Field Recreation Advisory Association Town Hall Meeting October 2, 2017

Field Recreation and Advisory Association
Town Hall Meeting – Monday October 2, 2017

In attendance: Lloyd Lafrance, Sophie Cais, Karla Gaffney, Brenda Selkirk, Dave Selkirk, Helen Barry, Ryan Cameron, Lorraine Zirke, Bill, Travis Moir, Marthe Boissonnault, Sally Watson, Kathryn Cameron

1. FRAA Report
Summer Recap:
• Hall flowers: Thanks for making and maintaining the Community Hall flower baskets and planters Sally. Beautiful job. We still owe Kim for the flowers she supplied. Sally to ask for invoice and pay the bill. Generally, plants cost around $200 annually. Daily watering and deadheading is a volunteer job.
• Canada Day: Major fun event as always! Torah and her family, Thomas and Axel won Super Soakers for the Water Balloon Pick-up Contest. Great job! They filled two grocery bags with spent water balloons.
• Moving On: From the FRAA Board, Desneige and Beckett have moved to Winnipeg, Claudia, Jamie, Mikayla and Sebastian have moved to Kelowna, Krista and Mr. Nixon have moved to Donald, and Kat and Jeff plan to stay in Nova Scotia. Alex, Shelley and Jack have moved to Invermere. Alex, Carmen and Alasdair have moved to Nova Scotia. Susan and Forrest have moved to Vancouver. Jim has moved to Vancouver. Thanks to all of you for your community contributions. We miss you! All the best in your new pursuits. Welcome to the two new families who have moved to Field.
• Honorarium: Discussion on donating honorarium to FRAA operating account this year. Board to make decision at next meeting.
• Leasehold improvements: Lots of work in the village this summer – landscaping, painting, drainage mitigation. Looks great.
• Welcome Estelle: Congratulations Mike and Charisse!
• Hall Rentals: Columbia Shuswap Regional District Trails Consultation; Rainbow Jaguar; Leo Keefer Wedding. Two Yoga Retreats cancelled at start of summer due to low registration and family commitments.
• Yoho Yoga: Instructor Cindy Kelly. June 28 through August 30, nine sessions. Started strong with 14, 7 stalwarts by end of summer.
• Human Bowling equipment has moved to Golden.

Fall programs: Ideas or suggestions? Please talk to one of the Board members.
• Happy Hour Yoga: Instructor Alana Jung. Started Wednesday, September 13 through October 25 (no class October 11). Poster circulated and displayed on bulletin board, entered on Calendar of Events on our website www.fieldbc.ca.

Hall Maintenance: Walk around didn’t happen, but we have identified items that need attention, specifically: shingles to be replaced on the roof of the Kubota shed, repair broken window in the change room, divots to repair in the rink surface and pickleball to pack away for winter. Parents, please let your kids know the shed roofs are out of bounds.

Transition to New Societies Act: Winter project. We have until November 2018 to complete the process.

Constitution Update: Winter project. Discussed holding a community consultation event to gather ideas. We’re in a time of transition. People are moving out of the community, and people are moving into the community. Dynamic situation. Board feels it would be really valuable to get input on what roles residents want the FRAA to fill.

BC Hydro Power Outages and the Emergency Storage Facility: Hot, dry, windy weather, extreme fire danger and CPR work on a long siding to accommodate extra long trains were big factors in the number of outages we had this summer. The Energy Storage Facility, BC Hydro’s pilot project battery back-up system based at Boulder Creek Compound, failed to initiate and required system upgrades. BC Hydro says it’s online now.

Solid Waste Cost Calculation and Billing Process: This is a closed system. If there are errors in one account, then chances are there are errors in the whole system. Parks Canada needs to follow legislated guidelines and ensure that the complete process is transparent. Specifically, volume values for each leasehold and annual operating costs are to be communicated every year after March 31. We hope to have discussion about solid waste costs and billing at the next Field Utility Board Meeting, moved from September 11 to October 19.

Catholic Church: The FRAA has asked lawyer Bruce Mackenzie to act for us on the Lease Assignment. We have agreed to purchase the building for $10 so the Catholic Church doesn’t lose its Charitable Organization status. Bruce has received the paperwork. He’ll let us know when it’s time to sign. Board is discussing next steps re: ideas, plans, grant applications and development timeline.

Facilitated Meetings with Parks Canada: Next meeting tentatively scheduled for October 23, 2017. Parks Canada has conducted a national review of Townsite Operations in the five National Park municipalities. The evaluation report and a related evaluation summary can now be found on Parks Canada’s website.

Invitation to MLA and MP to attend a Town Hall Meeting: Board discussed options. Both have hosted community coffee events to discuss issues and concerns with minimal turnout at each event. What is the best venue? Tabled to next FRAA Board Meeting. Please talk to a Board member if you have ideas or suggestions.

Annual General Meeting: November 6, 2017 is also the next Town Hall Meeting. Plan to have a community potluck supper, starting at 6:00 pm followed by the Town Hall Meeting, AGM and election at 7:00 pm.

Yoho Blow 2018: Tentatively scheduled for February 2, 3 and 4, Groundhog Day theme. Sally to ask ‘Pick Ups’ if they’re interested in playing for the dance.

2. Treasurer’s Report – Sally Watson
Please see financial report attached to the distribution email. Motion by Sophie to approve financial report as presented; seconded by Kathryn.

