HomeMy WebLinkAboutKitchener BIA - 2015-11-26DowNTo"
Kitchener B I A
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
Minutes
9am -11am
November 26, 2015
19 King St E, Unit B
Kitchener
Present: Dawn Phillips- Brown, Lindsay Walden, Stewart Barclay, Linda Jutzi, Paul Walman, Cory
Bluhm, Darryl Moore, Zenia Horton, Councillor Frank Etherington, Shirley Madill, James Mitchell
(9am — 9:15am), Michelle Cutts, Frank Voisin, Domini Baldasaro, Berry Vrbanovic (10:04am —
10:38am)
Regrets: Sarah Marsh
Guests: Jeff Gadway, Ryan Lloyd -Craig
Dawn Phillips -Brown in the Chair.
WELCOME
The Chair called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m., and welcomed Ryan Lloyd -Craig and Jeff
Gadway as guests.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
No conflict of interest was declared by any Member of the Board at this time.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Moved by Stewart Barclay, seconded by Paul Walman
'That the Board approve the Agenda as proposed."
Carried Unanimously
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Moved by Zenia Horton, seconded by Stewart Barclay
"That the Minutes of the Board of Directors meeting held on October 22, 2015 be
approved as printed."
Carried Unanimously
Moved by Stewart Barclay, seconded by Paul Walman
'That the Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the BIA held on October 29,
2015 be approved as printed."
Carried Unanimously
Frank Voisin, Jeff Gadway and Ryan Lloyd -Craig left the meeting. (9:07am)
IN CAMERA
Moved by Paul Walman, seconded by Domini Baldasaro
'That the Board enter a closed meeting for the purposes of discussing personal
information about Board candidates."
Carried Unanimously
Public meeting recessed (9:07am)
Public meeting resumed (9:10am)
Frank Voisin, Jeff Gadway and Ryan Lloyd -Craig returned to the meeting. (9:10am)
The Chair welcomed Frank Voisin to the Board.
POLICE UPDATE
James Mitchell, Waterloo Regional Police Services, provided the Board with an update on special
projects undertaken by the Police over the past 30 days. The Board discussed communicating
which public service businesses should call, depending on the situation.
Action:
A member information session will be held in early 2016 on which public services
businesses should engage (police, 911 or social services), depending on the situation.
James Mitchell left the meeting (9:15 a.m.)
FINANCIAL UPDATE
Stewart Barclay, Treasurer, reviewed the financials provided in the Board package, and discussed
the new format of the financials, which were designed with the intention of providing consistent
information and format.
GOVERNANCE UPDATES
Dawn Phillips- Brown, Chair, spoke to the Governance report provided in the Board package, and
noted that following each Annual General Meeting, the Board must elect a new executive. A
canvass of the Board confirmed that Dawn Phillips- Brown, Stewart Barclay and Lindsay Walden
had agreed to continue in their current roles. There was no interest from other Board members
in the role of Vice Chair or the other Executive roles.
Moved by Frank Voisin, seconded by Paul Walman
'That the Executive Committee for 2015 -2016 be elected as follows: Dawn
Phillips -Brown (Chair), Stewart Barclay (Treasurer), and Lindsay Walden
(Secretary)."
Carried Unanimously
The Board discussed the 2016 meeting schedule.
INTAKE PROCESS
Linda Jutzi informed the Board that a new intake process for ideas, suggestions and
recommendations from stakeholders had been developed. Ms. Jutzi explained that currently,
many ideas from members and other stakeholders were suggested on an ad hoc events or
meetings. The new process was intended to assist in tracking and following up on ideas.
The Board discussed ways to create orderly opportunities for members to provide feedback,
including an online comment form, and discussed how to keep members up to date.
Action:
The Board directed staff to investigate creating an online intake form that will include key
subject areas and an auto acknowledgement of receipt that will include: a timeline and
where the idea will be addressed (ex. year end planning process).
The Board directed staff to return in December with a report on how to operationalize the
request, with a tentative launch date planned for January 2016.
Action:
The Board directed staff to investigate a member survey, and to add communicating to
members to the Future Agenda Running List.
REACHING OUT TO STUDENTS
Berry Vrbanovic joined the meeting by phone (10:04 a.m.)
Mayor Vrbanovic informed the Board that he had met with student representatives from the
School of Pharmacy to discuss opportunities to connect downtown businesses with students
attending downtown campuses. The Mayor stated that some downtown members had
expressed an interest in engaging students from the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier
University in downtown nightlife, and suggested the BIA investigate offering a free bus service
for Waterloo -based students to downtown Kitchener.
Ms. Jutzi gave an update on activities the BIA has undertaken to engage university students.
The Board discussed evening activities available downtown Kitchener and the optics of providing
free business for students when students already had access to public transit as part of the
tuition fees.
Action:
The BIA should investigate what students are looking for and ways to incentivize student
participation in any resources that the BIA may provide.
The BIA should work with the City of Kitchener to develop a list of questions, on topics
including transport and demographics, to ask students. This list of questions and how to
potentially survey students at Conestoga College, Wilfrid Laurier University and the
University of Waterloo should be brought to the December meeting. The BIA should
target January to engage students.
Berry Vrbanovic left the meeting (10:38 a.m.)
OTHER BUSINESS
Paul Walman raised the impact of newly- started construction on Duke Street on its businesses,
noting that challenges around access for deliveries and services including waste management.
Members were encouraged to reach out to Christine Michaud, Manager, Community Relations,
for assistance in engaging the municipalities around these concerns.
Frank Etherington updated the Board on positive upcoming developments downtown, including
at the Tannery, Manulife and Schneiders.
Ms. Jutzi reminded Board Members that the BIA Holiday Networking Event would held be on
December 7, 2015.
Jeff Gadway, Ryan -Lloyd -Craig and Linda Jutzi left the meeting (10:56 a.m.)
Moved by Frank Voisin, seconded by Stewart Barclay
'That the Board enter a closed meeting for the purposes of discussing the job
description of the Executive Director."
Public meeting recessed (10:56am)
Public meeting resumed (11:03 am)
ADJOURNMENT
Moved by Frank Voisin, seconded by Stewart Barclay
'That the meeting adjourn." (11:03 a.m.)
Carried Unanimously
Carried Unanimously