FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION REPORT: CAO UPDATE
A monthly update from the Chief Administrative Officer highlighting community events, administrative staff competitions, and departmental operations.
TOWN OF VIEW ROYAL FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION REPORT
TO: Committee of the Whole FROM: Kim Anema, CAO DATE: January 5, 2023 MEETING DATE: January 10, 2023
CAO UPDATE
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT the report dated January 5, 2023 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:
Administration:
On December 12, Town Hall welcomed kindergarten students from View Royal Elementary School for their annual Christmas visit. The children presented the Town with handmade Christmas cards from each class and expressed their gratitude for all the work the Town does including keeping people safe, building the bike park they enjoy, putting up Christmas lights, and making the Town a wonderful place to live. The children left Town Hall with candy canes and mandarin oranges.
Staff assisted members of Council with the third annual ‘Light Up View Royal’ contest in December. A total of twenty-four nominations were received and three addresses were selected by Council to receive prizes for best Christmas light displays in Town.
The winter display was installed in December and is comprised of black and white images cut into circles floating like a snowfall above an image of Town Hall. The photos are from the Archives’ collections and span the last seventy years. A 2023 Town of View Royal Archives calendar has been created for the upcoming year. It is the same style as the inaugural calendar done in 2022 and contains descriptions and reference numbers of the featured photos. These calendars will be available for purchase at the front counter.
December saw long-service recognition for one employee with thirty years of service to the Town.
Year-end work included authorized physical records destruction and preparing space for boxing and storing semi-active records in the new year. Planning for 2023 records projects started and inventory and updates continue in the storage room.
Administration staff are coordinating staffing competitions to hire a new Building Inspector, Finance Clerk (Auxiliary), and two Corporate Services Clerk/Receptionists (Auxiliary) to fill position vacancies.
Front counter staff continue to be busy with business licence, dog tag, and secondary suite renewals.
Finance & Information Technology:
The Town’s auditor, MNP, completed their 2022 interim audit remotely during the first week of December. Leveraging the capabilities of Microsoft 365 and collaborating via Microsoft Teams and SharePoint, staff were able to respond to audit requests in a timely manner. Staff’s focus is working toward closure of the 2022 fiscal year end and preparation of the 2022 financial statements and year-end audit, scheduled for early April 2023.
At December 31, 2022, of the 2,471 sewer utility invoices issued, 560 (22.7%) were outstanding and transferred to arrears taxes for collection, compared to 532 (21%) outstanding in 2021.
A total of 428 business license renewals were issued to business owners, an increase from 414 in 2021, with 112 payments made before December 31. Of the 112 payments, 46 (41%) were transacted online via the Town's Business License online service, compared to 48% in 2021.
The 2023-2027 financial process continues with senior management budget meetings as well as staff investigating Council initiatives. Draft financial plan workshops are scheduled for February 2023 as follows:
| Month | Budget workshops: | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| February | Introduction and overview Consideration of proposed non-core and capital items Presentation of service plans Consideration of reserve transfers |
Committee of the Whole | February 14 – 7 pm February 15 – 6 pm February 16 – 6 pm February 21 – 6 pm if required |
The IT Disaster Recovery and IT Business Continuity Plan was completed in December and distributed to key personnel and various locations for quick access when needed. The Plan identifies the disaster recovery team and provides practical step by step instructions to respond to a failure of technology services, to assess the business impact, and to activate a recovery plan. The Plan covers a wide range of disaster scenarios, including a cyber attack.
Development Services:
Development Services continued to be busy during the month of December with land use, building and zoning inquiries, and processing development applications. In December, the Town received two new development permit applications and one development variance permit application.
Staff completed the Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Helmcken-Centennial Park Master Plan project and posted the RFP on the Provincial BC Bid website in December. The deadline to submit proposals is February 10, 2023. This is a project that was approved and budgeted for in 2023.
In December, the Town was notified that 7 additional property owners have received the $350 top-up for a heat pump under the BC Hydro Power Smart Home Renovation Rebate Program for the July – September 2022 reporting period, making for a total of 15 rebates issued from January 1 to September 30, 2022.
Engineering:
A second online survey was published to garner feedback on the Active Transportation Network Plan. The survey is now concluded and staff look forward to sharing the “What We Heard” report in the coming weeks.
Following the significant snowfall event and freezing temperatures, Parks & Engineering staff cleared snow from the Town’s sanitary sewer pump stations to allow for emergency access, if required. It was found that a water service at the Thetis Vale pump station broke as a result of the freezing temperatures.
Due to record snowfall and freezing temperatures across the Greater Victoria Area, the Town’s contractor (Victoria Contracting Municipal Maintenance Corporation) worked through all hours of the day to remove the ongoing and rapid accumulation of snow on the Town’s roads. Parks staff put in long days to ensure accessibility for pedestrians through clearing snow and ice at bus stops and accesses to public area. As the snow quickly turned to several days of rain, additional measures were taken to mitigate road flooding and safety issues.
Parks staff are assessing the buildings and structures in Town parks for damage that may have occurred during the snow and freezing event. A water service to the building at Helmcken Centennial Park was found to have been broken as a result of the weather. Repairs are underway. The washrooms in this building will be closed at this time.
Prior to the inclement weather, Parks staff put up the annual Christmas lights across View Royal parks.
Updated mapping has been provided for the Official Community Plan highlighting proposed changes in land use development and development permit areas. Fire Department mapping has been updated to include new addressing at Craigflower Manor.
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT the report dated January 5, 2023 from the Chief Administrative Officer titled “CAO Update” be received for information.
SUBMITTED BY: K. Anema, Chief Administrative Officer
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