Happy Fall Everyone!
It looks like our fall rains didn’t waste any time arriving, but at least we had a nice warm September. We hope that you’re all happy, healthy and faring well during this current upsurge in the second wave of COVID-19. Although health authorities were predicting this, it doesn’t make it any easier, but does stress the importance of continuing to practice social distancing and regular hygiene practices as part of daily routines to keep healthy, safe and COVID-19 at bay.
As we’ve emphasized previously, please do continue to reach out to your family, friends and more (particularly) vulnerable community members with caring and support, as well as our local businesses that serve our communities. You can also do this by consulting OPSRRA’s business directory of local member organizations when looking for goods, services, etc. in our communities, as well as adding your local business by going to the Business Directory Application page. As a reminder, there are also a number of supports in place for those affected by the pandemic, including the federal government’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan and BC’s COVID-19 Provincial Support and Information site.
Your OPSRRA directors continue to remain active and practice social distancing by holding our meetings using Zoom, with our most recent business meeting held on the evening of Tuesday August 4.
OPSRRA’s First Virtual AGM
Our first virtual OPSRRA AGM was held online via Zoom, on the evening of Monday August 17 from 6:30 to 7:30 PM. Although not as well attended as our past face-to-face meetings, we had a good turnout with over 20 members participating, along with our JdF EA Director, Mike Hicks. We also gained a couple of new members in the process.
In addition to the standard AGM items of the annual report from your president and directors, as well as Mike’s report from CRD, we also bid a very sad farewell to Fiona McDannold on her retirement from the board after a long and very fruitful time serving her community through her work on OPSRRA. Although we’ll miss her, we’re certain that she’ll remain an active member of our organization.
The AGM also brought the annual vote on OPSRRA directors. We were pleased to acclaim this year’s OPSRRA directors as follows:
Bill Dushenko (returning President),
Cheryl Wirch-Ryckman (returning Vice-President),
Diane Foster (returning Treasurer),
James Gaston (returning Director of Communications); and
Jay Evans (new Director of Membership).
Jay Evans has lived in the region – in Shirley – for over 12 years and is a member of both OPSRRA and the Shirley Community Association. He has been active in both the rural lifestyle and giving back to the community. As well as operating a small farm, he also co-organized the Shirley Country Market and sits on the board of A Common Way Home Co-op Association. His previous experience also includes 4 – 5 years on the Juan de Fuca Community Land Trust Board. Jay is also the Manager of Long-Term Care and Assisted Living with the provincial Ministry of Health and his professional experience is primarily in policy, research and analytics within the health care sector in BC. We’re very pleased to have Jay join us as our new director of membership!
The board is holding its annual follow-up retreat this month to discuss our progress as a board and association, and planning our future activities over this next year. More information to follow. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns at president@opsrra.ca.
Still Looking for Additional Board Directors
OPSRRA still has two openings for directors on its board. Having a full complement of directors would help us considerably in moving forward on some of the initiatives we would like to accomplish for our community including engagement on the new OCPs for our area.
We’re a fun, lively and collaborative group to work with. If you’re interested in helping to make a difference in your community and in finding out more about director positions, you can read about them here. Please also contact president@opsrra.ca or vpresident@opsrra.ca for more information.
Update on “Welcome to Jordan River diitiida” Signs
Like many things, COVID has made progress on fundraising to cover the installation of the signs nearly glacial. We understand that times are tough for many of us, but it is community that gets you through the rough times. And welcome signs are a part of that community pride.
We’re currently about $3,600 short of our final goal. We appreciate any donation – $10 – $25 – $50 or more – that you can make in order to assist us in getting Jordan River’s welcome front and centre on West Coast Road. If you’re able to help us with costs through donations or in-kind contributions, please go to our donation page.
Otter Point Rd and Highway 14 – Corridor Improvements
Progress is proceeding slowly but steadily on the road shoulder, pavement and sharp elevation improvements along Otter Point Road between Sarah and Ramsden Roads, with the hopes of this being completed by this spring. Be sure to build in some extra time for construction delays if you’re travelling that section of road during business hours.
Work continues along West Coast Road between Otter Point and Shirley with tree clearing occurring right now and associated traffic stoppage. The next step will be moving the hydro lines following the clearing to allow for shoulder improvements.
No news yet on any significant progress on the realignment of the Connie Road to Glinz Lake Roads section of Sooke Road, but hopefully that will be continuing soon as well.
Membership Renewal Process – Yet Another Reminder
We continue our transition from lifetime to five-year renewable memberships, and have had some good responses to date, but there are a number of you that have still not renewed your memberships. We can’t do the work that we do for community members – like the highway improvements – without you.
Again, you can do this several ways, and it’s only $10.00 per person for five years and $10.00 per year for a business. You can fill in the membership form, pay online, send an e-transfer to info@opsrra.ca, or even mail a cheque to the address below:
OPSRRA
c/o 9193 West Coast Road
Shirley BC V9Z 1G3
Thank you, again, to everyone who has already renewed!
Have a warm, cozy and safe fall, everyone!
OPSRRA 