Apex Property Owners Association

This week representatives from the APOA Forestry Advisory Committee met with government staff from the forest ministry and from 3 of the 4 timber harvest licensees who have been actively harvesting in the Apex area:  LSIB, Weyerhaeuser and Gorman Brothers. The APOA, Nickel Plate Nordic Centre, and Apex Resort have an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in place that provides a forum for the licensees to convey their harvest plans, and the local stakeholders to provide their input with respect to those plans.

For many years the forestry committee has been voicing concerns about the annual rate of harvesting, and especially the cumulative impact of clearcut harvesting on the Apex area.  That is why we started off our portion of this year’s discussion with a video that shows just how extensive the harvesting has been in the last 25 years. It is definitely having a visible impact!  For example, Nickel Plate Nordic Centre is now surrounded by clearcuts, eliminating the opportunity for any significant trail expansion for the next 50 years.  Trees only grow 6-8 inches a year up here.  Take a look and see what you think:  Apex harvesting video

The Apex MOU is actually the type of landscape level planning and collaboration process that is being discussed during the provincial government’s “phase 2” updating of FRPA, the legislation that governs forestry in BC.  FRPA was updated this year via Bill 21, with more extensive updates planned for next year.  See the discussion paper for details.

The APOA’s position is that in theory our current MOU with the harvest license holders does define a collaborative mechanism for protecting recreation values. But in practice the lack of supporting legislation and regulation inhibits the ability of the participants like the APOA to achieve their goals with this type of ad hoc MOU.  Outcomes such as “protect recreation values” are not well-defined in regulation nor in the licensee’s Forest Stewardship Plans, and hence left up to interpretation and debate.  This leads, not surprisingly, to local residents feeling the cumulative impact of harvesting is too high, while the licensees see it as appropriate for an area that remains included in the timber harvest land base.  What is missing, and what we need added to FRPA and its associated regulations, are well defined measures of compliance.

Compliance in this case would mean achieving the specific goals established during the landscape-level planning phase, which is the phase where well-established intensive recreation areas such as Apex are designated as “special” and hence not to be considered just another part of the timber supply.  The Carmi trail system is another example of an area that is already specially designated, but where the actual goals in maintaining the recreation quality are not well defined. We all want a strong and viable forestry industry in BC, but especially as the timber supply dwindles we must also ensure non-timber values are protected and the economic and social value of area such as Apex are conserved.

The great news is that you can get involved and voice your opinion!  There is a simple online government survey available at: https://engage.gov.bc.ca/forestandrangepractices/  The deadline is July 15, 21019.  So don’t delay!  Let the government know how you think our society can better ensure the Apex recreation area remains one of BC’s premier winter and summer recreation areas.

On March 21, 2019, Jeff Brown, Chair of the APOA Forestry Committee presented to the RDOS Directors.   The presentation and speaker notes can be found here: APOA presentation to RDOS  The topic was the upcoming changes to the Forest and Range Practices Act, and how the APOA feels this is an opportunity for local governments to become more effective at protecting recreation areas such as Apex.

APOA Annual General Meeting
Sunday, March 24, 2019
3 PM
Apex Mountain Inn Meeting Room

As well as APOA committee reports, Area I Director Subrina Monteith will provide her RDOS update. James Shalman will summarize resort activities and future plans. Jeff Brown will provide an update on what is happening with forestry legislation in BC and how this may impact the Apex area.

So please mark Sunday, March 24 on your calendar and we will see you there!

