It’s never too early to start planning for our annual community-wide garage sale, slated for Saturday, May 25, from 9 am to 1 pm. Participation is simple, just let us know you’re hosting a garage sale and we’ll include your address on a list we distribute to the Lake Cowichan Visitor centre and Youbou businesses to help pickers find your place. Simply email your address and name to Llafave6@yahoo.com or post it to our Youbou facebook page. And if you’re not having a sale, then mark the day so you can visit your neighbours to find new treasures you never knew you needed.
Youbou Clean-Up: June 1
Spring cleaning is upon us. To help you get rid of unwanted items (and anything you didn’t sell at the garage sale), the Youbou Community Association and CVRD is again hosting our annual clean-up drive on Saturday, June 1. From 9 am to 2 pm, you can drop off your unwanted items at the Meade Creek Recycling Centre at no charge. (Thanks to Area I Representative Klaus Kuhn for supporting this important initiative.) And if you need help transporting your items, contact Spencer.Day@shaw.ca to schedule pick up, no later than May 29. If you would like to help with picking up items, please also email Spencer. We will have some volunteers and trucks to help, but can only accommodate one truck pick up per address. We are sorry but we cannot collect: construction materials such as dry wall, items with asbestos, refrigerators, couches, propane tanks etc. For a complete list of acceptable materials you can take to the recycling centre, check out: https://www.cvrd.bc.ca/2969/Accepted-Materials-Fees
Youbou in Lake Days Parade
Once again, we hope to field a Youbou float in the June 8 Lake Days parade. In previous years, we’ve won top honours in the non-commercial categories, so the bar is set high. If you’re interested in helping to decorate the float during the week prior to the parade, or if you or anyone in your family would like to walk with the float, please email julia@raedwulf.org.
Youbou Road News
Ministry of Transport representatives and Klaus Kuhn offered an road update at the Youbou Town Hall meeting on March 4. Here is a summary of the updates and concerns:
Line painting: The centre and fog (side) lines on the Youbou road will be repainted soon.
Speed: The electronic speed sign on the east end of town (between Cassey’s and the Shop-and-Save) will be moved to be further east to slow traffic earlier. Other measures are being considered. The Ministry of Transport will look into painting the speed limit onto the road to remind vehicles to slow down. Speed bumps were discussed but are not feasible because they would hamper emergency vehicles.
Road classification: The current road classification for the Youbou highway will be reviewed to see if it can be upgraded for better plowing and improved year-round maintenance.
Concerns expressed by residents:
o Can improvements be made to drainage ditches and culverts so they don’t overflow and cause icing?
o Can more attention be given to trimming roadside brush and broom, then removing the trimmings after pruning?
o Can the road be improved with wider shoulders or sidewalks for safety, especially in road pinch points?
o Can we do more to clean dust and debris from the road? Can logging trucks do more to get rid of mud and dust before coming through town (ie: more frequent and consistent truck washing)? Can the sweeping truck come more frequently and be more effective (sometimes it spews dust back onto the road)?
The Ministry of Transport is considering road improvements in light of resident concerns and will have another meeting in June to discuss further plans. If you have additional concerns or wish to see a copy of the full report, please email Klaus.Kuhn@cvrd.bc.ca
Area I Park Update
Area I Representative Klaus Kuhn shared recent news on our Area I Parks at the Town Hall meeting, as follows:
Arbutus Park: The lifeguard trailer will be moved.
Mile 77 Park: The shelter is finished (thanks to Laketown Ranch for its support), and the park is open.
Creekside electronic sign: The electronic sign is now back up and running, after repairs from it blowing down in our late December storm-a-geddon. Please watch this sign for news of upcoming community activities in Youbou.
Bald Mountain: This park administration will move from status as an Area I Park to become a Regional CVRD Park. This will ease the strain of park maintenance on the Area I budget.
