President’s report
• Web site – www.fhca.ca

Treasurer’s report
• Financial statement – total account balance is $4482.23

Police and Security – Constable Dibblee
• Constable Chris Dibblee will be transferred to Cloverdale for 3 to 6 months starting next week then will hopefully be transferred back here. A constable will be assigned to Fraser Heights in the next week.
• Break-ins – there was a decrease in # for awhile but within the last 2 weeks, there was a spike – (5 were reported). There are 1 to 2 full time property teams working on this now. Please phone the RCMP if you see anything. Last week, people phoned in and 3 thieves were arrested in the Guildford area.
• The thieves are looking for jewelry or small electronics – things of value that are easy to carry and do not usually have ID attached to or engraved on them. Most people keep valuables in the bedroom so that is the first place the thieves go.
• 155 and 112A – there was a mugging. This is happening a lot in Guildford and Newton. The thieves are youth who hang around in groups and target other youth for their phones etc. The police suggested that children/young adults use a buddy system, don’t hang out and don’t be out late – this puts them at risk. If you/your kids know any of these thieves, please let the police know. Once a thief is identified, very rarely is there intimidation of the person who told police. If for no other reason, make the reports so that friends or family members aren’t also attacked.
• Homes robbed – alarms don’t stop homes from being broken into but thief will usually leave quickly when alarm goes off.
• 3 break-ins in Arbutus Wynd – the house that was burned recently was broken into twice as well as another one across the green space. Often the break-in is through the rear sliding door – put a wood block or metal pole in the track so the sliding door can’t be slid open or lifted out. When not home, leave light on and/or leave a vehicle in the driveway.
• Grow ops – Fraser Heights is a more popular area for these as there are bigger houses that are more spread out (less grow-ops in Guildford as more dense population). If a house has high hydro consumption, the fire dept goes with police escort to check for fire hazards. The number of grow-ops has decreased but they still exist.
• Dean Scott, who is the Div 2 commander for the RCMP, said he was honoured to be assigned to this area – he’s been in the RCMP for 32 years. He also shared about the street robberies targeting youth. These robberies are being taken seriously so there is a Task Force working with the city/police. These young thieves can be rehabilitated. Witnesses have been reluctant to make reports but unless reports are made, these thieves will not be caught.
• Dean is at the RCMP office at 5 every morning so contact him with any concerns you might have.

Block Watch
• Marlene Drozda did a short presentation on Blow Watch. There are 4 new Block Watch neighbourhoods in FH. If you are interested in starting one in your neighbourhood, you can contact Marlene at 604-502-6509 or via email at marlene.drozda@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.
• Newsletters are put out every 4 months. Info is communicated to those in the neighbourhood whenever any criminal activity has occurred. There is a history file has been kept on every block watch neighbourhood about reported incidents.
• As a member of a Block Watch community, the insurance companies usually give 10% discount when you renew your house insurance.
• The Block Watch pamphlets and materials have been translated into other languages such as Korean and Chinese.
• Communication can be done by phone or email whenever issues arise in your neighbourhood.
• Most Block Watch groups are cul-de-sacs or one or more blocks of houses. If there is also a co-captain, the Block Watch group may include more houses. The captain has to undergo a suitabililty check and then attend one training session.
• On Feb 18th, there will be a senior’s advisory committee meeting about elder abuse – a lot of it is going on and is often not reported. There will be education on that topic. A lawyer will spend approximately an hour talking about living wills, power of attorney etc. Register at the Rec Centre or City of Surrey website. It will be held from 9 till 3 and is free with lunch included. It is very informative but you must register to come. It is being held at Fleetwood Rec Centre on 84 and 160th (in same complex as the Fleetwood library).
• The recent Block Watch newsletter omitted Fraser Hts but it is definitely a part of BW

