CAO UPDATE
A report from the Acting Chief Administrative Officer highlighting significant administrative activities, departmental events, and community projects.
FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION REPORT
TO: Committee of the Whole DATE: November 8, 2023 FROM: Sarah Jones, Acting CAO MEETING DATE: November 14, 2023
CAO UPDATE
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT the report dated November 8, 2023 from the Acting 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:
Administration:
Front counter staff have been busy with sewer utility payments coming in and inquiries over the phone. Business licence and dog tag renewals will be mailed soon which will continue to keep the front counter steady until the new year.
The Great BC Shakeout took place on Thursday, October 19th at 10:19 am and all Town staff participated in the “Drop, Cover and Hold On” earthquake drill.
The designated FOI Coordinator – the Executive Assistant – and the Corporate Officer attended Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner training on changes that have been made to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and its regulations.
The Deputy Corporate Officer and Corporate Officer have begun networking with regional colleagues on election issues, including ideas to attract more candidates and increase voter turn-out, as well as sourcing vote counting machines.
Staff often look at best practices from around the region and have recently considered the Procedure Bylaw No. 677 requirement for individuals to provide their name and address prior to addressing Council under "Public Participation" or "Question Period" at meetings. While balancing Council's desire to know where public comments on matters are coming from in the community with the need to respect an individual's privacy, a shift to accepting a street name as opposed to a civic address to fulfill the address requirement has been made.
A long-time Archives volunteer has recently retired. Gratitude has been expressed to this individual for their many contributions over the years, most notably the "Then & Now" series they wrote for the Goldstream Gazette. These articles compare and describe two photos at the same location from different eras and are valued reference materials in the Archives.
The Records Coordinator/Archivist visited Eagle View Elementary School and gave a presentation on the history of the Watkiss Way and Burnside Road West area. The class also viewed images of local area students over the last 100 years. The children enjoyed the mention of dairy farms and cows and were fascinated by school clothes over the last century. There will be a return visit to the classroom with some volunteers to share stories of what it was like growing up in View Royal seventy years ago. The students will submit a questionnaire on their own school experiences to the Archives where it will be put into the reference files as documentation of View Royal student life in 2023.
As an ARMA Vancouver Island Board Member, the Records Coordinator/Archivist was invited to give a records management presentation to the Office Administration class at the Camosun College School of Business. Topics included the current state of records and information management, technology, roles, responsibilities, and evolving practices, traditional records management, and government employment opportunities.
In closing, October saw the Town’s Chief Administrative Officer since 2010 retire. Mr. Kim Anema was acknowledged for his many years of service both to the Town of View Royal and local governments throughout British Columbia at the October 17 Council meeting.
Finance:
Sewer utility invoices were sent to residents mid-October with payment due November 30, 2023. A total of 449 customers or 18.2%, received their bill electronically (2022 – 19.1%). In future, increased communication about the availability of electronic billing for residents may increase uptake of this option, resulting in both printing and mailing cost savings.
Finance staff continue to work with each department toward the 2024-2028 Financial Plan, in advance of the February 2024 budget workshops. Concurrently, staff are also preparing for the interim audit by MNP LLP scheduled for early December.
October was Cyber Security Awareness Month (Cyber Month) in Canada. Staff were provided with the opportunity to complete a cyber safety checkup and learned valuable tips to ensure their cyber security both at work and home.
IT staff have worked with multiple vendors to bring two major projects near completion: the upgrade of multiple servers to replace the end-of-life operating system and configuration of the Teams Phone system. It is expected that these projects will be completed in November.
Development Services:
The Development Services team continued to be busy for the month of October responding to a consistent number of zoning, land use, building, and business license inquiries, and reviewing and processing development applications. In October, Development Services (Planning and Building) received eight new applications, which are summarised in the following table:
| Application Type | Number of Applications |
|---|---|
| Rezoning | 1 |
| Development Variance Permit | 1 |
| Board of Variance | 1 |
| Building Permit | 2 |
| Business License | 3 |
At the regular meeting of Council on October 17, 2023, Council adopted the new Building Bylaw; Fees and Charges; and Municipal Information Ticketing Amendment Bylaws. All three bylaws come into effect on November 1, 2023. Staff continue to work on critical tasks to support the implementation of the new Building Bylaw, including new application forms, checklists, and updates to the Town’s website.
