Donald Teuma-Castelletti
SHAWVILLE Feb. 18, 2019
The board behind the non-profit senior living complex coming to Shawville held the organization’s annual general meeting on Feb. 18, reviewing the year’s activities and looking ahead at the project’s next steps.
It was fairly standard procedure for the Villa James Shaw (VJS) meeting, which saw six board members re-elected to their roles, finances reviewed and updates on the architectural designs.
The project saw $10,561 raised through community initiatives, which included the annual dance and tea for the project, a collection at Bristol’s Coronation Hall, as well as the sale of Mary McDowell-Wood’s book. She had pledged at last year’s meeting that the funds would benefit this project.
In total, VJS received $25,710 in donations from various clubs, committees, businesses and organizations last year.
The largest portion of 2018’s expenses went to subcontracts, for a total of $9,603.
Total revenue came to $51,035.64, with expenses coming in at $13,879.48 for a net income of $37,156.16. At the end of 2018, the project had $71,282.92 in total current assets, and $245,000 in total capital assets.
VJS entered into six contracts this year as they look to get the project rolling. A topographical survey, environmental assessment, market study and a re-survey to bring 35 building lots into a single one at 383 Centre St. were all completed.
A geotechnical survey was not completed, because the group hired to do so is waiting on the architects. Mercier Pfalzgraf Architectes were hired to design the conceptual phase of the project, but failed to provide an initial draft that was satisfactory.
Board member Larry Coleman explained at the meeting that the initial draft saw the design too spread out on the property. The group was expecting a second draft in the weeks to come following the AGM.
Currently, the project has 77 members, which maintains the number since 2017, but is a drop since 2016.
Six director positions were up for election, as their two year-terms had been fulfilled. These members included Albert Armstrong, Ken Bernard, Chris Judd, Ruth Potter, Bill McCleary, and Susan McLaughlin. (Potter had replaced Bill Kearnan on the board last summer, when he resigned.)
All six members were re-elected to the board, as nominations for new board members did not arise at the meeting.
Following the AGM, the regular meeting was held. It was shared at this time that the project would not be able to benefit from the MRC Pontiac’s Territorial Development Fund (TDF) because the money granted to them in 2018 had not been fully spent.
Rather than return the unspent portion and risk sullying the project’s reputation with the MRC’s grant – potentially closing doors for different grant opportunities in the future – the group agreed to extend the spending deadline until June 2019.
Due to this, VJS was not qualified to receive a grant from the TDF in 2019, but may reapply in 2020.
