191024 BIA MIN
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Tillsonburg Business Improvement Area
Meeting Minutes Board Meeting of Thursday, October 24th, 2019 Carriage Hall
7:30 am – 9:30 am
Breakfast at 7:00 am
1. CALL TO ORDER: Time: 7:33 a.m
MEMBERS PRESENT: J. Tilson, M. Van Geer Truyde, C. Tomico, W. Cameron, D. Gilvesy, D. Rasokas, A. Hicks, M. Tedesco, C.
Pepper, M. Renaud, C. Pepper, K. Slattery
MEMBERS ABSENT: C. Heutinck
QUORUM: YES, 8/9 MEMBERS PRESENT
Guests present: Chris Appleton - Good, Redden, Klosler
2. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA:
a. moved by: MaryAnne Van Geertruyde seconded by: Jane Tilson
And resolved that the agenda as prepared for the BIA Board of Management meeting for Thursday, October 24th, 2019 be adopted.
3. DISCLOSURE OF PECUNIARY INTEREST AND THE GENERAL NATURE THEREOF: “NONE DECLARED” 4. ADOPTION OF THE MINUTES from the board meeting of September 19th,
2019: a. moved by: Deb Gilvesy seconded by: Dan Rasokas And resolved that the minutes, as prepared for the meeting of
September 19th, 2019 be adopted.
“CARRIED” 5. DELEGATIONS: (10 minutes)
a. Chris Appleton – Good, Redden, Klosler: presentation and discussion of 2018 BIA audited financial statements. Mr. Appleton discussed the reason why the audit was necessary and for the updated requirements for the accounting sector. Mr. Appleton suggested that the FIP funds could be deposited into a separate bank account for segregation purposes. The
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highlights included expenses being significantly lower than budgeted due to there being no Executive Director for 9 months of the year. 2018 ended
with cash on hand of $220,345. Mr. Appleton then reviewed the income and expense statement and highlighted the key areas. Mr. Appleton reviewed the accounting best practices and suggested reviewing all policies to ensure that there are proper checks and balances in the system. Mr. Appleton also discussed the risk inherent with the BIA
regarding CRA’s perspective on contract employment. Contract positions are largely deemed to be employment and not contract, especially if the contractor’s work is directed by the employer. The ED spoke that the contract employees will be converted to employment as of January 1st, 2020 commensurate with the approval of the 2020 budget by the BIA
members at the AGM and subsequent approval by Town Council. b. moved by: Mark Tedesco seconded by: Dan Rasokas And resolved that the 2018 audited financial statements, as prepared by
Chris Appleton of Good, Redden, Klosler be received; and further, that the
statements be presented to the full AGM membership at the upcoming
AGM on November 26th, 2019.
6. FINANCIAL REPORT:
Funds on deposit at CIBC: as at 9/30/2019: $109,666.70 Funds on deposit at First-Ontario: as at 9/30/2019: $65,794.82 Remaining funds due to the BIA from the Town: Sobey’s: $2,500 + YTD shortfall from incorrect EFT: $12,465.75 + Rona overpayment discrepancy: $1,600 + Q4 payment: $34,155.45 + HST reimbursement: +/-
$21,000 = $71,721.20 All capital projects for 2019 have been paid with the exception of the aluminum chairs. There is one outstanding invoice for refurbishment of the focal point signs which will be paid with the next run of payables – on or about November 1st, 2019. We are still awaiting reimbursement of
student/summer labour: $6,000 +/-estimated (in process of being paid from the Multi-Service Centre). Dan Rasokas, Treasurer, discussed some recommendations about cleaning this up. The Treasurer, ED and Board Chair will meet to come up with an action plan to address the concerns about the town payments and expenses. We need to find out where the
$2.500 Sobey’s contribution is as it has not been received for 2019. The ED, Wendy Cameron and Board Chair will follow-up with this. What is the process for outstanding BIA bucks? Please clarify. 7. 2020 BUDGET: The approved budget now moves to the AGM presentation in
November. The changes have been made and attached to the minutes for the September 19th, 2019 meeting. Any questions or comments from the board? See attached AGM agenda.
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8. AGM preparations:
BIA staff will be making all of the necessary preparations for the upcoming AGM.
The evening will be multi-purposed to including awards. There will be a social hour followed by hot meal and then the awards and business meetings. The proposed AGM agenda, budget summary, voting & ID guidelines and other information is attached for the Board’s review.
