A volunteer organization working to preserve an agricultural way of life in the Round Hill - Dodds area.
ROUND HILL - DODDS AGRICULTURE PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION NEWS SPRING 2008 EDITION
The sad news is that our President of 30 years has tendered his resignation from the executive due to health reasons. Bernie von Tettenborn will still be a Director and work on the various committees when he can but we will all miss his dedicated leadership.
The Round Hill - Dodds Agriculture Protective Association is evolving to meet the needs of the current membership. You will more often hear the Association referred to as RHDAPA and yes, the first A is for Agriculture, not Agricultural. The Board of Directors (BOD) now meets monthly on the evening of the 3rd Thursday at the Round Hill Community Centre. The by-laws are being updated to facilitate today’s expectations. You may get this newsletter, which is your notice of a General Meeting of the membership, to be held
Thursday, April 17, 2008 beginning at 7:30 PM at the Round Hill Community Centre by fax, email or Canada Post.
One of the major purposes of this newsletter is to provide members with a copy of the proposed by-law amendments.
Don Mallon, legal counsel for RHDAPA, will be in attendance at the general meeting for a short update and to field any questions from the membership.
Report from the Past President
It is with great trepidation that I have relinquished the position of president of Round Hill Dodds Agriculture Protective Association. RHDAPA was incorporated in 1974 to counter a proposal for a thermal power plant by Calgary Power (TransAlta Utilities). The project was nixed by Premier Lougheed in 1976 and transferred to Sheerness where the potential for farming is much less.
RHDAPA remained active, monitoring test reclamation plots for the next 10 years, then maintained annual meetings with speakers, etc so that community would have an active, registered society if and when another proposal for a coal plant was put forward. We also gave plaques for the most improved student in grade 5&6 in the Round Hill School, arranged for some different coal plant tours and received a finalist status in the Community Group category for the Emerald Award in 1994.
On November 2nd ’06 Sherritt International proposed a coal gasification project for a large area south of Tofield, east of Round Hill and up towards Ryley for a total of 312 square kilometres. RHDAPA organized several meetings with Sherritt to find out more details of the proposed project. It was decided early on that we as a group are opposed to the project and intend to intervene at the EUB hearing, however, at the same time, recognizing that if the project does receive approval we wanted to have negotiated with Sherritt to get an agreement that would mitigate the effect on the community as much as possible. We met with Sherritt many times in 2007 and developed the LAP’s (Land Acquisition Principles & Guidelines) that were announced by Sherritt the end of October 2007. At this time we are trying to get funding in place to hire experts to review the application when it is made, to make sure that there aren’t any errors or omissions.
Following is the announcement of my resignation that I gave to the RHDAPA Board of Directors on March 6th ’08. It has been a pleasure to serve the community and work with its different representatives over the past 30 years as president of RHDAPA. Hopefully, RHDAPA can make more good agreements with the proponents for the benefit of the community for the years to come.
March 6th 2008 To the Round Hill Dodds Agriculture Protective Association
It is with much thought and consideration that I have come to the position I am taking at this time. With the loss of confidence and support of some of the board members and the stress of the direction and actions over the last few months and considering my health problems, I find it prudent to resign from the position of Chairman of RHDAPA.
I would like to stay on as a board member. I feel that we have reached some good agreements for the benefit of the community and hopefully many more can be made.
Thank You Bernie von Tettenborn
A Message from the Incoming President
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to the membership of RHDAPA. I have humbly accepted the position of President of the Round Hill - Dodds Agriculture Protection Association after the recent resignation of our long serving president, Bernie von Tettenborn. I have been a member of the association since the announcement of Sherritt's proposal, and I have been on the board of directors since the annual general meeting last November.
For those who would like to know a little more about myself; I hold two degrees from the University of Alberta and I presently work for an Environmental Consulting agency dealing primarily with groundwater. I currently farm with my father and brothers in the Round Hill area and one-day hope to return to Round Hill to raise a family.
The opportunity to work closely with such a dedicated and capable board of directors is exciting and I am eager to learn from their knowledge and experience.
I look forward to meeting you at our next general meeting held at the Round Hill community centre on Thursday April 17th.
Sincerely, Kyle Nahirniak
Proposed Amendments to By-laws:
Bylaw # 4 will be changed to read: No person shall be a member of the Society unless he or she is over the age of 18. No person shall be a regular member of the Society unless he owns, rents, or resides on property within the following boundaries: Starting at a point 2 miles east of Poe on Hwy. 14, south to the correction line (Hwy 26) then west to the west side of Range 19, 4 miles north, then west two miles to Secondary Road 833 to Highway 14 following back to 2 miles east of Poe. An exception to this requirement shall be whoever has been a regular member in good standing for a period of 20 years be eligible for regular membership without having to own, rent or reside on any land as indicated in the above paragraph.
Bylaw # 5 will be changed to read: The annual membership fee for regular members of $20.00 per family paid for the year 2007 shall be extended to include membership for 2008. The Board of Directors shall review any changes for 2009 by unanimous resolution. The annual membership fee for regular members shall be not less than the sum of $20.00 per family or such other sums as may be fixed by unanimous resolution of the Board. This change shall re retroactive to November 15, 2006.
