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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-05-11Historic Downtown Bowmanville Business Centre (BIA) Board of Management Meeting Minutes Tuesday May 11, 2021; 6:30pm Virtual Meeting due to COVID-19 pandemic Present: Edgar Lucas, Chair Laura Holmes, Secretary Gerri Lucas, Treasurer Justin Barry Cathy Holmes Ron Hooper Bonnie Wrightman, CBOT representative Erin Kemp (joined at 7:44pm) Absent: none Delegations Present: none The meeting was called to order by the Chair. 1. Presentation by Delegations The Chair recognized that no delegations were present. 2. Adoption of Minutes Moved by G. Lucas, seconded by C. Holmes THAT the minutes of the meeting of April 13, 2021 be approved as circulated. CARRIED 3. Business Arisine from Previous Minutes (a) Updates from Mayor's COVID Task Force The Chair states that there have been no recent meetings. (b) Parking Report Mr. Anderson has done some research on mobile parking apps and would like to meet with the Board to discuss his findings before issuing a staff report on parking to Council. Moved by J. Barry, seconded by R. Hooper THAT a special meeting be called for Thursday May 13, 2021 at 6:30pm CARRIED 4. Correspondence Historic Downtown Bowmanville 2 May 2021 Business Centre (BIA) No correspondence to report. 5. Treasurer's Report The Treasurer presented the following: i. $131000 in current account (including deposit of social media funds) ii. Audit is on -going. There was a new audit company this year and audit includes activities from January 2020 up to and including March 2021. Moved by R. Hooper, seconded by J. Barry THAT the Treasurer's Report be adopted as presented. CARRIED 6. Directors' Reports (a) Council Liaison — R. Hooper: Reported that the garbage receptacles have been replaced. Gas meters have received maintenance but there are some that require more extensive repairs. OBIAA has released a Digital Main Street report that should be shared with members. CBOT has negotiated with Chamber of Commerce to obtain rapid screening COVID tests. Council has passed a motion of support for this initiative. OBIAA is having a local breakout session this coming Thursday. The Chair asked Councillor Hooper to speak with Operations about resetting/replacing power receptacles on light standards. (b) Events — C. Holmes: Reported that a Mother's Day contest was run on both Instagram and Facebook. Proposes a promotion that would offer restaurants coupons to pass out with take-out orders. Could act as a pilot project for a larger shop down coupon promotion. Suggests another window hunt for Victoria Day weekend or a later weekend since lockdown will remain in place. Family Day window hunt was very well attended and new window hunt could tie in with the window wrap at BMO. (c) Membership Relations —J. Barry: Reported that 99 King has opened in the former Village Inn location. The Friendly Vapor has opened across from the Veltri building. B-Town Halal BBQ has opened on Division St. Shiny Buds, a new cannabis shop, has opened in the Service Ontario building. The English Rose Tattoo Club has closed. Luxe Nails has closed and renovations are underway at the location. A new food service business called the Yard Bird plans to open in June in the former Toasted Walnut location. Petley-Hare Limited has closed. The Sanctus Church office has closed. (d) Streetscape — G. Lucas: Historic Downtown Bowmanville 3 May 2021 Business Centre (BIA) Reported that hanging basket flowers and watering services are on schedule. Councillor Hooper reported that the volunteers have already purchased the flowers for the stationary planters but are just waiting for the weather to improve. (e) Communications— (vacant): No report. (f) Website & Social Media — L. Holmes: Reported that social media accounts continue to experience organic growth. The Mothers Day contest received significantly more entries on Instagram versus Facebook. Discord surrounding businesses flouting lockdown rules seems to have subsided. Councillor Hooper asked if there was a mechanism for non-BIA members to post on the Bowmanville.com website, as he has noticed some posts lately. L. Holmes will investigate. (g) CBOT Updates— B. Wrightman: Reported that the Digital Main Street program will be wrapping up in June. Tyler, the DSS, will continue his duties until the end of the program. In total 210 main street businesses in Clarington were contacted by the three DSS members. 32 in-depth meetings were conducted. 31 businesses applied for grant and of that, 18 were approved for funding. $45 000 injected into main street business in Clarington. Leadership role in rolling out rapid test kits for small and medium size business. Working with Ontario Chamber of Commerce and MOC. Businesses can order kits online and pick up at Garnet B. Rickard. Receive training at pick up. Ordered total of 15 000 and have received orders for 3000 kits from 15 businesses in first day. Recommend testing of staff twice per week. Wrapped the "In The Bag" campaign for Mother's Day where local items were placed in a bag and sold for $50. It was very popular so another campaign is planned for Father's Day. 7. New Business (a) Update from Economic Development Roundtable L. Holmes attended a roundtable discussion on May 4 that was facilitated by staff from the Planning and CAO office. Staff will be providing a report to Council with recommendations for the administration of economic development in Clarington. Currently, economic development is administered under a contract with CBOT. (b) BIA Social Media Funds Councillor Hooper received some correspondence from Mr. Allison, CAO, regarding the social media funds for area BIAS. Proposes a split of funds based on a non -weighted assessment of $13 949 to Bowmanville, $14 548 to Newcastle, $1504 to Orono. Moved by G. Lucas, seconded by J. Barry Historic Downtown Bowmanville 4 May 2021 Business Centre (BIA) THAT the Bowmanville BIA thanks Council for the funding and accepts the proposed split of funds. CARRIED (c) Thefts, Break & Enter, and Vandalism In the past few weeks there has been theft of outdoor flower planters from several businesses. There was also a break and enter at a main street business that police responded to. An increase in graffiti has been noticed in downtown. Suggestion to report vandalism to police on each occasion in hopes that increased patrols may help deter vandals. Councillor Hooper suggests that a community -based officer could be invited to a future board meeting and will reach out to a contact at DRPS to facilitate. (d) Traffic/Parking Concerns C. Holmes reported that several concerning traffic and parking trends have been noticed in the area of Speakeasy Cannabis. Most notably, numerous vehicles have been performing u- turns and there have been several near collisions. Vehicles are also idle -parking in front of a fire hydrant and/or blocking the driveway beside 22 King St W while performing curbside pick ups. Today, a driver heading eastbound on King St travelled in reverse in the westbound lane and parked the wrong direction in a parking space on the north curb. When pulling out of the parking space to cross back into the eastbound lane the driver nearly caused a very serious accident. An email alerting Traffic Services and Bylaw Enforcement of the aggressive/dangerous driving was sent earlier today. The area may require increased signage, visual inspections, and/or enforcement. DRPS may need to become involved. 8. Date of Next Meeting The next meeting of the Board of Management is scheduled to be held on Tuesday June 8, 2021 commencing at 6:30pm virtually, as COVID restrictions will still be in place. 9. Adiournment Moved by C. Holmes, seconded by J. Barry THAT the meeting adjourn. CARRIED The meeting adjourned at 8:15pm.