MINUTES OF THE 6th MEETING OF THE 2013 COUNCIL ON 12th JUNE 2013, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE CONFERENCE ROOM, WEST BAY, GRAND CAYMAN, CAYMAN ISLANDS. ATTENDING: Mr. Johann Moxam, President-Elect Mr. Barry Bodden, Vice President Mr. Wayne Cowan, Treasurer Mr. Lendon Jackson, Secretary David Kirkaldy, Immediate Past President Alan Brady, Councilor, 2nd year Mrs. Natalie Urquhart, 2nd Year Councilor (arrived at 4 p.m.) Mr. Rory Mohammed, 2nd Year Councilor Mrs. Katie O’Neill, 1st Year Councilor Mr. Roger Ponce, 1st Year Councilor Mr. Paul Pearson, 1st Year Councilor Mr. Wil Pineau, CCE, Chief Executive Officer 1. Call to order Acting Chairman and President-Elect Mr. Moxam called the meeting to order at 3:35 p.m. He confirmed the required quorum of five Councilors. CEO Wil Pineau, CCE, recorded the minutes. 2. Apologies Mr. Chris Duggan, President and Chairman 3. Review/Approval of draft minutes from the 8th May 2013 Council meeting The draft minutes were distributed to the Council prior to the meeting for review. A motion to accept the draft minutes without amendment was moved by Mr. Mohammed, seconded by Mrs. O’Neill and approved unanimously. 4. Action items arising from the Minutes a. Employees’ Handbook for Chamber members Councilor Alan continues to make progress on this guide. He has developed the table of contents for the booklet to include the following sections: pensions, statement of working conditions, lay-offs, termination and dismissals; time off work (vacation, compassionate leave, public holidays, adoption leave, sick leave and maternity leave), overtime (from an employee’s perspective), notice, redundancy (Caymanian entitlement over non-Caymanians), Labour Tribunals, Health insurance, Freedom of information., health and safety at work, grievance procedures and the responsibilities of the Department of Labour and Pensions (include location and contact information). The aim is to complete the written copy for the booklet by the end of June and to have it printed and distributed by August. Councilor Alan said he is co-authoring the booklet with Shawn Cockle from Appleby and some sections have already been drafted but require further review. ACTION ITEM: Councilor Alan will circulate draft sections of the booklet for review by the Council as they are completed. b. Council membership referrals No membership referrals have been received by the Council since the last meeting. To date, 24 new members have joined the Chamber. There are now 50 outstanding renewals as at 4th June. The membership retention rate is now 91%. PE Johann congratulated the staff on nearly achieving the membership retention rate in the budget and he urged Council members to identify at least two referrals before the next meeting in July. The CEO asked the Council to review the past dues list and to identify any businesses that they can contact to encourage renewal. The CEO reported that he had signed up three new members over the past two weeks and he found a general willingness by businesses to join. He plans to meet with VP Barry and Councilor Natalie to confirm the action plan for a membership recruitment effort. VP Barry has nearly completed the review of the 2012 Trade and Business license list to determine which businesses are not Chamber members so a potential member list can be developed. ACTION ITEM: Each Council member is to identify at least two businesses to approach for membership. VP Barry, Councilor Natalie and the CEO will meet to confirm an action plan for membership recruitment and the establishment of a standing membership committee. c. District Candidates Forums Transcripts for the following elected candidates who participated in the Chamber District Candidates Forums have been completed and will be posted to the Chamber website: Arden McLean (East End), Tara Rivers, Bernie Bush and Capt. Eugene Ebanks (West Bay), D. Kurt Tibbetts, OBE, Roy McTaggart, Alden McLaughlin Jr., Marco Archer, Winston Connolly and Joey Hew (George Town), Wayne Panton, Alva Suckoo and Osbourne Bodden (Bodden Town). Hon. W. McKeeva Bush, OBE, JP (West Bay), Anthony Eden, OBE, JP (Bodden Town) and D. Ezzard Miller (North Side) did not participate in the forum. PE Johann thanked the Council members and Staff who helped to organize the forums and for the effort to post the recordings to the website shortly after each forum. The CEO informed the Council that the President had written letters on behalf of the Council to all elected representatives thanking them for participating in the forums and informed them that the Chamber is eager to work with the new Government to address the many issues and to consider new opportunities to improve the economy and the quality of life for all residents. He requested a meeting with the Premier to develop a working agenda and to confirm a date for the Legislative Luncheon. 