Meeting of Board of Directors

April 12th, 2006

Directors Present: Henry Phillips, Linda Foubister, Janet Simpson, Dave Clark, Doris Schuh, Susan Bartol-Drinker, Frank Hess, Ethelyn McInnes-Rankin, Doreen Mueller, Wayne Poohachoff, John Weaver
Regrets: Councillor Bea Holland
Guests:, Mitchell Hammond, Lois Johnson, Lloyd Ollila

Meeting called to order at 19:02

1. Agenda: Motion to accept (as amended): (DC/SBD) Carried

2. Minutes for January: Motion to approve (DS/DC) Carried

3. Minutes for AGM: Motion to post to web site (LF/JW) Carried

4. Minutes for March: defer approval to next month

DISCUSSION clarify the process – resolved that secretary can circulate the draft minutes one week prior to the next board meeting. If the agenda is posted on the web, the membership may choose to attend and/or make a representation to the board. In the past we have limited invited presentations to one per meeting, before regular business.
ACTION HP and JW will propose a process for consideration at our next board meeting

5. New Business
• New meeting place, in anticipation of increased attendance. Neighbourhood Churches and Fairfield Community Centre have appropriate rooms. HP proposes a trial and keep the location constant. DISCUSSION – divided opinions on the need and desirability of a larger space. Motion (HP/DS) that the board try moving to the Truth Centre for the next two meetings. Carried DISCUSSION: cost – roughly $50/evening , subject to availability. Retain the Cottage for that time, and re-evaluate in time for September meeting.
• Legal liability of community boards- feedback from recent workshop. If a board carries out its business in a professional, business-like manner, without personalizing, it can't go far wrong. SLAP suits are not looked upon favourably by the courts. Guidelines: be polite, honest, avoiding conflict of interest. Focus on the issue, not the person. The truth is your ally.
• 7 PM start continue for now
• Observers: Propose a standing agenda item for observer presentations and questions at the beginning of the meeting.
• Board Strategic Plan: suggest each committee review the 04 and 05 strategies, and propose their body of work for the coming year. This can be the basis for discussion and roll-up into a workplan for the Board. ACTION – post the two plans to the web and encourage board directors and committee members to review them with comments to HP before May board meeting. Include measurables where appropriate, to capture accomplishments. WP suggested that some of the long-serving board members provide a summary of the previous plan and accomplishments.
• Grant applications. Base Grant - LF will give example from last year to HP. Matching Grants - Greenways – tree inventory given the new preservation bylaw. Remote sensing, streetside survey resulting in a publication of "Trees of Rockland", JS will propose a matching grant for the salvage and distribution of native plants with the neighbourhood.
• Community Development focus for preparation of information in support of revisions to the Rockland Plan. Application forms are available on the City (community development page) web site; due date is May 1st.
• Adopt-a-pole - Patrick O'Reilly is the contact for paint and stencil

6. Correspondence
There was a variety of information from City Hall, FOGH, Craigdarroch Annual Report, etc. In future, HP will bring that material to circulate during the board.

7. Business arising from minutes
a. Resolutions from the AGM
i. General information meeting – CALUC procedures
Concern with the proposed CALUC process – at what point is the development proposal sufficiently changed to require resubmission to the neighbourhood association? The issue is that once a preliminary proposal gets neighbours' comments the proposal can get changed, and iterate back and forth between the developer, planners and council without benefit of subsequent input from neighbours.
ii. Access to member list - board members seek access to complete member list for the purpose calling extraordinary meetings. The “Freedom of information and privacy act” requires that members give explicit permission to do this. Must have a statement that "Information is being collected for these purposes", and state those purposes. Could use checkboxes – release my name, my phone number, my address, my email address. ACTION: LF and HP will develop a proposal to add a statement to next year's membership forms for the board's consideration.
iii. Feedback on Secondary Suites proposal - City has solicited feedback through a consultant. JS attended a focus group. Debate on issues – realtors vs community representatives. Potential impacts to the community include infrastructure costs not recovered; threat of entire block teardowns in favour of pseudo-duplexes; no requirement for owner resident.

8. Committee Reports
b. Volunteers (lumped with membership – only need to maintain the list).
c. Communications DH remains webmaster; CS keeps on with listserve; An alternative to password-protected areas for director communication is a hidden but unsecured sub page of rockland.bc.ca All media releases must be approved by the president,
d. Membership and Welcome EMR, with assistance from SBD membership and welcome.
e. Newsletter - LF volunteered to be editor. Members not on email address list will be mailed 2 copies and asked to distribute the second copy to a neighbour; others get newsletter through email. Moss Rocks Review next edition is May, with a deadline of April 25th. $225 per half page, $350 per full page. – Publish the names of all board members, committees, and lure interested parties to the web site for more information. Motion: (LF/JW) that the RNA take out a half page ad with directors, meeting schedule, upcoming event(s), recent actions Carried.
f. CALUC – (DM) Allison looking for feedback on the CALUC procedures that were ratified in February or March.
g. Welcome - any new residents moved in? 2 packages were delivered
h. Notices: Last three weeks of July Government House is sponsoring music on the lawn. Tatoo on August 6th. Woodlands are now open to the public
i. CAN, Traffic and Safety, Garden, no reports.
j. Land Use (zoning) – meeting of Land Use Committee widely attended. ToR for both committees discussed and will be circulated prior to next board meeting. Committee of the Whole reviewed the proposed development of 1322 Rockland. 6 councillors (two were absent) evenly split with Mayor casting deciding vote. Written transcript of resolution wording not yet available. LUC seeks a proactive approach – setting out the RNA position re: principles, key issues, consistent with the RN Plan. A draft letter was distributed to the Board for consideration addressed to Mayor and Council, cc planning and Wei Tu. Motion (HP/DC)  That the board approve the general tone and intent of the letter; that directors give their feedback directly to the land use committee and that the final letter go forth without final approval of the board. Carried.
k. Land Use (strategy) ACTION directors consider the work plan and give feedback on priorities. Review ToR for approval next meeting Visioning meeting for downtown – sought feedback on boundaries, without clear vision or ToR, or intent, or background information. Reconvened on April 10th, as focus group, and letter was sent to Planning, with a message that the Public involvement process is flawed.

9. Date and time of next meeting
May 10th, 2006 at 7:00 pm at the Truth Centre (smaller meeting room on Pentrelew side)

10. Close of meeting -
Motion: To adjourn (DC/CS) Carried

Meeting adjourned at 22:40