The Annual General Meeting was due to be held on 21 May. The government offered incorporated associations like AAC Falls Creek the option to defer their AGMs for up to 3 months (till end of August in our case). The committee considered whether to hold the AGM as scheduled by teleconference or to defer the AGM. At that time, not even the committee would have been allowed to assemble in one room, let alone other members. Consequently, an extension was applied for and granted.

At this stage we intend holding the AGM in late August, probably Tuesday 25th, at a venue to be determined. We would prefer to have it as a normal face to face meeting if possible but this will depend on the government restrictions in force closer to that time. Having remote members participate fully in discussions and votes, as required by our rules, would bring in some complexities.

The committee intends to send out the financial statements and committee reports to members in the next few weeks. Other AGM papers will be provided closer to the date of the meeting. In particular, the proposal for annual subscriptions for 2021 will wait until we have a better understanding of how the season is unfolding.

The committee welcomes your input as to whether a teleconference, eg using Zoom, for some or all participants would be beneficial despite the complexities.

The date and venue for the AGM will be confirmed closer to the time of the meeting.

Published: 12 May 2020

Your committee has recently met to discuss this issue and how this virus may affect the operation of the lodge, currently and over the upcoming snow season.

At present, the lodge is open to guests with manager Andrew Rist and family in residence.

The current Health Department guidelines dictate the following:

• Anyone who has travelled overseas or come in close contact with someone who has travelled overseas must self- isolate for a minimum of 14 days before visiting the lodge.
• Anyone showing symptoms of COVID-19 must not visit the lodge.
• All guests of the lodge must apply good hygiene practices such as washing hands frequently and maximising personal space

There are no clear guidelines from the Department of Health on how many guests are allowed to stay in the lodge at one time, however maximising personal space may require the committee to restrict the number of guests staying at the lodge and the sharing of rooms. We will have further to say on this once further official guidance is received.

The last thing the committee wants is for members and guests to come to the lodge if they shouldn’t be there or if they feel uncomfortable being there. As such the committee has decided to offer a full refund for all accommodation which is cancelled for COVID-19 related reasons. This does not imply that members can make bookings without a real intent to stay and then cancel at the last minute. This would be a costly for the club in a year where our finances will be stretched already.

As you know Department of Health guidelines are evolving and we will need to change our practices in line with them. We will update you with changes as they occur.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed that we have a good season and as many of us as possible get to enjoy it.

Nigel Cowie

President

Published: 18 March 2020

• covid

To minimise admimistrative work and give members choice, the following procedure will apply for refunds

• If your confirmed accommodation is cancelled for covid19 related reasons, a full credit will be registered to your account
• You can contact the booking officer to arrange an immediate refund
• If you have unused credits, you will be contacted before the end of the year to arrange a refund
• The existance or not of a credit will have no effect on booking priority

As the situation with lodge opening becomes clearer, Alan Long will be touch with people with confirmed bookings to discuss cancellations

Published: 24 May 2020

On Monday the Victorian State Government released details on some relaxation to the Covid 19 restrictions. Unfortunately there was no information related to the up coming ski season except to say that staying at our lodge is still not permitted. We understand that the new restrictions announced today will stay in place for another three weeks.

The Victorian Chief Health Officer later commented on radio that the return of the ski season is being worked through. Unfortunately he went on to say that when ski resorts reopened, any sort of group accommodation would be out of the question. It is not clear if that applied to initial opening or the whole season.

We therefore wait for further news from the State Government and Falls Creek Resort Management as to if and when the season will commence and whether lodges can operate.

Your committee is currently considering various options on how the lodge may operate should we be allowed to open. This includes limits on how many people can stay at the lodge at one time, cleaning procedures, protection of our managers and visitors, and overall compliance with regulations etc. Although we have not been able to have a working bee this year the lodge has plenty of fire wood and we hope to be able to open in some form as soon as we get the green light.

Until then we will have to wait and be patient.