Traffic Issues
• 170A St and 104 Ave – The pedestrian light is functioning. An Overhead light has been put on hold. The City wants to see if the side lights will be enough to make safe passage for pedestrians.
• 162 St and 108 Ave – There have been challenges with BC Hydro but it is hoped that this light will be operating within a month.
• Signage was requested on or before the 160th overpass for cars heading north on 160 to indicate where the turn is to head east on 104th Ave. Too many people have made the mistake of turning onto the freeway onramp and then have tried to back up, go over the gravel etc to get onto 104th.
• Left turn lane on 104th Ave heading east to turn north into FH – this lane needs to be lengthened (a suggestion was made to shorten the L turn lane onto 155 Street from 104 Ave heading west).
• People have been seen cutting through the parking lot of the businesses at 160/108 by the high school due to high numbers of students going to /from school and walking across the road during most of the time the light is green so cars can’t make left or right turns off 108 Ave to head south on 160th. This has caused the traffic to back up if those heading east on 108 Ave to turn south on 160th St don’t cut through.
• The Barnston Overpass is scheduled to open in the next two weeks. This will greatly increase the traffic using 100th Ave so there was a concern for pedestrians who were crossing the pedestrian overpass to and from FH (by Pacific Academy) then trying to cross over the road where 100th becomes 168th at the bend. Lighting is poor along 100th Ave on the west side of 176th St. At the present time, lighting is not being put in on 100th Ave. There is no shoulder on that road so it is narrow and difficult for cyclists or pedestrians to safely walk/cycle. The City has looked into putting in lighting and said there were currently no funds for it. There is a possibility that there could be extra funding available that would tag onto the cycling route – but this funding has to be applied for. If you are interested in this issue, write, send emails or phone the traffic dept, councillors etc to create a paper trail and bring this issue to the forefront.
• In order to prioritize all the traffic issues, a group should get together so they can meet with the City. Currently, they want to wait to see what traffic will be like once the Barnston overpass opens. The more complaints or issues brought forward will cause the City to look into doing something about the problem. Another suggestion was to contact Dave Hayer’s office about these issues.
• 156th St will be an entrance/exit onto/off the freeway for HOV and buses. There will be a light at the bottom of 156th St (under the freeway) to regulate the cars coming off the freeway.
• It was reported that by the Fire hall on 176th Street at 101A – so many cars going by there. Once overpass is finished, City of Surrey will take care of this.
• Feb 4 – the new overpass at 176th St over freeway will open and there will be changes made so be aware and watch for these changes.
• CN yard on 104th Ave – trucks are overflowing onto 104th Ave and just this last week, they were up parked up 176th St. This problem will be dealt with after changes are made in March to the yard so they will be able to deal with the extra trucks.

Parks and Recreation
• The new wing of the Rec Centre is scheduled to be opened the first of March. The grounds and landscaping will be left until the weather has warmed up and the soil is drier.

Development in Fraser Heights:
• There have been 3 developments and 1 application for rezoning
• 17333 Abbey Drive – there will be one ½ acre lot fronting on Abbey Dr and 2 lots fronting on 103 A Ave. Preliminary draft has been approved. Any concerns 0 contact JKoch-Schulte@surrey.ca quoting application 7911-0119-00.
• There is a proposed development of 7 new properties at 9884 and 9912 179th Street – 3rd reading granted Jan 23rd. Any concerns, contact clerkswebmail@surrey.ca quoting application 7910-0298-00.
• 10145 – 173rd Ave – 10 new properties proposed – no public hearing date set yet (maybe in the next month). Any concerns, contact Slong@surrey.ca quoting application 7911-0190-00
• 1 rezoning application – 10555 – 160 St – RA to RF12 – to subdivide into 4 residential lots.

Member’s concerns
• Dog off-leash parks in Surrey have been identified and Fraser View Park at the corner of 112 Ave and 160 Street made the list to be developed between 2012 and 2015. The first park that will be developed will be in South Surrey. There has been no timetable set as to the order of the development of these parks. Doug Merry said the 2nd park will be determined by the community that shows the most interest in having their dog park developed. If you are interested in getting the completely fenced, off-leash dog park put in at Fraser View Park, please contact Doug. He said the more people that contact him and the City, the more weight it will have on which is the next park to be developed. Doug can be reached at: djmerry@surrey.ca or phone him at 604-598-5778.
• Property assessments – you can download all the sales in your area to see the average price the houses sold for. One resident stated that some assessments went up by 15% but the difference between sales and assessment prices was only 1.46% increase over 100 sales. Residents can contact the City if they have a dispute. 37 of the 100 houses were sold for less than their assessment level – the rest were over the assessment level.
• Another resident stated that the Tax Appraisal dept staff often appealed their assessments. If you don’t apply, you can’t complain.

