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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-01-09Historic Downtown Bowmanville Business Centre (BIA) Board of Management Meeting Minutes Tuesday January 9, 2024; 6:30pm Virtual Meeting In Attendance: Ron Hooper, Chair (departed 8:55pm) Laura Holmes, Secretary Gerri Lucas, Treasurer Lloyd Rang, Council Representative Cathy Holmes, Director Edgar Lucas, Director Bonnie Wrightman, CBOT representative Laura Knox, MOC Ec Dev representative Amber Ross, owner Pink Lemon Sarah Gerdy, owner Markets Regrets: Erin Kemp, Director Delegations Present: none The Chair read the Land Acknowledgement statement and called the meeting to order. 1. Presentation by Delegations The Chair recognized that no delegations were present. 2. Updates from Community Partners (a) CBOT B. Wrightman shared that CBOT has 40+ events planned for 2024. Blue Monday event is coming up with great line up of speakers, including Oshawa Mayor Dan Carter. March 21 event partnering with Durham College employment services for business owners to attract potential employees. Invitation for businesses will be forthcoming. Succession planning event with expert advice is also coming up. Update on November 215T event pertaining to homelessness; 30 members of business community joined the roundtable session. Representatives from all levels of government, local support organizations, law enforcement, and emergency medical services. Was a compassionate discussion around this difficult topic. Many businesses shared concerns about employee safety. Resource list put together by Mayors office. There were a variety of tools and recommendations mentioned to assist business owners. Action items will be forthcoming. AODA webinar information has been shared with BIA members. The Chair thanked CBOT for hosting the homelessness event and shared that DRPS has several initiatives in place. (b) Economic Development L. Knox shared that the current direction for the department is no longer to support visitor attraction. The tourism aspect will be eliminated. The scaled down Hometown Holiday campaign will be the last marketing promotion. Statistics are not available at this time. There are a few remaining'Bowmanville is Home' bags that can be distributed. Ec Dev has assumed responsibility for CIPs. There is a good amount of funding Historic Downtown Bowmanville Business Centre (BIA) JANUARY 2024 available for Bowmanville. Several applications were received prior to the end of the year. Recommends that an educational campaign may be necessary to promote CIP. There will be a 5 year review on CIP upcoming. An afghani grocery store is opening in the plaza on Church Street near Square Boy Pizza. Members of Ec Dev management will be attending in February. If there are any specific questions or updates requested, the BIA is asked to reach out in advance. Patio program review will be conducted. Request for comments on patio program will be forthcoming. Volt Raceway will be opening in the former Target location this spring. Ec Dev is branded as Invest Clarington. Currently there is no one managing social media communications or marketing. The BIA shared its appreciation of all past efforts to support downtown businesses and events and expressed significant disappointment at elimination of tourism and the visitor attraction aspect, as this is a vital component of business and economic development. The Chair asked how communications will be distributed now that local newspapers have closed. L. Knox suggested that the Chair reach out to J. McLean. 3. Adoption of Minutes Moved by E. Lucas, seconded by L. Holmes THAT the minutes of the meeting of November 15, 2023 be approved as circulated. CARRIED 4. Business Arising from Previous Minutes (a) Vaping/Smoking on sidewalk No update. The Chair will follow up with the Municipal lawyer. 5. Correspondence Correspondence was received from i. Planning department regarding Public Meeting Notice: Soper Springs & Soper Hills (via email) ii. Planning department regarding Public Meeting Notice: Bowmanville East Urban Secondary Plan & request for comments (via email) iii. Community Services regarding Clarington Parks, Recreation, and Culture survey (via email) Moved by L. Holmes, seconded by E. Lucas THAT the correspondence be received for information. CARRIED 6. Treasurer's Report The Treasurer presented the following: i. $64 640 in current account Moved by G. Lucas, seconded by C. Holmes THAT the Treasurer's Report be adopted as presented. Historic Downtown Bowmanville 3 JANUARY 2024 Business Centre (BIA) CARRIED 7. Directors' Reports (a) Council Liaison — L. Rang reported that a warming centre has opened at St Paul's Church. The new sidewalk plow will focus on main roads. The mayor's levee was well attended. It was a skating party at South Courtice Arena. The Chair questioned how the levee was advertised. (b) Events — C. Holmes reported that Moonlight Magic suffered from inclement weather which impacted a number attractions. For safety, the grandstand seating was cancelled and a number of inflatables and signage were not installed. Several participants, including entertainment, vendors, and food drives did not show. Stores and market vendors reported that sales were very slow. Visit Santa event collected $2750 for donation to Salvation Army Bowmanville. Lots of disappointment that reindeer were not present. The Grinch Giveaway was well received. Lots of shoppers commented on how great the promotion was and wondered why their communities don't offer similar promos. 