Committee of the Whole

Like to call the meeting to order.

And uh good afternoon and welcome to the committee of a whole on a snowy November 8th, 2022.

Um, I'd like to start with a territorial acknowledgement.

We recognize the Luquangan speaking people, known today as the Squamalt Nation and the Songhees Nation, and their historic connections to these lands continue to this day.

And first, a little bit of a discussion about calling in.

So there's a number of folks that have joined us uh this afternoon in chambers.

Thank you.

And there of course are a number of you that I'm sure have tuned in from home.

So the number to call for the uh the phone number, should you wish during public participation to uh make a comment is seven seven eight four zero two nine two two two seven and use conference number seven six six seven nine nine three zero two pound yes pound at the end of that um can I get a motion to approve the agenda second and I see uh Councillor Mattson and Councillor Lemon have approved them and a motion to adopt the minutes of the previous meeting.

Move adoption.

Second.

And Councillor Rogers and Councillor Matheson.

All in favor?

All against.

Carries.

Petitions and delegations.

Seeing none.

Rapidly approaching the public participation period.

So for the public participation, when you hear the chair announce the last four digits of your phone number, mute the live webcast and press star six on your phone to unmute it.

State your name and address, then provide counsel the benefit of your views for a maximum of five minutes.

Any callers?

Anybody in the audience that wishes to Mayor Tobias, we have no phone callers at this time.

Thank you.

I think you, sir, could you uh approach the microphone and uh state your name and your address, please, sir?

I'm the Em Brown.

That'll help a lot.

We have the View Royal Climate Coalition strongly support having more advisory committees in this town.

There are currently two and uh two that actually don't meet very often.

And uh if you refer back to um public satisfaction survey from from 2019, you'll notice that two of the items that stand out on that are that the public want the town to do more about transportation, do a better job of transportation, and the public want the town to take good care of the parks.

I think they're being well dealt with now, but they want you to know that they want you to keep up the good work.

And I think that that means both of those warrant a public advisory committee.

And I'd like to suggest I've heard that we've been talk about there being of the order of five committees in the future, and I know there's been some objections at times about staff time required by advisory committees and therefore cost to the town.

And I would propose there are ways that really involved and energetic committees can reduce that by, for example, providing their own minute taker rather than having a staff person do that.

And also the committees can do research for staff of the town that staff may not have time to do or hadn't thought of doing.

And in the end, that either produces a better product or at least saves staff time.

And uh we've done that in the past back when I was on the Transportation Committee when Emmett McCusker was the engineer here, and uh had good reception for our ideas and uh our research.

And I propose that, in fact, um more committees will not cost the town an enormous amount of money.

Um we've noticed that uh the uh one of the justifications for having seven of you folks here instead of five was that it wouldn't cost a whole lot more for the town.

Well, I propose to you wouldn't cost a whole lot more for more committees, too.

So I'd like you to keep that in mind.

Um there also has been I I've heard an objection that we don't get very many volunteers for our advisory committees in this town.

And I'd like to suggest to you that one of the reasons for that is that it's really hard for present in the present day operation for committee members to feel like their work is valued and um taken account of and put into action at least sometime.

Um it that it is true that that happens, but um it it's not the feeling I get after having sat on your advisory committees for I don't know, about 15 years anyway.

Um earlier on in the in the 2010s, uh sorry, in between 2000 and 2010 or thereabouts, um, it was felt like staff really wanted our input and would take account of it, and the council really wanted our input and take account of it.

After that, it's felt more like uh you guys go and vent your steam over there and we'll carry on business over here.

So I think that you change that attitude and get far more volunteers for this.

And I also think that um having very few committee meetings, in fact, canceling because there's nothing on the agenda, can be remedied, and that would attract more volunteers.

For example, uh, at one point we had um an arrangement whereby committees met every second month, formally here in the town hall, and then in between months, every second month, just the committee members with no staff or town investment or time.

It's a nice structure.

It keeps the committee members working and involved so they don't drift off so that they know their contributions are valued.

The other way to know that committees are valued is the committee needs to have input, maybe even control of the agenda for meetings.

So it's committee member thinks of some problem or some citizen approaches them and said, What about this problem?

They can know that they can put it on the agenda, and there's a really direct and simple way of doing that.

What else did I want to say to you about that?

No, I think I've pretty well covered what I want to say.

Committee members need to know their work is valued and they're being heard.

It's really easy for council to hear what the committee says and then decide to refer it off to staff, in which case it feels like it I mean, no criticism of staff here at all.

It just feels to the committee members like, oh, that's gonna drift into the far reaches of the universe, and how do we ever pull it back?

Thank you, Mr.

Brown.

Okay.

Thank you very much.

Are there others that like would like to speak?

Yes, sir.

Okay, you are next.

Sid, just uh reminder.

When the little red light goes on, their time's up.

Just because you you're afraid I'm going to go on and on.

And I could.

Uh good afternoon, everyone.

My name is Rick Baker.

Um, my wife Jen and I live at 204 One Buddy Road here in View Royal.

I'm going to take a bit of a different tack from the previous speaker.

Um, first of all, congratulations to the new mayor and uh new counselors and uh to the returning counselors.

Wonderful.

I admire what you do in in public life.

Um Jen and I are currently members of the CDAC, the community development advisory committee, and we've been involved for years in many different volunteer activities with the town, including Canada Day, when it was when it was on.

So I'm going to try and go quickly through a few comments here.

I am here to speak about the mayor's interest in setting up a whole bunch of new advisory committees.

And I think this needs to me, honestly, it sounds like a solution-first approach.

I am aware of what the community has said in terms of wanting more input, but I think we have to take a sort of a step back and say, what is it that we're trying to fix here?

Um, what substantive issues have been raised that require this level of citizen engagement?

Um, has there been a huge citizen outcry for input?

Um, there are two communities in uh two committees, excuse me, currently in place, the CDAC and there's one for parks and recreation.

And it's been difficult.

COVID has made it really hard to feel part of a team and to sort of build any sense of momentum around what we're trying to accomplish.

So for sure, um many of us have had our own thoughts about how can we make these committees more effective?

How can we make them more efficient?

Uh, how can we make them more meaningful and beneficial for volunteers?

Um, and I think people in those committees would really like to contribute to how do we make this process work better if the end goal is citizen input?

Um, and I think that working with those two existing committees, and certainly at minimum the chairpersons, would be an ideal place to start.

They've got a perspective, um, it would honor and recognize their contributions that they've made, and they do have a voice.

Um, so I would first look at those two committees uh as a starting point.

How are they working?

What contributions do they make?

How do they inform town policy or direction?

Um, and then whatever comes out of that would direct or advise council and and committees about um what is the direction that we want to take this whole thing in?

Um is it simply to listen to citizen concerns or is it to inform town policy?

Is it provide proactive direction to town?

What is the purpose of the groups?

Administration concerns me.

I read somewhere, and this isn't a criticism here.

I read somewhere that the new mayor feels counselors were spending too much time chairing the committees.

Well, it's my experience is that it's actually citizen co chairs co chair the committee.

And we were always advised that the counselors were there as resource people to answer questions, help us through sticky bits of business.

So the citizens did take on the bulk of the work.

