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Meeting of 3 February 2016
Present: Loreto Doyle,
Ian Green, Merrill MacInnis, Ruth Schneider, Rosie Smith, Angelo Spinazzola,
Paul Weinberg, Jitka Zgola
Regrets: Anne-Claude Pépin
- Approval of agenda
- Add discussion of Ideas in Motion to New
business, update on Syrian immigration to Cape Breton to Merrill's
presentation, and LaMPSS program update to Old business
- Motion: to
approve agenda as amended (moved:
Loreto; seconded:
Paul; carried.)
- Victoria County Council update: presentation by Merrill MacInnis
- It is not encouraged to bring Syrian refugees
to rural areas. It is also not recommended for the refugees to pursue
employment for the first year they are in Canada, so they have more
time to adjust, learn a new language, and update skills. The
Baddeck-area application has been submitted, but at this point it is
unknown whether Baddeck will be approved to host a Syrian family. If
no family goes to Baddeck, the money fundraised will go to another area
receiving refugees.
- The County is pressuring the provincial
government to build a bridge in Englishtown. The rough estimate is
$40–50 million.
- The County is trying to have the Cabot Trail
designated a heritage highway. It would then be under federal jurisdiction
and maintenance, rather than provincial. A visit of Cape Breton
municipalities with federal ministers is scheduled for March. Letters
of support are appreciated.
- Action: Merrill will
provide a summary of the proposal to SABDA.
- Action: Jitka will
draft a letter of support from SABDA.
- Merrill met recently on behalf of Victoria County
with the provincial Fisheries minister. Fin fish aquaculture and
processing operations are growing in success, and markets are
increasing. These farms are usually based on land, although there
are off-shore models similar to oil platforms which do not impact the
near-shore fishery. Off-shore would not work in Nova Scotia due to
ice conditions. A meeting to discuss a model for northern Cape Breton
is planned in the coming weeks. ACOA and investment groups
are interested.
- Strait Area Transit had buses donated to them
from Halifax Regional Municipality, and have new routes in place. There
is a connection from Baddeck to Whycocomagh, going as far as Port
Hawkesbury. The County pays $5,000 a month for this service. Only one
person used the service in the first 6 weeks. They are now looking at
an initiative where each district would find someone, on a voluntary
basis, to set up a scheduled driving route, combining parcels,
pick-ups, and passengers.
- The County has contributed $15,000 to support
the Visitor Information Centre (VIC) in Baddeck. The centre often
directs tourists to stay in and return to Baddeck. Merrill went to the
centre to welcome tourists to the County and was told he could not
be there. Baddeck and Area Business and Tourism Association (BABTA),
which operates the VIC on behalf of the region, went to Council,
apologised, and said that all districts will henceforth be represented.
The name of the Baddeck Welcome Centre will be changed to the Victoria
County Welcome Centre.
- The Little River harbour is being rebuilt
this year.
- The Barrachois communications tower is a
TMR tower, providing radio coverage for the
fire department so they can communicate with EHS and the RCMP and
other emergency service providers. There will be no cell
service added to this tower.
- The Council committed $250K to enhance cell
coverage in the county, partnering with Bell and the Province. Cape
North was requested by the RCMP, and Middle River has a higher
unserviced population. Bell has said it is not feasible to put towers in
St. Ann's. They cost upwards of $1 million each, and we would need
two to provide full coverage.
- Merrill invited SABDA to attend Council meetings.
He also agreed to provide notes to SABDA on Council activities.
- SABDA's Role Revisited: Presentation and Discussion with Ruth Schneider
- Many things have been done that were inspired
directly by the strategic plan created by SABDA 22 years ago. Two views
were discussed by that first board: 1) If you build things, people
will come; 2) If you have a nice community, people will come. SABDA
chose the second option, and it was successful. People who moved here
wanted to stay here, and began to build businesses.
- SABDA was created as a way to provide a contact point
between the community and outside agencies, and to influence outside
activities. SABDA would also provide support for community members
and businesses looking for assistance with new projects.
- Successful projects
- Created the Health Centre
- Opened the North River Falls trail
- Fostered the North River Centre for
Performing Arts
- Introduced community clean-up days
- Lobbied to install the Tarbot group mailbox
- Lobbies on land issues
- Writes numerous letters in support of
commnity groups and people
- Projects that succeeded almost all began with a single
person's bright idea that grew.