21 businesses donated gift cards. Feedback was received by persons hearing the radio advertising. There is no way to know if this advertising translates into sales. There was some feedback received that Twilight Tuesday and Sidewalk Sale participation was low and consideration should be given to cancelling for 2024. The Chair reported that a few businesses do not think there should be a vendor market at Moonlight Magic. A survey of business members regarding these events will be conducted. (c) Membership Relations — G. Lucas reported that Talk of the Town is rumored to be moving. (d) Streetscape — E. Lucas reported that business owners have expressed concern about keeping sidewalks clear of snow. The triangular blade of the new sidewalk plow will create a windrow along curb and business frontage. There are several businesses who have contracted Wynn's Property Management to help with snow removal. Will contact the flower vendor about summer baskets. The winter garlands have been removed. Winter baskets, banners, and shooting stars will be removed later in the winter. Several electrical outlets downtown have blown and require replacement. The Chair will reach out to Mr. Brake about the outlets. (e) Communications — No report. (f) Website & Social Media — L. Holmes reported that the contact form on the website received a tremendous number of messages leading up to the holidays. It was very time consuming to respond to all messages. There also seems to be some confusion, as several messages should have been directed to Clarington re: permits, bylaws, etc. Suggest that a notice statement may need to be added to the website to avoid some of these unnecessary messages. This would require contracting the web designers. Historic Downtown Bowmanville 4 JANUARY 2024 Business Centre (BIA) 8. New Business (a) Tourism Support/Hometown Holiday Campaign There was a noticeable absence of visitor attraction and destination marketing by Clarington in 2023. Moved by L. Holmes, seconded by E. Lucas THAT a letter be sent to Council outlining the impacts felt by the BIA. CARRIED (b)Homelessness/Begging There was a man begging during the Meet Santa event that upset many of the children. There are also a few persons targeting those traversing in and out of downtown bank branches. Many employees and customers are feeling uncomfortable. Resources will be available soon. B. Wrightman will forward once received. Moved by L. Holmes, seconded by C. Holmes THAT resources will be distributed to business members once available. CARRIED (c) Garbage/Recycling downtown Garbage and recycling has recently been blowing about the downtown. A message composed by the Chair was sent to business owners on December 28, 2023. Several business owners replied and stated that the issue is largely related to residential tenants residing above their businesses. A few business owners asked if the Municipality could contact the property owners/landlords about this problem. (d) Experience Ontario Grant Through OBIAA, the Chair heard that applications for Experience Ontario Grants were being accepted. L. Holmes states that eligibility is for events held two or more consecutive days, so we do not qualify. (e) Power Island repairs The lock on the power receptacle has been repaired. (f) OPG at Moonlight Magic Uninvited representatives from OPG set up a table and tent alongside the tree lighting stage to distribute hot chocolate to attendees. Prior to the start of the tree lighting, the representatives were approached by event organizers and were informed that they did not have permission to be in attendance and that this was communicated with the OPG team several weeks prior when it was explained that there was no opportunity for Community Outreach space at Moonlight Magic. The representatives claimed to have been invited by the Mayor's office. Event organizers explained that the Mayor's office was not involved in hosting Historic Downtown Bowmanville Business Centre (BIA) JANUARY 2024 Moonlight Magic and that all invitations/participant registrations must be approved by event organizers in advance to ensure that proper protocols are followed. The issues with OPG being present were that they were not included in the permitting and that they had not obtained a permit from Durham Region Health to be distributing consumable items which placed the BIA and OPG in a position to receive fines and/or future permit denials. The product offering of hot chocolate was also in direct competition with approved sales/fundraising efforts from approved participants in Moonlight Magic. Prior to the commencement of the ceremony, OPG departed. ** The Chair requested to vacate the role of Chair and speak as a business owner. E. Lucas assumed the role of Chair** R. Hooper spoke in support of permitting OPG to participate in events and raised the idea of charging a sponsorship fee. A passionate and lively debate ensued. Strictly speaking, OPG does not qualify to participate in any events in downtown Bowmanville in accordance with rules and regulations. Exceptions were made for Maplefest and Applefest 2023 after very strong petitioning. Events are hosted to showcase and support the BIA businesses and therefore businesses/corporations located outside of the BIA boundaries are not permitted. Hundreds of requests from ineligible businesses are received every year which are denied. It is widely recognized that events in downtown Bowmanville are extremely well attended and present an incredible marketing/outreach opportunity. If an exception to the rules and regulations is made, there must be clear and consistent messaging to explain why one ineligible participant is permitted and others are denied. There is a long -existing policy of the BIA to not accept sponsorships. Any change to this policy would need to be decided at board level. ** R. Hooper departed the meeting. E. Lucas retained the role of Chair until meeting was adjourned** The Board is willing to come to a compromise on this issue. If OPG is to be given an exception, there must be consistent messaging to explain why they are permitted, and others are denied. It was suggested that consideration be given to this issue and it be revisited next meeting. (g) Date of February Meeting There is a conflict for some who will be busy with Valentines Day promotions and sales. Moved by L. Holmes, seconded by G. Lucas THAT the February meeting be moved one week earlier from February 13 to February 6, 2024. CARRIED 9. Date of Next Meeting The next meeting of the Board of Management is scheduled to be held on Tuesday February 6, 2024 commencing at 6:30pm, virtually. 10. Adjournment Moved by L. Rang, seconded by L. Holmes Historic Downtown Bowmanville Business Centre (BIA) THAT the meeting adjourn. CARRIED The meeting adjourned at 9:08pm JANUARY 2024