Synergia MOOC in full swing, no fees, sign up through Synergia Institute. A whole mess of Transitioners in Kamloops are participating as well as others of many descriptions from all over the world (956 participants at last count. Module 2 about to start, Land and Resources
Council should be commended for recently directing City staff to report back to them on the most recent Municipal Natural Assets Initiative (MNAI). There are 4/40 places remaining for this year’s cohort and so I have requested a fast-tracking of the process here in Port Alberni. It is a light lift for the city, at $500 to attend and relatively few hours of work, resulting in a Natural Assets Roadmap which could enable the city to save infrastructure funds in the future with climate change.
GREEN DRINKS: BRAINSTORMING CLIMATE/ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS
The great suggestion, at last month’s AVTTS meeting, to brainstorm on climate issues, such as housing in Port Alberni has resulted, thanks to Jim and Charlene, in Green Drinks being set up on a once per month basis at Char’s Landing. The next Green Drinks discussion is set for Tuesday, Feb. 28 from 4-6 p.m. at Char’s Landing. This is a great opportunity to discuss concerns and solutions to climate/environmental, just transition issues in a friendly atmosphere. Charlene has kindly agreed to reserve the last Tuesday of each month for us.
STUDENTS FOR CHANGE:
Students for Change attended the online Climate Caucus Summit along with a representative from ACA. We hope to receive feedback from their experience.
OLD GROWTH RALLY/VICTORIA:
Reminder of the Old Growth Rally on Feb. 25 in Victoria, meeting at Centennial Square at 12:00 pm. and walking to the Legislature for the rally which is from 1:30 to 3:30. Thanks to John Mayba for organizing an EV cavalcade. Please contact John if you wish to join.
Anna Lewis coming on board, and is likely to be the outreach for AVFSSS
No report from Cycle Alberni?
John Met with Rob Dickinson, finish this year with suggested intersection modifications, roundabout @ Beaver Creek andRiver Road, $700k for streets/bike infrastructure.
Estuary: meeting and tour with Dickinson at King Tides, measuring water levels. More discussion as OCP progresses.
Read financials.
ACA Report (posted to site)
Leo queried about provincial money grants from surplus.
Just Transition
Reactivating active transportation plan.
Adjournment
Banning Zoom (at least for the foreseeable future)
Conversations about (CCPA) Alternate Federal Budget, and the possibility of doing something similar for the City with an eye to getting the idea of the Just Transition out there for discussion and eventual action. Several hands went up to signify interest.
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). Please use the PayPal link on the webpage here or bring $20 (minimum :)) to the meeting.
Cycle Alberni GBB week, over 1m km in BC, we had same level of ridership as Comox Valley. Flashing lights bicycle headlights.
Ocean Friendly per submitted report. Contact Phil Edgell?
Dry Creek Estuary: Submission made, no news thus far. Josie Osborne Nov 30 at Zoom.Chris will send out Zoom link. Funding supports from the Province.
Strong encouragement to pay membership fees. Fall Fair funds transferred, per Stephanie’s request.
Seedy Saturday, combined effort, seed event followed by plants later.
18 January 2023
Moved Dan to adjourn at 6:46
Agenda
Moved Dan/sec John Mayba carried
Minutes from last AGM
Moved John, sec Robert G.
Treasurer reports that we have money and could use more.
Receive reports Moved Dan/sec Powelson
Chris President
Rob Treasurer
Dan Secretary
Jim Wright
John Mayba, directors at large
Moved Dan, to adjourn. @6:55
Youtube (Also includes 2022 AGM)
Financials:
Aggregate: $5,970.90
AVTTS: $1,299.39
Cycle Alberni: $2,861.13
Alberni Climate Action: $1,810.38
*Please note: Alberni Valley Food Security Group now has their own bank account/Treasurer, so finances will no longer be reported here*
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:
Robert will have more regarding the Speaker Series.
Gail continued with Nanaimo Climate Pledge Interviews and meetings. Not as many as would be appreciated have actually signed the pledge and therefore committed to climate action to date. The strategies attempted to date are mailouts of the brochure and holding discussions with individuals or small groups. Our next strategy is posting the brochure on social media. We are collecting data on best methods to use, to be sent to UBC. The Nanaimo Climate Pledge brochure contains 13 of the best climate actions for the households of the “middle majority.” (Those who are aware, yet haven’t yet taken the actions recommended.)
John Mayba and Gail are working on a newspaper series of articles together with Leo King who has a background in climate science. Our proposal is to meet with Susie Quinn, our local editor, to discuss the concept of publishing a climate science series related to the areas of most greenhouse gas reduction, such as transportation and a separate series on alternate weeks featuring a local person’s climate actions. Our letter to Susie has been sent and we are waiting for her response.
John and Gail met with Students for Change, a group of three highschool students who have been granted approval to shadow City Council. Gail reached out to the group following a writeup in the local paper, and we were invited to meet in the classroom. We have since provided the students with the documents: “Together for Climate,” the ICLEI document on climate adaptation specific to the Alberni Valley, and “The Infiltration Manual” developed by Climate Caucus and Youth Climate Lab with city councillor input and focusing on what councillors can do to create climate action in the community. We are advised that Students for Change is not a climate action group per se. They are part of the Social Justice class. We’ve invited them to our next event on food security and have two councillors interested in meeting with them: Councillors Patola and Dame. Inclusion is very important to these students and they hope to maintain Students for Change after graduation, potentially involving diverse age groups.
International Veggie Cooking group: Marlene Mortensen is a contact person for this exciting group which hosts a potluck dinner once per month with recipes given to participants online and from a different country each month. This seems a great way to minimize meat consumption.
Please contact Gail if interested. This is free and open to all.
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 maynot 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.
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.
