GlenEagles Community Association 2021 AGM – Minutes

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Minutes of the Meeting of the 2021 Annual General Meeting

of Gleneagles Community Association

(“GECA”)

Minutes of the 2021 Annual General Meeting of GECA, held at the Links of Gleneagles, Cochrane, Alberta on October 18, 2022 at 7:00 pm (the “Meeting”).

Directors Present:                 Absent:                        Guests:                       

Margaret Blair                          Codyne Carson               Shelley Wood

Joan Fortin                                                                  Mitchell Hamm

Rodger Grant                                                               Shawn Tooth

Norm Peterson                                                             Phil Lalonde

Judith Robson

Stephen Simms

Robin Wentzel

 

  1. Call to Order

With the consent of the meeting, Ms. Blair assumed the Chair and Ms. Robson acted as Secretary. The meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm.

 

  1. Review and Adopt Agenda

By a show of hands of those present the Agenda as provided was approved.  UPON MOTION duly moved, seconded, and unanimously carried it was RESOLVED THAT the Agenda of the Annual General Meeting of October 18, 2022 be and is hereby approved.

 

  1. Approve Prior Minutes

By a show of hands of those present the prior Minutes were approved.  UPON MOTION duly moved, seconded, and unanimously carried it was RESOLVED THAT the minutes from the Annual General Meeting of May 22, 2019 be and are hereby confirmed as a true and accurate record of the meeting.

 

  1. Resignation and Election of Board Members

Since distribution of the meeting notification and Proxy, Darren Golec, Vice-President, resigned and Robin Wentzel was appointed to the Board.  The current Board has eight members and there were no nominations for further members.

 

By a show of hands of those present the Board was re-elected. UPON MOTION duly moved, seconded, and unanimously carried it was RESOLVED THAT the Board of Directors be and are hereby approved.

 

 

 

  1. Town of Cochrane – Cochrane-wide data and plans related to Water Conservation

Mr. Shawn Tooth, Manager of Water and Wastewater provided information on the current comprehensive water license acquisition strategy.

  • The Town is currently utilizing ~75% of the water license, with ~5 years of that left assuming similar growth to recent years.
  • This figure is using a per capita raw water consumption of 290 litres per day, which is already a very healthy number and Cochrane is looking to get that consistently into the 250’s in the next five years.
  • Tooth drew attention to an 18% loss of real water and noted an acceptable treated water loss for a municipality is generally 10% or less.
  • He also advised that water rebates are available to all Cochrane residents – details are provided at https://www.cochrane.ca/262/Rebates.
  • There was discussion on the current leak detection exercise, and it was confirmed that any work required from the water main to the curb stop valves is the Town’s responsibility.

 

  1. Town of Cochrane – Strategy for Parks and Pathways

Mr. Mitch Hamm, Director of Community Services provided an overview of the strategy for parks and pathways.

  • Since joining the Town of Cochrane in February 2022, Mr. Hamm has been working to understand the needs of all communities which has been very challenging given the last 3 year’s staffing levels.
  • A Parks Manager has been recruited in the fall of 2022, together with a new supervisor and 3 additional staff members during the year.
  • The department is now working on an executable plan with an end date of January 01, 2024, which will include equipment improvements and interacting with the community to discuss levels of service within budgetary requirements.
  • The plan will be based on equitable service throughout all the communities of Cochrane and Mr. Hamm suggested that the GlenEagles Community should lower its expectations. Mr. Wentzel asked that the Town not lower its standards before we have an opportunity to meet with them.
  • It was noted that irrigation is not sustainable in the long term and a September 2022 assessment of the current system shows it to be in a state of disrepair.
  • Questions from the floor included:
    • Is there a training program in place for summer students? Yes.
    • Follow-up on request for a new bench – has been included in budget discussions but one will be provided in 2023.
    • Why is there irrigation on the boulevards during wet weather? Wentzel is discussing this with Champagne Irrigation.
    • Is there consideration being given to making a more formal trail between Glenbow Ranch and Gleneagles. Mr. Hamm indicated that the trail system is still in the planning stages and he would be interested in feedback from GlenEagles residents. One concern that was raised at the meeting is that if a more formal trail is built, there would be unwanted traffic with people parking their cars in GlenEagles to access the park.
    • Pathway repairs – are within the Operations Department budget.
    • Road repairs – Volker Stevin will be coming to Gleneagles this year.

