Staff Report - CAO Update

CAO UPDATE

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the report dated March 6, 2019 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.

This report covers off the period from the January 2019 Committee of the Whole “CAO Update” to present as the February Committee of the Whole meeting was cancelled due to inclement weather.

INFORMATION:

Administration:

The Town’s “Community Satisfaction and Engagement Survey” information campaign was rolled out beginning with a press release on January 28 and information on the Town’s social media platforms. NRG Research Group contacted approximately 400 households in the Town by random digit dialing between February 11 and February 26. For those not selected to participate in the telephone survey and wished to let Council know their thoughts, the survey was also available on the Town’s website.

A presentation on the survey results is anticipated at the March Committee of the Whole meeting from NRG Research Group.

A grant application for approximately $4,750 was recently submitted to UBC’s Irving K. Barber Learning Centre under the “BC History Digitization Program”. Funding, if secured, will see the Archives finish scanning the most culturally significant fonds in the Town’s collection and upload the selected photographic and textual content and their corresponding metadata to an online searchable database. The fonds will tell the story of the people and organizations that helped to shape the community identity that continues to exist in View Royal today. Applications were adjudicated in February and applicants will be notified this month (March).

Administration staff are currently involved in the hiring process for a Records Coordinator/ Archivist to coordinate the Town’s records and information management program as well as to oversee the archives and work closely with the View Royal Archives volunteers. It is anticipated that the position will be filled in the spring.

Advertisements for volunteers ran in January for the Town’s two advisory committees. The posting for these volunteer positions closed on February 1, 2019 and appointments and reappointments subsequently made. An orientation session will be held on March 26, 2019 for new advisory committee members (or a refresher for existing members) followed by a joint meeting to discuss options for alternative volunteer engagement.

On the volunteer front, plans are underway for the annual volunteer appreciation event set for early May.

The spring/summer newsletter is being finalized and will be out in the mail later this month and into early April.

Front counter staff continue to be busy with secondary suite, dog license and business license renewals.

Finance:

The Finance team has been focused on completion of 2018 financial statements in preparation for the year-end audit. The Town’s auditor, Grant Thornton, is scheduled to be on-site April 15.

Council and staff worked through the various facets of the proposed 2019-2023 Financial Plan during budget workshops February 19-22 and 26. Staff are working on revising the budget document in preparation for the March 19 open house and subsequent presentation to Council for approval in principle.

The IT team worked with our consultants to successfully implement Microsoft Office 365 to the pilot group, Administration and Planning personnel during January and February. A project of this scope normally involves some downtime as systems are upgraded and people are oriented. The roll out went as planned, with few unexpected issues that were resolved quickly. The project plan will see Protective Services personnel migrated in March, followed by Engineering and Parks staff. Users who have been migrated can now collaborate on documents in real time with other users and securely access work when they are away from their desks.

Development Services:

On January 24, the Town hosted two open houses to engage the community with respect to recreational cannabis uses within the Town. It appears as though this is not a controversial topic for the community at this time. Amendments to the Zoning Bylaw to consider possible locations for cannabis related uses will be proposed in the coming months. Staff are continuing to try to reach stakeholders to ensure that the community is aware of this project.

Work continues on completing action list items. Amendments to the stormwater management bylaw are now complete and information about development density is in this agenda. In addition, Zoning Bylaw amendments are being drafted to make this bylaw more accessible to the non-planner who might be reading it. There have also been recent updates to the OCP and Zoning maps in Town Hall and on the website. Census data continues to be of interest and staff are working through how to best visually represent the data in maps and images. The Town’s spring/summer newsletter will include some of the census data that is now available.

Development Services continues to support other departments on items ranging from address assignments and mapping for Fire, bylaw interpretation for Bylaw enforcement, and coordination of bylaw amendments with Engineering.

The Director of Development Services gave a guest lecture at the University of Victoria on “Decision Making in Local Government” in January and presented two sessions at the Local Government Leadership Academy sessions in Parksville in February.

Engineering:

Engineering staff have been engaged in training – the Development Asset Technologist has now received her IPWEA Professional Certificate in Asset Management Planning, the Engineering Technologist continues to upgrade his GIS skills, and the Clerk is supporting operations as the Office 365 “Champion” during the implementation of the new Office software package.

Engineering has been awarded a $2,000 BC Hydro Grant through the Community ReGreening Program which will contribute to the Helmcken/Watkiss beautification project.

Projects that have reached or are nearing completion include:

• Price Bay Pump Station – reached substantial completion

• Portage Park stairs – completed with exception of fencing at top, expected in coming weeks

• Town Hall Council Chambers

• Solar Lights – Highland Road

Three speed reader boards have arrived at Town Hall which will be installed in three of the six locations throughout the Town that have historically been used for the rotating temporary speed reader board. These sites meet the electrical requirements needed for full-time operation. The proposed locations are:

1. Helmcken Road at View Royal Elementary;
2. Watkiss Way at Eagle View School; and
3. location to be determined based on remaining options:
   • Highland Road @ Valley View Place
   • Chilco Road at Edwards Park/Robin Hill Park
   • Six Mile Road between Damon Drive and Atkins Road
   • Helmcken Road median near Eagle Creek Village

The final design for the next phase of the Island Highway Improvement Project has now been approved by staff. A copy of the design plan was included with the budget request.

Chris Junck and an invasive removal team of sixteen volunteers held a very successful Robin Hill Park work party on February 3, 2019. Volunteers filled nine bags with mostly blackberry and daphne:

Protective Services:

The Fire Department currently has eight volunteer firefighter vacancies. A recent recruit intake of nine members will bring the Department back up to strength; however, these recruits are approximately one year away from being able to respond to calls. Extensive training and new legislation mandates training minimums.

2019 will bring challenges to the department with respect to retention of volunteers. Increased training and increased call volumes put additional stress on the system.

High level meetings with the Town’s Westshore fire partners have been successful in aligning response logics to better support each other in emergencies. Several joint initiatives are nearing implementation, which include tri-party agreements for Chief Officer’s responses, combined specialty teams, enhanced automatic and mutual aid to targeted high risk occupancies and a combined Westshore fire investigation team.

Tremendous support has been received from the new RCMP OIC, Todd Preston, as we combine resources and open our facility to joint training initiatives.

The Bylaw Enforcement Division continues to keep busy with broad ranging bylaw issues. That said, with an average file conclusion to complaints occurring in just over two days, changes that have already been implemented and those anticipated in 2019, will ensure maximized efficiencies.

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the report dated March 6, 2019 from the Chief Administrative Officer titled “CAO Update” be received for information.

SUBMITTED BY:

K. Anema, Chief Administrative Officer