BC Driving Center Update

[Bryan]

Our continuing goal to work with BC Driving Center, the city of Pitt Meadows and the local residents has allowed us to set 3 event dates. These 3 events will showcase what the autocross community is all about and show how we conduct ourselves in a professional manner. These events are possible thanks to the local community for working with us to resolve any problems, and will continue in the future.

The local autocross clubs have been working together and will be enforcing strict rules and regulations for these events. We are still in the process of producing a general guideline for the events, but for starters we have:

-50 drivers max per event
-No first time drivers
-$40 entry fee inc. day membership (no membership required)
-92 db sound limit

The dates are scheduled for March 1st, 15th and 29th. There is a possibility of date changes.

As of now, VCMC will be hosting the first event on March 1, 2009. We will setup a sign up thread for that towards the end of the month. Keep checking the forum as the other clubs will be joining us as well.

Again big thanks to the Pitt Meadows community for helping our sport move forward. I'm sure when we get this all settled, we will make everyone happy and look forward to more events in the future.

Vice-president VCMC
Bryan

[T-Bone]

On behalf of VCMC and the BC autocross community, I would like to express our deep gratitude to all the people who have donated their valuable time towards the Pitt Meadows situation. It is undoubtedly due to their tireless efforts that we have been given a second chance to demonstrate our values and commitment to the Pitt Meadows community.

There were many individuals involved, but most notably:
- Bill Rhodes
- Bob Yeager
- Arnold Yee
- Resist the Race (RCMP)
- VCMC ELT members

Bill hit the ground running as our newly elected CACC Solo Director. His first task is certainly a difficult one, but he has certainly proven his determination to fulfill his duty as best as possible. He handled everything from recruiting volunteers to coordinating numerous meetings between all the various groups involved. He was able to engage Bob in the delicate task of speaking on behalf of the autocross community at the Pitt Meadows city council meeting. In preparation for Bob's presentation, members of the VCMC ELT braved the bitter December cold on a Saturday morning to collect signatures of support from business in the Pitt Meadows area. As well, Constable Quilley from the Resist the Race program provided us with a letter of support for the autocross community. These efforts led to our first victory - the city council approved the formation of a committee to discuss the issue further. Bill and Arnold then met with the residents of Pitt Meadows to address some of their initial concerns and this led to our second victory - granting the autocross community 3 trial events.

Now it is up to all of us to show the residents of Pitt Meadows that we truly respect them and appreciate them sharing their beautiful city with us. We can do it!

[Carson]

Bob, Bill and Arnold, I am buying you a beer next time I see you guys. Big thank you goes to Danny @ Driving Unlimited for coordinating the process too.

I am also very proud of the work of VCMC volunteers, it was a lot of hard work coordinating a petition and going door to door on a freezing cold day to the PM businesses and ask them for support. Here is a list of volunteers and businesses that supported us. Feel free to support them and let them know who we are.

********************

Volunteers:

- Bill Rhodes
- Carson Au
- Tracy Wong
- Owen Kirby
- Victor Chow
- Bryan Hoffmann
- Dustin Jones

******************************************

Auto Related:
- Lordco Parts Ltd.
- T & T Auto Parts
- Mason Brother Auto Services Ltd

Food Related:
- Austin Fish & Chips
- Kabuki Sushi
- Enjoy Garden Restaurant
- Pad Thai Restaurant
- Sushi 1.99 to go
- Zen Berry Coffee
- Blenz Coffee
- McDonald's
- Subway
- Original Lunch Doctor
- Opa Souvlaki of Greece
- Buck or Two
- Star Bucks
- 7-11

Others:
- Doller Plus
- Johnson Meier Insurance
- SuperStore Gas Bar

[Michael Denham]

That's great news guys! Well done in getting this done, it's a huge step in the right direction

[Lego Maniac]

Great news!

Thanks for all the hard work of everyone involved!