But I feel that the amount of work associated with these new committees could be severely underestimated.

If the premise is to make these working committees, to me that sounds like work no matter who does it.

All that uh administrative minutiae uh that just takes over.

Who takes minutes?

How are the minutes circulated?

How is this whole process made trans um transparent and accountable?

And counselors know lots of stuff.

I've worked with Ron, I've worked with John, in fact, everyone around the table.

They know lots, but there's lots of stuff they don't know.

What happens when questions go to um staff, Sarah and and others here, and that whole process of bringing that that stuff back, that takes work.

And if the if you want to put the counselors in that role, um fine and dandy.

But I feel badly enough for the staff right now.

Um the work that they put in because of who they are and their work ethic, our meetings, they put an extensive amount of work into preparation, an extensive amount of work into answering all the questions that guys like me can ask, which can take you all over the map.

And uh it's a lot of work to follow up on all the different things that we're involved in.

So we can't overestimate or underestimate the amount of administration that could be involved, no matter what sort of format these committees take.

Sounds to me like administration overkill.

Um, and I want to make uh if I try to put a uh chart in my mind of all the communication that could happen with seven committees, a counselor involved in each one, a star chart could be you could be all over the map.

So it doesn't sound like an effective model.

Am I done?

Oh, okay.

But anyhow, I think as a starting point, then I think what would be recommended would be to start with the existing committees, uh, use them as a starting point.

And if you're going to have all these volunteers, make sure that their work is meaningful, beneficial, and valued.

Thank you.

Sorry to go on, folks.

Thank you, sir.

Hello, my name is Jocelyn Skirlach, and I am from 288 Eltham Road and Virroyal.

And guess what I'm going to talk about?

Advisory committee.

So I have several matters that I'd just like to have you, uh Mayor Tobias, to answer if you could.

And one is that I read somewhere on a line of one of your statements online about how you were going to be selecting people for the advisory committee.

And you made the comment that we have a lot of expertise, people who are paid for their expertise in their jobs or in their their uh past jobs uh and I'm wondering if and they they were paid to do this and they could come on these admiss advisory committees and do them free of charge so the the um it's a win win for the the town um but I'm also wondering is that's is that the only kind of people that would be selected for these committees?

That's a direct question then absolutely not okay yeah good okay and then I have another concern, and it's to do with uh uh the the proposed liaison counselors that you have chosen or you put forth the names to go to lead these councils, these uh advisory committees.

Uh and it actually concerns Councillor Rogers.

Um, just before, the week before we had the election, Councillor Rogers happened upon my neighborhood uh Friday afternoon.

We call it happy hour, but it's we nobody gets too jolly.

It's fun, it's a wonderful idea, and it's got us all through.

I live in a complex, Ashley Gate, and it's got us all through COVID supporting each other and looking after each other, and it's a fantastic little neighborhood we have there.

Anyway, um, John uh came to one of these happy hours, and um we he was discussing it was a wonderful platform for him before election.

And one of the questions I asked was about uh island rail.

And John, you will recall that you said there will be no rail on the island, and I am finding that uh as a proponent of the rail, having grown up with rail from grade four going to school and then on to university by rail and by traveling around the world, often using rail, that rail is a wonderful, it cannot be pushed away and not considered.

So I'm asking if, and maybe I should ask Councillor Rogers, the motion was put forward at UVCM recently in September that and it was put forward by View Royal Council to the Prince to the province and to the feds to consider rail on Vancouver Island.

So I'm asking you, are you in a position should it it go ahead that you are the liaison person for advisory committee?

Would you ever advise against the use of rail?

Because you seemed very adamant when I we spoke about it, that it was too expensive and it will never happen.

And my answer to that is it will be a hell of a lot more expensive when people get behind it and realize we should have done this years ago.

So that's a question to you.

How do you feel about now that the motion has moved forward from UVCM?

How do you feel about rail?

Well, I'm not exactly sure how this pertains to the uh topic at hand.

Um, I'm not uh what what part of the agenda are you referring to?

Well, I'm just talking about if you are the liaison person for transportation, which is a very serious big issue.

Yes, indeed.

And um certainly I'm going to provide uh or ensure as much input that uh that needs to be uh uh discussed.

And the recommendations, the motion, the resolution that went to UBCM and the UBCM support for it, um, well, we'll see where that goes.

But in in in um the motion that was before UBCM, I think was significantly different uh than uh what was originated here.

I think um I'm much more in support of the CRD's motion.

The CRD's report, as you may have read that, that is focusing on first First Nations uh issues with respect to the ENN.

That was not discussed in the original motion that V Will put forward.

We did not talk about that.

And secondly the whole point of considering the the options for transportation corridor.

Premier's uh Horrigan's position and I think the NDP's position on on this is probably speaks for itself.

And so yes I have great interest in making sure that the transportation corridor is maximized for the regional and benefit and as well as VWL.

I'm 100% as far as the transportation corridor is concerned.

Thank you.

Good glad to hear that thank you thank you, Councillor Nuss.

Yeah, just in terms of a the the purpose for this portion of the meeting is for people to provide comments on the agenda items.

We also have a question period section at the end, which you know specific questions are probably more appropriate.

But if you have complaints about specific issues or on the agenda, then it makes sense.

Counselor Matson really should not be controlling uh the procedures of the meeting.

Thank you.

Hi, my name's Claire McDougald, 291 View Royal Avenue.

I wanted to speak about the advisory committees.

And um I do acknowledge that I don't have the depth, Mr.

Brown or Mr.

Baker, but I want you to know that in essence I support the establishment of more advisory committees.

I appreciate how it welcomes residents to have more voice in our community.

And I hope that I hope that residents, staff, and council can all realize that this is an important uh opportunity where we're all going to benefit.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That's very good.

5914 Erskine Lane.

I've just moved recently from a house that we've been in for 31 years, and we've been in View Royal for 35 years.

I also wish to speak about the uh advisory committee, of which I do have some experience, having served for at least three terms back in the 90s and early 2000s.

Um I sort of puzzled when I hear some of the potential objections of the when there were probably three, if not four committees, advisory design panel plus the other committees.

Um and we were supplied with all our materials, and I'm talking about sometimes huge agendas.

And of course, back in the day where everything had to be on paper, had to be all printed out and collated and stapled and prepared and gotten to each or every one of us prior to the meetings.

I'm just puzzled how it was possible to do it then, but it seems uh almost insurmountable burden to do it now.

I just leave it at that.

I think advisory committees are really good because each and every one of us live in a neighborhood and we hear things from our neighbors.

And when we come to these um to the uh advisory committee meetings, and these are usually at an earlier stage in the process, people are able to get their input at an earlier stage, as opposed to when an issue is about to go to final vote before council for some matter or other, and at which point any input or comment at that point is almost too late to be of any potential value.

All of us who served on on the committee that I was on were enthusiastic participants of it.

I think we may have had one meeting called uh canceled because there was a lack of quorum.

I can't recall a meeting canceled because of a lack of of uh any agenda material to be discussed.

So again, I'm puzzled.

I don't know how things have changed in the interval between when I served and now as to how matters are dealt with and if things are dealt with more automatically than they might have been years ago.

