Crescent Beach Property Owner’s Association
Date: February 6th, 2008
Time and Location: 7:30 PM Beecher Place, Crescent Beach
Directors in Attendance:
Malcolm Stewart – Membership Chair/Secretary
Directors Absent:
Karen MacPherson - President
Mark Nelson - Vice President/Treasurer
Don Sinclair - Past President
Malcolm Stewart as chair, called the meeting to order at 7:30 pm. It was established that a quorum was present.
Adoption of the December 5th, 2007 Minutes
Motion to adopt the minutes: Murray Weisenberger
Second: Dick Nelson
Motion carried
Business arising from the December 5th, 2007 Minutes
None
Membership Report – Malcolm Stewart
Membership at 364 with 165 opting for the 2 year membership. A total of $5,400 collected in the 2007/2008/2009 membership drive. More than half of the members now receive Association material by email.
New Business
08.02.01: Nav Canada Report: YVR Airspace Study 90 Day Review
Malcolm Stewart provided a brief update on the changes to approach patterns into YVR that now bring aircraft across Mud Bay. The original changes in May 2007 were based on safety and a reduction to Green House Gases as a result of fuel savings due to more efficient air traffic control. However, the new routes resulted in a number of noise complaints in South Delta and South Surrey. The report has been presented to Surrey Council and we are awaiting their response, as well as determining how the general public can become involved. A soft copy of the report is available for anyone interested.
Member awareness of the changes was varied, although some have noticed the increased traffic with the resulting aircraft noise as the flaps are lowered on approach. There was a general expectation that noise levels would be higher in the spring as atmospheric conditions change.
08.02.02: Crescent Beach Drainage Problems
Bob Gray provided an update to a meeting he and Ron Sorenson had with the City of Surrey on December 11th, 2007 to outline the current issues of drainage in Crescent Beach and how building requirements are exacerbating the problem. Bob noted the following key points:
o Most drainage, if any, goes into rock pits. Where storm drainage exists, water is carried to the canals behind the Matheson Farm and then pumped out at low tide.
o There is little or no drainage at high tide.
o Housing footprints have increased from 48 to 52% of lot coverage and there is no restriction to nonporous driveways or pathways that prevent direct absorption of water into the ground.
o The Provincial flood proofing bylaw, requiring buildings be 3.3 meters above the geodetic elevation (the top of the beach front dyke), is creating a saw tooth of building/land elevations destroying both the community character and resulting in increased flooding of low lying areas.
o If all buildings are built to the bylaw, it is expected that there would be significant costs associated with correcting infrastructure (ie roads, power and utility lines, etcetera would have to be raised).
o The ocean is rising and the land is sinking.
o The City to date, had received very few reports of flooding. It important that all flooding/standing water be reported to the City at 604.501.5050
Bob indicated that the City was sympathetic to their concerns, but there are no plans in the current budget for the construction storm drains or to improve infrastructure. The City did recognize that there is a need to have well developed short and long term plans in place to allow strategic upgrading of facilities. The pump at the north end of Maple, for example is the oldest in the City.
Bob advised that the City has agreed to have a costed drainage plan for the Crescent Beach area by midyear and have moved us up in priority. He expected that once the plan is drafted, public input would be invited. The City’s Carrie Baron has offered to attend a CBPOA meeting to discuss the project.
The City has given a draft of the Crescent Beach road elevation plan to Bob that can be made available at Association meetings. The City has asked the CBPOA to draft land use guidelines, including building elevations, footprints and so on. The CBPOA Land Use Committee will be asked to take on the drafting of guidelines.
The following points were made through member discussion of the issue:
o Storm drain improvement would likely be through a Local Area Improvement process whereby residents would pay for improvements through a tax levy. The utility bill we now pay covers water and sewer, not storm drainage.
o One member noted they were required to install a large cistern to capture runoff and prevent flooding to adjacent property.
o A need to call the City to clear drains when flooding occurs.
o The City has a web based mapping system called COSMOS, providing a wide range of information to query, view and print including: Zoning, Aerial Photography, City Utilities, Parks, Roads, City Facilities, Properties, As-built drawing and Legal Plan numbers.
08.02.03: Bruce Leighton’s December, 2007 Report on Swimmers Itch
Malcolm Stewart provided a brief update on the most recent report and recommended that the Association continue to support the City in its funding of his work. In brief:
o Our understanding of the parasite and the snail host is increasing
o Apparent aging of the snail population and poor recruitment of younger snails suggesting a natural cycling that may solve the problem in the long term.
o No bird species can be implicated in the spread of the parasite.
o Endemic only to Crescent Beach where the only significant difference is the supply of nutrient rich fresh water from the Nicomekl River.
o There is no data on the number of human cases in 2007
A soft copy of the report is available.
