This is the
VOICE OF SUNNYHILL
Submitted by Cindy Schnee
On any given evening around 8-8:30 take a leisurely walk down to Prince’s Island Park (PIP) and you might see 1-6 beavers either in the wetland on the most eastern end or at the other end by the Peace Bridge. Below is a photo taken by the Peace Bridge of four lovely beavers chewing their sticks! Two were swimming around in the wetland.
By Sherry Kozak
Dear Sunnyhill Membership,
I am writing to inform you that I recently submitted my resignation as Privacy Officer to the Board.
I had served as Privacy Officer for nearly 10 years. It was a position that I loved very much. Working between Sunnyhill’s policies and the Government of Alberta’s processes was an exciting challenge. In my time as Privacy Officer I worked closely with many different Boards and committees. I was particularly proud of the collaborative effort between Finance and myself when we conducted Sunnyhill’s first ever Income Survey a few years back. We were able to collect highly sensitive information and anonymously collate it in a manner that provided the co-op with important information that is being used in our lease negotiations with the City of Calgary.
The role of Privacy Officer worked well for me for many years as I could balance my health and disabilities with the rhythm of the position. Unfortunately, the frequency of requests to the Privacy Officer has increased substantially in the past couple of years. While I have done my best to meet these requests, I began to experience repeated negative interactions with a member that made me feel harassed and browbeaten.
I have been a member of Sunnyhill for several decades. I have served on nearly every committee and the Board multiple times. In all of my years, I have never felt so aggressed by another member. I am sad to leave the role of Privacy Officer, but I must ensure that I am protecting myself from harm.
Sincerely,
Sherry Kozak
By Marion Gauzer
First up, a big thank you to Kiarra Albina for kindly offering her home and her time to receive Good Food Box deliveries on behalf of interested members. Belle Auld will receive our first order on June 8 and Kiarra will receive deliveries thereafter.
Our next delivery will take place on June 29 and will be the last one until August 31. If you would like to place an order for June 29, please fill out and submit an order form no later than noon on June 20. We encourage you to use the online order form as it allows us to manage orders more efficiently and accurately, but please email me (mgauzer@yahoo.ca) with your order information if that doesn’t work for you.
You can either pay for your order with cash (in an envelope with your name on it) when you pick up your order or send an email transfer to Belle Auld (belleauld@gmail.com) before June 29.
Submitted by Gabriela Laszlo on behalf of the Social Committee
Social Committee Invitation!
Come and join us for coffee and treats in the common area on May 6 at 10am.
Mark Your Calendars for Future events!!!
May 28 at 10am- second edition of coffee/treats
June 17- Neighbour Day event- details to be announced, tentatively scheduled for the afternoon
Looking forward to seeing you there.
Submitted by Mahlah Hanson
Sunnyside School Council presents The Spring Flower and Plant Sale + Fundraiser
Including: Hanging Baskets, Strawberry Baskets, Garden Flowers, Herbs & Veggie trays, Organic Soil & Fertilizer
Order Online Before May 19, 2023
https://sunnysidecalgary.growingsmilesfundraising.com/home
Funds go to support activities at Sunnyside School
Submitted by Belle Auld
We are in the process of setting up a Good Food Box program/depot at Sunnyhill Coop. We need to know how many people are interested in getting a box of 20 pounds of fruits and veggies once a month? The cost is $25 per 20 pound box.
You don’t have to commit to taking a box each month - you can decide on a month to month basis. But we need to know if there are enough people interested before we set ourselves up as a depot.
Please email either Marion (mgauzer@yahoo.ca) or Belle (belleauld@gmail.com) if you are interested.
If there is enough interest (we need to order at least 5 boxes), our first delivery will be Thursday June 8.
By Eric Moschopedis on behalf of the Planning and Development Committee
We wanted to share a quick update with you about the lease negotiations with the City of Calgary.
In our last update in mid-February we shared with you that Real Estate and Development (REDS) had prepared a report that proposed three scenarios that would then be taken to Council. P & D is aware of the reports content at an extremely high level, however the report itself is confidential as is normal in these types of land transactions. Unfortunately, we can’t tell you what we know, but are confident 2 of the 3 scenarios will work for Sunnyhill. Once the report goes to Council, they will then decide which of the proposed land agreements the City would offer to Sunnyhill. REDS anticipated the report would come forward at the April 25th Council meeting.
In our last update we also detailed a process whereby REDS would meet with City Councillors to brief them about the plan and after each meeting REDS would inform us about the meeting so that we could follow up. To date we have not had any further communication from REDS. Lee Prevost from Boundary Design has reached out to Councillor Wong to see if we can get some insight into where the process is at. A meeting is being arranged for as soon as possible.
