MIRROR LAKE WATER USERS COMMUNITY

Minutes
Annual General Mee ng
7PM, TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
Via ZOOM

Directors Present: Michael Hill, Robin Wiltse, Larry Badry, Linda de Vries, Hans Hokke,
Regrets: None Guests: Givonna De Bruin, Recording Secretary
Call to order at 7:15 pm (Michael Hill, Chairman)

Quorum met with 14 members present (13 members required).

Agenda items are presented by Michael Hill unless otherwise indicated. Responses to member
ques ons and comments are provided by the Board unless otherwise indicated.

Michael Hill welcomed the a ending board and community members, thanking them for their support
and for the volunteer work carried out during the preceding year.

Adop on of Membership Roll

The membership roll was presented for approval

MOTION to approve the Membership Roll. Moved by Linda de Vries, Seconded by Larry Badry

13 in Favour; 1 abstain; MOTION CARRIED

Review and Approval of Agenda

Agenda – Late Items
A call was made for late items to be added to the agenda. Jean-Rene Leduc proposed that an item be
added to the agenda rela ng to the provision of a standpipe within proximity to his property for the
purpose of providing fire figh ng capabili es

MOTION to approve agenda as presented with the addi on of the late item in respect of fire hydrant.
Moved by Jean-Rene Leduc, Seconded by Linda de Vries

12 favour. MOTION CARRIED.

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Approval of 2020 Minutes
MOTION to approve the minutes of September 29th 2020 Annual General Mee ng (AGM) as distributed
and accepted with no errors or omissions. Moved by Linda de Vries, Seconded by Hans Hokke.

14 in Favour. MOTION CARRIED

No business arising from the minutes of the September 29 th 2020 Annual General Mee ng

Introduc on of current Board Members and Guests

Board members and the Recording Secretary were introduced to a ending members

Remembrance of those members who passed in 2019-2020 (Michael Hill)

None.

Procedures

Proxies
Proxies will not be accepted via remote connec ons (e.g. Zoom, Skype, cell phone) as the proxy cannot
be verified. A member can vote remotely because their iden ty can be easily confirmed through a
recognized email address or the person’s voice, but they can’t hold somebody’s proxies and vote
remotely because that can’t be verified.

Vo ng
The number of votes a member has is propor onal to their assessment. The assessment is calculated
according to terms dictated by the BC Water Users’ Communi es Act (herea er referred to as “the
Act”). According to the Act, MLWUC assessments must be propor onal to one of three criteria: water
licence volume, water usage, or property area. It was agreed by members at the 2017 AGM that
assessments would be propor onal to each member’s water licence(s) volume.

Members not paid in full are not in good standing and consequently not allowed to vote, as defined in
paragraphs 15 and 16 of the MLWUC By-laws and agreed upon by the majority of members. It was
noted that no members were present who were not in good standing and therefore all were eligible to
vote.

As some of the members present were en tled to more than one vote by virtue of their licence volume,
and as it is only possible for each person present to vote once using the electronic vo ng system, it was
agreed by all present that where the vote result represented a majority vote, even if the extra votes

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were counted, then the simple majority would stand. However, if the vo ng returned a result that could
change should the extra votes be counted, then the members with extra votes would be verbally polled
and the extra votes counted for the final tally.

Repor ng
Note that all reports and the maintenance log were published on the MLWUC website prior to the AGM
and a no fica on was sent to members. During the AGM the reports were shared on screen for
a endees. The directors therefore gave mainly edited highlights of the reports.

Manager’s Report (Michael Hill)

The Manager expressed his thanks and apprecia on for the various volunteers who had assisted
throughout the year, whether on bleaching or other maintenance tasks, the very well supported and
produc ve dam cleaning, and contribu ons to the working commi ees.

Update

Last year a number of strategic focus areas were iden fied, largely as a result of the report provided by
KWL and the progress made can be seen in the chart shown. The majority of areas, coloured green,
indicate where progress has been made, the items highlighted in yellow represent work that is s ll in
progress and only two items, marked red, are s ll outstanding. The goal of installing a treatment plant is
s ll outstanding pending work that is s ll in progress.

A start has been made on the mapping and modelling of the water delivery system to quan fy water
volume pressure and flow rates and as a result of the KWL report provided last year considerable work
has gone into the iden fica on of the op mum treatment process. Thanks are due to Colin Murphy and
Mike Thornberry for their assistance on the planning commi ee. Some of the key items examined were
the goals of mapping, water source determina on, asset management of our infrastructure and plans for
long term sustainability.

