Donald
Teuma-Castelletti
SHAWVILLE Feb. 19, 2018
The annual general meeting for a Shawville organization looking to open a retirement home in town saw the group elect a new director to the board as the project looks to handle larger amounts of money.
The Villa James Shaw board of directors and regular members met at the CAP building on the evening of Feb. 19, in order to elect three directors, review their finances and revisit activities from the previous year.
Larry Coleman joined the group alongside re-elected members Rick Valin and Sylvia Poisson Hodgins. Coleman replaced Ruth Potter on the board, though President Albert Armstrong shared that it was his understanding that she would continue to hold many vital positions across different committees.

Upon Coleman’s election, it was decided to transfer the treasurer role from Bill Kearnan to the newly-elected. As well, he would be taking on bookkeeping responsibilities, all of which appeared to have been decided before the meeting began.
“I asked the board last summer [to find a replacement] because we are getting into an area of finance I’m not used to,” said Kearnan, during the meeting.
Kearnan explained to organization members that were present that there was much more money to deal with, and that it was all moving much quicker than what he had been accustomed to.
“Larry is much more capable in that area,” continued Kearnan.
Other important business discussed during the meeting was finances. Kearnan took charge at this point, breaking down the previous income statement and budget before explaining the new budget.
Nothing in particular was out of place, as Kearnan explained how funding worked for the summer student they had on to help in 2017, as well as different amounts they were waiting to be reimbursed on through grants or government programs.
Funding did appear down in the form of donations, as the budget expected $40,000 in this column to be brought in, but just under half of that was actually received across the private and club sectors.
However, many sectors of funding, it was explained, were dependent on physical work on the building of the facility beginning and would be granted when that begins.
In the upcoming budget, two new categories were added to the expense list: architectural drawings and property studies. Amounting to a combined $35,000, this increases the expected expenses from $7,500 in 2017 to $43,100 in 2018. However, these amounts are signs of progress and to be expected as a major project moves forward.
Following finances, Armstrong discussed the activities report from 2017, highlighting successes and disappointments the organization had experienced. Their biggest project for 2017 was the needs assessment and feasibility study, which was carried out under contract with ROHSCO, an organization providing expertise on community housing in the Outaouais.
The Canada Summer Jobs program proved to be a great success, providing a summer student for the organization on an eight-week term for a variety of tasks. It was agreed, later on, that they would seek to benefit from the program again, as the money paid to the student is reimbursed to the organization.
The deceased director and supporter of the organization, Jack Lang, was highlighted for his efforts.
Following the AGM, a regular meeting of the group took place. During this, the board detailed the three offers that had been brought forward from architects to design phase one of the home. A decision will not be made until a later point, after the board has met with some of the firms that have put offers forward.
The board also shared their pursuit of grants applied for through the MRC Pontiac, which they plan to put toward continued assessment and planning work, such as environmental studies, architect costs and geotechnical work.
The goal of the group, it was reaffirmed, was to have shovels in the ground in 2019. Before that point, they did say that they wanted to have at least $500,000 raised. The goal is to raise $900,000, and they currently sit at just under $400,000 raised, including the value of the property.
Another fundraising effort announced during the meeting was brought forward by Mary McDowell Wood. She shared that copies of her poetry book, Paper Trail, would benefit the organization, and that she’d like to start selling that at events the group holds going forward.
Next up for the Villa James Shaw is an Easter Tea at the United Church on March 24. McDowell Wood will be signing and selling her book at this event.