But um, you know, we did feel very uh welcomed in our input.

It we felt like it made a difference.

Um, if I may, if I still have a minute and a half left here to say a specific matter.

I live on Erskine Lane, having moved there at the end of the summer.

And I don't know, as I say, I'm new there, so I have no idea what kind of input people have received on this sort of thing there.

But right now, there's probably about 80 cars that come up and down that street a day.

And there's a uh flag person there who's there to direct construction traffic in and out.

But he's sitting there a lot of the rest of the day, and he's told me after a long conversation how many um near misses he's seen.

It's a narrow, windy with a drop.

Um poor sight lines, really, is what I put it down to simply.

It's an accident waiting to happen.

Now, when there are several hundred more homes there, and I'm not debating that that we need that or not.

What I'm saying is if you're gonna do something like hundreds of homes on a small street, things have to be done to make sure that the street is safe for everybody.

As it stands right now, it's not.

And as they say, this is the sort of issue if there was an advisory committee and the matter was coming up at an early stage, we could address it rather than at a point where I don't know if it's too late to do anything or if anything's going to be done or not.

So to me, it just speaks to the point and the value of advisory committees.

Thanks.

Thank you, sir.

Anybody?

Anyone online?

Mayor Tobias, we have no callers at this time.

Thank you.

That concludes public participation period and business items.

We're at 661.

I'll pass the chair to uh councillor Brown.

Thank you, Mayor Tobias.

It's certainly an honor to be uh chair of this uh uh Protective Services Committee uh after serving for 32 years as an RCMP member, then 18 years as a bio officer.

It kind of seemed appropriate.

Thank you very much.

Um, I'd like to thank uh our our staff, uh members and protective services.

Certainly, Chief Hurst and his crew uh have always done an excellent job for us, and also his volunteers, his numerous volunteers.

I've seen firsthand some of your action in the summer.

Thank you very much.

Um and also your bile officer uh uh Jim Henley.

I've seen him out and about uh doing an excellent job.

It's great to see that visibility uh out in his bike and even painting some of the graffiti over, which is which is really awesome.

And uh Todd, Todd Preston's our superintendent, thank you very much for the service that you provide.

And as you're aware, the RCMP is a huge family, and I want to pass my condolences for the loss of Shaelyn Yang in Burnaby.

Uh again, it's a big family.

When you lose a family member, it uh it hurts us all very, very deeply.

And also I'd like to thank you for sending uh the three officers in Red Surge uh to our inaugural meeting last week.

Um, as people probably aren't aware, the RCMP was formed in 1860, no, 1873, and Jerry Potts was the guide at that time.

And I did mention to the three officers that came that I Jerry Potts was a terrible PIT partner, but unfortunately they didn't even know who Jerry Potts was.

But thank you very much, and uh I'd like to turn it over to you, uh Todd, for uh a verbal report.

Mr.

Mayor, uh Council, thanks very much for having me.

Um, welcome to those that are new to council.

I look forward to working with those uh that have worked for uh the last four years.

Um not sure how we should start.

Maybe I'll start by telling you a little bit about the detachment uh area, first of all, for those that are new.

So the West Shore detachment's made up of uh seven municipalities, five communities, two First Nation.

Um it's probably one of the most complex detachments in the country because of that, but I think it also allows for uh tremendous uh efficiencies uh as well.

Uh and currently I would suggest it's probably a role model for for many communities uh moving forward.

We currently have about 103 officers uh with more on the way next year as well.

I have over 150 staff.

Um we police, I think it's between about 85 and 87,000 uh people here in the West Shore.

And obviously that uh that number is growing rapidly.

Um myself, I've been the uh the officer in charge for about four and a half years, a 25 year service with the RCMP.

Um started in Alberta.

I've worked in the Yukon and all sorts of uh detachments throughout uh British Columbia and Western Canada.

Um I'll delve into this first of all, just a quick uh highlights here, which I normally do, and then I think I'd like to leave a little bit of time if we could for some QA's, if if that's right with you, Mr.

Mayor.

Councillor Brown, is it chair?

Yes, by all means.

I think there will be some questions.

Thank you.

Sorry, thanks.

Uh thanks, Counselor.

Um I generally go over uh some of the highlight files that we've had uh just for the last month, just to kind of give you a real general overview of some of the typical calls that uh that our members are going to.

Um on October 2nd, we had a vehicle park at Adams Place.

Two males were passed out in the car, uh drug pipe was visible to the driver.

Both males were arrested, searched, drug paraphernalia and methamphetamine, heroin cannabis were seized as a result.

October 2nd, multiple calls were uh received at the Shell gas station on 498 Island Highway.

The victim noticed someone stealing uh his car.

The victim grabbed onto the suspect who was driving away and dragged that uh that individual about 100 feet.

Uh the victim had injuries.

The suspect uh stole the vehicle and drove into a parked camper van, then continued erratically in and out of traffic on Island Highway, colliding with another vehicle.

He was followed by a second vehicle, stopped on Price Road, and officers arrested the suspect who's since been charged.

Uh October 3rd, a vehicle was pulled over driving erratically.

Um, we did a roadside screening um device was utilized and the individual failed.

It was issued a 24 hour prohibition.

Uh that vehicle um searched.

Uh the vehicle search uh resulted in the seizure of a collapsible uh baton found on the driver, metal, brass knuckles, uh, and a knife found in the vehicle, along with a small baggie of white powder believed to be uh drugs.

The driver was arrested and issued an undertaking for court.

Um, on October 9th, the uh we had a report of an erratic driver driving onto the sidewalk near Craig Flower.

The officer pulled the vehicle over, and as a result of a screening device, the issue uh the individual issued a 24-hour prohibition for drug impairment.

Uh October 12th, we had a $400 shoplifting at Bosley's Pet store.

The member is able to ID the suspect who continuously shoplift from that store since 2019.

It's been a chronic problem, this individual, and we are seeking that individual who's currently arrestable for theft.

October 16th, we had a vehicle uh report of a vehicle that had hit a parked car.

2951 Craig Flower Road.

Driver determined to be impaired by drug and admitted to relapsing using fentanyl.

On October 18th, the mom of a 16-year-old advised that her daughter received photos from a male uh adult, uh, nude photos.

And um a friend of the daughter also received similar photos.

The um the concerning thing, well, obviously, uh in addition, another thing that was concerning was this individual was a coach in our community.

And uh obviously we we believe that there was a child learning component to this, and so our newly formed special victims unit uh has taken custody of that file.

Um on October 23rd, uh report of a male wearing a ski mask knocking on doors in the neighborhood of Gibraltar Bay, then waiting in the front yard for uh homeowners holding a knife.

The officers located the mail, arrested the male, knife was seized.

The male knows uh this individual uh who's sorry, very well known to the police, has severe mental health issues, and intentionally gets arrested by police.

Um unfortunately scares the beejes out of uh the public.

So that individual was taken to um uh for medical help.

Umtober 25th, male was arrested for masturbating in his vehicle at the Victoria General Hospital, uh, not too far from the children's wing in the hospital.

The suspect was not a uh was a contractor.

Uh an undertaking was issued for that individual to uh to attend to court.

