President s Report Gerry Stoll Following last year s AGM, your eight Directors met five times, with the purpose of properly managing and maintaining our Easement responsibilities. Now, after having the honour of serving our members for two years, I ve witnessed how adds to our community s quality of life. Our many beach volunteers are all to be commended for the careful maintenance and attention to s unique recreation area, our most valuable physical resource. Recommend: continue with ongoing appropriate beach maintenance and continue parking/access coordination with the builders of the last two homes on 70 Kestrel. s Family Beach BBQ and Adult Pot Luck Dinner were most successful. Thanks to all for the great tasting fare and everyone who assisted and attended. You helped make these popular events shine at our beach! Recommend: repeat A most sincere thank you to our Board of Directors, who all stepped up and heartily participated in our tasks. Also, to the many volunteers who have gone out of their way to make a difference, Thank You. The value of Volunteers and Directors is incalculable. Because of their time and diligence we benefit, not just in substantial cost savings - it's become a labour of love and pride. Please support our volunteers and consider your possible contributions OR run for a Board position. and the community need your help! Finally, I want to mention what a joy it has been to meet our members and neighbours who create one of the best places to live. How lucky we are. 1
Resource Report Larry Shaw Beach Area New safety improvements were undertaken this past year: The welded handrail along with the paved path on the ramp has made it safer to access the beach for all ages and is wheelchair friendly. The asphalt curb on the path has done an excellent job of diverting water and preventing rutting. Early this spring a new chain link fence has been installed along the north parking area to provide a safety barrier. This is a welcome addition to the many safety features of our community facilities. The entire swim area has been encircled with a safety rope with 43 horizontal 6" x 10" floating buoys attached and joined to the upright swim buoys. This is proving to be a very effective barrier to deter boats, and protect our swimmers. New signs have been posted: "No stand up paddle boards or kayaks" in the swim area. These new signs are at the top of the ramp and on the swim dock. Separation of swimmers from watercraft is key for the safety of swimmers. For fire safety during the summer season, a 5 lb. fire extinguisher has been installed on the concrete wall in the men s washroom. There is a red sign on the exterior of the door stating "fire extinguisher" and every member has the code to access the washroom. On the front and sides of the boat dock, yellow reflective strips (highway quality) have been installed so boats can safely access the dock at night. There was no damage to any of our facilities, over the winter. The swim platform will go back in the water on or about May 1 and the washrooms will be open on May 11/2015 for the season. The gravel parking lot will be regraded, lines marked, and be open for May 1. 2
Several maintenance items were also carried out: The lines on all the paved parking areas were refreshed. The wooden swim and boat dock were prepped and stained with a new product that is waterproof and is not slippery. Additional rocks added to the sides of the boat ramp to prevent erosion. Thanks to all the boat owners who "float it on and off"; it prevents erosion between our concrete planks. Minor repairs were made to the shore end of the swim dock to counter settling. Tent caterpillar nests were removed and one dead tree cut down. All other trees are healthy. Replaced broken timbers and bumpers on the boat dock and tightened all the cleats. Easement road from Peregrine Estates to the sewage plant has been cleaned, brush cut and debris removed. No incidents of vandalism or fires this past year, so everyone, thank you for your eyes, ears and voice - It's our own version of block watch. And finally, thanks to all the wonderful volunteers who contribute their time and labor to assist us at the beach. Social Report Bonnie Shillington In 2014, our Family BBQ was held on Saturday, July 26 th and we were fortunate to have beautiful sunny weather (with no wind!). Arrangements were made in early May to use the Fix It Auto Community new bbq and trailer. John van Houten picked the trailer up the day before our event and brought it to the beach early on the Saturday morning. The set up crew 3
(Craig Garratt, Gerry Stoll, John van Houten and Doug Shillington) were there early and everything was in order by 11 am. There were 3 volunteers (Connie Gryba, Wendy Garratt & myself) that prepared the food which took approximately 1 hour. We had 3 people at the food table; Connie, Wendy & Bev Buhr handing out buns and giving directions, I was on cash and Craig, John & Doug bbqing. And, of course, Larry Shaw had the beach in pristine condition as usual! We had the favourite Pinata which was organized by Carrie Greene and Danielle Lindholm manned the Sand Castle table with Carrie s two daughters assisting. Unfortunately, we didn t have games but this will be rectified in the future as the children really look forward to playing the fun games. The Adult Pot Luck was held on Thursday, August 21 st and, once again, the weather co-operated completely! On Thursday afternoon Craig & his houseguest, Gerry, John, Doug and Tony Harnett built the stage for our Minstrels and set up the canopies. Connie, Isabel and I cleaned and set up the tables. Early in the Spring, Juve Furtado and Ian Carlton volunteered their musical talents for this event and they were a roaring success. They had the community up dancing the entire evening. Gerry made arrangements with David & Carolyn Bigam (house next to the beach) to use their electricity for the musicians and the lighting. A big thank you goes out to all the community members and their guests that make this event such a success the food was absolutely delicious and such a variety! The name tags certainly helped with getting to know new neighbours and remembering old neighbours names. Website and Membership Reports Craig Garratt 4
Website Access to the website is at www.leca-vernon.ca. The website is your source for updates and notices of upcoming events, as well as the Newsletters. Your feedback regarding the website is encouraged and appreciated by sending an email to: info@leca-vernon.ca. Membership For the 2014/2015 season, the Association received membership fees from 210 Members. The support of these Members is appreciated and key to meeting the role of the Association. The Association has many projects waiting to be funded, with the focus, of course, being on the beach facilities. We encourage all Members to share your experience as a Member with your neighbours who have not yet joined, hopefully encouraging them to join the Association. Many of your neighbours volunteer in various capacities to ensure that the objectives of the Association are implemented and meet the expectations of the Members. We thank the volunteers, and we are always looking for more helping hands. Our Members are not only active in the area of our beach facilities, but also in community liaison. Members of the community were instrumental in the project to have barriers installed on Tronson Road, and of course the recently announced City Park in the CLE area. If you have an interest in the work of the Association, be it community liaison or beach assets, your involvement with the workings of the Association is welcomed. Anyone in the community interested in joining the Association is encouraged to contact via the Membership tab on the website, or sending an email to: info@leca-vernon.ca. Communications Report Gerry Stoll 5
This year, published five Newsletters shortly after each Directors Meeting, fulfilling our duties to the Members. Our Newsletters are published by the Board and distributed primarily through emails. The web page is at www.leca-vernon.ca. Thank you to our members that report incidents to us that help the community respond, ie. Bear Alerts Recommend: continued electronic communications improvements. As per last September s Newsletter, it has been announced that the City has purchased property (near the Deer Park Restaurant) for a Neighbourhood Park. Again, thanks to plenty of volunteer lobbying, this is now on the City Parks Master Plan. Per the City Parks Master Plan Short Term (1-3 years), to Develop a park design and development plan for the Canadian Lakeview Estates Park (CLD Park). That in the Medium Term (4-6 years), to have Project Construction and complete CLD Phase 1 improvements (see page 65 $80,000) on 1.2051 hectares. Please go to www.vernon.ca/parks Master Plan for more information. In the Short Term everyone at Canadian Lakeview Estates will receive a letter asking for park feedback, input, and a reply. This information will be condensed by the Park Planning office and then the Community be asked to attend a town hall meeting for further discussions on purposes and naming of the new park. Last year, I reported (City of Vernon) Council directed the Fire Chief to provide a comprehensive Fire Rescue Emergency Response Policy for consideration by City of Vernon Council in August 2014. As of March, 2015, I have not been notified of this Policy being reported to City of Vernon Council. 6