3. Parks Canada Reports
Townsite Manager – Marthe Boissonnault (Presenting reports from all departments)

Introduced Travis Moir, Compliance and Business Liaison Officer. Please contact Travis for townsite questions not related to lease or license of occupation: travis.moir@pc.gc.ca, 403-522-1266.

Elaine Lemieux returned to her position of Realty and Municipal Officer for Field townsite in mid-July: elaine.lemieux@pc.gc.ca, 250-343-6016.

The Lake Louise Emergency Management Draft Plan has gone to stakeholders for review. Once complete, the Field Emergency Management Plan will be updated.

Landscaping Contract was rewritten to include Parks Canada properties not currently occupied, to ensure maintenance during the summer season.

Visitor Experience Manager has been asked if Field Visitor Centre will be open for the winter season after December 31, 2017. Once a decision is made it will be communicated to residents.

Parks Canada Staff Accommodation in Field: Demolition contract to be awarded October 3, 2017 for removal of the duplex at 207 Kicking Avenue and the Doll House at 101 – 1st Avenue. Heavy equipment will be used, and work will be done during daytime. Construction of staff housing at both addresses will start in the spring of 2018. Two Boulder Creek Bunkhouse options are under consideration: fix existing structure or demolish and build new structure.

BC Hydro has contacted Parks Canada to discuss burying the power line from the park gate to Field when highway-twinning construction happens. Cathedral Mountain Lodge owners have expressed interest in having the power line go to their property from Field when highway twinning to the east happens. Residents suggested it would be an opportunity to power Kicking Horse Campground as well. Marthe suggested any questions residents have about the BC Hydro proposal be directed to BC Hydro.

Mt. Dennis Slope Stabilisation Project Update – Submitted by Dave Allen:
PCA has retained Tetra Tech since 2014 as the consulting firm on this project and have been working together since December 2016 to produce mitigation plans for the townsite of Field. This came after an updated report was issued by Tetra Tech to address the concern of debris flows within the Stephen Creek drainage system. This included updated information following an eight-month survey monitoring program and geophysical investigation. This report was sent to town council earlier in 2017.
Tetra Tech continues to perform modelling and debris flow analysis in order to quantify the extent of any local townsite mitigations. PCA expects preliminary options to be presented by Tetra Tech in November 2017 in anticipation for tentative implementation of mitigation options for the 2018 construction season. Tetra Tech also continues to monitor the slope with quarterly surveys (next one is mid-October).
David Allen joined three Tetra Tech geoscientists on a site visit late September. These members were also involved in early stages of this project when the issue was first addressed. Updated photos and findings were noted.
Anticipated questions:

1) What kind of mitigation measures might we see in Field?
Things like berming and reinforcing the town side creek bank by means of rip-rap (rock), concrete wall or lock block, and relocating/readjusting the cemetery road bridge to increase the freeboard or clearance. Other measures could include an overflow bypass on the east side of the cemetery road bridge.

2) What kind of movement on the slope was seen since the report?
The monitoring program surveys have show that the movement continues at the same rates according to the survey. Nothing has stood out in the data that has alarmed the Tetra Tech engineers.

3) What about all the trees that have fallen over on-site?
As the slope continues to creep, debris will be washed away by the creek. The slope creek and collapse of the “head scarp“ is expected and has been included in the survey data as well as updated photos sent to Tetra Tech.

4) What about maintenance to the drainage pipeline?
Parks Canada Agency continues to regularly inspect and maintain the pipeline structure. Plans are in place for this fall to complete a few housekeeping items this fall such as clearing fallen tree debris as well as patching a leak found spring 2017.

4. Friends of Yoho
It was a busy summer with Historic Walking tours twice a week from July through September, two Canada 150 Hot Dog Barbeques and two sidewalk sales at Field Visitor Centre, and A Muse Troupe’s presentation about the Kicking Horse River at Kicking Horse Campground in August. Canadian Heritage Rivers System video was a big hit! There wasn’t enough interest to have the History of the CPR weekend program this year. The ever-popular S’Mores night at Kicking Horse Campground was cancelled because of the campfire ban. Annual Pasta Supper and Silent Auction scheduled for November 17, 2017. General Manager Deb Bancroft plans to retire in April; the job will be posted.

5. Field Fire and Rescue
FFRD had its busiest summer to date with 22 call outs in July and August. Jamie Harbottle resigned as Chief to move to Kelowna for school. Patrick Cais, Deputy Chief, has taken on role of Chief until elections are held in three weeks. Captains are Doug Mostert, Dave Allen and Chris Allen. Miles Dickenson is the Engineer. One new member has completed his initial training and been issued a pager: Jerry Renaud. Congratulations Jerry! Field Fire and Rescue has an excellent, ongoing training program. New members are welcome. Meetings are held every Tuesday, 7:00 pm at the Fire Hall.

6. Round Table

Karla Gaffney: CP’s construction project to extend the Ottertail siding is almost complete. The siding will be commissioned next week. It will accommodate trains up to 14,000’ in length. Tracks in the Field yard can accommodate up to 7,000’ trains, but there are often 9,000’ and 10,000’ trains that pass through Field. The longer siding at Ottertail expected to alleviate congestion and long wait times at the crossing into Field.

Sally Watson: Thank you to Paulina Silva for the excellent work she does to clean the hall, and make sure it’s ready for the next booking.

Meeting adjourned at 8:40 pm.