By Ammie Ruddle
Caves, candidates and cupcakes were some of the subjects discussed during the latest Pendleton County Economic Community and Development Authority meeting on Aug. 10.
Laura Brown, executive director, discussed the next step with expanding tourism through climbing and caving. She discussed with members that there are now two sets of attorneys working to create documents regarding the legalities of rock climbing and caving.
Brown added that the EDA hopes to receive money from Access Fund, which was created in 1991 to fight for legal and physical access to the land. Access Fund is a nonprofit advocacy organization that leads and inspires the climbing community toward sustainable access and conservation of the climbing environment. Brown said conversations with representatives from Access Fund have been held.
Other business discussed during the meeting included the Treasure Mountain Festival 5K run. Brown said, it is hoped that t-shirts and medals will be available to give to participants, courtesy of local businesses – T&K Markets, Summit Community Bank, Valkyrie Farms Coffee Roastery and Raymond’s Gymnastics.
During a discussion regarding the organization’s finances, board members unanimously agreed to consolidate three bank accounts into one. The main account will include three sweep accounts to be able to track spending for individual projects, tenants and other expenditures.
The board members also unanimously elected to host a candidate forum. The event is slated to take place in late September or early October. Additional information will be released at a later date.
The minutes from the special meeting held in July were unanimously accepted as was the financial statements for June and July.
The meeting concluded with a surprise cupcake delivery to celebrate Carl Hevener’s birthday. Hevener is a county commissioner and a member of the PCEDA board.