BRVCA 2021 Annual Report

2021 BRVCA Annual Report
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Contents
Contents 2
Purpose 3
Contact 3
Who We Are 4
What We Offer 5
Accomplishments 2021 6
Committee Accomplishments 2021 12
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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
Directors 2021-2022
Vanessa Abbott
Benno Chapman
Pat Dahle – President
Debbie Demare – Vice President
Norris Girling
Scott McKenzie
Michelle Nortje – Treasurer / Secretary
John Robins
Shayne Selluski
Dave Sharpe
Terri Smith
Staff
Jenny James – Business Services Manager, Editor-Mountain Telegraph
Cara DeMare – Financial Administrator, Special Projects, Admin Support
Janis Irvine – Museum Assistant
Emilie Larsen – Special projects, Summer Supervision BRVCA/Haylmore
Regan Dixon - Heritage Assistant - Haylmore
Laurie Reimer - Grant Writer
Contractors
Roger Geeves – Community Asset Coordinator
Susan Medville – Heritage Consultant
Suzanne Denbak – Economic Development Consultant
Mark Roehling/Lindsay Coleman – Maintenance Support
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Benefits and Services
● 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
● Shared on-Line ZOOM meeting (free)
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 2021
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.
The Lajoie Lake Residents Association and the Marshall Lake Community Association, both newly formed in 2021,
joined under the BRVCA umbrella.
Maintained
There were 9 different staff/contractors throughout the year.
Board Governance
There were 11 board members for the 2020-2021 term.
COVID – 19
Both the Community Resource Building and the Haylmore Heritage Site were back to normal operations with
COVID 19 protocols in place.
Significant Advancements or Completions
Respect for the Bridge River Valley Program
● Based on heavy traffic on the Hurley FSR in summer 2020 and
anecdotal reports of inappropriate visitor activities, the board
of the Bridge River Valley Community Association gave
direction to create a program to work on Respect for the
Bridge River Valley for visitors.
● Two stakeholder meetings and numerous smaller working
group meetings were held to develop the program and
activities, build a graphic for the program and other parts of
the program.
● A Grant in Aide request to SLRD Area A was made and funded
● A "Recreate Responsibly" graphic was developed and was placed on 4'x4' signs, labels, water bottles, tote bags,
and other items.
● A graphical Responsible Tourism one-page, two-sided handout was developed and printed.
● A Visitor's Survey was developed.
● Thanks to a strong partnership with the Lillooet Regional Invasive Species Society, information packages with
above pieces were put together.
● Weekly visitor stops were conducted on Friday afternoons from May long weekend through to September long
weekend on the Hurley FSR and Rd. 40/Marshall Lake Rd. In total 843 vehicles were stopped, with information
provided and visitor survey taken.
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“Behind the Gold: Growing up in Bralorne and Pioneer” by
Norm Gronskei
This charming collection of stories by Norm Gronskei was published in July
2021 with financial assistance from the SLRD and private donations. It was a
community project that arose from Norm’s wish to have his stories published
one day. Two thirds of the proceeds from the book will benefit the Bralorne-
Pioneer Museum and one third will support the Mountain Telegraph
newsletter per Norm’s wishes.
Provided
Local newsletter - BRVCA has been publishing the Mountain Telegraph since March 2016. The paper is published
monthly with a regular paid subscription base 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 Marshall Lake
Community Association, the Lajoie Lake Residents Association, the Heritage Committee, the Trails Committee, the
Economic Development committee, the Resource Management/Land Use Committee, the Gun Lake Boat Launch
Committee, Bralorne TV Committee and the Bear Working Group.
Business Services: phone, fax, Internet, photocopying, printing, flyer development etc
Affordable teleconferencing for community organizations and shared free Zoom meeting account
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
Continued to refine our ability to supply financial reports to each
committee, event, and group
Maintained the website www.bridgerivervalley.ca . This site had
21,292 unique visitors during the year and 27,454 visits in total.
Maintained the website www.liveplay.ca with 5,292 unique visitors and 11,058 visits during the year.
Maintained the website www.isurvivedthehurley.com with 40,136 unique visitors during the year and 98,318
visits in total.
Grant Writing
Provided funding research, grant development and project support to Bridge River Valley Community Non-profit
societies and community groups (Area A) and Area B through a shared cost agreement.
January 1 to October 31, 2021:
44 Submissions totaling $1,148,101 in requested funding
Area A = 30 submissions requesting $1,023,064
Area B = 14 submissions requesting $ 125,037
33 Approved totaling $ 280,102
Area A = 20 approved
Area B = 13 approved
5 Declined
Area A = 4 declined
Area B = 1 declined
6 Pending
Area A = 6 pending
Area B = 0 pending
Area A -provided support and assistance to a total of 9 groups
Area B -provided support and assistance to a total of 10 groups
Assisted community groups with grant application follow-up activities.
