BROADMEAD AREA RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION

Annual General Meeting (AGM) Minutes

April 21, 2016, Gateway Baptist Church

  1. Meeting called to order at 7:35 PM.

Bob Isbister, President, welcomed all those present to the meeting.

  1. A quorum was established.43 people were in attendance.
  2. 2015 Minutes

A motion was made to accept the April 16, 2015 minutes as posted on the BARA website.

Lorie Bradley / Kat Bellamano

  1. Financial statement ending December 31, 2015

Neil MacLean, Treasurer, reviewed the financial reports for 2015. He reported that membership numbers are fairly stable, although membership income has declined slightly compared to the previous year. This is due to more people taking out multi-year memberships. The contingency fund (in the event that BARA needs to take legal action to enforce a covenant) is $21,472.

A motion was made to accept the 2015 financial statement. Neil MacLean / Kat Bellamano

  1. 2016 Proposed budget

Neil MacLean reviewed the proposed budget for 2016.A motion was made to accept the 2016 budget.Neil MacLean / Bob Isbister

  1. President’s Report
  2. Covenants: In the absence of Doug Baer, chair of the Covenant Management committee, Dennis Abbott presented the report. He outlined the way in which the committee deals with complaints, with two committee members usually visiting the home about which a complaint has been received. Often, educating the homeowner about the covenants and neighbourhood concerns resolves the issue. Sixty nine complaints were investigated in 2015 with parking and suites as the most frequent concerns. This past year, Nancy Craig has been diligent about requesting the removal of signs placed by trades while working at homes; there were 28 signs removed.

Saanich is involved in situations where there is a bylaw infraction, such as illegal suites.

Dennis also outlined the work of the graffiti removal committee. Forty tags (all by the same person) were removed in the first six months of 2015, and there were no issues with graffiti for the last six months.

  1. Database

Over the past year, BARA has established a detailed database with each property listed by address along with the legal notation of the building scheme and restrictive covenant (if available) for each property. This is a huge step forward in organizing the work of the Covenant Management committee and will be a real benefit for future tasks.

  1. Saanich Community Association Network (SCAN)

BARA sends a representative (currently: Sophie Siebert) to SCAN meetings, held monthly. It is an excellent way of connecting with other community associations and with the municipality. Most of the other community associations are dealing with development and redevelopment issues, which is not the case in Broadmead, but there are other common issues.

  1. Marketing review

BARA is currently reviewing all of its marketing tools (website, newsletter, Community Day, etc.) to determine if there are ways to make these tools more effective at informing residents of Broadmead about relevant issues. New technologies such as Facebook need to be considered as a part of this review. Bob Isbister recognized the contribution of Vicki Hughes-Romero for her efforts in maintaining the website.

  1. Community Day

BARA’s Community Day is held the first Sunday after Labour Day at Broadmead Village. This year it will take place on September 11, 2016. Community Day grows each year and is an opportunity to celebrate the Broadmead community.

  1. Members’ Forum
  2. Street signage

A comment was made about street signs and how difficult they can be to locate. Bob Isbister said this is an item which can be raised with Saanich as it is a municipal responsibility.

Regarding other signage issues, BARA initiated the painting and refreshing of some of the signs which are unique to Broadmead (“Welcome to Broadmead, “Rithetwood,” etc.). As well, this year there was a concerted effort to ask trades folks to comply with the covenants by removing any signage which they may have placed during a project.

  1. Reservoir reconstruction

A question was asked about the rebuild of the reservoir. It was stated that, while this project was very noisy, the reservoir is now seismically updated.

  1. Boulevard maintenance along Royal Oak Dr.

A speaker commented that there are areas along the sidewalks on Royal Oak Dr. that are poorly maintained. This is a responsibility of Saanich Parks and often a phone call to Saanich results in increased maintenance. The traffic islands in the middle of the street receive more routine maintenance.

  1. Unkempt properties

A concern was expressed about some unkempt properties. Bob Isbister responded that, upon receiving a complaint from a neighbour, BARA representatives will visit the homeowner to encourage compliance with neighbourhood norms and expectations. Sometimes Saanich is involved in achieving compliance.

  1. Membership bylaw change

At last year’s AGM, a change was made to the Membership bylaw (Section 22(1)) which included the statement “Annual membership fees for individual households, organizations and businesses will be set at $15 per year”.

Rather than require a bylaw change each time a dues increase is considered, the BARA Board would like to have this statement deleted. Section 6 (1) which states “any changes to the annual membership dues must be approved at the annual general meeting of the society” remains unchanged.

A motion was made to delete the statement “Annual membership fees for individual households, organizations and business will be set at $15 per year.” Bob Isbister / Bruce More

  1. Recognition of BARA volunteers
  2. Michael Carson

Michael has worked many years for the Broadmead community, most recently with the graffiti removal committee. Graffiti is something not thought about when it isn’t there, but can be a source of visual clutter when it is present. Michael has been instrumental in removing graffiti and, therefore, discouraging future “tagging.”

  1. Kat Bellamano

Kat has taken on a large role as a member of the Board in understanding and dealing with covenant issues. In addition, she served for a year as the BARA president. Her input at Board meetings will be missed.

  1. Sulo Saravanabawan

Sulo has worked tirelessly as a Board member on behalf of BARA, primarily in the establishment and ongoing success of BARA’s Community Day. She has been exceptional in her ability to encourage donations and involvement by businesses in Community Day.

  1. Ann Wilson

Ann Wilson had a short tenure as a Board member but contributed hugely to BARA, primarily in the organization of a database including building scheme and covenant details for each property in Broadmead.

  1. Chin Yuen

Chin has been an effective voice at the BARA Board. She has also been very involved in the production and distribution of BARA’s season’s greeting cards.

  1. Election of 2015 – 2016 Board members

A slate of 14 candidates was put forward by Gayle MacLean. The Board members are:

Dennis AbbottDoug Baer Lorie BradleyNancy Craig

Komal DoddJulian Dunster Don GambleVicki Hughes-Romero

Bob IsbisterEleanor James

Neil MacLeanWayne Neumann

Sophie Siebert

Bonny Stedman

  1. Meeting termination

The 2016 BARA AGM was completed at 8:20 PM.

  1. Guest speaker

Bob Isbister introduced Susan Brice, Saanich councillor, who presented a talk entitled: “Saanich Council, An Insider’s Point of View.” Following her presentation, Susan answered questions from the audience.

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