Next Meeting will be Thurs May 2, 2012 in the theatre at Fraser Heights Secondary School. We will hopefully have someone from PMH1 to come speak about the Highway project and issues surrounding it.

President’s report
• Web site – www.fhca.ca
• Frank was unable to make it to the meeting

Treasurer’s report
• Financial statement – the numbers were unavailable

Police and Security – Constable Dibblee
• Constable Chris Dibblee can be reached at: 604-839-6971, 778-593-3559 or at christopher.dibblee@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
• There was a large spike in break-ins in Sept and Oct. In Sept, there were about 20 – almost same MO – cash and jewelry taken and thieves broke in through backyard entrances in the evenings. Thefts down to about 5 for November. No finger or shoe prints were found – thieves were probably wearing gloves and generic running shoes. Some thieves were caught in Fleetwood – there was a big drop in break-ins since then. Please phone in when you see something out of place.
• Laptops and TVs were not taken in earlier break-ins but the ones in November did have electronics taken. Thefts were during the day. Only one of break-ins was interrupted by the owner’s son when he came home. The criminals assaulted him.
• Last break-ins reported were: 3 on Nov 17, 1 on the 7th and 1 on the 11th. They were in the area west of 156th Street.
• Mailbox thefts – no spike in activity. Someone had been taken into custody – may be on court ordered curfew or still in custody. The community mailbox at 173 box was replaced with one that was less easy to break into
• There had been a crime/Block Watch meeting earlier in November. The Crime Prevention coordinator talked about what was going on in FH and let the community know that Block Watch was still around. It was suggested to get together with neighbours so you know who they are. Handouts were available on how to better secure your home.

Traffic Issues
• 170A and104 Ave – this has been a very dangerous intersection. The City will be putting in flashing overhead and side lights to allow pedestrians to cross 104th Ave. The lights should be installed before the end of the year.
• 104A Diversion – traffic is flowing through this diversion and the hope is that this will be removed before Christmas (weather dependent).
• Barnston overpass – was due to be opened mid-November (delays have been due to weather). Now hoping to have it open mid-January
• New 176 overpass will be open late January
• Lindsay attended a meeting re Daly road. It goes diagonally eastward as it heads down the hill in the north direction. The route will eventually run parallel to the railway tracks and meet with Golden Ears connector. There is a large volume of traffic using this road, especially at opening and closing times for school. There will be more signs put up to redirect truck and non-local traffic away from there. This poor planning has caused significant congestion in our community.
• Daly road is very narrow but so far, there have not been any accidents. However, there have been flat tires from pot holes and telephone poles have been hit. From 177A St, some cars come down at high rate of speed. Widening of Daly road has not happened as they may not have acquired the properties needed to do so.
• Residents along 156 Street got notice that dump trucks will be removing dirt so approx 600 or 700 dump trucks may be going through Fraser Heights to remove/deposit dirt. There are about 6000 cu meters of dirt to remove. From the Kinder Morgan site, dirt will also be removed. The City of Surrey has given temporary permission for these trucks to transport the dirt where it needs to go.
• 4 way stop at 156 and 108. Daily, there are cars that don’t stop here or go out of sequence – they just barrel through. RCMP traffic division will try to monitor this intersection.
• The turning lane on 104th Ave heading east to turn onto 156 Street heading north is not long enough so it was stated that people are driving in the oncoming lane to get into the turning lane.

Parks and Recreation
• No new information on when construction on the Recreation Centre would be completed but it should be within a year.

