CBPOA June 1st, 2016 – Quarterly
General Meeting Final Minutes
Beecher
Place
Present:
Erik, Malcolm, Mark, Bruce, Carolyn, Art, Derrick
Apologies: Liz, David
1) Call to order 7:32PM
2) Presentation Carrie
Barron, Jeff Welch, City of Surrey Engineering, Owen Croy, Manager of Parks.
Carrie outlined the March 2016 event, where residences along
the dyke and Beecher Place suffered flooding. Waves coming in one way and the wind coming from
a different direction created wave splash-up over the dyke. The incoming water
from wave splash-up then exceeded the capacity of the installed drainage
system, resulting in the flooding of adjacent properties. This concurred with residents’
observations at the time of the occurrence.
Three preventative options are being considered to protect
the residences along the dyke and Carrie requested community thoughts on the
proposals.
Option 1) Construct a grass/landscaped berm,
450mm (18 inches) high, between the path and the residences, along with a grass
swale, (rounded channel), to
capture and drain any future wave splash-up.
Option2) Supplement option 1 by
installing temporary, removable, 2 foot high, “Muscle Walls”, (interlocking
water filled plastic barriers), on top of the dyke. The Muscle Walls would be
installed in the Fall and remain in place until the storm season is over in
late March.
Option 3) Supplement option 1) by installing 4
foot high Muscle Walls on top of the dyke.
It is proposed to protect the City property, Beecher Place,
by installing a pleasingly cast concrete sit wall in a curved design, in front
of the building.
Re-grading of the path in some areas and more frequent
inspection and maintenance of the installed drainage system will also be
carried out.
It was noted that any consideration to locally raise the dyke
must wait for the outcome of the regional study of the potential effects of sea
level rise.
Following questions and answers, the members present, by way
of a show of hands, overwhelmingly supported option 1), installing a berm and a
swale. This was based on viewed effectiveness, professional opinion and
maintaining the aesthetic appeal of the beach.
Carrie also confirmed that the Gordon St. drainage is being
built this year. It will be in the same trench as the existing.
The meeting enthusiastically thanked the City Staff for their
work and presentation with a round of applause.
3) Approval of the March 2nd,
2016, Quarterly General Meeting daft minutes.
Proposed Bob, seconded Carolyn, all in favour.
4) Business arising from the
minutes. None.
5) Directors’ Reports. Membership. Will start canvassing
in about a month when those who come to the beach for the summer are present.
Have a wonderful group of canvassers, would be wonderful to have a couple more
and new blood is always welcome. Do a final pass in the September - October
period when those who have been away for the summer return. In answer to a
question, Bruce indicated he would post which streets require canvassers when
this becomes apparent and indicated he could find a street for anyone wishing
to volunteer. It’s a great way to meet and chat with your neighbours.
6) Correspondence. None to report. There are a
couple of events that will be happening:
Sunday July, 24th. Stand Up Paddle Races at
Blackie Spit Park, in support of the Surrey Hospital and Outpatient Centre
Foundation. Contact, Devon Douglas, e-mail: Championofthecrescent@evoque.ca
Saturday September 10th. Head of the River
Regatta. Hosted by the Nicomekl Rowing Club. Rowers will come down river and
around Blackie Spit.
7) Activities and Actions
since the March Meeting.
7.1) Whistle Cessation. Malcolm reported that in late 2014
the “At Grade Rail Crossing Regulations” were revised. As part of this,
Transport Canada was put in the position to mediate between the City and BNSF
and if necessary arbitrate. The City then resubmitted their proposal on whistle
cessation to BNSF and since 2015 progress has been made. There is now the
expectation that the City, at some point, will be in the position to disclose
what has been agreed with BNSF and Transport Canada. There will be two meetings, one with the community at
large and one with the CBPOA to communicate what is being proposed for the
infrastructure needed to support whistle cessation. For example, there will
have to be fences to prevent access and there is some discussion on exactly
where the fences will be located.
