December Update

Wishing all of the Members of the SPBA Happy Holidays.

January General Meeting
There are several items that we need to look at as a group. Please let us know if Tuesday January 13th is a convenient date for the next meeting.

BDF Housing
As was recently reported in the newspapers, the Housing for the BDF has been built and the men are now using the facility. However, while the housing have been built, they have not been completely outfitted as of yet. We are still lacking in a number of key items for the houses (ie. Bed’s), and water has not been hooked up yet due to a lack of funding. As the BDF members will be with us over the holiday season, we are also asking if any members can help to make their holidays a little more festive with donations of food items and perhaps a few ‘gifts’ to show the troops our appreciation for their efforts. Please contact the office with any suggestions, ideas of items that you may have.

November Meeting Minutes
Below is a short transcript of the November General Meeting.

BDF Scheduling & Tasking
The question was raised regarding who is in charge of the ‘tasking’ and scheduling of the BDF members while they are on the island. As of now they report to Officer Arnold and an agenda is set for their time on the island. Their supervisors will come out to meeting with Officer Arnold and the SPBA to help work out a chain of command and to deal with logistics issues.

The BDF also asks for the feedback of SPBA regarding specific issues that arise and immediate problems that come up so that they can deal with them in a timely manner. A mechanism should be set up whereby the Officer in Charge can be alerted to immediate problems. At present these types of issues are still being coordinated through the Police Department.

Timeshare Issues
The Town Board has asked the SPBA to resubmit any letters received regarding timeshare issues. The Town Board has done this because they are working on ensuring that all Timeshare Operations are fulfilling the rules set out. To reiterate the SPBA’s official position on the matter, we are not against Timeshare, and are responding to the requests of the Town Board and BTB to help ensure enforcement of the existing rules.

Events: Savor San Pedro Food Festival
A reminder that the 2nd annual Savor San Pedro Food Festival will take place on Saturday, January 24th 2009. This year we would like to include a cooking competition. Local chefs would be given the task of creating a meal with a mystery ingredient that would only be revealed at the time of the competition (like the Iron Chef competitions). In order to succeed we would need at least 4 or 5 chefs to enter. If any members would like to enter, please contact Rebecca.

A member also suggested combining recipes provided by various chefs on the island into a San Pedro Cookbook, which could then be printed and sold to help in fundraising activities. If any members would like to help organize that endeavor, please contact Rebecca.

Events: Lobsterfest 2009
A reminder that Lobsterfest 2009 will take place from Sunday June 14th to Saturday June 20th, 2009.

Events: Eco-Challenge Kayak Race and Reef Festival
The SPBA will be working with other Parties to re-establish the Reef Festival to run in tandem with the next Ambergris Eco Challenge.  This past year there were some crossed-wires in communication, which is why the Reef Festival did not take place.

SPBA Membership Fees
It was decided by popular vote that Membership Fees to the SPBA would be decreased for 2009. The new Membership Fees will be as follows:

Basic Membership: $300 Bz per year (down from $500 Bz)
(Membership + Basic Listing on sanpedrobusiness.com)

Advanced Membership: $500 Bz per year (down from $800 Bz)
(Membership + Advanced Profile listing on sanpedrobusiness.com, including Photo and Links)

2009 Membership Fees will be addressed at the January General Meeting.

Open Floor Items
A number of items were discussed in the open floor session. These include:
1. The Road Paving and Sewer and Water extension from Richie’s Hardware to the Bridge. Members want the SPBA to take a more active role in getting this issue resolved, and in the larger issue of Sewage and Waste Management.
2. Improving Street Signage and Parking – Especially I the town core. Members were also encouraged to take advantage of the new Parking Facilities located on Middle Street as a way to decrease traffic and congestion in town
3. Master Plan: The first draft of the Revised Master Plan should be done in Late December 2008 or early January 2009. The SPBA, Hol Chan, Green Reef, Town Board and Tour Guide Association will all be consulted on any suggested changes to this first draft