CALABOGIE &
AREA BUSINESS ASSOCIATION
MEETING MINUTES
DATE OF MEETING: May 14th, 2007
Time: 7 pm
Place: Murphy’s Landing Restaurant & Pub
Attendees: Carolyn Jakes, Vice-President (Celtic Colours Studio); Debora Giffin, Secretary (1590693 Ontario Inc.); Gary Reed, Director (R & P Group); Karen Warren, Director (Neat Things); Shelley Monaghan,(Royal Lepage Gale Real Estate); Lee Chapman, (Bridge St. Property Maintenance); Catherine Reynolds,(The Fans of Calabogie B & B); Andrew Kasprzak, (Absolute Property Maintenance); Richard Copeland & Bill Graham, (Madawaska Highlande); Roberta Pringle, (RP’s Business Services); Ross Richards, (Double R Ranch); Ann Stubinsky, (Black Donald Tent & Trailer Park); Fay Wilson, (Valley VIP Real Estate); Lynn Villeneuve, (Splash Design Studio); Darrin Ullerick, (Calabogie Peaks Resort); Mike Labelle & Heather Kennedy, (Remax Town Centre Realty); Sonja Morglan, (Studio By the Lake); Skip Hale, (Librarian); Al Harris, (Harris Construction); Betty Oattes, Murphy’s Landing Restaurant & Pub)
Guest: Peter Clark, Renfrew Mercury
Meeting was brought to order by Vice-President at 7:05.
Round Table Introduction of Attendees.
Minutes of February meeting accepted as received.
ELECTION - The Vice President opened the floor for further nominations; none were received and the following individuals were acclaimed.
Mike Greenley will continue in his second year of current term as President.
Carolyn Jakes will continue in her second year of current term as Vice-President.
Debora Giffin will continue as Secretary. Fay Wilson will be Treasurer.
Ken Lauzon, Gary Reed, Karen Warren, Lucy Lester & Shelley Monaghan will serve as Directors.
GROCERY STORE - Carolyn announced she had interviewed Tim Elder and it was his intention, with Kim Dixon, to purchase the current grocery store in Calabogie to be called Calabogie Family Grocery. Tim and Kim plan to move to Calabogie in the near future.
Motion carried “ that the secretary send a letter and best wishes to the Charbonneau family”.
CABA ANNUAL REPORT - The VP will email or mail a copy
of the annual report (2006-07) to all members. It will also be on the CABA web
site.
BARNET PARK REPORT - Gary Reed, Representative for CABA on the Barnet Park Committee advised improvements are continuing on the building and plans are now underway for the grounds improvements. CABA had previously committed to sponsoring the construction of the beach gazebo.
Motion carried: “That up to $5,613.23 be spent on a gazebo for Barnet Park using the money set aside for Barnet Park improvements which was raised by raffles ($3,063.87 held in Township account) and golf tournaments $2,549.36 (held in CABA account).”
Gary also invited any members for assistance with the structure of the gazebo and the volunteers within the Barnet Park Committee have offered to help with construction.
Note: CABA also has $2041.66 set aside for Trails &/or Trail Signage which may be used within Barnet Park improvements.
TREASURER’S REPORT - Balance presently stands at $8,889.47 including the funds designated for Barnet Park gazebo and trails.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE REPORT - The Grants Sub-Committee, (a township/CABA partnership) was successful in obtaining three grants to date. The first grant provided funding for wages for a one-year term for one person to research and document public and private grants. The term will expire in June. The grants committee assisted the Griffith-Denbigh Lions Club in writing and obtaining a grant for an addition for the Griffith Hall which is owned by the township and leased by the Lions. The third grant, also approved, was for the Business Incubator Study (presented at previous CABA meeting).
CABA is hoping to create new banners, possibly incorporating the new Township Logo,
to replace the Canada Flag (Summer) and Snowflake (Winter) banners, providing an opportunity to leave them in place year round . Karen Warren will seek approval from Municipal Council. Township Public Works Dept. has advised they are no longer able to change the banners due to liability issues. All previous banners have been retired or disposed of. The faded snowflake banners still on the frames will be removed at the earliest possible opportunity and the brackets will be left vacant until the new banners are ready.
