Mount Royal Community Association

Meeting Minutes

January 10, 2011 
 

Attendees:  Debra Law, Tina Dargan, Peter Haley, Laura Brown, Denise Ross, Megan McCarthy, Elisa Iozzo, Susan Petersen, Martha Pinzon, Darlene Bruce, Candice Selby, Krista de Silva, Bob Weaver, Jane Keyser, Rosanne Woods 

Meeting Commences:  7:10pm 

1.  Minutes from Dec 6, 2010

      Revisions: 1.  Denise not being replaced as membership director by Geraldine

2.  $175K is the estimate for surface & equipment replacement on the playground not just for solid surfacing   

Motion to approve December minutes as amended by Bob, second by Krista. 

2.  Community Development

      This committee is currently headed by Peter.  During Peter’s lengthy absence there was no committee member available to review the applications that were sent over by the city and they became backlogged.  The City allowed several permit applications to go ahead with no review by the community.  Darlene led a discussion concerning the need for a 4-5 member committee that would be willing to meet regularly and review all applications sent over by the city.  It was decided the committee will be comprised of a minimum of 3 members and ideally will have 4-5 which will meet regularly.  Darlene and Peter will both serve on this committee.  Martha also expressed interest in the committee. 

Motion by Candace to form a Community Development Committee with a minimum of 3 members which will consider and review any permit applications being reviewed by the City and will also provide leadership on the development of community land and facilities. Second by Bob.   

      Darlene provided an update on the Station renovation.  The current plan is to double the width of the deck for the full length of the station house.  This is significantly different from the original design ideas by Robert Merchant so tracking down the old sketches is no longer necessary.  Peter had some new sketches done and has met with a contractor who suggested an estimate of about $45,000.  Peter will pass along the information to Darlene who will coordinate with Candace and Susan regarding the playground refurbishing. 
 
 
 
 
 

3.  Treasurer’s Report – Laura 

      General account - $73,133.86

      Casino account - $92,356.91 

An extension on the use of casino funds has been requested and approval is pending by the gaming commission.  The FCC who audits the books appears to have misplaced some paperwork that is needed to complete the application for extension.  Discussion took place regarding whether to continue to use FCC as our auditors.  It was felt that regardless of the lost paperwork, the FCC is a very useful resource for the Board and the audit cost of $2500 is far less than we would pay elsewhere.  Going forward vendors will be asked to submit invoices in duplicate and anyone turning over invoices or receipts to Laura should provide copies.  Debra met with FCC in December and found them very helpful in providing resources in community leadership.  We can build a better partnership with patience.  They are considered very reputable with governing authorities like the gaming commission and CRA. 

      The Peter Hughes invoice is still outstanding as they did not respond to Laura’s question as to when the permanent railing will be installed.  It was suggested a significant hold back be kept until the railing is complete. 

4.  Directors Reports 

      Membership – Denise

Membership drive begins Jan 1, 2011 with signs around the neighbourhood, newsletter sign up form, and email to members and a table at the skating party.  There were approximately 286 memberships sold last year (for comparison – in 2000 – 364 members, in 2001 – 481 members after a door to door campaign, in 2009 – 197 members).  Members can sign up online or drop a cheque in the Station mail box.  There are estimated to be 1100 households within community boundaries. 

Tina voiced a concern that when people are booking the Station late in the year they object to paying for a full year membership.  Discussion affirmed that we will not pro-rate the membership and Tina is fine with communicating that to those booking the facility. 

      Newsletter – Candace/Susan

January 12^th is the deadline for newsletter submission.  The newletter will be sent to the printer at the end of January when Candace returns from vacation.  Susan reported that ad sales are down slightly for this issue.  There will be three issues centering around the main community functions – skating party (Feb), Family BBQ (June) and Progressive Dinner (Sept/Oct). 
 
 
 

Skating Party – Elisa

Date has been confirmed as February 15, 2011 from 2-4pm.  Timing will eliminate the need to feed people lunch as last year a lot of food went to waste.  There will be indoor activities in case of cold weather (craft table, cookie decorating, etc).  Elisa requested a budget of $500 but does not believe the amount will be that much.  Elisa will get the signs from Mary Lou to advertise the event a little earlier than last year. 

Traffic – Bob

Landscaping

Bob has drafted a letter to the city regarding the maintenance of the splitter islands in response to the original Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).  The city has been waiting 3 years for us to sign something official and it has started to affect their willingness to hear our other concerns.  The original MOU was not signed due to the inclusion by the city of a liability clause.  Debra will check on what our insurance does cover regarding liability and will bring it to the next meeting.  Krista read the letter aloud and all agreed to signing it. 

Letter to John Mar

A letter was drafted by Bob in regards to consistency on the signage for turning into the neighbourhood during peak traffic hours.  The letter merely requests that we begin the process. 

Parking

Residents of 13^th Street circulated a petition and instituted a parking permit solution to the increased problem on their street.  Bob wondered if we, as a community, should standardize the approach (permits vs. hourly parking signage) for all streets or let residents determine their own approach.  As any process requires 80% of street residents, the street will ultimately determine their own course of action.  Bob will write an article for the newsletter outlining the options and the process for applying with the city. 

Urban Forest – Charlene absent 

Facilities – Tina 

Skating rink usage has led to a lack of tidiness in the change room and the washrooms.  Tina has requested the upstairs maintenance staff check on the downstairs on Monday or Tuesday following high usage weekend time slot.  They will mop the floor and clean the washrooms.  The kitchen pass thru has been locked up again.  Hockey nets are at the end of their life and need replacement.  Laura suggested the rink helpers (Dale Dickson) may be willing to purchase the nets (with reimbursement from MRCA) as Tina was not sure where or which ones to buy.  Board agreed that new ones should be purchased. 

Safety – Megan

Megan has been in touch with our new liason officers – Russ Harper (Lower MR) and Alan Gowdry (sp?) (Upper MR).  There is an online newsletter by Russ Harper that all residents can check for information concerning our community.  Megan has written up a submission for the newsletter with the police contact numbers.  Debra suggested using Denise’s real life story regarding calling in suspicious behaviour to back up the importance of calling the police. 

5.   Old Business

      Tennis Court Fencing

Krista investigated the black fence but it is not what we are looking for.  Contacting the previous installer to rehabilitate the existing fence may work better.  Needs more discussion. 

Playground

Candace would like to invite members to attend an information session and hopefully establish a committee to get the process rolling.  An application will be filed for a matching grant by March 15, 2011. 

Casino 2011

Expenditures were discussed previously 

Bylaws

They are currently posted on the website but they have not been registered with the province.  AGM must be by the third Wednesday in November so Tina has booked Nov 16, 2011 for this years AGM. 
 

Meeting adjourned at 8:45pm by Debra. Second by Krista. 

Next meeting February 7^th, 2011 at 7pm.