St. Ann's Bay Development Association

Meeting of 31 January 2018

Present: Loreto Doyle, Anne-Claude Pépin, Paul Weinberg, Yvonne van der Zanden

1. Approve agenda (moved: Anne-Claude; seconded: Loreto; carried.)
2. Approve minutes of the meeting of 19 September 2017 (moved: Loreto; seconded: Paul; carried.)
3. Financial Report (Anne-Claude)
   • As at 8 January 2018:
     
     

     Balance:	$ 6,760.36
     	4,415.79		allocated to Time Bank project
     	31.15		2017 annual return, Joint Stock Registry
     Net:	$ 2,313.42		unrestricted assets

   • Since our last meeting of 19 September 2017, the following cheques were issued:
     
     

     $	416.66		Jay Rawding, web site coordinator payment
     $	416.66		Jay Rawding, web site coordinator final payment
     $	30.00		Time Bank event food
     $	2,600.00		Patsy Leblanc, Time Bank coordinator second payment
     $	216.67		Patsy Leblanc, travel expenses

   • Motion: to approve the financial report as read (moved: Anne-Claude; seconded: Paul; carried.)
   • A cheque to Loreto is due for the cost of attending the recent Tourism Conference ($25) and to pay the Shores of St Anns web site domain renewal ($~20).
4. Committee Reports
   • Community Web Site Committee
   • Mel Sweetnam, Committee Chair, has resigned, and the committee is currently inactive.
   • Time Bank Committee
   • The Committee was struck in May 2017, and includes Jitka Zgola, Anne-Claude Pepin, and Ruth Schneider. Jay Rawding is not on the Committee, but has offered to volunteer for the Time Bank itself.
   • At present, there are 80 memberships, and 400 hours have been exchanged.
   • There was a great news article on CBC Radio in November.
   • Our funding proposal to the federal New Horizons for Seniors grant program was awarded ($24,575 total) to expand on the Time Bank concept from March 2018 through March 2019. The committee is meeting next week to plan next steps, contracting for an additional coordinator, etc.
   • Political Action Committee
   • Englishtown Ferry:
   • Merrill has said that he is told that the Province still is considering the bridge option. However, they are investing in the ferry approach ramps this winter, which seems to send a mixed message.
   • Action: Loreto will append the ferry usage/revenue statistics she received from the Dept of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal (TIR) to these minutes.
   • Re-use Shed at Baddeck Transfer Station:
   • The County re-use shed, at which citizens will be able to exchange still-useful items diverted from the landfill, is going ahead, hopefully in service by May, according to news items from CBC.
   • Telephone Service Interruptions:
   • The communities along the Tarbot/St Ann's loop have had numerous phone and Internet disruptions over the last several months, and some affected people have started a petition to the federal, provincial, and municipal governments, as well as to Bell Aliant and Bell Mobility, to update equipment and expand cellular service in the area. They have recently called for volunteers to form a steering committee to negotiate the issues.
   • Action: Anne-Claude will connect with the leader of this initiative and offer to send a letter of complaint/support from SABDA.
   • Highway Winter Maintenance:
   • Roads appear to be less well maintained this winter, and there are concerns that standards for clearing and salting are not being met, particularly on the Loop section that is now the only route for all users in Northern Cape Breton, while the Ferry remains out of service.
   • Action: Paul will enquire of TIR as to what are the winter road maintenance standards that should be met.
   • Transportation Committee
   • County Transit Strategy:
   • This strategic plan has fallen into neglect. However, the Age-Friendly Communities strategy includes action on transit. Dr Trudy O'Keefe from our community has volunteered to join Councillor Fraser Patterson on the Age-Friendly Committee that will manage this strategy, giving us a local voice.
   • We discussed the initiative of a County-supported taxi service in Ingonish (a pilot project funded from the discretionary funds of the local Councillor) that helps provide transport to non-drivers for critical trips, and how St Ann's Bay could contribute to and benefit from such a service in the future. There may be a role for the Time Bank to play in extending the Ingonish project to connect with our community.
   • Tourism Committee
   • As yet, there is no tourism committee for this region.
5. New Business
   • Anne-Claude, our Vice Chair, has taken on the role of SABDA Chair upon Jitka's resignation from the board. She was also Treasurer. Our by-laws do not permit combining the role of Chair with Treasurer in one person. On 3 January 2018, at an ad hoc meeting of the board, Paul Weinberg was nominated by Anne-Claude to become interim Treasurer until our upcoming AGM. He accepted the nomination, and was elected unanimously.
   • The County Economic Development Officer, Patrick Austin, has reached out to SABDA to help organise a meeting with business operators in the region in February.
   • Tom Wilson, County Tourism and Recreation Director, would like SABDA to help organise a presentation updating the community on progress on the new Tourism Strategy.
   • We discussed approaches to these meetings, and think the best time may be on Thursdays during the day, at the Fire Hall or Tea Room, and that they should probably have both meetings together, one after the other.
   • Action: Loreto will get back to Patrick and Tom with this recommendation, and share a list of business contacts with Patrick. Each board director will help spread the word once a date/location is fixed.
   • AGM
   • The AGM will be on 13 March 2018, with 15 March as snow date. The venue will be the Celtic Tea Room, if it's available. There will be a short business meeting, followed by a potluck.
   • Action: Anne-Claude will write a notice and submit it to the Events sheet.
     Anne-Claude will investigate making the potluck a Time Bank event.
     Each board member will continue to recruit potential new members.
   • A complete turnover of board members is foreseen, so certain housekeeping items were discussed.
   • Action: Loreto will work on transferring the SABDA business web site to a domain that will be owned by SABDA and available to the new directors.
     Anne-Claude will make a summary of administrative tasks that need to be done annually to maintain SABDA's standing.
6. Next Meeting
7. The new board will set its next meeting date.
8. Meeting Adjourned (moved: Loreto; seconded: Paul)

^ top