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Volume XXVII                                   Issue #22                                       December 11, 2006                                  

Ripon Rotary meeting every Monday at noon at Royal Ridges.  

Greeter and Prayer – Laurie Kasuboski

President Lee Prellwitz presiding.

Guests: (1) Ripon Mayor Aaron Kramer – guest of Paul Kilgore and the speaker.

(2) Hsiang Yiy Hsu (Daniel) – inbounder who received recognition from RHS for  

      showing improvement in one of his classes. 

            (3) Ryan Hill – RHS student of the month. Interested in the University of Illinois

                  because of the academics, not the football team’s performance. He backs a

                  winner by cheering for the Chicago Bears.  

Announcements:

(1)   Board of Directors meeting held before the meeting. Next board meeting January 15^th.

(2)   Next STRIVE meeting at RHS on Thursday December 14^th at 9:30. A mini job fair directed to the interests the students have expressed.

(3)   The club received an email from Jesús Bermúdez of Mexico. Twenty five years ago Mr. Bermúdez was an exchange student in Kansas enrolled in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) program. He spent two weeks over the holidays in Wisconsin at the home of John and Bernice Geer, and was now looking for contact information for the Geer’s to thank them for the wonderful experience he enjoyed. The Club has responded that both John and Bernice Geer have passed away, but his message was passed on to Joyce Geer in the hopes that some of the Geer family will make contact with Mr. Bermúdez.  

(4)   Santa Club scheduled for the week of December 18^th. All slots filled. Those who volunteered make certain that it is marked on your calendars.

(5)   Bell ringing this weekend time for Salvation Army --- there are still openings for Pick ‘N save starting Saturday afternoon beginning at 3:00. Contact Kathy Ginder if you can fill a slot. For those who have signed up make certain that time slot is listed on your calendar.

(6)   December 18^th program will be a performance by the Vocal Jazz choir from Ripon High School. Do not miss.

(7)   Monday evening December 18^th Berlin Rotary is holding its meeting at C.J.s at 6:00. All Ripon members are invited. Cost is $16 for dinner. Entertainment by the Madrigal Singers from Berlin High School. Contact Sue Finch Brown if you can attend.

(8)   Raffle tickets are out for sale. If you need more they are available at Penn Travel.

SELL – SELL – SELL!

(9)   Citrus product has been distributed. Please collect money and turn it in. Thanks to John Rockwood for providing a location for distribution. And Lee Baird, Doug Bradley, Jeff Liddicoat, David Sakrison, and Daniel for helping. Top sellers Sue Finch Brown, Dave Duehring, Tom Worrall, Tim Lyke, and Laurie Kasuboski all received a paid for raffle ticket --- best of luck in the drawing. Also commendation to Tommy Hobbs and Prue Precourt (RMC), Diane Shady (Alliance Laundry through her husband’s connections), Rick Coles (Ripon College), Dan Tjernagel (Ripon Public Schools), and Lori Rich (Ripon City Hall) for the fine jobs they did in those areas --- even though Ms. Rich did blindly accept the excuse of a member of RPD that he had purchased from another vendor, which turned out to be less than truthful.  

Program – Paul Kilgore introduced Ripon Mayor Aaron Kramer.    

After ascertaining that everybody had received their property tax bills, the mayor discussed several current “hot” issues with the City.

• Spring clean-up being eliminated, although there may be days that people can deliver at no charge to the compost center, with prove of residence.
• The Senior Center will be moved, and the building probably will be sold.
• There are three potential housing developments on the planning horizon, with up to 90 more housing units possible. One of the developers is looking at the possibility of locating a branch of the Oshkosh YMCA in Ripon as a tie-in with the housing development.
• The industrial park will be expanded by 58 acres, a 51% increase in size.
• Possibility of working in conjunction with the Town of Ripon (which totally surrounds the city) on expansion, and in sharing of services --- snow plowing, police protection, road construction.
• There will be no construction of a district fire department in 2007 due to turmoil within and defections from the fire district.
• Improvement of welcome signage to the city, with Ripon College and the city working together to have a coordinated message. Need a more coordinated effort to sell Ripon as a great place to live.

Goals for 2007

• Implementation of the industrial park purchase.
• Union contract negotiations --- made easier (and simultaneously more difficult) by the success of the Health Saving Accounts. There was zero increase in health care premiums in 2007; in fact there were some savings in 2006 that have been allocated elsewhere.
• An infrastructure plan for the next ten years.
• In four years there will be a balloon payment due on long term debt that could add 2 to 5 percent to the tax levy. Make plans to start dealing with that now.

The mayor did a good job answering questions. After the mayor’s last talk to Rotary your author lent the mayor a book on giving oral presentations (this reviewer thinks the mayor’s talks are fine, but he didn’t practice some of the GMPs in question answering) to provide information in this area. Alas, his honor misplaced the book. Perhaps this author will misplace his property tax bill.  

Thanks to the mayor for providing Rotary with a plethora of information about the current status and future plans for the city.   

Next Week:

Greeter:            Ruth Smith

Program:          Laurie Kasuboski presents the Ripon High School Vocal Jazz Choir under the

                        direction of Mr. Michael Chapel. Please plan on attending and bring a guest(s) to

                        enjoy the performance of these high school singers.   

Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.

-         Albert Einstein 

Respectfully submitted,

Lee Prellwitz – Substitute Scribe

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