Hillcrest Community Association: Annual General Meeting Transportation Museum November 6, 2013 Meeting Chairperson: Jean- Paul Molgat Call to Order & Approval of Agenda: Jean-Paul called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. Motion: Arla Repka moved that the agenda be accepted as presented with two corrections in dates. Cindy Breitkreutz seconded. Motion Carried. Members present: Eighteen HCA members/community people were present. In addition we had several guests. Guests and Board Members: Guests: Premier Darrell Pasloski, MLA for Mountainview (includes Hillcrest); Jonas Smith, Executive Assistant to the Premier; Betty Irwin (Whitehorse City Councillor); Board Members: Jean-Paul Molgat, President; Kathryn Secord, Secretary & Communications; Jim Gilpin, Director; Heather Swystun, Director. Introduction of Guests: Jean-Paul introduced and welcomed our guests. There were a few changes in the order of the agenda due to technical difficulties. Jane Koepke s presentation was moved until later in the agenda. Local Improvements Update: We were hoping that Wayne Tuck, City Engineer, would be able to come to the AGM to give the membership a sense of where things stand. Wayne was unable to come and did send us an email on Monday this week. The email is attached in the appendix. (See Appendix 2). In April, we received the final draft of the pre-design. At the charrette, there was talk of more meetings to answer some of the questions about this pre-design related to the surface structures, and also, there were a few who had some specific questions about the water and sewer. In June, Jim and Kat met with Wayne from Engineering and Erica from Planning to talk about getting these meetings planned. It looked like this would be possible in the early Fall. No meetings have happened. HCA Board did send a note to Mayor and Council last week (November 1 st ) to push towards getting back on track with the Local Improvement process. (See Appendix 1). The concerns expressed at the AGM included: There is no road map now of exactly how long this will be before we get to a vote. Possibly next Fall; possibly longer? All we know is that there is a delay. As time move on, rates continue to increase. Can we get the rates settled at the current rate so if there is a delay, we are not penalized for the delay that seems to be related to City resources.
Trails Presentation: Jane Koepke, Trails Consultant, gave a slide show presentation on some of the trail work that has been happening in the City of Whitehorse. The guiding document of this process in the City Trail Plan of 2007. There are over 700 km of trails in Whitehorse in a variety of conditions used by a variety of users. The City is working at upgrading and maintaining some of these trails. The guidelines include diversity, accessibility, sustainability and inclusiveness. Some of the improvements include on-the-ground work, signage, and the removal of rogue or unsafe structures. Safety, quality, and beauty are part of the design approaches. Working with other landowners in the area is also a consideration. In our area, there are land pockets that are designated as KDFN lands. Building partnerships and stewardship with users and communities is also important. Jane also reviewed the Above the Airport Task Force from last Fall and the resulting map. The idea was to select some of the trails in this area and get them designated City Trails for upgrades and maintenance. There has been some work over near Mt. McIntyre both this summer and last summer. This year s work included a rather challenging job to create a crossing of the ravine area near the Porcupine Ridge Trail and the Copper Ski Trail. (It is accessible from the greenspace area near Ironhorse and North Star in Copper Ridge). Jane indicated that Hillcrest can be on the agenda for next summer s trail work. The City would like the community to take the lead on what work would be the priority. Paddy s Pond is a cherished area, but a challenging one. The water seems to be still rising. The HCA trails committee will be looking at some of these items in preparation for some trail work next summer. Perhaps some of our money can be forwarded in this direction as well. Approval of Minutes of 2012 AGM: The minutes were handed out prior to the start of the meeting for all to review. (See Appendix 3). Motion: Heather Swystyn moved to accept the Minutes of the 2012 HCA AGM. Jim Gilpin seconded. Motion carried. Financial Report 2013: The Financial Report includes the Income Statement and Balance Sheet. (See Appendix 4). Financial Report: October 31, 2012 Balance= $14,686.68. Last year s balance was $8,454.22. We seemed to have several items where all the cheques arrived and were deposited during this fiscal year. This lead to a net income of $6,232.58. This included a donation from the group who used the rink for a commercial, 2 City Clean up cheques for 2 separate years, FireSmart, and a GST rebate. Our expenses were fairly straightforward. For a non-profit society, we certainly have a rather flush bank account going into this fiscal year. Perhaps the membership will share some ideas with the new Board related to spending some of these funds. We discussed having an audit one of these years. One suggestion was to consider a financial review. This is cheaper, but it does give an outside perspective. Motion: Kat Secord moved to accept the Treasurer s Financial Report for the year ending October 31, 2013. Lorraine Hoyt seconded. Motion carried. Motion: Jan Brault moved to waive the need for a financial audit for year ending October 31, 2013. Doug Davidge seconded. Motion carried. 2
