Category Archives: Meeting Notes

FRIENDS OF TOD CREEK WATERSHED
MEETING NOTES   4 MARCH, 2015
Mission: to protect and enhance the integrity and biodiversity of the Tod Creek Watershed

Present: Winona Pugh, Larry and Lolo Thornton, Woody Thomson, Valerie Haig-Brown, Bernie Bowker, Pat Carfra, Michael Derry, Lori James-Derry, Carmel Thomson, Mary Haig-Brown.

Regrets: Sherron MacPherson, Joanne Delage, Audrey Barnes, Frances Hunter

Adoption of Agenda
Adoption of Meeting Notes from 7 January, 2015
Treasurer’s Report:
Closing balance last meeting: $ 1673.03
Anonymous deposit $ 500.00
Expense (Data Logger repair) $ 715.64 (to reimburse Joanne who paid by credit card)
Interest .03
Closing balance $ 1457.48
(Note: there is a $.06 discrepancy to be corrected.)

Announcements:
f) There is a request to the Board of Variance to lift the height restriction on a proposed garage/storage building to be built on the corner of Prospect Lake Rd and Lohr Rd. There is also concern that the building may infringe on the riparian area of Tod Creek. We suggested that the neighbours talk to Adriane Pollard of Saanich Environmental Services about the riparian area. The Board of Variance will meet on March 11th. Several members plan to attend.
a) Peninsula Streams Society (PSS) membership renewal $5.00 due now. Mary has Membership cards and will collect the $5.00.
b) PSS is planning a fund raiser for May. Format will be a dinner and silent auction. Carmel will be helping with advertising design. More volunteers are needed.
c) PSS is applying to Saanich for a Community Grant. This will be discussed at Council on March 17th. Letters of support must be in to Saanich grants@saanich.ca by March 10th. Please see attached information about PSS application and write a short letter of support. Lori will write a letter from FTCW.
d) Saanich Environmental Award nominations open now. See their web site for forms: www.saanich.ca/enviroawards .
Carmel will nominate Wil and Winona will nominate HAT from FTCW. Please check the web site and nominate anyone you feel fits the criteria.
e) Saanich Environmental Development Permit Guidelines are undergoing some revisions. These are mostly housekeeping, but there is public interest so Saanich will likely hold an Open House. Watch for details.
f) Board of Variance request – Winona. See above.
g) Evergreen: Watershed tour was a great success. See pictures at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127662025@N04/
Mapping Workshop – March 28 at the Hall from 1-4 pm. Arranged by Heritage Society and Evergreen. Ken Josephson of UVic will lead. The outcome will be a printed map, a web map and a connection to the CRD mapping. Funding: $500 from Sparks by Heritage, $600 from Evergreen. PLDCA has contributed the use of the Hall. It is hoped that the FTCW banner will be on display by then. Winona showed a sketch of the proposed design.
Evergreen work parties at Whitehead on 3rd Saturday of month
June is leaving Evergreen at end of March.
h) Winona and Mary were interviewed by Bruce Williams of CFAX. A podcast can be heard at https://soundcloud.com/cafe-victoria-cfax/february-16-12noon?in=cafe-victoria-cfax/sets/cafe-victoria
Our part starts at 12:35
i) Paper making – Daphne gathering and prep session needed. Pat Carfra offered to host. Wednesdays were suggested as the best day. Please let me know which of the following dates would be the best for you: March 11, March 25, or April 1. Time to be arranged.
5. Projects:
a) Eastlake – Cleaver is starting to come up. Joanne is pulling it.
b) Whitehead – Spreading cardboard and mulch in an attempt to stop Reed Canary Grass. New planting on east side south end are starting to leaf out.
6. Web Site – Lori had a very helpful session with Laurie Empey of Pettycache Web Design. She is now able to arrange The Whitehead project with pull down menus by years. See results at todcreek.rd123.ca/ or Google Friends of Tod Creek Watershed.
7. Maltby Lake update. Carmel reported that the Feb 23 Court date went very well with the Justice supporting the Plan put forward by TLC. Maltby Lake is in the ecological stream. The Plan may be seen on the Court Monitor site. The final approval will be granted on March 30.
8. Lake Stewardship – Winona
a) Elk Lake Course in Lake Stewardship will be held on March 28-29 at a cost $25 for the two days. Contact BC Lake Stewardship Society to register.
b) Proposal for Lake Weed Survey from the community association. FTCW is interested in doing a Lake Vegetation Survey. CRD will help us identify plants and do some simple mapping. Contact Winona for more information.
9. Historical Society – Winona- see above under 4.g) Community Mapping workshop.