Nigel Cowie
President

Published: 12 May 2020

• covid

We've made a few changes to how bookings work this year, reflecting changes in booking demand and also to improve how the system works

Victorian June/July School Holidays

• There are no longer special conditions for Victioran June/July school holidays. Book for this period as you would for any other winter period

Waitlisting

• The waitlist facility has been very popular with members wishing to make weekend bookings. We want to make this even more effective by eliminating wasted opportunities for short bookings.
• Waitlisting requests for bookings weekends and other non-standard bookings can be submitted after 18 March.
• Occasionally people made waitlist requests but did not require them when the time came to approve the booking. By the time it was clear that the booking was not required, it was sometimes too late for someone else to take up the opportunity.
• Now, if you make a waitlist request, you will be sent an email approx 1 week before the opening date for the booking. You will be asked to confirm within 2 days that you still want it. If you do not respond promptly, the waitlist request will lapse. 
• Once approved, immediate payment for the booking is required or it will lapse. 
• See the full waitlist policy

Payment must be made promptly

• Some members have been quite slow to pay for bookings. In some cases bookings were cancelled very late, having never been paid for. 
• The booking officer will now cancel bookings not paid for in the appropriate time. This is within 7 days for normal bookings and 1 day for approved waitlist requests.

Late season discount

• Stay at the lodge from Fri 25 September to end of season (Victorian September/OctoberSchool Holidays) for a special low rate, approx 17% lower than winter off-peak rates.

Booking into other AAC lodges

• You can now logon on to Anton and Dinner Plain booking systems using your AAC Falls Creek logon credentials. Hopefully Perisher will join in soon.

Tighter enforcement of booking priority

• The long-standing booking rules state that only bookings for members open on 1 February. Bookings for family of members must wait till 8 March and other guests till 15 March. Bookings for members of other AAC lodges open on 1 March. 
• To improve the enforcement of this rule, on any night a member can only be booked into one bed in their own name.
• You can use the comment section of a booking to tell the booking officer if you intend booking for others as well.

Room 7

• At the time of writing, we are hoping to convert Room 7 to a twin, like room 12. The bushfires affected building schedules and it is not yet clear if the conversion can be done this summer. In the meantime, Room 7 is shown as a twin in the booking system to avoid the risk of overbooking.

Documents 

• The booking information sheet has been replaced by web-based information. You can read this online or download it as a PDF, or just download selected sections. The Falls Creek specific information is also provided at aacfallscreek.com/book.html .
• The booking system user guide is being updated to reflect these changes. This may not be complete by opening of bookings

Published: 31 January 2020

As previously advised, the Annual General Meeting has been postponed. The likely date is 25 August, but it is not possible to book a venue while current restrictions are in force.

The club's financial accounts for the year 2019 have been finalised, audited and approved by the committee.

The annual reports from the committee have also been completed.

If you would like to discuss any matters ahead of the AGM, please contact the relevant committee member/s. Other AGM documents will be provided prior to the meeting.

Published: 24 May 2020

At the 2019 AGM members requested that the committee consider whether waitlist requests could be approved earlier than strict application of the booking rules would require. In particular members hoped that this could be done where there was little or no chance of a 7 day booking being made that would clash with a weekend request.

The committe looked for a way to give as much booking certainty as possible to members, balanced against preserving booking priority for members and for standard 7 and 5 day bookings.

In 2020 we will trial early approval of eligible waitlist bookings. Eligible waitlist requests will be approved from 1 June, where eligible means

• only members, spouse and their children, and
• the preceding midweek is full, and
• the booking is paid for immediately on request from the booking officer. 

If you use the wailtlist system, please let us know at the end of the season whether this has been helpful.

Published: 18 March 2020

Unfortunately sometimes our summer visitors do not pay sufficient attention to cleaning.

While Andrew & Myra clean meticulously in ski season, managers are not required to clean in summer. We rely on members and guests to leave the lodge in a clean and tidy condition.

The committee has decided to emphasise the need to clean thorougthly and to introduce a fee if this has been negleected.

So to clear what is expected in "green season":

• You must clean your room and ensuite before departure.
• You must also cooperate with other guests to clean the kitchen and all common areas used.
• Cleaning must be to at least the standard that you would hope for when coming into accommodation.
• Cleaning kits with cloths and chemicals should be collected from the laundry and returned there later.
• Failure to adequately clean may result in a cleaning fee of up to $200 per room.

 (This does not apply to Peaks Challenge weekend, when cleaning services are provided by the manager)

Published: 30 January 2020

The Annual General Meeting is scheduled for 7pm Tuesday 26 May at Royal Brighton Yacht Club.

The committee will monitor the advice of health authorities and other government bodies on holding such meetings. Don't be surprised if arrangements change.

Published: 18 March 2020

2 February free showcase by Victoria's high country businesses at The Timberyard in Port Melbourne.

Come along to discover High Country's unique food, drinks, produce and experiences. Everyone who attends this special event will be supporting the businesses and families that have been impacted by the loss of their peak summer tourism period.

More info

Published: 30 January 2020