As a note: this kind of silence from REDS has not been unusual in our experience. Ultimately, we are still anticipating REDS will be bringing the proposed scenarios to Council later this month. As soon as we learn more we will let the membership know.
By Belle Auld and Marion Gauzer
Belle Auld and Marion Gauzer are organizing once-a-month Good Food Box deliveries to the Co-op beginning on June 8 (tentative).
The Good Food Box provides approximately 20 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables for $25.
Before we can place our first order on behalf of interested members, we need to designate a member unit as a Good Food Box delivery depot.
We are looking for a member to volunteer some space in their home and one day a month to receive deliveries.
You would need to:
be available to receive deliveries one Thursday a month (except July & December)
have enough space in your unit to receive and keep orders until members pick them up the same day
Remaining delivery dates for 2023:
June 8
June 29 (in lieu of a July delivery)
August 31
September 31
September 28
October 26
November 23
If you’re interested, please email Marion (mgauzer@yahoo.ca) or Belle (belleauld@gmail.com).
We will have more information for members, including ordering deadlines and payment methods, once everything is up and running.
“The Easter bunny is planning a visit to the commons and we hope you can come for an Easter egg hunt, hot dog roast and spring scavenger hunt. We will meet in the playground at 10am for the Easter egg hunt. Followed by food at the fire pit and a spring scavenger hunt to follow. Please bring your own plates/utensils/cups. We hope to see you there. Happy spring everyone!
Date: Sunday, April 9th
Time: Starting at 10am
Where: Playground & Commons “
The Grounds Committee is in need of new members. We welcome members who are curious and have low or high level of commitment. Come check us out and see if it’s for you. Just email us for the next meeting date. SHCgrounds@shaw.ca
Board Bytes March 2023
Submitted by James Jordan
Vice-president of Sunnyhill Board of Directors.
03/08/2023
Hello friends and neighbours, the board had their third meeting of the year on the usual 2nd Wednesday of the month. James, Joe, David, Don and Robert chaired. Also in attendance was our Property Coordinator Jose.
We took minutes, we assigned some tasks, cast some votes and I took notes. I might use too much creative writing but I’ll try to boil everything down so it’s easy to digest. But if you have questions about the Board Bytes please fill out this online feedback form -- CLICK THIS LINK or send an email to SHCdirectors@shaw.ca. Maybe Include “Board Bytes” in the subject.
This report is about the meeting on March 8th 2023. But the board has weekly check-in meetings to improve our efficiency. These unofficial meetings are working well for keeping on top of deadlines, response time and task management. Once a month was too slow for the bureaucracy involved. The second Wednesday of every month is the official board meeting with quorum, minutes and agenda. All parties present and discuss updates from the committees that report to them. If you don’t know which board member your committee reports too; send an email to SHCdirectors@shaw.ca.
CIWBR (the Canadian Institute of Workplace Bullying Resources) has been engaged and they are preparing a survey for all our members to get to know our community a bit better. We are working together on some questions to include. Linda and Anneka have met with some members regarding current conflicts and disputes. They have proposed a plan for mediation and potential resolution. The board discussed their proposal and voted in favour of moving forward. It's a game of inches but the movement so far has been encouraging.
Our Policies have been under review for some time now and we have to make some modifications and updates to remain relevant. The First of these was our
Conflict of Interest policy. At the next GM we will be able to vote on it and officially change it. Then there will only be 119 pages to go. A committee will be formed to present these updates to the membership piece by piece for review and discussion and approval.
Speaking of which, the next GM will be a Budget review. It wi May and details are evolving quickly. We hope a third of the meeting will be fun, a third will be discussion and a third will be business.
Planning and Development and Buildings need to meet with the board. We hope to discuss the current state of our development project, scheduled maintenance and Structure of Governance.
The Social Committee is hosting a St. Patrick's Day party on March 18th. Invites will go out by email and posted on facebook. Contact gabrielasemail@shaw.ca to volunteer.
Member involvement is down again and we recognise the dedication of the volunteers who are devoted to this community and believe in its enduring spirit of Neighbourhood. Thank you for your hard work and valuable time, we thrive together because of your selfless devotion.
This is my first time writing the board bytes and I am excited to write more; but it’s like journalism and I want to tell you what you want to know. If there is something you want included in my next article I have made a google form for feedback and constructive criticism – CLICK THIS LINK. Please refrain from grammatical or spelling notes, I get it, everyone who lives here writes books. Congratulations Rachel Rose, "Creating Stillness" is an inspiration.
