Meetings

This page will contain the minutes of the BIA's last executive committee meeting, along with the agenda of the upcoming meeting a few days prior to said meeting. Meetings are held every first Thursday of the month.

The minutes of previous meetings will be available in the Archives section of the site.

The last BIA executive's monthly meeting was held on Thursday November 6th, 2003. Here are the subjects discussed:
 

Present: Mike Wilson, President Gérald Gaudreau Estelle Mignault Lorraine Charlebois Manon Pelletier Louis Corbeil, Secretary

Absent: Rosanne Gratton, Vice-pres. Daniel Larochelle Claudette Couture Colette Fortin Daniel Lemaire, Council Rep.

Subjects discussed :
 

1		Opening - Agenda. - Prop. by: E. Mignault, Supp. by: L. Charlebois.  Carried.
2		Minutes of meeting held on September 4th and October 2nd and 16th, 2003. - Prop. by: E. Mignault, Supp. by: L. Charlebois.  Carried.
3		Correspondence. - Letter Mr. André Ouellet, President, Canada Post: RE: Sale of Christmas cards: Info. - Réginald Bélair, Federal MP: Letter of support RE: Canada Post: Info. - Foyer des pionniers: donation request for Christmas - residents: Filed.
4		Christmas Decorations 2003 and Christmas Tree at corner of 9th and George. - Report from Gérald Gaudreau: Mr. Gaudreau informs members that decorations are ready and that PUC has already begun installing them.  He's concerned by the fact that the Christmas tree cannot be installed before an engineer inspects anchoring and confirms that they are solid enough to support it.  After discussion, members asked that the Secretary check with Mrs. Vandette how much it would cost to install fir branches on street lamps. - Pauline Guindon, of Hearst Ecomuseum, will take care of the sale of items during every weekend at Achilles building - which will be decorated by Mrs. Gaudreau for the occasion.
5		Santa Claus Express - Report from Rosanne Gratton. - Mrs. Gratton being absent, the Secretary informs members that there have been a meeting of the Santa Claus Express Committee and that all is going as planned.
6		Calendar of Activities for the Holidays. - Members revised the activities.  It is suggested to organize a contest instead of the Gift Rally.  The President would like to see more Christmas drawings and the calendar framed.
7		Presentation - Julie Larose. - Mrs. Larose did not show up at the meeting.
8		Presentation - Christine Lacroix - RE: Efforts from Lacroix Bus Tours to prevent out of town shopping. - Mrs. Lacroix says they receive many complaints, remarks and even letters from business owners and organizations concerning this, especially during this time of the year.  Mrs. Lacroix explains that Lacroix Bus Tours has made many efforts to minimize the impact their tours have on out of town shopping.  They have always refused offers from malls from Kapuskasing, Timmins and Sudbury to rent a bus to bring people from Hearst to shop in their town, especially during the Holiday season.  They also have received offers for monthly tours. As for the tour scheduled for December 5 to 7, it is a tour called "Escapade" which is specially for Natives from the north and it will depart from Cochrane.  Nobody from Hearst is registered on this tour. - Mrs. Lacroix states that they do not advertise any out of town shopping when they schedule Hockey trips or others in other large cities. - She also states that her company has demonstrated good initiatives to bring people from out of town to Hearst for their shopping, among which: Bus from Mattice for the Midnight Magic. bus for the "Festival de l'humour" and other events and bus from Longlac. - Mrs. Lacroix says that they are open to develop "packages" to bring people from out of town to Hearst, but she says that these tours have to be scheduled at least 3 months ahead in order for them to be successful.  Midnight Magic, along with a Bingo, daycare and exterior skating (Hearst High School) would be a good occasion for buses from Hornepayne, Longlac and Smooth Rock Falls. - The President thanked Mrs. Lacroix for her presentation.
9		Santa Claus Pictures - Library. - Deferred to next regular meeting.
10		Web Page Hits. - Report end of October, 2003; approximately 480 "hits" for a total of 13,232 visitors to date.
11		Other Subjects. - Update (November 3): list of BIA members and businesses downtown: Info. - Add Special Flyer CINN 15th Anniversary: Deferred.