Attachment "B" ADVISORY COMMITTEE RESTRUCTURING

ADVISORY COMMITTEE RESTRUCTURING

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the Planning and Development Advisory Committee and the Transportation Advisory Committee be disbanded;

AND THAT a new Community Development Advisory Committee be established;

AND THAT the amended “Advisory Committee Mandates” be approved;

AND FURTHER THAT the amended “Advisory Committee Procedures” be approved.

CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER’S COMMENTS:

I concur with the recommendation.

PURPOSE OF REPORT:

To propose a revised Advisory Committee structure and amendment to the “Mandates” and “Procedures” for Advisory Committees.

BACKGROUND:

The current Advisory Committee structure has been in place for approximately twelve years with various “tweaks” through time to its structure and associated procedures to best meet operational needs (see Attachment “A” for existing “Mandates” and “Procedures”).

Since 2014 there has been discussion about making larger modifications to the Advisory Committee structure and their tasks to address several factors that have been noted. Firstly, there are changing circumstances in the municipality – it should be noted that these changing circumstances may be attributable to a number of factors, including but not limited to, the larger economy, completion of the Official Community Plan and new Zoning Bylaw, shifting demographics and home ownership trends, etc.

Secondly, a review of the meetings held and motions made from the three Advisory Committees since the November 2014 municipal elections indicates the following:

Planning and Development Advisory Committee Of the seven potential meetings, four have been held and three have been cancelled due to the lack of agenda items. No motions were made at the four meetings held.
Parks, Recreation and Environment Advisory Committee Of the seven potential meetings, five have been held and two have been cancelled due to the lack of agenda items. Twelve motions have been made at the five meetings held.
Transportation Advisory Committee Of the seven potential meetings, four have been held with two cancelled due to lack of quorum and one canceled due to lack of agenda items. Two motions have been made at the five meetings held.

Finally, Council members have received feedback from committee members who indicate that they want to be productive and helpful but that they have not felt their volunteer time has been beneficial to the Town of late.

These changing circumstances, activity levels and personal reflections of Advisory Committee volunteers prompted the request by Council, at its January 12, 2016 Committee of the Whole meeting, to have the Mayor and Administrative staff meet with Advisory Committee Chairs and Vice-Chairs. This meeting was held on February 22, 2016 and the remainder of this report addresses proposals discussed at that meeting.

DISCUSSION:

Feedback from attendees at the February 22, 2016 confirmed Council’s belief that it is exceedingly important to ensure that volunteer time spent is both meaningful and contributory to the Town’s wellness and Strategic Plan objectives. It was also confirmed that the Town has evolved out of its “start-up phase” and has now moved into a community development or engagement phase where sustainability, resilience and networking should be cultivated with a view to creating “genius loci” – a sense of place – for those who live and/or work in View Royal.

It is proposed that the Planning and Development Advisory Committee and the Transportation Advisory Committee be disbanded and that a new Community Development Advisory Committee be established. This new Advisory Committee could be tasked to focus on not only development applications as required but also on more of the intangibles that increase community pride such as community events and neighbourhood resiliency. As well, there was a desire expressed at the meeting to ensure that the work of the Advisory Committees advances Council’s Strategic Plan priorities. The attached amendments to the “Mandates” and “Procedures” reflect the changes proposed to the Advisory Committees (see Attachments “B” (“redlined” version) and “C” (proposed amended version)).