BRVCA Annual Report 2019

2019 BRVCA Annual Report
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Contents
Contents 2
Purpose 3
Contact 3
Who We Are 4
What We Offer 5
Accomplishments 2019 6
Committee Accomplishments 2019 12
Cover Photos: Rinks - Kat Patterson
Curling – Debbie Demare
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We Are
Giving voice to the unique people of the Bridge River
Valley
Balancing growth to ensure a viable future
Protecting the natural beauty and resources of the
Bridge River Valley
Keeping the history of the valley alive
Building a Sustainable Community in the Wilderness
Purpose
BRVCA is an umbrella organization, driven by the interests of the community that encourages
autonomous group development and promotes the economic wellbeing of the Bridge River Valley.
Contact
Bridge River Valley Community Association
104 Haylmore Ave, Gold Bridge, BC V0K 1P0
250-238-2534
bridgerivervalley@gmail.com
www.bridgerivervalley.ca
www.brvca.ca
www.liveplay.ca
www.isurvivedthehurley.com
Visit us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
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Who We Are
Executive Board Members 2019/2020
Pat Dahle – President
Sal Demare – Vice President
Michelle Nortje – Treasurer / Secretary
Directors 2019/2020
Vanessa Abbott
Benno Chapman
Debbie Demare
Ralphie Eilliot
Denis Lafreniere
Scott McKenzie
Diana Musil
Christine Oliver
Steven Patterson
Jane Roberts
John Robins
Dave Sharpe
Terri Smith
Chuck Townsend
Staff
Jenny James – Business Services Manager, Editor-Mountain Telegraph
Cara DeMare – Financial Administrator, Special Projects, Admin Support
Janis Irvine – Museum Assistant
Emilie Larsen – Museum and Heritage Assistant, Summer Supervision BRVCA
Regan Dixon - Heritage Assistant - Haylmore
Jessica Johnson – Heritage Assistant – Haylmore
Dana Archer - Museum Assistant
Contractors
Roger Geeves – Community Asset Coordinator
Susan Medville – Heritage Consultant
Suzanne Denbak – Economic Development Consultant
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Benefits and Services
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Financial Process
Funding Access
Creation of non-profits without all those headaches
Shared and Pooled Insurance
Year round visitor services
Assistance with grant research and development
Insurance and Liability Coverage
Advertising
Legal Structure
Access to training
Pooled bookkeeping
Heritage Management
Community Marketing
Shared office and operational costs
Shared toll free teleconferencing account
What We Offer
Support for committees, societies, and groups as autonomous enterprises who have to follow a few rules, such as
financial accountability, that we all build and decide on together.
Pooled resources to simplify committee and group efforts.
Consolidation of legal/financial responsibilities of societies and delegation of these responsibilities to the BRVCA
board.
Time efficiency to save volunteers from attending meetings so their time can be spent making tangible
accomplishments.
A way to protect activities and groups with liability insurance and to assist monetarily with routine practices and
events.
A single point of contact for the Bridge River Valley as a “one shop stop” community services and administrative
office, central repository of information and a strong advocate on community issues.
We work to make a difference when and where it really counts!
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Accomplishments 2019
Under the Umbrella
Continued strategic direction to develop “umbrella” structure of BRVCA using the model of the Hornby Island
Residents & Ratepayer’s Association www.hirra.ca
Maintained
Active and involved board of 7 directors via regular meetings and participation
10 different staff/contractors throughout the year
Significant Advancements or Completions
• Bralorne TV equipment was successfully upgraded from analog to digital.
• With their Lillooet Tribal Council partner the Trails Committee completed heritage
reconnaissance assessments for 3 of the 6 pilot project trails.
• The Economic Development Committee held its second relationship-building forum with our
St’at’imc neighbours. A solid action plan for working together in the future was created.
• The BCAC organized the first and very successful Bralorne Party in the Park. They raised a
significant amount of money for the BCAC.
Provided
Local newsletter - BRVCA has been publishing the Mountain Telegraph since March 2016. The paper is published
monthly with a regular paid subscription base of 35 part-time residents and a growing number of digital
subscriptions as well. It is delivered at no charge into 135 local mailboxes monthly. Residents rely on the monthly
publication for information on upcoming events and important community notices.
