PRESENT: James Booth, Kevin Daniels, Wanda Donnelly, Linda Ellis, Nancy Hance,
Harry Kishpaugh, Laura McLane, Kari Monsees, Ken Orf, John Pickering, Carol Powelson, Marvin Rodenbaugh, Allen Rone, Timothy Rigg, Larry Shroth, Michelle Smith,
Sandy Stokes, Peggy Alexander, Ray Alexander.

GUESTS: Max Mueller-Captain of Fire House Number 3 of the Wentzville Fire District,
“D” Pursley- Director of Music for Shiloh United Methodist Church.

Lunch: Reverend Harry Kishpaugh blessed the food before we ate.

President Larry opened the meeting at 12:07 p.m. and welcomed members and guests. Each introduced them self and told who they represent.

Minutes: July 7, 2009 – Approved.

Treasurer’s Report:
Treasurer Nancy Hance presented the Treasurer’s Report. The current balance in the treasury is $4,096.92. Our 50/50 drawing today was won by Linda Ellis. She split a pot of $32.00 with the Chamber. Allen Rone won the 50/50 drawing for Business of the Month again this month to be featured on the Chamber web site for September. Congratulations to the winners. We did not have a 50/50 drawing for an EDC Seminar this month since there were no tickets available through Ameren, who has donated them in the past. Hopefully, there we will be one available next month.

Program:
Our speaker today was Max Mueller who is the Captain of Firehouse Number 3 of the Wentzville Fire District. He spoke to us about the upcoming “The Pink is Coming”. It is a families fighting cancer benefit sponsored by the Wentzville Fire Fighters to be held on September 18 and 19. There will be a Family Feast at the Meadows on September 18. On Saturday September 19 the day will begin at 11:00 a.m. with a seven kilometer run certified by USATF. Following the run there will be a one mile fun walk. This is a family friendly event to show support for the fight against cancer. At 1:30 p.m. the Parade of Pink will begin. The day will conclude with a special appearance by Dave Graybill and the Pink Heals Tour. Dave is the founder of The Pink Heals Tour. He is traveling the country with three pink fire trucks to support women who have been affected by cancer. To conclude the day there will be a family festival held at the Heritage Point Shopping Center in Wentzville. Businesses are encouraged to make a donation and participate in the run and walk.

City Update:
City Administrator Sandy Stokes reported that the City of Foristell has purchased the Old Firehouse. It will be used by the Police Department and for storage.
There has been some exiting activity going on recently relative to economic development. Larry Shroth has been working with the EDC and the RCGA along with the City on a lead that they received about the possibility of Harley Davidson Motorcycle Company locating a manufacturing facility in Foristell. They were looking at several areas to build the facility which was to be one million square feet in size and have the potentiality of employing a thousand workers. The City was looking at using the McBride Property by the Post Office, that was to be Liberty Development, and another 190 acre parcel of land to the west of it as the potential site for the location of the manufacturing plant. Phil Reid from Westbound Real Estate worked with the City to negotiate the potential procurement of these parcels of land. All of this had to done quickly. It turns out that Foristell was not selected for the Harley Davidson Plant, but the Real Estate Broker that was representing them is interested in future developments. Harley Davidson was one of three businesses that are looking at Foristell. It is a good location for development. Mayor Wanda Donnelly said that the City has been discussing the use of the Old City Hall as a Visitor Center. It would require volunteers to work three days a week including Saturday and Sunday. They thought that it might be a good idea to have a Chamber member on hand once a week. The City has decided not to have a Fall Festival this year. Instead they are going to work on other projects.

School Report:
There were no representatives on hand from the Wright City Schools today. Sandy Stokes reported that there will be a Grand Opening of the new East Elementary School on August 10th at 7:00 p.m.
Kerri Monsees, CFO of the Wentzville Schools, said that their schools will open on August 17th. They have 12,000 kids registered this year. Two new elementary schools are to be built this year and there will be renovations to existing schools to handle the needs of the expanding school population.

Current Business:
John Pickering asked President Larry at our July 7th Meeting about a Bill that the State is considering relative to Electric Utilities being able to charge increased rates to customers because they have spent advertising funds to promote making energy usage more efficient. Larry explained today that the House passed Bill 371 that allows Electric Utilities to do so. This is actually a duplication of permission since the Public Service Commission had previously approved it. Local Utilities are trying to find ways of saving electric energy so that they do not have to purchase electric from the National Electric Grid. The rates would be higher than they are now paying, which in turn would increase the cost of electric to the consumer. The increased rate that the Utilities will be charging to recover the cost of advertising will be considerably less than having to pay higher costs on the Grid.

New Business:
Larry reminded the members that they have a free link to their business web sites from the Chamber web site as long as they are current with their membership dues. Members should notify Secretary Ray if they would like to be linked to the web site.

There was no other business. Meeting adjourned at 12:55 p.m.
Our next meeting will be held on September 1, 2009. The program will be a presentation by Allen Rone on Fire Safety

Respectfully submitted, Ray Alexander, Secretary