Minutes

Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Manor Road United Church
7:00 - 8:30 p.m.

DRAFT MINUTES

Attendance
Present: Brian Abbey, Jonathan Colford, Ron Lalonde, Margaret Walker
Regrets: Cheryl Creatore, Shelley Laskin, Paul Newbigging, JimWalker
Guests: P.J. Ward (SERRA Member). Michael Byfield and Yvonne St. Jean Pierre Ryerson University, Dept. of Urban Studies.

The President welcomed the three guests and declared a quorum of Directors present (50%), the Meeting could proceed and conduct business.

  1. Agenda for September 19th no changes.
    • Follow-up Actions from June 20th Meeting
      • ABCON Media Item

        • Brian and Phil Mhotadi, President: Oriel Park Association (OPA)) met to discuss the proposed commercial venture for the S.W.corner of the Yonge/Eglinton intersection, as presented by Leslie Abro (President and CEO of Abcon) to the SERRA and OPA Boards in June. It was agreed to post the information in their current Newsletters and ask for local reaction. In the absence of any expressed local interest, Mr. Abro was advised by letters from Brian and Phil to take his proposal to City Hall.

      • Summer OWL 2007

        • Distribution of the OWL was delayed by more than one month. This delay resulted in lost revenue from memberships to be renewed in the summer months – see OWL (#7). Garage Sale proposed for September - see Fundraising (item #5).

  2.  Approval of the Minutes - Board Meeting June 19, 2007

    • No errors or omissions noted.
      Motion to Accept Minutes:
      Proposed Ron Lalonde. Seconded: Jonathan Colford. Carried
  3. Treasureers Report (Received by President)
    • General Account Balance: $2.532:64 No Accounts outstanding. **
      Legal Fund: $1,853:24
    • **Donation of $600 received from Councillor Michael Walker’s Office used to pay a debt outstanding to FoNTRA for legal work ongoing on the Appeal for the NEW Toronto Official Plan.
    • Brian now has signing authority for the two SERRA Accounts with RBC (Bayview Branch)
    • Motion to Accept Treasurer's Report
      Proposed: Ron Lalonde. Seconded: Margaret Walker
  4. All Candidates Meeting – St. Paul’s. September 20.Christ Church Deer Park
    • Hosted by Councillor Michael Walker. Attended by the four Candidates for the St Paul’s Riding Ontario Election. Moderated by Jason Stewart. (Past-Chair, FoNTRA) Brian and Margaret attended also several other SERRA members. The meeting was lively, well attended, and skillfully moderated. With few exceptions, most questions from the floor presented to each candidate stayed within the parameters of the printed Agenda. The session was exceptionally informative.
  5. Fundraising
    • The Garage Sale proposed for a date in September was abandoned as a project The Church lawn was not available; a suitable alternative site in a visible location was not found in time to make the necessary preparations for this year. This item may be reviewed again in 2008.
    • A proposal for an evening of gambling at a local “pub” had received little support and was abandoned for 2007.
    • A SERRA partnership with Indigo/Chapters to boost sales of books etc. and receive a “percentage of sales” donation was suggested by Ron Lalonde. To be further explored (November item?) A similar suggestion could be made to ALL Merchants and Restaurants on Bayview Avenue and Mount Pleasant. This could be promoted as a Christmas Shopping venture to boost local sales.
    • Advertising in the OWL Inclusion of a single page of Ads inserted in each edition of the OWL. A further revenue opportunity. TO BE FURTHER EXPLORED BY THE BOARD. (November 21 Meeting).
  6. Committee Reports
    • Minto Group, FoNTRA and CORRA suspended Meetings in July and August
    • Statutory Approvals Applications from 557 Hillsdale East, Manor Rd East, and Merton Street on a September Agenda - Local residents withdrew their objections to 557 Hillsdale East.
  7. Other Business
    • AGM 2007 – proposed for an October date shortly after the Election.

      Brian to reserve date with the Manor Church Secretary for the Church Gymnasium.

      Wednesday, October 24th was suggested but church not available so THURSDAY October 25th confirmed

      Charles to put this date, time and place on the SERRA web-site in eye-catching format

      Suggested a single page “coloured” flyer be printed and distributed by Paul’s Reliable Service (after confirmation of MPP for Ward 22 is confirmed.)

      The Board has no intention of advertising the AGM 2007 in a hastily prepared OWL.

      Brian and Margaret to do some networking at the ALL Candidates and invite the usual Guest Speakers who attend the SERRA AGM, if present. Michael Bryant accepted regardless of the result. Michael Walker, I believe, accepted too!

      Shelley to invite Dr. Carolyn Bennett M.P., Josh Matlow (School Trustee) and Community Police Representatives, 53 Division. + Confirmation of Date, Time, and Place, to ALL invited guests.

      Board Members to Volunteer for the regular assignments necessary for a successful AGM. Opportunities will be posted on the Board E-mail following Thanksgiving. Margaret will co-ordinate arrangements and confirm progress.

      A FULL ATTENDANCE OF BOARD MEMBERS at the AGM is essential

    • OWL - Fall edition 2007

      Mid-year - Paul Newbigging (Treasurer) offered to pay for future editions of the OWL including acknowledgement of sponsorship. In principle we have accepted the offer.

      There is enough activity of interest in the SERRA area to justify a quarterly edition of the OWL in 2008. Factors to be considered include, sponsorship of FOUR publications (not three) to be agreed with the current/primary sponsor, increased work-load for the current editor, a possible change in the current supplier services.

      A Fall/Winter edition in Election year provides an abundance of material plus other regular items of interest to senior members without computer access.For other editions, articles will be solicited and written well-in advance of publication deadlines.

      There is no information to-date on the number of hits on the SERRA Web site either by members or curious web-surfers. Local visibility of SERRA may still reside with the OWL.

      Suggestions from SERRA member P.J. Wad for improving the image of SERRA locally were welcomed by Brian and Board Members present.These would be discussed in greater detail with P.J. Ward at the post-AGM Meeting in November.

  8. Date of the Next Board Meeting
    • "The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 17th Unfortunately I cannot make Wednesdays until the end of the year as I am doing a course at U of T. neither am I available on Tuesday 16th or Thursday 18th but it is crucial that we have a meeting before the AGM so I am going to check with Ellen and suggest Monday, October 15th 2007 for our next board meeting." Brian Abbey