GREY HIGHLANDS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE June 20, 2013

Flesherton Library MINUTES

Present: Kathy Gamblen, Rick Gamblen, Doug Crawford, Janie Badgerow, Linda Reader, Charmaine Peever, Don Kopplin, Pam Petch, Ron Gillespie, Aakash Desai, Anna McCarthy Regrets: Lynn Silverton, Michele Freeling, Gary Gingras

1. CALL TO ORDER @ 7:12pm.

2. Minutes to the previous meeting:

a. Errors and Omissions: None. b. Adoption of the Minutes: Motion Moved by: Charmaine. Seconded by: Janie. CARRIED.

3. Business arising from the Minutes:

Kathy did not see anything on the Minutes regarding the correspondence which was attached to the minutes. We should address them. Eugenia Gold Rush: The Chamber will donate $150 to the Eugenia Gold Rush. Moved by: Janie. Seconded by: Kathy. CARRIED. The Flesherton Farmer’s Market requested a monetary donation. We will get more information regarding what the money would be used for.

4. Nomination of New Executive Members: Michele Freeling, Pam Petch

MOTION: the Grey Highlands Chamber of Commerce offers a position on the Executive to Pam Petch. Moved by Charmiane. Seconded by Kathy. MOTION: the Grey Highlands Chamber of Commerce offers a position on the Executive to Michele Freeling. Moved by Kathy. Seconded by Janie. CARRIED.

5. Guest Speaker: Ron Barnett Not Present.

6. President Crawford’s Report:

We have flowers up downtown. We need the tourist signs to be fixed, and one needs to be replaced.

Pam: the sign that says ‘tourist information’ on the Firehall needs to be removed. Instead of removing the sign, we should add the address of our new office location so that people know where we are and where the tourist info is. Don will ask Seann Burgess for a quote for a sign with 17 Main St E on it. Doug Sowerby is satisfied with everything moving ahead with his new development in Markdale. He is hoping to break ground in August or September. There was an email sent out from Gary about the magazine advertising for Beaver Valley. Council agreed to spend taxpayer money on advertising, in a B&B magazine. They should have looked at a magazine that

would have supported the entire accommodation group, instead of just a few. Perhaps in the fall, we should look at how we can support these groups. School Plaques MacPhail is not interested in participating in giving an award from the Chamber to a graduating student. Pam will contact the principal to see if the Chamber can still present an award.

MOTION: we will include a $50 honorarium for the student at each school, along with a plaque. Moved by Charmaine. Seconded by Rick. CARRIED. Markdale has a large plaque, as well as the take home plaque. We will communicate with Lynn regarding the plaques. We should discuss giving certificates in future years. 40th Anniversary of Chapman’s & Bernard’s Bernard’s is having an anniversary celebration on Sept 14. We could give them a piece of local art for their presentation, and recognition on our radio ads. We could ask artists to do a painting for Chapman’s and Bernard’s. The plaque should say: recognizing 40 years of business in the Grey Highlands Community. MOTION: that the Grey Highlands Chamber of Commerce recognize the 40th anniversary of Chapman’s Ice Cream and Bernard’s by commissioning an original piece of art by a local artist of up to $500 each with a plaque attached stating the Chamber’s appreciation for many years of service in our community. MOVED by Charmaine. Seconded by Rick. CARRIED.

7. Vice-Presidents Report: New Staff (Tourist Booths) Erica Hall and Kate FitzPatrick are the new Chamber employees. Charmaine will be going to the Flesherton and Markdale locations on Saturday to make sure things are going well. There was some discussion about creating a one-time newsletter so that Erica and Kate can introduce themselves to the local businesses. We should do an email blast as well advertising our office hours. At Anna’s request, Charmaine is taking over the email blasts. In the next Chamber Chat column, Charmaine should mention Cruise Night, Yard Sale, and Gold Rush Days. The hours in the Tourist Booths are as follows: 30 hrs/week in Markdale, and 14 hrs/week in Flesherton. Kate and Erica will rotate between both locations. There is a maximum of 88 hours in a 2 week pay period. Charmaine attended the event sponsored by Owen Sound Chamber on June 11, where the Chair of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce was speaking. The Chamber has a five year plan. They are very supportive of the agricultural sector. His key messages were that we need to access the next generation, to embrace diversity, and work with other groups. Linda: Is it not the mandate of the Chamber to be like a gadfly to the Municipality. Getting into bed with the Municipality is not necessarily a good thing, as the Chamber should always be pushing for more from the Municipality. Just because Council or an economic development department is not getting along with

