Category Archives: Meeting Notes

FRIENDS OF TOD CREEK WATERSHED MEETING NOTES

10 SEPTEMBER, 2014

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

Regrets: Sherron MacPherson, Frances Hunter, Lori James Derry, Judith Kirchner

Present: Winona Pugh, Pat Carfra, Joanne Delage, Carmel and Woody Thomson, Bernie Bowker, Mike Thompson, Wil Shulba, Patrick and Jane Brown, Anne Russo, Kayla, Lynn, Mary Haig-Brown

1. Adoption of agenda

2. Adoption of minutes of 4 June, 2014

3. Fund raiser/Community Builder for Maltby Lake – Planning session. Dinner and Dance

a) Date: Sat Nov 8

b) Venue: Prospect Lake Community Hall which has been donated by Prospect Lake and District Community Association for which we thank them.

c) Music: Farrell Boyce – Water in the Crawl Space which has also been donated

d) Food: dinner – Judith Kirchner has offered to facilitate this. We decided on lasagne from Costco and trimmings.

e) Drink – Judith will arrange this. Some offers of donated wine or beer (Wil) are also pending.

f) Silent Auction – Audrey Barnes beardedcollie@shaw.ca will co- ordinate. Assisted by Sherron MacPherson. Will everyone please contact Audrey with their donations.

g) Publicity – Kayla with Lynne and Anne will co-ordinate this.

h) Tickets: Peninsula Streams will issue tax receipts for donations. (We are checking the constitution and may be able to issue receipts for donations for land purchase as well as other things.) Price of ticket $15 to $25 depending on costs. We will include a suggestion for an added donation.

h) Other – M.C. – Anne will ask Mike Hayes.

A meeting to discuss a longer term campaign as well as a strong message (eg. Keep Maltby Lake Wild) will be held on Saturday, Sept 13 from 10:00a.m. to Noon at 4328 Prospect Lake Road.

4. Treasurer’s report Closing balance last meeting $1712.08. Closing balance today $1712.90.

5. Announcements:

a) Cattail Clearing – Rithet’s Bog, Sept 13 10 am to 3 pm. Meet at corner of Chatterton Way and Dalewood. Come in scruffy clothes. Tools and snacks provided.

b) Workshop – Invasive Species vs Novel Ecosystems – Sept 30 ($75). See attached notice.

c) PSS walkabout on Tseychum Creek, Pat Bay – 16 September. Email me <mhaigbrown@telus.net> for details if you are interested in joining us. Page 2 of 4Page 3 of 4

d) Bat counting completed for the year. Several people counted at various sites 3 times. Bats are still here.

e) Joint HAT and FTCW project to do riparian cleanup and planting at Dave and Judy Wallace’s on Saturday, Oct.18, 10a.m. – 1 p.m. 5648 Wallace Drive. Meet on Farmington Road. Please register for planting before Thursday, October 16th – call Todd Carnahan (250) 995 2428.

6. Projects:

a) Web site is being continually updated by Lori. Check it out at todcreek.rd123.ca/ or Google Friends of Tod Creek Watershed.

b) Whitehead Park – we are now working on east side cutting blackberries and waiting for the rain.

c) Evergreen – June. A meeting (July 17) and 2 work parties (July 19th &August 16th ) have been held so far. A planting opportunity is being developed on the corner of Prospect Lake Rd and Lohr Rd where Saanich has replace the culvert.

d) Butchart’s Dam – no progress, Sarah Petrescu was working on other stories, but is now back to this one. PSS may start applying for grants to do the work anyway.

e) Tod Creek Flats – RFCPP grant call is expected soon. We have a team of people including a hydrologist and some input from Saanich. We worked on an earlier call but did not submit so we are ready now.

f) Lake Keepers – Winona reported. We agreed to renew our membership and apply for a chance to host an Aquatic Plant Workshop on Prospect Lake.

g) Maltby Lake – Carmel and Woody are working very hard to protect the ecological values of the lake and surrounding area. The process for the disposition of the TLC held share of the property is very complicated and requires legal advice. It appears that TLC must satisfy their creditors before they can give any consideration to nonmonetary values of their properties.

