Sept 20, 2022

Submitted by site_admin on Thu, 09/22/2022 - 21:04

 

­­BAMFIELD COMMUNITY AFFAIRS SOCIETY

General Meeting Unofficial Minutes

Tuesday, September 20, 2022 at 6.30 pm
via Zoom - hosted by Jamie Willock (Chair)

 

Attendees (27) : Jamie Willock, Julie Bradley, Tom Jensen, Bob and Robin Schmitt, Bob Beckett, Jan Teversham, John Mass, Sheryl Mass, Sally Mole, Susan Derasp, Stefan Ochman, Frank and Jeanne Novak, Stella Wenstob, Barry Sills, Ben West, Tara McNeil, Jaleen Rousseau, Louis Druehl, Rae Hopkins, Jerry Gassner, Ashley Kline, Jaslyn Haberl, Kurt Krantz, Wayne Markel, Jane Morrison

Regrets: Clay Steel

Absent: Glen Ballman

Acknowledgement of Indigenous Lands: The BCAS acknowledges that the land on which we meet is within the Traditional territory of the Huu-ay-aht First Nations where indigenous peoples have lived since time immemorial.

Statement of Inclusivity: The BCAS is responsible for fostering a public forum within its community to facilitate communications and services that diverse groups identify as respectful, inclusive and accessible.

The meeting was called to order at 6.32pm.

Adoption of Agenda: m/SWenstob s/BWest

Adoption of Minutes m/BSills s/SMass

TREASURER’S REPORT  Susan Derasp.

There is currently $42,260.49 in the accounts. A new GIA fund arrived in September.                   

ACRD Director’s Report-Bob Beckett

October 15th is the Election Day provincially for municipal councillors, regional directors as well as school board trustees.  

In our region the ACRD will have a swearing in ceremony for the new ACRD Board Directors November 9th, after which the ACRD Board, compromised of 13 Directors begins to tackle the business at hand. The work at hand includes matters that were not completed by the board in the last term such as proposed changes to the zoning bylaws etc. New business includes updating electoral area Official Community Plans as well but not limited to: like many communities, how to deal with lack of housing and affordable housing, opioid crisis, cost of living/inflation, family doctor shortage and so on. All of this is on top of the annual legislated work of bringing in a sustainable and balanced budget, reviewing strategic plan, set annual goals and objectives both operational and capital, completing on going  risk management assessment, and quarterly CAO evaluations. 

From an Electoral (Area “A” Bamfield) perspective I expect the next 4 years to be very busy addressing:

  • the growth associated with the road improvements.
  • applying for grants for water infrastructure needs, parks improvements, waste water disposal, fire service capital needs/projects, west side road network etc.
  • update Official Community Plan
  • creating a Master Sewer Plan
  • seek solutions and find opportunities to ease the challenge of housing 
  • etc., etc.

Moving forward I would welcome an opportunity to hear what you believe are our community’s challenges/opportunities for the next four years and what you would like to me to focus on at the ACRD Board table. My email is bbeckett@acrd.bc.ca

As no one submitted to run against, Bob Beckett has been “acclaimed” and will continue to serve as our ACRD representative – Congratulations Bob! And thank you for your service.

CORRESPONDENCE

A letter was received from Suzanne Jennings expressing an interest in upgrading the Boardwalk to make it  easier for those with mobility issues. Two sections were highlighted: the trail through Cougar Pass and the trail alongside the old hospital.

John Mass informed the meeting that the section through Cougar Pass was under the management of Ministry of Highways/MOTI who also maintain the boardwalk proper. The section outside the old hospital is actually private land owned by the Masses. John is more than ready to discuss how to move forward on both sections.

From this discussion a broader set of road issues ensued. John Mass, who has the road maintenance contract from Mainroad, explained that some sections of road allowance are not on the active inventory but are being used as roads now. This includes a section of Westminster and Crane Road on the west side and Pachena Road on the east side. There are other point specific issues as well. 

It was suggested that a list should be compiled and prioritized and then sent to Mainroad as there is a budget for maintenance but it will take 5-10 years to get to all the issues at current funding levels.

John is ready to gather a list of the issues and then a letter can be compiled and sent from Community Affairs or the Area Director directly to Mainroad. Bob Becket commented that if there is no community input then Mainroad will not act.

Stefan asked if the brushing of the trail from Anacla to Bamfield was going to be completed. The equipment that was used to start the work turned out to be much too expensive to operate so a side mower will complete the task and is “ in the works”.

 

COMMITTEE REPORTS

  1. Harbour Authority – Fisheries Dock. Rae Hopkins.

There are some repairs that need to be completed and the damaged shed needs to be replaced. It has been a busy summer but Rae had not received a report about it from the dock managers yet.