And October 30th, we had a report of a sex assault female victim, and the suspect uh was known to the victim, and we're currently working with that with our special victim unit as well.

So those are uh you know certain files uh of interest from October in the town of the Royal.

Our violent crime, I'm happy to report, is down 20% from last year.

And again, as I told previous counsels, you know, we really do try to target on certain individuals, prolific offenders, and certain individuals that are prone to violent behavior, property crimes, and that sort of thing.

So, you know, I'm I'm always proud to be able to come back and tell you that hey, you know, we've got a 20% decrease in uh in violent crime.

We have a our property crime unit.

I know they've been uh very busy as well.

Um, and you're down 21% decrease as well on them last year.

Um, and that's probably extraordinary considering the amount of mental health files that precipitate uh theft files.

And so they've done a phenomenal job.

And again, identifying certain individuals and targeting those individuals.

The hospital, you know, last year to date, we had 198 occurrences there.

So that was an increase of sorry, 198 this year, and last year we had 188 to date.

So not a real dramatic increase.

1010 files at the hospital there.

The casino, we had a 15% increase, but that's only nine files uh from last year.

But that's so 71 times to put it in perspective.

71 times we've been to the casino for um for files this year.

Probably the most um alarming but not surprising statistic I'd suggest is that um files with a mental health component.

So those include files such as check well-being, missing missing persons, and mental health act.

Uh, we've had a 52% increase uh year over year from last year.

So an increase of almost 100 uh 100 files from last year.

So I don't think that comes as any shock to anybody in this room.

Um it's uh it's a chronic problem.

It's gonna have to be uh addressed at all levels of government.

I don't think there's a silver bullet in fixing this uh this problem.

Perhaps I'll stop there and uh I can answer some questions, counselor.

Uh Mayor Tobias?

It was announced recently that the uh provincial government is going to be um contributing to security at hospitals.

How will that affect um you know the response times and the amount of times that that um your officers have to wait?

Uh will that have a positive effect on freeing you up a little bit?

Um likely not until they change um the legislation to allow for peace officer status at because the legislation says we a peace officer has to take this individual to a doctor.

Um, and so you know that can be two hours.

On typically it is a two hour plus wait.

So, you know, as I told counsels before, you got $200,000 police officers, so that's what that's what uh we cost.

You pay 70% of that.

Um, and we're sitting there basically as security guards um at the hospital.

Um, yeah, it's a major issue.

Um, it's it's a real major issue in this particular area here.

I know in in other jurisdictions it's not um not as bad, especially the smaller um areas.

I know that they tend to get their patients in and out a lot quicker, but for whatever reason, just the the sheer volume and and uh certainly no knock at the the the doctors if you go to an emergency room, it's not just an emergency, it's a triage for mental health right now.

Um, and so that's that's a significant issue for us.

So again, we've we've lobbied for for change.

Um, if we could turn somebody over um um at the hospital and leave, that would be great.

And that used to be the way until I think there was an incident uh that happened where there was a deceased an investigation led to significant change in that.

And I think obviously the probably the best fix, but uh not an easy fix would be to actually have a facility for mental health individuals, not a emergency room triage in them.

Counselor Lyman Thank you.

Hi, Inspector, nice to see you.

A couple of questions.

Uh the the um person with the knife that is scaring the bejesus out of the public would that be um we there was an email circulating in my neighborhood about a fellow with a hello um with a balaclava wearing a balaclava and uh threatening threatened one woman in particular with a knife would that be the same circumstance you know i i i can't say for certain right now but um that would certainly be a strong probability that uh because I don't think we have we don't have too many people with balaclavas with knives going around scaring people got thankfully uh but yeah I I we could I can certainly check into that for you after yeah I would you didn't mention the balaclavas so I was just well I'm sorry I apologize so that so that was very well yeah that was and give me a call for me if you need to have more answers on it.

Right, right.

And and because for you know we almost never have members of the public in chambers during um committee of the whole.

I'm wondering if you could briefly explain uh the recent report in which View Royal was seen to have one of the highest crime rates in the region.

So if you're referring to crime severity, if that's what you're referring to?

Yeah, well, yeah, I'm I'm I guess crime severity.

It was sitting it was an article.

It is.

I believe that's what you're talking about.

Yeah, a month or two ago.

Um and so I'll give you a and it's a great question, actually, because it's it's one that not not a lot of people understand, and and most police officers don't understand it, including myself uh until a number of years ago.

But um so the crime severity and so how we measure um the crime severity index, uh and we say we, the province and and the statistics people, they look at crime severity, and I'll read you this.

Uh, crime severity index takes into account both the volume and the seriousness of crime.

The index is calculated with weight assigned to each offense that is derived from the average sentences handed down by criminal courts.

The more serious the average sentence, the higher the weight for that offense.

As a result, more serious offenses have a greater impact on changes in the index.

All criminal offenses that are included in this index crime refers to acts or emissions prohibited by the criminal code.

So they give certain weights and then they look at the offenses that were committed in your area.

And you could get, if you have a couple of very serious offenses, um that could certainly sway or or um swagger your your uh crime severity index over the year, if that makes any sense.

Okay, yeah, it does.

So it's it's a matter, so it's not it's not a uh broad sweep of pure oil, is is crime ridden it was a a a piece in time a moment in time that was well you know and if I can speak candidly the you know I've I've been here four and a half years I've noticed more and more um events taking place in View Royal and I suspect it's probably because of the push I mean most recently we had a push of individuals that were uh homeless on east Vancouver the fire department um shut that down Victoria saw an influx.

And I've I've personally spoken with individuals that came over from the lower mainland Vernon and that have started to take refuge in the in the West Shore.

Particularly, this is the first stop from from Victoria.

And I think you're starting to see more and more individuals creeping in from downtown.

It's becoming more and more violent downtown.

And it's when you talk to the these individuals that are homeless and suffering from mental health and addictions, they're scared of being downtown, a lot of them.

And they're so they're pushing out this way.

So if that provides any perspective.

Okay.

Thank you very much.

Constable Rogers.

Yes, uh, thank you.

Hello again.

Um, picking up on that point, um, the the uh increase of homelessness um and uh the uh uh camping and shelters and whatnot, um uh we've heard from uh our fire chief about um uh issues, criminal elements under the bridges.

And um I'm hoping shortly that we'll have a plan on on uh trying to address those and and bring about more accountability, more safety on that.

And certainly recommendations.

Um I know we're gonna be meeting at the end of November, and I hope that would be a topic you could come to uh for all of uh the your invitees, and we can have that discussion.

Absolutely.

Yeah, when you get down to it.

My second question.

Um during the uh the campaign, um, I heard uh a lot about uh street racing on the Trans Canada.

Very significant issue.

Um the uh amount of racing that was going on every night um for a couple of hours at a time uh from Thetis Lake all the way down to Helmcken, probably uh even on the on the island highway.

And um any ideas or suggestions how we can bring some accountability and and control of that uh potentially dangerous situation.

Absolutely, in terms of enforcement.

Um so is it on the Trans Canada Highway that you're suggesting it's it's occurring?

Pardon me to say that again.

Is it on the Trans Canada Highway?

Yep.

Yeah.

