Hi Everyone
First, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for allowing me to speak tonight regarding this very important issue.
I have been a resident in Little Qualicum River Village (part of Area F) since 2004. I was elected to the LQRV Strata Council and have been their secretary for four years. Every year at our AGM several owners keep bringing up the issue of a playground and community center. Every year the Owners vote down the playground because of liability and insurance issues. The Owners seem willing to contribute financially to the building of the playground, but the Strata does not want to be responsible for the liability. Every year a discussion comes up about the need for a community centre. Council has been looking into building a community centre for the Strata. It does not make sense. It will have very limited use and will be very costly to build and operate. It makes more sense to have a Center outside the gates for more people to use. Every year these issues come up.
I have met several people in the community and they have expressed several needs for the area. Last year a group of dedicated Owners got together and decided to set up an Association to represent residents of this area. As a result, I became the founder and President of the Corcan-Meadowood Residents Association.
Meadowood is a rapidly growing area, currently over 700 households, more than 2000 residents, which include approximately 300 children under the age of 17 and more than 900 over the age of 55.
We became incorporated on October 1st, 2009 and have over 300 registered members and are growing steadily. I would like to share our mission statement:
The purpose of the Association is to provide Owners and Residents in the Corcan – Meadowood area and the adjoining areas with a better quality of life through the introduction and implementation of needed services. These services include an access to Highway 19, off Nahmint Road via an interchange, relocation of hydro poles along Corcan Road, road repairs, maintenance and line painting, safety and emergency issues, development of parks and recreation facilities, lobbying for a community centre as well as other issues that arise in the future. We will be the voice of the community with the Regional District, School District 69 and Government Services/Officials. The Association will provide a Web-Site (www.meadowoodresidents.com) that Owners and Residents will be able to register and communicate their opinions, concerns and needs for the area. The Association will also be responsible for raising funds needed to complete proposed projects in the area.
In Area F, we are the second largest Village Node, we have the second largest Community Park and we have the highest growing population and we lack the most services. Attached are several maps and drawings of our area that show the area, the size of our village centre, our community park, our regional park and our fire hall.
My reason for being here tonight is our immediate need for the development of the 22.8 Acre Meadowood Community Park. We feel that we could partner to help with the playground and community hall which are our most immediate needs. We need your help to have your Park Planner come up with a conceptual design for the Park and Community Centre. Once this is complete we need the support of the Regional District and POSAC to help with the construction.
We have some ideas that we feel will help to reduce costs and use the space and parking more efficiently. There is a school planned for the area. A Community Hall with a stage, a couple of different sized conference rooms, kitchen and a gym could be shared with the school right on the adjoining property to the school. Later it could be joined to the school by a covered hallway. Most outside large events are held at night and on weekends, which would not affect the school, once it is opened. It would save everyone money. The playground could be built right next to the school grounds and could be used during the day by student. The conference rooms could be used by residents (55+) during the day. This will provide a very positive interaction between all groups in the community.
If we plan it right, we could build these two components (Playground & Community Center) that we need right now and when the school comes, incorporate the school with what is already developed. This would be a win-win for everyone in the community.
We feel we could partner with the RDN and POSAC to make this a very immediate viable project.
So in summary, our immediate wants are a Playground and Community Center. Once these are accomplished we would like trails to the river and along to our regional park along with picnic areas and benches. Finally we will require Ball fields, Recreation facilities and later would like to add exercise stations to our parks. We need your help to make this a reality.
We are willing to partner and work with POSAC, the Regional District and Parks and Recreation to make this become a reality for our community and our residents. We hope that members of your teams will speak at our first Annual General Meeting on October 2nd at the Light House Community Hall in Qualicum Bay. Please bring the residents good news.
Thank you.