SDGA is awarded grant!

[Sky Pilot]

To Spokane Disc Association members and friends,

I just spoke with Tony Nercessian - Executive Director of the Spokane Parks Foundation. She told me that we got the grant for Trail Improvements etc. at High Bridge Park DGC.

We were awarded $4,815.00. This is the full amount that we asked for. My impression was that not all of the organizations submitting grant proposals were fully funded. She said that only 2 of the 29 grants submitted were considered to be excellently written and ours was one of them. Kudos to Justin Shrack for writing an exceptional grant proposal.

Our club is blessed to have a number of active volunteers doing a variety of tasks. We will need you once again to implement this proposal. So, keep your gloves handy - work parties and dates will be forthcoming.

This has been a long process. Gordy and I were first approached by the Parks Foundation in 2009, following a Park Board meeting. Last year they didn't offer any grants. So, we agreed to submit one this year. This proposal must be implemented within a year from the time of the award announcement. Justin agreed to write it and a stand-out grant was put together and submitted on time.

Many thanks again to Justin and all who supported and aided in the process.



Sky Pilot

[jshrack]

My assumption (not positive) was that Jon would chair the improvement efforts.
Remember, we still need to submit specific plans to Bressler for each section we plan to improve. These individual plans will need to be approved before any work can actually be started.
Jon, you have my number if you need anything.

[LJ Jubner]

Good work everyone! Now the hard where best to spend it.

[Sean Johnson]

[psychodwarf]

very good work justin !!! the club could not have done better without your tireless effort on the grant paper !!!:rock on:lets go get some work done !!!

[Wobbly Bob]

Thanks to all who had anything to do with the grant process.

Did the grant address specific projects or was it just for trail improvements that are to be identified.

[General Scales]

Well done Schrack!

[jshrack]

Grant is very specific and funds were approved based upon our estimates for specific projects.
I will post a copy if the details...

[Lyounger]

Sweet everyone!!
I love to see this type of cooperative effort!

KUDOS!!

[jshrack]

Here ya go

[Sky Pilot]

Justin - The grant mentions "erosion control measures" but this is never defined. What are the erosion control measures that you envisioned for the park?

[Burge]

The success of ANY grant ALWAYS rests upon the quality of its craftsmanship before anything else within it is taken into consideration.

Major kudos, Justin. You not only secured the grant for the club, you've also improved, to some degree, the club's modicum of respect. Priceless.

A thousand "thank you"s good sir--you are both a gentleman and a scholar.

[jshrack]

Originally Posted by Sky Pilot

Justin - The grant mentions "erosion control measures" but this is never defined. What are the erosion control measures that you envisioned for the park?

I specifically left that ambiguous to make sure our efforts conform to all of the Parks Department requirements. Any project will still have to pass through Bressler before we break ground.

Jon and I worked together to identify projects and numbers to go with each.
I will leave the specifics in his capable hands, I just wanted to get the ball rolling and the cash flowing.

[Yoduh]

Originally Posted by jshrack

I specifically left that ambiguous to make sure our efforts conform to all of the Parks Department requirements. Any project will still have to pass through Bressler before we break ground.

Jon and I worked together to identify projects and numbers to go with each.
I will leave the specifics in his capable hands, I just wanted to get the ball rolling and the cash flowing.

This is so fricken SWEET!!!
Way to go Justin!!

[Chainbanger44]

he is a scholar!!!!

[Parks]

And a gentleman.

[psychodwarf]

so when do we start work ?
if i remember right we have only a year to get the work done . so back to my first question ,"when do we start work ?

[jshrack]

please read the grant...it breaks down the process into manageable sections and gives a time-frame and timeline for each. I would then contact your Facilities Coordinator to verify.

I wouldn't be surprised of ground breaking starts a week or two late, since otherwise we only have 3 weeks to collect all our supplies and get going. Thankfully, our real work is scheduled to be completed before the end of the year, this leaves us 5 months to finish up and work on finer details before our completion deadline.

Jon, please also consider that STANEK'S has offered to donate product to any PARKS FOUNDATION GRANT recipients. I think this is a donation we should definitely consider pursuing, for both Highbridge AND Downriver. I know that growing trees can be difficult but if we plant and protect some saplings they will protect us in the future. Shorter ground cover could also help reduce our erosion issues.

Jeff, you may consider asking Chris about the pulp trees the WSU extension campus has helped produce... I talked to his boss years back and he expressed their ability to grown from a sapling to a full grown tree in less than 5 years. Chris has been extremely helpful with our projects too!

[jshrack]

Please also remember, the SDGA offered to donate $1000 dollars on top of the Grant money allocation.

The sooner the club gets to ordering supplies the sooner the Parks Foundation will pay the invoices and get us moving. Currently, I have not heard anything about this process, yet... Toni Nersesian (Executive Director) is a wonderful contact and she said she would happily help our club with the billing process. Feel free to let me know if you would like help contacting her.

[Gordy #21004]

My understanding of the agreement between the Parks Foundation and the SDGA is that the Foundation will process a check for the sum of the grant and put it in our hands. If this is the case I would like to recommend, as Treasurer, that we segregate this money from our general fund. I would also recommend we set aside the People's Park money raised to date in a similar fashion. When we need to add money or spend money from these 'dedicated' funds it will be easy to see exactly where we stand in terms of what accrues and what remains. A savings account in association with our existing checking account is what I have in mind. I will run this notion by the Board.