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 3rd, 2005. Here were the subjects discussed:
 

Present: Mike Wilson, President Gérald Gaudreau Sylvie Otis Sylvie Leroux Patricia Marin-Carrier Marc Dufresne, Council Rep. Daniel Sigouin, Resource Person Thérèse Lachance, Secretary

Absent: Colette Fortin

Subjects discussed :
 

1		Opening - Agenda. - The meeting was declared open at 7:39 a.m.  The Agenda was Prop. by: G. Gaudreau, Supp. by: S. Leroux; CARRIED.
2		Reports of the meeting held on October 13th, 2005. - Prop. by: P. Marin-Carrier, Supp. by: G. Gaudreau; CARRIED.
3		Presentation by Daniel Sigouin on the ACR Project. - Daniel Sigouin did a presentation on the ACR project and showed everyone a sketch of the renovations that will be done to the existing buildings.  It seems that renovating the existing buildings is less costly than to redo everything from the ground up.  The objective of this project is to increase the number of visitors in the area and to increase the number of days that they stay in Hearst.  One suggestion to help pay for the operation of this center would be to put a new tax on motel rooms.  This project is ongoing and there are still many things to finalize before it goes ahead.
4		Santa's Express. - This year, Santa's Express will be in Hearst on November 27th.  As for previous years, children will board the train at 9:30 am and the train will leave around 10:00 am.  Preparations are going well.
5		Christmas Calendar. - A draft of the 2005 Christmas calendar was presented and, after discussion, opening hours were set, as well as Appreciation days weekend that will be on December 1-2-3, with Midnight Magic on December 2.  Free parking and contests were also discussed.  A final copy of the calendar will be distributed to all downtown businesses in the coming days.
6		Winter Carnival. - Mike and Sylvie O. reported what was discussed at the last meeting of the Winter Carnival Committee and informed members that the castle will probably be built again this year, but bigger.  Other activities are still to be finalized.  The BIA will sponsor the carnival again this year by contributing $500 in downtown coupons.  The Carnival Committee is also looking to expand this event nationally in the future.
7		Brochure for motels and tourism. - Many options for the printing of this brochure are presented, among which Nord-Est Printing at 39¢ a copy for 3,000 copies, NEBS Canada at 26¢ and Vista Print at 38¢.  The last two companies are from out of town.  Members prefer buying locally, so the printing of the brochures will be given to Nord-Est Printing at 39¢ a copy - full color.
8		Flower boxes (small-$150; large $300). - This subject was reallocated to work in progress.
9		Problems at the kiosk - suggestions. - Thérèse informed members that the door on the west side of the kiosk is easily broken by youngsters staying out late at night.  The existing lock is not resistant enough and Thérèse suggests to either replace it with a stronger lock like on the examples she brought or to simply put a permanent poster on this side and have the door screwed in place. - After discussion, it was decided to place a permanent poster on this side and have the door screwed in place.
10		List of cheques from September 19 to October 31, 2005. - The list of cheques issued from September 10 to October 31, 2005 for an amount of $1,934.88, was presented for approval.  Prop. by: S. Leroux, Supp. by: G. Gaudreau.  CARRIED
11		Correspondence. - Flags Unlimited - promotion - Info.
12		Other subjects. - Marcel Dillon - suggestions street lamps: Marcel Dillon suggested that the BIA install more street lamps, at least one on 8th Street near Northern Store, another near the kiosk at the municipal parking and another one on 10th Street in front of Mom's restaurant.  It was decided to discuss this possibility with the Hearst Power Distribution Corporation.  This could also be done when all street lamps are replaced. - Final Organizational Chart: The final organizational chart is given to all members.