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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.
Cemetery
In 2021 there were no interments of cremated remains or casket burials.
A custom designed post was installed for a new Visitor’s Sign-In book.
A Remembrance Day ceremony was well attended and raised $142.50 for the
Poppy Fund along with wreath donations of $560 for the Royal Canadian
Legion.
Tourism
Participated in an inaugural circle tour digital marketing program with
Pemberton and Lillooet called Range beyond Range. Designed and gear
towards off-grid enthusiasts
Produced a up to date 11x17 front/back maps on map pads with business
locations with NDIT Marketing Funding distributed to tourism/hospitality
businesses, Haylmore Heritage Site and visitor Stops.
Maintained the externally focused website: www.bridgerivervalley.ca
Highly successful website on Hurley FSR conditions: www.isurvivedthehurley.com
Actively maintained Social Media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
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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 artisans
to sell their products and a community venue. This year two great staff members, Regan Dixon and Emilie Larsen,
operated the site. They did a fantastic job of greeting visitors knowledgeably, maintaining our social media, and
most of all, often going beyond the call of duty to look after visitors whilst diligently maintaining Covid-19 safety
protocols.
● We had 1276 visitors during the 2021 summer season, a considerable increase from 2020.
● 11 local artisans exhibited their products with total sales of $4119.00
● Sales of books, hats, t-shirts, gold panning etc. totaled $6,014.00
● The Canada Day event this year was held at Haylmore in lieu of a parade with a turn-out of approximately
75 guests.
● Continued expansion of the Haylmore Heritage Garden.
Heritage
Bralorne Pioneer Mines Office Building
In late 2020 and early 2021, our grant writer, Laurie Reimer, and the Heritage team supported by Jiri Cizinksy on
the construction side, submitted some large funding proposals. We were successful in two grants of $300,000 and
$75,000. Grant writing has continued and we currently have another $600,000 in grant applications out there
waiting for approval.
McGinn Engineering and Preservation were retained to do the work needed to get to construction. Mr. McGinn is
highly experienced in the heritage preservation field. Building permits will be submitted in November 2021.
The building continues with two residential tenants. The laundry room remains open and is well used
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Haylmore Heritage Site
A new replica flagpole was installed on the centre island.
Bralorne Church
A new, hand-painted hanging sign was installed.
Use of the Hall and Church have been made available to the public
through an on-line booking form.
Heritage General
The Heritage Committee completed two Statements of Significance, one for the Community Resource Building and
the other for the Bralorne Community Church.
BC Hydro continues to meet with the Heritage Committee to update on the status of the Minto site along with any
research ongoing. A wonderful collection was donated to the Museum by Jamie Davidson with artifacts related to
Minto.
The Heritage Register was approved by the SLRD and five locations will be added late this year: Bralorne
Community Church, Bralorne Hall, Bralorne Pioneer Mines Office Building, Community Resource Building and
Haylmore Heritage Site.
Agreement was reached with Talisker Resources regarding their historic maps of the original Bralorne Gold Mines
and this will be completed by the end of 2021.
Gold Bridge Library and the Museum have met with regard to having small Museum exhibits related to the Gold
Bridge area.
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Events
Canada Day
Canada Day was held at the Haylmore Heritage Site. Hot dogs, cupcakes and lemonade were made available free of
charge and a local musical duet performed for the afternoon. A resident First Nations person contributed
significantly to the day with drumming, prayers and acknowledgement of our St’at’imc neighbours. Approx. 75
people attended.
Winterfest 2021
A decision was made to cancel Winterfest 2021 due to the on-going Covid-19 pandemic.
Committee Accomplishments 2021
Bear Working Group – Bear Conflict Coordinator
Organized a “Bear Aware” workshop at Haylmore Heritage Site.
Held a Bear Spray clinic at the Gun Lake Firehall.
Participated in the Rd 40 & Hurley FSR Welcome Stops and provided bear safety
information and bear spray for sale to visitors.
Regularly visited Recreation Sites to inform and monitor visitors’ “bear safe”
behaviour and provide positive feedback to campers and travellers.
Acted as liaison between Conservation Officers and residents in the event there was
a problem bear.
Continued to remind residents that bear attractants and ripened fruit trees need to
be managed carefully.
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Training Committee
An on-line Food Safety course was offered, and 10 seats were filled for 2021 and another 10 will be available for
2022.