- Directors' Responsibilities
- The board needs to be in touch with the County, funding
opportunities, etc., and needs to commit to having someone involved
in researching, writing proposals, and pursuing these opportunities.
This is stated in the document
SABDA Board of Director Responsibilities (BoDR)
- What SABDA is currently missing is outreach to the
community. In earlier days, copies of meeting minutes were put into
every mailbox. The community felt they were part of SABDA and would
attend the AGM. The BoDR directs that four open public meetings
should be held each year, that minutes should be distributed to
members promptly after each meeting, and that there is follow-up on
all decisions.
- AGM
- An AGM needs three things: a chair's report, a
financial report, and an election. Ruth suggests that we nominate a
board slate for the upcoming AGM. This slate can propose who will fill
the executive positions. The skills required for the executive should
be identified, and individuals approached who have these skills.
- The AGM can be used to help identify SABDA priorities
for the coming year. Ideas for future projects can be obtained from the
community in the weeks before, as well as in a brainstorming session at the
AGM. Committees can be formed for each of the priority projects.
- We need to remember that we cannot take care of the
big issues (e.g., a bridge for Englishtown).
However, there are many small issues that can be handled by SABDA.
- Approval of 7 January 2016 minutes
- Motion: to
approve the minutes of the meeting of 7 January 2016
(moved:
Ian; seconded:
Loreto; carried.)
- Financial Report (Jitka)
- The current balance is $8866.78.
- Recent expenditures include:
- Mike Sheppard—$2300
- Greenwood United Church donation for
Syrian refugees—$250
- Recent revenue of an administration fee of
about $1100 from the Department of Advanced Education's
LaMPSS business workshop.
- Motion: to
accept the financial report
as read (moved:
Loreto; seconded:
Paul; carried.)
- Old Business
- Community Web Site
- Hosting
- The hosting transition has been made. The only thing to
be updated is recreation of site e-mail addresses. Our former hoster
has agreed to transfer our unused hosting term to a board member, who
will reimburse SABDA - essentially, a pro-rata refund.
- Social Media
- Angelo is waiting on a quote and description from Mike
Shepherd on what needs to be done to set up good social media tools.
- Terry and Lisa, who operate a Facebook site for our
community, have committed to taking visitor queries from the
community web site.
- Coordinator’s Position
- Lisa Finney has agreed to assume the position and has
the list of businesses and individuals to contact. She will be updating the
contact list as she goes.
- Fees for Web Site Listings
- It has been so long since the website endeavour began
and the community has likely lost faith in the project.
- Motion: to
offer one free year of web site listings to community members and
businesses if they sign up by 31 July 2016 (moved:
Angelo; seconded:
Paul; carried.)
- LaMPSS Training Update
- Approximately $1100 was earned through the provincial
Labour Market Programs Support System (LaMPSS) program. A
summary
of the business training workshop we offered through this program was
delivered to the funder.
- Ideas in Motion
- Newfoundland has Kiss the Cod, and Cape Breton needs a
ritual for tourists. One idea is "Do the bear dance", started by two men in
Iona. Participants could also take a shot of Glen Breton or a drink of Big
Spruce, and receive a certificate.
- Bookkeeping
- Jitka will be working with Irene Carroll for three hours
at $40/hour to set up the paper-based financial records for SABDA.
- New Business
- CBC "Party Line" Reporter
- The community does not currently have a CBC radio
party line reporter, a role that keeps the community engaged in local
current affairs.
- Action: Angelo will
ask Mary Ann Wilson if she is interested, and he will make the first contact
with Steve Sutherland at CBC.
- Waste Diversion
- At the next Health Centre meeting, Ruth will suggest
that the free store/dump issue be turned over to SABDA.
- Action: Angelo will
contact the people known to be interested in working on this.
- AGM Presentation Review
- SABDA will have a brainstorming session at our next
meeting, to prepare for the AGM.
- AGM Scheduling
- Date—The AGM will take place on
31 March at 7 pm.
- Action: Loreto
will book the Tea Room.
- Speaker—Nicole Lucas-Richardson, the
County's new economic development officer, has agreed to be our
AGM speaker.
- Action: Jitka will
ask Nicole if 31 March works for her.
- Roster for Elections—The slate will be prepared
at our next meeting.
- Next Meeting
- The next meeting will be 8 February at 6:30 pm
at Cabot Shores.
- Meeting Adjourned (moved: Jitka)
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