Ongoing staff and volunteer support for the Bralorne Community Advisory Committee, the Heritage Committee, the
Trails Committee, the Economic Development committee, the Resource Management/Land Use Committee, and the
Gun Lake Boat Launch Committee.
Delivered the systematic outdoor Community Maintenance Program: Gold Bridge sign, Cemetery, Community
Resource Office, Gold Bridge Community Complex, Bralorne Community Hall, Boultbee Memorial Church, Bralorne
Ball Diamond.
Business Services: phone, fax, Internet, photocopying, printing, flyer development etc
Affordable teleconferencing for community organizations
Equipment service including high quality LCD projector and screen
Office space/other services to Minto Communications
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Technology & Websites
Maintained a very active social media presence with 5 Facebook pages, a Twitter Account and 4 Instagram
accounts
Maintained an extensive internal community website www.brvca.ca & continued Community Advisory emails to
residents and regular visitors updated in accordance with the
Canadian anti-spam legislation
Developed Quick Books budget and the ability to provide
variance reports
Continued to refine our ability to supply financial reports to
each committee, event, and group
Maintained the website www.bridgerivervalley.ca . This site
had 23,112 unique visitors during the year and 36,633 visits in
total.
Maintained the website www.liveplay.ca . This site had a huge
incease in traffic this - 12,151 unique visitors and 25,015 visits
during the year.
Maintained the website www.isurvivedthehurley.com with
53,989 unique visitors during the year and 170,400 visits in
total.
Grant Writing
Provided funding research and grant development to 10 committees, societies, and independent community
groups serving within the Bridge River Valley
Submitted 25 funding requests totalling $378,112:
-15 approved
-3 pending
-3 declined
-2 withdrawn
-2 dropped by Federal and Provincial governments respectively
Assisted community groups with grant application follow-up activities
Completed annual reporting for past and current grant funded projects
Discussed society and committee options with community members wanting to formalize their group to advance
community-based initiatives
Participated in Webinars, Workshops, and Training specific for improvement of community resilience and
advancement of community driven projects
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Cemetery
In 2019/2020 there were 3 internments of cremated remains.
A formalized procedure for internments now exists. While the BRVCA is responsible for opening/closing grave
sites, many families choose to close cremation sites themselves.
Remembrance Day raised $70.00 for the Poppy Fund along with Wreath Donations of $320 for the Royal Canadian
Legion Branch #66 in Lillooet
Tourism
Maintained the externally focused website: www.bridgerivervalley.ca
Highly successful website on Hurley road conditions: www.isurvivedthehurley.com
Actively maintained Social Media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
Continued participation in the Sea to Sky Biking Consortium led by Mountain Biking BC www.mountainbikingbc.ca
Continued membership in Mountain Biking BC — https://www.mountainbikingbc.ca/project/caribou-chilcotin/ 4
gateway/entry kiosks throughout the Bridge River Valley which provide key directional, tourism, and hospitality
information
Maintained gold panning at the Haylmore Heritage Site
Haylmore Heritage Site- Tourism
The Haylmore Heritage Site operates as our Tourism Information Booth, a Heritage
Site, a location for local artisan’s to sell their products and a community venue. This
year we were very fortunate in being able to employ three great staff members,
Regan Dixon, Emilie Larsen and Jessica Johnson. They did a fantastic job of
greeting visitors knowledgeably, maintaining our social media, making ice cream
cones, and most of all often going beyond the call of duty to look after visitors.
Some numbers and facts:
• 1304 visitors to Haylmore Heritage Site between May 19 and Sept 30,
80% of visitors are from BC
• Visitors from Nova Scotia, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta
• International Guests from United States, Holland, New Zealand, Australia,
Denmark, Australia, Germany, Mexico and The Czech Republic. That’s
amazing!!!
• 555 ice cream cones dished out! Wow!
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• 21 Local Artisan’s Exhibited and sold their Products with total sales of $4796. That’s an incredible
52% increase in gross sales over last year!
• Sales of Books, Hats, T-Shirts, Gold Panning, and so on totalled $2893 with donations of $702
• 70 guests, adults and kids, panned in our panning unit!
• 3 Best Sales Days were May 19, June 30 and July 12
• Used Square technology to track all sales and take credit cards
• Tracked Visitor information via Google Forms
• Heritage Garden continued to be developed by Roger Geeves
• Installed a network internet system that allowed us to have 3 different accounts
• Had two heritage chairs restored
• Developed a life size Will Haylmore (Selfie guy) and a tickle trunk full of costumes
Events held through the season:
• Welcome Back Barbecue – May Long Weekend
• Rhubarb Bake Off – July Long weekend
• Garage Sale and Community Market
• Kid’s Geo Camp – all about geology and gold!
