Rotary Club of Nanaimo August 23, 2019 (Aug 21, 2019)

NRGH Emergency Department; one of the hospital projects supported by the Rotary Club of Nanaimo

Meeting Notes Aug 16, 2019

Posted by Rebecca Taylor

Visiting Rotarians and Guests

Charlos Ramos introduced guests. Bob Wall was visiting from Rotary Club of Nanaimo Daybreak. We were also joined by guests Geoff Dean, Jordan Klippenstein, Keith Davies, Marilyn DeGroot, Thomas Amess and Zachery Young.

Special Dates

John Heisterman's birthday is August 19th. Dave and Cindy Hammond are celebrating 41 years on August 19th and Denise and Joe Wittkofski are celebrating 27 years on August 22nd.

Rotary Flashback

Rotary Club of Nanaimo has a long history of supporting Nanaimo Regional General Hospital and facilities prior to that. The earliest support was in 1927 and was the club's first community project on Kennedy Street. The donations have been numerous over the years including $50,000 for the new Emergency Department in 2013 and a 5 year $35,000 pledge for the Equip for Life campaign. Due to the success of the book sale, the club was able to contribute the entire amount in just two years.

Invitations

Rotarians are invited o the Hospice Society's reveal of their community outreach vehicle. Partially funded by our club, it is a converted motorhome that will support children and their families. The reveal is at 1pm on August 28th. Please let Janeane Coutu know if you would like to attend.

Announcements

Rotary Youth Exchange BBQ tickets are still available and donations of wine are also still needed. Please contact Jason Bradley if you would like to buy tickets or can make a donation. The event is on August 26th.

Debbie Narver made a motion on behalf of the Community Partnerships Committee to approve the spending of up to $11,500 for the RESP project in partnership with VIU. The District grant is $3,500 USD. The motion was seconded by Joan Ryan and passed. An invitation was also made for members to join the committee.

Dave Hammond made the following announcements for the Fellowship Committee:

September 8th is the family BBQ at Bowen Park. Time and other details coming soon.
Car Rally is October 6th. Route has been tested and involves trivia questions!

Fines and Happy and Sad Bucks

Joan Ryan was the Sergeant at Arms and handed out only a few fines. One to Jason Bradley for moving tables and Charles Ramos who voluntarily put $23 into the pot.

Joan Ryan had a happy buck as she's going to IKEA. Bob Janes had a sad buck as his anniversary was missed last week. Keith McFarlane, Wendy Pratt and Dawn Hankins all had happy bucks for spending time with their grandchildren. Bob Wall had a cautionary tale about sawing through bee hives when trimming hedges and the lesson learned from a neighbour who takes his shirt off so that bees don't get trapped and sting him. Ian Williams had a happy buck for the four letters his cousin shared with him that were his grandmother's. They were written between 1913 and 1922. Doug Wortley had a happy buck for being at a meeting after a long absence.

Tables Stakes and Chase the Ace

Egon Holzwarth won the table stakes and John Hankins failed to draw the Ace of Spades.

Program Notes Aug 16, 2019

Posted by John Shillabeer

Dave Hammond introduced Annalisa Fipke. She was born in Nanaimo, obtained her engineering degree in Alberta and worked internationally including in Ireland and Siberia. She calls herself a “transportation geek” and returned to Nanaimo because it is a great place to raise a family.

Annalisa is a transportation engineer responsible for developing the “Complete Streets“ guidelines for Nanaimo. She spent much of 2018 in consultation and outreach activities to obtain input from residents, business interests, and civic officials. The “Complete Streets” will be referenced to guide street re-development projects in Nanaimo. Private property developers will also be expected to work with the guidelines. Annalisa noted in passing that Nanaimo already has 17 documents and plans that pertain to street design. The province is also involved in street design.

Nanaimo’s roads developed in the 1900’s for cars and commercial vehicles. The car was top priority. Improvements in the past generally meant widening the streets for more and faster vehicles. ”Complete Streets” sets different priorities: people first, cyclists second, transit vehicles third and cars fourth. Examples of problems that stem from the old style car first priorities include: no ramps for the disabled at intersections; difficult to cross wide, multi-lane roads; inaccessible transit stops; absent sidewalks and sidewalks that just end, etc. Annalisa gave several examples of features that can be installed to help solve common problems: adding bicycle lanes, street trees, median plantings and mid-block crossings.

The most popular street improvements coming out of the public consultations are narrowing the part of the street devoted to cars, complete separation of each mode (walkers separated from bicycles separated from cars), and pocket parking in cut outs from wide sidewalks. Street trees and other plantings are also very popular. Incidentally, it has been found that wider streets promote speedier, more confident, less attentive driving. Narrower streets promote slower, more attentive and safer driving.

Annalisa showed several examples of current improvements. In Seattle there are raised pedestrian crossings at intersections so that cars drive over ramps but the disabled person does not have to climb curbs. On 10^th Avenue, Vancouver a bicycle lane was added at the expense of car space. Physical separation of three modes (walkers, cycles and cars) has been achieved on 203 Street, Langley.

Annalisa answered several questions from the floor. Bob Wall asked about traffic lights that stop all traffic at an intersection and allow pedestrians to cross in all directions at once. Trials are taking place in Victoria.

Joan Ryan asked about accommodating the growing numbers of handicapped and old people using electric scooters. A scooter is a pedestrian and should be treated as such. An education program is being developed in Nanaimo.

Rebecca Taylor asked about the Harewood neighbourhood where the roads were built without sidewalks, but sidewalks are now gradually being added piecemeal. The fragmented infrastructure that results from the piecemeal approach is partly because of limited resources. But it also reflects the public preference for focussing on major corridors. Annalisa said major opportunities in Nanaimo for Complete Streets include Front St, Comox Road, Rutherford Road, Uplands Drive and Commercial St.

Dawn Hankins thanked Annalisa for a most interesting and information-packed presentation. She presented the speaker with a handmade Rotary