Staff Report: CAO UPDATE

CAO UPDATE

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the report dated June 2, 2021 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:

As part of the Town’s 2021 Canada Day celebration, Red Maple tree kits are being handed out when property owners come into Town Hall to pay their property tax notice. Along with the tree kits, the Town is handing out a Canadian flag and button.

Administration staff were involved in recruiting three Webcast Producers (new positions), a Parks Worker (to fill a vacancy), and an Engineering Intern and two student Parks Workers for the summer season. Work is also underway to begin recruitment of a part time Finance Clerk to fill a vacancy.

Training of the Webcast Producers began in May and will continue to the end of July. Finance/IT staff have been invaluable in this work.

The Records Coordinator/Archivist attended the ARMA Canada virtual three-day records management conference. Topics included privacy, cybersecurity, digital transformation, and the future with artificial intelligence. This was a great opportunity to learn and network across the country and provided opportunities to discuss the issues of the day in information governance.

The draft public art policy was reviewed by the Committee of the Whole at its May meeting and referred to the Community Development Advisory Committee (CDAC). CDAC received a presentation and provided input at their May 25 meeting. A report is on the June Committee of the Whole agenda for consideration of policy approval.

On May 25, the Province released their 4-Step Restart Plan in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. With this Plan, Administration staff have begun exploring options for future Council and Committee of the Whole meetings. We look forward to inviting the public back to Council Chambers for open meetings in September and note that the Microsoft Teams Live Event platform will continue to be used even after Chambers reopens to the public for all open Council and Committee of the Whole meetings (including Public Hearings) to facilitate access for those who are unable to attend in-person.

Finance:

In May, the final 2020 audited consolidated financial statements were presented to Council. The Town’s auditor, MNP, provided an unmodified opinion to Council. Also in May, Council adopted the 2021 tax rates bylaw and 2021-2025 financial plan bylaw ahead of the legislated May 14 deadline. Additionally, staff submitted required statutory financial reports and documents to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs prior to the May 14 deadline.

Residents received their property tax notices during the third week in May with the first resident visiting Town Hall to remit payment on May 25. This is the first year of the provincial government’s Home Owner Grant (HOG) centralization project where residents must claim their HOG directly from the province. Comprehensive online and print messaging regarding this change has resulted in a manageable flow of inquiries to staff.

The Finance team developed and started implementation of the training plan to support the Administration team in enabling the new Webcast Producers to deliver consistent webcasting services.

Development Services:

The Development Services Department continues to field inquiries regarding possible re-development applications. Several projects are in the pre-application stage and developers are engaging the surrounding neighbourhoods with respect to their proposals.

An Official Community Plan scoping workshop was held as a special Committee of the Whole with elected officials in May. The RFP for the Official Community Plan was then released and the deadline for submissions is June 9. Staff will bring forward recommendations to award the contract to the Council meeting on June 16. Staff look forward to working with Council and the community on this important policy update.

Staff continue to wait to see if the Town has been successful with its Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ “Sustainable Neighbourhood Action Plan” (SNAP) grant application for the Community Climate Action Strategy update.

The Director of Development Services has been invited to co-present at the Planning Institute of BC conference in June on the topic of professional practice and ethics.

Engineering:

Work continues on traffic studies at various locations. In addition, the Town is finalizing agreements with various partners for volunteer activities. The part-time Engineering Clerk has resigned and staff are in the process of hiring for this position.

In May, the Engineering Department continued its program to find and raise buried sewer and drain manholes with the help of the GIS system. To date, staff have uncovered eighteen sewer and drain manholes in 2021.

One of the more challenging sewer manholes to raise was the one located on the Adams Storage property.

The buried sewer manhole is located right up against the storage building, with a perimeter drain running over the manhole.

A section of the building foundation had to be notched out to allow access to the sewer manhole.

The sewer manhole was raised to surface level and the perimeter drain re-routed around.

Concrete was poured around the raised manhole ‘chimney’ to support it, then the excavation was backfilled and compacted with road base in preparation for paving.

The Engineering Department has initiated sewer and drain capacity studies to ensure municipal infrastructure is able to handle additional volume created by new developments at 2401 Burnside Road West and multiple locations on Erskine Lane. Engineering is also reviewing the section of Island Highway from the Public Safety Building to Prince Robert Drive. As a part of these studies, Engineering has been CCTV’ing and flushing drain and sewer pipes to confirm the structural conditions.

Work continues on the upgrade design for the Helmcken Bay pump station with the goal to have this project ready for tender in 2022.

Crews have been busy replacing an old, corrugated steel culvert at Brian Place and Glenairlie Drive. The Town’s Engineering Student was the Town representative for this replacement project. They gained knowledge in pipe replacement as well as dealing with public and contractor inquiries.

Progress was made with the off-site works at “The Glen” condo building development at 1450 Glentana Road. A concrete sidewalk and the driveway apron were installed along Glentana Road as well the trail upgrade through Portage Park. The Engineering Department anticipates the remaining sidewalk and final landscaping to be completed in June.

The Town will be entering into two servicing agreements with School District No. 61 for the provision of on-site stormwater management systems required as a development servicing condition of the proposed daycare additions at View Royal Elementary and Eagle Creek Elementary schools.

The Town has hired a new full-time Parks employee and two Parks summer students.

Colour has been added to the Town; annual beds are currently being planted. The Town Hall, George’s Corner Park and Helmcken/Centennial Park are the locations of these displays. As well, hanging baskets have been installed at the front entrance of Town Hall.