by Michelle Varem
On October 29 the SBHCA held our Annual General Meeting to recap the past year. Several board members, volunteers, and community members were in attendance. Here is a quick summary of the meeting in case you missed it.
We had a great presentation regarding community safety by our Community Resource Officer David Prajoux. We are lucky to live in one of the safest communities in the city, but there are still concerns. Traffic is a huge issue in our neighbourhood, both on the ring road and on our streets. There have been some break-ins recently, and Officer Prajoux wanted to remind community members, especially as we approach holiday vacation season that if you will be away for a significant amount of time to make sure someone is checking on your property, especially for those houses backing onto green spaces. Finally, Officer Prajoux wanted community members to know that no call is too small. If you are concerned about something but are wary of wasting police time, please call anyways. Sometimes small police matters can connect to other bigger cases they are working on so even minor issues are worth reporting.
The board also shared a recap of 2024-2025 events and community work. The SBHCA held several events this past year including a Truth and Reconciliation event, a Chinese New Year celebration, and some recurring annual events including our mobile farm stand, community garden talk, and tri-community cleanup. The SBHCA also ran both community rinks and our popular community garden program throughout the winter and summer seasons. The business membership program has been undergoing some upgrading, and the planning and development committee has been busy advocating for the needs of Springbank Hill residents among the influx of new developments in our community. One large piece of political advocacy the board has made great strides in has been the noise concerns from the ring road, more updates on what the province and city will be doing to help reduce the noise will be coming in the new year.
There are some areas for improvement that the board is looking at, much of which came from the survey many of our neighbours filled out this summer. There is a need for new children’s programming, there were also asks for some different events and programs, as well as community features. This survey will help drive the board’s priorities for the coming years – keep an eye out for more opportunities for community engagement in the future. However, to be able to provide new programs and events we have a need for more volunteers. If you are interested in sharing your time with the SBHCA and helping to build our community, please get in touch.
Lastly – the SBHCA would like to give a huge thank you to Elio Cozzi, our outgoing board president. Elio has spent over a decade giving his time to our community and has carried us through a time of major growth and development. His hard work and dedication can be seen throughout our community, from the park and gardens on 26 Avenue that were built during his time on the board, to the advocacy he’s provided to the city and province on matters that impact our residents such as new developments and the ring road. We know Elio will continue to support our community and we are so lucky to have had such a committed president who truly cares about this neighbourhood and the people in it. The new board was nominated at the end of the AGM, and we’d like to welcome incoming president Shelly Smith and vice-president Stephen Carter-Edwards, along with the rest of the board members who will be continuing their tenure, and returning past board member Marshall Naruzny joining the Planning and Development team. A list of current board members can be found in the front of this newsletter, if anyone is interested in joining the board there are some vacancies still in the areas of grant writing, communications, and fundraising.
Thank you to everyone who joined our AGM this year, the SBHCA looks forward to another year of working together and creating community.
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