Tuesday, June 13, 2017

CBPOA June 7th, 2017 Quarterly General Final Meeting Minutes



Directors present: Andrew, Ed (acting secretary), Liz & Rona.  

1)      Call to order at 7:30 pm

2)      Presentations: 

Sullivan St. Sport Court – Hugh Norris (City of Surrey) Parks Facility Operations Manager was on hand to provide a report. Some trees have been removed on private property. Trimming is now to be done on the inside of the court. Plans are to remove the surface, fix the chain link fencing and install a new frontage which will be more aesthetically pleasing. The front fence will be moved in one meter to line up with the property to the south. There will be a little more space for parking. The beautification project will spruce up the front. The resurfaced court will be textured such as a tennis court, with lines for ball hockey, basketball and pickle ball. One basketball hoop will be replaced. A concern was raised regarding possible rough use by skateboards. While there is no timeline the work is expected to be completed over the summer (depending on the availability of contractors). Hugh was thanked with a round of applause by the members.

Crescent Beach Swim Club – Bob Armstrong (President) spoke about the club. It is 99 years old this summer. About 50% of the membership is local. Begun in 1918, it is the oldest summer swimming club in BC. Next year there will be a 100th anniversary celebration. CBSC is an eight week activity (July & August) with about 1900 people participating. Activities include Swimming, tennis, sailing, paddle-boarding, lifesaving, water polo, synchronized swimming and lifesaving among other things. Next year the club plans to produce a large coffee table book and hold a reunion week at Camp A. CBSC has a remarkably small operating budget as it relies on ninety volunteer positions. Its staff of sixty is made up almost entirely of teens. Concern from the floor about the danger to children on bicycles with cars speeding on the roads (especially on Sullivan and McBride). CBSC encourages parents to drive on main roads and children to ride on the side streets.

3)      Approval of the March 1st Quarterly Meeting Minutes (Moved Rona Tepper, Seconded Bob Armstrong. All in favour)

4)      Business arising from the minutes – none.

5)      Directors Reports: 

a.      Membership Report – Bruce was absent and sent his report:

With respect to the 2017 membership canvassing campaign:
  • The canvassing will take place July through September, as usual.
  • Bruce will be providing each canvasser with a package of information and forms by the end of June.
  • We have a pretty solid team of canvassers. Thanks go to all the folks who have returned to the team for another year, and to the several new recruits.  Both the returnees and new blood are very much appreciated.
  • The one area we could use some more help is in the numbered streets and avenues in Crescent Heights.

b.      Treasurer’s Report – Liz reported figures up to April 1st:
Chequing – $6873.93
Term – $42,593.50
Total – $49,470.43

The Directors are proposing that CBPOA give a donation of $1000 once again this year to a local organization. Members are encouraged to send suggestions to Andrew (president@cbpoa.ca) by June 30, 2017. Art suggested that it is good if the donation provides something specific and visible that can include a sign indicating the support of the CBPOA.

6)      The May 15th Community Meeting on the Review of the Crescent Beach Community Development Plan, (Land Use Plan).

There was lively discussion about the issues of parking, traffic congestion and speeding (this had also come up as discussion during the report of the Crescent Beach Swim Club). Those who had not been able to attend the May 15th Community Meeting were interested to hear more about what had been presented in regard to these issues. One question from the floor regarding parking  in the village  was what options were offered to the city of surrey when the executive board met with them in late 2016 and wondered if doing nothing is a possibility. Andrew responded “yes these were discussed and the city will look at all options”. Another concern had to do with what thought has been going in to how to get traffic out of the beach when the roads are crowded. Ingress and egress is a big safety issue. Surrey traffic engineering is considering putting in a round-about at the corner of 128th and Crescent Road to speed traffic flow.

Liz noted that if people park across your driveway you can use the Surrey Request App (or phone 591-4352) to submit a service request and have the car removed deal. Some members voiced complaints about people putting their pots and gardens out in front of their home onto the parking area to restrict public parking. We were reminded that signs that say “Private Parking” are not enforceable. With regard to parking at Blackie Spit parking some wondered if Surrey could have a parking assistant at the Spit monitoring the lot, closing the gate when the lot is full, etc. As well, the parking lot could have dividers to organize the parking so that more cars can be accommodated. A number of members asked for more time at to discuss their concerns about issues related to the ongoing review of the Community Development Plan. We understand that the second of three community meetings concerning this plan is to be hosted by the City of Surrey in September. It was agreed that the October meeting of the CBPOA be a general to discuss issues raised by the Review of the Crescent Beach Community Development Plan.

7)      BC’s New Societies Act – Ed reported that all societies in British Columbia have until November 2018 to submit their constitution and by-laws for approval. In reviewing our current constitution and by-laws one small change is required. The constitution may only include information concerning the purpose of the society. All other information is to be included within the by-laws. We will move the statement governing how the CBPOA would dissolve to the by-laws. If members wish to suggest any other changes to the CBPOA by-laws they are to contact Ed (vice-president@cbpoa.ca) before June 30th, 2017. It was asked if the bylaws are posted on the CBPOA website. The CBPOA Bylaws can be found at CPBOA.ca, click on “Resources” and go to the CBPOA Societies Act.pdf.

8)       Emergency Preparedness – Andrew spoke about the Surrey Emergency Program, (SEP), “Neighbourhood Emergency Preparedness Toolkit”. This encourages the neighbourhood to identify the resources the community has within and ways in which we can we support one another in the case of an emergency. There is an open invitation for volunteers to take leadership in organizing locally.

9)      Whistle Cessation update – Bruce sent the following report:
  • An update from the City of Surrey:  The City has achieved agreement in principle on a lease agreement with BNSF to install the fencing along the rail line (along Bayview). 
  • There has been a delay in finalizing the agreement.  The City is currently seeking a response from BNSF and have recently spoken with Transport Canada and will be trying to get their assistance to bring this to a close as quickly as possible.
  • The City of Surrey is in a position to have the fencing and knock-down bollards on the west side of the Crescent Rd crossing installed as soon as the lease agreement is signed.  
  • Once the works are complete and approved by BNSF and Transport Canada we can initiate the process for whistle cessation.

A question was asked about how to have input on the location and type of fence. Those concerned were encouraged to be in contact with Bruce.

10)   New Business 
a.      A question was asked concerning when the new bench in front of Beecher Place will be finished (as the temporary fencing remains in place). No answer was forthcoming.

11)   Look ahead to the September AGM – Wednesday, September 6th.

12)  Motion to adjourn

a.      Moved Jim Carter, Seconded Caroline Allen. All in favour.

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