Various Input Opportunities for residents & property owners

Summer is upon us, pretty nice weather and I hope you're enjoying it. Sending along a little light reading and something for you to think about other than water, margueritas and all the other fun stuff we like to do in the summer - ha, ha!   Seriously though these are the opportunities available to our residents and property owners to comment and have input on.  

I've contacted FLNRO re the Hurley.  It is so dry, its really not optimal for grading...fines go everywhere on top of the fire risk from machinery.  They are going to try and have the industrial road user grade from Bridge River Main FSR junction down to bridge.  I'll stay on top of this.

Boralex Rezoning for Communication Tower on Mt. Penrose

The SLRD received a zoning amendment application for a proposed private communications tower on an unsurveyed parcel of Crown land on Mt. Penrose (adjacent to Gun Lake). See Appendix B: Location Site Plan. The current RR2 – Rural Resource zoning does not include private communications tower as a permitted use. Further, as the proposed communications tower is not located on the same parcel as the Jamie Creek Hydroelectric Facility (located ~ 10kms from Jamie Creek IPP - across Downtown Lake and up Mt. Penrose), it cannot be considered an accessory use to the IPP. Thus, a zoning amendment is required to support this use.

Complete SLRD Report:
https://slrd.civicweb.net/FileStorage/8928BCDFBC3E4A958C3970ABFD7D467D-170726%20MtPenroseCommunicationsSite_firstreading.pdf

The SLRD Board passed first reading on July 25.  Eventually there will be a public hearing and I will let you know well in advance.  In the meantime if you have questions/comments/concerns let me know.








Ride with Chris Brown Snowmobile Tenure - Referral
UPDATE: Input Deadline is now August 31
There is a snowmobile tenure referral out for comment.  SLRD has received an extension to August 11 for input and hopes to get a bit more time from that as well.  Bralorne Recreation Area (Sunshine), Bralorne Community Advisory Committee, the Trails Committee and the Bridge River Valley Snowmobile Club have all given input.  Additionally the SLRD is compiling all the input as well as reviewing documents such as the Official Community Plan and others and will be submitted input.

Have a read of the attached and if you have input you will see how to provide or you can send it to me and I'll make sure it gets into the SLRD for additional to our input.

RWCB Snowmobile Tenure Referral Document


Area's Major Licencee, Aspen Planers in process of developing a new Forest Stewardship Plan

UPDATE:  Aspen Planers FSP Presentation/Info Session:  Wednesday, August 30  10-Noon.  Gold Bridge Community Club

A forest stewardship plan (FSP) must be prepared by all Major License (ML) holders under the Forest Act.


The FSP has a term of five years and may be renewed for an additional term. It contains a description of the forest development units where harvesting and road building may occur and must specify results or strategies that describe how a ML holder will meet the objectives set by government for the 11 resource values of: Soils, Timber, Wildlife, Water, Fish, Biodiversity, Visual Quality, Cultural Heritage, Recreation, Invasive Plants and Natural Range Barriers. The provincial government must approve an FSP before associated permits can be issued to the agreement holder. 

Review and Comment 
FSPs must be made publicly available for review and comment. A licensee must advertise that the plan is available and allow at least 60 days for comments to be received. This process allows other tenure holders, professionals, communities, stakeholders, and the public to provide input on these plans. FSPs must also be shared and discussed with affected First Nations as part of the licensee’s obligation to consultation.  Aspen Planers will begin this period on August 2.


General Information on Forest Stewardship Plans

Review documents can be found at this link:  http://aspenplaners.ca/resources/   The documents are called:
2017 Aspen Planers Lillooet FSP July 25 Ver. 30 DRAFT

2017 Lillooet FSP Rationale Document July 25 Ver. 21 DRAFT

There are also a number of maps at this link as well.

Aspen Planers FSP Presentation/Info Session:  Wednesday, August 30  10-Noon.  Gold Bridge Community Club  I have also distributed this information widely.  I will be working to gather questions/comments/input.


BC Hydro Water Licence Renewal Process
Water licences that authorize BC Hydro to either store or divert water for power purposes at their facilities are issued by the Comptroller of Water Rights under the Water Sustainability Act. BC Hydro is currently starting the process to renew 5 water licences and 1 associated Permit
over Crown Land (PCL) at the LaJoie and Bridge facilities to enable us to continue operating the facilities.The licences and the facilities to which they apply are shown in the figure below.