Administra ve compliance requirements have been met and Larry Badry is to be thanked for his work on
the development of a maintenance system that includes maintenance, planning, budge ng and control;
the establishment of maintenance task sheets; and the implementa on of safety procedures.

Two addi onal areas of concern became apparent during the course of the year. These being the effects
of climate change and the availability of funding. MLWUC applied for, and received, a grant of $24000
(plus $6000 to be contributed by MLWUC) from the Federa on of Canadian Municipali es – one of the
largest distributors of Federal Infrastructure funding - to improve our mapping, asset management and
related prac ces. This work is fundamental to advancing our decision on source viability, treatment
op ons and ensuring effec ve distribu on. We are one of the few, if not the only, water community to
receive such a grant. This work has already started and will be completed by January 2022.

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On the maintenance front, Larry Badry has done good work in adding to addi onal maintenance
procedures and logging for safety policies, equipment etc.

Due to fires and climate events that have occurred recently, the number of risk factors that impact the
quality of our drinking water have increased from previous years, giving new perspec ve on the
understanding of risks to our water supply.

In the discussions following the update sec on of the manager’s report, the following issues were
raised:

1. Water Conserva on. Kate Okros was thanked for her work rela ng to the documenta on measures
produced to assist should water saving measures become necessary. It was noted that, although the
creek has never failed to provide water year round, increasing drought condi ons make it prudent to
prepare for such an eventuality.

2. Dam safety. The dam is ageing and whilst there are no concerning factors regarding safety it would
not only be a responsible ac on, but also a legislated requirement, to have an engineer’s inspec on of
the dam at some point in the future. The longevity of the dam is a factor that could have an impact on a
final water treatment plan.

3. Reserve funding. The budget is required to reflect funding for the upcoming year. Currently, li le is
added to cover reserve funding. The grant for asset management will deal with the requirements for
developing a meaningful framework for reserve fund planning and it is expected that this will form part
of the budge ng process for the 2022-2023 financial year.

Forward Planning

The plan for the year ahead is to complete the outstanding items, and to con nue with more detailed
planning and ac vi es in order to confirm the viability of the creek as our water source and ensure that
our approach to water treatment meets provincial guidelines and legisla on. The board was fortunate
to have had discussions with a number of smaller systems who have taken an incremental approach to
achieving IHA approval and the removal of Boil Water No ces. This approach is one that the board
intends to adopt in the upcoming year.

In the discussion following the forward planning sec on, the issue of whether Mirror Lake residents who
are not part of the water community, should have access to MLWUC standpipe water in the event of a
fire, given that they do not contribute financially to the water system. In response the Manager stated
that the current focus of the water community is on drinking water supply not fire protec on. Larry
Badry explained that it would likely be the fire department who accessed one of the standpipes in the
case of fire, not an individual resident. Addi onally, the fire department would respond to a fire in
Mirror Lake using water supplied by Kaslo – to which we had made no financial contribu on.

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It was ques oned as to whether a fire hydrant should also be installed in Arcola Road. However, a fire
hydrant requires a 6” pipe and the pipe currently in Arcola road is 4” Even having just one hydrant in
Mirror Lake significantly reduces the me required for a fire truck to recharge which is a benefit to the
whole community. The alterna ve would be for the fire truck to drive backwards and forwards to Kaslo,
significantly reducing fire figh ng effec veness.

It was also men oned that insurance underwriters require a hydrant to be connected to a 6” pipe in
order to qualify for a discount. The current standpipes do not meet this criteria and only those within
300 meters of a recognised hydrant could claim eligibility for a discount.

Maintenance Report (Larry Badry)

James Morris and Niels Holbek were thanked for their hard work and assistance. A summary of the
maintenance carried out over the past year was was displayed on screen and Larry gave a brief round-
up. The maintenance items included:

 Bleaching of system October 2020 and June 2021. Delays caused from road access (snow) and
freshet.

 Spring of 2020 purchase and ac vate use of Safety Equipment.

 Implemented forms to record Site Surveillance inspec ons.

 Implemented form to perform Emergency Plan Opera ons.

 All forms and plan are accessible to all residents located at parts shack.

 Implemented Safety Plan and work site checklist to ensure Safety is a priority.

 Annual Dam Inspec on completed December 2020. Thanks to volunteers.

 Replaced cracked 4" valve at Dam site.

 Valve is only used annually during Dam cleaning to provide water to pressure pump.

 Replaced and installed 3 standpipe caps.

 August 2020 installed hydrant on Birch Hill Lane.

