VILLAGE OF QUEEN CHARLOTTE

MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR

Council. We are also currently undergoing our strategic planning. Recently, Council has approved the first retail cannabis store application and wish the applicant all the best as they proceed through the LCRB process. Our community may have a retail store in the near future.

I have been working hard and have been selected to sit on a couple of other boards to represent our community. I sit on the North Coast Regional District, which meets in Prince Rupert monthly. In my mind this is not a chance to get off island, but an opportunity to move our community’s needs forward. I have submitted a resolution to address the need for helicopter landing pads on the new level 3 Trauma hospitals being built in Terrace and upgrades to the hospital in Prince George. These facilities will be the receiving hospitals for all trauma incidents in the North before patients can be transferred to facilities in the South. I also sit on the Northwest Regional Hospital Board, Northwest Resource Benefit Alliance and Haida Gwaii Museum Board.

When I ran for office I put out a platform of Island Pride Island Wide and a concern for a Wild Fire Protection Plan for our community. I am proud to say that your Council has moved forward on these issues. We have submitted an application for funding to have a Wild Fire Protection Plan through UBCM and should be hearing back soon to find out if our application is successful. I am also working with Jason Alsop the President of the CHN to get the Chief Councillors from Old Masset and Skidegate along with the Mayors and Elected Area Director together to discuss having Gwaii Trust fund an All-Island Protocol Table position through Island Governance monies already built into the Trust.

Again Haawa, Merci and Thank You for allowing me the opportunity to represent our community as your Mayor.

-Mayor Kris Olsen

March 2019

Coming Events:

Council Meeting Monday, March 18th

@ 7:30pm

SPCA Garage Sale Fundraiser

Saturday, April 6th Community Hall,10AM

Tsunami High Ground Hike & Preparedness

Fair Saturday, April 6th

Ball Field, 1PM

Council Meeting Monday, April 1st

@ 7:30pm

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

New Council Meeting Schedule

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Email Distribution List

2

House Numbering 2

Community Events 2

Boat Launch Parking Rules

2

Business Façade 2

SPCA 3

Tsunami Pole

Project & Hike

4

V I L L A G E V O I C E

I would like to start off by thanking you the community for trusting me. This is a big honour to represent our community and at times I still am pinching myself to make sure I am not dreaming. I would also like to thank staff and Council for allowing me the time to truly understand the role of Mayor. Being a Mayor is not just chairing a meeting. It is so much more. I hope that during my time in office I will help provide peace of mind and support our community and Island’s needs.

What I am most excited about is how many people have been coming out to listen and participate at our Council meetings. I have had so many people approach me all around town and express a desire to be heard. I believe Council has shown an appetite to hear everyone’s concerns. We have had a number of delegates come to Council to discuss what is on their mind. We have had young community members talk about the endless opportunities for mountain bike trails in our community to members come forward with the idea about creating a trail that connects Queen Charlotte to Skidegate along the ridge top in the forest behind our community. We have heard from another young member of our Island community with concerns about using plastic bags and the effect it is having on our ocean. Our council has been open to our community and has heard many other issues. I am very proud that we have been able to allow them the opportunity to address their concerns as this is our community and we are your

Page 2 VILLAGE VOICE

VILLAGE NEWS:

New Council Meeting Schedule:

On Tuesday, February 19th Council adopted amended Council Procedure Bylaw No.115-2019. Prior to the amendment, when a Council meeting fell on a Monday Stat Holiday the Bylaw stated that the meeting was held on the following Tuesday. The amendment changed that procedure and Council meetings will now be held on the following Wednesday. The reason for the change was so that 2 volunteer fire department members who also sit on Council will not have to miss fire practice to attend the Council meeting.

Email Distribution List:

Request to be added to the Village Email Distribution List to receive correspondence such as Council and Committee Agenda & Packages and Public Notices:

Email request to: office@queencharlotte.ca

House Numbering Project:

Order a blue reflective house number for $32, including taxes, shipping and installation by the QC Fire Department. Payment must be received prior to ordering. For more information please contact: j.bulbrook@queencharlotte.ca

Community Events Grant:

The Village of Queen Charlotte is inviting individuals, businesses and organizations to host a community event in 2019. The event must be of general benefit to community members and not for profit. Full details of the Community Events Grant is available on the Gwaii Trust website www.gwaiitrust.ca. Deadline for submissions is Wednesday, March 27th. For more information please contact: j.bulbrook@queencharlotte.ca

Reminder of Boat Launch Parking Rules: With another boating season right around the corner we would like to remind Boat Launch users about the parking rules. In order to ensure safe use of the facility and to prevent trucks with trailers having to park on the highway, only trucks with attached trailers are allowed to park within the boat launch parking lot, as per Policy REC-002. All other vehicles without attached trailers are to park in the lot on the far side of the helicopter pad. Thank you for your cooperation.

