CAO UPDATE

TOWN OF VIEW ROYAL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE REPORT

TO: Committee of the Whole DATE: May 08, 2014 FROM: Kim Anema, CAO MEETING DATE: May 13, 2014

CAO UPDATE

RECOMMENDATION: THAT the Committee receive the May 13, 2014 CAO Update Report for information.

PURPOSE OF REPORT: To provide Council with information from the office of the CAO regarding material events and happenings at Town Hall.

BACKGROUND: Council, as part of the 2013 performance review, requested that the CAO provide an Administrator’s report at each Committee of the Whole meeting to apprise Council of the highlights of significant activities of the Town.

INFORMATION:

Administration

The Vancouver Island Local Government Management Association had its spring conference during the week of May 5 including an all-day Elections Workshop covering the impact of new legislation in this area of responsibility.

There are three positions to be filled due to vacancies created. The Clerical position in Engineering, a maternity leave position and a seasonal parks worker position.

The Property Tax rolls now reflect all parks in the name of the Town of View Royal. These 17 properties were previously in the name of the Province.

Building Inspection and Bylaw Enforcement

The foundation permit for the Eagle Creek development have been issued. We have observed that the foundation installation is well underway.

Staff continue to explore opportunities and various means of bylaw enforcement.

Planning

The legal review of the land use bylaw is complete. Staff have received a very lengthy critique of the land use bylaw draft. It is expected that our incorporation of amendments to address issues will be complete by the end of the month.

The soil removal bylaw is in the hands of the Ministry for approval. We understand that legislation is in place to remove the necessity for Ministry approval. We speculate that the Ministry may be waiting for the new legislation to take effect.

The Eagle Creek Development is in progress. Staff believe that a workshop with Council might be prudent to ensure that Council is informed, and the developer and staff are all in sync with Council expectations.

Engineering and Operations

We enjoyed the celebration and ribbon cutting ceremony held in advance of the opening date for vehicles. This strategy ensured that no delay in the opening occurred as a result of our celebration of success in delivering the replacement structure.

The bridge project has been a significant project requiring that much of the day to day operations became a "corner of the desk" effort at times.

The Engineering department has a significant work load on their desks including developer generated work (Thetis Cove, Eagle Creek, Limona developments in the Chilco area). The capital budget development program for 2014 is at hand and in process.

The Engineering department is formalizing work processes to ensure a robust operations and maintenance program for the Town of View Royal. Much of this work is driven by the service review.

The clerical support position for the Engineering department has been filled. The part time Accounting Clerk will be moving to the Engineering department on a permanent basis once a replacement has been hired. The Accounting Clerk has been doing the work in Engineering on a part time basis since last summer.

Finance Department

The Finance department is working on a smooth transition from the Scotia Bank to the TD Bank. We expect that the overall transition will take place over up to 6 months to accommodate the clearance of cheques issued.

The budget process is complete once the appropriate bylaws are adopted. The Finance department will focus on the production of tax invoices and establish the appropriate reporting on a regular basis. Tax notices are expected to be out in the week of May 19 with a penalty on unpaid amounts after July 2, 2014.

The Senior Accountant will be on maternity leave starting in August. The position has been posted to ensure that a replacement is available when required. We have also posted the Accounting Clerk position which will be vacated to Engineering.

The Financial Statements for the year ended 2013 have been completed. The audit went extremely smoothly and Financial Statements were completed on time.

Fire Hall

The fire hall project is proceeding with the project currently four weeks behind schedule including structural steel, and civil works. It is expected that the work on the east wall will be complete during the next few weeks.

Structural steel is being erected as I write.

RECOMMENDATION: THAT the Committee receive the May 13, 2014 CAO Update Report for information.

SUBMITTED BY: K. Anema, Chief Administrative Officer