Bayou Park Ratepayers Association
Executive Board Meeting Minutes
DATE: Thursday March 18, 2021
TIME: 8:06 PM -9:30 PM
LOCATION: Google video call from 3686 Shadow Creek Road
ATTENDEES: Claire Lysnes, President | Neil Fenton, VP | Hillary Kimsal, Communications | Rick Talbot, Treasurer | Kait Hunter, Secretary | Natasha Borutski, Director at Large| Bruce Topping, Director at Large
REGRETS: Lance Brown, Past President
MINUTES
1. Meeting called to order by Claire Lysnes
2. Approval of Agenda
Motion to Approve: Claire Lysnes 2nd: Rick Talbot
VOTE: All in Favour
3. Approval of Minutes from previous meeting (February)
Motion to Approve: Kait Hunter 2nd: Bruce Topping
VOTE: All in favour
4. Open Issues
a) Small Business Page- will keep pursuing in the spring. Reach out to potential businesses in our area via telephone and while collecting dues.
b) Easter Initiatives- things are off to a good start; Fundraiser with Jillian Jiggs is currently live on social media. Orders have started to come in on our first day. Claire and Andrew have set up a shop page to make things more efficient. There have been 3 colouring submissions, we may have to encourage more families with older children to enter as well. We will be pulling winners April 3rd, as the contest closes March 31 and we will utilize a winner generator online. With the Spring bake sale, we have already hit the required minimum order, Claire will look into getting exact numbers. We will do another email drop Monday to remind everyone, and advise everyone on March 25 with a last chance email. This is a good test of sales in our community if we ever want to broaden our scope to include Bayou Park merchandise. With the site set up currently we can set delivery or pick up zones. We also have an app to track deliveries, and send a notification to the customer. This is an easier system than pamphlets.
c) March Traffic Calming- Bruce has currently been re-writing his proposed petition. He is looking into a potential on-line petition. Bruce will check with Severn Township to see if they have any plans concerning traffic matters in the community in their 2021 budget. We can possibly look into traffic accidents in our area, and potentially collect data to see what kind of trends we have. Claire mentions this may be a long process to obtain data. Cottage season may bring more traffic, although with current Covid restrictions traffic in the neighbourhood has been minimal. Bruce will look into speaking with Mayor Mike Burkett.
d) Fundraising- the Aerial photos Andrew Kinnear took are not of good enough quality to sell. Looking into drone photography rates. Potential for a fundraising opportunity.
Bricks- We will continue to look at this idea, and look into potential neighbours in the landscaping business to help out.
e) Merchandise- we can look into this as there are a few different options to explore. We can get commitment up front and submit a bulk order, or we can do orders by request, we need to see what is more cost effective. We could also keep some small stock to sell at events. We will also need to see if this is a novelty item, or will it turn more of a profit long term. Bruce suggests talking to Darren Devine from Artech. We will look into this further and gather costs and quotes.
We can also look into some affiliate marketing with other local businesses. This could be where a code is used and a portion of the proceeds goes to Bayou Ratepayers Association. We do not need to currently take action on this. But keep it in mind.
Claire and Andrew are familiar with the main distributor of frozen desserts in Ontario; With this we could potentially set up a fundraiser for Ice Cream. Novelty flavours that may not be available in our region etc. We would likely need a minimum order, but it is something we can think about.
5. Executive Report
a) Articles of Incorporation- .Made some headway. We do have an active status, and have since 1972. Our last filing appears to be in 1992. We will need to acquire a Corporate Record report ( which contains all documentation) ( $10) and the Corporate Profile Report which has the names of directors and address of the association as of 1992 ($12). We will have to also file a change of status, this will include all our current directors and current address changes. Typically this has to be done within 60 days of an Executive Board election or AGM, but we have been granted to submit this late due to historical documents being lost. We will have to reach out to the CRA and investigate any back taxes and status of returns. Claire stated that those she spoke to at Service Ontario were very understanding, but firmly stated how important it is to have this done. Rick will follow up with the CRA.
b) Sharon Gunn Email - daughter of the founders of Bayou Park reached out to Claire and shared memories and history of Bayou Park. We will look to feature this on our website.
6. Financial Report - Rick Talbot
4593.91 is our current balance and we are on target for current projections. We currently have our two ongoing expenses of Insurance and Property taxes. Comparatively looking at historical property taxes we are only up $143 since 2001.
We do currently have to raise approximately $3800 to increase the BPRA funds to a 2 year reserve. We may need to discuss raising dues.
7. Communications Report - Hillary Kimsal
Nothing to note at this time. Flyers have been distributed
8. New Business
a) Feedback box- Neil is going to look into building a box to put up at the beach for suggestions submissions, or future contest submissions etc. Neil will price out materials and report back.
b) Trees for the beach- There are numerous options of trees to purchase for the beach if we find that it is necessary due to Ash Borer Disease.
Mulberry ( 20-30 ft tall) has berries
Hawthorn (20 ft) has flowers
Lindens ( 50ft) fast growing
Willows ( 30-35 ft)
Birch ( 60ft) longevity potentially isn't the best option
Fruit trees do come with a potential mess in the fall, and can attract pests, so these may not be our best option. We have an arborist coming in the spring to look at our current trees. We could look at having the cost of purchasing a tree sponsored.
9. Member Inquiries
None at this time
10. Next meeting: April 15, 2021 via Google Meeting
11. Adjournment @ 21:30
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