• Paint and Sips
Haylmore Heritage Site – Heritage
• Researched, developed and delivered
Will Haylmore’s World Tour
• Will Haylmore’s World Tour now has
a researched package and script
(funded by Canada Summer Jobs)
Center Island Restoration
• After consultation, cut and cleaned up
four trees on the center island. Of note
was the oldest tree dated to the year
Will Haylmore died.
• Completely rebuilt and restored the
wall around the island (stonemason -Paul Coyle)
• Placed “do not climb on wall” signs on the island
• Purchased pump & hose to water shade trees planted around the island
• Next steps: level island, install flag pole and flags and reproduce the 4 machine guns
• Funded in 2020 by the Heritage Legacy Fund and the SLRD Service
Deep Well Cover
• Replaced piece of aluminum over top of two deep wells with properly built and secured well cover and
signage
• Funded by the Regional District Service
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Bralorne Church – Heritage
• Researched, developed and delivered an interpretive
tour
• Funded by Canada Summer Jobs
• Based on the twice yearly physical review of the
church, application was made to Northern
Development Initiative Trust and SLRD for
restoration/repair of three badly needed aspects at
the church: drainage, mold in the church washroom
and water damage seen elsewhere in basement.
• Extensive research on history of renovation of
foundation and drainage completed (Sal
Demare). Repairs completed over the summer.
• Ongoing challenges expected with the church
foundation. Sal Demare to prepare a detailed report
for SLRD and Heritage Committee.
• Front and back porches. Porches identified as being in poor and/or dangerous condition. Also potentially
contributing to drainage issues.
• Completely replaced fall 2019
Repainting as per heritage procedures and cement floor/tiling in washroom remains to be done in 2020
Cemetery – Heritage
• Veteran’s book begun (Judith Hull/Marnie Dunbar)
• Previous hand drawn and autocad type map of plots is not accurate (too linear and even), every plot has
been physically measured now from the fence and will be entered in GIS
• A cross reference of names on plots to mapping/records for accuracy completed
Minto City Site – Carpenter Reservoir
• Projects undertaken to determine what planting would survive in drought/flooding conditions by BC
Hydro/Splitrock Environmental caused concern for Heritage Committee
• Heritage Committee has communicated with BC Hydro and will be meeting with them in 2020 to talk about
those projects and further interpretation of the location
General
Requested the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District:
• Declare the Bralorne Pioneer Mines Office Building, the Bralorne Church, the Bralorne Hall and the
Community Resource Building be, by bylaw, declared a Heritage Site (this is the most limited form of
designation)
• Establish an Area A Heritage Register
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Events
• Organized and hosted a Geology Day for kids at Haylmore Heritage Site with 16 participants and special
guests.
• Organized and hosted the Remembrance Day ceremony in Gold Bridge followed by a Tea Luncheon.
• Promoted the annual valley wide Pitch-In week in April.
Canada Day
Canada Day 2019 was a great success with a record
turn-out and was kicked-off with the traditional
parade through Gold Bridge. Two bouncy castles, one
with a water feature, kept kids entertained. Smokies,
watermelon slices, cupcakes and a Canada Day sheet
cake were served to over 200 attendees and lots of fun
Canada Day themed goodies for kids were given away.
Winterfest
The BRVCA funded, coordinated and delivered the 10th annual Winterfest, a successful event with well over 200
people attending for curling and hockey tournaments. Prizes from local businesses were raffled off as well as
sightseeing tours from Blackcomb Helicopters, who were able to take and off and land on Little Gun Lake again this
year. Hot dogs and hamburgers were sold by the BRVCA and it was a good fundraising opportunity for the BRV
Snowmobile/ATV Club who also had a concession stand and raffled off prizes from local businesses.
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Committee Accomplishments 2019
Training Committee
Three courses were organized for 2019
• Occupational First Aid Level One,
• Travel Endorsement
• Chain Saw Safety course.
All of the courses were free to the participants this year thanks to the funding partners which included included BC
Hydro’s Emergency Preparedness Fund of $2,000, SLRD Area A Grant in Aide of $4,300 and the S100 Wildland Fire
Suppression course which was organized by the SLRD Emergency Management Department.
