Manordale Woodvale Community Association
Minutes of the 2014 Annual General Meeting
Monday, November 10, 2014
- 1. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 7:35 PM. with President, Myles Egli in the chair.
- 2. Welcome: The President welcomed all attendees to the 2014 Annual General Meeting and introduced the current MWCA Executive for 2013/2014. The President also introduced the guests in attendance, Ottawa City Councillor Keith Egli, his assistant Sabrina Gill; Judith Dupuis, City of Ottawa, Recreation Community Development Officer; Constable Sue Wright Community Police Officer and Rose Marie Garces, Nepean, Rideau, Osgoode Community Resource Centre.
- 3. Comments from Councillor, Keith Egli: The Councillor opened his comments with a brief discussion of the current roadwork taking place in our area, specifically Knoxdale Rd. In response to resident concerns, he advised that the paving of the road would take place next week, contingent upon weather conditions. Carol Miller spoke on behalf of the residents of Sherry Lane whose roadway has been under construction for 2 months for the first phase of replacement of sewer and water mains. Residents have all been satisfied with the way in which the construction company’s employees have carried out their work, respecting the residents’ needs to access their homes. One driver of a large front end loader has even taken the time to get off his equipment, twice, to help a woman with mobility issues get to her car. Keith will pass this information to the responsible City Project Manager who hopefully will in turn advise the contractor.
Keith advised of a major new fund raising initiative at the Queensway Carleton Hospital. Keith and two other City Councillors, Jan Harder and Rick Chiarelli are working together on this initiative. The initiative is a new 34-bed unit focused on Acute Care of the Elderly (ACE) patients to offer them special needs for their geriatric care. There will be a $1.5 million shortfall in the proposed government funding. In order to cover this shortfall, the Nepean-area councillors are asking the communities of old Nepean to donate $30 per household in order to reach this goal. Keith will provide more info on this in the near future.
The Ward 9 Volunteer Awards have been deferred to January 29th due to the municipal election and Keith is asking for suggestions for candidates. Only need to send him an email, why the person is being nominated and a short background about the individual. While on the subject of volunteers, Keith called Raymond Martinuk up to receive a special pin to recognize his long contribution to the MWCA especially in his position as Building Manager. Raymond had recently decided it was time to move on but has helped the new building manager, Laurie Bown, to get settled into the position.
A few issues were raised from the floor. A resident living on Craig Henry expressed concern pertaining to the bus stop located in the area of the proposed new condominiums. Keith assured that a traffic impact study would be undertaken once the development was completed to assess if modifications may be necessary. A resident on Newhaven asked that Keith advise the snow removal division of the need to keep the snow cleared away from in front of the pedestrian pathway leading to Roundhay from Newhaven.
- 4. Comments from Community Police Officer, Sue Wright: Constable Wright advised that she recently did an evaluation of crime in our neighbourhood in the last few months, but found nothing major to report. She emphasized how important it was that people not hesitate to report concerns to the police. She distributed a telephone contact sheet containing where to call for different types and levels of misdemeanors. She encouraged the use of the new on-line reporting system and as well, to use Crime Stoppers. When asked about the Block Parent program, she advised that it was obsolete. She encouraged Neighbourhood Watch to be established throughout Manordale-Woodvale as it is only in affect now in the Woodvale Green area. She also promoted and asked for support of the Ottawa Police Services, Greenbank Community Centre Volunteers upcoming food drive for the Ottawa Food Bank coming up November 29th.
Residents in the audience raised concerns regarding improper use of bus lanes along Woodroffe, snow accumulation blocking sight lines at the intersection of Craig Henry and Conover and biking safety in the bike lanes. Constable Wright encouraged people to file complaints immediately about bus lane misuse and Keith would address the snow accumulation problem with City snow removal division.
- 5. State of the Manordale-Woodvale Community Association: The President, Myles Egli presented a synopsis of the total year in review. His overview focused on our successes, improvements and new endeavours. The Garage Sale was brought back and was a success. A Christmas party is being introduced in December and a new website was launched, expanding our social media coverage along with Facebook. A new version of “membership” is being developed where having a membership will have privileges with our local businesses, services and restaurants. Our relationship with NROCRC has implemented a youth group which we hope will benefit the participants and the community as well.
Myles closing remarks were as follows:
“In closing, let me start by saying many thanks to my fellow members of the executive, their families, my family and all of you. Without your help and support none of what we do would be possible. What we do we do for you – our community. Many of us, if not all of us, have been part of Manordale for more than 20 years. We love this community and want you to experience the community spirit that we have all experienced. However, in order for us to succeed, we need volunteers and input of what you would like us to do and how we are doing. Please feel free to contact us through the website or Facebook if you have any questions or concerns. We thank you for coming out this evening and showing that you care. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
- 6. Election of Officers:
President:
Myles Egli will continue as President for 2014/2015 as he will serve his second year of the 2-year term.
