BOYLE – Anyone attending the upcoming Summer Rumble Tradeshow and Exhibition June 17 will be welcomed by a member of the Village of Boyle’s council, who will be handing out door prizes and other goodies throughout the day.
Councillors voted 5-0 in favour of approving two asks from the Boyle Chamber of Commerce president Terry Mudryk during their May 17 meeting — the village will waive the $840 arena rental fee that would normally be charged, while councillors will work the front table throughout the day.
These requests were a little different from what the chamber had originally asked for; the rental fee was still in the ask, but Mudryk also wanted to clarify the invitation to council. Councillors had initially declined the request, not wanting to upstage the newly-revamped organization.
Mudryk, who appeared before council alongside fellow chamber member Connie Wlos, said that the chamber members were shocked to hear that the council hadn’t initially planned on attending.
“Everyone’s mouths dropped after we received the letter that you wouldn’t be participating in the upcoming trade show,” said Mudryk. “Are you kidding me, the horse isn’t going to lead the carriage?”
Mayor Colin Derko jumped in at this point, explaining that that had been part of the reason why they had opted out.
“We didn’t feel that we should be stepping in, it’s a chamber initiative instead of a council one. With a better explanation we might’ve had a different response,” said the mayor, noting that the initial ask from the chamber had left councillors with more questions than answers.
Historically, trade shows were a big part of Boyle, and how the community and the lake district were promoted, said Mudryk, which styled how the current chamber approached the event.
In their eyes, councillors should be there as a welcoming party; wherever there was a trade show, the village had been right alongside the chamber with a booth.
“We thought it was beneficial and important to the chamber that the Village of Boyle work alongside us,” said Mudryk. “We collected over $3,000 in prizes from all the businesses, and we were hoping that the village would be like the welcome wagon.”
The idea that they would be there as a welcoming party went over better with councillors; while they still opted to staff the table themselves, as opposed to having administrative staff present, knowing that their main job would be a celebratory one alleviated concern of being stuck behind a desk while angry residents took out their frustrations.
After the chamber delegation left, councillors discussed whether they should have staff or councillors work the front table at the trade show.
“I wouldn’t be in favour of having staff man it,” said Coun. Barb Smith. “Six hours is a long time, and that’s not really their purpose.”
“We just need to make it clear that this isn’t an open house forum for council to sit there and listen to people’s complaints,” added Coun. Mike Antal. “That’s why we had a big problem with it initially, we don’t want to be sitting there in the line of fire listening to ‘why isn’t this happening.’”
Rental fee waived
Councillors also discussed whether they should waive the $840 arena rental fee the show; under policy, they’re allowed to waive fees for volunteer groups once per year, but no further definition of what constituted a volunteer group was in place.
CAO Warren Griffin recommended that councillors deny the motion, since the chamber isn’t a volunteer group in the traditional sense.
In a rare move, they ended up voting against the advice of administration, although even Griffin noted that, if he was wearing a different hat, he would probably do the same thing.
For Derko, it came down to what the event was meant to be.
“The way the chamber explained it, it’s a community-driven event, not a business-driven event. If they were using it to enhance the chamber, it would be a different story,” said the mayor.
Multiple councillors also mentioned that since the chamber is just restarting after a year-long hiatus, alleviating some of the financial burden would be welcomed.
“The $800 isn’t going to break the village, or the chamber, but it might do more to get the collaboration between the two groups going,” said Derko.