So I'm I'm wondering if uh URSU has also got that message because I've seen a significant increase.

And for those of you who don't know what URSU is, it's the integrated road safety unit.

Uh it's a um provincially or ICBC funded program where RCMP um lead the program, but we have our partner agencies from Sanach, Victoria, and we work together collaboratively to provide road safety on primary highways in and around the CRD.

I've noticed a huge increase personally on the highways um in the exact areas that you're talking.

So I'm wondering if they've also uh are in tune with what you're saying, but I'm also happy we have a four-person um traffic unit.

And if you give me you know more specific times, I'd be happy to, and they would be happy to sit out and and uh try to address that issue for you.

Sure.

Well, neighbors are living in on um uh nursery hill are happy to let you stake out with their how at their house and monitor the traffic issues.

Wouldn't we the first time, yes.

Not a problem.

Councillor Kowalewich.

Thank you, Superintendent.

Uh we know that unhoused individuals right now are at the forefront of uh most of our minds and in the media.

Uh right here on View Royal Council, we discussed the prospect of a shelter in the West Shore.

I'm just wondering your opinion as the detachment commander for the West Shore CMP.

Uh how do you think that uh a shelter on the West Shore could help uh or hinder uh our our homeless population and uh in relation to uh offenses?

That is the thanks, Counselor.

That's the the second time I've been asked that question today from municipalities uh in this area um the the individuals that we're referring to um make no mistake it's not illegal to be homeless um we can't police our way out of homelessness i nobody has more sympathy and empathy for individuals that are suffering from mental health and addictions if you if you put a if you build it these individuals will come they will be placed there um and when they um choose to leave they will be in your area and currently with the per state of the provincial resources available for assistance with these individuals.

Oftentimes they're not getting their assistance that they need to function um without law, without lawlessness, sorry, and without committing offenses, break-ins to survive, stealing, that's just the reality.

Um, I I'd be cautious in in giving an opinion whether or not we should have a shelter here.

I think that's a municipal and provincial decision.

I can tell you from a policing standpoint, it will bring more files to the RCMP if you have shelters in place here.

Um and that's I'm not saying that's a bad thing.

Um just saying that's that's in my 25 years, that's an experience, that's the reality.

Well, certainly, and and your lens is important, and there's so many other lenses that come into effect when making a decision like that.

Thank you.

Uh, my next uh question to you is uh with the recent deaths of uh five police officers in the last probably month across Canada.

I'm just wondering how your membership's dealing with that.

Uh the last member being from the RCMP, of course.

Uh, what kind of resources you have in place?

How's the pulse of uh your detachment right now?

Thanks, uh thanks for the question.

As uh my friend Councillor Brown suggested, uh, you know, it doesn't matter the uniform.

Um we're family brothers and sisters, shoulder to shoulder.

And um, you know, it doesn't matter police police, military family, uh ambulance, fire department.

We're all we're all the same.

Um yeah, anytime you have a devastating blow like that, and of course, um it resonates in this detachment with with Sarah of uh from before, so it kind of relives some uh some horrible memories.

Uh yeah it's it's been tough not just for the RCP but you look out east and and it was there was an onslaught of members there.

I think there's three in in a week there that got uh murdered um it's been difficult we do have it's other 16 or 18 members off right now um out of 103 and gotta be cautious you know obviously I'm cognizant of the snowball effect with you know uh the workload and the stress being piled on and piled on and piled on um with other members uh I mean all in all I I think the membership the morale is really good at the detachment.

Um but the mental health thing, um, you know, it's one of those things we never talked about 10, 15, 20 years ago.

It's not even an issue to talk about it anymore, which is healthy and refreshing.

But uh, thanks for the the question.

I got last kick at the cat being the chair.

Uh just uh just I don't expect a big report, but a community police stations.

Uh there's over 60 in the province, and there's about nine, I think, on Vancouver Island.

My last, not my second last posting was in Burnaby when we divided up into four quadrants.

And there's there's a variety.

Some of these community police stations are totally manned by volunteers.

Some are basically substations.

I know Pitt Meadows is in the process of converting theirs into a regular detachment.

They're in the process now of uh buying a building to house a brand new detachment in Pitt Meadows.

But um, just any idea from your because I'm a little dated now from the Burnaby experience chart.

Um, pros and cons uh about community police station uh for the town of Uroy.

Sure.

Um, you know, in reference to Pitt Meadows, I believe there was a fracture in the relationship, if I correct me if I'm wrong between um Eagle Ridge and Ridge Meadows.

And I think that ultimately led to that detachment being uh built.

As I said before, you have without question the most efficient detachment in the province.

You have seven, you have one, you have one of me, you have one uh police chief, you have one front counter, you have one.

So, in terms of if efficiency in terms of costing financially, um with no question, we're the the most efficient.

In terms of um delivering of service, and I think that's probably more what you're referring to.

Um, you know, the one thing that we've been very um proud of and cognizant of is, you know, no offense to the fire hall.

Uh we're not fire hall police, you know, we don't need fire hall policing in in terms of we wait for a call.

Um our members are expected to be on the road um writing up files as they come in.

Now there is obviously time they have to come back to the detachment to write up files to deliver you know people into cells and there's some some administrative work that has to be done there.

But in terms of visibility, um the members they know that their job and every every morning they're assigned.

So if there's no calls that they will be parked in View Royal or Callwood and certain hotspot areas.

For instance, if Counselor Rogers says, hey, there's a you know the there's speeding on this road or there's a a school zone, that's where the member sits there to be efficient with their time.

And oftentimes they'll just sit there and write up files.

And nobody knows it's not doing radar, but you know, perception is everything in policing.

Um and so there's obviously some value to having community police stations, they come at a cost of resources.

Um I'm certainly not opposed to a community police station.

I would never recommend moving um you know uh units and sections out of the main building uh just because of it from a communication and again a costing and efficiency standpoint.

But in terms of community policing, um, if you thought that they would be advantageous to have people that could come in and it'd be more inviting for people to come in and speak with a police officer if that's what you're yeah there, there's a there's a variety of uh models out there, and uh I mean I have a lot of ideas in my own head but it's it's something to be discussed further with amongst counsel I think and and decide if if that's a feasibility because even if it's a a workstation or someone could come in and do some work or um some minor issues you know some uh minor thefts or uh found property uh those kind of complaints uh even if it's manned by a trained and uh security cleared volunteer uh again there's quite a range of of different types of community police stations but thank you thank you yeah no and and I'd certainly I'd be happy to have a coffee and talk about that more for sure.

Thank you.

Further questions very much.

Thank you.

It was uh nice meeting uh those that I haven't met before.

So thank you.

Members of council.

Welcome to uh councillors McKenzie and Brown and look forward to working with you over the next four years, Don.

Uh we have a we have a history that goes back many, many years.

So I'm pleased to see you sitting in that too many years sitting in that seat.

Unfortunately, Superintendent Preston left, and I was gonna say some nice things about him before he said firemen just sit around and wait for things to happen, but that's not true.

We're very busy all the time.

Isn't that correct, John?

There we go.

Uh, just for the benefit of um our chair and uh counselor McKenzie, fire and bylaw reports out uh every two months.

Um January, March, so on every two months.

