Spring Valley board hears Base Camp Hope progress

Talk about it

SPRING VALLEY—An organization headed for the former care center is seeking the Village of Spring Valley’s assistance with inspections.

Diane Kinney is the St. Paul-based founder of Base Camp Hope, an organization helping U.S. veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related issues. Through an arrangement with the Pierce County Economic Development Corporation, Spring Valley granted

Kinney a six-month term to raise funds needed to move into the vacant Spring Valley Health Care Center.

Kinney appeared before the board early this month and requested funds or in-kind assistance with building inspections. The board asked Kinney how much money she had raised and she replied the $10,000 she'd received so far represented about 10 percent of her goal. She responded an obstacle to fundraising was the lack of information about costs needed to bring the building up to code and to make preliminary renovations. She cited a project in Sauk Centre, Minn., and hoped the people of Spring Valley would adopt the program in the same way.

Several board members as well as an engineer from Cedar Corporation, village engineering firm from Menomonie, explained a code review would be the preferred requirement for the state and that the cost would be “many thousands of dollars.”

Village Counsel Rory O'Sullivan concluded the discussion by saying, “At the current rate of progress, it's premature to ask for such a large commitment.”

The board offered to supply Kinney with the contact information for appropriate veterans’ organizations who could help.

For more please read the Sept. 19 print version of the Herald.

Tags: spring valley, communities, wisconsin