Monday July 17, 2023

PRESENT:
Jamie Trainor, President
Stephen Yarrow, Secretary
Jane MacIsaac, Fundraising Chair
Nelson Hagerman, Treasurer
Michael Cairns, House Chair
Scott Stevens, Pond Chair
Irene MacArthur, Vice President

ABSENT:
Laurent Beaulieu, Membership Chair
Sue Stanger, Entertainment Chair
Helen Bernstein, Director at Large
Bruce Matheson, Chair of the Trustees

1. The meeting was called to order at 5:04 pm by President Jamie Trainor.

2. The agenda was approved by all.

3. The minutes of the last meeting, June 19, 2023, were approved by all.

4. Manager’s report – Susan MacDonald. In Susan’s absence, report given by Jamie.

• Lots happening in June and July so far, including birthday parties; a celebration of life; a PEERS Alliance meeting; Ebb and Flow events (there will be five consecutive events); Rotary Club strawberry social (btw, an excellent opportunity to promote The Haviland);
• Still to come are: weddings, celebrations, a Chamber event – with additional bookings through to the fall.

5. Committee and Chair reports

a. President’s Report – Jamie Trainer

• • The consolidation loan from the Credit Union has just been approved – $130K, enabling the paying off of outstanding mortgages, Federal covid-19 loan, etc.
  • Various outstanding bills such as insurance, federal and provincial taxes had to be paid in the last weeks.
  • The Community Foundation’s Kent Hudson has been in communication with the Haviland with some ideas on donation mechanisms that could be applied to some of the heritage engineering requirements for Farringford House. Need to
    differentiate maintenance (repairs) vs. restoration activities. Exploring charitable donations from third parties.

b. Treasure – Nelson Hagerman

• • Comparative income statements (for June, and for the last six months) and balance sheets were tabled and discussed. The Haviland remains in the “red”.
  • The financial analysis triggered a lengthy discussion on revisions to the membership fees to The Haviland. It was noted that the executive had voted at the June meeting in favour of increasing the fees to consider inflation, plus eliminating the couples fee category. Directors debated the elimination of this category vs. phasing it out over the next two annual membership cycles. All agreed that a final decision will be made at the August executive meeting when all directors are available.

c. Membership – a read out of Laurent Beaulieu’s report was made:

• • Membership continues to grow – as of 16 July we now have 214 members.
  • New Members have been made aware that despite paying a prorated fee at this time of the year, in 9 weeks they will need to pay the new fees for membership. No one expressed a problem with that.
  • Also spoke to our six not-for-profit group members and all confirmed they are renewing their membership for 2023-2024.
  • Invoices for the new fiscal year will start being sent out around mid-August, i.e., in about 4 weeks.
  • The Greater Charlottetown Chamber of Commerce is interested in the Haviland for rentals on a regular basis for events or meetings.

d. Fundraising – Jane MacIsaac

Since last meeting:

• • Sean Casey’s office has sent the information as promised. There appears to be nothing at the moment that would be applicable for us. However, New Horizon’s for Seniors will be launched August 1…and proposed deadline for applications is Sept 14. We will be making an application….this program has changed…however we are still eligible.
  • Governance Advisory sub-Committee has been structured. Source documents are ready for distribution to sub-committee members. The objective is to have a new constitution and bylaws ready for the AGM in November. Initial meeting tentatively set for early August. Details to follow at the next executive meeting.

e. Pond – Scott Stevens

• • July is a quiet month for pond fishing
  • The Pond Committee has carried out improvements to the boat slip and is currently rebuilding a ramp to the main dock. Other maintenance issues are being prioritized.
  • We have a number of requests for a Scotch tasting – we will look at preferred dates for this event.

f. House – Michael Cairns

The following tasks were completed in the last month:

• • A quote was received for cleaning the windows. The cost would be $600 with a 15% overage/ underage either way to work with. Depending on how well some of the windows can be access. Price includes scraping of the windows as the outsides have a lot of build-up; and
  • A work order was submitted by Public Works Charlottetown to fix the front railing on the post that was struck by the sidewalk plow.

g. Vice-president – Irene MacArthur

• • Number of Bridge tables slowly increasing.
  • Bridge luncheon fund raiser for Haviland in October.
  • A Sectional Bridge tournament will be held in October, players from the Haviland will attend, as well as players from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The tournament will be held at the Jack Blanchard. Irene and Carol will be involved in the organization of the event.
  • Irene would be willing to start the Ace with pot at $3000. The Ace account has $300. Nelson approved the $3000. We will start the beginning of Sept.

Jamie moved to approve all reports – no objections.

6. No new business

7. Next meeting scheduled for August 14, 2023

8. Meeting adjourned at 6:52pm.

• May’s events and bookings went well. So far June has been a little quiet, but things will start picking up this week, with a steady assortment of bookings now till August 19th.
• This weekend the Witches Fair takes place, the booking co-hosted with Discover Charlottetown, as part of their Island Tides Yoga and Wellness Festival.
• Discover Charlottetown has booked three dates in October as part of their Scarecrow Festival.
• July 1st, Canada Day, Club event planned with Sue Stanger.
• Looking ahead September and October getting filled up for bookings as well.

• President’s Report – Jamie Trainer
  • Following the May 31st special all-members meeting to present the Strategic Plan, Farringford House engineer’s study and proposed plans, plus the state of the Haviland’s finances, four committees are in the process of being struck to develop the Operational Plan, namely:
    • Financial Viability chaired by Nelson
      • Inclusiveness chaired by Laurent
  • Awareness chaired by Jamie
    • Historical Integrity chaired by Mike.
    • A message to all club members will be sent out shortly, explicitly inviting members to participate in one of the four committees.
  • The chairs of each committee will report their progress to the President and at each Executive board meeting.
  • As the Operational Plan unfolds, adjustments will be made to the existing committee structure.
  • The goal is to draft an Operational Plan for presentation in time for or at the next AGM, in November.
  • Jamie and Nelson continue with discussions with the Credit Union to arrange a consolidation bank loan for the Haviland. Success is assured and should become a reality in the near future.