Member’s concerns or items of interest
• Train horns – CN will work with the City and FHCA to take care of this problem
• Sue Mercer – represented Citizens for Safe Communities re the Hydro Smart Meters. There has been no review by the BC Utilities commission. 26 communities are requesting moratoriums.
• Michelle Collanbrander – represented the Fraser Heights Cornerstone Toastmasters for Adults and the Wordsworth Gavel club for youth. Both clubs are held at Surrey Christian Alliance church (15421 – 110 Ave) on Friday evenings at 7:30. These clubs help with public speaking, work related skills and communication skills in a supportive environment. The Toastmasters’ website is: www. fraserheights.easy-speak.org or contact Michelle at 604-583-4606

Next Meeting will be Thurs Feb 2, 2012 in the theatre at Fraser Heights Secondary School.

The District 2 Policing Office will be holding a Crime Prevention Meeting in Fraser Heights.
The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss crime issues in the area, review the importance of home security, when and how to report crime to the police and the importance of reporting. We will also be reconnecting with existing Block Watch Groups as well as encouraging others to form programs in order to create a better communication link between our office and the resident of Fraser Heights.

Date:
November 8

Time:
7 pm

Location:
Fraser Heights Secondary School Theatre

Speakers:
S/Sgt. Dean Scott, District Commander Surrey RCMP District 2 Guildford/Fleetwood/Fraser Heights
Marlene Drozda Crime Prevention Programs Coordinator

Contact information:

Marlene Drozda
Crime Prevention Program Coordinator
Surrey RCMP District 2
(604)502-6509
Fax(604)588-6578
marlene.drozda@rcmp-grc.gc.ca

All-Candidates meetings are intended to provide an opportunity for Candidates and community members to discuss issues prior to an election.

• Web site – www.fhca.ca
• The high school is now charging $60 for non-profit organizations to use the school for meetings so we have decreased the number of meetings from 5 down to 4 meetings per year – Sept, Nov, Feb, May (dates listed at end of minutes)
• For pressing issues that come up between meetings, please communicate via email or on the website

Treasurer’s report

• Financial statement – total account balance is $4544.92. Liability insurance is now being charged for groups renting out/using the school facilities – Leanne was able to get a good rate of $235.

