Field Recreation Advisory Association Board Meeting September 11, 2020

In Attendance: Sally Watson, Sonya Leenders, Kathryn Cameron

Excused: Paulina O’ Brien, Greg Dowman, Flint Palmer

1. FRAA Overview

            Field Utility Board (FUB): Wednesday, September 16, 2020 by conference call; Sally, Sonya and Kathryn to call in. Agenda items sent to Parks Canada Townsite Manager Tracey LeBlanc on September 8, 2020:

  • Introductions
  • Priorities of Townsite Office over the next year
  • Quarterly Report – First Quarter, April 1 to June 30, 2020
  • Honorarium: Contribution Agreement has been signed. When will the Honorarium be sent to FRAA?
  • Field Emergency Plan Update Timeline
  • Rocky Mountain School District #6 Lease surrender of Field Elementary school and FRAA License of Occupation for community use of gym
  • Yoho National Park Construction Projects Update
    • Traffic Lights on Highway 1 at Field Intersection
    • Repairs on Lake O’Hara Road
    • Status on Prescribed Burn plan for Float Creek area
  • Evaluation of Covid-19 measures on Parks Canada operations over the summer. What can Field residents expect for Parks Canada winter operations? 
  • Minutes of FUB meetings – Parks Canada responsibility.

            Town Hall Meeting: Monday September 28, 2020 at Field Community Hall in-person meeting. Estimate about 25 to 28 people can attend and meet guidelines set by British Columbia Public Health Officer and posted on the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control website: http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19. The FRAA plans to broadcast the meeting via Facebook Live or Zoom. Agenda, and details for attendance, either in-person or by remote connection, will be sent to the community email list.

Town Hall Meeting Agenda

  • Welcome and FRAA Report
  • Treasurer’s Report
  • Parks Canada Reports
    • Townsite Manager
    • Highways Manager
    • Visitor Experience
    • Resource Conservation
    • Assets
  • Friends of Yoho
  • Community Paramedic
  • Field Fire and Rescue
  • Round Table

            Programs: 

Yoga Flow with Julie will resume later this fall.

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) with Laura Penner continues on Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 7:30 pm, and self-lead on Sunday evenings from 6:30 to 7:30 pm, either outside on the rink at the Community Hall or inside at the school gymnasium if the weather or air quality are poor. Do you want to receive text message reminders and updates for HIIT? Send a message with your phone number to fieldraa@gmail.com.

If you have a proposal for an event or program, put together the plan from the perspective of health and safety (Covid-19 guidelines), risk and consequence assessment (for insurance coverage), budget, location, and communication plan. The FRAA welcomes ideas that promote health and well being in the community. 

            Financial Report: The FRAA has very few expenses, but no income right now. Discussion about fundraising options, including donations. One hall booking for weekend of September 18 to 20, but anticipate that it will not go ahead. Sally to confirm.

            Grants Report: Doing final report on $1260 grant from CSRD to promote attendance at programs promoting health and fitness. Two grants from Columbia Basin Trust Community Initiatives Program are in process: engineered drawings for the St. Joseph Project, and to establish a community gym facility. 

            St. Joseph Project: Reviewing plans for a smaller project. Community consultation planned once the new conceptual plans are firm. Now looking at construction in 2022.

            Kicking Horse Ski Club: Status quo for the upcoming season. 

2. Fall and Winter Operations in Field

The FRAA asks all businesses to let us know what winter operations will be for the upcoming season. Please send an email to fieldraa@gmail.com.

3.Annual General Meeting

Scheduled for Monday, November 16, 2020. Currently six members on the Board of Directors. Nomination papers will be in the Post Office on October 1, 2020. If you are interested in volunteering with the FRAA, please talk to one of the Board members and file your papers to be part of our tiny democratic process! Operating during a pandemic has presented challenges that we seem to manage well in our community. Offer your expertise and ideas to operate and connect in ways that keep us all safe and healthy.

4. Round Table

Kudos to everyone for making Field look so beautiful this summer! The gardens and flowers are gorgeous.

BC Hydro Energy Storage Facility kicked in during the outage on June 3, 2020 but failed to operate for three subsequent outages (August 2, August 24 and September 11). Received notice from BC Hydro that repairs have been complete and there will be test outages on September 22, 2020 to confirm the battery works. 

Field Fire and Rescue Department audit report due by the end of September.

CP Rail operations: Ongoing problems with the crossing arms, lights and signals; trains covering the crossing for extended periods of time (44 minutes just before noon on September 8); old, noisy, diesel spewing engines used for work trains left idling in the yard along Stephen Avenue for days/nights; maintenance vehicles speeding through town and in the yard (creates dust); zero communication with the community about any of these issues leaving all responsibility on residents to call the CP Police line to find out what is going on and why. FRAA will ask Parks Canada to talk to CP about how these issues can be addressed to improve quality of life in the community.

Bulletin Board: Sonya working on it.