Minutes – Sep 22 2010

President’s Report

• Frank Russell has taken on the role as President of the Association
• Rob Langford stepped down as President but continues to be a director. Marcie Kroeker and Cathy Moore have been added as new directors. The full list of directors is posted on the FHCA website (www.fhca.ca).

Treasurer’s Report

• Heather Nelson, treasurer reported that one FHCA member will be attending a transportation seminar at SFU

Neighbourhood Policing Report

• News from Constable Chris Dibblee who is the liaison officer for Fraser Heights – contact him via email for any concerns in the community (604-839-6971, 778-593-3559 or at christopher.dibblee@rcmp-grc.gc.ca):
• The 4 way stops, especially at the corner of 108th Ave and 156th Street, have been actively patrolled recently. Many tickets have been given out for not stopping at the stop signs.
• Member’s concern – the 110th Ave and 156th Street intersection also needs patrolling as a large number of people are not stopping at stop signs.
• There was worry about an elderly resident named Jack (Caucasian and of slight stature) – he is prone to wander away from his house and since he is partially blind, he gets lost – call the RCMP if you see him – he tends to visit the parks and has been found around the high school.

Parks and Recreation

• Surrey Bend – work hasn’t started at this site yet.
• There were no updates on the Fraser Heights Recreation Centre upgrade – plans for this upgrade are posted in the entranceway of the Rec Centre
• JR Douglas Park – the entrance way at 109 where it joins 163 has been closed off as it had become a hangout area – this has cut the traffic down in the area

Gateway Update

• Heather gave an update on Gateway – there is a planned open house meeting concerning noise abatement for east Fraser Heights – sometime after Thanksgiving (Oct 17 to 23rd) – the homes that are in the vicinity (100th Ave. area by freeway – past Pacific Academy) will get a letter to invite them to the open house but it will also be in posted in the Leader).
• New drawings are out. Some homes will be losing property for ramp. For homes that are east of 164th – the executive will meet with Gateway prior to meeting with public so if you have any questions to be brought forward, please email the directors so your questions can be brought forth.
• Accidents – Fraser Heights has 3 exits 176th Street, 160th Street and 152nd Street (which is now closed for access in and out of Fraser Heights). There were 680 accidents at these 3 exits last year – this is one of the highest accident rates at intersections in Surrey.
• The intersection of 164th Street & 104th Avenue – FHCA has been dealing with the City – they won’t budge to provide us with a light or stop sign. The City said Gateway will change how that intersection will function but there continues to be very poor visibility on 104th that causes problems.
• Kewit has set up a camp and office at 104th Ave. at the industrial area – that’s where they store trucks and work out of.
• SFPR – Hwy construction – no major news to report – they have stripped trees on 176. The Fire Station and Korean church will stay. There has been a lot of preloading going on at the bottom of 176th Street and 104th Ave. They’ve also done some preloading by the intermodal yards.
• Traffic problems continue to be an issue. We are still trying to work through some of our priority issues such as the intersections at 104th Ave and 164th Street and 104th Ave and 160th Streets. These are two of the most dangerous intersections in the province – over 220 accidents a year. The reply given by the City is that Gateway will address these issues but we’ve still got a few years till completion so something needs to be done in the interim. There needs to be a stopgap measure such as light timing or a left turn signal at south side of overpass.
• Red light cameras are not a solution – they just end up being a cash cow as those heading south on 160th Street turning left (east) onto the freeway are often forced to turn left on red light to get through intersection at the south end of the 160th overpass.
• Residents have reported it has been taking them an extra 15 to 20 minutes commuting time now that access to the freeway at 110th and 152nd has been closed off. A big problem was that people have not been able to get near the Rec Centre to work out as the traffic is often backed up to the high school in the morning. The High school has been closing the gates so that people don’t cut through there to cut the line on 160th. There may be no easy solution until the whole Gateway project is completed in a few years. The buses have also had to wait in this line of cars so they can make a left turn onto 104th Ave. to continue their bus route through Fraser Heights.

Pedestrian Overpass

• Work on the pedestrian and cyclist overpass from 168th Street to Tynehead park will start in next 2 months as it is slated to be finished by March 2011.

Surrey Parks

• They are initiating a mini mural program – they want the garbage cans that are in the parks to be painted by school groups, cubs, brownies, family groups etc. The City is supplying the garbage cans and paints and they want a sketch of what you/your group want to paint on the can submitted to Surrey Parks.

Development at 176th Street and Highway #1 Update

• There was a proposal for 6 storey wood structure buildings. As it stands, the whole area is still zoned as per the development that was planned in 1992 – it included a gas bar, convenience store etc. The zoning hasn’t been changed since then. The latest application was to have had the zoning changed in block 1 of the project (the entire project was divided into 5 or 6 blocks) but to date, the property has not been rezoned yet. This housing development will cause the population density to increase immensely.
• Fraser Heights Secondary School has one of the highest numbers of portables in Surrey. The expansion of the high school is in the 5 year plan (stated last year) and because of this, the project was allowed to be accepted.

Next meeting is Tuesday, November 30th.