Other Reports: President s Report: (See Appendix 5). Jean-Paul Molgat reviewed the key points from the President s Report. The main topics included: The re-zoning and triplexes on Hillcrest Drive; The Neighbourhood Plan; Local improvements process (infrastructure); Tank Farm work and YESAB process; The proposal for a trail to join Norseman Drive and the Around the Airport Trail; A sign for the air brake restrictions for big trucks going along this section of the Alaska Highway; Wood smoke health concerns; A new Little Free Library in Hillcrest. And a resignation. Thank you Jean-Paul for your hard work for Hillcrest! MLA s Report: Darrell Pasloski, our Premier and MLA for our area, spoke to a few issues where we had lobbied his office. First of all he passed on thanks to Jean-Paul for all of his work and dedication to Hillcrest. One of the issues related to the proposed connection of a trail to the Around the Airport Trail is the future change to the Alaska Highway. The highway corridor planning for the section between the Klondike Highway South and the Klondike Highway North is due to begin this month. This is the first stage of this process and is related to the functional aspects of the highway and the technical planning. Mr. Pasloski has asked that our association is included in this first phase. The second phase is related to the socio-economical portion of the highway. The public input phase is projected to be in May and June. The results should be coming out in the Fall. At that point, they will look at the different sections of this corridor and prioritize what sections will be one when and in what order. The request for a bigger sign for the Alaska highway has gone to the Minister of Highways and Public Works. This sign would warn drivers of the big trucks that they are in a residential area and not to use their Jacob s Brakes. Trails Report: (See Appendix 6). The trails report was included in the AGM package. Heather reviewed the information in the report. These items included: The Above the Airport Taskforce last Fall and the Hillcrest involvement; A Walk about Paddy s Pond and a proposed bypass trail due to the effects of rising water; The results of the Trails Names survey; The Good Neighbour Pass. The walking lobby by Peter Long. The Good Neighbour Pass is related to a potential fee by the Ski Club. At this point, it is unclear as to if the fee has been postponed for this year entirely or postponed only for the crossings of City Trails and Ski Trails in the Copper Ridge area (where the new trail work was done this year). This item needs to be clarified. HCA will post updates around this on the website. 3
Motions from the Floor: Motion: I, Sheilagh Carberry, move that the Hillcrest Community Executive take the matter of the integrity of Hillcrest into consideration when addressing the City on related matters. Components of the community integrity include: 1. Consider the understanding, which has existed between the City of Whitehorse and the residents of Hillcrest for well over 30 years, of protecting and maintaining the physical integrity of Hillcrest through the maintenance and protection of the greenbelts around the Neighbourhood. 2. Restricting the road connections into the community to Hillcrest Drive and Roundel Road via the Alaska Highway. 3. Maintain the existing access route linking Hillcrest Drive to Thompson Road as a fire route only. Heather Swystun seconded the motion. Motion carried. Election of Officers: The following Board Members have agreed to stay in their positions: Secretary: Kat Secord Director: Peter Long Director: Heather Swystun Director: Jim Gilpin Jean-Paul Molgat has stepped down as president. Jen Whipple and Kevin Rumsey have also left the Board this year. Thank you all for your support! Thank you for you several years of involvement Jean- Paul! The following Hillcrest residents have agreed to have their name stand for consideration: Jan Brault Jan was acclaimed. At the first Board meeting, the Board will determine who will take on the roles of President and Treasurer. We will put out a call to the membership to see if there are other residents who are interested in joining the Board. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m. 4
Appendices: Appendix 1 Letter from HCA to City of Whse, Nov. 1, 2013 (re: Local Improvements) Appendix 2 Email from Wayne Tuck, Nov. 4, 3013 Appendix 3 Draft Minutes of AGM Nov. 7, 2012 Appendix 4 Financial Report, Oct. 31, 2013 Appendix 5 President s Report 2013 Appendix 6 Trail Report 2013 5