Thursday June 15th, 2023
9:03am – 10:13am
In Attendance: Eva Martens, Subbu Subramonian, and Sarah Matacic
Additional: Mark Brown, Darryl Howe, Jim Foreman, Enrico Corsini, Joel Newman, and Alexa Chavez
Regrets: Joanne Emberson, Brenda Eszenyi, Terry Rhodes,
Absent: Esther Pauls
A. Welcome & Introductory Remarks: Chair E. Martens
B. Review & Approval of the Agenda: Chair E. Martens
Motion: Sarah Matacic
Second: Subbu Subramonian
C. Review & Approval of May 2023 Minutes: Chair E. Martens
To be approved at July Meeting, the start and end times were missing.
D. Board Business:
Streetfest Complaint:
A complaint was made by Darryl Howe of Stage Diner stating there was favouritism being shown in terms of the placement of food trucks at Streetfest. Because there is concern about bias, it is recommended to bring in a third-party moderator or a lawyer to review this so that any decisions remain impartial. The board has received a referral from the OBIAA (Ontario Business Improvement Area Association) in regards to this complaint for a third-party moderator. This has also brought up the need for a complaint process for the board to have as a guide when complaints are made.
Executive Team:
Vice Chair and Treasurer positions are open, need to be filled.
Google Workspace:
There is a need for a more seamless system for documents, communications, scheduling, and storage. This would also allow us to have domain-based email addresses instead of a regular Gmail address, which also increases the security of all communications. Having the one platform would also remove the need for other software (Zoom, Dropbox, Microsoft, etc.) being used and paid for, cutting some administrative costs. Google is a familiar system, most people use it and would be easy to transition to and work with, making it generally accessible for almost everyone. The cost is $15.60 per user/per month * 5 to include all executive board positions, but at this time we will be starting with only 3. The total cost for the year would be $936+tax for the 5 users and $561.60+tax for 3 users. (In comparison the Zoom license we pay for is $226 alone for the year)
Motion: Sarah Matacic
Second: Subbu Subramonian
RBC Express:
Other BIA’s are moving to an online platform for banking, this would remove the need for executives to go to the bank branch to physically update the accounts, also removing the need for signing of physical cheques while still having the two signatures for payment authorizations, both of which takes a lot of time and effort to schedule around everyone’s calendars. The overall digital system allows the board to continue its businesses within the by-law without the tasking limitations of the current physical procedures. The cost is $35 per month and there are additional options for a fee which would bring the cost up. We are planning a phone call in the coming weeks with our bookkeeper Joel as well as the person in charge of the program at RBC to figure out the details and ask questions.
Policies & Governance Committee:
There is a need to review our current policy and procedure documents and update them as needed and to develop some new policies that are missing. This is an open invitation for anyone who would like to join this committee and schedule a meeting to go over the documents.
Change of Board Meeting Time:
There have been many requests that the board meetings change to a later time in the day as many directors and businesses that want to attend or join the board but can’t due to the time as they are opening for the day at or around 9am. The time frame that may work better is in the evenings but not past 7pm as we would not want the meeting to end too late. We are looking to keep the date on the third Thursday of the month but understand for some that day just doesn’t work and we are open to changing the day as well to try and accommodate as many people as possible that are already on the board and anyone that wants to join as well. Sending out a survey will be the best option to sort out when would be the best time to change the meetings to.
July Board Meeting in Person:
We are inviting everyone to next months board meeting in person at the BIA office at 534 Concession Street. We will have a virtual option for those who cannot make it in person.
Motion to address agenda item (I) before the safety report:
Motion: Eva Martens
Second: Sarah Matacic
I. Other Items:
Joel Newman, Bookkeeper:
The financials look good as of the end of April, there is a current issue on cash flow in the accounts, but there are some deposits being made by the city the week of June 19, one being our levy payment and another being tax rebates. It is advised not to put any financial information on our site that has not been audited, we can always post our final audited financials at year end. We are in the process of the annual audit and should be complete by September. Speaking on the RBC Express system, Joel will be going through the training process with Ancaster Village BIA in the coming weeks and will hopefully have more experience to bring to our next meeting. The program will allow multiple people to log into the account for authorizing payments with the two-signature requirement. The main point of this system is to save time and avoid all the logistical issues with having cheques signed and waiting for board approval on larger expenditures, everything would now be online making the expense flow easier and efficient.
