St. Ann's Bay Development Association

Annual General Meeting

13 November 2007

Present: Beverly Brett, Laurie Brown, Jeremy Frith, Carol Kennedy, Gordon Kennedy, Dennis Laffan, Marcelle Lavoie, Brook MacAulay, Ernie MacAulay, Jennifer MacAulay, Merrill MacInnis, Aaron Schneider, Ruth Schneider, Angelo Spinazzola, Bonnie Thompson, Elnor Thompson, Helen Thompson, Mary Ann Wilson, Andy Watt, Susan Zettell

Regrets: Chrissie MacEachern

Guests:
Bill and Esther Danielson

1) Agenda for the meeting:
Approved (moved: Aaron; seconded: Angelo)

2) Minutes of AGM of 7 November 2006:
Approved (moved: Ruth; seconded: Marcelle)

3) Business arising from the minutes:

None was brought forward.

4) Financial report:
Submitted by Chrissie, read by Carol.

SABDA has $6,745.91 in its general account. A $1,000 cheque was written to Marsha Smith for the Women in Business A Little Bit Out There festival, and our annual membership in the Nova Scotia Nature Trust was paid.

ACTION: Carol and Chrissie will undertake renewal of SABDA's Joint Stocks registration.

Financial Report received as read (moved: Aaron; seconded: Gordon)

5) Chair's report:
Submitted by Carol; full text is appended to these minutes. Highlights:

• The closure of the Gaelic Septic System discussion, that concluded that the system would be for the Gaelic College, only.
• The North River Trail kiosk was vandalized and repaired. SABDA will request that brochures be returned to the kiosk and recycled. A suggestion was made that we photocopy the map so that people can read the brochure and take the map along. This should be on the January agenda.
  
  ACTION: Ruth; Marcelle will add to next agenda.
• The North Shore School is currently boarded up, and SABDA needs to confirm what action the municipality will be taking regarding the school. This needs to be on the January agenda.
  
  ACTION: Ruth; Marcelle will add to next agenda.
• SABDA sent a letter regarding the sale of Pollett's Cove and the failure of the Province to act to protect this outstanding piece of land, to which Keith Bain replied, but the Premier has yet to respond.

Chair's Report accepted as read (moved: Susan; seconded: Angelo)

6) Board elections (details of new board are here):

The following were unanimously accepted for the Board:
Jeremy Frith, Marcelle Lavoie, Ernie MacAuley, Murdock MacDonald, Chrissie MacEachern, Merrill MacInnis, Angelo Spinazzola, Ruth Schneider.

The new Board met briefly and set January 15th as the next meeting date. Marcelle Lavoie is the new Chair, Chrissie MacEachern will continue as Treasurer, and Ruth Schneider will continue as Secretary.

7) Guest speaker:

Bill Danielson gave a slide presentation and spoke on his recently released book, Cape Breton Weather Watching. He was thanked heartily, and those who would like to purchase a copy of the book can check Cole's Bookstore in Sydney or The Blue Heron in Baddeck.

8) Community Arts and Culture Recognition Award:

This $10,000 award is given to communities that are strongly supportive of their arts. This year, it was given to Annapolis Royal Arts Council. SABDA qualifies, and should put in a proposal to promote this community's involvement in such things as the St. Ann's Bay Players, the Gaelic classes and workshops, the Ceilidh series, the North River Centre for Performing Arts, and support for local instrument makers, artists, artisans, and writers. Mention was made, as well, of the fact that the museum at Cape North got funding for theatre work for the last two years, and SABDA should be able to apply for funding to do similar work. The performances at the North River Centre for Performing Arts supported themselves for several years.

Motion: That SABDA form an Arts and Culture Committee, headed by Beverly Brett and Carol Kennedy, to work on a proposal for the Community Arts and Culture Award, as well as to seek other possible funding for the arts in our community (moved: Ruth; seconded: Jeremy)

ACTION: Carol and Beverly will begin work on this.

9) Next Meeting: Tuesday 15 January 2008, 7 pm, at the St. Ann's Bay Community Health Centre

Meeting adjourned at 9:10 pm.

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Appendix: SABDA Chair's Report for 2007 AGM

The Board of Directors met 3 times in 2007: January, April, and September.

Discussions and actions taken:

• Improving signage at the kiosk for the trail North River Falls: Unfortunately, vandals have torn down our laminated map, and maps seem to disappear. For the next hiking season, we will have the map laminated and screwed into the walls properly, and ask the hikers to recycle the maps. There is a Trail Info sign on the outside facing the parking lot.
• The Board wrote letters to Sam MacPhee of the Gaelic College, and in April it was confirmed that a system to deal with the college waste was the one approved.
• The matter of the North Shore school was revisited, and we have held discussions regarding SABDA purchasing the building and finding a renter to cover the expenses. We are awaiting further details, before continuing this, from the municipal council.
• We renewed our membership in the Nova Scotia Nature Trust, and wrote a letter protesting the fact that the provincial government let Pollett's Cove sell privately, instead of making it a protected area.
• St. Ann's Bay Women in Business applied for and received funds to advertise the Little Bit Out There festival, under the umbrella of SABDA's sponsorship.
• We continued our discussions with regard to the role of SABDA, and agreed it is useful for this community to have an organization that can be an advocate for its social and economic well-being, approaching municipal and provincial governments with concerns, applications for funding, etc.

Submitted by Carol Kennedy

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