Eagle Ridge Meeting Notes (Jan. 15, 2002)

Notes from the 4WDABC Eagle Ridge Meeting

Introduction:

· Position of the Mayor of Coquitlam reviewed, with his declaration of the City’s intention to close the area to vehicular traffic due mainly to the issues of fire risk and vandalism.

· Present stand of the Provincial Government, Ministry of Sustainable Development and Lands reviewed (as indicated in letters sent to Wes Rempel in response to his queries regarding the closure of the area and/or it being made into a park with no vehicular access): essentially, the Ministry has stated that there is no jurisdiction for the City of Coquitlam to designate the Crown land of Eagle Ridge as a park; nor is there any application before them from the City to have the area designated a Provincial Park; lastly, the Ministry doesn’t appreciate that there is any need for a provincial park in this area at this time, and would have to be convinced of this by appropriate application/proposal.

Dale McGregor explained that the purpose of this meeting was to seek input from interested parties to augment the ideas that had already been discussed within the 4WDABC; he outlined the various proposals and invited comments from the attendees, seeking constructive criticism as well as new proposals/suggestions. The meeting was meant to be a pre-cursor to the 4WDABC making a decision about how they wished to address Eagle Ridge problem.

Ideas discussed by the 4WDABC and outlined by Jeff/Dale:

· locked gate: would result in exclusive access, ie regulated with a key and limited to those who meet the regulatory requirements, such requirements to be determined through consensus among the City, the Landowners, the Golf Course and the 4WDABC (and interested parties)....prefaced with comments that this was proposal of last resort

· access fee to contribute to monitoring costs by fire dept/police etc

· discussion from the floor indicated that locked gate with exclusive access definitely should be a last resort proposal - goal would be continued access for everyone; avoid exclusionary solutions to the Eagle Ridge issue if at all possible Dale McGregor raised the spectre that there is a risk that due to the urban location of Eagle Ridge and the nature of the resident population (expensive homes, politically influential land-owners, non-4x4ing residents and an anticipated negative response from the golf and country club to any type of access) that an exclusionary solution may be the only way to maintain access through the City right of way: speaker from the floor was recognized (Paul Gagnon, Member of the SCAT) and Paul of firm belief that exclusionary solution not appropriate. In his opinion, either all should have access, or none should have access

· monitored access similar to Stave Lake another consideration: proposal to City in this regard, with a contribution from interested parties to voluntarily provide monitoring/supervisorial role to area; trail adoption; signage indicating adopted trail; recording of unusual activities, reporting of activities to local RCMP;

· more visibility, cleanups, public awareness; tasteful fliers/information circulars distributed to the affected residents in the area: educating/explaining our efforts to be part of the solution and inviting their support

· limited entrance through construction of an obstacle, similar to Walker valley in Washington state with by-pass meant to restrict access to certain vehicles

· attendance at City Council meeting/delegation to attempt to organize meeting with the Mayor to address his concerns and find out what is behind his proposal to shut the area to vehicular access Other ideas from the floor:
· Cameras and barricades: discussion regarding the concerns of the Muni re the water supply/reservoir and susceptibility to vandalism/terrorism - proposal for an OHV type area; consideration to be given to directing our energies to having area established as OHV park, similar to parks outside of Calgary, Walker Valley and the like.

· need to gather more information....what is the real root of the problem?; contact the residents in area who are probable source of present stance of Municipality; education of residents of needs of 4x4 community and responsible nature of majority; offer to be part of the solution in addressing concerns of residents; Town Hall meeting suggested at Golf Course with invitation to residents: discussion of the realities of the likely present attitude of the home-owners and difficulty in motivating them to attend such a meeting.

· Council minutes as an information source...query whether they refer to this at all, or is there a back-room agenda from the influential residents on the Ridge spurring the Mayor’s position? (apparently yes, as stated by Sean M who accessed them: he had done fairly extensive i-net research to determine the “reported” nature of the problem that City council asked to address: the main concern was fire and vandalism activity (theft of auto with dumping and burning of it by vandals): letters from the fire marshal for the city expressing concern about the risk to the resident home-owners; whether the fire marshal’s letters were the product of the Ridge residents to “paper” the concerns is unknown (some people suspicious of this type of agenda)

· avoidance of perceived nuisance by use of an alternate access route (back way in) so as not to disturb the residents with the parade of vehicles past their front doors - need input from other interested parties; Hikers (Gerry knows someone in the federation of mountain hikers?); mountain bikers group

· petition from interested parties to show amount of support for our involvement in this area, and to show the range of people using it..we aint all gas jockeys! petition to include individuals, businesses, companies etc who support us.

· raise visibility by holding events specifically in Coquitlam? boy scout runs, food bank drive: educate community of the charitable nature/aspect of the 4WDABC.

· media coverage, radio...newspaper ads..PUBLICITY; advertisement in the local newspapers addressing the issue and promoting the 4x4 community (potentially emphasizing the charitable nature of the organizations etc)

· radio coverage of issue proposed

· efforts should be made to invite more input/assistance from those who have an interest in vehicular access to Eagle Ridge and who may not be aware of the 4WDABC; signage at the trail head with 4WDABC contact information to seek additional support As the restaurant was closing, time became an issue towards the end of the discussion. The meeting was a successful open exchange of ideas, and further discussion was determined to be necessary. Gerry Bolduc proposed that another meeting be held, to finalize the discussion of the various approaches and ideas. After that meeting, the 4WDABC committee would decide upon the approach(es) to be taken and would contact the volunteers and designate roles to play in implementation. Chris Bell volunteered to scout out a location, preferably in Coquitlam...to get back to us on the locale. Then we can decide the time. There was a general recognition that time is of essence and a need to continue the momentum, so an early date is anticipated.

On behalf of the 4WDABC we wish to thank and acknowledge the contribution of each of the attendees. The 4WDABC intends to make every effort to advance t he interests of 4-wheel drive enthusiasts, and appreciates your support. The implementation of the proposed solutions to the issue of Eagle Ridge will require your continued support. We look forward to being able to rely upon each of you for that support as we attempt to maintain vehicular access to Eagle Ridge on your behalf.