CALEB NICKERSON
MANSFIELD ET PONTEFRACT May 1, 2018
On May 1, the Chutes Coulonge Park held its annual general meeting, bringing out over 20 stakeholders and officials. The park is a historic site that is run by a non-profit organization, offering ziplining, low ropes courses and hiking trails along the Coulonge River.
Michel Laporte, a community organizer with the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de l’Outaouais (CISSSO) led the meeting, explaining that the park had been without a director since October of 2017, and was currently in a restructuring period.
Former general manager Jean-François Dubois left after five years as manager, and Laporte said that he didn’t complete an annual report before departing, leaving them with scant data on the previous year’s activities.
In March of 2018, MRC Pontiac approved a grant of $19,000 for the park.
Laporte introduced the group to the newly hired operations manager, Élizabeth Khoury, who started at the position the previous day. She detailed her background, which includes a degree in recreation management and experience with various camps and outdoor programs.
Khoury explained that she had her work cut out for her, as she needs to prepare the ziplines and equipment for inspection, as well as hiring staff.
“It’s going to be a lot of late nights,” she said, adding that the trails will open on May 12. Khoury said that the aerial course won’t be open until June at the earliest.
Nancy York, acting as an independent financial controller, gave a breakdown of the organization’s finances over the past year.
The organization had an operating loss of $13,262 in 2017, with negative cashflow of $6,792. Laporte explained that the group had invested a large amount ($29,901 in 2017 compared to $13,660 in 2016) in publicity and promotion, due to the Canada 150 celebrations and the 25th anniversary of the Chutes.
Brittney Morin, a business advisor with SADC Pontiac, gave a report on the marketing efforts they would be undertaking this season.
She said the website will be revamped to include online booking, estimating it will be complete by June. She said they are working to improve their social media marketing, targeting ads for family activities to women in the 25-45 age category since they usually make the majority of household spending decisions.
She added that she had been in contact with a designer for a line of apparel as well.
The board of directors then made several amendments to the group’s bylaws, including the addition of a ninth seat on the board.
Helen Routiliffe was elected to the new position.
Pontiac Warden Jane Toller, who was nominated to the board herself back in December, thanked everyone for attending the meeting and thanked the board for its excellent leadership through this period of change.