Uh we cover off uh what's happening in the individual divisions of the department in fire and rescue, and then of course uh a bylaw summary.

There are statistics attached to uh the reports, and generally in the past I've I've reported at the end of each report with some comments, but what I've done is I've consolidated those comments and I've put them in the CAO report for our CAO to uh pass on to you at a high level.

Of course, I'm available for any questions.

Um, before you were two reports, there's a July-August 2022 and a September-October uh report.

We didn't report out in the summer um and or in um just as September October.

So we combined the two reports.

This is a high level um snapshot of the department activities over the past two months for July of August.

Uh just a couple of um noteworthy issues.

Uh, we did resume our public education component at the station.

That's uh visitors to the station, public education tours, station tours, and um public education for for children in schools.

Uh as the COVID uh restrictions lifted, we two uh sort of pivoted and relaxed our conditions in the building.

We also note just notable files.

There's a police aspect, but then fire gets called to deal with the injuries sustained.

Of note, you'll notice in the on page two, the training division, you'll notice that there's quite a bit of work done with respect to the training of volunteers.

That is a significant component.

As well, our emergency program is very busy in working with uh not only our own program, but with the city of Collwood.

We do have a contractual agreement where we we help them out with their emergency program, uh, their radio program, and we have a joint emergency support services team that looks after people who have been displaced by fire or uh other emergency situations.

Um just the one significant event uh worth noting in the September-October.

We had a large fire uh on Songhe's Nation.

Uh it was an accidental fire.

Uh, however, the um the trailer in question had over 30 propane bottles inside the building.

So when crews arrived, the fire was significant.

Um, people were jumping out windows, and there was loss of uh life to animals inside the uh residents.

Um fortunately, no firefighters were injured.

One civilian was transported to the hospital with injuries.

Um, if I could speak to bylaw, and I'll just touch on what the superintendent uh mentioned regarding mental health issues in the town.

That that is becoming a significant issue for us.

A lot of medical calls are being uh consolidated with mental health issues.

Um, and I I, you know, I can't reiterate obviously the importance and the support I have for RCMB because they are our frontline and they are the pointy end of the stick when it comes to these types of calls.

You know, we spoke of uh the tragic death of the member in Burnaby and ironically that day um a local RCMP here and our bylaw officer confronted an individual at the end of Hallowell Road in a tent, a female who was uh living there.

And when she opened up her tent, she came out of the tent with a 21-inch sword and a machete.

And that's what our bio officer faced.

So that said, uh I have met with other directors and I have met with the superintendent to discuss uh where we're going now with um with our bio officers, our parks workers, our engineers, highways workers, any of our contracts that are dealing with these issues in an effort to make sure that our our staff are safe.

And obviously that includes fire and rescue because uh on a weekly basis we're dealing with mental health issues whether they're whether they're homeless or they're in the home and drug addiction and and violent issues so that is uh at the front of our our list right now is making sure our staff are safe uh statistically you'll note that we've exceeded last year's uh calls for service and we're on a trajectory now for the busiest year in the 75 years the department's been in existence um it used to be the majority of calls for medical calls.

That number is actually, it's it's declining a bit.

Uh there have been some shifts in the calls we attend.

However, there seems to be a an increase in other and uh miscellaneous and uh people not knowing what to do in a situation where they just pick up the phone and lack of know they pick up the phone, call the fire department.

And those calls are 24-7.

As I said to the uh the mayor elect just before you were sworn in, sir, we were kind of a department that we're proud that we're no call too small.

And if somebody calls, we'll we'll come out and and do the best that we can.

At this point, I again I give just a brief overview.

You've probably read the reports, you've seen the stats.

I know Councillor Rogers has seen the stats.

He enjoys the stats, and I'm uh open to any questions that the chair and members of council have.

Counselor Mattson.

Okay, thank you.

Thanks, Chief.

I feel like the stats.

You two like the stats?

Yes.

So I did have a couple of questions.

One of them is on training.

So first off, kudos on all the training that's done.

It's always impressive to see how much uh training, how many hours people spent doing training.

So I was curious in terms of in-house versus uh going outside.

So, like, do you have sort of a rough idea of the percentage of training that's happened, sort of within the staff you currently have versus sending people out for training?

Good question.

So under the current under the current program, the staff are required to train two and a half hours each day, day shift and night shift.

So that's whatever staff members in four members is about 20 hours a day.

Um day shift and night shift.

The out-of-out-of-station courses could be anything from live fire training at Otter Point or to Vancouver obviously with COVID all that was clawed back pretty heavily and a lot of it is online and and zoom and correspondence type training that will ramp up again in in 23 as the as the world opens up we try to do as much training as we can in house obviously to to limit expenses when you travel and you put people in hotels and out of town it it costs significant money and with 30 plus staff that can add up quite quickly and eat a lot of your budget so we try to do as much training as we can in house uh there are courses though that we can't we can't train in.

There are class three driver's license pumps and pumps.

There are courses that we have to use contractors for, and some of those courses are outside the station.

We try to keep those uh locally, either at Langford, Otter Point, or we share resources amongst the town and the other fire departments.

Okay.

Thank you.

My other question is on structural fires.

Yes.

So two basically questions.

Is there a s any specific type of facility or type of home that you get more fires in than others?

And do you get an increase during the winter with people plugging in heaters, et cetera?

And the last question was I noticed that in 2021 and 2012, you were probably about 70% higher in terms of the number of structural fires than the the previous years that were noted.

So I'm just wondering if that's a trend or how you kept how you have Google calculating us.

Yeah.

What do we have to worry about.

So the the predominant cause of fires now uh there are they are residential fires and they're attributed to uh kitchen fires uh or accidental, uh whether they be electrical or an accidental fire.

What we found is there's an awful lot of distraction these days with people, whether it be cell phones or or whatnot's going on in their life, and they get distracted easily.

Prior to that, it was smoking, uh, you know, homes that had no smoke alarms.

So we're getting into a situation now where we have people who are distracted.

Um, you know, they they put something on the stove, they head out to work, or they go out to the yard, they forget, they get distracted, and they have a kitchen fire.

So that's predominantly the the number one would be our residential fires.

Then, of course, after that is is commercial fires, which are they're few and far between, but when they happen, they're they're quite significant.

Now you're you're absolutely correct.

We have had an increase in structural response, but I also note if you look down at the last call on their council where it talks about mutual aid and automatic aid.

Um, those numbers are direct reflections of so the 78 is a reflection of the number of structural fires we have responded to.

That also includes into Calwood and into Langford, and vice versa, them responding into V Royal.

Um so that that would explain that number why there's been such a sharp increase.

It's about, I'd say about, we probably respond 10 times a month on average into Calwood or Langford or a squai Malt.

To give you an example, uh on Friday was a busy day for crews, and they they attended three fires in a squimalt because they were tied up on other fires.

And then we attended some fires on the weekend uh in Langford.

So it it it ebbs and it flows.

Um right now, uh the area chiefs Callwood Langford Bureau.

We meet, we talk almost daily, and we meet uh every two weeks, and we discuss these numbers to ensure that one department isn't being overburdened or taxed or weighted with another department.

And right now, numbers are pretty consistent across the board.