 July 2021 tested flow from hydrant with pitot tube. 1022 USGPM

 January clear fallen trees preven ng access to Dam. (volunteers).

 Placed approx. 8 cubic meters of sand and gravel on upper trail to fill potholes.

 Performed random checks of reservoir level during freshet.

 Rea ached cable connec on on winder for raising gate

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The dam was constructed in 1958 and the typical lifespan for a dam is considered to be 60 years. This
doesn’t mean that the dam is not sound, but it will require an engineering inspec on to be done sooner
than later.

In the discussion following the maintenance report, the following issues were raised.

1. At some point the community will need to consider the costs of hiring someone to do the
maintenance as most of the community volunteers are past re rement age, although there were a
number of new – and younger – volunteers at the dam cleaning this year.

2. It was requested that signage be replaced or provided for the exis ng standpipes.

3. It was ques oned whether there was a plan to provide addi onal fire hydrants. It was again pointed
out that the current goal is the provision of potable, clean drinking water, not fire protec on.

4. A query regarding the con nued viability of providing a 4” pipe loop from the Top of Birch Hill Lane to
meet up with the Arcola pipe was posed. The response was that this is not currently considered a viable
op on. In response to a further query, it was confirmed that the pipe from the top of Birch Hill Lane is a
4”

Finance Report (Linda de Vries)

Accounts:

The good news is that everyone this year has paid their assessment roll fees and outstanding accounts
from the previous year have also been collected.

A verbal review of the income statement and balance sheet, which were displayed for members, was
held. Salient points included:

The slight over run on the costs of pre approved opera ng expenses was due to tax charges.

General maintenance and administra on expenses were lower than budgeted because work was
completed in-house without the use of contracted labour.

The One Call ini a ve was abandoned due to a complete lack of service and support from the One Call
company. Various local companies were approached but the costs were too expensive.

Due to the fact that fee collec ons for the past two years were now fully paid up, the Board took the
decision to write off old outstanding accounts that had been on the books for a number of years so that
we could begin the new financial year with a clean slate.

Although the accounts s ll showed an outstanding figure, it was explained that the remainder of the
fees had been paid a er the end of May and so were not included in the financial year figures being
shown.

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MAMP Grant

The MAMP grant has been provided for water system asset and inventory planning and consists of a
number of deliverables both by KWL and by the Board. These include:

From KWL:

 The development of and asset inventory and GIS data base

 A water loss audit and hydraulic modelling

 The development of an ac on plan for asset management strategy

From MLWUC

 The development of a strategy for our own asset management programme and planning that
includes risk management and the iden fica on of short term issues and priori es.

 A documented mandate to develop the Asset Management programme outlined in a 1-3 year
plan

 The produc on of a basic asset inventory and a defined life cycle investment requirement

 A contribu on to asset management prac ce through the sharing of informa on with 1 or more
asset management organisa ons.

We are very fortunate that the $6 000 earmarked for mapping was able to be leveraged into a $30 000
contract that will provide us with a wealth of informa on moving forward. Addi onally, the fact that we
have now been deemed eligible for grants from the Federa on of Canadian Municipali es means that
hopefully, it will make it easier to apply for more grants in the future.

Communica ons

MLWUC has been involved with many levels of stakeholder in the water process. This has included the
submission of a brief to a government commi ee, joining a working group of BCWWA in order to
facilitate the se ng up of a forum for small water users in BC, a ending various water related webinars,
mee ng with local government departments and engaging with other small water systems. This type of
engagement has provided a wealth of informa on to help us to to move forward with our planning.

Mo ons:

Bylaws
Mo on: That the proposed amendments to the by-laws be accepted as presented.

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A er discussion, it was agreed that the proposed amendments would be voted on individually. All of
the By-law amendments were proposed by Linda de Vries and seconded by Lois Caswell

By-laws Mo on A: To approve the addi on of clause g) to Part 1, being defini on to address the use
of ‘financial year’ used in Part 2, 14 (“old” 13).

The term ‘financial year’ shall refer to the period 1st June to 31st May.

11 in Favour MOTION CARRIED

By-laws Mo on B: To add a clause e) to Part, 12) as a kind of hardship provision

A er a discussion which centred mainly on the precise defini on and framework a ached to
the term ‘hardship provision’ it was decided to withdraw the mo on from considera on, in
order for the board to re-examine.

By-laws Mo on C: Add a new ar cle 13 to reflect the outcome of Resolu on A, B and C (AGM July
12, 2018).

