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November is now upon us and this is a particularly busy month for our community association’s board members due to our Annual General Meeting. It is scheduled for November 16, 7:00pm. It is a time for reflection on what has happened in the past year and for looking ahead to what needs to be accomplished in the future. I hope that many of you will take time out of your busy routines to come to the community board room and be part of our meeting.

As always, we hope to have Councillor Druh Farrell and Constable John Kastamonitis of the Calgary Police Service present so that you can voice your questions or concerns. You will be able to read board members’ reports on activities in the past year as we have tried to serve our community, and let us know what’s on your mind as we work together as neighbours to continue to make our inner city community the gem that it is.

As you know, our community association board is comprised of volunteers. We are all busy people with jobs and commitments but we believe that community service is worth the work and worry that it often involves. Our AGM is an important meeting for us as it is our chance to hear from you and receive your support or your concerns on how we impact our neighbourhood.

All board members are elected for a one year term that begins and ends at our AGM. Any community member with an active membership can run for election and vote, so this is your chance to be involved with who is on your board or to run for a position. As I am writing this message in early October, I know of two director’s vacancies that I ask you to consider filling – Sears Plume (of which I wrote about last month), and Education.

Our Education Director is involved with the running of our community play school, an important service that we offer parents with children aged 3 – 5. It is directly under the umbrella of our community association and as such needs to be supervised closely to fulfill our legal governance requirements. The Director acts as a liaison between our association and the play school parent committee and is an important resource person who can help make sure that we are providing a quality program for our children.

As well, we are always very happy to welcome new people who would like to join the board without a particular position. Bring your skills and passions and come be a part of our association! Learn more about what makes our community tick and take this opportunity to make a contribution to how our neighbourhood runs (and plays!). It’s also a wonderful way to meet your neighbours and find new challenges and personal growth.

I would like to now sincerely thank all those who have volunteered their time and talents as board and community members over the past year. Without your help in so many ways, Hounsfield Heights – Briar Hill would just be another dot on a big city’s map.

Please come out to our AGM on the 16th. For more information check Volunteer Opportunities on our website. Or contact any board member if you are interested in joining us!     

Laura

View the Agenda for the 2016 AGM

Our November 16 AGM is the time when all board members are elected for the following one year term. Any resident of our community who has a valid membership can run for a position and vote. All positions are filled by acclamation if only one person steps forward, or a majority vote for a contested position, whether there is an incumbent or not.

The following board positions will be open for new volunteers:

Communications Director

Communication is a crucial part of our organization and this Director is involved with promoting two way conversations between the board and our community. The tools for this include our website (hh-bh.ca), Beacon newsletter, email subscriptions, Facebook and Twitter. It may sound like a big job but one that is shared with several experienced volunteers who contribute behind the scenes to provide content and support.

Education Director

Our Education Director is involved with the running of our community play school, an important service that we offer parents with children aged 3 – 5. It is directly under the umbrella of our community association and as such needs to be supervised closely to fulfill our legal governance requirements. The Director acts as a liaison between our association and the play school parent committee and is an important resource person who can help make sure that we are providing a quality program for our children.

Sears Plume Director

The Sears Plume Director is our community’s representative who communicates directly with Sears Canada Inc. and Clifton Associates Ltd. This position involves informing residents regularly about the Sears Plume and its remediation process by submitting monthly reports to our community board meetings, and yearly reports at our AGM. As well, updates and communications from Sears and Clifton are distributed to residents through The Beacon and are posted on our website (hh-bh.ca).

Facility Co-director

This director will work with Gunter Sammet, our current director, to supervise the facility manager who is a paid employee of our association. Our gym is very important to our community as it allows us to offer sports programs to residents of all ages. Along with the board room, its rental is also an important source of income to other groups. The co-directors work together to make sure that the building is maintained and that the facility is run smoothly and efficiently.

If any of these opportunities appeal to you, please contact the president, Laura Hunt at: president@hh-bh.ca. We would love to have you join our community association board!

Hello neighbours, and welcome to October!

I am sure that you are now in the full swing of this new fall season. School, sports, work and other family routines are now getting to be old hat. Our community association’s board has also been back to work since September 8 and a few changes have happened since the summer break.

One of these changes has occurred on the board itself. Emmanuel Malterre, our Sears Plume Director, has tendered his resignation. Emmanuel has worked tirelessly for many years towards achieving a remediation of chemicals that have leaked into the soil of our community due to defective gas tanks at the former Sears gas bar.

He has been our liaison with Sears Canada  Inc. and Clifton Associates Ltd., asking for technical information and updates on their plans and actions to address the contamination of soil on which some of you live. He has also written numerous letters appealing to government department heads at the municipal, provincial and even federal level, asking them to help us with this complicated process that has been dragging on for years as the contaminates work their way down the hill towards the Bow river.

Emmanuel’s tasks also included informing residents regularly about the Sears Plume and its remediation process by submitting monthly reports to our community board meetings, and yearly reports at our AGMs each November. As well, he has forwarded updates from Sears and Clifton for submissions to the Beacon (see the latest update presented in the August 2016 Beacon) and submitted several public documents for posting on our website (hh-bh.ca).

Emmanuel’s knowledge and hard work on this project will be missed, not only by all of us on the community association board but by all residents affected by this Plume. Thank you so much Emmanuel!

But this remediation process is not finished yet and it is an important health and environmental issue. I am therefore appealing to you, dear residents, to step forward to fill this vacancy on our board. Please consider volunteering to represent our community’s concerns and to work with Sears and Clifton on resolving this problem. Simply contact any board member or come to a meeting to get involved.

On a happier topic, our board has applied for and received a Capital Conservation Grant for $8,650.53. This money will be a great help in replacing the floor tiles in our community facility. Thank you to all those who helped make this happen!

I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving, and I hope that you will take the time to look around and appreciate how fortunate and privileged we are to live in such a great community.

Laura

Thank you to the many volunteers in our Community who participated and made this event such a success!  You can view the results here