Board of Director’s Meeting – Minutes

Wednesday, October 12, 2022
Location: Online, 6:30 p.m.

Attendees: Eric Chabot (EC), Sara Bergsma (SB), Margaret Lara (ML), Miguel Gonsalves (MG), Colin Best (CB), Ian Campbell (IC), Rachel Shuttleworth (RS)

Regrets: Julie Rock (JR), Eric Parris (EP), Kristina Tesser Derksen (KTD), Joe Taglieri (JT)

EC called the meeting to order at 6:29 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

    • ML moved to accept September minutes. MG seconded the motion. Motion passed.

 Executive Director’s Report (RS)

 Event updates

  • Tiny Tots Trick or Treat happening Saturday, October 29, 10am-12pm. Planning and promotions are underway. Charitable partner is MCRC. Overall a good participation rate from members. A few members don’t want to participate due to COVID concerns. Clown coming out to do balloon twisting.
  • Downtown Milton HolidayFest happening Saturday, December 3, 12-6pm. Got signed agreement from Ontario government for Reconnect grant. Winterhawks have confirmed that they are attending and running the ball hockey tournament. Stage will fit best at Martin St (same as last year). A couple Carriage Square businesses expressed concerns about having the stage at this location but other locations won’t work. Will address concerns as best we can. Logistics planning underway. We are working on vendor and entertainer selection. Reaching out to a few more potential sponsors.
  • Other winter events:
    • Santa Claus Parade – Saturday, November 26. We are a gold sponsor.
    • Miracle on Main – Friday, December 9, 6-10pm.
    • Our new lights will be on display ahead of these events.
  • ‘Programming evenings’ through HHB Tourism Relief Fund grant – We’ll be organizing programming for three evenings in November and December, showcasing our new lights, engaging the community and creating an attraction downtown. Includes music, indoor/outdoor activities, etc. in November and December. Will engage our members and tap into activities they have going on as well.

 Beautification

  • Mural – Painting is underway and it looks amazing. Challenging for artist (Omar) to work around the wall repairs happening at the same time and this has slowed down the painting but he has been flexible and accommodating and is doing an outstanding job. No date set yet for mural unveiling.
  • Seasonal lighting – New LED decorations will be installed on street poles around November 24 or 25 (just before the Santa Claus Parade). Vendor needs to remove the string lights in order to put the brackets up the new brackets. We can decide later on whether we want to put string lights on again later.

 Administration

  • We have submitted our 2023 proposed budget to the Town. Ongoing discussions with Town staff underway about the request for additional event dollars to support the sustainability of our events.
  • We need a treasurer for our board. Miguel is wrapping up at the end of this year, and we need to find a replacement. Any volunteers or suggestions please let Rachel know.
  • Our Downtown Ambassador is unavailable for work right now. Will explore whether we can find someone to temporarily fill the position (1 day per week of litter clean-up).

Treasurer’s Report (MG)

  • Our revenues surpassed our expenses for this month which is unusual (due to some grant revenue).
  • Had $39k in expenses, and a large expense was made for the lights project.
  • There are several cost items that need to come through still for this year.
  • RS – Town provided their financial contribution for events for 2022 this past month. We’ll have a lot of expenses coming through in November and December as we run HolidayFest and wrap up two grant projects.
  • MG – How best to present the funding request to the Town.
  • EC – Last time we provided the financial case as well as the qualitative benefit of the events when we made the case for the Town to continue to contribute.
  • RS – Explained to Town staff in our discussions that we cannot keep spending large amounts of staff time trying to keep the Town contribution in place. Seriously inhibits our ability to continue to deliver events year after year. We need a longer term commitment from the Town that they will support the events and what level of support we will receive.
  • EC – Most effective approach is to make case directly to Council.
    • ML moved to accept the Treasurer’s report. IC seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Council Report (delivered by RS)

  • Councillors were unable to attend today but reminded everyone to please get out and vote in the municipal election.
    • MG moved to accept the Council report. ML seconded the motion. Motion passed.

New Business

  • RS – Lots of construction and improvements being done to downtown buildings right now – new paint, siding, Thompson House construction, etc. Lots of people are investing in their buildings. Great to see so many improvements and enhancements being done to downtown buildings.

Adjournment

    • MG moved to adjourn. IC seconded the motion. Motion passed.
    • Meeting adjourned at 6:43 pm.