Police and Security – Constable Dibblee

• Constable Chris Dibblee can be reached at: 604-839-6971, 778-593-3559 or at christopher.dibblee@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
• Corporal Croll (Constable Dibblee’s team leader) and Constable Dibblee presented information and answered questions
• There has been a spike in break and enters in Fraser Heights – they were focused in certain areas – about 7 or 8 over the past month were reported.
• If you see something suspicious, please call police right away. Until proven otherwise, men going door to door selling children’s books are possible suspects – if they come to your house, please call police immediately after they leave or while they are there and make sure you take one of their brochures to give to police. Remember – they may not be the culprits but need to be investigated because they were in the areas where the break-ins occurred. Let the police investigate.
• In all or most of the break-ins, the back sliding door was the entry point – they have not done a lot of damage to get in and tend to lift the sliding doors out of the tracks. Remember to keep your doors locked. Put a piece of wood or metal in the track if you have a sliding door. If you see something out of place or suspicious looking (e.g., cars/people), please call police. Break-ins have mostly been during the afternoon or evening between 3 to 11 p.m. (they appear to have a similar profile so are possibly the same people for each B&E).
• 4 break-ins on 157^th (around 109^th) – the 5^th place to be targeted had its alarm go off.
• The half-way house on 108^th was relocated to a house in Port Coquitlam so these individuals are no longer in Fraser Heights
• There were a few break-ins around 155/154 by 108, some around Arbutus Wynd/Chestnut Place, and a cluster around 169A Street and 104 A Ave.
• Total break-ins for Fraser Hts that look like they can be attributed to the same suspects would be about 7 – they took mostly cash, foreign currency and jewelry (they didn’t take electronics)
• Mail theft – a thief was arrested about 2 weeks ago and police recovered lots of mail from various municipalities – the thieves appear to steal people’s identities. Do not leave mail in your mailbox overnight – pick it up daily. If you note anything suspicious about the community mail boxes, contact CFIT (through the police dept).
• Due to the increase of B&Es, there are more marked police cars and officers patrolling in FH. With this criminal activity, FH is on the list for priority responses for break-ins in FH (remember, they won’t come if you don’t phone in anything suspicious). There were several break-ins last week on Wednesday and Friday.
• 102 Ave/168 St – there has been underage drinking, smashing bottles, vandalism, breaking trees and throwing bottles onto Highway#1 (10 p.m. to 4 a.m.) since the 168^th overpass was opened. Surrey has funds for extra patrols on weekends to deal with this. Please call police if you encounter these situations.
• 103 Ave/170 St – a boat was stolen from a resident’s driveway. A white pick-up truck had been seen driving around the area many times. The boat was eventually found at a drug house in Mission. Report suspicious vehicles.
• Grow ops – ongoing pursuit of these – the police have a website that makes these houses public – they show a leaf on the map where these houses are so neighbours will know the locations. You can ask to be put through to the drug section when you phone the RCMP to report suspicious houses.
• If you buy new electronics (or expensive items), don’t put those boxes in recycling as it is an advertisement to the thieves. Cut the boxes down, invert them or take them to a recycling depot. Record a list of what is in your house. Take digital photos of everything in your house and keep that information on a memory stick. This helps police recover your items – they will check Craig’s list, pawn shops etc. and will set up a “meet” with sellers they suspect.
• Criminals tend to go after motion detectors – they unscrew lights around the backyard. The homes targeted were not secluded homes and they did not have back lanes. The thieves made sure no one was home and they targeted many of the houses during dinner time.
• Speed of reporting is essential – this will give police the opportunity to block entries/exits to Fraser Heights so they can catch the criminal(s).
• Suggestions to make it look like someone is home – put boots on porch by front door, leave lights, TV and/or music on, leave a car in the driveway, have neighbour park in the driveway or get a relative or friend to stay in the house if you will be away on vacation.
• Alarms don’t make houses invincible as thieves can dismantle them.
• There was a level of professionalism with these B&Es – the criminals seem to be doing their homework so it doesn’t appear to be high school students – there was a description of taller males in their 20s.
• The police in other cities/municipalities of Metro Vancouver are checking for similarities between the crimes here and possible ones in their jurisdiction.
• Not a lot of damage has been done by these criminals as they seem to be taking their time to get the doors off but there may be some damage to the door when they either break the lock or pry the door out of the track. Once inside, the thieves will riffle through the drawers etc. dumping things.
• Keep a list of serial #s that are on the TVs etc. (engrave your driver’s licence # on the electronics – engravers can be bought at Canadian Tire)
• Phone or email Constable Dibblee if you have any information on the criminals or the B&Es – he checks email and voice messages in the morning
• It was suggested that a screecher alarm would be the best protection as it is piercing and hurts your ears. If you have an alarm with cameras – make sure the DVR is hidden or they will steal that. The cameras are worth a fortune and are often stolen.
• Atop a light post on the south side of 108 Ave at 157 Street, there was a camera mounted this past week as part of a traffic study – statistics are being collected from this.
• Traffic patrolling – there may be quite an increase over the weekend (watch your driving as they will be targeting that as well as the possible criminal activity).