Board of Directors
At the General Meeting in January, we discussed privacy policies. The discussion at that meeting pertained to a void regarding "conflicts of interest" and the need for a more robust policy for the membership. The attached document is what we have come up with. Our question to you, "will this work?" Your feedback will determine if this can come to a vote at a future general meeting.
Submitted by Rikia Novotny and Gabriela Laszlo on behalf of the social committee
Mark your calendars for March 18th from 4-6pm for the social committee’s St. Patrick’s Day party! Come for a drink, a visit and a bite to eat. All ages welcome!
We send out event details by email from the office. If you are receiving the newsletter but not the event emails, please check the office has your correct email address. We also post on our Facebook page — please let Gabriela know if you have not been added to the group yet (gabrielasemail@shaw.ca).
By Helen Wirrell on behalf of the Finance Committee
This is a link to an application for one-time Federal rent payment assistance that was sent to Finance by Bob Bott. At Finance's last meeting, it was thought that we should make members aware of this in case they wanted to try applying.
Please note that the maximum income is pretty low so we don't think that many would qualify, but hopefully it could help some.
https://www.canada.ca/en/services/taxes/child-and-family-benefits/top-up-canada-housing-benefit.html
By Gabriela Orban on behalf of Sunnyhill Social Committee
The Social Committee continues to look for new members. Please contact Gabriela at gabrielasemail@shaw.ca if you are interested. Or maybe you’d like to organize a specific event but not be fully on the committee? Or perhaps you would be available as a setup/cleanup helper at events or a “runner” for shopping/picking up supplies? We want to know about that too!
We are in the process of planning some events, stay tuned for details!!!
By Yvonne Sabraw on behalf of Sunnyhill Grounds
We are experiencing a great deal of melting and freezing this month!
Grounds purchased several green bins that now have Ice Melt in them. There are 3 along the pathway from 4th street to 3rd street that goes past the office. There is another one on the pathway in front of the 1-bedroom units, and two along sunnyhill lane next to the dumpsters. We would like to get feedback from members about where more might be needed. Another green bin is in the shed waiting to be placed once we know where it is most needed.
We suggest that when members are going to be walking around the co-op that they bring a disposable cup with them and scoop ice melt or gravel from one of the bins which they can sprinkle in front of them as they walk to provide a bit more traction and to aid in ice management generally. And if there are any big problem areas on common pathways and sidewalks please have members email Grounds so we can give those spots some attention,.
By Yvonne Sabraw on behalf of the grounds committee
Sometimes necessity is the mother of invention! And it can certainly be an inspiration. On that note, the sudden departure of our snow removal contractor has prompted a bunch of Sunnyhill members to come together to create the Snow Clearing Crew as a subsection of the Grounds Committee. At minimum we hope to manage snow clearing over the short term when we do not have a contractor, and if things work out this could become our norm.
If you have ever wondered, “why do we pay so much for snow clearing every year when we could do it ourselves?” now is the time to step forward.
We have a core of people willing to organize this, but we need shovelers. Once we know how many hands we have on deck, we will organize sections to be cleared.
We are still working out how to clear the larger parking lot areas and the north section of Sunnyhill Lane, but if we have enough people pitching in all of this could be done by hand.
Get outside! Get some exercise! Meet your fellow members at the time of year when it can be hard to connect with neighbours. Be part of something bigger than yourself! (Okay - maybe too much inspiration there)
If you think you can help out, please send a quick email to shcgrounds@shaw.ca and indicate your interest. We’ll be in touch from there.
Submitted by Chris Taylor on behalf of the Education Committee
The Education Committee is currently looking for new members to supplement our great group! Please contact Chris Taylor at tommythecat19@hotmail.ca.
Submitted by Bob Bott
The City seems to have improved its web page What goes where--Residential recycling and disposal search tool. It’s full of useful tips anytime you want to get rid of odd stuff like coffee pods or plastic cutlery.
Another quick reminder to make sure the INSIDE valve for your OUTSIDE water faucet is closed for the winter and the outside faucet is left open. These basement pipes can freeze and burst in the winter if this is not done.
Yardworx will again be clearing our snow this winter. Any issues with their service that need immediate action should go to the Office Coordinator Monday - Friday. On weekends please email the Grounds Committee (shcgrounds@shaw.ca)
We welcome any feedback members have regarding our contractors, as this helps us when considering contracts, so please send your concerns and kudos regarding Yardworx to Grounds email through the winter as well.