The S100 Fire Suppression/ S185 Entrapment course was held, and 19 individuals successfully completed the
course.
Two Chainsaw Safety courses were held in the fall and 16 individuals received a certificate of Chainsaw Safety.
Economic Development Committee
• Continue to facilitate St’at’imc relationship building through work of the Education/Outreach Working
Group – plans for summer programming at the Haylmore Heritage Site – Laura Grizzlypaws, Tsal’alh
weekend have been postponed to Canada Day 2022 due to COVID
• Participating in the ‘Respect the BRV’ program with strong St’at’imc participation and support
• Tourism signage in place; flat sheet produced
• Artisan training and networking opportunities – several lunch and learns offered – e.g. Turn your passion
into a business
• Resident Sentiment Survey launched in September
• Support SLRD in efforts to improve Road 40 and Hurley FSR
• Housing initiative – in partnership with Tsal’alh/BC Housing –possible BC Hydro engagement too
• Circle Route – funding of $20,000 received from Destination BC to promote a circle route – Pemberton –
Lillooet – Bridge River Valley
• Several programs were underway pre-Covid to work with local businesses and build relationships between
school and employers with creative partnerships being considered.
Heritage Committee
Bralorne Pioneer Museum - Management Agreement
● Fifth full season using the Management Agreement between the Bralorne Pioneer Museum and BRVCA.
● Museum Assistant 6 hours per week (Mondays) year around, total 46 weeks per year.
● Total museum revenue from merchandise sales was up slightly from last year, $2637.67
● Over 440 recorded visitors between May & Oct 2021. This is about the same as 2020.
● Completed on-line fundraising drive – Giving Tuesday (December 2021)
● 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 our Summer Supervisor, Emilie Larsen with
assistance of Heritage Consultant, Susan Medville and advice from the Heritage Committee.
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Collection Management Project
We have received a total of another 5 gifts this year and a promise of more to come from some individuals:
● Mr. Jamie Davidson, Grandson of Big Bill Davidson shared facts, figures and historical data that is so very
interesting.
● Lois Bett donated a photo album of 40 historical photographs and has promised more to come
● Shyrlee Mealing donated the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Britches to go with our Red Surge RCMP
Jacket.
● Verlie Yanciw had given a large black accordion file loaded with paper clippings and stories written by
Verlie for the newspaper circa 1990 to the BRVCA some years ago and it has made its way to the Museum.
● Debra E. Sloan and Terry Yip donated a large amount of photographs of David Sloan family. The family
hope to visit the Bralorne-Pioneer Museum the summer of 2022 and bring more items.
Past Perfect Museum Collections Software by the numbers to date:
● 3794 Photographs
● 1925 Objects
● 743 items in archives
● 400 items in the Library
● 45 total Boxes
Trails Committee
Like 2020, this year seemed a challenge for the Trails Committee. We started the year optimistically in discussions
with both the Lillooet Tribal Council and Xwisten, looking to agree on a path forward with our Pilot Project to
establish trails in the valley. Unfortunately, this didn’t materialize with an agreement.
Other highlights include:
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Continued liaison work with local logging companies to minimize impacts to local trails from logging
operations.
Extensive engagement with BC Timber Sales, looking for a path forward to replace the Taylor Creek Bridge.
As part of this, a Section 57 application (with a request to provide a section 56 establishment) is currently
pending. If approved, this would give the trail legal status, allowing the bridge to be replaced.
Continue to administer TrailForks for the region, to provide quality mapping and information on the
condition of trails.
More than $16,000 was raised through the Trail Supporter Program and other donations.
We look forward to some concrete action in 2022:
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Hiring a contractor to overseeing trail coordinating and move projects forward, including:
o Improvements to the Gun Lake Recreation site and the trail network around it This project has
been generously funded by the McLean Group.
o Continuation of the trail data collection for the purposes of registering trails.
o Coordination of individual efforts on trail maintenance and organize trail maintenance work days
to increase awareness and help maintain trails.
o Work through potential options for partnership agreements or find another way to move forward
cooperatively with the St’at’imc.
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Trails are used by everyone, in some way or another. They provide an opportunity for us to reconnect with our
natural world and allow us to re-create ourselves, while we recreate. The Trail Committee is committed to finding
ways to maintain trails in the region for all user groups.
