CAO UPDATE

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the Committee receive the January 10, 2018 CAO Update Report 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:

Kindergarten students from View Royal Elementary School graciously dropped by Town Hall on Friday, December 8 with homemade decorations for our tree as a way to say thank you for making the Town a great place to live. Their cheerful faces and seasonal singing was appreciated and they left with candy canes and oranges to enjoy on their walk back to school.

The end of every year requires a major “roll-over” of files across the organization with the Archivist/Corporate Records Assistant working closely with all departments as we transition into 2018. This work allows the municipality to stay up-to-date with our Records Management Bylaw and associated policy.

Also on the records management front, the Archivist/Corporate Records Assistant is over half finished a project focused on working across all departments to revamp the local area network, aligning electronic record storage with the file conventions used for the Town’s paper records.

The Administration completed a process for hiring a Bylaw Enforcement Officer. Administration staff and the Fire Chief participated in testing and interviewing four candidates for the position.

As the Town’s population grows, front counter staff continue to be increasingly busy with secondary suite, dog license and business license renewals near year-end and during the beginning of our new year.

The Town of View Royal municipal hall was closed to the public from December 22, 2017 reopening on January 2, 2108. During this closure, staff have opportunity to deal with year-end issues and perform maintenance best completed when the municipal hall is vacant.

Finance:

December was hectic for the Finance team as we had several significant projects on the go. Early in the month, the external auditors were here for the better part of four days for interim audit. Consultants from MYRA Systems were on site gathering information from all departments and locations for an update to the IT Strategic Plan. Both of these activities make demands of staff informing the process as they progress.

Work on the 2018-2022 Financial Plan continues as we investigate the initiatives identified by Council in preparation for budget discussions in February. The management team has had a few budget meetings to discuss and collaborate on budget issues with a view to refining the details of the 2018 program.

We have been proactively encouraging vendors to switch to accepting payments through electronic deposit rather than paper cheques as an efficiency measure as well as fraud risk reduction. Electronic funds payments in 2017 were 68%, up marginally from 2016 at 57%. We will continue these efforts in 2018, with a target of 80% by the end of 2018.

One of our Finance team will be leaving us mid-January. Administration has begun the process to finding a replacement for the Accounting Clerk 1 position.

Development Services:

During 2017 we processed four rezoning applications and one temporary use permit (this includes the Christie Point application and Thetis Lake Campground). In addition to that, there were ten Development Permits, three Development Variance Permits, six Board of Variance applications and ten Sign Permits.

Beyond work generated by applications, we are continuing to work on the Sign Bylaw which will be sent for legal review in January. We are also working on pulling statistics from the census and building an updated profile of the View Royal Community. We have been amongst the fastest growing communities in BC for a number of years and it is time to dive into the numbers to understand how our community has changed.

In addition to the community profile, we are also working on content to refresh the website and to create a series of information sheets on topics that we get lots of inquiries on—like fences, decks and the development process in general.

Engineering:

2017 Calls for Service Summary

The Hallowell Road/E&N Rail Trail project continues to move forward. Following a Town-hosted open house on December 13th, staff and CRD met with the strata of 126 Hallowell Road to provide further clarification. Feedback received indicates a preference for installation of a concrete sound attenuation barrier with greenery (e.g. vines) and no parking or turnaround on the strata site. Staff are working on road design for additional parking stalls in front of Reliable Controls. The CRD is hoping to have the project tender out by mid-March and is hoping to have the work completed by the fall.

Construction of traffic light installation at the intersection of Burnside Road West and Watkiss Way has begun and is expected to take three weeks. After that time, the work will then be with BC Hydro for activation.

The pedestrian signal installation at the Fire Hall will be completed by March, once the paving plants have re-opened.

Parks

The Parks Department have been reduced to winter staffing levels. We are pleased to announce that the new parks worker position budgeted for the 2017 year has been filled. L. Leece has been an auxiliary and seasonal employee with the Town of View Royal since 2015. We welcome Mr. Leece as a regular full time employee.

The View Royal Park playground excavation and site preparation is scheduled to begin the 2nd week in January, with equipment installation expected mid-February, and the playground usable in early March if all goes according to plan. Landscaping will be completed once weather improves, likely in April.

A homeless vigil took residence in Portage Park in November 2017. This camp vacated on December 6, 2017. Parks staff removed all of the garbage bags, recyclables, metal, wood, sharps containers, etc. from the site. Fencing was set up to keep people out of the area temporarily. There was a cloth/poly grocery bag that had numerous sharps containers and all of these were sealed and placed into this one bag which was a good thing. Also, as staff had given them a box (100 bags) of large, clear garbage bags, everything on site was bagged up. After the bags were picked up, the area was fenced off using orange snow fencing and t-bar posts.

Parks staff went to the Park on December 7 and swept the area and playground with a metal detector. No sharps were found in this sweep.

As a final note on this subject, we disposed of the garbage, weighing 500kg/1,135 pounds, at Hartland Landfill – a considerable amount of refuse for such a short period of time.

With regard to the Centennial Park playground, staff is currently working on the project RFP, with a goal of excavation/site preparation to begin in April and completion in early summer.

Protective Services:

The Town is currently engaged in the early stages of a request for proposals for the provision of Fire Dispatch services. The CAO is working with interested municipalities on a joint RFP.

2017 realized a record year for emergency and non-emergency calls for service for the Protective Services Department. Volunteers and career staff were called out 1,008 times for a wide range of incidents. It has to also be noted that these calls for service require considerable time for the training division to ensure all members are qualified and proficient to manage different events. An impressive 19,247 hours were spent training, responding to calls and staffing the station on overnight shifts.

Building and Bylaw Services:

In addition, Building and Bylaw Services also received a record number of complaints, inquiries and inspection services. A quick calculation of permit revenue and fees for 2017 shows nearly a match to the 2008 record year. Nearing the end of the year, this Department was challenged to manage bylaw and building issues with the departure of our Bylaw Enforcement Officer in early November. We are pleased to advise that the Bylaw Enforcement Officer position has been filled. M. Groulx will join the Town of View Royal as our Bylaw Enforcement Officer on February 5, 2018.

Several large, complex projects are in the 2018 development stream and the Building Department anticipates another busy year.

The overarching file for the Bylaw Department in 2017 was the management of the temporary homeless vigil in Portage Park during part of November and December. The vigil generated a significant increase in staff resources to manage as did the subsequent forty-two complaints from the public. At the conclusion, the event lasted fifteen days and moved to a neighboring jurisdiction.

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the Committee receive the January 10, 2018 CAO Update Report for information.

SUBMITTED BY: K. Anema, Chief Administrative Officer