Finance & Administration Report - CAO UPDATE

CAO UPDATE

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the report dated July 4, 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.

INFORMATION:

Administration:

Volunteer View Royal, the Victoria Highland Games Association and the Town of View Royal worked together – for the third year in a row – to create a dynamic community event on July 1st to mark Canada Day.

Held at the historic Craigflower Manor, attendance rates were the strongest seen to date for the event and all participants enjoyed the sunshine, face painting, bouncy castle, balloon clown, diverse community booths (including Archives), the pipe band, various dance groups, and musical performances.

View Royal Archives had a colourful display and gift basket draw. A special feature was the side-by-side “Then and Now” images of Craigflower Manor and surrounding area. Archives volunteer’s set-up the tables and contributed prizes to the basket.

Also, on the site, in areas programmed by the Victoria Highland Games Association, were a mini Highland Games, musical acts, a Royal BC Museum booth with site artifacts, information about the site’s proposed cultural centre, and a beverage garden.

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 Administration Department is making good use of Office 365 Teams to enable file sharing and team development of reports and maintenance of documents involving groups of staff. This tool is now in use for Council reports, COW reports, development of the Annual Report, the Strategic Plan and most recently maintenance of the action list.

On June 17, 2019 we held our second strategic planning meeting to establish a more focused and more strategic approach to long term planning. The community survey results are being used to inform Council and enable strategic focus areas desired for longer term outcomes. Staff will be working with Council’s direction to establish action items to get desired results and key success measures with a view to monitoring progress over time.

The CAO and Director of Corporate Services attended the Local Government Management Association Annual Conference. This conference celebrated the 100-year anniversary for the Association. The sessions focused on creating smart sustainable communities; encouraging innovation; future ready workforce/workplace of the future and trends; and best practices in local government. The CAO received a 40-year long-term service recognition and the Director of Corporate Services a 25-year recognition.

The West Shore Recreation Society and West Shore municipalities agreed to extend the existing agreements for six months while governance is being reviewed. We look forward to completion of the governance review and revised agreements prior to year-end.

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.

In early June, the Director of Finance attended the Government Finance Officer’s annual conference held this year in Victoria. Strategy and Innovation was the theme of the conference. This aligned well with the Town’s recent strategic technological initiatives. Much knowledge was gained from workshops and municipal finance colleagues from around the Province to understand and learn from their own challenges and successes in adapting to the evolution of Information Technology.

Information Technology projects are moving ahead as scheduled. The Microsoft Office 365 project has shifted its focus to training and adoption to leverage the tools into productivity gains. Staff is also working hard on the implementation of the Vadim Utility Billing module in time for the October billing cycle.

The Finance Department is nearing completion of a Request for Proposals document for the solicitation of Financial Audit proposals consistent with our purchasing policy. The current audit arrangements have expired. Council will receive a report regarding the process and the outcome in due course.

Development Services:

During late June and into July, Development Services staff always sees an uptick in ‘fences and decks’ inquiries while residents are in the Town Hall to pay their taxes. This year has been no different, with staff attending to a higher volume of front-desk traffic than in a typical month. Tax time provides residents with an opportunity to engage with other departments, and it is satisfying for staff to help with practical projects providing significant improvement to residents’ properties.

The Department has been busy with making mapping improvements, including producing a new Street Map (which is available on the website). Staff is also currently assembling a more comprehensive pathways and trails dataset.

An open house was held on June 24, 2019 at Town Hall to present and discuss the draft Community Amenity Contribution policy to development industry representatives and owners of large land holdings with residential development potential. At the open house, Development Services staff answered questions about the policy and explained how it would be applied to residential use rezoning applications. A side benefit of the open house was that it provided a forum for attendees to engage with staff on development opportunities to achieve the Official Community Plan vision.

Work is underway on the Official Community Plan Sustainability Indicators report. The report will chart the progress since adoption of the OCP in 2011 on sustainability issues such as development patterns, economic sustainability, transportation, social wellbeing, housing, waste management, water and watersheds, climate change and green spaces.

Engineering:

Staff met with the consultant to discuss the results of the Six Mile Road Corridor Studies and various proposed solutions. The consultant will be formalizing the proposed solutions and submitting to the Town as well as the Ministry of Transportation for review prior the open house planned for September to present the options to residents.

The Price Bay pump station is nearing completion. There is only one small wiring deficiency to be remedied and the project will be complete.

On June 7th, 2019 Raylec began work installing solar powered, pedestrian controlled, flashing lights at the Galloping Goose crossing of Atkins Road between Parsons Road and Fagan Place. This work included installing a control button pedestal on the east side of the crossing and a new light post on the west side. The work was completed over two days.

The Six Mile Road sidewalk as part of the West Park Lane Development is now complete, and the servicing is continuing at 280 Island Highway.

Parks:

The Town’s annual flower plantings have been completed. The three areas where beds are located are Helmcken Centennial Park, George’s Corner Park and Town Hall.

Annual plantings use a variety of different plants to create a multi-dimensional display. The three main things are colour, texture and height. The displays use your typical annual plants along with different perennials and tropical species. We are very fortunate to have a good working relationship with the City of Victoria Parks Department. The large plants are “on loan” for the summer from their extra stock. This is a win – win situation as we get the benefit of having these spectacular plants to use in the Town’s beds and the City of Victoria Parks staff do not have to maintain these plants in their nursery for the duration of the summer.

We also purchase the hanging baskets from the City of Victoria for the display at the Town Hall. These are the same baskets that are used in downtown Victoria. Always experimenting, the baskets are using some different plants and colours this year.

We get many compliments and questions about the beds and are happy to answer the questions and share information about the plants.

Some people have asked why we do the beds in the lower level of the Town Hall as fewer people get to see this bed. The reason is that this is our “spares or extras” bed. These are the extra plants that we have after planting and are maintained in case we have damage from the weather, vandalism, etc. at our three main areas. Plants can be dug up and replanted into the main beds to fill in the empty spaces. This way we can keep the beds full for the summer season as if nothing had ever happened.

The Chilco trail project is now complete. The contractor has completed the outstanding deficiencies and the trail is now open. The trail is now ours to maintain going forward. Signs are on order for the trailhead access and will be installed upon arrival.

Town Hall

Flower Baskets

George’s Corner & Helmcken Centennial Park

A new change room is now complete within Town Hall. The introduction of this convenience facilitates more staff and Council biking to work and/or taking fitness breaks during lunch hour.

Protective Services:

The most notable issue for the Fire Department was the response to a large clandestine lab and fire at a residence in View Royal. With assistance from Westshore and Surrey RCMP, members managed the decontamination of investigators during the event.

The View Royal Fire Department Open House was a success again this year with approximately 600 visitors attending the station and participating in the day’s events

Parking enforcement and homeless camp management are the predominant files for Bylaw Enforcement. Staff continue to monitor the camp located behind the Victoria General Hospital in Saanich as well as the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure property on the Trans Canada highway near Adams Storage.

Although building permit applications have slowed down, the Building Inspector is still managing approximately 160 active files. During this slower period, policy updates will be undertaken as well as preliminary research into Step Code initiatives.

The Fire Department currently has seven volunteer vacancies. As a result, there will be a second recruit class initiated in September.

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the report dated July 4, 2019 from the Chief Administrative Officer titled “CAO Update” be received for information.

SUBMITTED BY:

K. Anema, Chief Administrative Officer