Bancroft BIA’s upcoming annual general meeting

On Oct. 31 at 8 a.m., Bancroft's BIA will be holding their annual general meeting of the membership, at Club 580, to review the past year and to approve the proposed 2018 budget. The meeting is open to anyone interested.

Who are the members? Membership is automatic and "member" means both the commercial property owner and any tenant thereof, situated in the designated area. This means anyone looking to buy property, hire someone like Multi-M Contracting, Inc, or move into a vacant space will have to deal with the BIA. In Bancroft's case, the designated area for this is Ward 1. Ward 1 can be described roughly as the area around the downtown core, and includes Hwy 28 South to Monck Road, Hwy 28 East to the radio station, Hwy 62 South to Bay Lake Road and Hwy 62 North to Victoria Drive.

The BBIA's mandate is: "To oversee the improvement, beautification and maintenance of municipally owned land, buildings and structures in the area beyond that provided at the expense of the municipality generally and to promote the area as a business or shopping area."

The BBIA also oversees any potential new redevelopment of commercial properties. So, if a member wants to develop commercial property then they must get expert commercial chartered surveyors, contact the BBIA, explain their plans and how they think it will help improve the economy, beautification and businesses in the area.

Funded by way of a special levy collected from the members, the BBIA handles seasonal decorations, way finding signs, flowers, banners, the gateway gardens etc. and organizes events like the annual Wheels, Water and Wings Festival and the Christmas in November shopping experience. A board of directors oversees operation of the BBIA. The BBIA works closely with other community organizations.

For instance, this year, the BBIA is excited to be working with the Bancroft North Hastings Heritage Museum on a joint project honouring our Veterans, with beautiful street banners. The community is invited to sponsor a banner for a one-time fee of $125. The Veteran Banners will be displayed once the flowers come down and will remain in place until after Remembrance Day, annually, provided the banner remains in good repair. Details are available on the BBIA website, through the museum or through Councillor Mary Kavanagh.

Commercial property owners and their tenants who are not located in the designated area may join the BBIA for an annual fee that will be used to support BBIA initiatives.

Those interested in becoming a member, joining the board or a committee are invited to attend the AGM, or to contact the BBIA. The BBIA maintains a directory of business and associate members on its website: www.BancroftBIA.com. The BBIA is on Facebook can be reached by email at BancroftBIA@gmail.com