Please Renew your memberships to Participate in the AGM and be an AVTT member.
Important: Please make sure you have paid your AVTT member dues ($20 min donation). It is especially important for the AGM as members of the Society can vote during the AGM and/or be on the Board. Please use the PayPal link on the webpage here or bring $20 (minimum :)) to the meeting.
Regular Meeting followed by AGM.
Please send any comments on the Agenda or reports by email through the AVTT List/GoolgeGroup or at patransitions@googlegroups.com or during the meeting.
Click Here to go to the Zoom Meeting.
You can find more Zoom details and other events at Char’s Landing.com
Time: November 16, 2022 – 6:00pm Pacific Time – Duration 1hr or maybe a little more due to AGM – Plus ACA event afterward!
November 16, 2022 – Regular Meeting
- Territorial Acnknowledgent – 6PM
- Introductions
- Unfinished Business
- Burde Street Ponds Letter – Riparian Area
- Upcoming Events
- Sub Group Reports
- Education and Networking
- Food Group
- Cycle Alberni
- Ocean Friendly
- Dry Creek Estuary
- Meet with MLAs Office Nov 30
- Waterwatch Coalition
- Financials
- Affiliated Group Reports
- Alberni Climate Action
- Other Fun Stuff
Reports:
Financials:
Aggregate: $44,858.37
AVTTS: $1,219.67
AVFSG Aggregate: $44,344.05
*Island Health: $29,983.67
*Systems Change (ACRD): $4,357.50
*Food RX (McConnell): $3,303.95
*Food RX (2nd Harvest): $0
*Food Education: $496.59
*Grow Local: $3,267.61
*Gleaning: $2,934.73
Cycle Alberni: $2,861.13
Alberni Climate Action: $1,868.38
Cycle Alberni
Here is the Cycle Alberni report.
Things are looking really good for cycling in Port Alberni.
The Spring and Fall GoByBike weeks set records for ridership. The Fall event with 88 riders and 40 new riders put us right up in league with the Comox Valley for the first time!
The winter GoByBike week will be February 6-12 and some riders have registered at GoByBikebc.ca already. I encourage everyone to do likewise. With our continued drought conditions, riding continues to be a piece of cake.
A big thank you to all who helped out with GoByBike week activities as well as our display at the Fall Fair at which we gave away a beautiful new Mountain Bike complements of the Jumping Slug, Karen Maika Mid-Island Remax and GoByBikeBC.
We were pleased to receive a grant of $1810 from the BC Cycling Coaltition so that we could help purchase a bike trailer for use in our School Bike Safety and Skills program as well as Parks and Rec cycling camps.
A special thanks to Candyse Roberts for her great work with all the kids in the school bike program.
If you have any concerns or ideas about cycling in our community, please contact me at djmayba@telus.net.
Hope to see everyone out riding this winter and especially from February 6-12 for GoByBike Winter week.
Ocean Friendly
Funky Bag Workshop: Oct. 24/22: The second Funky Bag workshop on how to sew upcycled fabric grocery bags to donate to OFPA was another success. Val Baggaley gave the workshop at her home, many thanks!Sand Lance/Smelt/Sand Sifting: Sunday, Nov. 6 in Parksville, through Mid Vancouver Island Habitat Enhancement Society. OFPA attended. This is a research project with VIU to isolate the eggs from the sand from 11 different beach sites over time. The research will assist with understanding habitat needs. This will be conducted once per month so more volunteers are appreciated.Letter to Tyler at No Frills: We have delivered a package containing our brochure, a personal letter, and sample upcycled grocery bag to Tyler at No Frills to request that we be permitted to host our display table at his store. We were well received and await his determination. Loblaws, of which No Frills is part, contains Sustainability statements which go well with our display table purposes which are to “donate” our bags, encourage the public to transition from plastics to alternatives, as Federal bans are coming soon, and educate through our brochures and talking with the public.Haahuupayak: There is possible interest in the school joining in the eelgrass mapping project taking place in Parksville. More communication is needed prior to determining whether or not this is possible, and in what capacity. We have been asking around about eelgrass project possibilities in our area.