The Department is pleased to report that the Town’s Building Inspector passed the Building Officials Association of BC (BOABC) Level 3 course.
New Short-Term Rental Provincial Legislation
On October 16, 2023, the Provincial Government announced a new Short-Term Rental Accommodation Act to regulate short-term rentals (which may include, for example, rentals listed on Airbnb, VRBO, Expedia and FlipKey) in municipalities with populations greater than 10,000 people, which includes the Town of View Royal.
The purpose of the new rules is to:
- give local governments stronger tools to enforce short-term rental bylaws;
- return short-term rental units to the long-term rental market; and
- establish a new Provincial role in the regulation of short-term rentals.
On November 15, 2022, Council adopted Zoning Bylaw No. 900, 2014, Amendment Bylaw No. 1105, 2022, that strengthened the language in the zoning bylaw prohibiting short-term rentals, including vacation rentals, Airbnb and any other form of non-residential commercial overnight accommodation, in the Town. Hotels, motels and bed and breakfast accommodation are still permitted in certain zones with a valid business license. Given that these prohibitions are already in place in the Town, there are no further bylaw updates required to View Royal’s Zoning Bylaw to reflect the new provincial legislation on short-term rental accommodation.
To strengthen local government tools to enforce short-term rental bylaws, the Province also intends to increase the maximum municipal ticketing fine a local government may issue. Under the current Municipal Ticket Information Bylaw, the Bylaw Enforcement Officer can issue a fine of $100 per day for a prohibited use in a building, including a short-term rental. Under this new legislation, Council could consider increasing the daily fine in the future.
Engineering:
Staff are looking forward to presenting the Town’s first Asset Management (AM) Strategy to the Committee in early 2024. The AM Strategy will be a 5-year roadmap for improving the Town’s asset management practices and financial sustainability.
A new controller and sensor equipment were installed at the Helmcken Park sewage pump station.
The 2023 SCADA Server Replacement capital project was completed. SCADA is the central system that monitors the Town’s sewer pump stations. The new server improves service by providing remote access for on-call staff and readies the system for backup to the cloud.
Other works included correction of a sewer cross connection on Pearce Place; and installation of a catch basin, and renewal of a driveway culvert along Bessborough Avenue (images below).
While more recent than an October event, staff wanted to provide the following emergent information: a falling rock hazard was identified at the back of sidewalk on Island Highway near the Colwood interchange. Staff are working with a professional geotechnical engineer to address the hazard. Barricades and warning signs have been erected to warn the public of the hazard.
The capital project to upgrade traffic signal cabinets and controllers at Island Highway and Hart Road upgrades were completed, improving reliability and future-proofing the signal. Traffic calming road markings were renewed on Burnside Road West between Helmcken Road and the Saanich border.
Completed under the Development of Road Ends capital project, Habitat Restoration Program volunteers have been hard at work removing overgrowth and invasive plants from the Stillwater Road End.
Engineering staff are monitoring four active multi-family development sites. The impact of construction vehicles and stormwater runoff are primary focuses for Engineering staff as we head into the winter season. Offsite construction and frontage improvement work is not yet underway at any of these development sites but can be expected in the coming months.
Residents participating in the Resident Tree Planting Program stopped by Town Hall to pick up their trees on October 21st. This was the second tree giveaway event under the program, providing 29 trees to 13 View Royal households and stratas for planting on their private property.
The View Royal Park Stormwater Management Upgrade works began in October. The Contractor (Michell Excavating) has completed grading work and native plantings have been planted in partnership with the Greater Victoria Green Teams, supported by a TD Tree Days grant that was awarded to them.
A Cross Club cycling event occurred on October 25 in View Royal Park. The event yielded a great turn out of 80+ riders of all different ages.
Work has started on the replacement of the playground equipment and border surround at Knollwood Park. The wooden play structure was removed, and layout and minimal excavation has been completed to limit the ground disturbance of the tree roots. A grade beam style border will be used to also limit the impact on the trees.
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT the report dated November 8, 2023 from the Acting Chief Administrative Officer titled “CAO Update” be received for information.
SUBMITTED BY: S. Jones, Acting Chief Administrative Officer
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