Gun Lake Boat Launch Committee
2021 was another busy year at the boat launch. Most people are obeying the no parking and no day use signs but
some people are still parking and picnicking at this site. We are still getting complaints about people parking
and blocking the boat launch pad thus impeding boat owners from launching and retrieving their boats despite the
signs. Just a reminder to everyone the License of Occupation is “BOAT LAUNCH PURPOSES”. The Ministry of
Transport have supplied no parking signs to be installed on the site this spring. People can park their trailers on the
main road shoulder or use the west side boat launch if they are only boating for the day. We do recognize the need
for a proper picnic/beach area with a larger dock and some potential sites are being considered.
There is a small volunteer group that has been keeping the dock at the site in repair. Unfortunately, the dock is not
covered by our usage allowance or our insurance and therefore is not under the jurisdiction of the SLRD or the
BRVCA.
An assessment report on the danger tree removal has been issued and will be going out for tender by MOTI to hire a
contractor to remove these hazards soon. Thank you to Sal Demare for engaging with MOTI and pushing this
forward. We also successfully applied for funding through the BRVCA grant writer and with support from the SLRD
the site was cleared of any potential dead brush and branches that might fuel a forest fire. This was a great move
given the amount of traffic this site sees - the exposure is high for an unintentional fire to take hold. A big thank you
John Courchesne for a job well done.
The boat launch concrete pad made it thru another heavy winter ice flow without a scratch.
Big thanks to all that support our voluntary donation box at the site. Due to covid we were again not able to hold our
small fund raiser at the community club that would help top up the account for insurance and maintenance costs.
But, thanks to Debbie Demare and the BRVCA, a 50/50 draw was organized that was hugely successful. The winner
graciously donated back ½ his winnings to the boat launch fund.
BCAC
Once again, the planned community events were unable to be held due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The ice rink will also be up and running as per usual thanks to community volunteers.
A big thank you to Lorna and Roger Geeves for their past roles with the community (forestry liaison and ball
diamond). A welcome to Mike Dorse (forestry liaison) and Tom Jefford (ball diamond) in their new roles.
A thank you to Hayden Roberts for his role as BRA chair and all the work he (and the others on BRA) have done to
get Sunshine Mountain up and running.
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Ball Diamond Sub-Committee
Due to the pandemic there was no Ball Tournament held this year.
The existing cook shack sink was restored to working order.
Restoration work was carried out to prevent the bank behind the new dug out collapsing.
If provincial health guidelines permit, plans will be made to host a ball tournament in 2022.
Bralorne Recreation Area/Sunshine Sub-Committee
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It has been an exciting year for the BRA. We hired a new Coordinator in the spring – Blake Rowsell. Blake is
from Squamish, but actively trying to become a resident of Bralorne.
We also have a new Chair – Michael Pritchett. The BRA would like to acknowledge the contributions of
Hayden Roberts for his work and dedication as the outgoing Chair.
Brushing was completed on the old ski-hill and we all look forward to starting skiing earlier this year
The cabin on Sunshine has had some modest updates. The community will find a newer outhouse and new
stairs to enter the cabin.
The BRA hosted the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) in September for a trail workshop.
Fourteen community members participated in training on sustainable trail construction. Alfigetti had some
trail work complete, including a reroute on the lower section. Thank you to Sal Demare and the SLRD for
funding this training.
The BRA has started to use TrailForks to manage trails on Sunshine Mountain. You will now see all
sanctioned trails on TrailForks. Including a new section of Alfigetti called Scarios. The BRA asks the
community to use Trailforks to highlight trail status and any trail issues that require attention.
Sunshine Mountain is now an official BC Rec Site. You will start to signage and improvements as a result.
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The BRA has submitted a large grant application with the Northern Development and Initiative Trust
(NDIT). We should hear back in the new year. The plan, funding dependent is to build two new purpose
built mountain bike trails on Sunshine Mountain next summer.
The BRA ran a GoFundMe campaign in the spring. This campaign raised over $11,000! These funds will be
used to meet the fund matching requirements for the NDIT grant. So the generous contributions will
support the construction of new bike trails.
The BRA would like to thank the most generous contributors: John Robins, Andre Charland, Sacha McLean,
Blake Jorgenson and RMU Outdoors Whistler.
More information on the history of the area, future developments and revivals, and how you can help by
becoming a fundraising member can be found at www.bra-sunshine.ca
Bralorne TV Committee
Michael Dickson, long-time chair and champion of the Bralorne TV service, sadly passed away in 2021. Mike was
instrumental in keeping the certificates and equipment up to date and he will be missed by the entire community.
A big thanks to Bradley Dickson who has taken on the role of chair and, also to Michael Pritchett, Treasurer. The
TV Committee is in good hands and all necessary certificates have been completed for the change from analog to
digital.
As always, the goal of the Bralorne TV Committee is to provide information, entertainment, emergency warnings,
and save costs for Bralorne residents.
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