CERCA's Annual General Meeting 2019, Minutes
4th of September 2019, Providence Farm
6: 30 Welcome and Apologies: The Chairwelcomed the members and two guests. 21 written apologies were received bymembers prior to the AGM. The Agenda and Minutes of the 2018 AGM were approved(seconded by Jock Hildebrand)
6: 35 Update on CERCA activities since AGM 2018by the Chair:
Open-Air Classroom Nature trail, signs andmaintenance: Two interpretative signs along the trail were vandalized. Thanksto Island Savings we were able to replace them. CERCA is still not allowed bythe Lessee to finalize trail construction and much needed trail maintenance.
Re-zoning: CERCA agreed with West CoastEnvironmental Law to use the remaining $900 of our legal grant allocated to there-zoning issue for a third legal opinion by a lawyer selected by Carol Hartwig,Ray Demarchi and their group. It was agreed that Carol takes the lead onworking with the lawyer who meanwhile has submitted a letter to the CVRD withfocus on process errors which hopefully may stop the re-zoning applicationbefore it enters the third reading by the EASC.
Estuary Art Show and Exhibition: CERCA and the CowichanValley Public Art Gallery Society (CVPAG) joined forces to implement anexhibition on the estuary. The 20 artists selected showed works related to theestuary. CERCA contributed the mobile estuary exhibition which had beendeveloped by CERCA jointly with the Royal BC Museum. According to Jock Hildebrandthis highly successful exhibition attracted over 1000 visitors. CERCA's mobileexhibition is now on display at the Shawnigan Lake School after a shortpresentation at the Brentwood College in Mill Bay, used as a valuableeducational tool.
CERCA Social Event: Close to 40 CERCA membersenjoyed CERCA's 2019 social event at Goetz's and Beate's residence.
Swallow Project: The 2019 survey revealed that 93%of the more than 70 nesting boxes along the Cowichan River South Fork weresuccessfully occupied. Encouraged by this positive result, the Board decided tohang 30 more boxes for the 2020 season. Wes Heinrichs graciously hasvolunteered to construct the boxes with the lumber donated again by Murray fromDogwood Lumber. Only 26% of the 27 new boxes (hung in March 2019) along thefence of Blackley's Farm were occupied. We hope to achieve much better resultsin 2020 from returning birds now familiar with this new area which did notoffer cavity facilities in the past.
Proposed Cowichan River Estuary Trail: The issue ofbroom removal and the response by Mr. Reitsma from North Cowichan to ourrequest for a delegation at the next Council meeting was discussed. Our requestwas denied. Mike Meagher volunteered to write a response letter to be sent toReitsma inquiring why the content of the letter couldn't be shared with CERCAmembers as indicated in the Reitsma letter. Members do not understand why thebroom removal itself is not allowed.
Guided Trail- and Estuary Walks: Several guidedtrail walks were conducted on behalf of the CVRD Elder College and the CVPAG.The walks continue to be popular amongst participants judging by the feedback.Also one very well received guided Mudflat Walk was organized in August forCERCA members.
6: 55 NewBoard Member: The Chair introduced and welcomed Chris Warren as new CERCABoard member. Chris was the Director of Development Services for theCity of Vancouver, where she has been working for almost 30 years. Herexperience and expertise are expected to be a great asset for CERCA. Herelection by the members was unanimous.
6: 55 FinancialReport: Margaret Riess provided a detailed financial report, which wasapproved (seconded by Jock and Julia Newman). Goetz thanked Margaret for allher work, excellent record keeping, and dealing with the complicatedrequirements by Revenue Canada regarding CERCA's charitable status.
7: 05 Presentationby Guest Speaker John Stewart: John, the liaison person between ParksCanada and Cowichan Tribes, provided anexcellent power point -assisted overview of the status of the current proposalby Parks Canada to create a Salish Sea Conservation Area. He emphasized thatthe current proposed boundaries of the Conservation area are tentative, andmuch work is going into the issue of Governance of this rather large area,which encompasses numerous jurisdictions and First Nation Lands subject totreaty negotiations . This was followed by a lively discussion. Questions byCERCA members (Jock, Goetz, Mike, Steven, Peter, Jerome, Connie etc.) focusedon the boundary issue and why some areas of key ecological importance such asthe Cowichan Estuary are excluded by the proposal. John indicated that thisquestion has also been asked by Cowichan Tribe Elders and continues to be anissue for follow-up. Goetz thanked John for an excellent and highly informativepresentation. As a token of appreciation he presented John with one of CERCA'sinsect pollinator boards produced byGoetz, Beate and Jonathan.
7: 45 FundRaising, swallow boxes and insect habitat: Goetz introduced two newfund-raising ideas: (a) the adoption by CERCA members of a swallow box againsta donation of a minimum of $3. Each member interested would be given thenumber, location and photo of the box adopted together with a brief note at theend of a breeding season on the status of the box (occupied or not). There areno other commitments attached to a box adoption. (b) with due consideration ofthe declining insect pollinator populations locally, nationally andinternationally, especially affecting native bee species, Goetz suggested toprovide suitable habitat, aimed mostly at orchard bees as displayed by Beateand Jonathan in the photos below. Three sizes are available which you may wanthang at a suitable location at your property (need south-west facing exposure).
Large plateswith 230 to 280 holes against a donation of $35 minimum
Mediumplates with 55 to 85 holes against a donation of $20 minimum
Small plateswith 38 to 45 holes against a donation of $15 minimum
Allsix pieces (two of each size) taken to the AGM found spontaneously a new ownerand $120 were raised. Anybody interested in one of the Key habitat requisitesto hang at a sunny spot on the balcony, deck, garden, or house-wallshould get in touch with Goetz. He uses the same types for the past 15 years at his place belowMount Tzouhalem with overwhelming success. Most holes of his five large platesare occupied year after year.