More detailed information on the process is available at:  bchydro.com/waterlicencerenewal

I will also be staying in touch with all of you on this and if you have any comments/questions/input please feel free to get in touch with me.

Fire, Boats and Noise

I hope everyone is having a great summer.  I am.  My grand kids have come and visited a couple of times. The weather has been great and my dock has been my favorite place to be.  Along with fun and summer comes some issues, this blog post covers some of those.

Fire...

We have all watched with deep concern for communities through out BC who have been evacuated and sustained horrible losses related to wildfire.

I am of the mind that we need to do what is within our control to minimize the risk of wildires and to be prepared if we do get hit.

1. Be Careful ....starting with campfires.

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We currently have a campfire ban...but that ban includes MUCH MORE than fires...

Specifically, prohibited activities once the campfire ban takes effect will include:

• campfires, as defined in the wildfire regulation: www.gov.bc.ca/wildfirelegislation
• the burning of waste or other materials
• stubble or grass fires of any size over any area
• the use of fireworks, sky lanterns, tiki torches, chimineas, burning barrels or burning cages of any size or description
• the use of binary exploding targets (e.g., for target practice)
• the use of air curtain burners (forced air burning systems)

These prohibitions do not apply to cooking stoves that use gas, propane or briquettes, or to a portable campfire apparatus with a CSA or ULC rating that uses briquettes, liquid or gaseous fuel - as long as the height of the flame is less than 15 centimetres. The use of a campfire apparatus that does not meet these specifications is prohibited.

These prohibitions cover all BC Parks, Crown lands and private lands, but do not apply within the boundaries of a local government that has forest fire prevention bylaws and is serviced by a fire department. Always check with local authorities to see if any other burning restrictions are in place before lighting any fire.
Anyone found in contravention of an open burning prohibition may be issued a ticket for $1,150, required to pay an administrative penalty of $10,000 or, if convicted in court, fined up to $100,000 and/or sentenced to one year in jail. If the contravention causes or contributes to a wildfire, the person responsible may be ordered to pay all firefighting and associated costs.

2. Other fire starters....Also think about other devices that might cause sparks or start fires - 

-cigarette butts

-sparks from bike/ATV/Dirt Bike/Chainsaws etc.

3.  Volunteer to respond.... get trained for the Gun Lake Fire Protection Society or the Bralorne Fire Department.....

Let's get through this season INTACT without a fire!

Boats......

Gun Lake in particular has great opportunities for all kinds of boating ....and related activities.  Those opportunities also exist on Tyaughton Lake and Marshall Lake but perhaps not to the same degree.
We want boaters and the activities to have lots and lots of fun.  We also want to make sure that swimmers, floaters, dock lovers and so on also have lots and lots of fun.
Did you know there are shore line speed restrictions for boating on lakes?

From Transport Canada - When boating in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia, please observe the unposted speed limit of 10km/h (6 mph) within 30 meters (100 ft) from shore. 

A boat wake can damage other vessels, docks and erode the shoreline. It can also be a risk for swimmers, divers and people on small boats that might capsize. Be aware of how your boat's wake might affect others. 


Have a happy and safe summer boating season on Gun Lake!

Noise.................

Coming to Bralorne, Gold Bridge, Gun Lake, Tyaughton Lake, Marshall Lake is all about FUN!  Your fun though, if its super noisy in the middle of the night may not be that fun for others who can't sleep or have to work.  We have had instances this summer of parties on land and on water all of which have brought phone calls to me.

We also do a lot of building, renovating, fixing and so on of our places.  In busy times of year please think about your neighbor and start a bit later or talk to them about what might work for them for a start time.  Some people are up with the birds...others...not so much!

This year I have had MANY complaints about noise of all kinds.  

We do not have a noise bylaw and I'm trying to not have a noise bylaw....but if we can't figure it out as neighbors and friends...it will be put in place.    

When a neighbor approaches you please try and listen and put yourself in their shoes. 

 We have had one instance that a neighbor trying to resolve an issue has been intimidated repeatedly since just for asking that things quiet down.  

If this sort of intimidation continues, a noise bylaw will also surely be put in place and even more unpalatable as we love our freedom here,  is repeated requests to RCMP will bring them on land and on water.  So get off your high horse and get along with your neighbor and compromise with them re noise making activities.