Zach

[SumAznGuy]

Good job guys.

Guess I better start preparing for autoX.

[Fab]

That's great news! But...

-No first time drivers

If this goes well can we expect a full schedule early April?

I am waiting for Velocity 1 date.

[WILDCHILD]

Hopefully

[arthurc]

Terrific job, everyone! This is certainly one of the toughest challenges the club has faced. Although I am far away, I'm certain I'll be returning to the sport in the future and you're helping to make sure it's there when I'm back.

[more_gas]

Good news! Thanks for the hard work guys!

Chris

[thump911]

This is great news indeed! Thanks to everyone for the hard work and devotion to get a step in the right direction.

And geez, am I ever breathing a sigh of relief for the "no-first-time-drivers-allowed" clause....making it out to the event last Oct will hopefully not make me a "first-time-driver", right?? You guys all want to beat on a Caliber SRT4 again, right? Right??? I'll be looking forward to the signup thread...

Again, good work to all!!

[mavm86]

This is great news for the local autocross community! Way to go guys, and thanks to everyone involved in making this happen.

[jäger]

Thank you Bryan, Tracy and Carson for your gracious comments. VCMC is a very responsible club, has excellent leadership and members, and I know that first March autox will impress the neighbours with VCMC's professionalism, neighbourliness and dedication.

To me, the real heroes in this story are the VCMC exec who came to all the meetings and exec and members who canvassed the neighbourhood for the petition. VCMC really came through in the crunch.

[Traum]

Great news! I'm a newbie, but not a first timer. I hope I'll be fast enough for the sign up. =)

Hope to see you guys on March 1. =)

-Lik

[What understeer?]

Great news guys!

Thank you all for all the ongoing effort - it's appreciated!

[oldskoolz24]

That's great news! You guys run a top notch club, so I'm sure the locals will be impressed by the level of professionalism and organization you bring to an event. Your friends on the Island are pulling for you!

Marcel

[Carson]

That's great news! You guys run a top notch club, so I'm sure the locals will be impressed by the level of professionalism and organization you bring to an event. Your friends on the Island are pulling for you!

Marcel

Thank you Marcel, you are too kind, I had a great time at your Winter Series #1 too, so much fun, the curved slaloms still scares me but I love them. Any plan to come out for the March 1st event?

[Turbo Den]

thank you.

[///Mauro]

Nice work you guys, especially Bill, Bob and Arnold. Thank-you for your time and committment to the sport. It'll be great to be back to the sport we love.

At some point it would be good to know how we can be better neighbours to the Pitt Meadows area. What are the concerns of the neighbourhood and what can we do as AutoX participants to be good neighbours. Sure there is a bunch of motherhood stuff that we can all do (no speeding, no burn-outs, etc.) but what are the specific requests (and or complaints) from the citizens?

This is part of the communication process from them to us. And we certainly need to communicate to them at these trial events so they know who we are and that we are pretty responsible people.

[jäger]

Hi Mauro. The neighbours will probably be at the VCMC event March 1 - they have certainly been invited. So all the clubs must show that we are neighbour-aware and neighbour-friendly and will listen to, respect and address the neighbours concerns.

The neighbours concerns as stated were:
(1) noise - particularly screeching tire sounds and loud exhausts
(2) fast driving on Ford Road or around town
(3) drivers not stopping at the intersection of Ford Road and the driveway to the pad on exiting the pad
(4) the P.A. system - specifically loud rock music, and secondarily the announcements
(5) after-hours noise at set-up or take-down, particularly evenings and early mornings

The clubs are committed to addressing all of these concerns to the satisfaction of the neighbours within reason, so the March events are critical to this. Every participant should know these issues and be aware of neighbour sensitivity to them. The clubs will be monitoring (and if necessary correcting) participant behaviour due to the agreement the clubs have with the City and the neighbours.

VCMC is a great club with great management and members, so it is good that VCMC is up first.