ACA
ACA has finally received some baseline GHG numbers! These are thanks to Ken Watson who has been editing the Port Alberni 2007-2015 Sustainability Report for the past 2 1/2 years.
These numbers may or may not be used by the City of Port Alberni, as they are from 2012.
According to the 2012 CEEI
(Community Energy and Emissions Inventory), possible baseline GHG numbers for our Region are:
ACRD: 176177 CO2e (t)
Community (City) of Port Alberni: 68941 CO2e (t)Corporate: 1965 CO2e (t) (from the 2018 CARIP)
Ken has emailed Marianne Wade and Rob Dickinson, City Engineer, to determine who, at the City, will be responsible for the Climate and Sustainability file and whether or not the above numbers will be used as baselines.
Please send me any questions you may have for Ken.
AVFSG
Education
Check out a perspective on economic wrangling and the climate crisis. This conversation outlines the scope of what will likely be necessary for us to see meaningful action on climate, and highlights the need for local efforts towards resilience in the face of official delays and obfuscation.
- Next Meeting (December/January?)
- Adjourn
2022 Annual General Meeting
- Introduction
- Approval of Agenda
- Approval of 2021 AGM Minutes
- President’s Report
- Treasurer’s Report
- Other Reports
- Election of Directors for 2022-2023
- Thank you to past and current Directors
- Adjourn
2021 Annual General Meeting Minutes
October 2022 Minutes (and Guy Dauncey!)
President’s Report
Dear fellow Transitioners,
It has been an eventful year. We have emerged at least in some respects from the pandemic and this has allowed us to see each other in person a lot more. For this I am very thankful. It has brought a renewed energy into the group at a time when the work we have been doing for so many years is more important that ever.
I first want to thank all of you, whether you are a long time member, or new. I know there are people that are not here or that may not even come to any official meeting at all, and yet we know that you are contributing to the many endeavours that AVTT members are also participating in. Thank you. Your work and effort is seen and appreciated. We’ve also made a lot of friends over the past few years. I want to give a shout out in particular to Sandy McRuer and Karen St. Pierre of the Burde Street Ponds group. Their efforts are critical for ensuring the ponds are protected and it seems they might just have both the City and the Province as an ally here. It’ll be important to keep engaged.
I want to acknowledge every group.
First, Cycle Alberni.
John Mayba has engaged this group in the community in a way we haven’t seen in quite a few years. The success of all of this year’s Go By Bike events is a testament to John’s work and to Jim and Ian and all the rest of the amazing Cycle Alberni crew that have pretty much single handedly built bicycle riding up in Port Alberni from the domain of a few diehards, to a legitimate form of transportation that is recognized by City, businesses, and the community as a whole. The pandemic and the incredible growth of electric assisted bicycles over the past few years is bringing new opportunities and relevance to this as a real way to get around town for all.
Ocean Friendly Port Alberni
Jim, Amber, Gail and all the rest of the folks who’ve come out and with the great support from Surfrider have done an incredible job in making this group come to life! From Harbour cleanups to raising awareness at the Farmer’s Market, you have put Ocean Friendly Port Alberni on the map and started the conversation to end single use plastic use in our community. It’s coming and your efforts are part of it.
Dry Creek Estuary Group
I admit this is a bit of a personal pet-project. A bee in my bonnet that I don’t intend to let go. It has been inspirational to see how both folks in AVTT have supported it, especially Jim, Gail, Rob, Dan and others… but also how the community has come out in support of what is a pretty big idea. Jim Rutherford in particular has done incredible work gathering knowledge from the Somass site. We don’t know if the idea has legs yet. We hope the City does us the courtesy of taking the idea seriously. I am extremely grateful to Ken Watts of Tseshaht and their entire council for being the most willing to talk about it even if they will likely have their own priorities and vision for the area. What is definitely inescapable is the idea is there and firmly implanted in the minds of the community and with the Official Community Plan and Somass Mill lands process going on concurrently, this restoration will happen in some form. We will keep working as hard as we can to restore the Creek and shoreline in its entirety.
