Executive Committee Report – May 24/06

BRIDGS
Executive Committee Report
May 24, 2006
Trading Post/Youth Centre

Present: John Malmstrom, Wayne Smith, Susan Malmstrom, Hal Theriault.

The meeting was called to order at 10:00 AM.

• Informal Treasurer’s Report: One cash donation of $40.00 was received. It was decided that a petty cash fund would be established, initially funded at $40.00. Current total in the BRIDGS’ account, including petty cash, is $1,251.40. The Secretary will collect receipts and keep an accurate listing of any expenditures from petty cash, which will be forwarded to the Treasurer prior to each report. The Treasurer’s reports will reflect the date that they are submitted, usually the day of the general meeting or close to it.

• Youth Centre: John spoke with Andre Bouchard, who is willing to assist with opening the Centre by providing the basic framework for programming and management. He suggested a meeting by special invitation for the village young people, which he could facilitate. Current infrastructure needs include: carpet strip to secure the carpet, toilet needs to be put together, electricity needs to be hooked up, hot water needs to be hooked up, doorknob needs to be put in the bathroom door. Nova Scotia Recreation needs to be contacted regarding our application, since we cannot get liability insurance (and can’t have young people in the space) before we have this.

• Recent Achievements: John and Hal met with the municipality of Annapolis County, to get their endorsement of the BRIDGS vision statement. It is critical to have the municipalities’ endorsements in order to secure funding for a strategic plan. Hal is working on a cultural activities program outline for possible funding.

• Next Goals: BRIDGS needs to form subcommittees to involve the membership in upcoming activities, most notably the youth centre.

• TO DO LIST:
1. For the next general meeting, we will meet in the youth centre space. Susan will let people know to bring their own chairs.
2. Hal will contact Cameron Smith of the Fire Hall to offer to set up a concert for Cherry Carnival, and will continue to work on grant proposals.
3. Wayne will forward an updated Treasurer’s Report to John, as he cannot attend the general meeting.
4. John will contact Nova Scotia Power regarding electricity for the space.
5. John and Hal will meet next with the municipality of Digby.

Meeting adjourned at noon.

Minutes, May 10, 2006

BRIDGS
(Bear River Innovation, Development and Growth Society)
May 10, 2006
Bear River First Nations Cultural Center

Present: Cindy Harris, John & Susan Malmstrom, Hal Theriault, David Isles, Don Rice, Rob Buckland, George Barron, Tim Wilson, Julian Graham, Wayne Smith.

1. Call to Order
Meeting called to order at 7:30 PM

2. Introduction of Minutes from Previous Meeting

3. New Business
Executive Committee Minutes: were read by Secretary Susan Malmstrom.
BRIDGS Liaisons: as per the suggestion of the Executive Committee, it was decided that a good way to connect with the other organizations in town was to assign BRIDGS members to act as go-betweens for these groups. The liaisons don’t need to attend the other groups’ meetings, although many of them are already doing this; they only need to contact the group prior to a BRIDGS general meeting to see if the other organization has any concerns that they would like to see raised at our meeting. The assignments are: Fire Hall: Cindy Harris, Oakdene: Cindy Harris, BREDS: Rob Buckland, Health Centre: Don Rice, Legion: Susan Malmstrom.
New Member: Julian Graham, a supporter of the Youth Centre, was welcomed as he joined us for the first time.
Treasurer’s Report: Wayne Smith presented his initial report. John suggested that in future reports, noting pending receipts and debits would be helpful. George suggested that it might be worthwhile to research the pros and cons of charitable status for the organization. Cindy offered to look into this for the next meeting. MOTION to accept the Treasurer’s Report made by Wayne Smith, seconded by Cindy Harris. CARRIED.

4. Youth Centre: Power still needs to be hooked up and the toilet installed. John offered to come by and get this done. Supplies need to be purchased. Rob suggested approaching Wilson’s Hardware to see if they could donate supplies, or sell them to us at a discount; Hal offered to look into this. Equipment, signage and programming were discussed at length. John and Hal will contact Andre Bouchard for assistance. We cannot have anyone other than board members in the space, however, until liability insurance has been purchased. We are still waiting for membership status from Recreation Nova Scotia, so that we can get insurance through them at a discounted rate.

5. Strategic Development Plan: John and Hal met with Louise Watson of the Office of Economic Development. They will provide funding for the initial investment of $10,000. The estimate for the overall cost may be around $30,000. We will have to put this out to tender. It will be necessary to have the endorsement of both the municipalities to proceed with the plan, via a token amount of funding. John and Hal are scheduled to present to the Municipality of Annapolis on May 16. The strategic plan is a critical step for moving BRIDGS forward; we cannot secure any kind of substantial funding without it. Hal is also conducting ongoing research of cultural and tourism grant opportunities.

6. Review and Adoption of Minutes from Previous Meeting
MOTION: Moved by Cindy Harris, seconded by Don Rice to approve and adopt the Minutes of the March 29, 2006 meeting. CARRIED.

7. Next Meeting
June 14, at 7:30 pm at the Youth Centre (Trading Post).

8. Adjournment
Motion made by Tim Wilson for adjournment, seconded by Susan Malmstrom.
CARRIED. Meeting adjourned at 9:00 PM.

Agenda, May 10, 2006

AGENDA

BRIDGS (Bear River Innovation, Development and Growth Society)
Wednesday, May 10, 7:30 pm
Bear River First Nations Cultural Center

1. Call to Order

2. Introductions/Call for Presentations & Delegations

3. Adoption of Agenda

4. Introduction of Minutes from Previous Meeting

5. Continuing Business
I. Report from Executive Committee (Susan Malmstrom)
II. Treasurer’s Report (Rev. Wayne Smith)
III. Youth Centre Report (David Isles)

6. New Business
Strategic Development Plan (Hal Theriault)

7. Adoption of Minutes

8. Next Meeting
TBA

9. Adjournment
Meeting of BRIDGS adjourns at 9:00 pm