Traffic Issues

• The lane realignment on 156^th Street on the north side of 104 Ave. has been completed – when you are heading south on 156^th, there are now 3 lanes (one right turn onto 104 Ave. to head west, one straight through (heading south) and one left turn (eastbound).
• A new pedestrian light was installed at 162 and 108^th Street last week and will soon be put into operation.
• The Port Mann project has been causing a lot of traffic in Fraser Heights – Kiewit said they need to keep progressing onward with the work to get the highway project completed – the schools have been phoning them about the traffic issues.
• When 100^th Avenue closed, the traffic had to find alternate routes to get to 104 Ave. The intersection of 170A Street and 104 Ave. has become a very dangerous spot. Traffic had been alternating during peak hours, adding to the congestion. There have been 2 accidents in the past week (the one this morning was very bad and looked like high speed was involved) and 2 pedestrians were hit fairly recently (one had very serious injuries). The crossing guard has had many incidents with cars ignoring him or narrowly missing him. Please notify Surrey’s traffic/engineering department about this intersection (or other local traffic issues that are not part of the PMH1 project by emailing Jamie Boan, Manager of Transportation, at jaboan@surrey.ca. Make sure to cc. the mayor and councillors in the email. Their email addresses are available on the City of Surrey website at www.surrey.ca
• Parents of Pacific Academy students have had their access to PA via 100 Ave closed off so they have had to find alternate routes and are adding to the traffic congestion. Traffic throughout the area has significantly increased so drivers must be more vigilant to watch for children walking to school. Several times, drivers have stopped to let people go across the street and the driver behind them has driven around that driver who had stopped, thereby narrowly missing the pedestrian(s) crossing the street. There are often drivers passing other drivers on the hill at speeds way above the speed limit. The visibility is poor so it has become a serious issue for the residents of this area to safely cross 104^th Avenue. 100^th Ave is closed and is not slated to be opened again so this problem is not going to go away.
• Note: Council is very receptive at this time of year due to the elections coming up on November 19, 2011 so be sure they also get a copy of your concerns. The more emails that are received concerning an issues, the more likely action will be taken. Emails from administrative staff at the schools holds a lot of weight.
• TI Corp – they are the consultants for Kiewit (these are feeder roads for the Port Mann/Hwy#1 project (e.g., 176 Street intersections, 160^th Street etc.) Emails concerning issues to do with the PMH1 project should be directed to Sheila Hui at shui@ticorp.ca
• The 160^th Street overpass date to open is dependent on weather so no date was known at this time. The 152^nd overpass opened yesterday. Once the new 160th overpass opens, the old one will be dismantled so until all of this is done, there will be disruptions to traffic flow.
• If residents would like to receive regular updates from the Port Mann Highway #1 project, they can email info@pmh1project.com or phone 1-866-999-7641 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting to ask to be put on the mailing list or they can visit the website at www.pmh1project.com or Twitter at www.twitter.com/portmannhwy1.
• It was noted that there were no sidewalks along 104^th between 176 and 168^th. The side of the road is like a mine field – students and parents of young people have been seen struggling to walk or push buggies over this rough terrain. Sidewalks are needed here.
• There was a question about homes that have too many cars parked in front of the neighbour’s houses. There seemed to be no bylaws for cars parking in Surrey. They can legally park in front of houses for any length of time. In many of the municipalities, there is a 3 hour limit for parking in front of houses during daylight hours. This needs to be taken up with the City of Surrey. There may be a restriction as to how many cars a house can park off their property if they have secondary suites – it would be worth pursuing this problem from the secondary suite angle.
• Abbey Glen – there is a house running an auto wrecking yard from the home – every once and awhile they have been forced to clear it up (it is in the vicinity of 170 Street and 103^rdAve).

Parks and Recreation

• Dog off-leash parks – out of all the parks/areas suggested by Surrey Residents for the off-leash parks at the Open Houses, 12 parks made the short list. Of those parks, 6 will be chosen to become off-leash parks. Residents are encouraged to vote or fill in the questionnaire that is on the website (you only need to comment on the park in your area and not the parks throughout Surrey).
• There were two parks chosen in Fraser Heights – the first was Fraser View Park that is on the north east corner of 160^th Street and 112^th Ave. This park is rarely used by residents and was said to be an ideal park to use as an off-leash park. Information on how this park would be transformed to become an off-leash park and a picture of the park are on the website: www.surrey.ca/dogparks If you want any further information, you can email Doug Merry at djmerry@surrey.ca or phone him at 604-598-5778.
• The second site in or near Fraser Heights was the Port Mann Landfill area. This would be a destination park (like Tynehead Park is – meaning you’d have to drive there). It would not only have the off-leash areas but would have an agility training area where there would be culverts to crawl through, things to climb on and an area that would be like a slalom (dogs would wind in and out between poles). The problem with this site is it is not known when the land will be ready to use. Access, at this point in time would be via the #1 Highway or through an underpass under the #1 Hwy from Birdland.
• Doug suggested that Fraser View Park would have the best chance of being developed. Please vote – the more people who vote, the better chance we’ll have of getting a dog-off leash park.

