AHED

ALMAGUIN HIGHLANDS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP COMMITTEE

Minutes of meeting

held on Thursday, June 17, 2010 10:00 – 12 noon

South River Town Office

 

Present:  Merv Mulligan, McMurrich/Monteith; Gilbert Lane, Ryerson; Jessica Busch, FedNor Intern WORC; Brenda Scott, Village of South River, WORC; Dawna Mitchell, WORC; Kay Todd, Magnetawan Business Association; Jeffrey Dickerson, South River; Ron Begin, FedNor

 

Regrets:  Morley Moore, Anna Gibson-Olajos, David Stewart

  1. Welcome
  2. Call to order:  Merv Mulligan, Chair 10:03
  3. Declaration of Pecuniary Interest:  N/A
  4. Guest Speaker: Kara Mitchell

Kara is the local expert on Disc Golf.  Kara met the group at Tom Thompson Park around 11:00 where she spoke a little about the development of disc golf over the last five years and how disc golf is quickly becoming the fastest growing sport.  The creation of a disc golf course is relatively inexpensive with sizes varying greatly from 1 acre to twenty acres.  There are currently tournaments held year round world-wide and the sport has been attracting crowds of visitors to tournament locations.  South River’s Tom Thompson Park hosts a disc golf course where 3 annual tournaments are held.  Kara spoke about how literally hundreds of tourists are drawn in for these tournaments and the benefits to a town’s business sector are immense.  The group enjoyed testing out some different discs which Kara brought along and trying out a couple of holes.  Every Tuesday at Tom Thompson Park is Disc Golf night where locals gather to have a few friendly games and practice their skills.  All are welcome!

 

  1. Adoption of Minutes of May 20, 2010

Moved by : Kay Tod   Seconded by : Merv Mulligan

  1. AHED Business:
  2. Reports from Community and Resource Partners

7.1     Ministry of Northern Development and Mines and Forestry   Sharma

7.2     NECO                                                                                 Lecour

          7.3     FedNOR                                                                    Begin

Ron informed the group that there is a new director general at FedNor.  Replacing Louse Pacquette will be Aime Dietmieo.  FedNor is in the process of reviewing programs and services and Ron expects that the focus of FedNor will be more employment and economically related.  Some area projects underway include a Strategic Plan for South River’s airport which could potentially include lots for private planes and businesses, possible festivities grounds.  The goal is to attract more business.

          7.4     WORC/South River                                                           Scott

Brenda announced that the workshops will start fresh in September including Balanced Living, WINGS and Entrepreneurial Skills Training.  Restoule has signed to be the tenth carpool location in the Almaguin Highlands.  All summer long, WORC is hosting a book sale every Thursday.

          7.5     Township of Chisolm                                               Boyle

          7.6     Ryerson, Armour, Burk’s Falls                                          Lane

Gilbert reported that Ryerson has an auction sale coming up.

          7.7     Municipality of Whitestone                                                Moore

7.8     Powassan Economic Development Report                                  Olajos

7.9     McMurrich/Monteith                                                           Mulligan

Merv indicated that work on the community centre is hoped to be finished before elections.  The wiring has been completed, insulation is being installed and windows/doors/siding will be installed shortly.  The township may look into some fundraising in order to upgrade the kitchen facilities.  They are currently looking into installing geothermal heating in the centre.  Highway #11 into Sprucedale is going to be upgraded this year.  The boardwalk is now fully installed and open to the public.

          7.10   Kearney Economic Development                                       Johnston

7.11     Central Almaguin Economic Development Association           Mahon

7.12   Magnetawan Area Business Association                           Tod

Kay reported that the 5k 10k Marathon is on September 11th.  The money raised will be going towards the new library.  The Business Association is doing well with new brochures being released soon.

7.13   Westwind Forest Services                                                   Munro

          7.14     Citizenship & Immigration(Culture Health Promotion)        Loiselle

          7.15   Almaguin Highlands Inc.                                                   Stewart

          7.16   Municipality of Magnetawan                                            Urbanski

          7.17   Nipissing                                                                    Negrinotti

          7.18   Almaguin Highlands Council for the Arts                                  Sohm

          7.19   Village of South River                                              Coleman

Jeff reported that the railway station is currently being addressed regarding the summer.  The geothermal heating is almost complete for the South River Village Office.  The hydro dam is nearing completion as well.

          7.20   Perry Township                                                      Dunn/Love

          7.21   OMAFRA                                                                 Dukhia

          7.22   Region 12 RTO

 

8.  Correspondence

 

9.  In – Camera

 

  1. Adjournment: 12:00 by Brenda Scott Seconded by: Kay Tod
  2. Next Meeting Date:  Thursday September 16th, 2010

 

Location:  South River Village Office, 63 Marie Street 10-12:00



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