HomeMy WebLinkAboutKitchener BIA - 2011-05-17
May 17, 2011
9:00 am - 11:00 am
Location:
Delta Hotel,
Red Maple Room
Downtown Kitchener BIA
Kitchener, ON
Board of Directors Meeting
Minutes
In attendance:
Kevin Ballantyne, Margarida Anao, Mark Graham, Darryl Moore,
Councillor Frank Etherington, Supt. Adrian Darmon, Dr. Colin Leis,
City of Kitchener, Cory Bluhm, Councillor Dan Glenn-Graham, John Vickery,
Le-Anne Pilecki, Christine Mechaud, Liz Howie
BIA Staff:
Mark Garner
Regrets:
Mayor Carl Zehr, Adrian Conrad, Michael VonTeichman, City of
Kitchener Rod Regier
Absent:
none
Guests:
none
Agenda: Welcome – Chair, Margarida Anao
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Call to order at 9:00 am - are there any conflicts of interest to be declared
– none declared
Agenda: __ ______________________ _ Introductions – Margarida Anao
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Welcome to Board and new Board Members
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The Board went around the table and everyone introduced who they were
and where they were from.
The information contained in this document is intended for internal use by the Board of Directors and
`Management of the Downtown Kitchener BIA and may contain confidential and/or privileged material,
any duplication, distribution, re-transmission or dissemination without the written consent of the
Downtown Kitchener BIA is prohibited
Agenda Item: _ __ Approval of Agenda
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There were no issues identified with the agenda.
Motion: To approve the agenda as submitted.
Motion/Moved by: Liz Howie and seconded by: Le-Anne Pilecki,
All in favour unanimous, motion passed.
Agenda Item: Board Orientation (BIA Binder) Margarida Anao/Mark Garner
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A Board orientation binder was distributed to the new Board members. In
the binder includes:
The Role and Mission of the BIA
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Board orientation on OBIAA
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Municipal Act
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Job descriptions for BIA staff
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Job Descriptions for Board
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Existing Boundaries as it is today for the BIA
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There will be a confidentiality agreement included
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There will also be a non-disclosure agreement included
o
There will be a non company use included
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BIA meeting dates for 2011.
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Section for documents received in your monthly package
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Strategic Plan information from the April 2011 meeting and
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presentations done.
Asset Based Strategic Planning information
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General Documentation of what is of interest
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Various different websites to be aware of
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Listing of events for the entire year put on by the BIA
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Website links to all of our partners i.e. CTT, Tourism, and Region of
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Waterloo etc.
Rest of binders will be done this week and out to the remaining
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Board Members
The Binder is intended that it should be updated regularly
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The staff will update the Binder when needed
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Governance Documents are included in binder
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The information contained in this document is intended for internal use by the Board of Directors and
`Management of the Downtown Kitchener BIA and may contain confidential and/or privileged material,
any duplication, distribution, re-transmission or dissemination without the written consent of the
Downtown Kitchener BIA is prohibited
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It was discussed that we need to form a committee to review Governance
this year as it should be reviewed every two years.
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Margarida Anao, Liz Howie and John Vickory volunteered to be on the
committee for reviewing Governance rules.
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In 2007 we did a complete Governance review when Mark Garner came
on board. It was determined at that time that every two years Governance
should be reviewed.
Agenda Item: _______________ Election of Vice-Chair– Margarida Anao
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It was discussed at Board that we need to have someone take overas
Vice Chair for 2011
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Colin Leis volunteered for position of Vice-Chair
Motion: To have Dr. Colin Leis to assume the role as Vice-Chair for the
Board of Directors for the term 2011.
Motion/Moved by: Mark Graham and Seconded by: Liz Howie,
All in favour unanimous, motion passed
Agenda Item: ________________________ Strategic Plan – Mark Garner
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The Board had asked BIA staff to look into finding an outside organization
that has done strategic planning for OBIAA and to find an appropriate
organization to help facilitate with the Strategic Plan
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Analysis was done and it was concluded that for most organizations to
assist it would cost approximately $15,000.00 to perform the strategic plan
and it would take about a year to go through a very detailed process.
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Board then took the decision for the staff to help facilitate this on behalf of
the organization.
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Mark Garner took the action to develop the Strategic Plan initiative and we
looked at doing something different which is called Asset Based Strategic
Planning versus a SWOT analysis.