7. Heritage Brochure – Winona presented the Saanich brochure made from the Society’s information. They are applying for Heritage Status for Dumbleton Lodge at Maltby Lake. Woody and Carmel hosted the Heritage AGM .

8. Next meeting: Wednesday, 5 November, 2014 Location: Audrey Barnes house, 140 Kiowa Place.

FRIENDS OF TOD CREEK WATERSHED MEETING NOTES 4 JUNE, 2014

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

Present: Lin Callow, Frances Hunter, Carmel Thomson, June Pretzer, Pat Carfra, Woody Thomson, Audrey Barnes, Lori James Derry, Winona Pugh, Joanne Delage, Bernie Bowker, Mary Haig-Brown

Adoption of the agenda

Adoption of minutes of 26 March 2014

Treasurer’s report. Closing balance last meeting $ 1712.70 Interest _____.08 . Balance $ 1712.08

Note: The Summer Issue of Our Backyard features Tod Creek. Check it out on Saanich’s web site.

Announcements: HAT Good Neighbours Project is on-going. Please spread the word. Bats – Volunteers needed to count bats for an hour around sunset (9:00) at our house and other sites. Training provided. Does anyone have bats at their place? Woody and Carmel do and so does June Pretzer. June and Audrey would like to count bats. Christian Englestoft is part of a bat study for BC. Does anyone want a bat box? Audrey would. Mary will pass this information to Christian.

Saanich Environmental Award winners for Long-Term Achievement are Woody and Carmel Thomson. The presentation is at the Saanich Council Meeting on Monday, 9 June at 7:30 p.m.

Peninsula Streams is having a walk and talk at Maltby on Sunday from Noon to 1:30. If you would like to attend RSVP to Francesca at Peninsula Streams

South Prospect Lake Park broom event on May 25th saw the end of a great deal of broom, but there is plenty more for next year.

Unitarian Church has shared their April offering with us. They have sent a cheque for $765.92 to PSS. We will bill PSS as we spend the money. Also $10 and a lottery ticket came directly to us from Sarah Verstegen. Many thanks to the Social Responsibility Coalition of the Church. Joanne will check the lottery ticket.

Evergreen Uncover our Creeks Programme – June Pretzer reported that Tod Creek Watershed has been chosen for the Evergreen Uncover your Creeks Programme. Evergreen started in Toronto and is now throughout Canada. They have a Vancouver office. This is their first project of the island. The project has a budget for 1 year with an option to renew for 2 more years. The purpose of the programme is to promote Stewardship Awareness and to provide hands on stewardship opportunities. On July 17th they will hold a meeting to bring stakeholders together to talk about desired projects, mapping and raising awareness of the whole watershed. Dana McDonald of the Vancouver Office will be present. They will build a volunteer base through holding monthly stewardship events. The first of these will be on July 19th. Watch for more details to follow.

Projects: Web site – Lori reports she has added more pictures. She is about to learn how to add Meeting Notes to the web site. We hope to see these Notes up soon.

Whitehead Park progress report: we have been weeding around our plantings of the last two years. Most plants are doing well and beginning to spread. The roses are blooming now. We also struggled to remove the Yellow Flag Iris that is popping up from bits of root left behind during our big removal project 2 years ago. These have to be cut out through the plastic webbing that came with the cocomat that we spread to prevent erosion when the YFI was first removed. Very hard work requiring a bill hook as well as shovels and picks.

Butchart’s dam – Sarah Petrescu of the Times-Colonist is researching for an article about the (nonexistent) fishway over Burtchart’s dam. She interviewed Mary and is gathering further information. Last year’s monitoring showed there is habitat above the dam. On Thursday Mary and Lin will walk and talk with Kevin Jancowski, the biologist who oversaw the building of the fishway over the falls, and Ian Bruce of PSS. (Note: this has now taken place. It was good to walk with Kevin and have him point out the project, assess its current status and describe the work that went into it.) There may be a coho release up stream in the fall.