In Attendance:  Arnie, Liz, Diane, Barry, Subrina

1. Season Opener event: 65 people attending
2. Facebook page, more people are joining
3. Dog patrol, there were 29 complaints to Bylaw enforcement last quarter from Apex resort. They are patrolling and warning people to have dogs on leash
4. Roads, there have been very few issues with our Argo due to very little snow. Still a big bank across the lower snowshoe trails. This will be brought to Argo’s attention
5. Apex Matters. We will add our form of membership to Apex Matters. Barry will attend to this also we will post the APOA AGM for Saturday, March 23. He will check that the hotel is available to confirm that date
6. Fire Brigade , Discussion re APOA joining in on a social event with the fire brigade. Arnie will check with Gary regarding this.Their AGM is Feb 6 th
7. Membership , Discussion regarding how we can enhance our presence. Barry will deliver our membership forms to the mountain shop and to the general store. Currently only 20% of owners are members
8. Forestry: Jeff absent
9. Nickel plate park, appears to have stalled at this time
10. RDOS Report
Wildfire Issue. Jeff will be doing a Wildfire & Forestry Presentation for the RDOS directors on Mar 7th. There is also an application for money to go towards studies regarding wildfire issues in local communities , which would include Apex Resort
Waste Transfer Station: Subrina stated the station will stay in the same location. The resort is definite that it remain where it is. Currently, the issue is is that the lease of four years needs to be extended. If that is all approved it is hoped the station will proceed in May of 2019
– Property tax, Subrina stated that property tax will see a slight increase in the following year
– Arnie commented that the increase should be a flat tax and not a mill rate property tax
11. Correspondence, there are four new memberships that just came in through the mail
Excel membership list has been updated
13. next meeting, February 24 at 3 PM at Arnie’s
AGM. Temporary date of March 23 at 3 PM at the hotel. To be confirmed

• Season opening social is being catered at Apex Mountain Inn by Chad and Colin (Edge Bistro)
  • Diane will ask Mike Dugan, James Shalman, Tricia Wilson (new Nickel Plate GM), Apex Fire Brigade rep. to attend.
  • Subrina will give RDOS update
    (Note: The social had to be pushed out one week and Subrina has a previous commitment.  She will provide an RDOS update to read at the social. )
  • Jeff will do a forestry committee update
• Enhancing our presence
  • Subrina’s Facebook page has been set up, has been shared with “official” Apex village Facebook page
  • Jeff will put board meeting minutes summary on website after each board meeting.
• Treasurers report
  • $40 spent for website and domain.
  • Will set up ability to use e-transfer to pay for APOA membership
• Road report – Subrina attended Argo meeting with Jenny and provided the report
  • Argo will start prioritizing Apex roads before road to Nickel Plate (e.g. so school kids can get to school bus)
  • Argo will start towing cars parked on road
  • Jenny asked them to be proactive rather than reactive when snow is forecast.
• Forestry committee report
  • Subrina to arrange Linda Larson, Subrina, APOA meeting
  • After meeting, Jeff to call a forestry committee meeting to discuss and plan next steps
• Potential topics for discussion at upcoming meetings with area MLAs Dan Ashton & Linda Larson:
  • Forestry
  • Proposal to expand Nickel Plate Park
  • Jurisdiction and protection of riparian areas within village
  • Hazard of sleds on roadways, noise of sleds on roads, in valleys near Apex
• Subrina’s RDOS update:
  • Still no official update on transfer station
  • Wildfire protection is in top 5 of RDOS director priorities
  • Diesel has joined Area I planning committee for land use and planning variances.
  • Sabrina is investigating the history of the transfer station funding and where the funding has been spent, and where the funding is at.  Arnie expressed his concern that RDOS hasn’t been able to close this issue for many years.
  • Subrina has asked RDOS staff to do a full zoning and bylaw review. She is looking to creating an approach to making bylaws more area specific.
• Next board meeting Sun Jan 13 at Apex.

Message to Present and past Members of APOA:

Season Opener Social:
The Season Opening Social originally planned for Saturday, Dec 8th. is now set for the following Saturday Dec 15th., The Place: Apex Mountain Inn, Time: 5 – 9 PM. Drinks: $6, Complimentary Appies. In addition to us being able to renew acquaintances, there will be an opportunity to hear the latest news from our APOA Forestry Committee, from the management of Apex Mountain Resort, and the RDOS.

Annual Membership Fees Due:
The APOA fiscal year begins Jan 1st, so it is time to renew your annual membership. Membership remains just $30 for the entire year. Current APOA members can renew their membership by mailing a cheque for $30 to APOA, PO Box 23016, Penticton, B.C. V2A8L7. Or you can pay by cheque or cash at the Season Opener Social on Dec 15th. For anyone joining APOA for the first time, please visit our website at www.apexpropertyowners.com, print and fill out the membership form, and mail it and your $30 cheque to the above address. Or just come to the social and fill everything out there!

