KINBURN – It was an efficient Kinburn Community Association (KCA) Annual General Meeting that ended 30 minutes after in started with the entire 2018 board returning for another year.

The seven-person board held their AGM at the Kinburn Community Centre Monday, Oct. 28 in front of a very small crowd.

2018 has been a year of steady progress as the board works to maximize the profitability of the community centre in order to get back in the black after a small loss in 2019.

The KCA finished the year with a $644 loss but was able to host several community events throughout the year and continue to slowly renovate the centre.

“This year we had to replace the commercial fridge in the kitchen,” KCA President Laurie Chauvin said. “The new fridge is available to renters and user groups. Thank you to Sandra Gray and help for taking on the task of installing it. A big thank you to Eli (El-Chantiry) and the staff in his office for granting us the funding to replace this critical piece of equipment.”

It is estimated the commercial refrigerator is in the $3,000 range.

The KCA also did some work on its communications department.

“We also have updated the Kinburn logo (at a cost of $226) and are working on getting a new website up and running,” Chauvin said. “We’ve also put renewed focus on social media this year, trying to use our Facebook page as a better means to inform the community of what’s going on at the building.”

Indoor and outdoor maintenance costs the KCA more around $64,000 a year – a cost that is usually covered through City of Ottawa grants.

“In regards to our contractors, the inside maintenance contract was renewed with Bruce Riley, again this year,” Chauvin said. “Bruce does an amazing job. He has a lot of care and respect for the building and it shows in his work. Our outside maintenance continued to be handled by Scott Barton, who receives nothing but high praise for the look of our grounds. Rink maintenance was handled by Tom Foley again. We continued with the rink end hours of last year, keeping them reduced due to some vandalism in previous years. We didn’t have any complaints from the community about the reduced hours. Getting canteen volunteers continues to be a huge struggle.”

Chauvin says the board expects to make up the 2019 loss through increased hall and facility rentals which seem to be on the up.

“Hall rental volume has increased this year with many events including the rental of the bar,” Chauvin said. “The spring and early summer had events booked every weekend. Last year’s refresh to the building, where we painted the majority of the spaces, has really made the KCC a prime event space in West Carleton. The building continues to be heavily used, both by renters and local community user groups.  In fact, it’s sometimes difficult to find an available spot on the calendar! The seniors continue to offer walking club, carpet bowling, euchre and bridge. For exercise, we have yoga and a heartwise class for adults 55+. For youth, all levels of Scouting are held in Kinburn. We also continue to host a playgroup and a Parenting in Ottawa public health walk-in, plus the Big Book program. The Fitzroy Township Historical Society and West Carleton Snowmobile Trails Association continue to call the community centre their home. Our events ae starting to come back this year and we are expecting to post a profit.”

KCA treasurer Karen Matt says despite the loss the association is in good shape.

“We’re in reasonable shape to start the new year,” she said.

One of the four in attendance was Kinburn Seniors Association President Judith Waddell. The seniors’ association uses the community centre for meetings and events.

“We had a very successful year,” she told the KCA board. “We have about 10 meetings, 13 euchres and some other events. We couldn’t do it without the KCA’s support.”

Waddell then made a $1,200 donation to the KCA.

“It takes a lot of time and effort,” Waddell said to the board. “Thank you.”

The president and treasurer are two-year terms. All of the current board stood for re-election and were acclaimed.