CPCA Board Meeting February 15, 2015, Baumback residence, 9:30 a.m.
Members present; Glen Baumback, Valerie Bracken, Garry Gray, Carleen Hamdon, Kevin Hughes, Mike Lelek, Bruce Littke, Bonnie Semeschuk, Paul Roggeman, Lori Watt
Members Absent; Brett Lamore, Jim Waddell
Garry called meeting to Order
Review and Approval of Minutes; Garry motioned to approve minutes of Nov. 16th meeting. Bonnie seconded, Carried.
Treasurer’s report; Bonnie reported that net income was $7,579 greater than budgeted due to expenses coming in less than budgeted. Some of the expense items that ran under budget were; depreciation of almost $2000 , security; $763; community events; $900, and taxes to Columere Park Dev of $751, which Bonnie is checking into with Rae’s. Revenue was $764 less than budget. The General Bank account has $15,888 and $20,516 in a GIC resulting in total available funds of $36,405.53
Web Posting of Constitution; Many thanks to Cathy and Brian McIntosh for getting our constitution posted on the website as well as our meeting minutes! All of this information is now easily accessible on the home page of the Columere Park website. Val will also be embedding the Chamber of Commerce calendar of events on the website.
Formalized complaint response/ Idea collection process; In an effort to reduce the exposure of board members to non-formalized complaints, as well as a method to capture suggestions and ideas for the C.P.C.A, Mike suggested creating a form on the website which all members can access. These forms will then be collected and summarized by a chosen board member prior to meetings to be considered for potential action. Bruce Littke volunteered to be responsible for checking responses and summarizing prior to meetings, once form is on website. Mike agreed to have form drafted for next meeting. Val agreed to post form on website following that meeting.
President’s letter content and send out; It was agreed April would be an appropriate time to mail out the Presidents letter. Included in the letter will be an agenda for the upcoming May meeting, a summary of the new idea collection process and how to access it on website, a brief summary of financials, a reiteration of dog policy, a summary regarding proposed new fence at the beach, as well as the award of annual beach contract.
Easter Egg Hunt; Norma Grace graciously agreed to put on the annual Easter egg hunt down at the beach. An amount of $75 has been budgeted for this event.
Fire Department De Fib; this item was left outstanding until next meeting as Jim was absent. He is to report findings on response time for emergencies.
Fireworks update; Great Job on the annual fireworks thanks to Kevin Hughes, Kevin Redshaw, Grant Vernon, and Omar Hajar!
Insurance Review; Paul reported that as it looks right now our insurance through the agent Palliser insurance Co. with Intact general insurance company being the underwriter, is appropriate upon review, and there are no other companies that will insure us due to the CP Rail crossing at the beach. Paul did manage to save us $50 for sewer backup that doesn’t apply and will be taken off our policy. We are currently insured for $6000 for building and $2073 for contents. Paul also confirmed there is no doubling up of premiums between Ron Rutledge and the C.P.C.A. All insurance currently taken is required. The necessity for Directors insurance was also discussed, Bonnie informed us that it is only required if payments to CRA are required, and because there are none perhaps it is not required. Paul will clarify this with the agent and report back at next meeting.
This topic gave rise to a discussion of putting tethers on paddle boards, as it is potentially dangerous if a wind came up and the boarder was knocked off the board, that boarder could be at risk of losing the board. Although lifejackets are required to be worn on the board, for safety’s sake tethers would be appropriate. Kevin and Mike agreed to look into installing these.
RDEK Dog bylaw Update; Paul was in touch with the RDEK Dog Control Bylaw Officer recently and wanted to report that the complaint process has become much simpler. Upon receiving a complaint the officer will contact the offender and give a warning followed by a 2 week probation period. It was also mentioned that it might be useful to post his name and information on the website as part of the dog policy. The Current Officer’s Name is Damien Richard (damienrichard@gmail.com) and his contact number is 250-341-7880.
Columbia Lake Stewardship Society; Garry reported that this society produces great information for owners regarding the health of the lake, their current findings show that the lake is in better shape than originally thought. They have asked the lake’s communities to make a donation to cover their costs, and the board agreed to include $100 in the budget for a donation.
Lawn Maintenance Contract; The board is happy with the upkeep provided by Kelly Bracken and don’t foresee any changes with the contract for the upcoming year, Val said she thought Kelly would be willing to provide his services again this year. The board will look for confirmation at the next meeting as well as deal with any questions regarding the contract.
CP Rail Culvert update; Garry reported that CP has replaced the culvert between the pond and marina, and this should increase the flow into the marina. There is still a bit of mess but this will be cleaned up by CP, as well Chris Rae has been cleaning things up at his own cost.
Preliminary budget; It was decided that Bonnie and Garry would meet to prepare the proposed budget, Garry wanted to cover the capital and operating items and determine with the board how to proceed;
Capital Items;
- Security fence at beach; The Board is proposing to put up a security fence at the beach, which will eliminate substantial rising security costs of $8,000 – $10,000/year, and reduce exposure to risk of losing rail crossing through increased control. It is a private beach and this is what is required to keep it private. Last year 10-13 non-member families/week were being turned away by security. As well, major problems have been arising from drinking and parties on the beach after the 11:00 p.m. closure, increasing the risk of problems at the crossing, as well incidents of vandalism. It is thought this locked fence will reduce or eliminate the need for security, as well as non-members use of the beach during the daytime, and be a deterrent to inappropriate use of the beach after 11 p.m. This item will be included in the proposed budget for the next meeting for $20,000, and if approved, this item will be included in the May meeting agenda. Garry, Bruce, Mike, Paul, Kevin and Val agreed to meet to discuss the fence project in more detail prior to next meeting.
- Dog walk stairs; $750
Operating items;
- Beach equipment repairs and maintenance; $3,000 (for sprinkler system etc.)
- Kayak/paddle board paddles; $500, we owe 4 paddles to the Rae’s, Glen and Bruce have agreed to inventory paddles and determine how many and what type are required, and will price them out.
Legacy Fund and Project; As previously suggested a new playground would cost approximately $20,000, and could be funded by a legacy fund. Val suggested including a button on the website to donate to the legacy fund. Kevin suggested announcing the idea at the AGM, this gives us time to think about how to initiate the project and propose to the community.
Dues collections via Tax assessments; To follow up on Wendy Booth’s presentation, the board has decided to request to be slated on RDEK’s agenda for next year to consider Columere park for automatic dues collections on property tax assessments, in order to facilitate the dues
collections process. Nothing can officially be moved forward in this regard until 50+1% approval from the community, this merely allows for the possibility to move forward on this item in 2016, but can easily be dropped if the community is not in favour. Carleen has agreed to contact Wendy to have Columere Park dues collections added to the RDEK agenda. This will be an item on the AGM agenda.
Other items;
The sand in playground needs to be fluffed up, this is to be included as part of beach maintenance contract.
The Board discussed the need for a sign on tennis court stipulating it is for Tennis Only, as it is being used to some degree for skateboarding and other activities. Lori said she has access to such signs and will attempt to procure one for next meeting.
Kevin requested a motion to not put the swim docks out this year as they have become a health hazard from bird droppings and shallowness for diving. Mike put a motion forward that due to safety and sanitary reasons the board has decided not to put the swim docks out for 2015, Bruce seconded, carried. Board will reconsider putting them out in 2016.
Next Meeting; Saturday April 4, 2015 at 9:30 a.m. at Val’s; 4468 Columbia View Rd.