Minutes of May 9 meeting of the Fraser Heights Community Association

FRASER HEIGHTS COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION MINUTES

May 9, 2018

 

President’s report

  • Web site – fhca.ca
  • Ed MacIntosh, president
  • FHCA is a volunteer non-profit organization – we volunteer our time to represent the community dealing with issues that affect our community such as safety, traffic, development.
  • The FHCA has met four times a year, in the past, to discuss issues that affect our community but will reducing the number of meetings to 3 next year.
  • FHCA helps shape policy and issues that involve our community.
  • If you have problems in our community, please send your information to us and we will look into these issues (go to Contact Us on the fhca.ca website or send email to directors@fhca.ca). This is our primary site to collect comments from residents about community issues so we know about them and can send them on to the City.
  • Membership is free. If you are not currently on the email list, go to our website and sign up (on the right side of website page – click on become a member).  You will receive three notifications and three reminders of the upcoming meetings per year.  There may also be notifications of open houses or events affecting FH residents.

 Treasurer’s report:  The balance was not available as our treasurer was absent.  It was explained that expenses per year for our association have been around $1,000 for renting the school, paying insurance to hold the meetings in the theatre, paying a student to run the audio/visual, etc. and that the directors do not use any of the money for personal expenses related to attending meetings/open houses etc. – it is all used for the community association.  Last year we collected around $200 from the container passed around which was not enough to support our organization for one year.

 

RCMP update on safety and security – District #2 Commander for Guildford/Fleetwood, Sgt Mike Spencer, was in attendance tonight (Community Response Unit).  He is at 10395-148 St. The best way to reach him is through the following email address:  fleetwood@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.  If Mike is away, other officers can access this email to insure your issue is dealt with.  Mike can also be reached at:  mike.spencer@rcmp-grc.gc.ca and voicemail messages can be left for him at phone # 778-593-3396, if something of concern is taking place in the community that you want RCMP to deal with and it is not urgent.  If urgent, dial 911.

Break-ins in Fraser Heights

  • Since our last meeting in February, 2 key arrests were made and these felons are currently incarcerated so crime has essentially stopped in this area. Lots of residents supplied video surveillance to aid the police in capturing these two individuals.
  • There have been very few crimes since last meeting but as a community, we must stay diligent to defend our property and that of our neighbours. Don’t become complacent – keep calling police when things do not seem normal or if you see something suspicious.  If the community remains vigilant, the criminals move onto other areas.
  • The one B&E reported in progress was of a garage that had been left open and a neighbour saw the perpetrators. Due to the resident making a report, the bad guys left without stealing anything. Warning – do not leave your possessions unattended.
  • Auto theft has always been a problem in Surrey but in past quarter, there has been little to report in FH and there has been no mail theft.
  • If your home has video surveillance cameras, you can register with the RCMP for Project Iris as footage collected from these cameras has been quite effective in solving crimes.
  1. http://bc.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=2177&languageId=1&contentId=48951
  2. http://www.surrey.ca/community/20957.aspx?utm_source=VanityURL&utm_campaign=Iris&utm_medium=Print).
  • Make sure the video camera is located so it will be helpful e.g., showing who is at your door. Video feed should be clear and not have the porch light shining into it.  Most video cameras produce very high quality footage.
  • Quarterly crime stats and current media releases can be obtained on the Surrey RCMP website at:

http://surrey.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=69&languageId=1

  • There is a Surrey RCMP app (picture of a Mountie saluting on a dark blue background) that provides valuable information in our community as well as can use it to call RCMP.
  • District 2 RCMP Blockwatch coordinator Amy Ghag (ghag@rcmp-grc.gc.ca) can supply info to neighbourhoods about Block Watch. More information about Blockwatch can be found at http://bc.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=2177&languageId=1&contentId=732.
  • There have been many smash and grab car thefts in Tynehead Park and other areas of Surrey. Thieves see something in a car they want or think is of value and it only takes them seconds to smash the glass, grab the item and go.  They prefer not to smash glass (it makes noise) so they go around checking to see if vehicle doors have been left unlocked.   Avoid leaving items in your car.  Dash cameras are popular for crooks to steal so take them with you or put them out of sight when leaving the vehicle.