E. Safety Report: J. Foreman
The RBC ATM now is open from 9am to 5pm Monday to Saturday.
Ashtray fires in the garbage bins is from people putting paper into them and others putting a cigarette butt that is still lit into it after.
F. Marketing Report: A. Chavez
Social Media Management Update & Stats:
Suzanne from The Generator has provided a document for us that she updates on a weekly basis, currently we have the stats for the last four weeks and there is an increase in engagement on all of our social media pages as well as with our website. We have seen an uptick in followers specifically after Streetfest with a total of 150 new followers combined from Instagram and Facebook. This is proving to be a great partnership for our social media management, there has been more organic content being created and shared consistently with lots of information. The goal of this was to increase our engagement and following to help drive people to the street and its businesses so this is going very well so far.
G. Events Report: A. Chavez
Sidewalk Sounds:
This coming Saturday June 17, we have 4 musicians set to perform between 12pm and 6pm, all the info and line up is on our site.
Streetfest Debrief:
Overall, the day ran smoothly, a few hiccups in the morning with electrical connections for a vendor and for the performance stage but were resolved fairly quickly. Based on feedback from attendees on the day of, people were quite happy with it and mentioned it was an improvement from last year and are excitedly expecting next year to be even better.
H. Executive Director Updates: A. Chavez
In Person BIAAC Meeting:
This past Tuesday June 13 was the monthly BIAAC (Business Improvement Area Advisory Committee) meeting, where the executive directors from each BIA come together with representatives from economic development and city councillors to go over updates from the city, give updates from each respective BIA, and address any questions or concerns that we may have. This is normally virtual but this month was an in person meeting since there have been a few newly hired executive directors over the past year and this gave us the chance to meet if we haven’t already and go over best practices or ask questions that a more experienced executive director may have the answer to having gone through similar situations previously.
Action Plan:
To continue on what was spoken earlier about the policies and governance committee, updating and creating our policies is in the action plan and is a very important part of the structure of the BIA and currently in need of a refresh and review by the new board.
9:03am – 10:13am
In Attendance: Eva Martens, Subbu Subramonian, and Sarah Matacic
Additional: Mark Brown, Darryl Howe, Jim Foreman, Enrico Corsini, Joel Newman, and Alexa Chavez
Regrets: Joanne Emberson, Brenda Eszenyi, Terry Rhodes,
Absent: Esther Pauls
A. Welcome & Introductory Remarks: Chair E. Martens
B. Review & Approval of the Agenda: Chair E. Martens
Motion: Sarah Matacic
Second: Subbu Subramonian
C. Review & Approval of May 2023 Minutes: Chair E. Martens
To be approved at July Meeting, the start and end times were missing.
D. Board Business:
Streetfest Complaint:
A complaint was made by Darryl Howe of Stage Diner stating there was favouritism being shown in terms of the placement of food trucks at Streetfest. Because there is concern about bias, it is recommended to bring in a third-party moderator or a lawyer to review this so that any decisions remain impartial. The board has received a referral from the OBIAA (Ontario Business Improvement Area Association) in regards to this complaint for a third-party moderator. This has also brought up the need for a complaint process for the board to have as a guide when complaints are made.
Executive Team:
Vice Chair and Treasurer positions are open, need to be filled.
Google Workspace:
There is a need for a more seamless system for documents, communications, scheduling, and storage. This would also allow us to have domain-based email addresses instead of a regular Gmail address, which also increases the security of all communications. Having the one platform would also remove the need for other software (Zoom, Dropbox, Microsoft, etc.) being used and paid for, cutting some administrative costs. Google is a familiar system, most people use it and would be easy to transition to and work with, making it generally accessible for almost everyone. The cost is $15.60 per user/per month * 5 to include all executive board positions, but at this time we will be starting with only 3. The total cost for the year would be $936+tax for the 5 users and $561.60+tax for 3 users. (In comparison the Zoom license we pay for is $226 alone for the year)
Motion: Sarah Matacic
Second: Subbu Subramonian
RBC Express:
Other BIA’s are moving to an online platform for banking, this would remove the need for executives to go to the bank branch to physically update the accounts, also removing the need for signing of physical cheques while still having the two signatures for payment authorizations, both of which takes a lot of time and effort to schedule around everyone’s calendars. The overall digital system allows the board to continue its businesses within the by-law without the tasking limitations of the current physical procedures. The cost is $35 per month and there are additional options for a fee which would bring the cost up. We are planning a phone call in the coming weeks with our bookkeeper Joel as well as the person in charge of the program at RBC to figure out the details and ask questions.