Business Façade Program 2019:

At the March 4th meeting Council received correspondence from the Northern Development Initiative Trust that the 2019 Business Façade Improvement application has been approved. This means the Village can begin to receive applications from business owners who wish to improve their storefronts. For full information on the program and application forms please visit our homepage www.queencharlotte.ca.

New Village Voice Format!

6 issues per year, each featuring a volunteer

organization that needs your support!

VILLAGE VOICE Page 3

JOIN THE HAIDA GWAII SPCA - BE A VOICE FOR ANIMALS IN NEED!

Hello Queen Charlotte! Your community was the birthplace of the Haida Gwaii Branch of the BC SPCA back in 1987, when the late Lorraine Valentin initiated its founding. The BC SPCA is a society with the goal of improving lives for neglected, abused, abandoned, and surrendered animals in British Columbia.

Our Haida Gwaii Branch has only one employee and we have no permanent facility to house animals in need of forever homes. As such, we are extremely dependent on volunteers to operate the branch.

On March 27, we are having our Annual General Meeting (AGM) and encourage you to become a member ( https://spca.bc.ca/ways-to-help/become-a-member/ ), attend the meeting, and find out different ways that you can help animals in need on Haida Gwaii! Here is a list of some of the volunteer opportunities that we have:

fostering dog walking transporting animals to the vet for check-ups or off-Islands transfers writing and graphic design fundraising Community Council participation

The meeting will begin with a dinner at 5:30 PM at Dorothy and Mike Garrett’s residence at 3203 2

nd Ave. For an agenda or more

information, please contact Dorothy at dorothyandmike@haidagwaii.ca.

Please also keep us in mind as you start your spring cleaning! We will be holding a garage sale fundraiser at the Community Hall on Saturday, April 6

th. We will be accepting drop-offs from 4 – 7 PM on April 5, and

from 8 AM until the sale opens at 10 AM. Volunteers are welcome to help with everything from set-up to sales to tear-down; please contact Anna Maria Husband to sign up annamariahusband@gmail.com or 250-559-8548. Hope to see you there!

Ryan Kendrick and one

of the puppies who enjoyed a meet & greet

at last year’s garage sale fundraiser.

Barb Rowsell and Fanny enjoyed the two

and four-legged camaraderie at last

fall’s walkathon fundraiser.

Box 580

903A Oceanview Drive

Queen Charlotte, BC V0T 1S0

Phone: 250 559 4765

Fax: 250 559 4742

E-mail: office@queencharlotte.ca

Vi l lage of Queen Char lot te

Mayor Kris Olsen

Councillor Richard Decembrini

Councillor Jesse Embree

Councillor Lisa Pineault

Councillor Devin Rachar

Chief Administrative Officer-

Lori Wiedeman

Acting Chief Financial Officer-

Kim Mushynsky

Superintendent of Public Works-

Ben Greenough

The Haida Gwaii Tsunami Pole Project (TPP) is a collaboration between the Province of British Columbia, BC Hydro, TELUS, local First Nations and municipal governments, it’s the first of its kind! The goal of the TPP is, in the event of a tsunami, to reduce the risk of injury and/or fatality by instructing visitors and residents where the hazard zones are and where it is safe to go.

For communities across Haida Gwaii, utility poles were then designated by the TPP Steering Committee as either a 6 meter inundation (flood) zone or safe zone:

the “Tsunami Danger Zone” has a twelve inch blue band with a white arrow pointing in the direction of the nearest evacuation route.

the “Tsunami Safe Zone” has a two inch blue band on the bottom and a ten inch white band on the top.

the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure’s Sign Department developed a graphic for a highway sign which will be placed at the entrance(s) of each community, and at the Ferry terminals and Airports.

The poles were painted in the summer of 2018, however, we just received the permits for the highway signs to be installed.

Join us in celebrating the project’s completion with a High Ground Hike in the Village of Queen Charlotte from 1 to 4 pm on April 6th. Participants will follow the marked evacuation route from the Queen Charlotte Ball Field to the Hospital. The event will include High Ground Hike t-shirts and a Preparedness Fair with more information on tsunami readiness. Watch for details about other possible community hikes in the coming weeks.

We are seeking donations of emergency themed raffle baskets as a fundraiser for our hard working Fire Department. Please drop off donations at the Village Office, thank you.

Many thanks to TPP funders, Emergency Management BC who provided $15,000 and both BC Hydro and Telus who provided $5,000 each for the

research and development phases.

TSUNAMI POLE PROJECT CELEBRATION &

HIGH GROUND HIKE APRIL 6TH