CAO UPDATE

CAO UPDATE

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the report dated July 3, 2024 from the Chief Administrative Officer titled “CAO Update” be received 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:

An 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 worked with Langford and Colwood on developing the Request for Proposals for the Prime Architect and Prime Contractor for the proposed West Shore RCMP Detachment Addition. Following this, a meeting with Capital Regional District (CRD) staff was held to discuss the creation of a sub-regional service to fund the construction of the detachment. The CAO and Mayor attended a meeting with Partners for Better Health to collaborate on attracting family doctors and nurse practitioners to the region. The CAO attended a Local Area Administrators (LAA) meeting of CRD CAOs, followed by a discussion regarding the Disaster Mutual Aid agreement. The CAO and key staff attended a presentation to Langford and Colwood by Lime E-Scooters.

Administration:

While there was some activity after the property tax notices were mailed out in late May, traffic at the front counter increased significantly throughout June and particularly the last few days of the month. The Administration and Finance Departments’ staff had long days greeting and assisting property owners coming in to pay their property taxes.

The Director of Corporate Services attended the Local Government Management Association Annual Conference. The sessions focused on communications, new housing supply legislation, governance, and employee engagement.

Representatives of the Capital West Accessibility Advisory Committee reviewed RFP submissions and have awarded the community engagement work to Changing Paces, a firm with lived experience. The Committee looks forward to working with this consulting team to ensure successful in-person and on-line sessions in the coming weeks.

The competition for the new 0.5 FTE Communications and Engagement Coordinator closed in the second week of June. Shortlisting and interviews took place later in the month. It is anticipated that the competition will wrap up in early July.

In June, volunteers, staff, and co-host, the Victoria Highland Games Society, were in the final planning stages for the Canada Day celebration held annually at the Craigflower Manor historic site.

Community outreach and engagement takes many forms – the Eagle View Elementary School Project is nearing completion. Part 1 began in October 2023 with Grades 1 and 2 students learning about the area over the past 100 years through photos and maps. The Archivist then returned in June 2024 with a volunteer for Part 2, to share stories of what living in View Royal was like at their age. The children filled out a questionnaire, completing such statements as, ‘My favourite clothes are…’, and ‘In the future, I think View Royal will (have)…’. Playgrounds, ice cream shops, and robots were popular answers to the latter statement! With the full support of parents and guardians, all the questionnaire sheets and a class photo have been added to the Archives collection. The students’ handwritten answer sheets will be scanned and uploaded to the Archives website https://viewroyalarchives.accesstomemory.org/ by the end of July. The teacher is looking forward to another project with the Archives next school year.

Work continues on the Administration Department’s complex capital project – the Microsoft 365 (M365) Records and Information Management Project (C-004). An analysis of the Town’s Records Classification and Retention Schedule is currently underway and will identify records with trigger events/procedures that impact retention time calculations or require review of documents for selective retention. This information is being used to update the file plan for electronic records in preparation for consultation and legal review by a records and information management specialist.

Finance:

With property taxes due July 2, Finance staff worked diligently in June to ensure timely and accurate processing of all payments and homeowner grants as well as tax deferment applications. The centralization of the Provincial government’s Home Owner Grant (HOG) and Property Tax Deferment programs continued in 2024. Staff undertook an active communication campaign to remind taxpayers that HOGs and deferments must be submitted directly to the Province and, while staff fielded some inquiries, taxpayers were generally understanding and the process was smooth overall.

The following table provides 2024 key indicators to the mid-way point in the year, with prior year comparative values.

* Due to the COVID pandemic, per 2020 Tax Rate Bylaw No. 1049, an alternative tax scheme was adopted by Council, making unpaid 2020 current taxes subject to penalty on October 1, 2020, instead of July 3, 2020.

Development Services:

The major focus in June was implementing Small-Scale, Multi-Unit Housing (SSMUH). Amendments to the Zoning Bylaw introduced new regulations to permit SSMUH and garden suites to ensure consistency with the housing legislation (Bill 44 – 2023). The revisions included amendments to existing definitions, such as duplex, and general regulations, such as home occupations. Amendments to the minimum required parking were also adopted, and included reductions for detached dwellings, duplexes, and townhouses. The amendments also introduced a new visitor parking requirement, where five or more dwellings exist. The amendments to the Zoning Bylaw were successfully completed prior to the June 30th, 2024 deadline.

