Waverley Ratepayers Association

Waverley Ratepayers Association

Annual General Meeting

Waverley Legion – 7:00 PM

Minutes – June 3, 2010

OPENING

Dave MacDonald, Chair, called the meeting to order and thanked everyone for coming. He briefly talked about the rates in Waverley that include sidewalk taxes. Halifax Regional Municipality has altered the boundaries in Waverley. The boundary used to end at 869 Waverley Road. The new boundary is now 1268 Waverley Road. Those residents who are before this new number are no longer part of our membership, based on taxes. He wanted attendants to clearly understand that anyone attending that lives in the old boundary could not vote at this meeting.

Introductions

Dave MacDonald introduced members of the Waverley Ratepayers Association Executive: Charles Schafer, Steve Saunders, Charles Wagner, Jane Rathbun, Ian Andrew, Bill Lockhart, Marilyn Clarke, Trish Polley and himself. Sandra McKenzie sent her regrets. He then introduced guests and speakers: Councillor Barry Dalrymple, Tim Rand, Brian Lynch, Allan Billard, Andrew Inch and Simon Pianarosa. Peter Stoffer and Percy Paris sent their regrets.

MINUTES OF LAST MEETING

Jane Rathbun, Acting Secretary, read the minutes from the July 5, 2007 WRA Annual General Meeting. Dave MacDonald asked for any errors or omissions. Mike Black moved to accept the minutes as read. Charles Wagner seconded the motion. Motion carried.

REPORTS

Chair

Dave MacDonald, Chair, talked about the work that has been ongoing on a community action plan. Considerable time has been spent on this. With the generous offer and donation from Barry Dalrymple, District 2 Councillor, Waverley Ratepayers Association now owns a community sign to announce community events, etc. We are still waiting for delivery. This year HRM called to our attention that, even though we own the Village Office building, the actual transfer of ownership was never done when amalgamation occurred. After discussion and a considerable amount of help from Barry Dalrymple, the required work to complete this process has been done. WRA expects to receive the final paperwork sometime this June. After this we will be able to apply for a tax exemption and available grants.

Financial Statement

Bill Lockhart, Acting Treasurer, presented his report.

Operating Budget (HRM Grant) – April 1, 2009 to May 4, 2010

Approved Operating Budget - $23,800.00.

Total Expenditures (paid by HRM) - $15,804.00

Closing Balance of Grant (not spent) - $ 7,996.00

PROPOSED OPERATING BUDGET FOR 2010/2011 $23,250.00*

*Reduced from 2009 grant as we ended the year with a surplus.

Financial Account Summary (heritage Credit Union Account) – June 1, 2009 to June 1, 2010

Opening Balance – June 1, 2009 - $12,339.16

Expenses Paid from Account - $15,804.00

Deposits to Account - $15,710.25

Closing Balance – June 1, 2010 - $12,245.41

C@P Sites

Charles Schafer, C@P Sites Coordinator, presented the report.

He stated that there are three cap sites in Waverley, all managed by volunteers.

Community Hall Site (seasonal) – Charles Schafer and summer student
Waverley Legion – Jim MacLeod
Waverley Manor – Bertha Ackles

Waverley Ratepayers Association has a website. It is maintained by the WRA with the technical support from the Waverley C@P Project. There are an average of 459 page views a month.
Sarah Haworth, Waverley, has been hired as the summer student for this summer.
Charles Schafer has been in this position for over ten years and would like someone to take this over. He presented the requirements for the job. Interested residents may contact him.
Ian Andrew motioned that the Financial Report and Cap Site Report be accepted. Marilyn Clarke seconded the motion. Motion carried.

Lockview High School Bursary

Jane Rathbun, Education representative, stated that WRA gives a $750 Bursary each June to a graduating student that is continuing their education the following year. The Lockview High School staff chooses the recipient and the bursary is announced and presented the night of graduation.

Andrea Ouellette, Waverley Road, received the 2008 bursary.
Rachel Eisener, Waverley Road, received the 2009 bursary.

Waverley Gold Rush Days

Brian Lynch stated he had previously organized the event for several years. When the previous person could not do it last year he volunteered to take over the job again.

There will be an event this year.
He asked for volunteers. He has fine-tuned the event so that jobs will not be overwhelming.

Waverley Volunteer Fire Department

Tim Rand, Deputy Fire Chief, presented the report.

Our station is #41. We are in the Zone 4 fire coverage area.
The station has a rescue truck (the last yellow one around), pump truck, ariel ladder truck and a tanker truck. Some is this equipment is used outside our area at times.
They had 150 emergencies this past year.
They had been low in members and held a recruitment drive last fall. They now have six new members.
They are busy doing the usual maintenance.
The fire department visits schools, Girl Guides, Scouts and other organizations to do presentations.
They do fundraising. Because of this they have been able to provide a 4-year renewable bursary to a student in need.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Dave MacDonald told residents that the Waverley Ratepayers Association set up this initiative in the spring of 2009 to explore various community issues and needs. We held an initial planning meeting on April 22, 2009, inviting various members from the community and community groups to start a plan. From this meeting five interest groups were identified.

Village Green Development
Waverley Heritage Museum
Traffic Calming
Developments along Rocky Lake Drive
Shubenacadie Canal and Trails

Village Green Interest Group

Jane Rathbun presented a review of the work done. The group’s work included:

A survey form was prepared and mailed out to 1000 recipients. 35 responses were received.