 

City of Surrey – Neal Aven, Manager of Parks:

  1. Chafer beetle infestation
  2. This beetle has caused serious crop and turf destruction. It was identified in New Westminster in 2001.  By 2014, it had spread to Surrey and has now been found throughout most of Surrey.
  3. Turf grass along main roads and in/around parks is cared for by the City Engineering Dept.
  4. Test plots have been tried in various places in the City using tall fescue or micro clover instead of grass. The clover did not survive well over the winter.
  5. Since Surrey Bylaws prohibits the use of Pesticides, biological control using nematodes is used to control the problem. Packages of these parasites can be purchased from garden stores.  They have to be spread on a well-watered lawn during a very short window of time (mid-summer) and the lawn must be kept moist for the time it takes the nematodes to infest and kill the chafer beetle larvae (usually a total of about 6 days. The City found the nematodes worked well on some sites and not on others.  Each package of nematodes costs about $80 and covers around 75 square meters.  Permits would have to be obtained from the City in order to be allowed to water for the 6 or so days (note that the watering must be during the very early morning hours in Surrey)
  6. The City has been and is investigating a grant program to help purchase and apply nematodes. The City of Burnaby has voucher program – 50% off and they also give a city watering permit when the nematodes are purchased).  Surrey is focusing on “A” level parks to eradicate the beetle larvae as these are the most used/serviced parks.  Burnaby’s program begins first week of May as they need to know the volume of nematodes to order for their community.
  7. To help reduce infestation by beetles, maintain your lawn by fertilizing it and keep it a few inches long as this helps deter the beetles from laying larvae. Do not cover your lawn with chicken wire or other products to stop the raccoons, crows and skunks from pulling up your lawn as they do a good job of eating and ridding your lawn from the larvae.  If the grubs are left in the lawn, they will eat the roots of your grass, kill it then they’ll mature, become adult beetles, fly upward and mate then re-infest your lawn and your neighbours’ lawns.
  8. Info fact sheet from Province’s website on chafer beetles is found at: https://www.google.ca/search?q=Ministry+of+agriculture+European+chafer+beetle&oq=Ministry+of+agriculture+European+chafer+beetle&aqs=chrome..69i57.11779j1j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&safe=active&ssui=on . They have one cycle a year – eggs hatch around mid-July (the best time for spreading nematodes), they feed throughout the fall and into the spring until April when they form pupae.  Adults emerge in late May and June, fly up to mate then each female deposits about 50 eggs nearby.  Although they eat all types of grass, they will also feed on roots of corn, potatoes, berry and other crops.
  • European Gypsy moth has been found in west Fraser Heights the past couple of years. It can cause serious defoliation of trees and plants.
  1. This year, the City used a liquid ground spray instead of spraying from planes/helicopter. The spray contains Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt – naturally found in the soil) which is sprayed on the leaves eaten by the grubs and it kills them.  It is safe for pets and other wildlife.
  2. The spraying days were in early May (signs were posted on 154th Street or Fraser Heights Greenway on the spraying days) and there will be a 3rd application 10 days later.
  3. Intensive trapping (little cardboard tents hung in trees that are coated with a sticky substance inside and a pheromone that attracts the male moths) will take place in this area to see if any moths are left.
  4. If the moths get into any forest products, the infected wood cannot be exported.
  5. One resident asked why one side of her street was sprayed and not the other. The City tries to narrow the areas needing to be sprayed based on where moths have been found.  They draw lines on the maps and keep within those boundaries.
  6. Vancouver uses the pesticide Merit (imidacloprid) but Surrey prohibits the use of pesticides.
  • Fraser View off-leash dog park (the park on 112th Ave at the north east corner of 160).
  1. The off-leash park plan was approved and was to have been completed this spring but other higher priority projects, with time sensitive funding such as Hawthorne Park, had to be completed first.
  2. The new date for the park is late 2018 or early 2019.
  • Surrey Request App (white check mark inside white outline of a circle on a green background) – use this app to make any requests to the City – they will answer you but, depending on what the request is and its urgency, it could take days to weeks or months to address your request (new tree plantings to replace dead or fallen trees are done at specific times of the year)
  1. How to download the app – Go to the Playstore on Google or iPhones
  2. Type in Surrey Request and download – use for requests of services or reporting emergencies (if urgent, please contact 911 or police directly)
  3. Click on submit a service request then click on the category list that best matches your request (note, if unsure, ask for request to be forwarded to right department)
  4. On the next screen, make another selection that will best identify your concern.
  5. The menu/selection list may be a few to many screens, depending on what is being reported
  6. The next section says to Enter Additional concerns (you can also type the address or location in there and any descriptors)
  7. Do you want to add a photo – you can select one from your gallery or take one and add while filling out the request on your phone – these are helpful in identifying the problem
  8. Next, a city map shows up. The drop pin is fixed in place but you can move the map so the pin lands on the location of your complaint or the problem area (or you can select “my location” which will pin the spot you are standing at when filling out the app complaint.
  9. Finally, add your person information (first/last name, email address and phone number) as the City will contact you in regards to time frame for completion or that they got your request. Accept the terms and conditions then submit your request.  Sometimes, the City will email or phone you with a survey upon completion as to how well the complaint was handled by them.
  10. Question – how to get updates on where request is on the list. Typically City responds –  note – requests go into a giant cue and are dealt with depending on various factors.
  11. If you haven’t received an email saying “closed”, then it still is in the cue. 4 weeks is nothing for tree replacement as volume of requests is so high.  If you get an email/phone call saying it was closed and the problem hasn’t been addressed, call in with the number you were assigned and the City can look into what has happened.  You can also call in to find where your request is in the queue.  Don’t resubmit the request as it will go at the end of the current queue.
  12. If several people make same request, the urgency will increase

