Cooperators’ Update Monday Nov. 9th

John Carlile – UMCC

John is keen to establish whether there is a real need for the Rainbow Relief Center to be a schooling location, and the new opening hours announced this week reflect that, as they are trying out a new schedule that allows access to kids to use the UMCC space for remote learning.

Sean Davis had volunteered to cover Wednesday and Thursday shifts, but we have not yet heard from any families looking to use the location for school. John will leave his hours adjusted in hopes that we have more outreach opportunities to reach families in need of a location for school as word gets around.

Although there was a huge effort put into setting this up and making it available, the way the relief centers operate is in response to direct needs and feedback from the community, so if it turns out that there is no demand for this space to be used for schooling or for general Internet access, we will eventually reincorporate the space back into the Relief Center and look at other uses.

Alyssa Brownlee – Housing

There are some discussions with the school board to possibly get some in-person interaction for the children, and how to do this safely in the context of the ongoing pandemic. They have been given approval from the state to explore those options.

The school bond narrowly did not pass. It attracted wide support, however, and may still be possible to get a bond of this nature in the future.

Karen and Ashley – Perennial Building

They were introduced to the group as friends of Volunteer Coordinator Melanie Fischer. They own a company called Perennial Buildings operating out of Bend, Oregon. They specialize in Hemp Crete, a building material that is resistant to both fire and mold. This is a thermal mass product so it is well insulated and regulates the moisture level in the structure. They are looking for an option to panelize Hemp Crete for possible introduction into our area. They can create a modular-style version, and we may have a few options to utilize this product within our community for a sample structure, perhaps creating a small hard pipe generator building with UMCC. Conversations to explore these possibilities will be ongoing.

Shane Kamarath – Forest Service

Lots of folks are wanting to come up and visit the Hot Springs and are wondering when they might be open. Shane is hoping to have the Final closure order this week, which would mean that the closure area is shrinking and could all be possibly open soon.

He also reported that they have now taken down over a dozen trees at Castle Rock which were interfering with the Internet signal. They are also working on Road 15 Blue River Reservoir Road to get the tree fall cleared before the snows come.