Next Meeting: May 6th
Location: Joanne Delage, 271 Eastlake Rd.

7 JANUARY, 2015
Mission: to protect and enhance the integrity and biodiversity of the Tod Creek Watershed
Regrets: Lori James Derry, Andrea Neumann
Present: Audrey Barnes, Bernie Bowker, Woody Thomson, Carmel Thomson, Pat Carfra, Sherron MacPherson, Joanne Delage, Frances Hunter, Winona Pugh, Mary Haig-Brown

Adoption of Agenda with addition of 2 items: 4 e) Paper and 5 f) Whitehead Park
Adoption of Meeting Notes from 5 November, 2014

Treasurer’s Report. Closing balance last meeting: $1672.98
Closing balance this meeting: $1673.05
Outstanding item: $30 for web site support

Announcements:
Grants available: Walmart-Evergreen due Feb. 2, 2015
PSF due Feb. 15, 2015
Small Sparks grant
Discussion followed: Evergreen should go through June, PSF may be used for Butchart’s or Tod Flats projects, no need of Sparks grant just now – later for a few more tools and plants. The banner was discussed again. The money is in our account. It is just a question of designing banner and ordering it. Winona and Frances will do this.

RFCPP grants submitted for Tod Creek Flats Project and Butchart’s Fishway on Dec 15 through Pen Streams. They are being reviewed in Dec. and Jan and then sent to National DFO office for selection. We hope to hear good news by March.

Lori has collected the volunteer hours for 2014. They are arranged on a spread sheet which will be circulated when we have it electronically. Mary to talk to Lori about this when she gets home.

Peninsula Streams AGM is on Saturday 14th February 3:00-5:00. Location to be announced. Guest speaker: Elizabeth May. This will be the time to renew membership which gives us insurance on PSS work parties.

Paper Making – Frances Hunter brought samples of the paper she has made from Yellow Flag Iris leaves collected in Whitehead Park and also some pale green paper made from the inner bark of Daphne. We could make booklets from these as gifts or sale items made entirely from products from the Watershed. Frances brought bags of dried YFI leaves which several of us took home to break into small pieces. We will have a day long paper making session complete with pot luck lunch at Frances’ house in the spring. We will set the date at our next meeting. In the meantime we will source the Daphne and collect the inner bark. Mary will check on the current thinking for methods of removing Daphne.

Projects:
Evergreen Uncover Your Creeks. Work parties on the third Saturday of each month. Next one: 17th January. Possible jobs are removal of ivy on Meadowbrook Road, removal of ivy etc. in Whitehead Park West side and removal of ivy from Eastlake. Pat and Joanne say this last is not necessary as they are picking away at it to keep it under control. We will include the Green Team on these. They were part of the planting crew at Lohr Road in November.
Evergreen plans include a bus tour of the Watershed to take place in February. June will arrange for a mini bus with overflow following in cars. The tour will start at Maltby Lake and include Tod Creek Flats and Tod Inlet. A community mapping exercise in conjunction with the Heritage Society will also happen. This should bring out many stories of life in the watershed. Sherron will check with Dean Rebneris to see where a previous map is now located. Check the Evergreen web site for updates on these projects or email June Pretzer <junepretzer@evergreen.ca>

Lake Stewardship – Winona and Mary have met with Laura Kline and Christoph Moch of CRD Water Quality. Questions about liability insurance came from Laura. As members of BC Lake Stewardship Society we are insured. Friends of Maltby Lake are also members of BCLSS. Winona will email Laura to arrange a further meeting to plan a protocol.
Maltby Lake – Carmel and Woody The beaver are eating the non-native water lilies, but not the native ones. A trip to Vancouver for the court hearing into TLC offers resulted in 17 people attending on behalf of Maltby Lake but the issue was deferred. The price required by the court monitor seems to keep rising. At present the date for TLC’s final proposals is February 2nd. See Friends of Maltby Lake Stewardship Society web site for more information.

Web site – Lori is away, but check out the web site as she keeps working on it.

