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We had only 15 of our own Rotarians our this morning. Not a good showing to say the least. We hope that there are some makeups on there way back to us from those not on hand. We were joined by Carl Stout of the evening club, Dave Thomson and Paula Barrett of BC Hydro and Dan Siguoin of the Parksville AM club.
President George got us underway with a few announcements:
- The Assembly in Victoria runs on February 16 and 17. There is still time to register. Mac has the forms or you can register online at the Leadership Assembly web site.
- The club executive meets tonight (January 22) at 7 pm at Rotary House.
- The Community Service committee meets tomorrow night (January 23) at 7 pm at Hilda's house on Burnham Road.
- President George will be away for the next two weeks (unless unrest in India becomes too great) and President Elect John will preside in George's place.
Diane announced that a brief meeting of the Club Service committee would follow the club meeting this morning. Presumably that is going on as these notes are typed.
Diana thanked everyone who turned out on Sunday for the work party at the Port Alberni hospital. Their was a good turnout and much was accomplished for the benefit of the Poco a Poco project. Jill Sampson, the spark plug that makes that group run thanks us all. Diana suggested the Executive consider coming up with $500 to help the group bid on some of the other miscellaneous hospital equipment that will be auctioned soon.
A brief meeting of the Rotary Club of Qualicum Beach Sunrise Society followed. Members received notice of this meeting two weeks ago. The motion to amend the constitution of the Society to change its objects in the manner necessary to achieve charitable tax status was passed unanimously. The resolution as passed is set out in the Notice of Meeting.
Our speaker this morning was Dave Thomson who is the Community Relations Manager for Vancouver Island for BC Hydro. Dave explained that of the 2,000 megawatts of power used on the Island about 80% has to be brought in from off the Island. The main line from the mainland crosses Texada and reaches the Island north of Qualicum. There are two smaller lines that come across at Duncan. Those southern lines and the substation are nearing the end of their lives. As a result Hydro is considering transporting energy to the Island with a second natural gas pipeline and then adding genration facilities on this side. On the supply side, Hydro is looking at expanding its use of smaller "Micro Generators" in locations around the island (one mega watt size) and has pilot projects for wave and wind power in the works. There is also a pilot project coming on line near Victoria to harness methane gas produced in a land fill and methane gas extraction from coal beds around the Island are being explored. On the demand side, Power Smart continues to be a priorty and Hydro is looking at doing more power conservation work on the commercial and industrial side of its business. As a crown corporation, BC Hydro is owned by its customers. We enjoy the third lowest hydro prices in North America as a result.
Finally, this just in: GAPE, or the Global Association for People and the Environment, an organization our club has supported now has its web site on line.