Okay, good, thank you.

Counselor Rogers.

Thank you.

Hi, Paul.

Hello, John.

We dodged the bullet again in the summertime with um not having really serious uh forest fires.

We didn't have the wind factor that uh would create uh a firestorm or a havoc.

Um and and I also see the correlation in uh if you correct me if I'm wrong with uh homeless camps being um probably a possible cause.

Some of the yeah, the the these let me just I'm gonna go back up here into my uh my July August.

We did have some brush fire mill hill, uh brush fire in Thetis Lake, Francis King.

Francis King was an accidental fire, but the the Thetis Lake and the uh the the um the mill hill fires were directly attributed to uh camping in the parks, whether that's homeless or that's um you know people partying and camping in the park, uh there is a component to it.

These aren't they aren't accidental fires.

They're you know, as a result of leaving a campfire undattended or some other nefarious act in the park that causes the fire.

Okay, thank you.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Um again uh congratulations on the uh very successful Halloween night.

Uh the attendance was absolutely remarkable.

Really nice to see the uh what 21 uh members that were there to help out.

Amazing.

What was uh also remarkable was um the safety of uh the crosswalk that's uh pedestrian controlled crosswalk you know I was really remarkable how um all those individuals that were moving um um from one side of the highway to the next to to gain access to the fire department.

And I'm really, really pleased that we've been able to put that uh that light available year round.

I recall the uh the difficulty, extraordinary difficulty to get consent and and uh and finally get it in.

So I'm I'm I'm really pleased to see the uh the safety that it provides today.

Um just another question.

You had a interesting visitor at the fire hall uh on Halloween.

Can you tell us about that?

I did.

Uh so I I had this young uh this young lady standing in the parking lot for about 15 minutes watching me.

I was having a conversation with one of the residents, and I actually said to the resident, I said, This is kind of odd.

There's these two young girls, probably 16, 17 year olds.

They're obviously talking about me and staring, and finally, one of them comes over and she says, uh, she says, Hi, you don't remember me, do you?

Do you know who I am?

Of course, panic sets in.

I live on paddock.

And I uh I said, No, I don't know who you are.

I don't recall who you are.

And she said, Oh, I'm my name's Katrina.

You rescued me from a house fire 10 years ago.

So uh we had a really good conversation.

Uh it was unexpected.

It was a it was a great surprise.

She's doing well.

She uh she's finishing school, she has a job, she lives in the same home that uh she was living in at the time of the fire.

Um, you know, I said, uh, you don't you don't get second chances like that uh in life because when she was pulled from the fire, she was obviously in a cardiac arrest and and she was deceased.

So to get a second chance like that, and then for her to come up was a pretty special moment.

We uh took a picture together and I wished her well and welcomed her back at any time.

And uh it was it was definitely nice to uh to close that loop that she'd uh been successful in life so far.

I told her she has to she has to maintain that trajectory and and make sure she um she doesn't waste that.

What you don't mention is the fact how you rushed into the burning building to uh find it.

You don't mention that.

We're just doing her job, boss.

Yeah, just amazing.

Paul, just uh one uh last question.

Um, will you uh be um be available for those of members of council that want to take a tour, a detailed tour of the facility, and um give us an idea of what's happening gonna happen in the next four years?

You're you're more than welcome to come on a tour, and if you'd like to discuss what's happening uh over the next four years, I would defer you to my CAO, who'd be more than happy to attend with me and book that appointment in conjunction with me.

There we go.

How do how they do?

Pretty good?

Yeah more than more than happy John um and uh it uh yeah I it's uh again it's your for a fire station it's uh we're pretty proud of that building and the and the people work there so you're you're always more than welcome to come by and and see the building and and have a cup of coffee.

Counselor Lemmon you had a question uh a comment and a short question and Halloween was big for you that they um send off of Rob Smith as well.

So absolutely yeah, so the whole evening was kind of momentous.

It was good.

Rob was uh Rob is the longest serving volunteer in the history of the department.

He uh Stan Bell did thirty-six years and Rob Smith did thirty-six years in one day.

So Rob Rob has the honor of being the longest serving uh volunteer in the history of uh the department, which is which is commendable.

He wore his old uh his original turnout gear, which is terrifying.

With ropes hanging up.

I was like, yeah.

So it was it was great.

It was uh it was nice to see him.

He's gonna stay with the emergency program and and still come out on drill nights and and help the recruits out.

So we're pleased that he's gonna stick with us.

Yeah.

Quick question.

Um the 13 bylaw um park visits, were they were they camping related?

They could be.

Um I can get you the details on those.

Um they could they could be anything from an um someone complains of an off-leash dog and Jim goes down and looks for it.

I'll get you the what the uh the actual the actual numbers were, whether it was a homeless issue or whether it was a it could be it could be anything in the park, dumping garbage in the park.

Yeah, these lots of that.

Okay, thank you, Paula.

The C or D uh contract with the C R D for animal control.

Yes.

In a previous year's when I was in the position of chief biofficer, I used to come here quarterly and make a report.

And it would be nice to see that even once a year, even uh I did talk to Mark Grew, who's my my replacement today, and said I would mention it tonight.

And he's quite happy to come um perhaps quarterly, I think maybe March, June, September, December, uh to make a short report because I'd be interested in knowing you know what kind of animal activity is happening out there.

More than happy.

I could I'll arrange that through our contract is uh due apparently by the end of this year.

I think you there was some mention that it was next year, but the contract is due for renewal at the end of this year.

Perhaps we can sit down and discuss animal control, and I get your uh your sage advice on where we should go with that.

Good.

Thanks, thanks.

Any further questions?

Oh, Allison's oh good.

Hello.

Councillor McKenzie.

Um so you don't need to name them, but um if do you have a perspective in terms of a preference in terms of the risk of fire and spreading a fire for the camping?

Like, are there places that are better for it than others?

Well, obviously, um if I look at our map, um, and thankfully, and and I say this, you know, with with all reverence to our CRD bylaw folks, thankfully Thetis Lake and Mill Hill is not our jurisdiction for bylaw enforcement.

There's a significant camping element in both of those parks.

Um, you know, obviously any fire that gets out of hand in those parks could be massively devastating.

We had the one the one fire this summer at the top of Seymour Hill as a result of a homeless camp.

Um, you know, obviously in the middle of a field versus uh out of sight in a forest is is a far better solution.

Um it's a it's a difficult issue because you know, any form of uh campfires, open burning, uh anything that produces smoke or or spark is not permitted by bylaw in the town.

So we run into a bit of a situation where we have a we have a homeless camp with a an open fire and these people are trying to stay warm or they're trying to cook dinner, and then you have to do the balancing act of, you know, if I ask them to extinguish the fire, they don't eat tonight or they're not they're not warm tonight.

So it's a it's a very difficult uh balancing act.

But I'd say any, you know, obviously out in the open is is far more preferable than hidden away somewhere in the uh the parks in the backwoods.

Any other questions?

Thank you, Chair.

I don't have a representative of the um development services here, so I'll speak to this report.

Um the building report covers the months of July, August, September, and October, and the most significant information on the report would be the multifamily permits that have been issued.

And you'll note that the July and the August numbers are identical.