The draft proposal for “CABA MEMBER” decals was circulated. It was suggested it also be available to CABA members to post on their own websites.
CABA WEBSITE- Ongoing updates are being done. Gary Reed noted there is a need for new pictures. All members are invited to submit photos (directly to Gary).
BUSINESS DIRECTORY- Carolyn advised there are additional May 2007 CABA business directories available from her.
CABA ANNUAL AWARDS - The new proposal, which invited public input, was circulated for member comment and returned to the executive for modification.
ANNUAL DUES - Members are asked to submit their
annual membership of $30.00 which is due July 1, 2007, payable to CABA, which may be submitted to the Treasurer , Fay
Wilson or mailed to Box 159, Calabogie, Ontario, K0J 1H0.
Karen Warren advised she and husband Calvin are very busy at creating lots of “Neat Things” in their custom welding business.
Lynn Villeneuve has a new business name “Splash Design” and has expanded her design services.
Al Harris welcomes any members or referrals to call him for new home construction, redesign or renovations.
Darrin Ullrich of Calabogie Peaks advised that as of June 17th
. the chair lift would operate during summer months
. they are enjoying a growth in their business especially in hotel accommodations and resulting spin off
. there were more season passes purchased “early” (for 2008 winter) than in previous years
. resort survey was informative and also brought to light inadequacies which management will address
. golf course is in great shape
. Telus has expressed interest to Bell & Rogers in sharing the cell phone tower, thus requiring a larger footprint for the infrastructure. It is expected construction will be complete late summer/early fall.
Mike Labelle thanked all members and the community for their support.
Lee Chapman offered to assist the Banner Committee in any way he could.
Skippy Hale, GMT Librarian thanked the CABA members on the Township Economic Development Committee for supporting the creation of the Welcome To Calabogie & Events sign at Hwy 508 & Hwy 511. The Library’s recent Speech Testing Clinic for children was well attended. The Library will again offer the TD Summer Reading program for children.
Betty Oattes, new proprietor of Murphy’s Landing Restaurant & Pub welcomed CABA members and declared her business as a strong proponent of the County Buy Local program. She enjoys supporting other businesses in the area and the opportunity to measure her own business success.
Shelley Monaghan expressed her delight in living in Calabogie, a community she and her husband joined full time just 6 months ago and is looking forward to helping her community in the upcoming year.
Sonya Morglan advised she passes any customer feedback she receives in her gallery
back to the business concerned.
Andrew Kasprzak was able to renew his contract with Times Fiber and has also seen an increase in his business customer base. He has found a market niche within the current trend to improve the look of properties on the market, encouraging a faster sale.
Richard Copeland and Bill Graham advised the Madawaska Highlander newspaper is in “summer mode” and will be publishing the week before every long weekend. Advertising is very reasonably priced and welcomed.
The plan for the proposed Farmers’ Market in Matawatchan is still underway and the volunteers are hoping for approval for a grant for part time staff. It will operate every Saturday through the summer months from 9 am to 1 pm at the Matawatchan Hall.
Carolyn Jakes advised she continues to offer free “Tea Tasting Workshops”and her Art & Gift Shop (Celtic Colours) is located at her home on Kennedy Road.
Roberta Pringle (RP’s Business Service) will be a permanent resident of Calabogie as of June.
Ross Richards advised he feels GMT Council is in a receptive mode to offer help, cooperation and support to businesses. He also advised a new soccer field is planned for the village.
Guest Peter Clarke predicted the score of the next Senators’ game would be 1-0 for Ottawa.
The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
Next meeting date will be announced.
Note: The next general CABA meeting will be Monday,
September 10, at Shooter’s Bar and Grill at 7 pm.
Note: The CABA Executive and Board of Directors will continue to meet regularly during the summer to conduct CABA business.