2022 AGM notes

The PVTA would like to start by acknowledging that we are on the traditional unceded territories of the Lil’wat First Nation.  

Thanks to everyone for coming out, 30+!  Hope everyone was able to grab a pastry from our friends at Blackbird Bakery and Coffee from Pemberton Valley Coffee.  

We’re excited to share our stats for the year and believe we had a really productive year putting us on the right track for more great work to be done through relationship building, community advocacy and of course trail maintenance and management.

I’d like to acknowledge all the wonderful Directors we’ve had on board this year and thank them for all of their hard work.  It’s not easy adding a volunteer gig on top of your regular life, especially when we wanted to get some much stuff done, so big kudos to everyone for stepping up. 
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1. Financial and Budget: 
   1. 2021 financials to be approved, see handouts. 2022 highlights
2. Applied for several grants successfully
   1. WB Foundation EnviroFund for work to fix up the water crossing along the Mackenzie basin trail (exit from LLL or access to Smokers lounge)  $6285.50
   2. Whistler Community Foundation - Kathy Barnett leadership Grant for board members to take the Bob Joseph’s ‘Working Effectively with Indigenous Peoples’ training program $3307.50
   3. Whistler Community Foundation - Caring Communities Grant for a Cultural Signage project in conjunction with the Lil’wat First Nation. $3319 
3. Membership: 
   1. Current members 665 via PORCA
   2. PVTA only membership: 32
   3. PVTA Corporate membership, new for 2022: 3
4. Trail Maintenance: 
   1. Budgeted over 900 hours of paid Trail Maintenance with the bulk of work so far happening in the spring for trail clean up and various projects.  Summer projects during the dry months turn to more brushing, planning and fixing major problems.  Fall projects have been mostly on hold until more rain comes. 
   2. Trail Days
      1. Spring Trail Day & Pancake breakfast - multiple groups out on the trails tackling bridging, drainage, fresh corners as well as raking, pruning and rock picking. Funding from Sunstone $700 for breakfast and new tools.
      2. ORCBC trail day in conjunction with PORCA and Moto Club at the Rutherford zone. Cleaned up most of the bike trails in that area and the moto club worked on their approved trail.
      3. Mission Impossible 3 reroute to avoid important Sharp Tailed snake habitat in conjunction with Stewardship Pemberton. Funding from the SLRD and RSTBC. Work mainly done by Darren Nicoll, the PVTA Trails manager with a last minute trail day to help finish it off. 
      4. Worked with PORCA to assist with a Lil’wat youth trail day in the One Mile area where a climbing realignment was completed on the one mile climb. 
      5. Equestrian trail day to work on Bob’s Loop, Side Saddle and Riverside Trail. Great turn out and lots of brush cleared to reopen up those trails. 
      6. Gravitron Fall Trail Day to finish up the trail refresh project. Happening today post AGM with PVTA’s Darren Nicoll as lead
5. Achievements:
   1. Signed a Section 56 with the Crown (RSTBC) for a section of land in the One Mile area and the trail directly around Mosquito Lake.  This provided the initial basis for increased funding for trails from RSTBC and a step towards sanctioning more of Pemberton’s trail network. Much more work needed. 
   2. Hired an Executive Director to assist with the long term sustainability, organization and efficiency of the organization. 
   3. Successful rebranding campaign with a new logo, website, facebook and instagram content to help with the visibility of the PVTA and explain the work the organization does.  
   4. Created guidelines for commercial operators to donate back to the trails and had several successful donations
   5. Supported various user groups with their events including PORCA and the Aeroathelon. Funding from these events donated back into the trails for maintenance.  
6. Work In Progress: 
   1. Cultural Signage Project with the Lil’wat first nation
   2. Signage project in the One mile area, funding received from RSTBC and approvals from VOP. Planning complete and materials collection in progress.
   3. Upgrade to Backpains to realign some corners and provide more sustainability and flow to the trail including a final community trail day. In conjunction with Santa Cruz bicycles.
   4. Increasing our base funding from PVUS which hasn’t increased since 2009.   
   5. Winter XC Ski program Request for Proposal (RFP) for the year
7. Future Plans and opportunities:
   1. Continue growing relationships with all user groups in the valley to support initiatives for all community members.
   2. Continue and expand our relationship with the Lil’wat and learn more about the traditional territories.
   3. Continue working on the goals of the Trails Master plan and working with the Trails Working group to establish how to execute.
   4. Create a trail sponsorship program 
   5. Host more consistent trail days sponsored by local businesses in the spring and fall. 
8. New Board Nominations & Elections: 
   1. Treasurer: position open
   2. Membership: position open
   3. Secretary: Aimee Fishman
   4. Equestrian rep: Caleb Smith
   5. Community engagement: Madison Perry
   6. Director at Large:  Thea Sturdy
   7. Director at Large: Julia Poetshke
   8. Fundraising: Mark Beaton