Whitehead Park – Audrey has been in charge and reports much progress. Saanich has removed black berry roots and planted many shrubs and Doug Firs. Audrey marked out a trail loop through the southern area and work continues on clearing the trail. The older trails are freshly mulched and the little stream is working well. She has had help from Taylor McComb and friends from Claremont who worked hard.
Next Meeting: Wednesday, 4 March, 2015
Location: either Lori or Pat.

FRIENDS OF TOD CREEK WATERSHED MEETING NOTES 5 NOVEMBER, 2014

Mission: to protect and enhance the integrity and biodiversity of the Tod Creek Watershed

Regrets: Sherron MacPherson, June Pretzer, Lin Callow, Carmel and Woody Thomson, Frances Hunter

Present: Joanne Delage, Winona Pugh, Bernie Bowker. Pat Carfra, Lori James Derry, Mary Haig-Brown

Adoption of Agenda Adoption of Meeting Notes from 10 September, 2015

Treasurer’s report.

• Closing balance last meeting; $1712.90
• Expenses: BCLake Stewardship Membership
• Current balance: $1672.98

Announcements:

• Winona’s BCLSS Outstanding Volunteer Efforts Award. Awarded at BCLSS conference for her work setting up Stewardship Workshop and ongoing water quality testing.
• Keep Maltby Lake Wild fundraiser on Saturday, 8 Nov. See below.
• Evergreen Work Party on 15 Nov.
• Will do planting at Lohr Road as well as Water Quality testing.
• Bat study completed for this year.

Projects:

• Whitehead Park. Thanks to Joanne for cardboard to mask out Reed Canary Grass. Saanich has brought us a load of mulch to put on top of it. Also brought a load of chips so we can top up the trails. Joanne will bring us more cardboard. The creek is running well. June has some ideas for improving the appearance of the wet land it runs into.
• Evergreen monthly Work Party – 3rd Saturday of each month. Water Quality testing, invasive removal and this month, November 15th, planting of the site at Lohr Road where the new culvert went in. The planting site was prepared by Saanich Creeks, Waterways, Storm and Waste Water department. They have provided the plants as well. June is interested in doing Community Mapping, and Winona has connected her with Ken Josephson of UVic.
• Butchart’s dam – Site was studied by Ian Bruce, Philip Grange who did the design for the fish ladder many years ago, and Newton Hockey who has actually talked with Butchart’s. The fishway built over the falls appears to still be functional. The fish ladder would remove the final barrier for fish (coho) to have access to the watershed. We will apply for grants for that. The proposal will be discussed at a meeting on Friday.
• Tod Creek Flats – The DFO RFCPP grant deadline is December 12th. The team is meeting on Friday to plan for this project and start on the grant proposal(s). The “team” is Nikki Wright, Lin Callow, Ian Bruce, Tobi Gardner, Newton Hockey, Francesca Loro and Mary Haig-Brown. RFCPP requires matching funds. We will apply to PSS and others for that.
• Maltby Lake – plans for the fund raiser are in place, Tickets are available at Rob Oldfield’s Garage ($35). Sales are moving along nicely so make sure to get there before they are all gone. A few more volunteers needed for set up at 10:00 Sat morning. One volunteer needed to help with parking. Does anyone have safety vests for parking attendants? The Pulling Together people from Whitehead Park have some.
• Web site – Lori continues to build on and improve the web site. She will add a children’s page listing resources for children.
• The CRD Water Quality Team liked our site so much they have offered to help us by analyzing samples in their lab. Christoph Moch, Laura Kline of CRD Water Quality and Dale Green of CRD Watershed Management came for a tour of our watershed. Winona and Mary led them to Maltby Lake and then to Meadowbrook Reservoir and across to Killarney Lake. We may arrange to show them the rest of the watershed at a later date. Laura took samples from the lakes and has sent us some results which we need interpreted. Dale is working on a great map of our watershed. It should be ready soon.
• Lake Stewardship – Winona. RNS student, Debora Obrist, will be doing a field study on private land in our watershed. A good discussion of possible projects. Suggestions included: Monitoring of algal blooms Education about sampling methods of macro growth Pat said there were fewer weeds at her area than there were 40 years ago. Joanne finds many cut weeds floating about the time the out board motors get active. Suggestion: we could monitor about 8 zones for weed growth 2 or 3 times per year. Winona will investigate these suggestions.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, 7 January, 2015

Location: Audrey Barnes house, 140 Kiowa Place.