In addition to the required amendments to the Zoning Bylaw, amendments to the Official Community Plan were required to ensure consistency between the new housing legislation and the new regulations in the Zoning Bylaw. The changes included adding a new Intensive Residential – Garden Suite Development Permit Area, which will be used to regulate form and character. The existing Schedule P – form and character development permit areas map was also amended by adding those areas identified through SSMUH to the Mixed Residential development permit area. Form and character development permits will now be required for SSMUH or a garden suite prior applying for a building permit.

The Development Services team continued to be busy responding to zoning, land use, building, and business license inquiries, as well as reviewing and processing development applications. Of note, numerous enquiries about garden suites and Small Scale, Multi-Unit Housing have been received daily.

Eight new planning and building applications were received, which are summarized in the following table:

A Board of Variance application for 316 Jalan Place was approved to permit the deck at the rear of a detached dwelling to be rebuilt in the same location with a corner encroaching 1.5m into the required 7.5m rear yard setback. The building permit has been issued.

The application to subdivide 221 Atkins Road into two residential lots has received an extension as the applicants continue to work through requirements to finalize the subdivision.

Council’s April 2, 2024 resolution to support the UBCM Community Emergency Preparedness Fund grant application for the Gorge Waterway Coastal Flood Adaptation Strategy (led by City of Victoria as a joint project with other municipalities) has been submitted in the second stage of the application process. If approved, the project would examine risks and identify opportunities for a cooperative approach between municipalities, property owners, and other stakeholders to address coastal flood risks such as sea level rise along the shared body of water. A decision on the grant is anticipated in the fall.

Engineering:

BC Transit has commenced construction of their transit priority lanes project on the Island Hwy, between the Colwood Interchange and Six Mile Road. Construction will first focus on the westbound lanes, which is the north side of the road. Staff are continually working with the BC Transit construction team to manage expectations on traffic flow disruptions while the work is being completed.

Several transportation capital projects are undergoing the RFP and tender processes for the purposes of completing designs by year end, and to capitalize on constructing works within the good weather window.

Engineering staff continue to work with CRD staff on the Eagle View Elementary School Ready Step Roll plan, which aim to improve safety and access for students and teachers traveling to and from that school. Completion of the program is expected this summer.

Parks:

View Royal Park’s Salt Marsh Project (by Peninsula Streams) has obtained the required Development Permit and Park Use Permit. Works began on July 2nd.

Portage Parks is experiencing some vandalism in the form of human-caused fires. The doggy bag dispenser has been lit on fire twice in the last few weeks and an invasive species bag was also burnt at the same time. The RCMP has been notified (a file has been started) as well as the View Royal Fire Department. RCMP visited the site with the Parks Supervisor and confirmed that they would increase visits in the park.

The latest Greater Victoria Green Teams Event was another success, being held on June 29th at Knockan Hill Park. Greater Victoria Green Teams noted that this event yielded one of the biggest invasive species hauls: over 480 square meters of the park was removed of invasive blackberries, ivy, daphne, Scottish broom and poison hemlock. This yielded over 17 cubic meters of invasive species being removed from Knockan Hill Park.

Protective Services:

The Fire Department concluded their hiring intake for career firefighters. Three paid on-call members were selected and will begin their careers with View Royal on July 1, 2024. The department lost three paid on-call members to career departments throughout the Province.

The Chiefs of Colwood, Langford and View Royal are working on an initiative to consolidate all three department’s paid on-call members into one pool. This will allow each municipality the ability to use each others’ staff to fill night shift coverage.

The grant funded Fire Smart Coordinator position has been filled internally; the one-year term position will start July 8, 2024. The focus will be updating the existing Wildland Interface report from 2007 and working with the north View Royal residents on Fire Smart initiatives.

The annual Public Safety Open House was another success with approximately 600 people visiting the station.

We are expecting delivery of the interface brush truck by mid to late July. It is anticipated that this truck will be placed into service immediately.

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the report dated July 3, 2024 from the Chief Administrative Officer titled “CAO Update” be received for information.

SUBMITTED BY: S. Sommerville, Chief Administrative Officer