Last Sunday afternoon a couple of hundred people gathered to listen to reports, enter into dialogue and vote at our AGM. The atmosphere was good, and it was a delight to see people from all our CLA campuses. In my pastoral report and in hearing from the campuses we observe change, growth and new opportunities on so many fronts. By God’s grace he is leading us through staff adjustments and by your commitment to Christian stewardship last year we ended with a surplus. In Langley we were able to pay off the mortgage on the Conference Hall, Sooke Campus renovated a new and expanded kitchen, the Abbotsford Campus had an amazing first year and Maple Ridge continues to move forward with examining our options for moving forward with a new development.
Speaking of the Maple Ridge redevelopment, Ben Neff and Ian Martens made a presentation to the membership. A video was sent out to all attenders and members in the weeks leading up to our AGM. It had some great information and background in it. Ben mentioned that there were four key things driving our investigation and next steps. Our partnership with HyLand, which the membership was being asked to approve, embraces the following.
- Termination clause & soft costs: The development agreement includes a termination clause allowing CLA to withdraw. If CLA elects to terminate unilaterally, the church would reimburse HyLand for the costs HyLand has incurred to date. HyLand has already begun working in good faith. The CLA board has set aside funds to cover the spent costs (of approximately $150,000) and will continue to do so as we progress through this process as a contingency.
- Future capital decisions: Any substantial capital expenditure, borrowing, or loans related to this project will require a separate, explicit vote of the membership before CLA commits to such measures (we are really at an investigation stage at this point, something we will need to do regardless as the Maple Ridge Campus is old and in need of many repairs).
- Organizational safeguards: The plan contemplates stratifying the property and creating a new legal entity under CLA (similar to CLA Housing Society for Jenni Gaglardi Place) to protect CLA’s charitable status and to manage income-producing assets appropriately. This will also require a separate vote from the membership at the appropriate time.
- Governance & shared decision-making: HyLand will manage technical development tasks; major decisions will be made by joint committee between CLA and HyLand, and CLA will retain input to ensure the CLA owned spaces meet our ministry needs.
The resolution was discussed, there were many questions, but there was clear comfort to take an initial step forward and the motion passed with about 95% approval.
We also elected five individuals to CLA’s board of directors for a two-year term. Re-elected were Ian Martens (Building Committee), Cathy de la Rambelje (Treasurer), Blair Whitmarsh (Sharon Village Board), Val Crasto (Maple Ridge Campus). We welcome Rebecca Strafforeli to the board for the first time. All of these individuals will sit on the CLA Housing Society.
