Minutes of the Annual General Meeting
Seymour Valley Community Association

Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Jaycee House, 1251 Lillooet Road

Co-Chair, Bob Charlton called the meeting to order at 7:15 p.m.  He welcomed all attendees, 33 resident-members who had signed in at the door and received an Agenda, which represented a quorum.  Also, from the collection box at the entrance, donations totaling $30.00 were received by the Treasurer, Michele Payne,

 Introduction and Election:     Bob indicated that he would not be standing for re-election to the Board, but introduced the five current Directors who were:   Phil Holland and Bill Maurer, of Riverside Drive; Michele Payne of Chapman Way; Willy Schuurman of Rivergrove Place; and Ken Reid of Riverside Drive who was not present.  He also announced that John Lane of Riverbank, who could not be present this evening had agreed to serve.  He asked for any nominations from the floor.  As none were received, these six were elected by acclamation, with one Board seat remaining vacant.

GVRD Presentation: Guest Speaker – Mark Ferguson of the GVRD-Water Projects gave a slide presentation on the work being done on the Seymour Filtration Plant.   Next, Steven Lewis of the District discussed the work now starting on the new Monashee-Selkirk Connector which will make the access route to the Filtration Plant go around the Cemetery.  A portion of upper Lillooet Road will become a cul-de-sac for hikers and bikers use.  This will bring traffic closer to the canyon edge, directly across the Seymour River from Swinburne Ave. Then finally, Doug Kennedy discussed the results of a study his consulting firm did to examine noise from truck traffic related to these construction projects.  It was difficult for residents to grasp the significance of the decibel numbers, though it was clear that readings taken from Riverbank, Swinburne, and Carmen Place in Berkley all indicated audible noise would be generated.  Ironically, the quieter the area, the more the noise would be noticeable to residents. In addition, this work and related noise will continue for a number of years.  Mr. Ferguson said that most of the rock debris taken from the tunnels and Filtration Site construction will be trucked four kilometers up the valley to be stock-piled, rather than being trucked out of the site.   But, there were no other plans or remedial options in place to reduce the noise levels.

District Presentation:    Donna Howes from District Planning gave a presentation on the plans for the new Dollarton Bridge which will not commence until some final funding is secured from Translink.  A discussion ensued about the inability of Seymour residents to get home due to roads being blocked by Second Narrows Bridge snarls.  The District’s ability to respond to this is hampered because most of the main access roads to the Bridge are under the control of the Ministry of Transport.  The provincial focus seems to be only south of the Bridge and out along the Highway, without any recognition that there is a significant problem on the North Shore. Obviously, the Seymour residents and the SVCA must continue to pursue solutions to the road grid-lock we now experience frequently.

Next, Donna discussed budget constraints facing the Riverside Drive Sidewalk upgrades, lighting on connector trails, and parking issues.  There was some money in the Maintenance budget now for removing telephone poles from the sidewalk, which was a hopeful change.  This work and the cementing of the sidewalk would have to be done section by section over a period of years.  Vegetation encroachment was a key factor in blocking sidewalk use, and Donna agreed to follow up on this with the District, since a letter with photos from the SVCA had received no action so far.  Many questions were raised by attendees and much information was exchanged in what was overall a good dialogue with the District representative.

After thanks, Bob called for a motion to adjourn the meeting.  Phil Holland so moved and the meeting was adjourned at 9:18 p.m.  Some socializing continued with coffee and cookies provided.