Board of Director’s Meeting – Minutes

Wednesday, February 9, 2022
Location: online 6:30 p.m.

Attendees: Eric Chabot (EC), Margaret Lara (ML), Kristina Tesser Derksen (KTD), Colin Best (CB), Rachel Shuttleworth (RS)

Regrets: Sara Bergsma (SB), Alan Cooke (AC), Miguel Gonsalves (MG), Joe Taglieri (JT)

Guest: Eric Parris

EC called the meeting to order at 6:36 p.m.

EC asked the board if there was any declaration of pecuniary interest or conflict of interest. None were made.

Review of previous minutes

  • CB moved to accept January minutes. ML seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Treasurer’s Report (Delivered by RS)

  • Expenses 16k for January, normal for this time of year, no event expenses currently.
  • Rest of Reconnect grant will be coming in next few weeks, approximately $5k.
    • CB moved to accept the Treasurer’s Report. ML seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Council Reports

KTD (Local)

  • Town staff currently developing an Airbnb short-term rental staff report due to high number of complaints received about short-term rentals in neighbourhoods. Staff looking at ways to regulate these, ie licencing fees, restricting days per year, primary residences only, etc.
  • Can now dispute and pay parking tickets online through automated system.
  • Council passed motion to send a strongly worded letter to Government of Quebec stating Council does not agree with Bill C-21 (bill preventing people working in civic spaces to wear religious symbols).
  • Recreation facilities reopened January 31, most restrictions lifted.
  • A member complained about garbage on Main Street, snowbanks make it hard for waste management staff to access garbage bins. Asked Operations to dig out garbage in a few spots.

CB (Regional)

  • Had a Regional Council meeting today, included a public meeting about MEV (specifically about 50 hectares behind velodrome). Needs to be rezoned as a research area. Also included workshop regarding next Regional Plan, lots of discussion and debate.
  • Census numbers released for Canada. Milton’s population is 132k people. Was projected to be 138k, we are not in top 10 growth cities. Short about $9M to be able to fully fund our growth.

  • ML moved to accept the Council Reports. CB seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Executive Director’s Report

  • Strategic Priorities member survey now open, goal of 60 responses. Ambitious goal based on past participation rates, but we need member input to help us with prioritizing and decision-making.
  • Chamber has launched Community Awards program – we’ll nominate some downtown businesses.
  • Grant updates:
    • Reconnect 2021 – Final report submitted, received a total of $21k to support HolidayFest.
    • Reconnect 2022 – Applied for HolidayFest, slight increase in requested amount for promotions outside Milton, more day-of staff and targeted activations.
    • My Main Street – Applied for standard and custom LED street pole decorations, art contest, community workshops, music nights, staff time. Included several letters of support from community organizations, members, partners.
    • Canada Community Revitalization Fund – Our application was successful and we are currently in the initial planning stages, reaching out to partners, etc.
  • Town of Milton event support request
    • Town cannot provide as much staff time investment into DMSF as they have in the past for 2022 (resources are diverted to COVID recovery), and they are approaching the reopening cautiously and not willing to host a large DMSF event this year. We requested the Recreation Department provide financial investment and some staff time to allow DMBIA to take the lead on hosting a summer and winter event. RS preparing formal request/proposal for Town. Board members confirmed the proposal should be a five-year request.
    • Proposal should state that in the new model, both parties’ contributions remain in a similar range, based on 20218 amounts, adjusted for inflation.
    • Town seems agreeable to providing a contribution in 2022. Helps cover some event costs for one event, but not additional staff time we need to run smaller summer and winter events. Town could provide some day-of staff support for SummerFest, not for HolidayFest.
    • KTD – Based on Town’s investment in the DMSF in the past, reasonable to request a larger financial contribution to help cover additional staff at BIA to host both events.
    • CB – Council is in full support of continuing to run this event, even if some departments within the Town are not. It is also an election year and events are popular. BIA can run events for lower costs than Town. Better off having BIA lead the events, with a financial contribution from Town. Continue to require some Town staff to support in planning, but with proper support we can reduce our dependency on Town staff. DMSF & downtown events benefit the community.
    • EC – Whether to continue to negotiate with Town staff or submit proposal to Council. Our contribution is largely the increased staff time needed to manage the events. Need to request enough money to be able to deliver two HolidayFest-sized events (1 stage, vendors, activations, etc.) each year for five years. Can’t rely on grants.
    • CB – Proceed with negotiating for staff budgets for 2022. Submit the proposal now and begin discussions for further budget allocation for 2023 and beyond.
    • RS to submit formal request to Town. Request similar level of support as in the past (but a larger financial contribution and less Town staff time), plus inflation, for five years.

OBIAA 2022 Conference

  • Happening in April in Niagara Falls
  • RS interested in attending full conference, KTD interested in attending for one day.
    • CB made motion for RS and KTD to attend conference. Seconded by ML. Motion passed.

SummerFest

  • Target date for event is June 18, 2022, 12pm to 8pm. Developing logo, website pages for SummerFest.
  • Asked Milton Cruise to get involved, they are gauging interest from their members (wouldn’t stay for the whole event). Some businesses between Charles and Fulton asked for (more) activations in front of their stores. Car Show element is an option. Some activations can get really expensive.

Mural & Parkette

  • Mural project: Conversations with Arts Milton underway to determine how they can support the project. Reached out to STEPS about I HeART Main Street program (public art projects in downtowns).
  • Parkette: Town said they can’t remove the millstone because they don’t want to disturb the infrastructure under it. Town’s designers will start working on sketches, but said to proceed with mural design in the meantime. Important to ensure artwork and furniture layout work well together – we may need support from councillors on our board to move parkette updates along.
  • CB moved to accept ED’s Report. ML seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Other Business

  • CB – Lots of additional traffic downtown right now due to closure of parts of Bronte Street. Work was supposed to be done by March 4 but delayed due to weather, etc.

Adjournment

  • EC moved to adjourn. ML seconded the motion. Motion passed.
  • Meeting adjourned at 7:16 pm