News
Minutes from CHNA executive meeting, June 27, 2018
Please see attached document with minutes from the meeting of the executive, held June 27, 2018. |
Oct 24: Annual General Meeting
Please mark your calendars for the 2017 Cates Hill Neighbourhood Annual General Meeting. When:Tuesday, October 24th at 7:00 pm Where: Non-fiction Library Room, Bowen Island Community School, 1041 Mt Gardner Road We hope to see you there! |
Aug 20: Picnic in the Park
For several years we had a tradition of summer Picnics in our
Neighbourhood Park, just below Tir-na-nog. We kept that
tradition going this summer with our August picnic, on Sunday August 20th. We enjoyed great food and great company. It was very nice to meet new the neighbours old and new.Rosemary (Knight) and DG (Blair) (Potluck picnic organizers) |
2017-07-18: Meeting minutes
On July 18th at 7:00 pm a meeting was held with the primary objective of electing a new Board for the Neighbourhood Association. To avoid the possibility of dissolution by the Provincial Government a new Board may hold an Annual General Meeting before December 1st, 2017, and file an Annual Report with the Government. A new Board was elected. Minutes of the meeting are attached. |
2017: Be prepared for an emergency
Each summer we hear awful news about the devastation in BC's interior caused by forest fires. What would it be like if we had a major forest fire on Bowen Island? We recommend that you visit the Provincial Government's Emergency Preparedness website, and make use of the information you'll find there. We also live in an earthquake zone, and need to be ready at all times to deal with a major earthquake. Part of being in a small community and neighbourhood is that it lets us get to know our neighbours. We may have to rely on each other when a disaster strikes. As well, each household should have a plan for dealing with an emergency, and emergency kits ready. You will find a great deal of helpful information on the Emergency Preparedness website mentioned above. |
July 27: Neighbourhood Summer Celebration
The Neighbourhood Celebration was held on Sunday July 27,
in David and Aubin Van Berckel's
Garden. It was a great success and a fun time. |
Water Rates
Please read the two letters below for more information concerning water rate increases for Cates Hill. Cove Bay Water System Advisory Committee c/o Councillor Wolfgang Duntz (wduntz@bimbc.ca) October 16, 2013 Dear Councillor Duntz, Re: Cove Bay Water System – Water Rates for Cates Hill Residents At a meeting of the Cates Hill Neighbourhood Association (CHNA), the issue of the rising water bills for Cates Hill residents was raised. Members of the CHNA are concerned about this and are seeking clarification on a number of issues. Several questions were discussed at the meeting regarding the Cove Bay Water System, as outlined below. CHNA would appreciate a response to these questions.
In addition, it was discussed that better communication is needed to avoid surprising people, and to explain and justify why, if any, cost increases are being incurred. We would like to know what systems can be put in place to facilitate better communication with Cates Hill residents. A timely response would be appreciated, in advance of the CHNA AGM on November 27, 2013 (date to be confirmed). Sincerely, Jennifer Hall President, CHNA Cc Keith Wahlstrom, Manager Development & Operations, Bowen Island Municipality, kwahlstrom@bimbc.ca Rod Marsh, President, Bowen Island Chamber of Commerce, president@bowenchamber.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 29 November 2013 Hi Jennifer, I am sorry for not having responded earlier. I thought
that Keith Wahlstrom would provide you with an answer. That obviously
did not happen and it may be because Keith has left the
municipality and that has left a void which will take a while to fill. I would strongly suggest that you or somebody else from from CHNA attends one of the next Cove Bay Water System meeting to raise your legitimate questions and to become familiar with the workings of Cove Bay Water System and Snug Cove Sewer System. In the meantime let me try to explain based on my own limited understanding of things. The
rate increases are not so much caused by an increase of cost for water
but by an increase for sewer. The sewer rate increase reflects higher
operational expense of the expanded sewer plant. In
general the setting of water and sewer rates are not of political nature,
i.e. not made by Council, but legislated based on the "user pays"
principle versus "taxpayer at large" to pay. Those rates are more or
less the direct result of actual cost and prescribed provisions for
reserves. Accountability is a matter of financial controls and based on
accounting facts and figures which are administered by municipal staff,
reviewed by advisory boards or committees and ultimately approved by
Council as part of yearly municipal budgets. All very straight forward
with very little room for discretionary decisions. Both
sewer and water system in Snug Cove are chronically short of volunteers
to serve on their advisory boards and it would be wonderful if your
request for information would trigger some interest among the neighbours to get involved. Best regards Wolfgang |