the Chamber is not necessarily a bad thing. Colleen sent an email regarding the Flesherton Tourist Booth. She spoke with Ezra Martin at Maxwell Garden Centre regarding the booth. This booth has been rented for the last couple of years. As the booth is in need of some repairs and maintenance this year, Ezra agreed that the Chamber could have the booth, provided his sign advertising his business will stay on the building. The building is now ours, free of charge. 8. Treasurers Report: The Trillium Bank account is the Chef’s Forum grant. Harry Trafford has sold almost all of the 50/50 tickets. We have a meeting with Council on the 8th of July regarding reimbursement of Firehall utilities. We never had use of the building and should therefore not have to cover the costs. MOTION: To adopt the Treasurers report, with the amendment of allocating the appropriate expenses to the Chef’s Forum. Moved by Aakash. Seconded by Ron. CARRIED. MOTION: To change the name of the grant fund bank account from "Markdale Chamber of Commerce Trillium Fund" to "Grey Highlands Chamber of Commerce Grant Fund". Moved by: Don. Seconded by: Pam. CARRIED.

Anna will contact Bank of Montreal to make the necessary changes.

9. Municipal Liaisons Report: Councillor Silverton: Not Present. 10. Linda Reader See attached report from Linda. We are up and running. June and July we are starting our media campaign. July and August we are starting our youth campaign. Pam Petch Questions from Kate FitzPatrick: July 1 – do we want to be open on the Monday of the long weekend? We should be open a few hours on the Sunday. 10. Secretaries Report: Gary asked to add to the agenda that the Dock ad should be changed. We should make this change for July. He thought it should highlight Grey Highlands and any upcoming activity, including the Flesherton Fling and the Markdale Fall Fair. We have budgeted $350 for the Flesherton Fling this year for advertising costs. Murray’s Print Shop will send us the bill. We will advertise Culture Days on the website and include the information in an email blast.

11. Committee Reports: FT Hill Foundation Report: Doug Crawford Doug is still waiting for the quote for a sound system in the Markdale downtown from Taylor Electronics. Downtown Retailers Committee: Janie Badgerow We haven’t had any more meetings. We are doing the annual Sidewalk Sale on July 6. Cruise Night Committee: Doug Crawford We have the Cruise Night flyers from Murray’s Print Shop, which Doug will distribute. We had our committee meeting last night. We need to put an ad in the paper alerting people that the road will be closed. We must have signage as well. Don is getting a quote from Seann Burgess. We could use some help, if there is anyone who is available that night. We need someone to help with sign up starting at 4:30. Cruise Night will run to around 10:30pm. Farmers Market Report: Ron Gillespie There is a community booth at the Flesherton Farmer’s Market available. At the meeting regarding the Markdale Arena, there was discussion regarding possible uses for the arena. Chamber Chat: Aakash Desai/Charmaine Peever There has been a shift towards being a ‘goodie two shoes’ in the last two meetings. Aakash is against always appearing to politically correct, and our view should be provided unedited to the people. People appreciate our candid honesty in the Chamber Chat. The Municipal Liaison suggested the Chamber Chat was becoming a ‘bashing column’. Aakash thinks that the Municipality shouldn’t do things to be bashed, and it is hard to put a positive spin on the Municipality. Aakash sent a letter to Dan Best on April 29, regarding an argument following a meeting. He has not heard back from Dan. Dan said he was offended by what was written in one of the article. Aakash’s letters are attached below. Ron: we decided that we wanted to put a positive image of the Chamber forward to the community. We don’t need to be in the political forum. The Chamber Chat is not the right forum. Doug: we still need the right to speak our opinion. Charmaine: At some point, the Chamber has to speak up and say what we have seen and experienced with the Municipality. There needs to be some honest discussion about what is happening at the Municipal level. We have a public responsibly to point things out. Kathy: We need to promote ourselves in a positive way, and show people what we are doing for businesses. The Municipality is not partnering with us fairly, so we should continue with our own objectives. We should state the facts, not our opinions. We have never seen any proof in the minutes of council that the $5000 was voted upon in Council. Following the April meeting, Cindy McQueen tendered her resignation via email to Kathy due to Chamber Chat, and because her husband works for the Municipality. She said she would continue only as a liaison for the Maxwell and Singhampton area. If we want her to continue as liaison, she would like direction from us. Chamber Economic Dev. Committee: Gary Gingras Not present. 12. Other Business: None. 13. Adjournment: 9:52