Economic Development Committee
• Completed an update and reproduction of the area’s Visitor Guide (2019-2021) and distributed it to key
stakeholders
• Completed resale of the advertising in the area’s four kiosks (2019-2021) and installed, cleaned panels in
kiosks
• Updated the Value of Tourism Study and prepared summary highlights for discussion with local, provincial
and federal governments to promote the unique needs of our communities (I would have an image of the
graphics from this report)
• Hosted an Access forum with business interests and residents to discuss concerns and opportunities
related to both Road 40 and the Hurley - this input is being used to inform an access strategy as the
Committee continues to lobby for road improvements
• Developed a five-year Economic Development Strategy for the Bridge River Valley identifying priority areas
of focus (see attached if more detail is needed on Strategy Areas/Goals)
• Hosted the second Relationship Building Forum with local First Nations leaders to discuss opportunities to
work together for the benefit of all residents and communities - attended by local businesses and by elected
Chiefs and Councillors from Xwisten, T’it’qet, N’quatqua and Tsalalh communities
• Developed a Memorandum of Understanding between the SLRD, BRVCA, Avino Mines, Blackstone Minerals
- St’at’imc EcoResources is now considering becoming a signatory
• Formed the Housing Sub-Committee - launched on-line survey and hosted Open Houses in Gold Bridge,
Bralorne and Tyaughton Lake to secure input from local residents and businesses regarding housing needs
- developing a business model for a housing pilot project
• Completed the local Business Needs Survey and local artists interviews
School Sustainability
• Instagram, Facebook and Twitter posts to support the Live where you Play strategy throughout the year
with an additional eye to emphasize the key messages of the Gold Bridge Community School to increase
enrollment.
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• Altitude Blog in place, one blog completed. Altitude Blog is designed to blog about the area with an eye to
the Live Where you Play strategy and key messages about the Gold Bridge School.
• Met with School District representatives to discuss innovative approaches to school curriculum and remote
learning - School Sustainability Sub-Committee formed – studied other successful school models and met
with representatives from Sun Peaks School – a very successful public/private school model – to
understand transferable lessons to the Bridge River Valley
• Developed media messaging for inclusion in all travel media coverage – to be distributed to travel media
partners such as Tyax Lodge, Tyax Adventures, Destination BC, Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Tourism
Association, Mountain Bike BC etc.
Heritage Committee
Bralorne Pioneer Museum - Management Agreement
• Third full season using the Management Agreement between the Bralorne Pioneer Museum and BRVCA.
• Opened 4 days per week May to October, with additional hours for Collection Management in the summer.
• Accessed funding from Canada Summer Jobs which allowed us to hire summer staff (Dana Archer)
• Museum Assistant 6 hours per week (Mondays) year around, total 46 weeks per year.
• Continued strong sales of the reproduced of the Bridge River Gold Book and began distribution and in two
season have almost paid for the entire printing cost, And going forward proceeds ALL will stay with the
Museum.
• Over 650 recorded visitors between May & Oct. 2019. This is a growth from 2018 of 25%.
• Completed two on-line fundraising drives – Giving Tuesday (December 2018) and Win $10,000 (June
2019)
• Through the two drives and other donations we have achieved our fundraising goal in 2019.
• Supporting and advising the relocation planning of the Bralorne Pioneer Museum into the Bralorne Pioneer
Mines Office.
• Supported the supervision of staff and work at the Museum via volunteer efforts of Debbie Demare with
assistance of Heritage Consultant, Susan Medville
Collection Management Project
• This year the Museum has received some very signification collections which is indicative of the
trust that is building with those wishing to place their memories somewhere.
• Collection Management Policy is being carefully followed.
• Deaccession Committee met late summer and recommendations being actioned.
Collections received include:
Gronskei Family trophies, documents, photos
Ernie Schiel Photograph Collection (x12 photos of his family in Bralorne 1950’s)
Louis Green Documents (of The Great Years)
Ann Buchanan, Curling Trophy
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Wendy Williams, donation of tape recordings of father Jack Muir recalling stories of Bralorne
Mr. Jim O'Keeffe's family photos
George Cooper Drabble family photos, from Saskatchewan and Seattle
Randy Brown family photos from Kelowna
All of these families donated so many photos from the 1920’s, some more than 50. They included maps,
personal letters and books also.
