With the omicron variant appearing to have reached its peak and plateauing, we look forward to a spring and summer closer to normal beginning with with the resumption of our annual Easter egg hunt in April.

Who Are We? We are the Columbia Ridge Community Association (CRCA)  governed by a board of directors. Board members are elected annually at the AGM. Our Board works alongside a group of hard-working committees (Building Committee, FireSmart Committee) and volunteers.

What Do We Do? We manage community issues, plan community events, and provide administration for Columbia Ridge Estates residents.

Membership Membership to CRCA is mandatory. Annual membership dues are $300.00 which go to the upkeep of our common areas (e.g. playground, soccer field, foreshore, beach road) and administrative expenses  (e.g. insurance, landscaping, accounting fees, bank charges, website).
Membership dues are typically billed at the end of April for the period January to December.

Members, both old and new, are asked to familiarize themselves with our governing documents at columbiaridge.ca in the members area. Community Rules and our Mooring Policy can also be found in the members area.

Construction of the new water reservoir which will address capacity concerns (fire flow and additional demand from new development on Columbia Lake Road) is complete including the pre-cast concrete hollow core slabs for the roof. Most of the excavated material has been hauled away. The old reservoir (under the community center) and the new reservoir (on the south side of the community center) have been connected by piping and valves. The delivery of new pumps are expected by March. It is anticipated to have all the facilities completed and operational (using the new reservoir) by the May long weekend.

Now that construction of the new reservoir is complete the board is looking at design options for a new community entrance sign.

Some residents have noticed that trees and brush have been cut down at our foreshore along the railroad tracks. Likely Canadian Pacific has done this to improve railway sight lines for pedestrians and/or to mitigate the risk of sparking a fire from passing trains.
The trees and brush remain in piles along the tracks but we assume CP will be burning the debris or hauling it away. We will monitor the situation and contact CP if necessary.
With the removal of trees and brush there is no longer any shade for our deck area. The board is looking at purchasing additional umbrella stands for members to erect their umbrellas.

In the Fall 2021 Newsletter, the board wrote that it would provide members with more information regarding the proposed sale of Columbia Ridge Waterworks to Corix Utilities.

In November, the board updated members regarding the proposal by Corix to convert the current operating margin model to a rate base model of billing.

The board indicated its willingness to provide conditional support for the conversion in billing models upon receiving supporting financial details underlying the forecasted rate changes under current operating margin model vs proposed rate base model billing.

The financial models have since been presented and the attached letter (see below) removes the condition to thereby provide our full support for both the Transaction in general and the proposed move to rate base model fee determination. Corix has submitted the rate base application to the BC Water Comptroller for approval.

Sadly, a break and enter occurred in our community in December. It’s the first break and enter that we have heard about in our community.
The homeowner was not home at the time but an alert neighbor noticed that the front door had been left open.
We are a small community of 120 lots. Many of us know each other but we have many new residents. We encourage all residents to get to know their neighbors, exchange contact information, and be alert to any suspicious activity.

For those of you who are on Facebook, there is a Facebook group you can join called Columbia Valley & KNP Road Conditions. It allows anyone to post current road conditions or inquire about road conditions in the Columbia Valley and Kootenay National Park (KNP)..

Cruising the lake with a sundog in the background.
Thanks John Schitthelm for sharing this photo!
Residents are invited to share a memorable photo with info@columbiaridge.ca to be included in future newsletters.

Thank you
CRCA Board of Directors
info@columbiaridge.ca