. Edison 

 

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” ― John Lubbock 

 

 

Announcements

(notes provided by the distinguished gentleman from Connecticut, Ed Perry)

 

President Rod noted several items:

1) Rotary District Governor Kevin Yonce will be visiting our club on July 28th.

2) The next board meeting will be this Tuesday.

3) Our Rotary “Visioning” session will be the evening of August 25th at the Hawthorne’s Grand Prairie room in lieu of our regular morning meeting. Bob is our club’s Visioning coordinator and will announce more information as that date approaches. 

 

Rod also handed out this year’s club committee listing for each member to fill out by selecting your 3 choices and return to him. If you do not know what each committee does please contact Rod.

 

Club History

We have met at several locations over the nearly 28 years our club has been in existence. Our first meetings took place at the restaurant currently call the Urbana Garden Family Restaurant on North Lincoln, Urbana. As the club grew we moved to North Cunningham at the location of the current Eastland Suites. Our next move for more space was to North Neil in Champaign at the Holiday Inn which is currently a vacant lot. Then we moved to South State street to a building which is now the parking lot just west of our current home the Hawthorne Suites.

 

Program

Tod introduced Steve Carter, retired City manager of Champaign, who presented an update on the current planning taking place for improving Champaign School Unit 4’s facilities. When you combine the years without investing in the buildings, the growth in student numbers, the age of the existing buildings, and the importance of high quality schools representing Champaign, much work is needed.     

 

Steve started with giving information about the new school board and its desire to be collaborative and transparent on all the planning for the future Unit 4 buildings. All the information, recommendations and drawings presented this morning can be found on Champaign Unit 4’s web site.

 

Steve continued noting that town hall meetings have been taking place with public input being received. The committees have formulated plans that include these objectives.

a) The continued improvement in the education of the student is most important.

b) The overall plan, while flexible, must look 10 to 20 years into the future and recognize student growth.

c) The plan must utilize existing structures while recognizing impact on the neighborhoods.

d) The Construction costs, operation costs and transportation costs must be recognized.

e) Central High School, Edison, International Prep Academy, Dr. Howard, South Side must all be addressed along with the purchasing of land around existing sites. All these schools are to be renovated, expanded or rebuilt. Steve showed each school’s schematic site plans showing the current thought.

 

The financing for all of this will be costly. Cost has been projected with these preliminary information to be $300 million for everything. Current methods of paying for this and how this work can be phased over time are other issues being reviewed. General obligation bonds, Working Cash Bonds, 1% sales tax, increase in property tax (Champaign currently has one of the lowest rates), joint venture on shared space with local governmental organizations, existing reserves, State payments and private fundraising, and others are all being looked into. 

 

The next steps include continuing public input, public surveys and further information gathering. The School board has set an August 22deadline to finalize the plan and put it on this fall’s ballot for public approval. 

 

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  July 14th July 21st July 28th Aug 4th
Introductions Jeff Van Buren Cary Woolard Harold Adams Julie Allen
Invocation Phillip Holthaus Andrew Kerins Bob La Charite Barb Lintner
Greeters Jeff Van Buren Cary Woolard Harold Adams Julie Allen
Ata Durukan Diana Dummitt Robin Ferguson Darrell Hoemann
Song Leader Paul Conforti Molly Delaney Ata Durukan Diana Dummitt
Notetaker Penwell Hodson Lintner Conforti
Decker Weeding Simpson Hodson Johnson Lintner
Next Weekend        
Decker Garden Van Buren Van Buren Johnson Johnson
Watering        

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UPCOMING SCHEDULE

July 14th – Judy Miller, Environmental Program Manager for the Urbana Park District/Anita Purves Nature Center, will discuss their new nature playscape

July 21st – John Marlin, UIUC, will discuss prairie and woodland plantings on campus

July 28th – District Governor Kevin Yonce 

August 4th – Dr. Steve Sonka, Professor Emeritus, UIUC, will provide a presentation on food waste and prevention of postharvest loss

August 11th – TBD

August 18th – Eliana Brown, Outreach Specialist with the Illinois Water Resource Center and the Illinois Indiana Sea Grant

August 25th – Regular meeting canceled; Club Visioning Session at (Xpm) at Hawthorne Suites

September 1st – TBD

September 8th – TBD