Anglican Communion Reminder ~ Nov. 20

All are welcome to join us for an Anglican communion celebration on Wednesday, November 20  at 4:30 p.m. led by Michael Wimmer from Chemainus.  It will be held at Lucy Hayward's house, 21 Bella Vista Road, with a potluck supper to follow.

Donna Stadt

Minister to Announce Ferry Changes Monday

Monday, Nov. 18, 2013, 9.30 am, Parliament Buildings, Victoria

Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Todd Stone will announce the Province's long-term vision for the coastal ferry  service, including upcoming service changes. The Minister will be joined by BC Ferries President and CEO Mike Corrigan. The event will include a technical briefing by ministry staff.   Location: Press Theatre West Annex, Parliament Buildings Victoria

I will pass on further information as it becomes available

Keith W. Rush

Welcome Back to Thetis ~ Valdy

Two-time Grammy Award winner, Valdy 

www.valdy.com

One performance only

Saturday 23 November 7:30 PM Doors at 7:00 PM

Limited seating

Adults $20.00

Children and seniors $15.00

Will Lennox

Pegg Family Safe

Dear Thetis Islanders, 

I would like to thank you all for your kind and thoughtful inquiries about my family in the Philippines. They are safe and sound in the North surviving a less powerfull typhoon, category 4 more than 2 weeks ago. I really appreciate your concern and feel so fortunate to be living in  such a warm and caring community.

Best Wishes,

Marylyn Pegg

FAC ~ BC Coastal Ferries Community Engagement

Click here to view the notification from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MoTI) regarding the next round of community consultation, which begins November 18th and runs through to December 20th.  Myself along with the other Ferry Advisory Committee chairs will be meeting with MoTI in Nanaimo on Tuesday November 19th.  We will be provided details on the PLANNED reductions prior to the meeting, once MoTI Minister Todd Stone has announced the process.

 

A couple of points to think about.  1) The reductions are planned and not proposed...so we may not have much of an opportunity to influence the outcome.  2) Some routes such as route 25; Alert Bay - Sointula, and the Southern Gulf Islands are not on the list of communities to be visited.  We have been given no explanation as to why this is so, and will not get any until after the Minister's announcement.  3) In their opening statement below it is obvious that MoTI did not hear the sentiments of the communities following last years consultation, where the majority of participants felt fares were too high and ferries needed to be adequately funded by the province.  The chronic lack of funding from government over the last 10 years has created this issue and can only be solved by government.

 

I will keep you informed as events unfold...

 

Respectfully 

Keith Rush

Hall Closure for Painting

A reminder that the Community Hall will be closed this Friday and Saturday

(Nov 15th and 16th) for painting. So there will be no library on Saturday. Everything will be back to normalon Sunday including library and the Senior's Dinner. 

Thank you

Gloria Taylor

Maintenance

Seniors' Dinner Final Reminder

Mark your calendars and make a reservation for the November 17th  Sunday Dinner presented by the Seniors' Committee! RSVP by TODAY Wednesday November 13. Send an email to donella123@aol.com or a note in the Drop Box addressed to Dee, Box 16-2.

Seating at Forbes Hall begins at 5:30 PM. Every Senior 55 and over may bring 2 guests!

 

MENU

Green & Green Salad 

Farmhouse Bread 

Herb Crusted Pork Loin with Fruit Stuffing 

Roasted Potatoes 

Seasonal Vegetable 

Tiramisu 

Pot of Gold Decaf Coffee,

Punch  or Tea

"Refreshments Available"

Dee Smith

St. Margaret's Cemetery Work Team

St.Margaret's Cemetery is about to embark on the first stages of finalizing a plan for the development of a parcel of land adjacent to the present cemetery. This land was donated by Capernwray Torchbearers to be used as cemetery space.

In order for the planning group to get a better handle of the parcel's potential use a SENSITIVE clearing of the site of blackberries and debris is required.  This work project may take several days to be done and can be planned  to suit  time schedules etc. At this time there will be no large machines needed or for any kind of tree removal.

We are in need of energetic and willing people to form a team  to help with this task on behalf of the Thetis Island Community. We are hoping to have it done by the New Year. Free lunch on work days! Please get in touch with Suzanne at : sarioglu@telus.net. or phone 250-246-9965.

Thank you!

Suzanne Sarioglu

Ferry Service Adjustment Open House Dec. 11th

Greetings;

Last week the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MoTI) booked Forbes Hall for December 11, 2013 from 5 PM to 9 PM.  Please circle this date on your calendar.  It is expected that ministry representatives will be outlining what service adjustments/reductions are in store for our route.  To date we have no other details than the hall booking.  As these become available I will be passing them on to you.  Once we hear what runs they plan to cut and what the projected savings might be, I may be calling on some of you to help with the analysis. 

Any questions, please call...

Regards,

Keith Rush

Ph: 250-416-0013

Soup's On ~ collecting for the Canadian Red Cross, Typhoon Haiyan Fund

We will be accepting donations towards the Canadian Red Cross, Typhoon Haiyan Fund on November 13th & 20th.