Myles Egli read the list of the current MWCA Executive members, those being, himself as President, Carol Miller, Vice President, Brittany Seguin, Vice President, Jane Benco, Secretary and Mark Beauchamp, Treasurer. All of these members accepted to stand for re-election except for Carol Miller who will step down from her present position but will be staying on as a Director in an advisory role.
Nominations were requested from the floor and no nominations were forthcoming.
On a motion by Dom Perron, seconded by Biagino Santaromita, nominations were closed and the slate unanimously acclaimed.
This leaves one vacant position of Vice-President.
The 2014/2015 Executive consists of the following people – President, Myles Egli, Brittany Seguin, Vice President, Jane Benco, Secretary and Mark Beauchamp, Treasurer.
- 7. Approval of 2013 Minutes: On a motion by Dave Hay, seconded by Myrna Hay and with all in favor, the minutes of the 2013 Annual General Meeting were accepted.
- 8. Volunteer Award: The 2014 Gord Hunter Volunteer of the Year Award was given to Colette Gibney. Colette was recognized for her many years devoted to Guiding in the community and as well her long contribution to volunteering at numerous MWCA events and activities. Her latest contribution to the MWCA was to design and develop the first website for our organization. Going forward, she will continue to provide technical support of this site.
- 9. Financial Report: The financial report was presented by Treasurer, Mark Beauchamp. Mark reported that the executive had been good stewards of the finances this year and was able to increase the financial position of the organization. He explained how the Association had decided to put money aside for future capital projects and created a funding savings account known as the Reserve Fund. Funds for this account have been generated by putting aside 10% of revenues from our various events and 100% of the profit made from Euchre. The earmarked funds are transferred twice annually to this account. And in order to access the money, the Executive must approve the use of the funds. Another financial practice adopted this year was to allocate 100% of profit from Baseball is to go towards funding new sporting initiatives.
As this financial report was not audited, a motion was put forth by Brittany Sequin and seconded by Anna Santaromita declaring that “the 2013/2014 financial report be audited within the next 30 days and that the 2014/2015 MWCA Executive be given the authority to approve the audited 2013/2014 report at the next meeting.”
- 10. Committee Reports:
a) Facilities:
Raymond presented a detailed report on the rentals of and expenses for the building for 2013/2014. The total number of bookings for the period November 1, 2013 to October 31, 2014 was 508. MWCA usage of the building was 42% of all bookings. Over the past twelve months, there was been average of 1.4 bookings of the building each day of the year and this is with 37 days with absolutely no one in the building.
The majority of booking cancellations this year were from Bookings by the City of Ottawa for programs that were in the end cancelled. Unfortunately, there was no notification until the day before a program was to start or after it had not started. We need to work closer with the City to avoid such situations.
We continue to support the youth of the community by making the facilities available either at a very low cost or no cost basis based on the event. Such programs include Girl Guides, Scouts, MWCA Youth Nights and Manordale Public School skating sessions. As well the facility is made available at minimal cost to the Nepean Minor Hockey Association, Nepean Girls Hockey Association, Nepean Ringette and Myers Riders Football.
BUILDING IMPROVEMENTS
The floors were stripped and re-waxed twice this calendar year – May 5 and September 7. During the past year at various times, the main room, halls, kitchen and skate room have been repainted on an as needed basis. The interior lights in the hallways and washrooms have been replaced with more energy efficient fixtures and light bulbs. Several tables have been fixed and most of the time I have been able to salvage enough parts from broken tables to fix others. We were able to acquire from the City FIVE tables from their downsizing efforts at another City building. Kitchen updates this past year have included: new counter tops, new double sink, new stove hood fan, refrigerator handle replacement and removal of the unused dishwasher. The monitoring of burnt out lights both inside and outside continues as part of the Building Manager’s responsibilities. A new trophy case has been built and installed according to the MWCA specifications by the City of Ottawa.
FUTURE ITEMS
The tiled floors in the main room, kitchen and office need to be replaced and hopefully this will become part of the City’s 2015/2016 replacement plan. Can Councillor Keith Egli’s office assist in expediting this? A number of replacement tables will need to be acquired during the next year.
Raymond extended thank yous in closing to City of Ottawa RPAM staff, Mike Connerty and Dan Alves. They were noted for responding quickly and efficiently to the numerous service calls during the year. It did not matter whether it was a call to replace burned out lights, install a timer for the outdoor rink lights, build and install the trophy case, acquire and install most of the kitchen updates or repaint a wall.
