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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-03-10Historic Downtown Bowmanville Business Centre (BIA) Board of Management Meeting Minutes Tuesday March 10, 2026; 6:30pm Virtual Meeting 1. Attendance In Attendance: Ron Hooper, Chair Laura Holmes, Secretary Gerri Lucas, Treasurer Lloyd Rang, Council Representative (departed 6:46pm) Cathy Holmes, Director Edgar Lucas, Director Regrets: Erin Kemp, Director Bonnie Wrightman, CBOT representative Laura Knox, MOC Ec Dev representative Delegations Present: none 2. Call to Order The Chair called the meeting to order. 3. Land Acknowledgement The Chair read the land acknowledgement statement. 4. Presentation by Delegations The Chair recognized that no delegations were present. The Chair recognized that a friend of the BIA has passed, Hannu Halminen, and would like to express condolences to the family. *** At 6:38pm the Chair requests a special provision to allow Director Report – Council Liaison (11.a.) to proceed prior to updates from community partners. *** 11. a) Director’s Report – Council Liaison Councillor Rang inquired how the recycling is being handled in the downtown. The Chair responded that pick up seems to be inconsistent with some businesses still having blue box items collected that they place at curb and other blue box items being left uncollected whether from a residence or business. Noticeable decline in number of blue boxes placed at curb. There is the appearance that waste collection bags are more plentiful. Some businesses have been taking recyclables to their residence for collection. Unaware of businesses arranging for private collection. Councillor Rang asked if OBIAA is continuing advocacy. The Chair will ask. Councillor Rang suggests that the Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) might be a source for advocacy on changes to the recycling legislation. Nominations open May 1 for Municipal election in the fall. Council will meet until June so suggests that if the BIA has any items to bring forward to Council that action be taken quickly. The Secretary asks that Councillor Historic Downtown Bowmanville 2 MARCH 2026 Business Centre (BIA) Rang advocate that the proposed Municipal Accommodation Tax be used for tourism support and destination marketing when the issue comes forward at Council. The Chair asks about the progress on the Bowmanville Ave construction. Councillor Rang says it is moving along slowly but the Region would be able to provide information on timelines. Clarington Library staff alerted Councillor Rang and the Chair about a mural being painted on the west side of the Boss Nails building where there is an existing historical mural. Concerns were raised about significant public backlash if efforts were not made to relocate the existing mural. Laura Knox from Invest Clarington is currently engaged with Chad from The Paint Factory and the building owner to find a solution. Councillor Rang departed at 6:46pm. 5. Updates from Community Partners none 6. Adoption of Minutes Moved by L. Holmes, seconded by E. Lucas THAT the minutes of the meeting of February 10, 2026 be approved as circulated. CARRIED 7. Business Arising from Previous Minutes none 8. Consent Items - Correspondence Correspondence was received from i. Planning Department re: Northglen amendment (SC20007-0004 Notice of Decision, Consolidated Conditions, Amendment to Conditions, 2941-REDLINE, webmail SC2007-0004) ii. Invest Clarington re: CISO grant partial approval iii. Legislative Services re: Notice of Decision OPA131 & ROPA2 (NOD OPA131, NOD OPA146, NOD ROPA2, C- 047-26 PDS-002-26, webmail NOD) Moved by L. Holmes, seconded by C. Holmes THAT the correspondence be received for information. CARRIED 9. Consent Items – Discussion none 10. Treasurer’s Report The Treasurer presented the following: i. $304584.57 in current account Historic Downtown Bowmanville 3 MARCH 2026 Business Centre (BIA) ii. Audit is ongoing Moved by G. Lucas, seconded by C. Holmes THAT the Treasurer’s Report be adopted as presented. CARRIED 11. Directors’ Reports (a) Council Liaison – See section 4. above (b) Events – C. Holmes reported that Meet The Easter Bunny is on April 4. Partnered with Clarington Library for spring themed StoryWalk between late March and ending after Easter. Girls Night Out on April 16 and participation requests are live. Maplefest on May 2. Vendor spaces are full. Have had to decline numerous businesses located outside the BIA wanting to participate. Posters going out soon. BMO window wrap was falling off so was removed today. New wrap to be installed once weather warms up. Christmas tree light removal requires purchase of large totes to store lights. (c) Membership Relations – G. Lucas reported that no new businesses have moved into the vacancies. (d) Streetscape – E. Lucas reported that the welder has a sample basket holder ready. Will organize a time for the Board to meet to view the sample and determine number per pole. Concern about look of empty basket holders since they are much larger than existing pole hangers. Several existing hangers are broken but Summer is 90-100 baskets, Winter is 50 baskets. Summer typically has two baskets per pole on main street and one on side streets and Church St. Winter is one per pole throughout. Contact person about BMO tree has changed. Awaiting reply from new contact. Summer plants are on order. Winter sidewalk planters should be picked up soon. Banners will be changed out before Easter. (e) Communications – L. Holmes reported that reminder about the CIP Survey was sent out prior to the deadline. (f) Website & Social Media – No report. 12. New Business (a) CCTV Cameras Historic Downtown Bowmanville 4 MARCH 2026 Business Centre (BIA) On March 5, 2026, P. Pirri informed the BIA by email of the deadline for the grant funding for camera install and asked if a decision could be made in advance of today’s meeting. To be eligible for funding the camera was required to be installed by March 12, 2026. A consensus was gained through email correspondence of the Board to approve the financial commitment and camera install in proposed location 1 (west of King/Scugog intersection). The decision was shared with P. Pirri by email on March 6, 2026. Some concerns were raised that the camera locations offered by DRPS were located outside of the Bowmanville BIA boundaries. DRPS selects locations that provide the best vantage point of vehicles exiting the area and typically travelling towards highways. Locations are also dependent on available power outlets. If future funding opportunities arise, the BIA would be interested in camera install at the east end of the BIA boundaries (King/George) and possibly in the main intersection (King/Temperance). (b) Municipal Accommodation Tax The Secretary reports that Invest Clarington is exploring a Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) that would be applied to all short-term stays in Clarington. MAT would apply to stays in hotels, motels, B&Bs, AirBnBs, VRBOs, etc. , be paid by the visitor and collected by the operator on behalf of the Municipality. There is potential to generate significant revenue from MAT. Invest Clarington has conducted a survey of operators and will present a report to Council soon. Information is available on the Clarington website. The BIA has experienced a noticeable impact since Clarington Tourism was dissolved and the decision was made by the Municipality to discontinue marketing to attract visitors. The BIA would like to see funding generated by a MAT directed into tourism support and destination marketing. Representatives from Invest Clarington will be asked to provide an update at the April meeting. 13. Date of Next Meeting The next meeting of the Board of Management is scheduled to be held on Tuesday April 14, 2026 commencing at 6:30pm, virtually. 14. Adjournment Moved by E. Lucas, seconded by C. Holmes THAT the meeting adjourn. CARRIED The meeting adjourned at 7:25pm.