In answer to a question Malcolm responded that, with respect
to emergency access there are now cameras installed at both crossings and we have
excellent monitoring and data collection capability. If a 911 call comes in, a
stop train call/order goes to BNSF to stop any train that is approaching the
crossing. Where a train is at the crossings it should clear within the
emergency response time. Should there be a stopped train at the crossings this
must be decoupled within 8 minutes. Managing situations should be more readily
achieved now we have the monitoring in place.
7.2) Traffic calming meeting. Mark reported on a meeting with
City Transportation, City Planning and Councillor Judy Villeneuve on May 3rd. The meeting was requested by Councillor
Villeneuve. City staff gave updates on speed monitoring and how comprehensive
the installation of speed bumps throughout the village would need to be. Other options
may be worth considering, for example mini roundabouts and one is being planned
for this summer as a trial.
A request was made from the floor for temporary calming to be
considered on Gilley, (where the number of vehicles speeding between Dunsmuir
and McBride has increased). Malcolm will touch base with the City with this
request.
7.3) Art, as the CBPOA liaison with Law Enforcement, reported that Block Watch is really
catching on and working in Crescent Beach. The Block Watch Captains are talking
to each other. About one third of the community streets are participating and
Art encouraged more people to join up. From the floor, one Block Watch
co-captain commented that the troubles with car thefts and break-ins
experienced last year are not happening this year.
7.4) Garbage collection on the beach. The City has stepped up
collection to 2 times per week with youth teams carrying out garbage collection
on the beach in the evenings. Surrey also has an App for graffiti and garbage.
Take a picture and send it in. There is a move to install special recycle bins
as a pilot program.
7.5) Bus schedule. Some months ago, Tanslink made some
suggestions to change the bus schedule for Crescent Beach. In the face of
objections to the proposals they will do more consultation and the bus schedule
will remain unchanged for the present.
8) Call for interest in
Director positions. The positions
of President, Vice President and Membership are up for election at the
September AGM.
Mark outlined the time commitments, which are generally not
onerous, and encouraged people to consider expressing interest in putting their
names forward by contacting him.
9) Streamlining Meeting
Efficiency. At issue is a need to ensure motions brought forward are clear,
there is sufficient information to make an informed decision and there is
generally broad member support for a motion. With this in mind, new motions unrelated to the business at
hand should be put out to the Directors and published in advance of the
Quarterly General Meeting along with supporting information and an indication
that there is general support. The proposed motion would be provided in the
meeting reminder notice.
Following some push back from the floor, it was reaffirmed
that this is not intended to prevent new ideas, suggestions and issues coming
from the floor during the meetings. There just needs to be that balance between
spontaneity and articulating a critical issue correctly for everyone to
understand.
10)Land Use Plan Review. The
first meeting with the community was shown in the schedule as occurring in May.
What has happened is that the City has had an internal meeting looking at the
major issues such as parking, transportation and flooding.
11)Beautification Project at
McBride Crossing. The City has
beautification grants available.
The CBPOA applied and was successful in being awarded a grant to clean
up and beautify the road junction area near the McBride Crossing. Mark thanked
all the volunteers who worked to greatly improve this location.
12)Camp Alexandra
Future. The Directors at
Camp Alexandra are asking for our ideas about the future for the facilities.
They are asking us to be bold, creative and think 10 years ahead. It should be
noted that doing nothing is not an alternative given the age of the facilities.
What do we want to see for this location in the centre of the village in the
years 2025 +?
Ideas can be given to any Director of Camp Alexandra or sent via
e-mail to:
13)New Business. A concern was brought up
regarding the visibility problem with the traffic control sign going north from
Target onto O’Hara Lane. Malcolm
will send a picture to the City on the ap.
14)Motion to adjourn: Proposed Mark Seconded Gail.
Meeting adjourned at 9:42 pm.
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