  

Trans Mountain (TM) pipeline update, NEB Hearing March 17, 2018:

  1. Meeting with the NEB (National Energy Board) regarding the routing of the Trans Mountain Pipeline, March 17
  2. Our request was to cluster the pipeline with railway and SFPR and it was well received.
  3. Although 3 of our board of directors attended (Ed MacIntosh, Ed Moore and Lindsay Ryerson), they were not property owners who would be directly affected by the pipeline. Due to this, the decision went largely to the City of Surrey who owned much of the land that the pipeline is proposed to go through.  Some home/land owners did have their own separate hearings as they were directly affected.
  4. Ed MacIntosh attended a meeting last week with all community associations across the City where the PIPE UP Network shared information. Their email address is pipe-up.net and they can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PipeUpNetwork.  They have concerns about the potential impact of the proposed pipeline, especially if there was a spill or rupture and the impact of the bitumen on the Fraser River.  They are dedicated to empowering communities with the knowledge needed to stop the proposed Kinder Morgan Pipeline expansion and to work toward a just transition to a fossil free future in collaboration with Indigenous People.  Check Facebook to see what activities they have scheduled.
  5. They hold workshops – one was held in FH about 3 years ago.
  6. Note that the pipeline will be all underground using horizontal directional drilling or cut and cover

 

Development:

