2008 April Final Minutes

Crescent Beach Property Owner’s Association

Date: April 2nd, 2008
Time and Location: 7:30 PM Beecher Place, Crescent Beach
Directors in Attendance:
Karen MacPherson - President
Mark Nelson - Vice President/Treasurer
Malcolm Stewart – Membership Chair/Secretary
Directors Absent:
Don Sinclair - Past President

Karen MacPherson as chair, called the meeting to order at 7:35 pm. It was established that a quorum was present.

Errors/Omissions/Additions to the March 5th, 2008 Minutes
Malcolm Stewart noted the following errors in the Minutes:
o Various spelling errors
o Ron Soresen is not an Executive Director of SCAANS. The organization has no such positions. He is an active SCAANS member.
Malcolm Stewart noted the following addition to the March minutes re: 08.02.01: Nav Canada Report: YVR Airspace Study 90 Day Review to more fully describe SCAANS and providing contact numbers in addition to email addresses:
o SCAANs (South Surrey Citizens Against Airplane Noise) is a coalition of local residents who have joined together to restore the peace and quiet in our community. They encourage you to join their growing list of members. They send out periodic updates, provide information of interest, and track complaints. All members are encouraged to send in suggestions.
o NavCanada has said that the only monitoring they will do as to the impact of these flight paths will be by the number of complaints they receive. SCAAN’s urges you to send a complaint in each time you are bothered by plane noise. It is important to let NavCanada know you are unhappy with these flight paths and the noise impact they are having. You can add your name by e-mailing scaans@gmail.com or calling:
o Colleen @ 604-538-1091 or Janet @ 604-535-9900
o You can address your complaints to:
o NavCanada service@navcanada.ca 1-800-876-4693
o YVR noise@yvr.ca 604-207-7097
o MP Russ Hiebert info@russhiebert.ca 604-542-9495
o Mayor Dianne Watts dwatts@surrey.ca 604-591-4126
o Minister of Transport mintc@tc.gc.ca 1-613-991-0700
Please cc scaans@gmail.com to help them keep a record of the number of complaints being sent in.

Adoption of the March 5th, 2008 Minutes with noted Errors/Omissions/Additions
Motion to adopt the minutes as revised: Dick Nelson
Second: Brian Lauder
Motion carried

Treasurer’s Report – Mark Nelson
Activity in February 2008:
Deposits: $0.36 (Interest)
As of February 29th, 2008:
Term Deposits: $22,578.09
Cash: $8,397.81

Membership Report – Malcolm Stewart
Membership remains at 366 with 4 memberships pending payment.

Traffic Committee Update: Jack Traa
Jack has been in contact with the City to discuss a variety of outstanding issues. The outcomes follow:
o Speeding on Bayview: The balance of the offenders are believed to be local residents. No further action planned.
o Visual obstruction at the intersection of Beecher and MacKenzie: Vegetation trimmed. Complete
o Speeding on Sullivan, Beecher and McBride. Traffic counts done last summer do not meet the City’s threshold for traffic calming. The City has closed the file. It was noted a 4 way stop was added at Sullivan and Dunsmuir, but it is not known whether the addition was tied to CBPOA concern around speeding.
Following discussion of a variety of issues related to traffic, Jack committed speak with the City on the following:
o The need for a safe crossing from the lane serving Dunsmuir Gardens to Heron Park
o The need to address the blind corner at the intersection of Beckett and 128th
o Continued discussion with respect to the City’s long-term plan for traffic. The CBPOA through the Traffic Committee has submitted comments on the plan.
o Have Jack’s contact attend a meeting.

New Business
08.04.01 Train Issues/Concerns – Brian Lauder
Brian provided the following updates with respect to train movement through Crescent Beach:
o Brian shared a letter he wrote to the Mayor and Council, expressing concern and offering a variety of recommendations, after his son became stranded on the west side of the tracks. Both Crescent Beach level crossings were blocked for more than an hour by a stopped train. He also shared the reply from the City’s Mayor, which in his view, was inadequate and showed a lack of understanding of the issues.
o Brian provided information around recent speculation tied to Metro Vancouver’s plans for the disposal of solid and liquid waste. There have been news reports suggesting Metro Vancouver plans to transport garbage to Washington State for disposal using railcars. Should a route through Crescent Beach and White Rock be preferred, it was expected there would be a significant increase in rail traffic and associated delays. He indicated the CBPOA should be concerned and in the event a route was chosen through Crescent Beach, we should be in a position to benefit from the inconvenience by the application of a levy to railcars transporting garbage. The levy, in Brian’s view, could be applied to land acquisition for an alternate right of way.
Through discussion, members made the following points:
o There is need for emergency access with one option tied to extending the road that passes by Dunsmuir Gardens under the train trestle and providing gate keys to emergency responders. It was mentioned that the fire department has keys for the Dunsmuir Garden’s access, but not for the Marina.
o A need for an emergency response plan.
o Brian asked the members to put forward a motion in response to Metro Vancouver’s possible transport of garbage through Crescent Beach. However, members present clearly preferred to refer the matter to the Train Committee. The Train Committee is well on their way to establishing CBPOA and community consensus on matters involving rail safety and access. Once that is done the CBPOA will be in a position to act in a focused manner that reflects the views of the CBPOA and the community at large.
o One member mentioned that Metro Vancouver has broadly advertised a series of consultations throughout the region, with one in Surrey Tuesday, April 8th. The times and link to the web site with the relevant information follow:

Sheraton Vancouver Guilford Hotel
15269 – 104th Ave, Surrey
Registration: 6:00 - 6:30 p.m.
Public Meeting: 6:30 - 9:00 p.m.
http://www.gvrd.bc.ca/managementplans/index.htm

General
08.02.07: CBPOA BLOG
Erik Seiz provided an update and a look at the CBPOA blog. The February Final and March Draft minutes have been posted to the blog along with some conceptual posts to show how the blog can be used. The site will allow more interaction among members and provide more efficient distribution of CBPOA material. The Secretary will act as the “gate keeper” for the blog and only the directors will have the site password. Check out the blog at www.cbpoa.ca

Nominations for Executive – Another Reminder
Karen MacPherson again noted that we are looking for nominations/volunteers to take on CBPOA executive positions. Nominations for President, Vice-President and Membership Chair are required with elections held at the 2008 AGM in July. Volunteers for the Secretary and Treasurer positions are still needed. Contact any of the executives.

08.02.06: Graffiti
There was interest in finding out what would be required to clean the Crescent Beach billboard at the entrance to Crescent Beach. Malcolm Stewart will follow-up.

08.02.02: Crescent Beach Drainage Problems
Brian Lauder mentioned FYI that the City was looking at the sewer line along Bayview.

Meeting Adjournment
Motion to Adjourn at 8:45 PM: Brian Lauder
Second: Jack Traa
Motion carried

Next Meeting
Date: May 7th, 2008
Time: 7:30 PM
Place: Beecher Place

May Agenda Items: In addition to normal agenda items the following item is scheduled:
• Land Use Committee Quarterly Update

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