1.0 Call to Order
The fall board meeting of Transport 2000 (Atlantic) was held on Saturday, October 25, 2008 at the Moncton public library. The meeting was called to order by the President, Harold Nicholson, at 10:30 am.
The following board members participated:
Harold Nicholson
Marcus Garnet
Don MacLeod
Mike Perry
Heather Breeze
Nelson Amiro
Clark Morris
Iain Dunlop
2.0 Apologies for Absence
Lewis Morgan had planned to join the group for the afternoon; however, he was unable to attend due to a late bus. John Pearce and Jim Munves sent their regrets at being unable to participate. New board member Iain Dunlop was introduced to the rest of the board.
3.0 Minutes of Last Meeting
The minutes of the spring 2008 board meeting were approved, moved by Heather Breeze and seconded by Clark Morris.
4.0 Adoption of Agenda
The agenda was distributed by e-mail before the meeting. It was amended to add several items: the report of the membership secretary, the website, the “Energizing Transit” workshop, the “Station Ecohubs” proposal, the final report for the Sustainable Rural Mobility Project, the appointment of a Nominating Committee and a policy discussion on VIA and federal policies. The amended agenda was adopted, moved by Mike Perry and seconded by Heather.
5.0 Correspondence
The president reported that there is little correspondence except for some requests that we generally refuse. One request was sent by e-mail to board members for their input. Marcus Garnet informed the board that he had recently contributed to an Ecology Action Centre press release that T2A co-sponsored.
6.0 Reports
6.1 President’s report
Harold attended the national board meeting this spring. The fall board meeting will be in Vancouver and he will be participating via conference call. He participates in the national steering committee. Not much is happening in New Brunswick. The president largely stays out of Nova Scotia issues. It was noted that David Jeanes had recently been a guest on Maritime Noon.
6.2 Treasurer’s report
Don MacLeod presented the interim financial statements. He noted that we have funds available that could be used for projects. We need to disburse a certain amount of our money each year to maintain our charitable status. Several people had specific ideas for the funds, discussed in more detail later in the meeting. The accounting records for the Sustainable Rural Mobility Project were kept separately from our general records; however, we did provide some funding for this project from our general accounts, in addition to the funding we received from Conserve Nova Scotia.
Postage expenses have been increasing, making it more expensive to put out the Bulletin. All board members were reminded to throw out old companies of our pamphlet, as the membership fees have changed.
Marcus moved a vote of thanks to Don for his efforts as treasurer, seconded by Mike Perry and approved.
Action: [Note: Following the meeting, the recording secretary briefly looked into requirements for charitable status. She recommends the following action item.] Don to look into the requirements to maintain our charitable status and inform board members if any action is needed.
6.3 Membership Report
Nelson Amiro presented the membership report. We gained 5 new members from PEI this year, thanks to the efforts of Jim Munves and David MacKay. Overall membership has declined but is similar to levels in the late 1990s. As well, part of the drop between 2006 and 2007 is due to a change in practices; we now remove members that are late in paying immediately.
We discussed ways of gaining members. Membership has been declining across the country, except for the Prairies Chapter. We need to gain more media exposure. We also need to do a better job of retaining members and we need to generate interest through forums and websites. We should foster linkages with environmental groups, business groups (e.g. Chambers of Commerce) and other groups wherever possible.
The membership report was accepted, moved by Nelson and seconded by Clark.
7.0 Provincial Issues
7.3 Prince Edward Island
Jim Munves had e-mailed a short report to Harold Nicholson, discussing the Island-wide transit feasibility study, the expansion of Charlottetown Transit and his views on current service. Jim supports the ENTRA recommendations and hopes that the province will follow the advice in the report. Jim’s e-mail contains details on the new Summerside to Charlottetown service and may be of interest to the whole board.
Action: Jim to e-mail his report to the entire board.
7.1 Nova Scotia
Marcus provided a handout on several issues, including the proposal for a truckway in the railway cut in Halifax, a short piece he had written on rail, a proposal for a new bus service on the eastern shore, information on a proposed “Energizing Transit” workshop, and a preliminary draft of the EcoHubs project. Some of these items were discussed in more detail later in the meeting.
Updates: the Milford container terminal recently received an environmental approval; there is a proposal for a container pier in Sydney. The Digby-Saint John ferry does not appear to be sustainable. Halifax will be receiving a new bus garage and new buses in 2010. There is a proposal for a third bridge across Halifax Harbour, which has more public support than expected.
7.2 New Brunswick
The rush-hour bus commuter service to the Kennebecasis Valley has been very successful. It is run by Saint John Transit; however, other municipalities will be asked to financially contribute in the future and seem willing to do so. The service was initiated to free-up parking space in downtown Saint John.
The morning route HMS Transport ran through Charlotte County to Saint John will be abandoned. The return trip was run by Acadian Lines and the timing (early afternoon) was not convenient.
The Moncton airport is still charging a fee for Acadian Lines to pick up passengers.