I'm hoping that's coincidence.

But I'll get back to you and confirm either way, whether or not it's coincidence.

Um they are significant numbers.

Um in addition to those large numbers, the October report also includes a multifamily item uh in excess of 22 million dollars.

Those um numbers represent issuance of building permits for uh the excavation of projects that are significant.

Uh July would be a nine Erskine.

Um the other two would be um three Helmkin, the corner of Burnside and Helmkin, and um also the corner of Helmton and Holland Highway.

If you have questions about the detail, um I can certainly refer those to staff and respond to you by email.

That's the report.

Thank you.

Council Rogers, you have a question?

Yes, thank you.

Yeah, a comment.

Um, really impressed with uh the month end of October, um, our third best, maybe the best year in comparison dating back to 2015.

So it's really, really remarkable.

Um, do we expect that uh with that's October, two more months to go that it will increase further?

Well, the numbers are misleading.

The uh the amount that's described on the document is an accurate number.

However, the um the number will be matched over time with the life of the construction of the building.

And so if 10% of the building is constructed in the current year and the other 90% and following years, it means that 90% of that revenue would be deferred for future years.

And so while the the the numbers look great um it all depends on how much of that building is complete this year to realize that revenue in the current year.

Questions?

Thank you.

Um, I've well, this is the first time Arts and Culture has been on committee of the whole agenda, so not yet.

I have no report.

Thank you.

I'll pass it on to my next colleague.

I believe that is me.

So I've got no report this evening.

We're down to uh six point three finance and administration.

Uh business arriving rising from previous minutes, uh seeing none, and staff reports commencing with a vehicle fleet replacement plan update.

Yes.

Good afternoon, Mayor Tobias, members of council.

My name is Stephen Vella, and I'm the manager of accounting here at the town of V Royal.

In front of you is a staff report which speaks to future vehicle replacement, and I have a few high-level points to review.

Uh, if you have any questions, myself or members of the management team will be happy to uh address them.

Uh council received the inaugural plan in 2018.

It is a living document prepared in consultation uh with the directors of engineering and protective services and is refreshed ahead of budget discussions each year as part of the town's commitment to asset management and fiscal sustainability.

Planned vehicle replacement is preferred over reactive replacement, as this ensures the smoothing of annual costs to the taxpayer while delivering desired levels of service and preserving the safety of staff and the public.

Consists of 25 vehicles, ranging in age from newly acquired to 31 years old.

Condition assessments were conducted based on reliability and maintenance requirements with 14 vehicles or 56 percent of the fleet being in either very good or excellent condition.

In the context of environmental sustainability, staff will continue to balance the practical needs of the town with market availability of more fuel efficient and environmentally sensitive options where appropriate.

The plan incorporates the financial impact of the town's move toward a greener vehicle fleet, supporting View Royal's goal of carbon neutrality.

Annual reserve contributions to the machinery and equipment and fire department machinery and equipment reserves remain unchanged and will sustain positive reserve balances over the next 20 years.

Staff recommend that the committee receive this report for information in advance of budget workshops planned for February of 2023, allowing for further discussion uh regarding the timing and funding options of this plan.

Thank you.

Councilor Rogers.

Hi, thanks staff for the report.

Um it it is certainly interesting that um we're okay so far, but it looks like uh we could have some challenges with uh the the fire department and uh vehicle replacement there.

Uh that's just a comment.

Appendix B is the five-year um excerpt and plans over the um uh replacement plan.

For those um identified uh in in various years of replacement, are those um uh for lack of better term, uh green vehicles, the EV vehicles are you taking those into account when you do the cost estimates per uh per column.

The cost estimates were provided by uh the directors of engineering and and uh protective services so they may be able to speak uh further to that.

Okay.

So yeah, that would that would be helpful.

I don't know if we um uh we would know that right off the bat but perhaps in the next report or as a as a a follow up um we can get a sense of how much we are actually dealing with uh vehicle replacement and the electrical vehicles and so on um particularly when we consider the uh the targets we uh we are needing to set in the climate action strategy and i think that speaks to uh mr brown's uh concerns and comments thank you any other questions council brown yeah, I see you got in there the report about uh e vs and the hybrid vehicles, which is great to see uh but there's nothing in there um projecting the cost savings, because there's certainly cost savings in fuel and uh maintenance of those EVs and hybrid vehicles, but that should be taken into consideration because uh it's a situation of uh pay now or pay later, because uh over the long term, typically uh hybrid or EV vehicles uh last longer, don't require as much maintenance, and obviously don't take the uh the amount of fuel that gas vehicles do.

Absolutely.

If I may, Chair, just to also clarify um another metric that's uh especially when it comes to engineering of parks that we look at is level of service.

So um staff has been actively looking at uh uh electric vehicles, hybrid vehicle options for our work trucks, for example.

Uh what we've found so far is that most of those hybrid electric trucks are for consumer vehicles.

And what I mean by that is that it's mostly um short truck boxes with a large cab in the back.

And unfortunately, when it comes to uh what the parks needs, they need actually a longer truck box, like an actual work vehicle.

And what we've what we've realized is that there's not really a market for that right now.

So right now we're trying to balance those um those metrics because ultimately if the truck box is too small, then what is sacrificed is the level of service.

And what I mean by that is that people have to do more than one trip, maybe two or three trips, just to get the same job done with a smaller vehicle.

Just another metric that staff is is considering as well when we when we look at these vehicles.

Move your seat.

Thank you.

Council Levin.

Uh we have an advisory committee structure report from the director of corporate administration.

Correct.

Thank you, Mayor Tobias.

Uh Don Christensen here, Director of Financial Services.

I'm happy to bring you this report.

For those of you on council who may be unfamiliar with this particular report, it is something that we do monthly, and so the format will, I'm sure, become familiar to you within a short period of time.

The idea with this report is really transparency when it comes to the financial situation of the town.

One of the ways we do this is through the budget variance dashboard available on our website.

This report is it expands on that a little bit more in that the dashboard that is updated weekly and available on our website really focuses on the operational result financial results and that being operational revenues and expense, as well as updates on the various types of projects that are on the go and approved in the budget for 2022 for the current year.

This report expands that a little bit more to not only give you the whole picture being the consolidated financial situation at the to the period stated, but it also attempts to explain a little bit of the why.

Why are some numbers above or below budget and how you know we provide our provide our professional lens on how are we actually doing.

So that's really what this report is about.

And and the approach that it takes is basically we analyze the numbers and we bring to your attention those areas of the budget that maybe apparently look perhaps that they are not, you know, they are above or below target, and we try to explain why that might be and what council can expect the position to be by the end of the year.

Not in terms perhaps of exact number projections at this point in time, but certainly whether or not we expect to be at or near the target, the budget target.

So rather than go into detail if council has had a chance to look at this report, I'm just simply happy to answer any questions you might have.

I also will rely on some of the other senior directors in the meeting to be able to answer more specific questions about their areas.

Otherwise, this report is just available for the committee to receive.

Thank you.

Thank you, Director.

Questions?

Councilor Mass.

As usual, very good report.

Thank you.

Yes.

Thanks, Staff.

Page two of nine, you say that revenues are greater than expected, but they're going to reserves.