• Membership Report – Laurent Beaulieu
  • Laurent tabled a proposal on revising membership fees to solicit discussion. After a robust dialogue between the members, the following was agreed to:
    • General memberships. All memberships will now be single only. One price = one membership price.
      All the various categories are abolished. This measure was necessary since in the last 8 years the membership demographic has changed drastically. We now have a majority of single members and a minority of couples. Keeping the old system was unfair to single members who are the majority and who are keenly aware of this discrepancy. The New single (only) membership fee for all will be adjusted to take into account inflation, a modest increase will be announced shortly.
    • Pro-rated fees.
      The pro-rated fees were devised many years ago and created a difficult and unfair situation for all Club Members. It was also an important financial loss for the Club. We are no longer in a position after years of disruption due to the pandemic and soaring inflation to continue this pro-rated practice. Going forward, we will offer a prorated rate to any new members as of 1 April.
    • The Not-for-Profit Members rate increase.
      We currently have a number of NFP organizations at the Club who rent on a regular, weekly or monthly basis our premises. Their membership fee has not increased in many years.
      The Executive has decided to increase their membership fee by a modest amount to cover increase costs due to inflation. This will be announced shortly.
    • Benefits to Not-For-Profit Member groups.
      The Executive decided to extend the privilege of member price drinks to Executive Members only, of NFP groups.
    • Out of Province residents’ memberships
      Persons not living in PEI (non-residents) can apply for a Seasonal (April to September) membership at the pro-rated price between April and September.
• Suffolk Pond Report – Scott Stevens
  • Only a few people have used the Pond due poor weather conditions in the last month.
  • The Pond committee is looking into improvements to the boat slip and other maintenance issues.
  • We have had a number of requests for a Scotch Tasting, we will look into club availability.
• Treasurer’s Report – Nelson Hagerman
  • Nelson tabled the income statement and balance sheet for May 2023.
  • No significant issues were raised.
• Entertainment report – Sue Stanger
  • Sue provided a summary of “what’s been happening” on the entertainment front recently:
  • It has begun! Club members are entertaining club members!
  • Gatherings include:
    • Book Club with Barbara leading
    • Play reading with Terry leading
    • Writers with Mark leading
    • Coffee and Conversation
    • Just Chatting with Mark leading
    • Walking with Jude leading
    • Fine Diners with Helen leading
    • Gourmet Dinners with Laurent leading
  • Here’s hoping more groups will form as time goes by – and there is more!
  • Sue expressed how happy she is to report that members have taken the initiative to make things happen for other members of the club.
  • Mark and Bruce like a good glass of wine and decided to put on a wine tasting eventing. They organized all of it and it was a great success.
  • Terry Platt has written music to some lovely poems and will be presenting his creations sometime soon.
  • Laurent pulled together a team and offered a fabulous Coronation event.
  • Jude and Lise are leading a singing circle and members are invited to take part.
  • Let’s make it known that we welcome these wonderful happenings for the future.
• House Report – Michael Cairns
  • TASKS COMPLETED
    • The “green” room is now finished and ready to be used; and
    • A work order was submitted by Public Works Charlottetown to fix the front railing on the post that was struck by the sidewalk plow.
  • UPCOMING TASKS
    • Replace the glass above the main entrance (asked for estimates but have not received a response yet);
    • Refinish the front stairs and landing; repaint handrails, sand and paint stairs and landing. Five hundred dollars was approved for this activity at the April 23 Executive meeting;
    • Replace the molding on the Panel in the front room (South Side);
    • Assess the Haviland Club computer network;
    • Put shelves in basement closet under the main door entrance to allow for storage of materials for the bridge club;
    • Reframe basement closet under the main door entrance and hang doors to cover the exposed closet;
    • Frame and cover the exposed plumbing by the snooker table;
    • Aerate and fertilize yard; Purchase new drain spout for rain trough on NE corner;
• Fundraising Report – Jane MacIsaac
  • Thank you for participating in the Special Members meeting. Both Heather MacAulay of Volume 18 and Greg Munn of Munn Architecture presented their findings and report to the membership. This means we have honoured our commitment to the members. Now the real work needs to begin. That is the Development of an operational plan for each of the priority areas.
  • Since our last meeting we have met with Marilyn Murphy ( ACOA) . The purpose was to seek advice and find funding sources for the future have ACOA in our camp. She suggested we develop a product that addresses community gaps and falls within priorities of governments. She further suggested we work on branding ourselves, i.e. no longer promote ourselves as a “premier social club “ but rather we are operating as a “premier social enterprise “ …whose mission is to protect and preserve the heritage building, to offer a quality/ intimate rental venue for the community, offer a safe and inclusive environment for citizens…
  • We also met with Sean Casey, MP for the area. We sought his guidance and support as we move forward with our new enterprise. Sean agreed to send contact information to us for programs and services, as well as contacts for Glenaladale, another historic property in PEI with similar building challenges.  Jane will follow up with Sean’s office on that.
  • Contact was made with Kent Hudson of Community Foundation for an update on Charitable Status Capacity. Kent is away and will get back to us shortly.
• Jamie moved to approve all the reports – no objections.

6. Next meeting: set for Monday July 17, 2023.

7. Meeting adjourned at 6:55 pm.