FireSmart Cleanup Day A Huge Success
The FireSmart committee want to thank everyone for making the May 4th FireSmart Day a huge success. In particular, the committee wants to thank the Okanagan Golf Course for its partnership and support. This partnership is what keeps our shared golf course community fire safe!
6 trips were made to the Kelowna landfill and 6 pickup truckloads of tree branches and shrubs were delivered to the Okanagan Golf Course yard for future pickup. As well, there was record attendance at the late afternoon barbeque at the golf course, with over 75 people attending!
The committee also wants to thank FireSmart Canada and the City of Kelowna's Neighbourhood Grant Program for their financial support. A special shout goes to Tanya Sletten, Neighbourhood Development Coordinator, Active Living & Culture Department from the City of Kelowna for attending the barbeque and helping out.
As well, a huge shout out goes to Nesters and Sawdust Bakery for providing all of the hamburgers and hot dogs and the lovely sweet treats! Thank you!
Plus...stay tuned for further details because the Okanagan Golf Course and the Quail Ridge FireSmart Committee are planning a Fall cleanup. This year, the focus will be along the #10 on the Quail golf course. It is anticipated that the Fall clean up will take place around the 2nd or 3rd weekend in October. All volunteers will be welcome to come and help and meet your neighbours.
In the interim, please do not dump fire prone debris on the golf course. Please use your green bins to depose of this hazardous material.
Quail Ridge Garage Sale - Good Weather, Good Deals, and Good Community Spirit!
Thank you to the 50+ households and all the volunteers for making the May 11th QRRA Garage Sale another huge success. Over 700 maps/coupon flyers were handed out over 4 hours.
As one QRRA member put it, “ We had a great day for a garage sale and we personally “re-homed” some good stuff....Thank you for your volunteer work for our neighbourhood”.
Help Kelowna Set A Guinness World Book Record
Kelowna Folkfest is organizing a Drumming Event to celebrate Canada Day 2019 and the goal is to make it into Guinness World Book. Similar events will be held in other cities like Vancouver and Toronto.
Interesting in participating? For more information, please contact Linda Kovach or Hua Meng directly: linda_kovach@telus.net and dr.huameng@yahoo.ca
Lock Up!
In April, the City of Kelowna distributed the results of its 2019 Public Safety and Crime Survey to all resident associations. In general, the results were positive with residents of North Kelowna feeling very safe or somewhat safe in their neighbourhoods. Open-ended responses from respondents mention low crime rates as the primary reason for why they feel their neighbourhood is safe relative to others in the city. The survey can be viewed at: https://www.kelowna.ca/sites/files/1/docs/related/nrg_research_group_-_kelowna_public_safety_and_crime_survey_-_report_april_8.pdf.
However, summer is here and we all need to remain vigilant. As reported on Castanet on May 27th, “Strangers lurking in the night and checking vehicles has become far too frequent for Quail Ridge residents and they are demanding more be done to stop the thefts”.
Lock up your cars and valuables!
Black Bears, Rats and Coyotes
Summer means wildlife on the golf courses and trails. Please, lock up your garbage cans and remove bird feeders and any attractants to reduce the likelihood of rats, bears, coyotes and potentially cougars from relying on our neighbourhood as a food supply. As well, dog owners are reminded to pick up after their animals. Feces will attract disease carrying rodents.
If you encounter threatening wildlife that is aggressive, breaking into buildings or causing property damage, to call the Conservation Officer Service at 1-877-952-7277 or contact a Conservation Officer (link for the Conservation Officer can be found at https://www.kelowna.ca/parks-recreation/urban-trees-wildlife/urban-wildlife).
As well, please notify the QRRA of any bear sightings in the community so a warning can be issued.
May 15th, 2019: Recycling Ambassadors Hit the Streets for Recycling Education
The Regional District will be back on the streets again this summer with the help of their Recycling Ambassadors, randomly checking what’s under the blue lid and inside curbside recycling carts. This is part of the ongoing cart education and inspection campaign by the Regional District to combat recycling contamination.
The Recycling Ambassadors will have a quick look at the contents in recycling carts, and if they find items that don’t belong they’ll leave information explaining what went wrong. In some cases if there is significant contamination, carts won’t be picked up until the offending material is removed.
Help the Regional District reduce our costs. The Regional District reports that plastic bags, garbage, books, food waste, garden hoses, plastic shovels, hazardous waste, electronics, scrap metals, textiles, even yard waste are still showing up in blue bins. This costs all of us because Recycle BC levies financial penalties.To find out more about what to recycle in your curbside cart or at a depot, visit regionaldistrict.com/recycle, download the free Recycle Coach App, or call the Regional Waste Reduction Office at 250.469.6250.
Help Us Keep Trash Removal Costs Down
The QRRA covers the trash removal costs for the large stone aggregate trash containers located throughout the community. It appears that people are regularly dumping their household garbage in these cans, many times resulting in garbage overflowing out of them. Help control QRRA costs by not using these neighbour garbage bins for household trash. Our costs are based on the weight of the trash when it goes to the landfill.
Summer Reminders
- The Regional District has some excellent resources to help homeowners help reduce nuisance mosquitoes and information on its Mosquito Control program.
- The Quail Flume and Eagle View Linear trails are well used by our residents. As the summer progresses, the conditions of these trails can become very dry. Monitoring by the City of Kelowna's Parks Department is difficult because these trails have a number of access points. Help keep these trails open and help the Parks Department by refraining from smoking on the trails. As well, report any activity that you have a concern:
call 911 for fires and for a service request, use the City of Kelowna web site, City Services www.kelowna.ca or during normal business hours call the City Parks Department at 250.71-Parks (250.717.2757).
Glenmore-Ellison Improvement Districts Annual District System Flushing
Between May 22 and August, you may experience lower than normal water pressure and some temporary water discoloration. This is because the GEID will be conducting system flushing to ensure high water quality. The GEID advises that if you experience discoloration, run your cold water taps until the water runs clear.
System flushing is scheduled from 7:30 am. and 4:00 pm., Monday to Friday, during this period. GEID Road signs will be posted in the area during these flushing periods. For any further information, please call the GEID office at 250-763-6506.
Local Development
The Kelowna Fruit Stand is open and QRRA members receive a 10% discount! The proposal to rezone the 18th fairway of the Quail golf course to facilitate the development of a townhouse complex (low density) was approved by the City of Kelowna (5-4 in favour). National Access Cannabis also received approval from the City of Kelowna to open in the retail location next to Starbucks. Innovate Phytoceuticals will be opening on Innovation Way. And, for those of you that are curious, the big units wrapped in white plastic along Pier Mac are BC Housing modular units that will be installed somewhere in Kelowna as a continuum of its Healthy Housing Strategy.
Finally, we'd like to give a shout out to Andrew. We don't know Andrew's last name but he can be seen throughout the area carrying large black plastic bags and picking up garage. Andrew...thank you!