The following paragraph will be added to Bylaw # 10: Any meeting of the Society or of groups of its members may be attended by a member, officer, director or committee member as applicable via teleconference or videoconference provided the Society is not obliged to provide the facilities for nor fund such electronic participation.
Bylaw # 11 will be changed to read: Whenever under the provisions of the Society, notice is required to be given, such notice may be given either personally, by electronic mail (e-mail), by facsimile or by depositing same in a post office or public letter-box in a post-paid, sealed wrapper addressed to the Director, Officer or Member at his or their address as the same appears on the books of the Society. A notice or other document so sent by post shall be held to be sent at the time when the same was deposited in a post office or public letter-box as aforesaid, or if sent electronically, either by e-mail or by facsimile, shall be held to be sent on the date that the same was e-mailed or faxed to the party being served with such electronic notice. For the purpose of sending any notice the address of any member, director or officer shall be his last address as recorded on the books of the Society.
Bylaw # 19 will be changed to read: Until otherwise determined by a general meeting the number of directors of the Society shall be not less than FIVE (5) nor more than TWENTY-ONE (21).
Bylaw # 28 will be changed to read: No member of the board of directors shall receive any remuneration from the Society for services rendered as a member of the board of directors of the Society. This does not preclude members of the board of directors or officers of the Society from receiving honorariums from time to time for their attendance at meetings with third parties or their participation in regulatory proceedings.
Bylaw # 29 will be changed to read: No director, officer, or member of the Society shall be liable for any loss or damage occasioned by any error of judgement or oversight on their part, or for any other loss, damage or misfortune whatsoever which shall happen in the execution of the duties of their office or in relation thereto unless the same shall happen through their own wilful neglect of default.
Please review these changes, which will be proposed as a Special Resolution to be passed at the general meeting planned for April 17, 2008.
Copies of the original by-laws and amendments are available to members. Contact Jane at (780)672-8050 or (780)672-6654 or secretary@rhdapa.org
Rob Macintosh, who presented at a public meeting here on December 18, 2007, is consulting with our Project EIA and Application Review (PEAR) Committee to establish a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the proponent; the Carbon Development Partnership (CDP) a consortium of Sherritt, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and now Epcor.
At a meeting held January 22, 2008, on behalf of RHDAPA, Rob asked the proponent to consider:
1. Adequate timeline to address the issues effectively (3-4 months)
2. Reasonable resources in order to affect more value earlier
3. Definite interest in/understanding of the position of RHDAPA.
The representatives of the proponent present, agreed in principle to #3 and asked for a week to 10 days to consult their head office in Toronto concerning #1&2.
At a Board of Directors meeting held January 24, 2008, it was generally agreed to drop #1. The rationale Rob presented for the first request was an offer to the proponent to review their application prior to submission for approval in an attempt to pinpoint any areas they could address before submitting it to the process. The advantages to RHDAPA would have been access to details of the application sooner. The benefit to CDP and Epcor would have been a review from a different point of view allowing them to make mitigating changes to the application before submission. The proponent did not respond enthusiastically to the idea and RHDAPA Directors agreed to forgo #1 in an effort to make #2 and #3 more attractive.
To date, the proponent has offered 25,000 to fund our Project EIA Review (PEAR) Committee (formerly known as MoU Committee) as they conduct an initial review of the proponent’s application for regulatory approval.
Click Here to view the Association Position Statement
You are invited to log on to the discussion website created for members and interested stakeholders to share and discuss impacts of the project. You will need to register the first time you visit the site in order for our Moderator, Bob Kushnerick, to monitor any input for appropriate content. This will allow you to view the entire site and add you observations and ideas.
Click Here to View others' opinions or express your own in our discussion forum.
What Do You Think?
In the 1970’s when Calgary Power proposed it’s coal fired power plant RHDAPA represented the landowners who were opposed to that project. Today the Association represents over 140 people, many of whom we realize have never had the opportunity to express their concerns about the project to the Directors of RHDAPA. The Association has several times stated publicly, its refusal to endorse the coal gasification project but still reserves the right to have dialogue with the proponent in an attempt to mitigate the adverse effects of the project should it become a fact of our lives.
However, the Board of Directors would still like to know the feelings of the membership. This is your opportunity to tell them what you think and feel.
How do you feel about the Dodds-Roundhill Coal Gasification Project?
Opposed
Uncomfortable
Undecided
Optimistic
How do you think the project will affect you personally?
Positively
Negatively
Other (Be specific)
What effect do you think it will have on your community?
Positive
Negative
Other (Be specific)
If you are a landowner within the Mine Plan, what is your opinion of the Land Acquisition Principles and Guidelines offered? Does the Water Replacement document attached address the issues to your satisfaction?
If you had the opportunity to let the Directors know what you think, without having to attend a meeting or stand up and speak in front of people, what would you say?
Please return this completed questionnaire to any of the Directors listed in this newsletter as soon as possible. The results will be compiled and published in a future newsletter. If you wish to ensure your anonymity, please mail the completed questionnaire to Box 47, Round Hill, AB, T0B 3Z0 or deposit it in a drop box we will provide at the April 17 meeting. Feel free to use another page to list your concerns. Thank you for your contributions.