May 10, 2008

Present: Joanne Ovitsland, Ian Thomson, Scott Sweeney, Michael Berman, Kevin McMahon, Michael McNamara, Michelle Wilson, Bill Engleson, Erin O'Brien-Hornsey HICEEC rep: Tony Law, Recorder: Reina LeBaron

Call to order: 1:12 pm.

1. Minutes of April 19, 2008 meeting accepted as presented by general consent.

2. Business arising from previous minutes:

HICEEC Housing Needs Assessment: Hornby Island Community Economic Enhancement Corporation has signed a contract with BC Housing and Mortgage Foundation to do a Housing Needs Assessment of Hornby and Denman Islands. They have hired Margaret Eberle and have funding for a student field researcher. The Steering Committee of fourteen people, and the timeline have been established. For each island, a list has been formed of key informants who have broad island connections and are willing to assist in gathering information.
HICEEC Housing Conference: Funding and presenters have been confirmed for the Housing Conference. Twenty-three off-island people have expressed interest in attending. From the ISLA board, Michael Berman, Kevin Macmahon, Michael MacNamara, Michelle Wilson, Bill Engleson, Erin O'Brien-Hornsey are planning to attend. Four other Hornby Islanders have expressed interest in attending. The food will be provided by HOPE kitchen. Tony Law will facilitate the workshop and Joanne Ovitsland will help with the organizing in her role as HICEEC employee.
There was a question of how to encourage younger people, who want to be involved in building ISLA, to attend.
Treasurer’s Report: Union Bay Credit Union is willing to waive the $10 per month fee on the ISLA account. It is not clear whether this decision is retroactive and whether UBCU will be willing to refund the $260 already removed from the account for monthly fees.
Quilt Raffle: Lou Ackerson and Judith Lawrence have agreed to manage two weeks each of quilt raffling. They will cover July. Two more volunteers are still needed for August.
ACTION: Michelle will be the ISLA contact person for quilt volunteers and will contact Eleanora Laffin about a checklist for managing the quilt.
ACTION: Joanne will get lottery license number and information.
AGM: The AGM has been scheduled for 11:00 am, Sunday, June 1, 2008 at New Horizons.
Margaret Eberle, the housing consultant doing the Needs Assessment, will be the guest speaker.
All current board members are willing to stand for reelection.
ACTION: Bill and Erin will approach Denman residents about being on the board.
ACTION: Kevin will send an ad to the Grapevine to run for two weeks.
ACTION: Michael MacNamara will chair the meeting and bring maps of the Weiss property for display at the AGM.
ACTION: Everyone will recruit people willing to be on the Board.
Denman Report: There seems to be interest in building another separate, Denman Island Land Trust. Erin has been e-mailing with people and suggesting they ally with ISLA, perhaps as a semi-autonomous committee.
Denman’s Official Community Plan is currently under review. There is not much likelihood of secondary dwellings being approved for the R1 zones but they may possibly be approved for the larger-lot R2 zones.
Meeting between land donor, Planner and ISLA representative: Ian Thompson has been in contact with Bernhard Weiss but has been unable to establish a definite date for a meeting. He seems to be committed to the donation and process but feels frustrated by the Trust’s bureaucracy. The purpose of having a meeting with Planner David Marlor and Bernhard and an ISLA representative, would be to establish what covenants Berhard would like and whether ISLA can live with them, as well as discussing any other issues that are of concern to all parties.
ACTION: Ian will continue to try to arrange a meeting.
Meeting with Jim Saks: Michael Berman has arranged a meeting with Jim Saks on May 11, 2008, to discuss the repercussions of not having charitable tax status.
ACTION: Michael Berman will report at the next meeting.
Site planning: The model of owner-occupied dwellings disqualifies ISLA from receiving charitable tax status.
Housing agreements will be needed at the time of rezoning for higher density.
Eligibility and building standards could be worked on anytime.
Ron McMurtrie is willing to donate time for site assessment for water and septic.
Community Coalition (CAST forum): ISLA has been asked to come to May 10 meeting prepared to make a presentation of some clear goals and a timeline as well as general policies, so that other island groups have a better sense of how they could assist ISLA in providing housing.
Michael MacNamara, Michael Berman and Scott Sweeney agreed to share the presentation.
Clear Goals and timeline:
~Fund-raising and grant writing for maintenance and land development.
~Organizing the raffle of the 2008 Community Quilt. ISLA still needs two more people to cover August.
~Recruiting some new board members for the AGM on June 1.
~Working on the criteria for applicants and the model for the housing for the land that will be transferred from the Weiss’ sometime in 2009.
The main obstacles to ISLA holding land are financial. Michael McNamara brought maps of the Weiss property for display at the meeting.
There was general agreement that ISLA would ideally like ten house-sites on the Weiss donation if there is adequate space. Who would be eligible: Hornby or Denman residents, able to own their own home, have an adequate income and assets (especially if a mortgage is needed), able to start and finish building a house within a given time period to a set standard. The first phase does not address the needs of very low income people. The second stage of rent-controlled dwellings would be able to help serve this demographic, possibly using a co-op housing model or partnering with Habitat for Humanity. It is possible that ISLA could help facilitate UBCU mortgages for lessees. This location can’t meet all the needs of low-income residents.

3. New Business:

Next Meeting: AGM 11:00 am, June 1, 2008 at New Horizons

Adjourned: 2:40 pm.