Tonight, WRFU has passed the biggest legislative hurdle to date. In a unanimous 7-0 vote, the City of Urbana voted in favor of granting the IMC a Special Use building permit to construct WRFU's new 100' tower. This is a tremenous moment for the IMC and WRFU, five years in the making. Special thanks must be given to <b>Mike Lehman, Ricardo Diaz and Tatyana Safronova</b> who have worked so hard on creating a fantastic proposal -and- for their unwavering support even when presented with a room full of furrowed eyebrows behind microphones on UPTV. To the overwhelming show of supporters who attended the Urbana City Council meeting, the Historic Preservation and Planning Commission meetings:<br>
<br>Carl<br>Brian D.<br>Don<br>Bob<br>Jacob<br>Mark<br>Andrew<br>Adam<br>Tyler<br>Carol<br>Joe<br>Judith<br>Will<br>Julianne<br>Ya'aqov<br>Zoe<br>and every SDAS student who attended, but I have not yet had the pleasure of formally meeting (yet).<br>
<br>THANK YOU!!! <br><br><b>So what's next?<br></b>We need to send our amendments to the IL Historic Preservation. As the IMC is a historically registered building, we need to run any exterior structural changes by them before we can break ground. There might be a survey or two. And then, the building can begin! That tower will be up in no time.<br>
<br><b>How you can help</b><br><ol><li><b>Attend a WRFU meeting.</b> We meet on the first and third Tuesday of the month at 8pm at the IMC. Meetings are open to the public, and you don't have to be a member to help (although we'd love to have you if you'd like to join).</li>
<li><b>Join the conversation.</b> We are looking to bring in more volunteers to weigh in on the final planning stages of tower approval and construction. Whatever your skills and knowledge of radio may be, we are open to teaching and the only requirement you need is to suit up and show up! Finally...<br>
</li><li><a href="http://wrfu.net/donate"><b>DONATE!</b></a> WRFU is funded almost entirely by WRFU membership fees and donations. Towers cost money and so does the process of building one. Volunteers have already spent hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in donated time and energy (and probably a little sanity, too) to bring the tower this far. A question of whether there's enough money in the bank should not be the biggest concern on our minds. Consider a donation in the amount you think is appropriate. It will be money well spent and you can know with confidence that your money will be invested directly into YOUR community.</li>
</ol>Again, thank you everyone who has supported the tower, both past and present. We are this much closer to actualizing the original dream of what WRFU is to be for Chambana (and all the surrounding communities, too!). If you have an interest in getting involved, but don't know how to start, you can also always email me and I'll send you in the right direction.<br>
<br>Cheers,<br>Kristina<br>