  • Meeting with the City of Surrey Engineering Department – Doug McLeod (transportation planning)
  1. 100 Ave upgrades from 172 to 175 St – there is a lot of roadwork going on. Multi-purpose pathway is being constructed in this area as well.
  2. 104 Ave & 170A St intersection – issues with traffic and school patrol due to increased traffic heading east along 104 to SFPR and connector. City thought this was more of a policing issue and that the traffic needed to be slowed down (from 168 down to 176 St on 104 Ave) – Police are monitoring this site.  There is a pedestrian light on the far sides of 104 Ave/170A St
  3. 104 Ave upgrades – currently, there is too much speeding along this corridor. The more open side of road is, the faster people go.  Curbs and gutters are being installed as they give structure so a road appears narrower and vehicles tend to slow down.
  4. Resident mentioned that when she heads north on 176th in the morning, there is a line of cars waiting to turn left onto 104 Ave. These stopped vehicles are not seen until she has come over the hill on 176 and this is an accident waiting to happen as they are at a full stop in the traffic lane.  MOTI (Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure) is working on improving this intersection.
  5. The 77 proposed townhomes have been designed to look like other housing in FH
  6. 104/176 upgrades – new sewer line is being added as the current one is almost at capacity
  7. 164 St & 104 Ave traffic light – there have been numerous accidents here. The City said, based on the number of vehicles going through this intersection or entering FH via the #1 off-ramp), a traffic light is warranted.  A round-about was not considered as it cost considerably more than traffic lights.  Time line to installation of the lights is 1½ to 2 years.
  • Public Hearings April 9
  1. Fraser Heights Wine Cellar application for liquor store – it was passed to be a full liquor store (they will rearrange product inside store to accommodate all the new items)
  2. 77 Townhouse proposal at 100 Ave & 176 St was also passed

 

MLA Constituency report by Deanna Fasciani (email Deanna.Fasciani@leg.bc.ca) – constituency assistant for Garry Begg who was not able to come (he was in Victoria for meetings):

  • Gary was in Victoria today but will be back from June to Sept.
  • Can book appointments in advance with him by emailing him at begg.mla@leg.bc.ca or by calling his office at 604-586-3747
  • Advocacy for constituents – his office deals with range of issues such as residential tenancy problems (both for owners and renters), ministry of health (though Fraser Health), Ministry of social development and poverty reduction
  • Outreach – community drop in sessions were from Feb to May. There have been evening meetings but regular office hours are 9:30 to 4.  Garry is at his office most Fridays but is in Victoria from Mon to Thurs.
  • His annual summer barbeque is Sat Aug 4th
  • Sat Aug 11 is a barbeque put on by MP Ken Hardie
  • “Town Hall” will be coming up again in the fall. This year, it will be a bit more open and a few of the themes that will be released in advance.  Details will be on website
  • Can sign up for the newsletter on the website – next issue will be June (there isn’t one in May)
  • Tynehead hatchery (http://tyneheadhatchery.ca) – this coming Saturday will be a release of the fish
  • Childcare – the new benefit plan will come out in Sept (for families making up to $111,000, they can apply online). Reductions may be as high as $350 per month.
  • earlyyears@gov.bc.ca (lots of childcare providers have signed up). BC childcare map – can find these childcare providers in your area
  • Community grants – non-profits seeking funding, related to sports and recreation – check with Garry’s office. If your community program falls into one of the categories, you can apply.
  • Educators, EAs, principals can nominate school staff for awards by June 18. The winners will receive up to $3000 for furthering their education or they can donate money to their school.

 

Concerns or comments:

  • A resident from Abbey Glen complained about the train whistles. Lindsay Ryerson addressed this issue.  This has been an ongoing problem that individuals and the association have been working on for about 8 years.  Panorama Ridge residents/association were successful after addressing this problem for 12 years.  Note – If there are no whistles and someone gets hit, the railway does not take responsibility.  It could take another 5 years before we get whistle cessation in FH.  The procedure takes a long time due to legal issues.

 

There was a call for interested residents to join our board of directors.  We meet 1 to 2 weeks before each community association meeting and attend various meetings and open houses that deal with issues in our community.

 

This was the last meeting of the FHCA for the 2017/2018 school year.  We will be going from 4 meetings to 3 next year due to costs.  The 3 meetings for the 2018/2019 school year will be announced during the summer and the first one should be toward the end of September.

 

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