Termination of the APOA Strata Membership Option:
For the past 3 years the APOA ran a trial of having 2 types of membership: individual property owner, and strata unit owner. The goal was to make it simple for strata property owners by giving their strata council the option to submit a single APOA membership fee for all owners of the strata. The APOA board reviewed the results and concluded that having the two types of membership was actually causing considerable confusion for property owners, many of whom were unsure whether or not their strata had actually signed up. More importantly, the APOA still had to get explicit permission from each of the strata unit owners before we could email them information. To be compliant with the Canada Privacy Act, strata councils cannot just provide their owner’s emails to the APOA. So it turns out the strata membership option was not actually simplifying things for either the APOA or strata property owners. Therefore, the board voted to terminate the strata membership option.

For the latest information concerning the social and other APOA activities, along with membership registration, you can visit our website at www.apexpropertyowners.com.

Barry Leigh
APOA Executive

The date for the APOA annual Season Opener Social has changed.

It is now on Saturday Dec 15, 2018

Location:  Apex Mountain Inn
Time: 5 PM to 9 PM
Complementary appies for APOA members, drink special: $6

Informational updates from APOA Forestry Committee, Apex Mountain Resort, and RDOS

• Sabrina Monteith, our new RDOS Area I Director, attended our board meeting.
• ARGO stakeholder meeting is on Nov. 14. Jenny A. will attend, as will Subrina.
• Forestry committee update:
  • Provincial government tabled Bill 49 which changed how resource professional associations are regulated and governed by the gov’t. This was in response to the recommendations from the Professional Reliance Report earlier this year.  This change is only in response to the 1st two recommendations of the report’s 121 recommendations.  It will not have any immediate impact on Apex residents, but in the long term looks to be a significant improvement on government oversight of the professional associations involved in natural resource management.
  • Peachland is a test case for a substantial industry, government, First Nation cooperative effort at wildfire risk reduction.  The process involved selective logging by Gormans (reducing fuel load but leaving the large fire-resistant trees), then a prescribed burn managed by First Nations and funded by provincial gov’t, then replanting with deciduous trees (which are far less fire prone than conifers). Sabrina and John Davies (wildfire consultant for RDOS) will look into the possibility of having more wildfire work done at Apex.
• Social committee – Dec. 8th will be the date for APOA’s 2018-2019 Season Opener Social at the hotel at Apex
• Sabrina Monteith update:
  • Some movement on the transfer station.  Public information should be available.
  • Sabina is looking for an Apex person to sit on the district land use planning counsel. APOA recommended various names, Subrina will follow up with them.
  • Sabina is going to start an Apex Residents Facebook page.  This will be a property owner’s only page used for enhancing RDOS-Apex Resident communications.
  • Sabina also emphasized that “RDOS is complaint driven”, so if something is not right — noise, snow clearing, etc. — the best way of getting results is by contacting the RDOS (e.g. bylaw enforcement) and describe the issue.
• After much discussion it was decided to remove the strata membership option and have only individual property owner memberships.  The strata option has caused a fair bit of confusion among the membership, and most importantly has turned out to be overly complex and time consuming to keep track of.  The board feels the $30 per household APOA membership fee is extremely affordable, and likely is not a deterrent for joining APOA.  We’ll explore implementing an eTransfer option for paying the $30 to make it simpler for owners to join.
• Next APOA Board meeting is on November 29th

Floods What to Do?

Warmer Weather be Prepared

FireSmart – Homeowner’s Manual – reduce fire hazards, preventative steps, home assessment

APOA AGM notice Saturday March 17th, 2018 3 PM-5 PM at the Apex Mountain Inn games room. Mark your calendars. Hear more about what is happening with forestry, your mountain and the conservation issue of the Apex recreation area.

Your APOA needs you!!! We are looking for members to put their name forward to fill the outgoing board positions. Many of our retiring board members have been at it a VERY long time and it’s time to give them a rest. If you think this may be for you and want further info, please email us your contact details and we can chat more about it by phone. If you would like to put your name forward email us at apoaexec@gmail.com. This is a great way to keep your community strong and influence the future direction of our recreational area.

Minutes of last years AGM can be viewed by clicking this link >>>   2017 APOA AGM MINUTES