GREENSPACE ALLIANCE OF CANADA’S CAPITAL
Annual General Meeting October 20, 1999
Minutes
Present: Barbara Barr, Erwin Dreessen, Amy Kempster, Shelley Parlow
Documents circulated: Agenda; Chair’s Report; By-Laws (Draft, Oct. 20, 1999); draft personal letter, dated Oct. 11, 1999, to Glen Shortliffe, Special Advisor for Municipal Restructuring, from Erwin Dreessen
1. Approval of Agenda
The agenda was amended to add item 4. Ratify membership fee. Amy Kempster moved and Erwin Dreessen seconded approval of the amended Agenda. (The original 4-item Agenda was misnumbered as 3 items, with two item #2’s, which are renumbered 2a and 2b in these minutes for clarity.)
2a. Chair’s Report
Shelley Parlow gave the Chair’s Report, emphasizing the accomplishments of the Alliance since its beginning in the fall of 1997 and reflecting on areas we need to improve in the future. She pointed out that probably our most important achievement has been to earn the respect of elected officials and bureaucrats at all three levels of government and of the media. She provided a copy of the report at the meeting and intends to e-mail it to all members. The Chair’s report was accepted by acclamation.
Prompted primarily by the low attendance at the meeting, the report was followed by a general discussion about the need to recruit new members and to have people involved in doing something, and about the advantage of joining forces and sharing objectives with other organizations. There was also discussion about improving electronic notification by e-mailing agendas earlier and b e-mailing minutes.
2b. Election of Chair and Directors
The draft By-laws (Draft, Oct. 20, 1999) did not provide for the position of Vice-Chair. Those present agreed that the position of Vice-Chair should be created.
Barbara Barr, Erwin Dreessen, Amy Kempster, and Shelley Parlow agreed to be Directors and were acclaimed. Amy moved and Barbara seconded that Bill Royds be asked to become a Director. Carried.·
Shelley was acclaimed as Chair after she was nominated by Amy and indicated a willingness to continue in the position. Erwin was acclaimed as Vice-Chair, Amy as Secretary, and Barbara as Treasurer after each indicated a willingness to serve in those positions.
Amy volunteered to be responsible for booking rooms for meetings beginning January 2000.
3. Consideration of Bylaws
Most of the time and effort at the meeting was spent on discussing and amending the draft Bylaws (Draft, Oct. 20, 1999). After this task was completed, the By-laws were adopted as amended. The intent is to e-mail them to the membership after a clean copy has been produced and verified for correctness.
4. Ratify Membership Fee
Erwin moved and Amy seconded that $10.00 annual dues be confirmed for Individual and Group Memberships, $5.00 dues for Individual Membership for students and unemployed, and $30.00 dues for Associate Membership. Carried.
Announcements
Erwin announced that Minister John Manley had stated at the Riverside Park A. G. M. that the Southern Corridor would not be sold as long as he was in office.
Amy cautioned that the boundaries of some of the Environmentally Sensitive Areas of the NOSS had been changed since the last report and that community members might want to check with Cheryl Brouillard of Ottawa’s Planning Branch with respect to ESAs in their areas. The revised report is scheduled to go to Ottawa’s Planning and Economic Development Committee on Nov. 23.
Shelley declared the meeting adjourned.
Barbara Barr Secretary