by Paul Cormier
Last Wednesday night was an exciting one for the Old Town Kemptville Business Improvement Area, when nominations to the new Board of Management took place. We are pleased to announce the following nominations: Connie Lamble, Debbie Wilson, Ken Schliemann, Kim Smalridge, Lee McIlvenna, Paul Cormier, Stephen Bent and Sierra Jones-Martel. This leaves just a single vacancy on the Board. Meanwhile, Council will be informing us shortly regarding the appointment of one of their members to sit as part of the Board. The nomination process was graciously conducted by Katie Valentin, Assistant Clerk of the Municipality. Thanks to Katie and Cahl Pominville for their continuing expert advice on matters of governance. And, once again, we thank each and every Board member for coming up to the plate to put in another year of downtown economic and social activity.
The old and new Board alike were extremely pleased to have three Council members attend the AGM. Nancy Peckford, Mayor-Elect, set the tone for the next year with her kind words of support and encouragement. She highlighted her thoughts on the importance of the partnership of the BIA and of Council in the economic and social development of the downtown, as part of a growing and thriving North Grenville. She pledged her ongoing support to BIA activity.
Our outgoing Executive Director, John Barclay, and now Councillor-elect, talked of the continuing importance of the BIA in the downtown and the many positive changes that have taken place in the past 18 months. And Doreen O’Sullivan, Councillor-Elect, came directly from her nursing work in Ottawa to join us for this event and spend some time with us. We thank these great people for their enthusiasm and for the renewed confidence that they have provided us.
We were also graced with the attendance of BIA members, and sincerely hope that many more of them will attend any of our meetings in the future. They will be publicized in the Municipal Events Calendar well ahead of time. Just so that you know, our next BIA Board of Management meeting will take place on December 19.
As discussed in the last two articles posted here in the North Grenville Times, the names of the nominated Board candidates now go to Council for their approval. And, as mentioned above, we will then sit as a Board and elect our new Executive Committee, whose role is to plan for Board meetings and ensure smooth management in between. This will happen at our December meeting. We will also be proceeding to the staffing of a new Executive Director to fill the rather large and busy shoes left by John Barclay. This will happen in the next week or so; interested candidates are requested to keep an eye out on CSE for the position posting, or get in touch with the Board Secretary, Paul Cormier, at pcormier@ranaprocess.com. Once again, this position will be part time and under contract. We hope to have our new ED in place very shortly.
Meanwhile, see you all downtown for Christmas shopping and activities!
Paul Cormier, Secretary.
