Happy New Year!
Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and were able to enjoy nature’s special treat of snow on Christmas morning! We also hope you’re all safe and well, despite the onset of the latest (fifth) wave of COVID brought on by the highly-contagious omicron variant. Although it’s been a long slog and can be frustrating at times, please continue to be safe and protect yourself during these uncertain times by following public health guidelines, including social distancing and other important hygienic practices.
Directors for Spring AGM
Just an early notice that our annual spring AGM will be taking place on April 24, so please mark your calendars:
OPSRRA 2022 AGM
1:30 to 3:30 PM
Sunday, April 24, 2022
Location: Online
There are also board vacancies coming up this spring and we need your help. At the AGM we elect a new board of directors, so if you’re interested in running for a director’s position, wish to nominate someone, or have any questions about being a director, please don’t hesitate to contact us at info@opsrra.ca.
Membership Drive
We had a very successful year in 2021 renewing 20 existing OPSRRA memberships, as well as recruiting 19 new members and three new business members. The hope is to continue our membership drive in 2022, including hosting booths at community events to get the word out about OPSRRA.
If you haven’t already renewed, please do so. It’s only $10.00 per person for five years and $10.00 per year for a business. You can do this several ways – by filling 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
Also, if you know of individuals – new or otherwise – in our communities who are not already members of OPSRRA, please tell them about us and encourage them to join.
MOTI Road Upgrades
The status of the Hwy 14 – Otter Pt Rd to Woodhaven Rd project reported by MOTI is as follows:
- the project is currently winterized due to weather not conducive to project works;
- it is anticipated that the contractor will mobilize with favourable paving weather in late winter-early spring (March-April 2022);
- all shoulder widening between limits of construction (11 km) has been completed;
- all earthworks, storm sewer, valley curb and geosynthetic reinforced soil areas (Muir/Kirby Creel) have been completed;
- asphalt top lift has been completed between Woodhaven Rd and at the top of the hill east of Kirby Creek in addition to a section of Hwy 14 between Muir Creek and Otter Pt. Rd. (this is 8 km out of the total 11 km project length);
- a road-side barrier has been installed between Woodhaven Rd and Blueberry flats;
- slope reconfiguration and stabilization has been completed east of Tugwell Creek; and
- new signage upgrades have started, with more to be conducted by project completion; and
- arrangements have been made for line painting on the road segment west of Muir Creek to take place this last week of January (weather depending).
More details, such as the photos below, can be found on the MOTI project site.
OPSRRA has also been in communication with MOTI about continuing road upgrade work along West Coast Road including culvert upgrade work along the 9547 West Coast Road block in Shirley. We have been assured that the current state of infrastructure resulting from the improvements to Route 14 is sufficient to address any flooding concerns in the adjacent property areas, particularly during recent precipitation events. OPSRRA will continue to monitor the situation and has requested that MOTI and its contractors also continue to periodically monitor this and other areas for any deficiencies that might arise as a result of continued precipitation events.
We also ask that affected residents in the area report any deficiencies they might encounter to the local highway maintenance team and MOTI. Please also copy any correspondence to us at communications@opsrra.ca.
Water Survey and Issues
We wrapped up our most recent OPSRRA water survey at the end of 2021 with a total of 91 households responding. We’re currently analyzing the results and comparing them with previous years (2015 and 2017) and hope to be reporting on these soon in time for the spring AGM. If you have any concerns or questions, please contact us at info@opsrra.ca.
Fall 2022 Local Government Election
The next election for CRD Directors is Saturday, October 15, 2022. Every four years the Capital Regional District (CRD) conducts local general elections to choose a Director to represent each of three Electoral Areas. Our current Director is Mike Hicks and the last election was October 20, 2018. To learn more about how the CRD is governed, or maybe you want to run for Director, check out the CRD’s informative site: https://www.crd.bc.ca/about/how-we-are-governed.
OPSRRA has advocated for the revisiting/revision of Bylaw 2040 (Vacation Rentals) with the CRD for some time and feel this can provide a potential solution that would still be fair to property owners, as well as their neighbours. We also agree that it’s an important election issue and will definitely be on the agenda at OPSRRA’s local candidates meeting this coming fall.
Community Signage Repair
As you may have noticed, our notice boards are in need of repair. We need your help to make sure this valuable community resource remains available. If you are interested in volunteering and assisting us, please contact director2@opsrra.ca. Our next OPSRRA Board meeting will be on Feb 7, 2022 from 7 to 9 PM (virtual). If you’re interested in participating, please contact info@opsrra.ca.
Have a wonderful winter season!
OPSRRA 