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Kevin Ballantyne did a presentation on Asset Based Strategic Planning
and a copy of the presentation is in the orientation binder under Section F
and is there to assist you with the Strategic Plan discussion
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Asset Based Strategic Planning focuses on strengths and key assets
example: City has invested $10mm in downtown. How do we turn that into
$40mm of activity and programming etc.
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Other assets Downtown include culinary assets and Coffee Shops
downtown. We have a great variance and difference in coffee shops and
culinary shops and restaurants.
The information contained in this document is intended for internal use by the Board of Directors and
`Management of the Downtown Kitchener BIA and may contain confidential and/or privileged material,
any duplication, distribution, re-transmission or dissemination without the written consent of the
Downtown Kitchener BIA is prohibited
?
Assets also include partnerships and associations including CTT, Tourism
and Chamber of Commerce i.e. soft assets as well as bricks and mortar
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We spoke to CTT, Tourism, Kitchener Market and Chamber and Economic
Development and where they were going. They all did presentations at our
Strategic Planning meeting last month.
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It was concluded at the Strategic Plan that everyone wants a vibrant
downtown
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We then stepped back and thought what is our objective for 2011
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We decided that increased events and leveraging the culinary experience
are priorities on our list.
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The time-line that we are driving toward is 2016 to have a vibrant
downtown.
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Our next step is to complete a Work Plan which has to happen next after
the Strategic Plan
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We need to increase our events downtown and continue doing our existing
retail events downtown.
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The intent that the Board had discussed is that we would disseminate to
the Membership in August 2011 our Work Plan and Strategy timeframe so
that everyone is on the same page and go through the vision of where we
want to go over the next five years.
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The discussions on the Strategic Plan are to be kept confidential until
ready to disseminate.
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Also in Section F of the orientation binder is the Boards role – the Boards
role is to be visionary to work the big strategic projects that are coming
before the municipality i.e. LRT, Strategic Plan for Econ Development,
HWY 7 expansion etc.
Cory Bluhm discussion on Strategic Plan:
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Cory emphasized that 2016 is the date the you will have the most captive
urban audience looking to spend a lot of money downtown – if we are not
ready by 2016 we are missing the boat
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The year 2016 is used because that is the date when most baby boomers
are looking at selling their home and when their kids have graduated
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2016 - 2021 is a window that cannot be missed.
Agenda Item: Financials – Kevin Ballantyne
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Kevin presented/reviewed the month end statements for March 2011 and
April 2011 with the Board of Directors
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Kevin went through each line item on the Balance Statement and Income
Statement for the entire Board to help understand each line item and what
it is used for.
The information contained in this document is intended for internal use by the Board of Directors and
`Management of the Downtown Kitchener BIA and may contain confidential and/or privileged material,
any duplication, distribution, re-transmission or dissemination without the written consent of the
Downtown Kitchener BIA is prohibited
March 2011 Statements:
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Board reviewed in detail the financial statements and summary report for
March 2011.
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Revenue exceeded expenses by $10,201 in March 2011.
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The -$4,076 in Special Events was due to re-classing expenses to the
proper accounts – Valentines Day, Chinese New Year and Print Media
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There was also $4,143 in expenses for St. Patrick’s Day promotion
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There were no questions and/or concerns regarding March 2011
Financials.
Motion: To approve the March 2011 Financials as submitted.
Motion/Moved by: Kevin Ballantyne and Seconded by: Dr. Colin Leis,
all in favour, motion passed
April 2011 Statements:
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Board reviewed in detail the financial statements and summary report for
April 2011.
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Revenue exceeded expenses by $16,440 in April 2011
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Occupancy hasn’t been adjusted for the accrual on the Balance Sheet. It
is planned to do this for June Financial Statements when the lease is done
on the Queen St location
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Member Communications expense of $1,600 was for print material and
awards at the AGM.
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There were no questions and/or concerns regarding April 2011Financials.
Motion: To approve the April 2011 Financials as submitted.
Motion/Moved by: Kevin Ballantyne and Seconded by: Adrian Darmon,
all in favour unanimous, motion passed.
2011 Budget:
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The Budget has been approved by the Board at the March 2011 meeting
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The Tax Levy Revenue may be higher than budgeted because of
increased assessed values with rates remaining the same.
ACTION ITEM: Mark Garner to confirm with the City that the Board doesn’t
need to vote on this increase.