08.02.04: Leashed Dog Access to the Promenade
As promised at the December, 2007 Association meeting Malcolm Stewart reported on his findings with respect to the history of the existing bylaw restricting leashed dog access to the pathway and beach. Through discussion with the City’s Manager of Parks, Owen Croy, Malcolm reported the following:
o The bylaw had its roots in the early 1970’s prior to the construction of the berm, when the beach started at the property line.
o The dog restrictions were purely health related to provide for a clean environment for bathers and those playing in the sand.
o Currently the General Manager has the ability to enforce but not prescribe uses under the Bylaw, however changes are being made to the Bylaw to allow prescription.
o With the construction of the berm, the promenade/pathway and beach are distinct areas and leashed access to the promenade year round could presumably be made without a Bylaw change once the General Manager is in a position to prescribe.
o If the change was to occur, signage would have to be very clear so that the Bylaw could be effectively enforced.
The subject of leashed access continues to be a controversial issue for the Association with the consensus changing from monthly meeting to monthly meeting. There is consensus however, that the existing Bylaws s are not enforced, and regardless of the outcome of the leashed access debate, enforcement is key. Malcolm Stewart was asked to find out the statistics around actual Bylaw infractions resulting in warnings or fines.
It was agreed the best time to put forward a motion regarding year round leashed access to the promenade would be at the AGM in July. Malcolm Stewart committed to prepare a motion that would be published and distributed as part of the AGM agenda.
08.02.05: Visual Impact of Hendrix Cable
Jon and Lara Lopes provided an overview of their concerns about the planned installation of an insulated overhead conductor (Hendrix cable), along Crescent Road west of Tulloch Road. The insulated cable, hung in a bundle on taller poles than the existing non insulated wire flat construction, will have a line of sight impact on several hillside properties west of Tulloch. Jon and Lara, along with other affected property owners are concerned they will not only loose their uninterrupted view, but their property will be devalued.
Jon has written to Bob Elton, president of BC Hydro, and has spoken with the project manager, Bob Saunders. Bob Saunders has committed to get back to Jon by February 15th, 2008.
Malcolm Stewart provided a brief history behind the cable installation and the June, 2007 BC Hydro presentation to the CBPOA. The June, 2007 presentation was in response to CBPOA concerns over the reliability of the electric supply to Crescent Beach. The CBPOA supported the BC Hydro efforts to improve reliability. Many members have commented on the improved electric supply reliability since construction began.
After some discussion, there was agreement that the improvements were necessary, but the impacted property owners should be consulted. As a result, the CBPOA would support the affected members through the following motion put forward by Murray Weisenberger:
The Crescent Beach Property Owners’ Association, in support of the residents west of Tulloch Road, request BC Hydro ensure work on Crescent Road and Bayview Street west of Tulloch Road is scheduled so as to provide sufficient time to consult with the residents about alternate solutions/options to the Hendrix cable.
Motion: Murray Weisenberger
Second: Bruce Friesen
Motion carried
As a result, an email was sent to BC Hydro’s Community Relation’s Coordinator, Arlene Shwetz on February 07, 2007. A soft copy of the email is available.
08.02.06: Graffiti
Members expressed concerns over the growing amount of graffiti in our community. It is believed local kids are responsible. Bob Gray, our Community RCMP Liaison representative, noted there was a marked increase throughout Surrey. He mentioned that it is the property owner’s responsibility to remove graffiti on private property and the City’s on public property. He stressed the importance of removing graffiti as soon as it appears and that a Bylaw was being prepared to limit the sale of spray paints. Bob noted that a “graffiti removal kit” can be obtained free of charge by contacting:
Surrey Crime Prevention Society
Dave Jensen
Phone: 604.502.8555
Fax: 604.502.8511
e-mail dave@surreycrime.bc.ca
Malcolm Stewart shared his discussion with the City’s Manager of Parks, Owen Croy, about graffiti. Owen indicated there is a dedicated RCMP constable, Stephanie Rogers, dealing with graffiti. Graffiti should be reported to the RCMP and if it is on public property, to the City, by calling 604.501.5050. Owen committed that any profane or racial graffiti would be removed from public facilities within 24hrs of the report. Other graffiti is attended to as time and resources permit.
Malcolm Stewart will work on a flyer to be distributed to all property owners in the Crescent Beach area providing information on recording, reporting and removing graffiti.
08.02.07: CBPOA BLOG
Erik Seiz reported he is working with Karen McPherson on an interactive BLOG (web log) using existing Google web sites. The site should allow more interaction among members and provide more efficient distribution of CBPOA material.
Meeting Adjournment
Motion to Adjourn at 9:10 PM: Perry Lewis
Second: Jim Mason
Motion carried
Next Meeting
Date: March 5t, 2008
Time: 7:30 PM
Place: Beecher Place
March Agenda Items: In addition to normal agenda items the following item is scheduled:
• Train Committee Quarterly Update
Post Note
A special thanks to Lara Lopes for taking notes during the meeting. Her notes were a great help in preparing the minutes.
President, Karen MacPherson – 535.5938
Vice President and Treasurer ,Mark Nelson – 531.4999
Past President, Don Sinclair – 541.3931
Membership and Secretary, Malcolm Stewart – 541.9004