Meadowbrook Reservoir – Saanich has indicated that it might be willing to hold a conservation covenant on part of this water licence. Now the current licence holders are having second thoughts about donating half their licence for this purpose.

Heritage – AGM at Maltby on Sunday 22 June at 12:30. There will be two different walks before the meeting. Check their web site (part of FTCW site) for details.

Gwen Curry is in the process of publishing her lovely book of photographs and writings on Tod Inlet village and area.

The Heritage Bistro has a rotating show of early photos of the area on their big screen. Some photos are in the book Prospect Lake Reflections. Others are from the Heritage Society’s collection.

Saanich is about to publish the Prospect Lake Heritage walk brochure. It is hoped it will be in time to be distributed at the AGM.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, 3 September at Maltby Lake.

FRIENDS OF TOD CREEK WATERSHED MEETING NOTES

26 March, 2014

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

Regrets: Rick and Donna Todd, Frances Hunter

Note: I forgot to mention this event last night: Hello Lead Stewards, An event at the Royal BC Museum that you may be interested in. Jenny Event Starts March 27, 2014 7:00 pm Event Ends March 27, 2014 9:00 pm Venues Royal BC Museum Cost $5, 10% discount for members A hands-on way to learn, SWAP Cafés are more than a lecture. Round table discussions come to life after panellists stimulate reflection and inspire new thoughts and ideas. Your input and ideas help to shape the evening, and create a unique experience. Three different SWAP events are taking place on February 21, March 27 and May 23. Will We Learn to Love Novel Ecosystems? We are seeing unprecedented new combinations of species thanks to environmental change, human action and invasive species. At one time these novel ecosystems were dismissed as degraded but now conservationists are wondering could these be valid new habitats? Join our panel and discuss the ecological, cultural and ethical considerations at play, and consider what to do about novel ecosystems. Panellists: Dr Richard Hebda – Curator of Botany and Earth History, Royal BC Museum Dr Eric Higgs – Professor, School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria Dr Brian Starzomski – Assistant Professor, School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria http://royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/events/swap-cafe-will-we-learn-to-love-novel-ecosystems/

1. Adoption of Agenda

2. Adoption of Meeting Notes of 8 January, 2014

3. Treasurer’s report: Opening balance: $1674.98 Donation: + 60.00 Expenses: – 22.35 (plant markers) Closing balance $ 1712.70

4. Announcements updates

a. Visit with Shona Smith and Dave Davies of DFO on 13 January, 2014, was a good review of our projects and wishes for the Watershed. Shona will follow up on Butchat’s Dam project with Margaret Wright, DFO Habitat. A meeting was set up with Margaret, Shona, Lin Callow, Ian Bruce and Mary HB on 26 February. Data collected over the year from July 2012 to Aug 2013 suggest that salmonids could survive in the system if the adults could get over Butchart’s dam. Lin is doing the analysis. Ian says there is a permit for putting coho in Tod Creek. Shona and Margaret will check to see if it is still valid. Lin has been talking to Tobi about doing the hydrology and soil sampling for the rerouting of the creek through Tod Creek Flats. Tobi has friends (fellow hydrologists) working in the States who might come up as volunteers in exchange for expenses. We need approximately $25,000 to complete that stage of the project.

b. HAT will be doing their Good Neighbours Programme in our watershed this year. Call them for a “free and confidential land care visit”. Visit hat.bc.ca for details. Mary will contact HAT to see if they have posters suitable for putting on mail boxes. Sherron will put a note in the PLDCA bulletin. HAT is sponsoring a free Native Plant Garden Tour on Sunday, 4th May. 1-4 pm. See their web site for details.