2 ACTION ITEM: Post the completed transcripts to the Chamber website and follow up with the Premier to confirm a date for a meeting and to confirm a date for the Legislative luncheon. d. Chamber Pension Plan A list of possible appointments to fill the second position is being finalized. The Council also acknowledged receipt of emails and documents submitted by Past President and Founding Trustee Mr. William Adam. Mr. Adam nominated Mr. Chris Goddard to serve as the Chamber’s second appointment to the Pension Plan. The Council also agreed to bring the issues that have been raised by Mr. Adam to the attention of the Chamber’s appointed trustee. ACTION ITEM: Appoint a second representative to serve as the Chamber of Commerce Trustee on the Board of the Chamber Pension Plan. Prepare a list of tangible benefits that the plan could be providing to the Chamber of Commerce. Draft a letter to the Chamber’s appointed trustee regarding the correspondence received. e. Chamber 50th anniversary – 2015 Terms of reference for the committee have been developed and are being reviewed by the President. Committee members who have agreed to serve include Councilors Katie, Alan, Roger and Paul. Additional members will also be sought among the membership. ACTION ITEM: President will review and approve the terms of reference. Additional members will be recruited to serve on the committee. f. BE INFORMED session – 29th May at 3:30 p.m. Metal Theft in Cayman – Solutions to a Growing Problem The presentation was delivered by Mr. David Johnston from Corporate Electric. About 25 members attended. Opening comments were delivered by VP Barry. Metal thefts have been reported on contractors’ premises and customers’ installations. Metals being stolen include copper, aluminum and lead. Diesel fuel has also been stolen from some sites. Members, key government officials and the media were invited to attend but the swearing in ceremony for the new government conflicted with the presentation. A representative from the Customs Department attended and provided feedback at the meeting. Members who attended supported the establishment of a Chamber committee to address the issue. Terms of reference for the committee are being drafted for review by the President. Port Authority, Customs and RCIPS will be invited to assist the committee with its work. ACTION ITEM: Terms of reference to establish a committee will be drafted for review and approved by the President. g. Chamber committees i. Future of Cayman 3 All co-chairs are being asked to review and update their objectives and actions. A mini forum is being planned with assistance from CDS-IBM for September. Co- Chairs for the Infrastructure Group have been invited to attend an infrastructure conference sponsored by CIBC/First Caribbean to be held in the Bahamas from 20-21st June. ii. Council of Associations The Chair will develop an agenda and call the first meeting of the Council before the end of July. iii. Small Business The committee is proposing to hold the first annual Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards in early October. iv. Local Producers The committee has not met for some time. The CEO will contact the Chair to call a meeting in June. v. Membership Councilor Natalie and the CEO will meet in June to confirm the persons to serve on the committee, to finalise a list of potential members and to begin a recruitment campaign. vi. Finance Treasurer Wayne submitted the budget to the Executive Committee. vii. Benefits Treasurer Wayne, the CEO and committee members met with ASUIA to finalise the details for the health insurance plan to be considered by the Council at today’s meeting. viii. Fundraising The organising committee which is being led by James Bovell from REMAX Cayman Islands is meeting regularly to plan the Chamber/REMAX Golf Classic for Friday, 1st November at the North Sound Golf Club. The event will be themed for Halloween and persons will be encouraged to dress up for the event. ix. National Budget Review Terms of reference for the committee is being drafted for approval by the President and a list of names of committee members is being developed. The Council also supported writing a letter to each of the senior partners in the accounting firms to find out if they would be willing to assist reviewing the national budget and developing budget comparisons to previous years. ACTION ITEM: Write to each of the senior partners in the accounting firms seeking their assistance in serving on the committee. 4 h. Tour of Health City Cayman Islands (www.healthcitycaymanislands.com ) The Chamber Council travelled to the construction site on the morning of 12th June. IPP David, VP Barry, Councilors Natalie, Rory, Alan, Katie, Paul and CEO Wil and Communications Assistant Alex Pineau toured Health City Cayman Islands in East End, received an update on the progress with the project from Gene Thompson and Harry Chandi and photographed the site.