September 16 2024

BAMFIELD COMMUNITY AFFAIRS SOCIETY

General Meeting Unofficial Minutes

Monday 16 September 2024 at 6.30 pm
via Zoom - hosted by Jamie Willock (Chair)

Attendees (27): Jamie Willock (Chair), Sheryl and John Mass, Tom Jensen, Stacy Denton, Laura Bradley, Bob Beckett, Bob & Robin Schmitt, Mandy Ross, Birgit Gagne, Barry Sills, Julie Bradley, Jan Teversham, Frank and Jean Novak, Susan Derasp, Ben West, Stella Wenstob, Sean Rogers, Max Salamon, Jaslyn Haberl, Kevin McAughtrie, Ashley Klyne, Molly Jones, Jane Morrison,

Guest Presenters:  John Jack (HFN) , Sydney Zhang  (Forum Asset Management) and Christine Fang- Denissov  (Urban Strategies)

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.

The meeting was called to order at 18.32

James reported on the sad and sudden passing of Justin Demoskoff, a much loved long-time resident of Bamfield.

Adoption of Agenda.  m/BSills, s/BWest

Adoption of Minutes of June’s Community Affairs Meeting. m/BWest s/SDerasp

PRESENTATION- Huu-ay-aht Framework Plan

 An update on the progress in the creation of the Huu-ay-aht Framework Plan was introduced by John Jack and then presented by Christine Fang Denissov.  There will be a full presentation of the plan on the 24 September from 5-7 pm in Anacla Dinner will be served. The slides of the presentation are attached in the email.

ACRD DIRECTOR’S REPORT – by Bob Beckett

Further information on voting by mail ballot will be posted on the ACRD Bamfield Sewer Referendum webpage next week https://www.acrd.bc.ca/bamfieldreferendum

The information on the website will further clarify who is eligible, and the process for requesting a mail ballot and how to return the mail ballot to the ACRD.

I anticipate that the application forms to request a mail ballot will be available on October 1^st, and that mail ballots will be mailed out to residents (or available for pick up at the ACRD Port Alberni office) later in October. I will confirm these dates and post on the ACRD website next week.

#6. Bamfield Area Services Committee Agenda Aug 13/24

Chequing account                      $22,777.94

High interest savings account -   $23,065.70

Member Equity Shares                        $5.21

Donation for trails                                 $500

Interest in May                            $24.32

Total Assets                           $45,847.85

$10,000 ACRD Grant received July 2024 has since been transferred to the savings account to be posted in September 2024

COMMUNITY REPORTS

1. BMSC- Sean Rogers

• Sean said that support is being given to Justin’s partner at BMSC.
• The presidents of the five supporting universities arrived by Twin Otter for a visit recently. He was very grateful that he could show them the wastewater plant, the water system and the availability of the 911 system.
• The fall programme has 24 students here for the semester. School groups are starting up now too.
• A Dark Skies event is being hosted in conjunction with HFN  and the Fungus Festival  is planned for the last weekend in September.

2. Centennial Park - Sheryl Mass

• It has been a very busy summer especially at the boat launch. Sheryl estimated that there were 3 (?)  times more boat launches than ever before. The problem was that trailers were left at the side of the road rather than in the designated trailer spots. The loading zone was also used for parking so that  there were big traffic jams at the ramp. It’s only going to get worse.

3. Bamfield Harbour Authority - Tom Jensen

• It’s been a very busy summer.
• The dock manager quit mid-season and so the board members had to take over the functions of managing the dock- reservations, maintenance, financial records. This can continue to the end of this year.
• Software use was instigated this year but the allotment of space is open for improvement.

4. Bamfield Community School - Robin Schmitt

• There are now 49 children registered in the school with three fulltime teachers and two part time teachers.
• There is a job posting out for an indigenous support worker.