c. Andrew Burger is the new Natural Areas Technician at Saanich Parks. He has an extensive background in fisheries and natural areas. We welcome him and look forward to working with him on Whitehead.

d. Jenny is ordering more Pulling Together T-shirts. S, M, L, XL with short or long sleeves. Let Mary know if you would like one. Also Jenny has our weed wrench. We wonder if she would trade our large one for a medium sized one. Mary has emailed Jenny with the order for T-shirts and requesting the weed wrench exchange.

e. 2014 Saanich Environmental Awards. Nominations due by April 25, 2014. www.saanich.ca/enviroawards for more info. We would like to nominate Woody and Carmel for their long time and exemplary stewarding of Maltby Lake. Winona will take the lead on this.

f. Swan Lake Native Plant Sale May 17 and 18. See their web site for details.

g. Banner – Lori met with Frances Hunter for ideas. Lori and Winona will go out and take pictures for the banner.

h. Streamkeepers Course. Several members are interested in taking this course over a weekend. We can partner with PSS and ask Susan Low to instruct. Mary will work on this. Winona reported there is a Wetlandkeepers Course coming up in Duncan on June 20-22. The course is sponsored by BCWF and is free. It is possible we could sponsor one in our watershed later.

i. Pat reported daphne on trail from Goward to the school. This is not Park property so we would have to arrange for disposal through engineering if we decide to clear it. We decided to leave this for now. However interest was shown in hosting a work party to remove invasives from South Prospect Park. Daphne is beginning to show there as well. Mary will talk to Cory Manton of Saanich Parks about co-ordinating this in the near future when the broom is blooming. We felt that knocking on doors of people living next to the park as we did at Eastlake is the most effective way to let people know about such an event. We would also poster the mailboxes.

j. Penninsula Streams Society – time for renewal of membership ($5.00). Also if you have a Thrifty’s card, please load it up before the deadline of April 26th. Money on the cards can be used at any time. (5% of money put on the card before that date goes to PSS.)

k. Wikipedia article on Maltby Lake is linked to our web site. Carmel is not sure who posted this. It has some inaccuracies which need to be corrected. Carmel and Woody are meeting the TLC board on Saturday to discuss TLC’s involvement. Carmel pointed out that according the TLC data base the terms of the will leaving the land to TLC state it may not be sold or transferred.

5. Projects:

a. Web site – http://www.todcreekwatershed.ca – Lori continues to add pictures to the site. She is looking forward to Dave Renfroe’s return in order to learn more from him.

b. Killarney Creek Fan update – Winona reports the water is going down. The area we cleared is looking very promising especially when compared with the area left for other treatment. The sedges we planted have survived and will soon fill the bank of the stream.

c. Angelline Tillman’s class in Watershed Restoration at UVic came on Feb 28th. We met them at Whitehead Park, came to look at a septic system on Meadowbrook Road and then a state of the art system at Winona’s. The class then returned to Whitehead for a thorough look at the restoration that has taken place there. Winona reports there were lots of questions which is a sign they enjoyed their visit.

d. Whitehead Park update – Pulling Together crew. Workshop on Saturday, 11th January was useful as always. We agree that it is time to take down the orange fence since the mesh from the cocomat will not be taken up. We need to remove a few new Yellow Flag Iris shoot. The suggestion that it is time to take a break from the work in the park was firmly denied. We will work along the lower part of the site and work our way up as time permits.

6. Heritage –

a. Self guided walk brochure is being worked on.

b.Winona has a picture from her mother of a WW I veteran’s 20th reunion which Saanich archives may be interested in. The Heritage Society will be working on some WW I anniversary events. Woody’s brother is producing a project called The World Remembers which will highlight the names of each soldier killed in that war. See theworldremembers.ca

c. A calendar featuring local stories and photos is under discussion. It would be similar to one produced in Whonnock, Maple Ridge.

Next Meeting: 4 June, 2014.

Location: Audrey Barnes, 140 Kiowa Place.