MINUTES of March 20, 2008 MEETING

The meeting of the Long Point Country Chamber of Commerce was held on Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. at the Community Centre. Those in
attendance were: Evan & Ann Engell, Cindy Vanderstar, Joyce Doerksen, Jane Thomson, Elizabeth Dukelow, Al Freeman, Madaline Wilson, Fred Gillman & Lois Lounsbury.

President-Cindy Vanderstar welcomed all to the meeting.

Evan moved that we accept the minutes as presented. Seconded by Madaline.
Carried.

Further to the Appreciation Night—The Green Thumb Awards were also announced. These awards were given to the businesses who tended their own plant downtown—some plants lasted until after Thanksgiving. We want to recognize these people and thank them for their help. Awards are being given to B-Entertained, Lighthouse on Bay, The Thrift Shoppe, Medical Centre and St. Williams Variety.

The planning department have asked for our input about a uniform bylaw across the County with relation to new buildings or new uses for existing buildings providing ample parking and loading areas for their business.

Downtown Parking is still a problem. Some business owners and employees park on the street all day and this takes away parking for those who come into our businesses. In order for the County to enforce a time limit for parking downtown, we need to do a petition and show that the merchants are in favour of limiting time allowed to park on the street. Cindy will draft up the wording for the petition and Lois will circulate the petition downtown.

Celebrate Ontario—We did not get the grant for Bay Fest. There were over 470 applications. Simcoe Fair did receive a grant.

Media Exposure—A channel news was here to do an interview regarding the Tundra Swans. We received a lot of exposure from all the different T.V. & Radio stations about the Tundra Swans.

The next “Friday the 13th” is June 13, 2008. Port Dover will be attempting to get into the Guinness World Book of Records for the most motorcycles in one town. They need to get 10,000 to set the record.

Appreciation Dinner Report—Evan said that everyone who attended had a great time. The weather prohibited many people from attending.
For next time, we need to make people aware that everyone is invited to attend whether they are business people or not.

Treasurer’s Report. Ann presented the report. Madaline accepted the report as presented. Al seconded the motion. Carried.

Committee Reports—Advertising—Jane presented a new format for the directory.
The cost for 5000 directories would be $1148 with each additional 1000 costing $76.60. Jane suggested with the new directory that we sell ads--$300 for the large full colour ads and $100 for the smaller ads. Lois will send an e-mail to advise that the ads are for sale on a first come first served basis. Everyone is to call Jane asap at 519-586-8888. Evan made the motion that we purchase 7500 directories. Ann seconded the motion. Carried.

Decals—It has been suggested that we give Chamber decals to members to put in their windows showing that they are members. The cost for 250 decals would be $380.00. Al made the motion that Jane purchase these decals. Ann seconded the motion. Carried.

Finance—presented by Evan. The budget has been finalized.
We need a fundraising and events chair person. It has been decided that we will work together on the fundraising events. Cindy will move ahead with plans for Festival By the Bay.

Lois & Cindy will explain the goals of their committees and share thoughts on those goals at the next meeting.

Committee Reports are to be done on a monthly basis. Each committee does their report and they are filed in a book for future evaluation.

Business Development—Ann will present a monthly information bulletin and she will have Jane put the information on the Website each month. The topic for this month is “Tax Tips for Small Businesses.” This should encourage more participation from members.

Membership Report—At this time we have 64 return members and 11 new members. Lois will send out 1 more fax to those members that haven’t paid. We will finalize the directory by March 28/08.

New Business—Information Booth—For an additional $200/year we could have an extra student 2 days/week to help with the information booth. Discussion followed. We will discuss this further at next meeting.

On Sunday, March 30, 2008 from 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. there will be an open house at the Port Rowan Community Centre regarding the Causeway Project.

April 17, 2007 the Lake Shore Secondary Plan Meeting will be held at the Port Rowan Community Centre. It is important that people attend these meetings.

April 9, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. at the Villages of Long Point Bay Club House, John Hunt will be at a meeting and they will be discussing the park by the Bay.

NOTE: NEXT MEETING FOR CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WILL BE TUESDAY, APRIL 15, 2008 AT 7:00 P.M. SO EVERYONE IS FREE TO GO TO THE LAKE SHORE SECONDARY PLAN MEETING ON APRIL 17, 2008.