Board of Director’s Meeting – Minutes

Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Location: Online via Zoom 6:30 p.m.

Attendees: Kristina Tesser Derksen (KTD), Julie Rock (JR), Ian Campbell (IC), Rachel Shuttleworth (RS), Colin Best (CB)

Guest:  Monique Gaudet

Regrets: Miguel Gonsalves (MG), Eric Chabot (EC), Sara Bergsma (SB), Eric Parris (EP), Tom Dusmet (TD)

KTD inquired about the Musicians on Main Street. DMBIA is coordinating this event with Arts Milton as they provide a similar event.  We are working with them on finalizing the dates for the end of July and the month of August.

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

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

Motion to accept the agenda by IC, seconded by JR. Motion passed.

Motion to accept the previous meeting minutes by JR, seconded by IC. Motion passed.

Treasurer’s Report (MG)

  • Expenses are significantly higher for April due to Summerfest – approximately $20k in entertainment costs (includes the stage, entertainers, and activations)
  • Support for recruiting a new executive director – $6500.
  • Web Maintenance expenses / many of our annual software renewals have come in over the last month – $1000.
  • Revenues are on a sliding scale for this month as it is hard to pin down exact numbers due to the incoming payments for Summerfest. A clearer picture will be provided next month.
  • Keep in mind that revenues for sponsorships and vendor fees will be lower than usual because of the credits that we offered from the Holiday Fest cancellation.
  • Reminder that a motion was passed on April 17 to have Tom Dusmet begin as the new Treasurer. We are working on the transition over the next couple of months.
    • JR moved to accept the Treasurer’s Report. IC seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Council Reports

Local (KTD)

  • Construction season is coming up – Bronte St. will be closed for the month of June to complete the final phase of the project. Bronte section north of Main St. between Main and Steeles will be closed.
  • The Town is in a strategic point of focus, focusing on long term strategic planning, transit has become a flashpoint by which they are measuring all other planning to improve routes, enhance the quality of life, and increase convenience and access.
  • Civic Precinct report/update will be provided to council in June. Civic Precinct project will be downtown in the parking lots on Brown St, the plan is to have a large civic space for gatherings in downtown Milton like Celebration Square in Mississauga. We hope to see actual physical evidence regarding the project by 2026.
    • IC moved to accept the Council Reports. JR seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Regional (CB)

  • Attended the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities in Perry Sound and will send Rachel and Monique pictures.
  • Visited Downtown Newmarket which is very similar to Downtown Milton as they are also on a flood plain and converted a parking lot into a Civic Square which he will send pictures to Council and BIA.
  • KTD: First ever Pride parade will be on August 20, this is for all of Halton.
    • JR moved to accept the Council Reports. IC seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Executive Director’s Report (RS)

  • ED transition – Welcome to Monique Gaudet, new ED! Will be joining us full-time as of May 23.
  • Approved for two Canada Summer Jobs positions (Event support in May & June, Beautification, litter clean up and activations in July & August). The first student, Maya, started with us. The second student Zack will work for us in July and August.
  • Policies – Currently updating Personnel policy and will be brought back to board for review/approval. Next, the Constitution will be updated based on the Board of Management and the Personnel policies. Rachel will review this with Monique during the transition.
  • Working on final report for Canada Community Revitalization Fund (mural project). Once that’s completed and submitted, expecting to receive our final payment.
  • Nominations open for Chamber’s Community Awards. Suggestions? The Board will take this back and send suggestions via email. https://miltoncc.awardify.io/categories.
  • See ED Report for nominations.
    • Business Awards (Small, Medium, Large) based on number of employees and does need to be operating for at least 3 years: Employee numbers: Small 1-10/ Medium 11-25/ Large 26+ –
    • Entrepreneur of the Year
    • Not-for-Profit of the Year
    • Sustainability
    • Volunteer of the Year
    • Lifetime Achievement
  • SummerFest – Happening Saturday, June 3. Finalizing site plan, Operations support from The Town, sponsorship, and vendors. We had a great meeting with the Town for operational support and we are thankful for their support.
  • We have changed the road closures. Originally, we were approved to Fulton St, but it has changed to Commercial St. as we are no longer including a car show. We can revisit the extension for next year, however, in the past we did have a stage at each end of the closures which is an additional expense.  If we were to extend the event, we would need to find an attraction that is big enough and affordable.
  • 83 vendors / 20 are BIA members. The revenue from paying vendors is about $15K, about 14 of them are coming in on credit from Holidayfest, including the credits the revenue would be closer to 20K.
  • Winter event – We are in the process of preparing a formal request from The Town for funding for this event. Expect a delegation to Council in June. Requesting a final decision before June 28 to move forward with this event for 2023. Experience Ontario fund (formerly Reconnect Ontario) is only for 2-day events now, so we could not apply. Seeking other funding opportunities.
  • Farmers’ Market – The market opened on the first Saturday of the May long weekend. We are supporting the Chambre on this project, by reserving two booths at the market for our members to fill.
  • Member/business updates:
    • Halifax Donair announced they will be retiring/closing.
    • Chef Mayo opening where Camp Cannabis was (old TD & Starbucks)
    • My Dosa Place/My Roti Place is open where Castle Lounge was.
    • Heal Wellness is open old Ohana was.
    • Gongcha (corn dog place) is planning to open in June in the old Starbucks location.
    • Would like to introduce a “Taste of Downtown” campaign in the slower season as we are becoming more of a food destination.
  • Flowers in the garden beds are being planted in June.
  • Garden sponsorship program has begun.
  • Receptacles repaired this week. Several were destroyed by snow plows this past winter. We have an MOU with The Town that says that we are responsible for the receptables, however, this is Town damage.

KTD – suggested that this needs to be re-visited as this is negligence not wear and tear.

CB- suggested a direct appeal to Council.

KTD: Spoke towards her meeting with the Chambre of Commerce – a consultant form the Ontario Chamber came in to review the type of members that the Chambre wants to attract, and it was noted that restaurants may be best served by BIAs as Chambers have lots of different business types to serve.

New Business

  • JR: Will be away for Summerfest.
  • JR: is on the Her Quest for Hospice Committee; the event is an Amazing Race style, and it is happening Saturday September 9, hoping for a DMBIA team of 4 to participate.

Adjournment

  • IC moved to adjourn. EP seconded the motion. Motion passed.
  • Meeting adjourned at 7:23 pm.