This adds the decision made at the 2018 AGM regarding the calcula on of fees to the by-laws for
ease of reference.

12 in Favour MOTION CARRIED

By-laws Mo on D: Add a clause d) to Part 2, 14 (13 “old”) to match incoming fees with the
assessment roll.

This brings the exis ng wording in line with legisla on to charge fees.

14 in favour MOTION CARRIED

By-laws Mo on E: To expand provisions for electronic vo ng and proxies amend Part 4, 30 (“old”
29), b), ii.

It is proposed that a member cannot have more than 2 proxies. You don’t want that some one has a
lot of proxies and can have a decisive or almost decisive vote. This is especially unwanted because a
proper exchange of arguments during an AGM could have the effect that individual opinions could
change.

Another possibility to vote is authorizing the board. In this case there is no maximum due to the

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strict rules to authorize the board.

Add an ar cle 30, d) to adjust member’s vo ng assignment when amending a water license is
pending as described in Part 2, 13 (“new”) under c) and d) (as discussed and approved in the 2018
AGM).

Considerable discussion ensued and it was agreed that more work was required to adequately
address the issue of proxies

10 in favour, 3 against MOTION CARRIED with the proviso that the Board re-examine this issue over
the upcoming year.

By-laws Mo on F: To clarify breach of code of conduct add to Part 5, 42 (“old” 41) what can be
done if directors fail to comply with the code.

Clarifies the consequences should a board member breach the Code of Conduc ng

13 in favour MOTION PASSED

By-laws Mo on G: Re-formulate Part 6, 47 (“old” 46) to make the text of this ar cle more precise

This clarifies usage of emergency funds.

There was considerable discussion as to the wording of this sec on of the by-laws and it was again
agreed that the Board should commit to a be er revision of the wording.

9 in favour, 2 against, 2 abstain MOTION CARRIED with the proviso that the Board undertakes to
provide more insight into the by-laws and to re-examine the issue over the coming year

Budget 2021/2022

The Budget was displayed on screen for the benefit of members present and the Treasurer briefly
discussed the main points.

There was li le change from the previous year except for the addi on of an item rela ng to the
purchase of a flow meter which is necessary for data collec on and the es ma on of costs for a water
treatment system.

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It was no ced that the MAMP grant of $24000 had been omi ed from the budget and this was changed
in real me to reflect both the debit and credit entry on the proposed budget. The amendment did not
change the net income nor the proposed membership fees.

The amended budget was then proposed for adop on by the membership

Mo on to accept the budget as presented. Moved by Michael Hill, Seconded by Linda de Vries

12 in favour, 1 abstained MOTION CARRIED

Assessment Roll 2020/2021

The Assessment Roll was displayed on screen for the benefit of members present. The total fees for
collec on was equal to the amount of fee revenue approved in the budget. The rate for irriga on
volume was increased by 10%.

MOTION to approve assessment roll as presented. Moved by Linda de Vries, Seconded by Michael Hill

12 in Favour, 1 abstained MOTION CARRIED

Elec on of Directors
It was noted that, as per the current by-laws, the Board is to consist of a minimum of 5 and a maximum
of 7 directors. The term of a director is for 2 years. Directors may not serve for more than 3 consecu ve
terms.

Those whose terms are expiring: Hans Hokke, Larry Badry, Linda de Vries (who volunteered herself for
renomina on only for the MAMP project)

No nomina ons had been received prior to the AGM and therefore the floor was opened for
nomina ons.

Nomina ons
Michael Hill nominated Linda de Vries – Linda accepted on the basis that her involvement was limited to
the MAMP project.

Larry Badry nominated James Morris to the Board. James accepted the nomina on.

Linda de Vries nominated Lois Caswell to the Board – Lois declined

Larry Badry nominated Geoff Chambers – Geoff accepted

Janet Mowat nominated Jean-Rene Leduc – Jean-Rene accepted

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Four members accepted the nomina on to the Board, bringing the total number of Board members to
six.

The new directors were welcomed to the Board.

Late Items
As Jean-Rene was now part of the board it was agreed that the late item ela ng to the provision of a
standpipe within proximity to his property for the purpose of providing fire figh ng capabili es, would
be removed from the agenda and would be discussed at a future Board mee ng.

Adjournment
The Chairman thanked everyone who had a ended. The mee ng had been very posi ve and the Board
is looking forward to further discussions with members as well as moving forward with the approved
plans.

Mo on to adjourn. Moved by James Morris, Seconded by Michael Hill

All in favour MOTION CARRIED

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