  1. Community Hall- Louis Druehl

The AGM is coming on Monday at 5pm in the Firehall. There will be a tour of the site to see what progress has been made. A project manager is currently being sought.

  1. Community Forest- Stefan Ochman
  • The 30 cubic metres harvest is being planned for the community projects and the logs will be moved to a mill in Port. This lumber will be used for the Eileen Scott Centennial Park pavilion project and the West side community park building project.
  • The Fungus Festival is this weekend and the details are posted on the Corkboard
  • The next Board Meeting is on 29 September.

 

  1. Road Safety  Committee-Stefan Ochman
  • The AGM is on October 5 at 5.30 via Zoom.
  • The traffic counters collecting data were discontinued in 2021. The Trafx system will costs $2710 for 3 vehicle counters. Trail use counters could also be purchased for $645 each. Community Affairs GIA and/or the Community Forest could fund the purchase of them.
  • Jamie thought that they would be very useful to have.

 

  1. Parks Commission- Sheryl Mass
  • It was a busy summer but perhaps not quite as busy as last year
  • The new float has proved to be very stable and has worked well.
  • Rhiannon is continuing to work over the winter. She had to call the RCMP once this summer and they responded and sorted out the issue.
  • The old pavilions have been taken down at the park and a new one will be constructed that is funded by the BHCF (Community Forest), Eileen Scott Centennial Park and fund raising by Louis Druehl.
  • The roof of the office/shower block needs a new roof that will be completed this spring. Another float will also be constructed then.
  • $100,000 will be received for renovating/replacing playground equipment in 2025. It is hoped that this funding could be made available in 2023. Anyone interested in joining the committee to decide what the new playground will look like should contact Sheryl.
  • Bob Becket would like to see the funding timing shifted to 2023 and it is up to the ACRD Board to decide this. Community Affairs can assist with a letter.

 

  1. Community School- Robin Schmitt
  • There are now 49 students in the school (wow). This includes 12 kindergarten and 15 students in Grades 7 to 12. There are now 4 teachers, three classrooms and new furniture.
  • The Fungus festival organisers are leading the children on a mushroom hunt this week.
  • The RCMP will be unrolling a floor map in the gym on Thursday that outlines the history of indigenous peoples in Canada. This is part of the Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada (IPAC) project.
  • There is a Truth and Reconciliation Event hosted by the Huu-ay-aht on the 28th and this includes a barbecue community lunch hosted by BCSA.

 

  1. BCSA- Sally Mole
  • Jaslyn Harbel will be taking over from Sally as the new BCSA Coordinator.
  • Oysters, Authors and Ale is taking place next week (October 1st). Tickets are available and full capacity is now possible.
  • A person to prepare and serve school lunches is needed and anyone interested should contact the BCSA office.
  • Jaslyn added that she is very happy to be taking on the role and will start up buddy reading again and reiterated the need for a lunch person.
  • Thanks to Sally for all the work she has put in during the really difficult pandemic days.

 

  1. BCEP- Bob Schmitt
  • Bob has taken on the role of Emergency Coordinator for Bamfield officially.
  • Successful grant writing by the ACRD team has resulted in 40 cots and emergency prepackaged food being delivered to be used by the community in an emergency.
  • New grants are available so more equipment and supplies will be requested.
  • There will be a workshop for First responders and Emergency volunteers in October. Discussion of feasible evacuation routes will be part of the event.
  • More volunteers and training will hopefully materialize over the winter.

 

  1. BVFD- sent by Phil Lavoie
  • BVFD  is saying farewell to Nancy Sherry who has been a wonderful part of our department. She will be greatly missed.
  • There was a dumpster that caught fire by the Bamfield Inn at the end of August. We had a great response from the department. We are not certain of the cause but it’s a good reminder to be mindful of what you put into a dumpster!
  • Campfire restrictions have been lifted as of noon Tuesday. This is for a 0.5m campfire only at this time. No yard clearing yet.
  • BVFD is looking for a treasurer/bookkeeper- once rolling, it shouldn’t be more than a few hours a month- Please help us out.
  • AGM will be held towards the end of October.
  • We are discussing tonight whether there will be a Halloween dance or not.
  • BVFD has just narrowly reached the minimum number of firefighters that the Fire Underwriters would like us to have; however, we would like to put a call out for more Bamfield property owners to join the department. Contact me for more details! bamfieldfire@gmail.com

 

OTHER BUSINESS

  • Barry Sills asked if there was an update on the road but no one had anything.
  • Louis Druehl asked whether the CA meetings would be a hybrid of in-person and zoom in the future. Jamie responded that he thought the idea of an in-person AGM would be a good one. In terms of the general meetings there would have to be an interest for in-person meetings to re-establish them. There is quite a lot of time required to set up the hybrid meeting.

 

Meeting Adjourned at 7.30 m/SOchman s/BWest

The next meeting is on 17 October.