Emergency Preparedness Task Force
The conversation continues on planning for our response as a community in the face of a disaster. Are you ready to put the YOU in Youbou? The number one response to a disaster is making sure you are ready. Number two is checking on your neighbours. Third is the response of the community, which relies on volunteers such as yourself. A committed team of volunteers has formed a committee and is currently researching whether Youbou can support some type of emergency shelter and the resources needed to make that possible. The next committee meeting is Monday, April 8 at 7 pm at Youbou Hall, if you would like to join the group. Let us know at julia@raedwulf.org if you can volunteer assistance in any of these areas:
Communications: developing a plan to communicate without power
Neighbours helping neighbours: We need about 40 community members to champion checking on their closest neighbours (about 12 houses) and their pets in the event of a disaster. We hope develop a list of champions and the households they will check. Please consider taking on this role.
Paw patrol: These volunteers would be ready to temporarily house or care for abandoned or lost pets due to disaster.
Emergency Preparedness Workbook: Pick up a copy of the Emergency Preparedness Workbook to begin your personal journey to disaster readiness. You will find free copies available at the Youbou Community Hall as well as the Lake Cowichan Visitor Centre and Arena. Help yourself!
Support Our Historic Building
The Youbou Community Church Society (YCCS) recently held its annual meeting, reporting much progress has been made to restore the church, thanks to creative fundraising. If you’re interested in supporting this historic Youbou icon, you can help in several ways:
Save Country Grocer receipts: The society collects Country Grocer receipts, whereby funding is received through a charitable program based on groceries purchased. Last year, the funds from this program paid for the fuel to heat the building. If you wish to contribute your Country Grocer receipts to this effort, the church will soon have a collection box outside.
In good taste: Recipes from Youbou’s great cooks, plus historical tidbits, have been collected in a church society cookbook. You can buy the cookbook at Cassey’s Coffee House for $15.
Join the church society: For a mere $2 per person per year, you can show your support through membership in the Youbou Community Church Society.
Ship Ahoy!
As the weather turns nicer, the lake calls boaters of all interests: fishing, skiing, touring, paddling, rowing, and sailing. As you tune up the motor, or hoist the sails, think about safety too. Boat operators might want to consider taking the safety course offered by Transport Canada to earn a Pleasure Craft Operator license. The RCMP will be out on the lake this summer saying hello to boaters so be ready to show them you’re on board with safety. You can find out more by using this link: https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/marinesafety/debs-obs-paperwork-paperwork_operatorfaq-2233.htm
You can take the course using this link: https://www.freecourse.ca
Message from Mosaic
By Pam Jorgenson, RPF Land Use Forester
We are pleased to introduce ourselves as Mosaic Forest Management: timberlands manager for Island Timberlands and TimberWest. As Mosaic, we continue to be committed to our work with the community. For Youbou residents who have worked with our TimberWest staff in the past, most of the team members are the same, and you will be able to reach us using our TimberWest phone numbers and emails.
Key initiatives for 2019 to date:
Road condition: We continue to monitor the new pavement beyond Youbou, and the public road within Youbou. We established hand-washing of log trucks during very wet conditions this winter, and have swept our private road several times to reduce the mud in the community. We put additional rock in our load-check stations to reduce mud in those areas, and also installed speed bumps on the private road to help control the speed of traffic. We appreciate the positive feedback we’ve heard from those who use the road.
Research: We are starting some geotechnical and terrain research toward the east end of the Youbou hillside. The work will be conducted at the end of April. In order to collect data, we will construct a road in two areas near the Youbou ridge. The road will allow access for specialized machinery that is used to confirm geotechnical boundaries. Data collected will evaluate terrain stability before any final forest management plans are prepared and discussed with the community.
Youbou harvest plans: We remain committed to sharing harvest plans with the community in advance of any harvest activity and associated road building and will continue to provide updates on this topic. As always, please feel free to reach out to me at Pam.Jorgenson@MosaicForests.com if you have any questions or concerns about our activities.