 

  1. Landscaping Report

Ms. Robson provided background on the split of responsibilities between GECA and the Town of Cochrane and the subsequent deterioration of Gleneagles landscaping standards.  She explained the RFP process put in place to remedy some of the issues and provided details of improvements made.  Photographs of ‘before and after’ some of these enhancements were shown to the meeting.

Going forward, the Landscaping Committee will work with the Town of Cochrane to develop a multi-year plan to include more sustainable landscaping at lower cost.

In response to a resident’s question of why a concrete pathway had been repaired using tarmac, Mr. Tooth advised that concrete is currently very difficult to procure and this was likely a temporary fix.

  1. Jones Estate

Ms. Blair thanked The Concerned Citizens of GlenEagles for so successfully representing our community’s interests over the past several years.

 

Mr. Phil Lalonde, chair of the group, provided a detailed history of this area and noted that there had been three re-zoning applications in each of 2016, 2017 and 2018.  A further application was put forward and in late June 2022, Cochrane Council unanimously refused to pass the Rezoning Bylaw that would have allowed the applicant to build sixteen semi-detached homes on the Jones Estate Lands.

 

Since that time, discussions have been held with Builders Capital (the owner of the land) and the Town of Cochrane to find a permanent resolution for the Estate.  At this point Builders Capital has a $700,000 lien on the property and needs $1.3 million to take care of that amount plus interest and other out-of-pocket expenses.  Talks are still on-going and further updates will be provided when available.

 

  1. Review and Approve 2019, 2020 and 2021 Financial Statements

In the absence of the Treasurer, Ms. Blair advised the meeting that GECA is designated as a society and is governed by the Society’s Act of Alberta. As such, there is a requirement to review year-end financial statements and approve these at the AGM.  Since there has not been an official AGM since 2019, the above 3 year’s statements were to be reviewed at this meeting and Ms. Blair provided brief details of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses.

 

By a show of hands of those present the Financial Statements were approved. UPON MOTION duly moved, seconded and unanimously carried it was RESOLVED THAT the 2019, 2020, and 2021 Financial Statements be and are hereby approved.

 

 

  1. Other Business

The following items were discussed

  • Gleneagles Drive road maintenance. As noted above, Volker Stevin will be visiting the area this year.
  • Bear Update. Blair will contact Fish and Wildlife and the Town in the fall of 2023.
  • Yellow metal in road on Gleneagles View. Alex Reed, Cochrane Councillor, explained that these have been installed for traffic calming, following complaints from several residents about speeding vehicles in the area.  In answer to a question regarding similar issues on the hill higher up the View, Mr. Reed advised that traffic enforcement will be provided.
  • Snow removal by property owners into the road – suggestions included talking with the owners and following up with the Town.
  • Plan for road crossings in Gleneagles, particularly at entrances and exits to the pathway system. Reed clarified that these are being planned.
  • There was a question as to whether the GlenEagles Community Association annual fee should be increased since there hasn’t been an increase since at least 2007. Ms. Blair advised that, while the Board discussed the possibility of a fee increase, they decided to postpone further discussions until such time as the Landscaping Committee develops an overall strategy and long-term plan and negotiates new service standards with the Town of Cochrane. As such, the fees will not increase in 2023.
  • Blair introduced Mr. Paul Smolarchuk who had volunteered to represent GlenEagles at a Town of Cochrane engagement workshop on Connectivity of the Pathway System in Cochrane and a Review of the Pathway Systems in GlenEagles.  He is also interested in working with the Golf Course to pilot some community events.  If anyone has any interest in either of these projects, they were asked to speak to Paul after the meeting or email [email protected].

 

 

There being no further business, the Chair declared the meeting terminated at 9:01 pm.

 

 

 

 

 

_________________________                            _________________________

Chairman                                                           Secretary