If you want a tax receipt (issued for amounts over $10), please do the following:

cash - place in an envelope with your name, address & phone number clearly written, as well as the amount enclosed

cheques - make out to Canadian Red Cross and on the memo line, write in Typhoon Haiyan

All Canadian Red Cross donations will be matched by the Canadian Government.

Donations will be taken to the Victoria office of the Canadian Red Cross following November 20th.

Thanks

Ann Dickie

Reply to M. Vanderhoef's Comments of November 9th ~

November 11^th, 2013,

Thank you Marty for your comments on the TIRRA Solid Waste System posted on Saturday Nov 9^th.  You have brought up some good points that I would like to comment on and perhaps add some clarification.

TIRRA has actually been in the garbage business for many decades.  At one point TIRRA operated their own landfill right here on Thetis when transportation wasn’t as simple as it is now.  Thankfully the garbage is now taken to Bing’s Creek although it does concern me that from there it is hauled all the way to Washington State (it is a wonder that our garbage doesn’t cost us more that it does).

When TIRRA asked CVRD to put our solid waste funding onto a Thetis parcel tax, yes, the “membership” voted to make this request (the main reason for this request was what I feel was an “erroneous inexactitude”, to use your words, where TIRRA members were VOLUNTARILY paying for a garbage/recycle system, so that anyone, paying or not, could use the it).  At THAT point all islanders on the provincial electorate had the opportunity to vote against the proposed parcel tax levy and my understanding is that only one vote was cast against it.  It took about 9 months from the time of request for these funds before we received them.  TIRRA was faced with some significant cost increases even before the funds were received.  This meant that we were already at our spending maximum, which was designed to carry us for 5 years.

In May of 2013 TIRRA made a request to CVRD to raise the budget cap.  Yes it was TIRRA members who put this request forward.  Again, anyone eligible in the provincial electorate on Thetis could register a vote against raising the cap.  Part of that story is told by the following anonymous e-spokes that appeared in early August:

Attention: Thetis Island Property owners

Parcel tax on garbage

CVRD Bylaw 3713 has now passed Third Reading (June 12 2013) and proposes to increase garbage fees from $113.00 to a maximum of $282.49

If property owners wish to view this bylaw, and FORCE a referendum, please see the CVRD link below, and use the "Elector Response Form" link.

http://www.cvrd.bc.ca/index.aspx?NID=1761

I choose to believe that many of the 33 votes cast against this increase were not told the whole story and now indeed a referendum has been forced as the e-spokes article suggests.  Obviously TIRRA has no intention of having their Annual Solid Waste budget at $100,000/ in the next 5 years.  What it amounts to is a vote of confidence in the Thetis system knowing that those who vote on each annual budget at the October meeting are also willing to pay whatever annual assessment they vote into place.

As chairman of TIRRA I apologize for not getting more information out to people (who may not attend meetings), in the early part of the summer, so as to most likely have avoided the huge effort and expense it is taking to go to referendum.  Hindsight.  On a positive note, this gives the whole island an opportunity to vote for or against a “made on Thetis” system, or have CVRD take it over, (or perhaps have nothing….. which is not a very realistic option).

The Solid Waste Committee has posted a proposed 6 year budget plan on this Blog site, (refer to the right hand sidebar).  Unfortunately the 2014 budget will be higher than normal as we have to stand the cost of the referendum (provincial law), and also raise extra funds for 2015 to cover the gap of delayed funds from CVRD.  This puts almost $20,000 extra dollars into our 2014 budget. 

If TIRRA is still in the Solid Waste business after the referendum vote, we will be publicly calling for a new recycle hauling contract proposal (the current one expires in January) as well as posting for jobs for site operation.  We also plan to move to a controlled site with up-service fees to make the system more economical and fairer.  We also plan to track the recycled products we produce to be reassured that our recycling efforts have some validity. I am not aware of any other site in the area that operates as cheaply as Thetis does, even considering the fact that islanders typically give their returnables (bottles/cans) and thus the revenue, to the school.  The school does their own sorting and hauling.

In our lengthy discussions with CVRD, we understand we would have two garbage pick ups per month, whereas Thetis will offer 8 opportunities to drop garbage per month.  We also understand that the CVRD system would be more expensive than doing it ourselves.  You have made reference to other options that were put forward prior to the first parcel tax.  I am not aware of these other viable options unless they were variations of our Thetis system.  The solid waste committee sees our system as one that will have changes on an ongoing basis especially as regulations change around us.  Thetis will always have core issues to deal with whether it is ferries, garbage, Islands Trust etc.  I believe the vast majority of Thetis residents want to keep our island clean and tidy.  Somehow we have to stand together for the benefit of all.

Respectfully,

Ernie hunter

TIRRA chair

250-252-0144

thetis@island.net

Remembrance Day Ceremony ~ Forbes Hall

Over 50 people attended the very moving Remembrance Day Service at Forbes Hall.

Jeannine Caldbeck