Iain Dunlop and Harold met with their MP, Mike Allen, to discuss rail service from Moncton to Edmunston and potentially into Quebec. Northwestern New Brunswick has no airport and no passenger rail service. The track is fast and travel would be faster than by road. As well, the province of Quebec wishes to promote rail and may be a partner if the service continued into Quebec. Mike Allen wants Iain and Harold to get back to them with more facts and figures.
Marcus moved that the board endorse the concept of running a fast passenger train on the NTR track through New Brunswick, seconded by Nelson and carried.
Action: Iain and Harold will continue to work on this proposal and may meet with Mike Allen again.
Mike moved that we thank Jeff Holmes of HMS for his efforts to run a bus service in Charlotte County. This was seconded by Iain and carried.
Action: Mike to draft a letter to Jeff Holmes for Harold’s signature.
Action: Harold will e-mail a report that provides a critique of the AIMS Atlantic Gateway proposal.
8.0 New Business
8.1 Harmonization of fees with national
The national board would like us to harmonize our membership fees with the national fees. They feel since we are one organization, we should have one fee structure. Nelson moved harmonization; Clark seconded it and the motion was carried.
The new fees are as followed:
Introductory / Income-Limited $20
Student $25
Senior $30
Individual $35
Family $50
Library / Municipality $50
Non-profit affiliate $75
Corporation $170
Action: Harold will inform the national board of our decision. Heather will update the brochure to reflect the new membership fees and send copies to all board members. Nelson will update the renewal slips to reflect the new membership fees.
8.3 Name Change
Harold is part of a national working group on changing the name of Transport 2000. The name Transport Action seems to have potential. It was moved by Marcus, seconded by Heather and carried that we endorse Transport Action as a potential new name.
8.2 Committees
Clark provided a hand-out with several topics for discussion. The group suggested that these could be worked on through committees. It was suggested that we set up region-based committees to work on issues. Harold would like to see a copy of the constitution and by-laws to ensure that this is consistent with the by-laws. Marcus moved that we set up three committees/action teams: T2000 Nova Scotia, T2000 PEI and T2000 New Brunswick. Members could be T2000 members who are not on the board. This was seconded by Mike and carried.
Action: Don will track down a copy of the constitution and by-laws and provide them to Harold.
8.4.1 Website
Our website needs to be brought up to date and maintained regularly. Tim Crabtree had prepared some updated files; these may have been lost. Although we recently had some people volunteer to work on the website, it did not work out. It was moved by Clark, seconded by Marcus, that Harold be authorized to set up a contract for design and maintenance of a website, with $1000 allocated for the initial design and $200 for the annual maintenance. The motion passed. It was suggested that we contact Tim about retrieving the files he had worked on.
Action: Harold to set up website contract; Marcus to contact Tim to see if updated files can be retrieved.
8.4.4 Sustainable Rural Mobility Project
The final report on the project is not yet finished and we need to provide one to the funder, particularly as we wish to apply for more funding. It was moved by Clark, seconded by Don and carried that we authorize Marcus to pay Tim Crabtree up to $500 to complete the report by November 30th.
Action: Marcus to set up contract with Tim Crabtree for completion of the report.
8.4.3 Station Eco-Hub (see handout from Marcus)
Railway stations (both those still in use and former stations) could become “ecohubs” with connections to other transportation, trails, etc. Stations could also provide a showcase for environmental sustainability. It was suggested that everyone should read the proposal at their leisure and provide comments to Marcus. Clark moved that the item be tabled to the next board conference call.
Action: All board members to read draft proposal and provide comments to Marcus [Marcus to provide a deadline by e-mail if necessary.]
8.4.2 Energizing Transit Workshop (see handout from Marcus)
A visiting European urban planner would like to hold a workshop on transit in the Truro-Halifax corridor. It would likely be in late January. Marcus moved that T2A support the Energizing Transit workshop through being a host and potentially providing monetary support. This was seconded by Clark and carried.
Action: Marcus to provide an update on the workshop via e-mail before the next meeting.
8.4.5 Nominating Committee
Harold nominated Don, Nelson and Mike to be on the committee. Nelson declined. The nominating committee was established as Don and Mike, moved by Marcus, seconded by Clark and carried.
8.4.6 Policy Discussion: VIA and federal policies (handout from John Pearce)
It was suggested that these topics are more appropriate for our national office to act on. It was moved by Marcus, seconded by Nelson and carried that this be forwarded to T2000 Canada for action.
Action: Harold to forward to T2000 Canada.
8.47 National board meeting
It is our turn to host the national board. It was suggested that next fall would be a good time for the national board meeting to be held in the Atlantic region. Moncton seems to be a good location. We will hold our board meeting at the same time.
Action: Harold to contact the national office.
8.4.8 Next meeting
The next meeting will be held via conference call on Thursday, January 22, 2009.
Action: Heather to set up conference call and provide call-in information to board members.
The meeting adjourned at 4:05 pm.
Heather Breeze