The information contained in this document is intended for internal use by the Board of Directors and
`Management of the Downtown Kitchener BIA and may contain confidential and/or privileged material,
any duplication, distribution, re-transmission or dissemination without the written consent of the
Downtown Kitchener BIA is prohibited
Agenda Item: ______ Approval of Past Minutes – Margarida Anao
th
Board reviewed the minutes from the previous meeting March 15, 2011, no
issues identified.
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Mark Graham noted that on page 3 “Action Item: Corporate Audit of the
Downtown BIA” should read “Agenda Item: Corporate Audit of the
Downtown BIA”
Motion: To approve the March 2011 minutes as submitted.
Motion/Moved by: Mark Graham and Seconded by: Liz Howie, all in favour
unanimous, motion passed.
Agenda Item: ___ New Business – Margarida Anao
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Dan Glenn-Graham handed out information sheet on square to square –
and although not been blessed by City Hall this was just to give the
Board a heads up.
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Square to square is looking at four (4) events
thth
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The dates they are looking at are June 19th, July 17, August 14 and
th
September 18.
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It was recommended to Dan Glenn-Graham, that if he wants any
information on Square to Square sent to membership that he is to send it
to BIA and it can be distributed to membership from there.
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Mark Garner mentioned that the BIA is looking into what it costs for a
business to open up on a Sunday. With this information we can then
encourage businesses to open for special events and thereby increasing
vitality.
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We revisited the “Downtown Live” program that we work with Cory Bluhm
on through the year and that we post all these activities on the web sit for
our membership to see.
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It was asked what our hits are on the website – Mark Garner to get that
information for the Board
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Mark Garner brought the Board up to date on new location for BIA office
and the coming together of like-minded associations. Already butt-out
program being handled by one of the organizations which is benefiting
downtown without the cost. Formal announcement and press release to
go out within the next couple of weeks.
The information contained in this document is intended for internal use by the Board of Directors and
`Management of the Downtown Kitchener BIA and may contain confidential and/or privileged material,
any duplication, distribution, re-transmission or dissemination without the written consent of the
Downtown Kitchener BIA is prohibited
ACTION ITEM: Mark Garner to provide for next meeting the hits on the BIA
website and peaks and valley and what we are confronted with.
Agenda Item: ________ __ Key Projects Discussion – Margarida Anao
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Mark Garner spoke to the Board that as discussed at the Strategic
Planning meeting one of the things needed to do was to put the key
projects the radar that everyone needs to be aware and the things that we
are to be aware of.
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Going forward at Board meetings we will continually talk about these
projects and as new ones come on to the roadmap then we will make sure
that Board has the appropriate documentation needed to review the
projects and make sure that everyone knows what is on the radar.
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Cory is going to go thru 3 (three) presentations this morning for Board.
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Cory presented to Downtown Advisory Committee last week and
presenting to BIA Board today.
Presentation Cory Bluhm Sign Bylaw Changes:
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Anyone who wants to put a sign up needs approval from City Hall
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There are a few changes to Downtown signage that Cory is seeking
feedback from Board today.
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First change is Downtown Community Development is proposing to
prohibit back-lit signs downtown – all existing signs would be
grandfathered – if a Business has individualized lettering then that is
permitted.
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Second change is a Business has signage in their windows – then they
can only cover 25% (vs the 50% limite now) of your windows. i.e. window
glazing - This is done for safety reasons.
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Third Change is a question on whether projection on building advertising
and will be allowed.
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Lumin-Ad is doing projection advertising onbuildings. – currently being
discussed as to whether this type of advertising will be allowed and if so
how it will be controlled
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Board agreed that not having back-lit signs adds more charm to the
Downtown
st
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Cory mentioned that he is looking for the Boards thoughts on the 1
change mentioned above and how aggressive does the BIA want the City
to be in relation to the possible changes to the sign rules.
The information contained in this document is intended for internal use by the Board of Directors and
`Management of the Downtown Kitchener BIA and may contain confidential and/or privileged material,
any duplication, distribution, re-transmission or dissemination without the written consent of the
Downtown Kitchener BIA is prohibited
Motion: That the BIA is in support of the draft proposal of backlit signage
and that no new backlit signs can go on any new buildings in the
Downtown Core and is in support of proposal and motion presented
towards Council by Cory Bluhm.
Motion/Moved by: John Vickory and Seconded by: Kevin Ballantyne,
all in favour unanimous, motion passed.
th
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May 30 2011 is when the proposal is presented to council
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It was discussed at Board meeting that Mark Garner would look into
available funds within BIA Budget to assist Merchants in changing over to
new signage based on Cory’s proposal.
