delbrookca.wordpress.com Email: delbrookca@gmail.com 1

ISSUE #3 JANUARY 2014

Delbrook Memories – Burst Reservoir in 1961 - Patricia Young

Who remembers, or even knew about the Prospect Reservoir bursting? According to this newspaper article in January of 1961, 2,300,000 gallons of water, logs and debris were released from Mission Creek causing extensive damage to street and homes in the area. The photographs tell the story! You can also see the how the neighbourhood has changed. Do you have any old photographs of Delbrook? Perhaps a photo of your house when it was first built? Or, what about photos of schools, streets or parks in the Delbrook neighborhood? We would very much like to include them in this newsletter. Please consider sharing them with us. These photographs have been generously provided by the North Vancouver Archives. Please consider sharing your old photos with them too.

Newspaper article provided by the North Vancouver Archives

delbrookca.wordpress.com Email: delbrookca@gmail.com 2

Prospect Reservoir 1961 photo provided by the North Vancouver Archives

Exploring Coach Houses in the District of North Vancouver - Sharlene Hertz

In November 2013, the DNV published a Discussion Paper on the issue of coach houses. What is an Accessory Coach House? The Discussion Paper provides the following definition:

‘An Accessory Coach House can be defined as a detached secondary suite that is built in the rear yard of a detached single-family residential lot and includes some form of additional parking. Accessory Coach Houses are smaller in size than the principal dwelling and usually compliment the main residence by incorporating similar design features. They can range in square footage and height but normally have no more than

two bedrooms. This type of development is also referred to as a backyard cottage, granny flat or laneway housing. Coach House Design Guidelines are often used to address design aspects such as: site planning, building size, and height, side yard setbacks, window placement, allocation of private outdoor space, landscaping and lane frontage treatment.’ Quoted in the Discussion Paper are general recommendations for Council to consider: • to direct staff to consult with the community on the proposed approach and Coach Houses as outlined in this Discussion Paper; • for staff to report back with the results of the public consultation and any recommended changes to the approach for considering an initial step to Coach House development; • that based on the community consultation, initial steps to implement and monitor Coach House development be undertaken. It is anticipated that community consultation and reporting back to Council will occur in early 2014. Check out the DNV website and read the very informative Discussion Paper on coach houses http://identity.dnv.org/upload/pcdocsdocuments/23hnf01_.pdf

Introducing the new DCA Identity

Many thanks to FMS Creative for providing our new look. If you have any corporate, graphic needs they were easy to work with and we recommend them. Take a look at www.fmscreative.com or call 604-575-0996.

delbrookca.wordpress.com Email: delbrookca@gmail.com 3

Patch Job Unacceptable -Stewart Bailey

The recent water main project along West St. James and Redfern was necessary and we are thankful that the DNV has invested in this important element of our infrastructure. The unfortunate consequence is that our roads are suddenly an eyesore. Not only are there trench scars that run down and across but the undulation and uneven “patch work” is really unacceptable. One can see AND feel the bumps either walking or driving. The DNV has made it clear that they place no value on street aesthetics as long as the road is “safe and structurally sound”. In the case of the recent work, the resulting uneven patch job is simply not acceptable. Approximately 40% of the road was trenched and begs the question “why was the road not completely re-paved?”

It is “DNV procedure” to only pave the trenches given limited funds. This is understandable to a point, however when nearly half of our aging street was trenched, the entire street should have been paved. At the very least, the trenches should have been paved properly and evenly. In addition to the uneven patchwork, the probability of further cracking around the edges will accelerate if a proper paving job is not performed. If you are among the many that are not pleased with this result (and have not already contacted the DNV), please express your opinions and desire to have West St. James and Redfern paved properly in 2014. The silent majority is often overlooked! If we remain silent then “everything is good”. The DNV folks to contact (and perhaps you have other DNV contacts that can make a difference) are: Scott Moyes - Supervisor, Engineering Services and Construction Phone: 604-990-3886 Email: moyess@dnv.org

Erik Bayfield - Section Manager – Streets,

Engineering Operations

Phone: 604.990.3833

Email: ebayfield@dnv.org Our streets are valuable to our neighbourhoods and to the DNV so let’s do it right!

Delbrook Residents – Stay tuned Your DCA Executive meets monthly. Email us your concerns / issues / opinions / articles or notices for the newsletter. Check out our website for updates – you won’t want to miss 2014 events that affect our neighbourhood.

delbrookca.wordpress.com Email: delbrookca@gmail.com 4

A Healthy and Fit Delbrook Community While William Griffin Rec Centre is Closed - Leslie Grundy

Despite William Griffin Rec Centre closing on December 31 (pool and membership classes) and the weight room closing December 15 for relocation to Delbrook Community Centre, fitness programs will continue for the most part at the Delbrook Community Centre for the next 2.5 years while the new facility is under construction. The Delbrook Weight Room will open on January 2 and will be located in the main gym at Delbrook. The hours are as follows: Monday to Thursday 5:30am to 10pm Friday 5:30am to 8pm Saturday 7am to 6pm Sunday 8am to 6pm All dry land fitness classes at William Griffin will move to Delbrook Community Centre and will run in either the Fitness Studio, beside the Weight Room, or in the Tamarack Gym. In January, the 9am Hi NRG on Mondays and Wednesdays at Delbrook will be relocated to Memorial Gym from 9:30 to 10:30am, and the 9am Interval Body Conditioning class on Saturdays at Delbrook will be relocated to Mickey McDougal Gym from 9 to 10:15am.

Happy New YearHappy New YearHappy New YearHappy New Year

The Aquacize classes will start up in January at the following rec centres:

For more information visit: http://northvanrec.com/williamgriffin OR http://northvanrec.com/delbrook

Day WG Time New Location/Time M-W-F 8:45am Move to either 8am

Karen Magnussen , OR 9am Ron Andrews, OR 9:05am at Harry Jerome

M 10:15am Moves to Harry Jerome same time

M 11am Moves to Harry Jerome same time

Tu 10:10am Moves to Harry Jerome at 11:15am, OR 8am at Karen Magnussen, Harry Jerome & Ron Andrews, OR 9am at Karen Magnussen

Tu 6:45pm Moves to Ron Andrews at 7:15pm

Tu 8pm Moves to Ron Andrews at 7:15pm

W 10:30am Moves to Harry Jerome same time

Th 10:15am Moves to Harry Jerome at 11:15am OR 8am at Karen Magnussen, Harry Jerome & Ron Andrews OR 9am at Karen Magnussen

Th 8pm Moves to Ron Andrews at 7:15pm

Fri 10:15am Moves to Harry Jerome same time