Alberni Climate Action
While ACA is not a formal group under the AVTT umbrella I must acknowledge the work Robert, Gail and all have done to advance the Climate Action in our community. You’ve created something extremely important and I’m so grateful that we are all a part of it. In particular, your focus on building a relationship with the City of Port Alberni and our MLA has bourn real fruit. The relationship you have cultivated with Rob Dickinson at the City is something we can’t let go. How fortunate we are to have such a committed group leading Climate Action in this town. You cannot be ignored and better still, decision makers are following your lead!
Food Group
I’ve saved comment on the Food Group for last because of all the groups, it is the Food Group that has probably had the most impactful year. It has been difficult at times. We have had tough conversations about the future and how to move forward. I want to acknowledge especially Janis Nairne, John Mayba, and Ian Thomas for their ongoing leadership especially the task of filling the void left with Edna’s passing. I want to acknowledge Stephanie Smith, who has brought professional and competent stewardship to the day to day workings of the Food Group and ensured that the Government was happy with their myriad of emails, reports, and filings. I want to acknowledge Rob Powelson for being keenly committed to ensuring the Food Group and AVTT could find a path that was sustainable in the long term.
This has been a difficult year at times and I know there have been difficult and strained relationships. It is a testament though to all of your commitment to the ideals of Transition Towns and the mission of the Food Group that you’ve been able to do all of that and still run a gleaning project, still pull of the Farm tours, still participate at the Fall Fair, still run the FoodRX program, and do all the other things. That is what the Community needs and all of the other stuff will work itself out in the end. This year will probably be one of transition for the group itself. It’s also going to see Seedy Saturday come under its umbrella. There will be no shortage of work but I believe the Food Group is stronger now than it ever has been and it’s only going to get stronger and it’s because of the people in it who remain so dedicated to promoting local food and agriculture in the our community.
Finally, I want to say thank you to everyone on the “Board” of Alberni Valley Transition Town Society. Jim, John, Dan, Rob, Mark and Gail. You all did excellent work ensuring that our little Society was able to function and prosper.
In the coming year I believe we need to do two things to ensure the viability of our Society.
Number 1, we must grow our ranks, including on the Board. We need to actively recruit folks into Transition Towns. We need to gather all the people that are connected to the Groups and encourage them to be active members of the Society. I do not want to be President forever, and many around this table have been here for a long time. We must have renewal or this Society will not survive. It is time we actively recruit people for the Board during the entire year. That will be the mission of every board member in this upcoming year. We have never asked for much on this Board, but now we need to step it up.
Number 2, we must redouble our efforts in the Community to engage in every event that we can. We need to be at Canada Day and Fall Fair, but we should also be at the Salmon Festival, at Christmas Craft Fairs, at Bulldog Games, and other community events. We can’t do that without people, which is why Number 1 is so important, but only by doing both with both be successful. We can do it.
The Climate Change issue is now front and centre in every person and politician’s mind. We must continue to push for a rapid Transition in Port Alberni. We must find ways to make reduction of Carbon emissions the number 1 consideration in every decision the City makes and every decision Port Alberni residents make. We have seen the catastrophic impacts of what is essentially the CO2 emissions from 20-30 years ago. The impacts of the CO2 and other GHGs we are emitting today is truly frightening.
But here we are, still fighting, still learning, still putting on talks and presentations and making connections in the community. We have made a difference. Every single member and citizen who has participated in a AVTT initiative has made a difference.
We will continue.
Sincerely,
Chris Alemany
President – AVTTS