9. COUNTY OF OXFORD PLANNING REPORTS: There was a discussion of the
why the circulations are being made about subdivision agreements and all County planning matters. 10. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT: To coincide with the Fall Home Tour, the downtown furniture, tables, plants, pots and trees will be taken down on Sunday,
October 27th. I need volunteers to help us get this done. The Board Chair is getting us a truck and trailer. Help is necessary as staff cannot do this on their own without great difficulty. The ED has been meeting with various stakeholders on the 2020 initiatives. BIA staff met with the Tillsonburg Horticultural Society and they will no longer be undertaking the 4-season urn program in 2020. The
BIA will be taking over the leadership of this program as it does work, (aesthetically), and can possible be a way to increase revenues. BIA staff has begun the process of applying for various grants. Both BIA staff continues to sit on the Turtlefest Executive Committee to ensure successful execution of the 10th
anniversary Turtlefest event in 2020. It has not yet been determined whether the
event will be a 2 or 3 day event. The ED has written the town regarding issues with the levy funds being received fully, properly and with the requisite details necessary for proper bookkeeping. See the financial report above for specifics. The ED is still working on a complete report of issues that are apparent in the
BIA assessment role documentation. The ED has started a logging system for
any assessment changes that are visible in the downtown such as new uses, vacant spaces filed, new assessed properties – (253 Broadway, Tillsonburg Dental), etc. The BIA office has still not received a corrected invoice from Staples Corporate for the aluminum chairs received back in May. The Rona
overpayment issue has still not been corrected. The ED is following up on this
issue. The summer students will have their last shift on Sunday, October 27th.. There are several new businesses downtown which have opened in the past few weeks. BIA staff has visited each of these businesses and have welcomed them to our downtown. BIA staff has been active with communication blasts about
various matters. A great deal of work has been undertaken by the Promotions
Committee. The EMC has spent a great deal of time on the award nominations for presentation at the AGM. BIA staff will be ordering the awards to ensure they are received in advance of award night. BIA staff will be testing alternative holiday decorations since there are available plug-ins. There is a 2020
beautifications planning meeting on Friday, October 25th at town corporate offices
which the ED will be attending. There has been no town feedback received about the 2020 budget asks other that all key staff have been made aware of what the board has approved. The ED has written and sent letters to key
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stakeholders to ask them to make contributions to our programs for 2020 including the power upgrades, plaza refurbishment, Brent Raynor of the digital
sign supplier believes the LED signs can be made to work properly. He’s away on vacation and will be working with the EMC to download updated software and finding a solution to our conundrum. 11. EVENTS AND MARKETING CO-ORDINATOR’S REPORT: Update on all
activities including the planning and execution of remaining 2019 initiatives: a. Halloween at the BIA office: promote a stop for the kids at the BIA office on October 31st – there will be downtown goody-bags and draws for prizes just for people visiting the BIA office on Halloween afternoon/evening. b. BIA AGM awards – final voting is underway
c. Christmas Crawl upcoming December 6/7th: Santa Clause – still having difficulty finding a Santa for this year’s event. C. Pepper has old Christmas Crawl posters with reindeers. C. Pepper has the old passports and will share those with the EMC. d. 2020 planning underway
e. Social media metrics update: there are continued increases in Facebook traffic on and with the BIA postings f. C. Pepper will let P. Phelps know that the BIA will be taking over the Christmas tree lighting in the Hurley’s parkette for 2019.
12. Façade Improvement Program update: David Frei has been busy working on the various renderings – the last project drawings for 2019 are for Joseph’s Furniture. The weather will prevent remaining works to be completed for projects that are in the pipeline with the exception of J. Goosen’s project which is underway and is expected to be completed prior to the end of 2019. The rear of
93-95 Broadway is under construction and should be fully completed by the end of October 2019. 13. ROUNDTABLE: D. Rasokas spoke about working with cross-promotions with the Tillsonburg Chamber of Commerce. C. Tomico would like a follow-up letter
written about the safety and security issues at the Tillsonburg Town Centre Mall. C. Pepper wanted to thank the Executive Director for their support of various town initiatives where the BIA has helped out. A. Hicks also spoke about the increasing number of thefts and attempted thefts at the mall. The group then directed the Executive Director to write a letter to Strathallen Group head office
about the increasing number of incidents and issues at the Tillsonburg Town Centre Mall. 14. NEXT MEETINGS:
a. Regular: Thursday, November 21st, 2019 at Carriage Hall – 7:00 am breakfast, 7:30 am meeting b. Annual General Meeting: Tuesday, November 26th. 2019 – Proposed agenda attached.
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15. MOTION TO ADJOURN: Time of adjournment: 9:41 a.m. a. moved by: _______________ b. seconded by: ________________