City Beautification Grant

• The Fraser Heights Community Association has chosen to apply for a grant to put a sign at the intersection of 160^th Street and 104^th Ave. Surrey said we can put in a proposal of where we might want the sign and the City will get the ball rolling on the approval. FHCA is looking into the sign. The grant allotted for the project is around $3000 which may or may not cover the cost of a sign (we may have to raise more money for that). Location of sign may be on the north east side of 160^th Street/104 Ave but it is not known what the road layout will be once new overpass opens up so the location decision will be made later.
• It was suggested that the sign be made of a material resistant to vandalism, weather damage and possibly elevate it so vandals can’t reach it.
• There are several community signs throughout Fraser Heights and most have been maintained by the neighbours living around them.

Development in Fraser Heights:

• There are 2 lots at 10145 173 Street that have a proposal to divide them up into 12 small lots. If residents have concerns about this, they should contact Stephanie Long, City of Surrey, at 604-591-4753 and give her the File # 7911-0190-00. The proposal is at the early application stages to develop this land so residents now have the opportunity to voice their opinions. This proposal amends that area of the community from suburban to urban to allow for this development.

Member’s concerns

• Some residents had been on the FHCA email list and no longer are – not sure what happened. Mail chimp is now being used so if an email bounces back to FHCA, it drops that person off the list. Let FHCA know if you’ve been dropped off the list or if you want to be added to the list to receive emails. You can subscribe on the website. There are currently about 400 subscribers on the email list – emails are usually only sent when an important issue arises or just prior to meeting dates.
• Dave Hayer, our MLA, is now a resident of Fraser Heights. He is interested in our community and its issues.
• Several Surrey Civic Coalition candidates came to the meeting and introduced themselves. The FHCA is non-partisan but we do like to support those who work with us. The candidates were: Rina Gill (she ran in 2008), Sukhy Dhillon (her pet project was collecting books and sending them to Nigeria), Steve Wood, Gary Robinson, and Ijaz Ahmed Chatha.
• One resident stated that he carefully looked at his Property Tax bill and found a charge for a secondary suite. It is up to the homeowner to prove that there is no secondary suite as many of the new houses have completely finished basements and may be billed. The extra charge for a suite is about $200 to $300. Another resident stated that it is cheaper to have your water metered if there are few people living in your house as it reduces both the water and sewer utility bills.
• Residents said there was an Increase in train horns during night. Langley has a bylaw for the train noises. You can phone the train yard about the noise. Some train engineers give a little toot while others lay on the horns. Whistles should not go off during midnight to 6 a.m. – individual trains make a decision to toot horns. Dave Hayer has info on this. It is possible to get silent crossings – must apply for them but there is a liability issue – so if someone gets creamed, it states who is responsible.
• Surrey Bend Park – plan to develop it – Gary Robinson was involved in this proposal – It was under a 10 year plan and plan is coming into focus. Work has started on it.

Next Meeting will be Wednesday November 30 , 2011 at 7 p.m. in the theatre at Fraser Heights Secondary School.

The meeting schedule for the 2011/2012 year will be:
Wed Nov 30, 2011
Thurs Feb 2, 2012
Wed May 2, 2012

• Web site – www.fhca.ca
• This is the last meeting for the 2010/11 school year
• Next year (2011/12), the school will charge $60 for non-profit organizations to use the school for meetings so we may decrease the number of meetings from 5 down to 4 meetings per year – possibly Sept, Nov, Feb, May
• Communication via email / website would help if there are pressing issues that need to be addressed between meeting dates

Treasurer’s report

• Financial statement – total account balance is $4799.56

Gateway – changes at 156th St & 176th St.