On November 19, 2009 the group met to go over the returned survey forms and e-mail responses. This process continued at another meeting in December. Each reply was read, discussed and categorized.
The group will now go over the survey results and formulate a Village Green development plan.
The survey results were in no specific order:

- Add more greenery/furniture

- Build a stage

- Remove the recent paving

- Keep it basically the same

- Improve the boat launch

Heritage Society/Museum

Marilyn Clarke informed residents that the past year they created a business plan to guide them through the next few years. Members are always making plans to fundraise to support the work they do for the museum and help pay for their summer student. They will be applying for a grant next year to help fund their work on proper documentation for the museum. The Heritage Society is looking for new members.

BREAK

Traffic Calming Interest Group

Charles Schafer and Steve Saunders presented the research and work completed by the group. The purpose of the group is to explore the need for road modifications and other traffic control measures to make our community a safe place for pedestrians of all ages.

Waverley Road Issues include:

Need for a safe walking trail on the west side (lakeside) of the Waverley Road.
Waverley Road between the Irving and the south entrance of Silversides Subdivision. - Most (but not all) of this segment has sufficient space for single file walkers as a consequence of lakeside private development.
Waverley Road between the south silversides entrance and the Portobello Lock Park - HRM submission to widen the shoulder at 9 locations was rejected. The reason given by HRM was this would not be safe because it would allow pedestrians to walk both with and against the traffic. However, under “Pedestrians”, #127(3) the Act states:"Where sidewalks are not provided, any pedestrian walking along and upon a highway shall, when practicable, walk only on the left side of the roadway or its shoulder facing traffic which may approach from the opposite direction."R.SC.293.127. Currently, pedestrians walk in both directions on the lakeside of the road.
Waverley Road between the south Silversides entrance and Portobello Lock Park:– Group observations are that pedestrians walk in both directions along the lakeside shoulder in order to:

Retrieve their mail from the Joe Street mailboxes

- Access the Dartmouth bus

- For recreation

- Walking to and from the Portobello Lock Park and the Shubie Trail network at the

118 overpass.

Pedestrian safety is compromised by both:

Narrow shoulder conditions at at least 9 locations between the south entrance of Silversides and the Portobello Lock Park
Higher vehicle speeds during rush hour and on weekends (*especially commercial vehicles).

These conditions pose a challenge and danger to pedestrians and to cyclists (that often use the Waverley Road for training purposes).
A recent CBC news report was presented where a truck crash killed 3 people and injured 3 others.
Narrow shoulder is defined here as a shoulder that is less than one metre in width between the edge of the asphalt and the inside ridge of the crash rail.

Crash rail too close (8 locations):

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- 1964 t0 1930, Beeswanger Lane to Lake William Lane, Lake William Lane to 1584,

1572 to 1526, 1446 to 1450, 1302 to 1398, 1291 to 30 metres north of the Joe Street

intersection, and 15 metres north of 1196 Waverley Road

- Estimated total length of crash rail that must be moved west is 530 metres.

- Shoulder infill needed in the 1406 area where erosion has created a hazardous deep

gully.

Rocky Lake Drive Interest Group

This group examined significant development on Rocky Lake Drive in relation to noise, zoning, traffic safety, environmental concerns, and the potential impact of planned industrial development.

The group has identified at least three intersections where 3-way stop signs should be installed ASAP:

Sibley Street intersection: provides access to an ever-growing Frame Subdivision.

North entrance to Silversides: provides access to the expanded north end of the subdivision. This is also a busy pedestrian crossing intersection for silversides beach users.
Joe Street intersection: there is a large multiple mailbox installation just to the north of this intersection that is frequented by both automobiles and pedestrians.

Vehicles approaching this intersection from the south have limited visibility until they reach the intersection itself due to the curvature and hilly nature of the section of the road lying to the south of Joe Street.

Radar Surveillance

Increased radar surveillance and police presence for the straight parts of the Waverley Road is needed:

There are several straight sections of the Waverley Road where morning and evening rush hour traffic and weekend traffic speed is excessive (especially commercial vehicles).
One of the straight sections lies between 1496 and 1452. Crossing the road at the 1452 section during rush hour is literally an act of blind faith.
Cautionary yellow signs (e.g., “blind driveway”) appear to be disregarded by many rush hour drivers.

#2 Highway: Need for safe walkways for school children.

Area of concern: Village Green to 2615 Highway #2.

Issue: There are at least 15 small school children amongst 31 homes along the 1.0 km length of Highway #2 mentioned above that require a safe walking area.
Issue: Widening of road shoulder north of #2615 is also needed. Approximately 200-300 m of shoulder requires widening on the west side of the road.

Shubenacadie Canal and Trails Interest Group

Purpose: Participate in the planning and development of the Shubenacadie Canal and Trail system.

Results to date: Remain in contact with Shubenacadie Canal Commission (SCC) and the SCC trails development representative.
Allan Billard, SCC briefly talked about their effort to continue work on the trail. They will be helping to build a new boat launch by the Village Green.

Nomination and Election of Officers and Directors for 2010- 2011

Charles Wagner conducted the proceedings for the nominations and election.

New members joining WRA are: Cindy Black, Frank Steele, and Tim Rand. Paul Hudson will mentor and take over the C@P Site Coordinator position.
Charles Wagner will be leaving WRA after 25 years of service.
All other previous members will be returning.
Treasurer: There were no volunteers for the position. Bill Lockhart said he would continue as Acting Treasurer. Voting followed. Bill Lockhart will remain Acting Treasurer until we can find a new member for this position.
Secretary: Jane Rathbun has been Acting Secretary this past year. She has volunteered to take over the position. Voting followed. Jane Rathbun will hold the position of Secretary.
Vice Chair: Bill Lockhart volunteered. Voting followed. Bill Lockhart will hold the position of Vice Chair.
Chair: Dave MacDonald has been Acting Chair. He volunteered to continue in this position. Voting followed. Dave MacDonald will hold the position of Chair.

MEETING ADJOURNED

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Jane Rathbun Dave MacDonald

Secretary Chair