VFGPA and the Impact of Covid-19
The past 18 months have been unlike any others in our Association’s 102-year history. Faced with the impacts of a global pandemic, the VFGPA has worked diligently to find a balance between strict adherence to the constantly evolving public health guidelines and striving to keep the facilities of the Association open and maintained for the enjoyment of our surging membership. While this approach has been very successful, it has provided some challenges and pressures, particularly regarding the aspects of staffing and finances.
On a positive note, our Association has seen a tremendous growth in memberships, particularly family memberships, with over 5,400 members now actively engaged in garnering the maximum benefit possible from the facilities we offer at our Association. All of our ranges, as well as the campground and fishing pond have seen unprecedented levels of use, validating your board’s decision to work to keep all of these facilities open to our membership as we worked together to move through this pandemic.
Hand in hand with such a sharp increase in membership and facility use, there have been increased requirements to maintain and upgrade each of our facilities to meet the increased demand placed on them. Over the past year, a tremendous amount of effort has been put forth by your board to invest in the facilities themselves, upgrading them where possible, and working to add new facilities where required to meet the growing demand.
The past 18 months have seen the single greatest expenditure of capital investment funds in support of maintenance and improvements in recent history. Over the past year alone these expenditures have totaled almost $200,000 as we worked to meet the increased demand on our facilities. We have introduced many of these projects to you in recent email newsletters, however as a general summary of that effort, we specifically have undertaken the following investments to maintain, enhance or develop your Association’s facilities over the past 18 months:
● Construction of a new 50m pistol and small-bore range adjacent to the MP Range
● Purchase of a new tractor to allow range maintenance and snow removal
● Purchase of 12 new picnic tables for the Association property
● Purchase of 2 new skeet and 2 new trap machines and modernization of two trap houses
● Repairs to the clubhouse roof and skylights
● Repairs to the roof and drainage at the RP range to prevent future flooding
● Complete renovation of the RP range washroom facilities
● Extension of the side berms at MP range bays A and B
● Development of a plan to construct a new office and range caretaker building
● Range cleanup that removed over 10 tonnes of waste from the range properties
● Cleanup, reorganization and repair of the archery range
● Repair and rehabilitation of the airsoft clubhouse and barn for VFGPA use
● Purchase of new computer equipment for caretakers and range manager
● Implementation of a new fully automated online member registration and management system
● Doubling of caretaker staff during weekend periods for enhanced service to members
● Purchase of several sea can storage containers and creation of a storage area adjacent to the RP Range
The list above is not exhaustive, but is intended to demonstrate our commitment to our members to both maintain and enhance the facilities available for your use at VFGPA. These items have been undertaken based on member feedback, and future efforts to maintain and enhance our facilities will continue as a priority for this board.
We are committed to ensuring we provide our members a safe and family friendly environment to enjoy the outdoors and shooting sports.