Past Perfect Museum Collections Software by the numbers:
Objects 1790
Photographs 3058
Archives 731
Library 319
Total items catalogued in Past Perfect: 5,898 items have been catalogued in total.
Trails Committee
The Pilot Project Working Group had issues meeting but did manage to create substantive drafts for the Trail
Management Plan. They are:
-Policy to protect the integrity of St’át’imc Heritage Trails and Networks, and other Cultural Heritage Resources.
-Financial Policy
-Communication Policy
-Safety Program
-Trail Maintenance Program
The Pilot Project Working Group has a good Terms of Reference draft but still needs to approve all the drafts and to
continue to work on other Policies and Programs.
We have now completed three Heritage Field Reconnaissance surveys this fall on three of the six Pilot Project
Trails.
Forest Licensee Harvesting Update:
Aspen Planers completed their Cutting Permit at Gun Lake and volunteers and Aspen contractors re-established
the trails that were affected, in the spring time.
Aspen Planers is planning another Cutting Permit this year again at Gun Lake affecting trails. A signed MOU has
been secured to help mitigate impact to those trails. This harvesting may take place this fall or winter.
Aspen Planers is planning in the future a Cutting Permit in the Bralorne area affecting several trails in the area. A
MOU will also be required to help mitigate impact to those trails.
Trail Supporter Program:
Tyax Adventures and the BRVCA Trail Committee partnered on a Trail Supporter Program whereby Tyax
Adventure guests and other trail users could support trail maintenance in the valley by purchasing a sticker. These
funds would go to trail maintenance in particular to the trails leading into and out the South Chilcotin Mountains
Park and surrounding area.
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Trail Committee Members:
We welcome three new members to the committee - Karen Playfair who has taken on the treasurer position,
Claude Carrier and Steven Patterson. We now have eight members on the committee.
Gun Lake Boat Launch Committee
The boat launch is alive and well even though we had a lot of ice on the lake last winter - the mighty boat launch
pad survived without a scratch. We have seen many people launch and retrieve their boats very smoothly and
safely this year.
The new signage is working as well , the site has been very quiet and clean.
Our Volunteer Donation box has been working very well with over $400.00 donated by our generous
boating community. A special thanks to several individuals who have been extra generous this year.
BCAC
• The Bralorne ice rink got a lot of use this past
winter and was maintained by volunteers
• A very successful fundraising event was held in
September, the Bralorne Party in the Park, and
$4000 was raised for the BCAC
• A new president and new treasurer were
appointed for 2019/2020
Bralorne Recreation Area – Sunshine Mountain
A tenure application was submitted to expand around the old ski hill tenure as an S57/56 Recreation Site in 2016.
The application is currently in the hands of Rec Sites and Trails BC and is still moving forward in the referral
process with hopes to be complete by spring 2020. More interest has come in by way of fundraising memberships.
There was $3000 in membership sales this year which will go towards the operational/administrative costs of
keeping the cabin tenure project going. In addition, a Facebook fundraising drive raised another $6200 which is
being saved for new developments once the new expanded tenure S57/58 is approved. It’s been a long grind since
the first meetings in 2012 on this project but interest continues to grow and progress comes in baby steps. Take a
peek at the website, www.bra-sunshine.ca for some great history on the old ski hill and a show of membership
support.
Bralorne Ball Diamond
• Rented the ball diamond and facilities for a flat rate to the 2019 Bralorne Ball Tournament organizers.
• Received a GIA commitment of $2,500.00 towards the building of a new dugout.
• This $2,500.00 commitment encouraged the Northern Development Initiative Trust to grant the almost
$6,000.00 needed to complete the project. While the funding came in too late in the season to work on
the dugout in 2019 the work will be undertaken in the spring of 2020 in time for the July Baseball
Tournament.
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Bralorne TV Committee
Shaw T.V. advised that all systems must be upgraded from analog to digital by 2019.
This was undertaken in the spring of 2019 and all new equipment including dishes, cables and receivers
were purchased. The total cost was $2000.
Natural Resource and Land Use Planning Committee
• Submitted input to the Forest Range and Practices Act review
• Held a meeting with Aspen Planers to review logging development outside of neighborhood
Areas – Bonance, upper Bridge River, Mud-Noaxe
• Attended Interior Forestry Renewal meetings
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