• Changes at 160^th Street – if coming north on 160^th Street, you will have to turn right onto a cloverleaf to get onto #1 Hwy westbound – this should open around June 3^rd, weather permitting
• Those heading to #1 westbound while driving west on 104^th Ave will have to merge onto the cloverleaf just before 160^th Street. The onramp just west of the 160/104 light will be closed (date for closure not published yet)

Police and safety update – Constable Dibblee

• Constable Dibblee can be reached at: 604-839-6971, 778-593-3559 or at christopher.dibblee@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
• Please report any vandalism/theft or other criminal activities to the police so they can keep track of the problem areas. If you do not report it, the police will have no knowledge about these criminal activities.
• Be advised that a sex offender was released on bail and is living in the Fraser Heights area. The elementary schools have sent out information to parents of the students at each of the schools. If you see, hear or are involved in any incidents regarding this individual, please contact the police.
• The recovery house on 108 Ave is not registered as a Half-way house so it is not under the jurisdiction of the City. This house is non-regulated and rented out to those recovering from drug/alcohol addiction, ex-cons and/or out on bail or on probation. It is run by an organization called Vision Quest (they also run other similar houses in the City). Residents living near this house have reported that there has been an increase in the number of cars and houses being broken into in that area. Again, please report any incidents or suspicious activity, no matter how minor, to the police so they can keep track of this.

176th St Development Update (east of 176^th Street/north of Hwy #1) – (proposed: 67 unit apartment building, 85 townhouse units)

• May 9^th – a letter was sent to community association about this development
• Originally, this property was approved to build 841 units within 6 buildings. The new proposal is down to 5 buildings with a total of 596 units for the entire project
• Phase 1 is now going to be a 71 unit apartment bldg and a complex with 80 townhouses. This project is awaiting final approval from the City. It goes for the final reading/approval on May 30^th or June 13^th
• The developers want to start building as soon as these final changes have received approval
• There was concern about the proposed wooden structure buildings. As far as it is known, they will still be wood structure buildings.
• There is no commercial component proposed in this first phase
• This letter (or link to it) will be put on the FHCA website

Rec Centre expansion update

• There has been no update on the completion date of the addition to the Fraser Heights Recreation Centre so as it stands, it should be completed by the end of 2011 or the beginning of 2012.

Beautification grants through the City of Surrey

• The City of Surrey provides grants to groups in Surrey to help beautify various areas of Surrey. The groups would have to provide the labour and the City will provide grants of around $3000 toward the project. Suggestions were called for – Ideas suggested were wraps to put around the hydro boxes to reduce graffiti, flower pots on lamp posts, tree/flower plantings or a monument in combination with vegetation (flowers/shrubs) at the entrance to Fraser Heights (on 160^th) to give a “name” to our community. Most of those attending liked the last idea of a welcoming sign to Fraser Heights so people would know that is the name of our community. Please let the FHCA know if you would be interested in helping with this project.

Member’s concerns

• Hannah, a new resident to the Fraser Heights Community, is looking for space to offer free English language classes as well as classes to teach computer skills to new immigrants who speak little English. She currently is teaching through a non-profit organization.
• There have been a number of open houses around Surrey in regards to dog off-leash parks. Residents were given felt pens and were asked to mark on the maps where they felt would be good places to have these off-leash parks. They were also asked to fill out a survey to answer various questions about dog off-leash parks. Most residents who attended did not like the idea of having to drive their dogs in a car to a park so they could run their dogs off leash – a big part of dog walking is the social aspect – meet others out walking. Several areas in Fraser Heights were identified. The City will be making choices from all identified areas in Surrey. If you would like to fill out the survey, go to: http://www.surrey.ca/culture-recreation/2254.aspx. Part way down the page, after the dates (that have all passed) for the open houses, the website allows you to fill out the survey online if you click “survey”. This is where you will find the survey link on that site: “If you are unable to attend any of the open houses but would like to provide comment please fill out this survey!

  Please contact parksrecculture@surrey.ca or call 604-501-5050 if you have any questions or would like more information.”

• One resident mentioned that he had heard about a program the City of Surrey had where they provided funds to community associations for events/parties etc. that involve the community. FHCA will look into this.
• The Pedestrian / bike overpass now has had the last piece of the bridge installed. Opening date was not known at this time. On the south side of the overpass and the east side of 168^th Street, a 5 kilometre circuitous route has been created for pedestrians and cyclists.

Next Meeting will be in Sept, 2011 (date to be announced when known) in the theatre at Fraser Heights Secondary School.