Raymond also thanked Dave Hay who stepped up to take over the cleaning of the building after events and rentals. Dave was thanked for his time and effort involved especially at 4:00 AM or 5:00 AM in the dead of winter.
Thanks were given to everyone from the MWCA that had helped him as Building Manager since November 1, 2004. He was sure that the helping hands of the MWCA would continue to help the new Building Manager Laurie Bown.
b) Events:
Winter Carnival – The Carnival was help, Saturday, January 25th from the hours of 1 to 5 p.m. Dave Hay, the coordinator, advised that the MWCA held its first Chili Contest to continue the long-time competition between Councillor Keith Egli and City staffer Frempon Bafi-Yeboa. The participants that attended the event were able to cast votes for the best chili and the winner once again was Fremp! Snow shoes were borrowed from Manordale Public School, there was tobogganing on the hill next to the school and there were sleigh rides available from Sundance Farms. Both rinks were busy all day and in addition to our Councillor, special guests who stopped by were Mayor Jim Watson and MPP Lisa MacLeod. Fun was had by all. The event had a loss of$262.43
Clean Up Day – Brittany Seguin reported that the MWCA again participated in the Tim Horton’s Cleaning the Capital Campaign with the City of Ottawa. On Saturday, May 10, 2014 we had volunteers cleaning from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. The event was considered successful and we cleaned many parks, bike paths and green spaces in our community. In doing this cleanup we identified some other areas to “put on our radar” for next year in hopes of further improving our community and the environment. In total there were 37 volunteers, including the MWCA Executive and the Girl Guides helped us out on the preceding Wednesday. We collected over 20 bags of garbage and the amount or garbage collected seems to be decreasing from year to year, but we must continue to be diligent to ensure a better and cleaner community for ourselves and all of our neighbours.
Community Day – Mark Beauchamp reported that the event was held May 31st. The weather cooperated and was warm and sunny. The day started off with a pancake breakfast with 60 people in attendance while a group called Junkyard Symphony entertained. Lisa Macleod donated funds to pay for this group. After breakfast a bicycle parade worked its way around the park and a contest was held at the end to choose the best-decorated bikes in two age categories. Councillor Keith Egli and Carol Miller were the judges. Other activities included helium-filled balloons, Bouncy Castle for kids, hot dog lunch, and City of Ottawa fire truck, kiosks with local groups such as Boy Scouts, Nepean Museum, NROCRC and Ottawa Police Community Policing. Thanks goes out to our sponsors NROCRC, MP Pierre Poilievre, City Councillor Keith Egli and especially to Suzanne Najim from Assante Capital Management who offset the costs of the Bouncy Castle and slide. With help from sponsors, the event generated a profit and was enjoyed by all who attended.
Garage Sale – The 2014 MWCA Garage Sale was held on Saturday, June 7, 2014 between the hours of 8:00 AM and 2:00 PM. During the Monday to Friday preceding the Garage Sale, the Margaret Rywak Community Building was open for drop off of donated items from the community at large. As well, a pickup service of donated items was made available. To ensure that left over items from rented tables were not just left for the MWCA to dispose of, a $20.00 refundable fee was payable at the time of renting a table for $20.00. There were NINE tables rented to the general public. It would be nice to increase that number. A bake sale table and lemonade stand was provided in support of Candlelighters. The net proceeds from the Garage Sale were $409.48.
Baseball –. 2014 was the third year of our program. We increased from 25 players and 3 teams to 40 players and 4 teams. Games were played on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from May through June. Once again it was a huge success thanks to the parents that stepped forward to help coach and coordinate. A year end party was held where all players received medallions. Registration was open to children aged 6 to 13. Laurie Bown stepped forward to take pictures of individuals and teams. The link for these pictures was sent to all parents so they could print off as many copies as they wanted.
Registration for the 2015 season will start in January and information will be posted on our Facebook page and our website. It is our intention to increase the number of players and perhaps add a third night.
Corn Roast – For this year’s corn roast, Nature was not kind. Torrential rains started in the morning, and for safety reasons, the usual set up in the rink was not used and thus forcing the event to move indoors. Long lines of kids had fun having their faces painted by A Little Bit of Bling while the rest of the crowd enjoyed their corn, hamburgers and hot dogs while chatting with their neighbours and swooning to tunes of past and present.We were able to reduce our food and beverage purchases in advance thereby reducing our losses due to an anticipated lower turn out due to the weather.
The biggest disappointment resulting from moving the event indoors was that we were not able to carry through with our showcase of home-grown local musical talent. That will be on the books for next year. Weather considering ….. It was a good day!