5. BCSA- Jaslyn  Haberl

• Save the date! Oysters, Authors, and Ale is planned for Saturday, November 9th at the BMSC Rix Centre for Ocean Discoveries. Please contact bcsacoordinator@gmail.com if you would like to read a piece, or volunteer to help us host a spectacular event. Tickets will be on sale soon!
• This Friday September 20, join or cheer on our students as we participate in the Terry Fox Run, fundraising for cancer research and learning about a Canadian hero.
• After a fun and busy summer of Day Camps, we are back to regular programming at the school:
  1. Monday night Drop-in Sports for ages 15+, with a new time of 7:30-9:30pm
  2. After School Clubs and Youth Drop-In resume this week!
  3. Join a beginner-friendly Yoga practice Wednesday night from 5:30-6:30pm
  4. The Friday Night Chill is scheduled for September 20th from 7-9:30pm
• This month's Books and Brunch pancake breakfast and story time at the Community Library is planned for September 21st from 10:30am-12pm.
• The BCSA is helping to host events during the Bamfield Fungus Festival next week. On Thursday September 26th  from 5-7pm, we are hosting a Willow Weaving Workshop with visiting mushroom expert and weaver Candice Cullum. Participants must register for this $40 workshop, where they will learn how to weave a willow tray.
• The School District 70 Board of Trustees are hosting their monthly meeting at the Bamfield Community School on Tuesday September 24th from 5-6:30pm. All community members are welcome - Robin Schmitt and Jaslyn Haberl will be presenting on activities in our school and community, but the public board meeting is not specific to Bamfield, nor is it structured as an engagement event.
• On Monday September 30th, in honour of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, join us at the school for a documentary screening and community discussion group to strategize actions that support truth-telling and reconciliation.
• Community Lunches at the school will recommence in October, and will take place the second Wednesday of each month.

NEW BUSINESS

1. Brady’s Beach Camping

There have been concerns voiced over the summer concerning camping on the beach and community members’ opinions are sought.

• Mandy Ross talked about attractants left on the beach and thought that 80% of campers had no plan at all to store attractants. One bear got into a tent but luckily this didn’t escalate over the summer but it is a worry as it has never been an issue on the main areas of Brady’s Beach before.
• Jerry Baird said that day use did not have nearly the impact that overnight camping did- related to bears, garbage, toilet use and fires. Many visitors from the east side of the island now come on a day trip. He suggests educating people to make it a day use beach only as there will be more and more growth in use.
• The composting toilet had increased use this year and was full after a multiday large group camping event in June. The toilet cannot be emptied during the summer and emptying has to wait until spring 2025. It was thought the toilet had been emptied maybe 4 times over 18 years but that rate will have to increase with increased use. An amount of $800 was offered as the most recent cost to empty the toilet . All composting toilets on the west side are maintained and cleaned by Bamfield Parks and there are now 4 in total (two on the Boardwalk, one in West Park and one at Brady’s Beach).
• Mandy says that people take away shells etc. from the beach and she would like to see signage to try to prevent that happening.
• Jaslyn Haberl explained how much they had tried to mitigate garbage/bear issues during the camping event and Jerry said how clean they had left the beach afterwards. Money  (c.$400) had been collected towards the cost of emptying the toilet and it was to be sent to the Bamfield Parks account.
• Jamie said that no one monitors the beach during fire bans and this is needed. There would also be the increased costs for a second toilet at the beach and Bamfield needs to find a way to collect money from all the visitors to cover these costs. There is the possibility of tax on accommodations (e.g., Allied Certifications) to provide funds for infrastructure and possible monitoring. It is unclear how we can actually manage the beach as it is not under our jurisdiction. How can we make rules if we cannot enforce them?

2. Cougar Update-Mandy Ross

Mandy went over the points made at the recent Zoom meeting with the RAPP representative. If cougars are behaving like cougars then RAPP won’t interfere as they might have done years ago. We have to coexist with them.

Three main points:

1. Call RAPP if you see a cougar. Six calls have been made this year – 3 of them by Mandy. It’s very important that RAPP knows exactly what is happening to enable them to make informed decisions if any actions are to be taken.
2. Keep attractants out of the way of cougars. These are rats, chickens, cats, or fish carcasses in the intertidal. We can control access to the latter three but getting rid of rats is more difficult.
3. Deter the cougars and make them feel unwelcome around houses etc. This can be bear spray, horns, sling shots, and Critter guard that triggers sirens and flashing lights.. Cougars are pain averse. The sub adults are separated from the family units and they have not learnt to be afraid of humans so they feel ok in the community. That needs to change.
4. Jaslyn wondered about a community order for Critter guard and will coordinate with Mandy. The students do have horns and have been trained by RAPP on how to use them.

3. Garbage Disposal by businesses on the west side.

The skips on the west dock are for the use of residents and businesses should not be putting their garbage and recycling there.

NEXT MEETING

The next meeting will be on Monday 21 October, 2024

Meeting Adjourned at 20.12 m/BSills s/SWenstob