Planning Meeting Wednesday, September 5th, 2007

Minutes from the Wednesday, September 5th, 2007 Planning Meeting

Guest Speaker

Don Whatmough, CRD Planner, spoke about the E&N Rail/Trail. Financing is in place and plans are well underway for a black-topped commuter trail alongside the E&N Railway from downtown to close to Goldstream. Don felt confident that the trail should be complete by 2010 with some demonstration sections well before that on parts that are easy to engineer. The right of way for the railway is of generous width to allow for trail placement and additional funding has been secured for improvements to grade level crossings. Don feels the trail will stimulate development of many more recreational trails feeding into the E&N Commuter Trail. He answered question and the project was enthusiastically received by members. George expressed the Club’s thanks to Don for his presentation.

Regrets:

Tom Gore sent his apologies and in his absence George Welsh chaired the meeting. Apologies were also received from Dana Waite, Liz Williams and Chris Taggart.

Executive reports

Vice President - George Welsh:: George spoke of Tom’s attendance at a meeting concerning the Sea to Sea Blue/Green Belt. The relative lack of hikers as compared to mountain bikers at the meeting was noted and members were encouraged to express their views to Lyn Wilson, the planner in charge of this part of the project. Her contact information was posted on the overhead.; George reported on the upcoming member survey that will attempt to clarify members’ interests and help the club remain a dynamic outdoor group.; Members were reminded of the photo contest. There will be an additional category this year for larger pictures, including panoramas. It is hoped that some of the panoramas will be suitable for headers on the web-site.; George asked that any member interested in nominating someone for a lifetime membership pass the name on to an executive member. Existing "Life timers" will form a committee to review the nominations and any recommendations will be made public at the Christmas Party.
Secretary/Past President - Chris Vardy: Chris Vardy substituted for Chris Taggart as secretary. The minutes of the previous planning meeting were summarized by Chris and it was moved by Chris, seconded Leo Vezina that the minutes as summarized be approved. Motion carried.; Chris reminded members that the next meeting would include elections for the executive and members were encouraged to get involved.
Scheduler - Fred Trudell: Fred appealed for event submissions. Due to his plans for a trip the printing the schedule cannot be delayed and any late-coming events will be posted only on the web-site.
Membership - Jacquie Hunt: We have 139 members compared to 173 a year ago. Jacquie noted that membership often goes in cycles, as evidenced by comments in minutes over the years. There are 22 new members.; It was noted that the club bulk emailing facility is for club business only, not "I’ve got a house for sale" and similar topics.
Outdoor Events Co-ordinator.: George spoke for Don Ferster in his absence. It was emphasized that the Club cannot cover kayak trips for insurance reasons and club waivers should not be used for such activities.
Social Events: No Report
Publicity: No Report
Keeping Track - Barry Gaetz: Barry encourage submissions and noted that small-ads for outdoor related items can be accepted at no charge.
Treasurer - Susan Kirk: We have a total of $5706.54 in our accounts. Due to fewer members registering our income is not keeping pace with the amounts assumed when drawing up the last budget. Executive members will be discussing their projections for next year’s expenditures at the next executive meeting. It was moved by John Ward, seconded Mike Motek to accept the Treasurers Report. Motion Carried.
Web-Master - Mike Motek: Mike and Jeff Smith have been working on a new web page design. It is coming on well. Mike is also making provision for the club survey to be completed on-line.

Any Other Business.

John Ward brought up the difficulty some, particularly new, members have with hike descriptions. This centres around how to define "average" and "fast paced", one persons average not being everyone’s interpretation of the term. Discussion ensued and it was moved John Ward, seconded Russell Paige to refer the matter to the Executive. Motion carried.

The business meeting was adjourned and, thanks to Sue Ward, refreshments were enjoyed followed by the planning session. The meeting concluded soon after 9 o’clock.