St. Ann's Bay Development Association

Meeting of 26 May 2014

Present: Loreto Doyle, Ian Green, Anne-Claude Pépin, Rosie Smith, Angelo Spinazzola, Jitka Zgola

Regrets: James Murphy, Paul Weinberg

1. Call to Order
2. Approve Agenda
3. The agenda was amended to adjourn making a decision on new bylaws and receiving the report on the Cabot Trail Steering Committee to our next meeting, and to add receiving a financial report.
4. Motion: to approve the agenda as amended (moved: Ian; seconded: Angelo; carried.)
5. Approve Minutes of Meetings of 10 April and 2 April 2014
6. Motion: to approve the minutes of 10 April 2014, amended to include notice of regrets from Paul and Jamie (moved: Loreto; seconded: Jitka; carried.)
7. Motion: to approve the minutes of e-mail meeting of 2 April 2014 (moved: Loreto; seconded: Jitka; carried.)
8. Financial Report
9. The current balance is $9,958.83. $250 was received from Victoria County, and $140 from attendees of our recently sponsored Social Media Workshop.
10. Motion: to approve the financial report (moved: Rosie; seconded: Angelo; carried.)
11. Old Business
    • Community/Tourism Web Site: Potential Contractors and Next Steps
    • Four names have been brought forward: Shawn Green, Kristie (suggested by Weldon Bona), Mike Sheppard, and Shaun Jackman. A modified RFP will be sent to the four potential candidates, asking for quotes and timelines. They will be given 10 days to respond.
    • Action: Loreto will modify the original RFP, to be sent to these candidates.
    • Destination Cape Breton: Industry Days
    • Ian and Angelo reported on DCBA's Industry Days, held at Baddeck this year. Ian found one session on golf was worthwhile, pointing out that Cape Breton is a growing golf destination.
    • There was a panel including Rodney MacDonald and Joella Foulds on cultural tourism. There are many small groups, all competing for the same pots of culture-based funding. The Cape Breton Partnership has taken on the role of bringing these groups together and building the cultural economy (Ian has applied to become a board member with the Partnership; if he joins, he will keep SABDA in this loop). A woman who organises hospitality packages for events like the Golden Globes and Oscars spoke about Cape Breton becoming more of a film location. Destination Cape Breton is also trying to focus on food.
    • Innovation Cape Breton Summit
    • Ian reported that almost 100 people from the arts, culture, and heritage industries attended this session chaired by David Wheeler of CBU. All the tables had pads of chart paper for participants to write thoughts and ideas on, which were collected to be added to the session report. We will, through Ian, receive a copy of the final report.
    • SABDA Bylaws
    • Loreto supplied the Joint Stocks template for basic bylaws. The template likely suits our needs for now; the details will be decided at a future bylaws meeting.
    • QuickBooks Course
    • This SABDA-sponsored training course has one more day before completion. There were eight participants, with an overall positive response. Most participants would like to continue on to do another course from this series funded by the provincial Department of Labour. Unfortunately, course funding is likely being cut. SABDA will put forth a case outlining how productive and useful the course was for capacity-building in the community and among entrepreneurs, and hopefully there will be an opportunity to present another course in the future. Funding provided by the Department for this programme ("Workplace Education") includes some $1,000 as an administrative fee paid directly to SABDA.
    • Future SABDA Priorities
    • A more in-depth discussion will happen at a future meeting organised for the purpose. The directors present listed in a few words their personal priorities, including family, creative economy, schools, and outdoor activities.
12. New Business
    • Moving the Needle on Tough Community Issues Workshop
    • Loreto will attend this workshop at New Dawn in Sydney on 30 May that looks for better ways to get to community goals.
    • Motion: to approve paying $30 for Loreto's gas expenses (moved: Angelo; seconded: Jitka; carried.)
    • Physical Activity Summit, 5–6 June
    • Vince Forestall sent SABDA an invitiation, but there is a fee of $100 to attend. At this time, no one can commit to attend (2 full days at a tricky time).
    • Motion: to approve in advance paying the $100 fee if a board member is able to attend (moved: Loreto; seconded: Ian; carried.)
    • Plaster Park Letter
    • Jitka received a response from her letter to the Department of Transportation requesting that Plaster Park be restored during the Cabot Trail road renewal this year. It says that the Department of Natural Resources needs to be asked if the fill can be dumped into the park (Transport copied DNR on the reply to SABDA). The person at DNR that Jitka then spoke to said that they had not done a site assessment, and did not know what needed to be done.
    • Action: Loreto will try to find the name of the person who told her that DNR had done a geologic assessment of Plaster Park as part of their decision to close it, and forward the name to Jitka.
    • Action: Jitka will continue to inquire of DNR, requesting that they direct the placement of fill from the summer's Cabot Trail construction to restore the Park.
13. Next Meeting
14. The next meeting will be Tuesday 24 June at 5:30 pm, at Simply Pizza.
15. Meeting Adjourned (moved: Loreto; seconded: Ian)

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