Euchre – MWCA Euchre nights enjoyed another year of good times for all participants every 3rd Friday of the month. There was an average of 8 tables a night with a low of 5 tables as we perceive to be due to the return of football to Ottawa. On several occasions players brought food donations to the Food Bank. All proceeds less expenses are earmarked for the MWCA’s new Reserve Fund account. Our Euchre nights continue to be one of the most successful events we have as a community association and people are encouraged to come out and join every 3rd Friday of the month at 7:30 p.m.
Rink – Last year’s rink was another usual success. Due to good ice conditions, coupled with good staff and good weather conditions, we were able to operate our two ice surfaces almost at a zero balance. For the past few years the rising costs incurred in our payroll to pay those involved in building and maintaining our rinks has made it a challenge to keep our costs within the budget that the City provides us to maintain the rink on their behalf. But going forward, we have had a positive response to our request to increase the grant and that this will be considered by the City this year. Other issues that need to be addressed in the very near future are the condition of the boards and asphalt base of the rink. The uneven and severely sloped surface of the asphalt allows water to flow outside the boards during initial flooding. We would prefer that attention be given to this situation as soon as possible and not wait to the asphalt replaced within the life-cycle parameters.
Facebook/Website – The website was launched in November 2013 and had 613 hits in that month. Since that time we have totalled 16,500 hits with 4100 hits in the last month. We consider this a success as we prepare to celebrate our first anniversary. Our Facebook page has increased from 50 to 120 followers in the last year. Our objective is to continue to fine tune these resources and make information on both of these sites informative to the members of our community and beyond. In order for these sites to work and grow, we need our constituents to spread the word and to come back often to see what is going on. People are encouraged to forward to us what they would like to see on either of these sites and if we feel it is relevant to the community at large, it will be posted.
Kitchen Renovations
The current kitchen, after 14 years, is showing signs of wear and tear and needing some repairs. In order to undertake this work, the association discussed ways of raising funds to make this possible. The solution was to build a reserve fund within the revenues that we receive throughout the year. The reserve fund is to be used for replacement of major items owned by the MWCA, which were included in the construction of the new building in 2000. The MWCA remains responsible for the repairs and/or replacement of our properties. In order to build this fund, it was agreed to apportion a percentage of the income made at each event of our events, as well as a portion of money received from building rentals.
In addition to these measures, the MWCA, through an appeal to the community residents of Manordale-Woodvale and Craig Henry and to businesses that provide services to these communities, received financial contributions to be added to the Reserve Fund. Approximately $700 in contributions were received. To recognize the spirit, caring and generosity of the people who live here, the MWCA will establish a plaque with the donors names and it will be prominently displayed in the main lobby of the building.
Raymond Martinuk led the project, prepared a scope of work and invited three contractors to submit quotations for the work. A successful bidder was selected and after some minor scope revisions, the project is ready to go ahead.
The renovations will consist of the replacement of all cupboard doors, upper and lower; removal of the old dishwasher which will allow us to convert the space to a new cupboard with shelves, adding to our more much needed cupboard space; and a new door locking system. Additional work already completed is replacement of the original sink with a double one which is more functional, a new stove hood and stove and replacement of the original laminate countertop.
After starting in February of this year to build the reserve fund, there are now adequate funds to cover the renovation costs. However, recently 2 donors came forward with generous donations to pay for these renovations. We are most appreciative of Myrna Hay and Kerry Allen’s whose kind donations will now allow us to continue to grow our reserve fund and to be ready for our next unexpected major repair.
NROCRC – Carol reported that the relationship with this group continues to improve. They have been very supportive of the MWCA and have been instrumental in helping the association set up programs. Rose Marie Garces from NROC reported on the initiatives that they have been involved with in our community those being a basketball night at Manordale school, I Love to Play Soccer which was attended by kids from our community and took place in the park beside our building. A new Youth Group now gets together in our building one Friday night a month. Pending government funding, NROC will be assisting the MWCA to implement activities for seniors in our building with a possibility of sharing in activities with other senior’s groups in our neighbouring communities.
- 11. 2014/2015 MWCA Plans: The plan for the year ahead is to continue to provide the events that we normally do. It is also proposed to do a Halloween Night and resurrect the Boat Cruise which was always a very successful event in years gone by. We would also like to have the community propose new ideas or events that they would like us to do.
- 12. New Business – Carol Miller recommended that consideration be given to the installation of an exterior bulletin board. This will be brought to the table at upcoming Executive meetings.
- 13. Adjournment: A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Myrna Hay, seconded by Larry Widdifield at 9:24PM. Motion carried.