Policies & Governance Committee:
There is a need to review our current policy and procedure documents and update them as needed and to develop some new policies that are missing. This is an open invitation for anyone who would like to join this committee and schedule a meeting to go over the documents.
Change of Board Meeting Time:
There have been many requests that the board meetings change to a later time in the day as many directors and businesses that want to attend or join the board but can’t due to the time as they are opening for the day at or around 9am. The time frame that may work better is in the evenings but not past 7pm as we would not want the meeting to end too late. We are looking to keep the date on the third Thursday of the month but understand for some that day just doesn’t work and we are open to changing the day as well to try and accommodate as many people as possible that are already on the board and anyone that wants to join as well. Sending out a survey will be the best option to sort out when would be the best time to change the meetings to.
July Board Meeting in Person:
We are inviting everyone to next months board meeting in person at the BIA office at 534 Concession Street. We will have a virtual option for those who cannot make it in person.
Motion to address agenda item (I) before the safety report:
Motion: Eva Martens
Second: Sarah Matacic
I. Other Items:
Joel Newman, Bookkeeper:
The financials look good as of the end of April, there is a current issue on cash flow in the accounts, but there are some deposits being made by the city the week of June 19, one being our levy payment and another being tax rebates. It is advised not to put any financial information on our site that has not been audited, we can always post our final audited financials at year end. We are in the process of the annual audit and should be complete by September. Speaking on the RBC Express system, Joel will be going through the training process with Ancaster Village BIA in the coming weeks and will hopefully have more experience to bring to our next meeting. The program will allow multiple people to log into the account for authorizing payments with the two-signature requirement. The main point of this system is to save time and avoid all the logistical issues with having cheques signed and waiting for board approval on larger expenditures, everything would now be online making the expense flow easier and efficient.
E. Safety Report: J. Foreman
The RBC ATM now is open from 9am to 5pm Monday to Saturday.
Ashtray fires in the garbage bins is from people putting paper into them and others putting a cigarette butt that is still lit into it after.
F. Marketing Report: A. Chavez
Social Media Management Update & Stats:
Suzanne from The Generator has provided a document for us that she updates on a weekly basis, currently we have the stats for the last four weeks and there is an increase in engagement on all of our social media pages as well as with our website. We have seen an uptick in followers specifically after Streetfest with a total of 150 new followers combined from Instagram and Facebook. This is proving to be a great partnership for our social media management, there has been more organic content being created and shared consistently with lots of information. The goal of this was to increase our engagement and following to help drive people to the street and its businesses so this is going very well so far.
G. Events Report: A. Chavez
Sidewalk Sounds:
This coming Saturday June 17, we have 4 musicians set to perform between 12pm and 6pm, all the info and line up is on our site.
Streetfest Debrief:
Overall, the day ran smoothly, a few hiccups in the morning with electrical connections for a vendor and for the performance stage but were resolved fairly quickly. Based on feedback from attendees on the day of, people were quite happy with it and mentioned it was an improvement from last year and are excitedly expecting next year to be even better.
H. Executive Director Updates: A. Chavez
In Person BIAAC Meeting:
This past Tuesday June 13 was the monthly BIAAC (Business Improvement Area Advisory Committee) meeting, where the executive directors from each BIA come together with representatives from economic development and city councillors to go over updates from the city, give updates from each respective BIA, and address any questions or concerns that we may have. This is normally virtual but this month was an in person meeting since there have been a few newly hired executive directors over the past year and this gave us the chance to meet if we haven’t already and go over best practices or ask questions that a more experienced executive director may have the answer to having gone through similar situations previously.
Action Plan:
To continue on what was spoken earlier about the policies and governance committee, updating and creating our policies is in the action plan and is a very important part of the structure of the BIA and currently in need of a refresh and review by the new board.