TOWN OF VIEW ROYAL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE REPORT: CAO UPDATE
High-level administrative update from the CAO regarding various department activities, from archives to engineering.
TOWN OF VIEW ROYAL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE REPORT
TO: Committee of the Whole DATE: June 05, 2014 FROM: Kim Anema, CAO MEETING DATE: June 10, 2014
CAO UPDATE
RECOMMENDATION: THAT the Committee receive the June 05, 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 Archives volunteer group is excited about a new project they have undertaken. During the first week of August, the Archives will put up a new exhibit in the Town Hall commemorating WWI and its 100th anniversary. The display will stay up until after November 11th for Remembrance Day.
The Town has concluded a reciprocal easement agreement with 57 View Royal Avenue. This agreement pertains to a retaining wall and a drainage line which cross the two properties.
As usual the Property Tax season generates a considerable amount of activity at the Town Hall. Our team approach has Administration staff assisting the Finance Department at the front counter.
The Town has re-established, with the help of Administration, a full complement of parks staff for the seasonal summer parks work program. This competition had 170 applicants. Administration is also in the interview process to fill vacant positions (Senior Accountant maternity leave, Accounting Clerk transfer to Engineering) in the Finance Department.
In preparation for the next election, the Town of View Royal will be hosting regional training. We are currently coordinating the delivery of vote counting machine training for municipalities in the region. Training will take place in September.
The Corporate Officer attended (as an LGMA Board Member) the International Institute of Municipal Clerks conference held in Milwaukee, WI in mid-May. While there, the Corporate Officer signed off on a recently inked cooperation agreement between the two organizations and attended various clerk-related training sessions and workshops.
Building Inspection and Bylaw Enforcement
The foundation permit for the Eagle Creek development has been issued. We have observed that the foundation installation is well underway. The site seems to see significant change on almost a daily basis.
The CAOs of the region are organizing a seminar dealing with Part 3 of the B.C. Building Code. Local Government generally attempts to transfer responsibility and risk for these types of buildings to the professional (Engineers, Architects etc.) community.
Planning
The next iteration of the Town of View Royal parks and trails map should be available for final review this week.
Zoning bylaw edits and legal review continues. Last month it was reported that the legal review of the land use bylaw is complete. Staff have received a very lengthy critique of the land use bylaw draft and are now working to incorporate changes that are appropriate for a revised draft bylaw. This amendment will be ready for public hearing in July. To enable a Public Hearing in July, a special Council meeting on June 24th will likely be required to provide Council adequate time to consider the amended bylaw. Staff note that the regular Council meeting on July 1 will be cancelled as it is a statutory holiday.
Engineering and Operations
As part of the Engineering Department review process, we have reviewed the Superintendent position and reclassified the position to Deputy Director of Engineering to more accurately reflect the current job duties and responsibilities. We are excited to formalize the position and recognize all of Deb's hard work and efforts throughout her employment here at the Town of View Royal.
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 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 program for 2014 is at hand and design work is in progress for long awaited projects such as the Burnett road improvements.
We expect to complete the Burnett road improvements in the next few weeks. The replacement of the Heddle Sewer pumping station has gone to tender.
Finance Department
The budget process is complete. Tax notices are out as of the week of May 19. The first wave of tax payments are arriving and activity at the front counter has increased substantially.
The replacement of the part time Accounting Clerk is complete. A new Accounting Clerk will begin at the Town Hall on June 9. Interviews for the temporary Senior Accountant position will take place June 6 and 9.
Fire Hall
The fire hall project is proceeding with the project currently four weeks behind schedule including structural steel, and civil works. The Town tendered work to be done along the east wall of the site. This work will require significant coordination by the general contractor. This work can be started once the rear of the site is cleared of blast rock material.
RECOMMENDATION: THAT the Committee receive the June 10, 2014 CAO Update Report for information.
SUBMITTED BY: K. Anema, Chief Administrative Officer
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