CAO UPDATE

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the report dated April 1, 2025 from the Chief Administrative Officer titled “CAO Update” be received for information.

PURPOSE OF REPORT:

To provide Council with information regarding material events and happenings at Town Hall.

BACKGROUND:

The Administrator’s report for the Committee of the Whole meeting to apprise Council of the highlights of significant activities of the Town.

INFORMATION:

Office of the CAO:

The CAO met with the 10 South Island Communities affected by the downloading of E-Comm 911 costs, and letter-writing campaigns continued. Several meetings between the West Shore Detachment owners (Langford, Colwood, and View Royal) were attended, with the CAOs, Mayors and RCMP present.

The Town was pleased to promote Manager of Accounting, Steven Vella, to the position of Director of Finance. Competitions to fill the vacant Manager of Accounting, Senior Accountant/Financial Analyst, and Bylaw Enforcement Officer are underway.

Corporate Administration:

The Spring/Summer newsletter was finalized and sent to the printers. This twice-yearly publication will be delivered over the coming weeks via Canada Post.

The Town has received a letter of support from the Capital West Accessibility Advisory Committee to accompany an anticipated application to the Province’s Local Community Accessibility Grant administered by SPARC BC. Should the Town be successful, some initiatives identified in the Town’s Accessibility Plan could be undertaken such as improvements to the Town Hall entrance, an exterior ramp from Council Chambers, and website refresh. These projects are also items listed in the draft 2025 budget for consideration.

Spring cleaning started early in the Archives with some reorganization and tidying to the updated space. Library and reference resources are now more readily accessible to volunteers and researchers.

The records and information project as outlined in Project Summary C-004 closed mid-March and proposals are being evaluated. The focus of other related recent work has been adapting the current records classification and retention schedule for electronic records management and collaborating with IT on evaluating systems and service areas for risk, security, and cost-savings policies and processes.

Several members of staff participated in a FireSmart Wildfire Tabletop exercise at the Public Safety Building.

The Corporate Officer and Deputy Corporate Officer attended the Corporation of the District of Esquimalt’s election training, being held for that municipality’s by-election to fill a vacancy on their Council. This training is intended to better inform staff on vote counting machine options for the October 2026 local government elections.

Finance & Information Technology:

The Draft 2025 - 2029 Financial Plan overview and cost drivers was presented to Council mid-March. Public engagement for this year’s budget opened March 19 and will close on April 2. Survey results and comments will be provided to Council during budget meetings in April.

Staff have also been focused on finalizing the 2024 financial statements, in preparation for the year-end audit scheduled for April 7. As in recent history, the Town’s auditor, MNP, will conduct most of their audit work remotely.

In March, IT focused on securing the viewroyal.ca domain and the protection of our email. IT updated authentication protocols and records. This work helps to prevent email spoofing and improve email deliverability. Deployment and upgrade of Windows 11 computers continues.

Development Services:

The Development Services team continued to be busy for the month of March, responding to a consistent number of zoning, land use, building, and business licence inquiries, and reviewing and processing development applications. In March, Development Services (Planning and Building) received 16 new applications, which are summarized in the following table:

Throughout March, there was substantial community engagement on the Official Community Plan (OCP). On March 5, the Town and WestShore Chamber of Commerce held a joint Business Mixer, which included a collaborative workshop to inform the OCP update. The one-hour workshop included three questions focusing on opportunities and challenges of operating a business in View Royal. Approximately 30 business owners and employees attended the event and participated in the workshop. Feedback gathered from the workshop will inform the OCP vision statement and guiding principles, as well as land use and economic development policies.

On March 7, the Town launched a Community Growth Survey to collect input on land use, housing, and future development to help shape the Community Growth Framework, which guides how and where View Royal will grow over the next 20 years. The survey explores key topics such as land use, building height, and neighbourhood corridors and centres. The survey will remain open until April 4, at 11:59 PM.

In addition to launching a Community Growth Survey, community members had the opportunity to share their perspectives on land use, housing and future development at a series of engagement opportunities, including open houses and workshops. On March 8, the Town held an in-person open house and workshop at the Victoria Scottish Community Centre in View Royal. A second open house was held on March 12 at Town Hall and two virtual workshops were held on March 13. The feedback from the survey and public engagement events will be used to create future land use scenarios, ensuring the OCP reflects community priorities.

Engineering:

The Town has been awarded a grant of up to $500,000 from the Province of BC for the Atkins Road Sidewalk Extension project. The Town had applied for funding for this project in the past on numerous occasions without success: Town staff, Westbrook Consulting, Council direction, and the Active Transportation Network Plan were integral to the success of obtaining a grant for this project at this time. Staff are appreciative of the Province’s consideration for this project.

The Town was also awarded a small grant from BC Hydro’s regreening grant to fund Phase 2 of the Watkiss Park Upgrades near the BC Transit handyDart site, should Council wish to proceed with the project.

Sewer & Drain

A sewer manhole on Stoneridge Drive that was exhibiting significant ground water infiltration was repaired using trenchless technologies. This methodology allows the work to be done in any season and without costly excavation. Due to the immediate fix, the Town realized substantial benefits including significantly lower: construction costs, disturbance to residents, and inflow and infiltration volumes entering our system.

Trenchless Technology Setup (Manhole Sealing)

A drain lateral service was repaired at Chalmers Court, caused by root intrusion. Aging pipes are susceptible to issues like this. Asset management programming will be key to future proofing the Town’s assets and managing aging infrastructure in a cost effective manner.

Root Intrusion

Streets & Roads

The new traffic signal on Island Highway at Atkins Road was put into operation, providing a new protected pedestrian crossing across Island Highway. The new priority transit lanes are also now officially open.

Development Servicing

Watkiss/Erskine Intersection – The contractor continues to make progress on the intersection construction. The curbs and sidewalks have been installed.

9 Erskine Frontage Works on Watkiss Way

258 Helmcken – Curb and sidewalk were installed, including the new traffic island:

258 Helmcken Concrete Works

Parks:

The first hint of Spring brings on many challenges for the Parks Department. The volume of rainfall and snow/frost in the first part of this year has delayed Parks’ ability to do some preparation work for the busy season – top dressing and overseeding along with continued trail maintenance are still ongoing projects.

The Canada Geese have made Helmcken Centennial Park (HCP) their grazing area again this year. The geese create large patches of disturbed and muddy ground due to foraging and leave behind some unwanted waste. A fun fact from Parks: the average goose produces 1.3 kg/3 lbs of fecal matter a day. To mitigate this annual issue, Parks is partnering with the CRD Regional Canada Goose Management Working Group to try and deal with the issue.

Small group at 45 geese; some days there are 200 geese present.

Also at HCP is preparation for the 2025 Fastball/Softball season. The diamond infields are being prepped and staff are waiting for the weather to dry up so that grass field prep can commence. There was a View Royal Fastball Association (VRFA) volunteer work party at the Park this month with 35 members (youth and adults) showing up to help with the Park’s infields preseason preparations. The Town is thankful to the work that VRFA and the Women’s Fastball League do to give back to the Park.

This year, 15 teams will call HCP their home field: nine from VRFA (including the Women’s Fastball League) and six teams from the Men’s Masters Slowpitch League. It is a very busy park when the ball season is in full swing.

Baseball Diamond Prep

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the report dated April 1, 2025 from the Chief Administrative Officer titled “CAO Update” be received for information.

SUBMITTED BY: S. Sommerville, Chief Administrative Officer