ROCKLAND
NEIGHBOURHOOD ASSOCIATION
Minutes of the Annual General
Meeting 2014
held February 11, 2015
at the Grace Lutheran Church
1.
The meeting
was called to order at 7:36
p.m. There were 85
voting members in
attendance.
2.
Motion: To adopt the agenda. Lloyd Ollila moved;
Don Hamilton seconded; Carried
3.
Guest Speaker
Dave
Clark
introduced Roger Stephen, a research associate with the
Hyperspectral-LiDAR Research Group in the Department of
Geography, University
of Victoria. Roger
has spent much of the
past decade acquiring , processing and analyzing various types
of remotely
sensed data. A
particular interest of
his is the use of LiDAR and hyperspectral for object based tree
detection and
classification.
Roger
described
the difference between passive and active data collection. Data collection using
camera would be an
example of passive data collection.
LiDAR, an example of active collection, requires the
emission of energy
(a pulsed laser) and collects the reflected signal. LiDAR is useful as it
allows data below the
canopy to be collected.
Roger
explained
the usefulness of LiDAR in developing an inventory of the
forest. Species,
height, diameter at
breast height, tree health and physiology can be inferred from
LiDAR data.
Relevance
to
the urban forest was briefly discussed.
LiDAR provides information on how a tree is growing from
one year to the
next and how the forest is functioning.
CRD and the city of Victoria collect information from the
LiDAR
studies. LiDAR
allows lumber companies
to find large trees easily.
The
presentation
closed with a few questions from the audience.
4.
Introduced
Guests
Janet
Simpson
introduced the guests.
Councillors-Pamela
Madoff,
Ben Isitt
City
Planning-Helen
Cain
City
Engineering
and Public Works-Jas Paul
Neighbourhood
and
Community Development-Kimberley Stratford
Government
House-Jamie
Hammond
Langham
Court
Theater-Montgomery Bjornson
Greater
Victoria
Public Library-Alyssa Polinsky
Art
Gallery
of Greater Victoria-Jon Tupper
City
Parks-Julie
MacDougall
5.
Introduction
of Current Board
President,
Chair-Woodland
Garden-Janet Simpson
Vice
President,
Chair-Land Use, Chair-Social-Bob June
Secretary-Sue
Simpson
Treasurer,
Chair-Traffic-Norman
Clark
Chair-Environment-
Dave
Clark
Land
Use-
Vanessa Dingley
Ian Mayhill
Heritage-
John
Edwards
Communication-Stephen
Roughley
2015
Neighbourhood
Event-Dogmania-Marc Hunter
Janet
Simpson,
on behalf of the board, thanked Jane Wheatley for the years she
served
on the board and the Land Use Committee.
6.
Introduction
of Board Support
Webmaster-Don
Hamilton
Communication-Catherine
Spencer
Welcome-Eileen
Nurmi
Newsletter-Helen
Edwards
7.
President’s
remarks
Janet
Simpson
thanked Heather Grampp for her help at the registration desk. She also thanked the
Friends of Government
House for the use of the cottage for the board meetings.
Dave
Clark
confirmed a quorum was in attendance.
Ten percent of membership is required.
Greater than 50% of the membership was present.
8.
Motion:
To approve Minutes of Annual General Meeting, February
2014, Helen
Edwards moved; Lloyd Ollila seconded; Carried
9.
Reports
As
included in the program
Motion:
To accept reports,
Ethelyn McInnes-Rankin moved; Marc Hunter seconded; Carried
10.
Members’
Concerns
Lloyd
Ollila
had questions about the process for the Abstract development ton
Rockland, specifically about the cancellation of a meeting and
no notification
of the rescheduled meeting.
Helen
Cain
indicated that the application for that development is on hold
and that
the meeting to approve the zoning has not yet been scheduled. She also indicated
that a public meeting had
been held and that the opportunity for public input is over.
Bob
June
indicated that zoning along Rockland generally restricts height
to three
stories. However,
in the new Official
Community Plan (OCP), there are new, more liberal height and
density guidelines
along the Rockland/Oak Bay corridor. The
other Land Use chairs in Victoria are trying to meet with the
mayor and council
to ask them to allocate resources to speed the process of
aligning the OCP with
community needs through Local Area Planning.
Lawrence
Bortoluzzi
asked about the financial impact of the new stormwater
management
plan on residents.
Jas
Paul
responded that the program is designed to be revenue neutral. There will likely be
little change for the
average homeowner. The
fee will be based
on roof area and will not include the driveway.
Bessie
Ellis
expressed a number of concerns regarding the
renovation/construction of
the Art Gallery, specifically increased dust, increased traffic
and loss of
sunlight on Pentrelew Place.
Jon
Tupper
indicated that Kinetic has experience managing disruption at
construction
sites. The
construction is expected to
last 16-18 months. He
also said that all
shadows caused by a change in building height will only affect
the Art Gallery
property.
John
Weaver
asked if the RNA board has a point of view regarding
amalgamation and
will it be making a public statement given that the ballot
question received a
favourable response in the municipal election last year.
Janet
Simpson
responded that the board has not formulated a point of view on
amalgamation.
Doug
Goodall
asked if there were a neighbourhood watch group.
Janet Simpson responded that there
are several.
Lawrence
Bortoluzzi
requested that the RNA board endorse Councillor Chris Coleman
who
has stated that deer need to be managed.
He asked why the Victoria councilors are not taking
action in the same
way as Oak Bay. Janice
Drent asked if
the RNA would be willing to send a letter to mayor and council
stating our
concerns about deer. Daniel
Harper noted
that the deer do not bother him.
Janet
Simpson
indicated that the topic of deer management is part of the RNA
strategic plan. This
topic will be an
agenda item at the next board meeting.
Pamela
Madoff
indicted that deer management is on the list of the city’s
priorities. She is
in favour of deer
management and thinks a regional plan is needed.
Carl
Jongbloed
expressed concern about the encroachment of hedges onto the
sidewalks
of St. Charles.
Jas Paul suggested that he inform
Public Works of his concern.
Janet
Simpson
indicated that this topic will be an agenda item at the next
board
meeting.
John
Dingley
asked if council is addressing the proliferation of AirBnBs in
the
area.
Pamela
Madoff
responded that there are 400 AirBnbs in the region. The former council had
contacted the company
running AirBnBs to dicsuss regulation and taxation.
Marc
Hunter
indicated that he has difficulty exiting his driveway as the
yellow curb
doesn’t deter tourists since they don’t understand its
significance. He
has asked for “No Parking” signs and asked
for the status of these signs. Bessie Ellis indicated that a
similar problem
existed on Pentrelew Place, and that signage addressed the
issue.
Jas Paul will connect with Marc
after the meeting to discuss this issue further.
11.
Nominating
Committee
Lloyd
Ollila,
Chair; Eileen Nurmi, Ethelyn McInnes-Rankin
For
President,
Janet Simpson
For
Vice
President, Bob June
For
Treasurer,
Norman Clark
For
Secretary,
Sue Simpson
For
Directors
Dave
Clark
Vanessa
Dingley
Marc
Hunter
David
McWalter
Ian
Mayhill
John
Edward
Stephen
Roughley
All
by
acclamation.
12. Motion: To adjourn at 9:15
p.m., John Weaver moved;
Michael Rankin seconded; Carried
Respectfully
submitted,
Susan
Simpson,
Secretary