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Mark Garner to send proposed recommendation back to BIA for comment,
and then email back our approvals and forward our comments o Cory
Bluhm regarding the proposal.
ACTION ITEM: Mark Garner to look into availability of funds within BIA
budget to assist merchants in changing over to new signage and respond
back to Board.
Presentation Cory Bluhm Economic Development Strategy:
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The package for the Board meeting today included a copy of the 51 page
document on the City of Kitchener Economic Development Strategy for
2011-2015 which all Board Members received prior to today’s meeting.
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The City is trying to get 150 people together from Downtown business
h
community which takes place on June 14 at the Tannery for a Strategy
Symposium
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In July or August Cory Bluhm will be again talking with BIA Board on the
Downtown portion of the document. Note: there is no BIA meeting in July.
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The main themes include:
An innovative economy
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A cool, dynamic downtown
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An inventive approach
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The goals for the City of Kitchener Economic Development are:
Stimulate vitality downtown
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Attract new Retail Businesses downtown
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Build on success of the Kitchener Market
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Continue to be the Head Office for the Region
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Engage developers downtown
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Engage real estate agents in the Downtown Core
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Use City owned lands to facilitate new residential developments.
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The information contained in this document is intended for internal use by the Board of Directors and
`Management of the Downtown Kitchener BIA and may contain confidential and/or privileged material,
any duplication, distribution, re-transmission or dissemination without the written consent of the
Downtown Kitchener BIA is prohibited
Urban Chic sweeps through downtown – keeping Downtown well
o
designed.
ACTION ITEM: Cory Bluhm to provide BIA Board a list of City owned
properties in the Downtown Core to the next Board meeting.
LRT – Light Rail Transit – Mark Garner
th
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LRT is on the table and the decision at Region is June 16
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One of the things that municipal council has done is they have passed that
they are going to allow public input from the community on the LRT.
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There was a joint session between DAC and EDAC recently. The Region
came in and presented the overall strategy to the two groups.
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The approach taken was to identify the issues and items that Regional
Council needs to be aware of before they make a decision
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We need to summarize some of the issues that we see with LRT that will
impact the business and formally present it to council or send it via letter
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For example: something that may be a concern is not being able to turn
left into the Delta Hotel
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It was opened up to initial discussion and comments with the Board as to
what the Boards thoughts were on this issue.
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It was discussed by the Board that LRT is a good thing for downtown
especially with gas prices on the rise.
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There was some good discussion amongst the Board as to what each
thought about the LRT.
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Questions that Board needs to address are things as 1) making left hand
turns 2) what happens with the snow removal process 3) pedestrian traffic
and how is it affected.
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There was also good discussion on Rapid Bus Transit and Light Rail
Transit and the differences between the two.
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Ottawa had Rapid Bus and is now switching to Rapid Rail
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Calgary currently has LRT and keeps expanding on it.
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Rapid Bus Transit has a life span of 15 years.
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It was discussed at Board as to surveying our Membership about LRT as
we have not done a survey as yet
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It was discussed by the Board that we need more membership feedback
on LRT
ACTION ITEM: Mark Garner to send survey to membership asking what are
their opinions on LRT are you for or against and what issues or business
issues are you concerned about with the implementation of LRT
Agenda Item: _ __ Board Meeting Review/Action Items – Margarida Anao
The information contained in this document is intended for internal use by the Board of Directors and
`Management of the Downtown Kitchener BIA and may contain confidential and/or privileged material,
any duplication, distribution, re-transmission or dissemination without the written consent of the
Downtown Kitchener BIA is prohibited
?
Board reviewed the Action Items from today’s Board meeting, no issues
identified.
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Mark Graham made clarification of the Motion Item to bring Colin Leis in
as Vice-Chair
Agenda Item _____ Adjournment – Margarida Anao
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Adjournment @ 11:10am
Motion/Moved by; John Vickory, Seconded; Christine Mechaud, all in
favour. Motion Passed.
Next Meeting – June 21, 2011 @ 9 am, Red Maple Room, Delta Hotel.
The information contained in this document is intended for internal use by the Board of Directors and
`Management of the Downtown Kitchener BIA and may contain confidential and/or privileged material,
any duplication, distribution, re-transmission or dissemination without the written consent of the
Downtown Kitchener BIA is prohibited