Minutes of the West Shore Parks and Recreation Society Board of Directors Meeting

1. Call to Order

The Chair called the meeting to order at 7:10PM.

2. Approval of Agenda

Director Rob Martin: Item to be added under New Business – Agenda by mail Item to be removed and deferred to the next meeting – Item 8 b) Royal Bay Fields Report

MOVED/SECONDED by Directors Arnie Hamilton and Terry Young that the AMENDED Agenda be approved. CARRIED

3. Approval of Minutes

MOVED/SECONDED by Directors Heidi Rast and Winnie Sifert that the Minutes of the regular meeting held June 13, 2013 be adopted as circulated. CARRIED

4. Chair’s Remarks

Director Rob Martin welcomed the group with the following opening remarks:

• Thank you for the good turnout
• Summer for WSPRS was spectacular – incredibly busy with programs
• I had the opportunity of spending a lot of time with staff and just want to say we have a great staff!
• A lot of professionalism across the board – truly inspiring
• With respect to recent discussions re a Mayor's meeting that has been held, I want to clarify this is an issue that has nothing to do with this Board and nothing we need to concern ourselves with
• As you may have heard, Mike Hicks has resigned as a Director – he was a positive addition to the Board and it is sad to see him leave

QUESTION: Director Moralea Milne: Have we heard about a replacement for him? ANSWER: Nothing formal yet

• Linda is away on vacation (Sep 9 to 25 inclusive) and Wade is acting in her absence
• Rock the Shores 2013 was a great event in July – more on that later in the meeting
• September registration is strong – up since last year
• Shamrocks are hosting the Mann Cup at BMA and are currently down 3 to 2 in the series
• The Royal Bay ribbon cutting ceremony will be on Sep 27 at 10:00AM – invitation for all to attend

5. Public Participation

2 members of Juan de Fuca Seniors Centre

• Ruth: Expressed thanks to Wade and all the maintenance staff for the good work they did with the renovations in the Lounge – great work and everyone is very happy with the improvements.

6. Standing Committees

a) Finance

Shawn recapped discussions that took place in the Finance Committee prior to the Board Meeting that evening:

• the Committee had not met since April, so good to close the gap

• looked at the Year-To-Date Quarterly Review (to June)

• revenues at 45% of budget – being met by operations cost control

• summers are typically busy and this summer was no exception

• a lot of food and beverage being generated by BMA

• things looking pretty positive for a good year – possibly a surplus

• major repairs at just above 50% – only due to the timing of the year – innovative ideas from staff keeping costs down (e.g., $20,000 savings with sewage pump replacement by researching alternative American source for this required piece)

• testament to the continued commitment by WSPR to manage monies responsibly

• discussion around the timeline for rolling out the 2014 Budget

• the Committee will meet on Oct 10 (before the Board Meeting scheduled that night) to walk through the highlights of the draft budget

• a more in depth meeting will take place the following Thursday, Oct 17 to finalize the draft budget

• the draft budget will go forward for Board approval on Nov 14

• once approved, it should be ready to distribute to the member municipalities by Nov 18

• the Committee approved a recommendation for salary increments for exempt staff to move from CPI (Canadian Price Index) to CUPE Local 1978

• Brian Merryweather explained that increases calculated using CUPE increases provides a more level playing field and is better for budget forecasting

• Director Heidi Rast was not in favour of the change saying that CPI is what View Royal uses and it is good optically to have a separation between unionized employees and management

• the Motion to base salary increases for exempt staff on the Union Collective Agreement was carried, with opposition from Director Heidi Rast recorded

• discussion over the funding for Royal Bay Fields resulted in a motion for staff to bring back more information with respect to the long term impact of different financial scenarios. Item deferred to the Oct 10 Financial Committee Meeting.

DISCUSSION: Director Lanny Seaton: You better have a discussion with Langford before you go too far with this. Director Rob Martin: The Board has already approved going forward in this direction and entering into an agreement with the SD – we already have that commitment. Director David Screech: I don't know if there was ever a commitment by this Board to enter into a formal agreement other than working with the SD from an operating/maintaining perspective. Maybe it needs to be discussed now.

Director Cynthia Day: I would like to express that even with all the fields that we have, field allocation is continually an issue and there is certainly a real need for families in our communities for these fields.

Director Lanny Seaton: The field study showed that many of the school fields were not up to a good quality – our Parks Department had the ability to bring the standard of the fields up. If you’re putting grass fields down at Royal Bay you’re going to have a problem with geese.

Director Shawn Wysiecki: This item is for general information at this point. More discussion is needed by the Financial Committee for the issue to proceed and at that time, it will be brought forward to the Board for further discussion and approval.

MOTION: MOVED/SECONDED by Directors Terry Young and Matt Sahlstrom that the report be received. CARRIED

b) Strategic Planning

Director Heidi Rast: Nothing to report at this time.

c) Grizzlies

Director Rob Martin: 2 items to be taken IN CAMERA.

d) CAO Committee – Performance Assessment

Director Rob Martin: Item to be taken IN CAMERA.

e) Policy Committee (Moralea)

Director Moralea Milne: Linda and I met over the summer to work on this – will be brought forward at our next meeting when Linda has returned.

7. New Business

a) Agenda by mail

General discussion with the Board expressing preference of continuing to receive hard copies of the Agenda and materials by mail.

Director Cynthia Day: Email is great but it can be hard to access. I’m in support of saving money but still prefer receiving a hard copy.

Director Ken Williams: I understand the incentive to go paperless but I still prefer having a hard copy package.

Director Terry Young: It’s good to be able to make notes on the hard copy before the meeting.

Director Rob Martin: Could we take a vote? All in favour of reverting back to the former practice of having the agenda and materials sent electronically, followed by a hard copy in the mail. ALL IN FAVOUR. CARRIED

FURTHER DISCUSSION: QUESTION: Annie Mulcahy: People have expressed a security concern about IN CAMERA materials being sent via email, how do you prefer I distribute those? ANSWER: Cover page of IN CAMERA Agenda to be sent electronically, all IN CAMERA Reports and background material to be sent by mail only. Director Heidi Rast: And if the Agenda and all the attachments could be scanned into one continuous PDF document it would be easier to open than having the Agenda with the reports and background materials as separate attachments.

8. Old Business

a) Rock the Shores 2013 Report

Director Rob Martin introduced Geoff Welham, Arena & Events Coordinator to report out on the financial results of the July Event:

• 2nd year working with Atomique Productions to pull off this large scale concert
• 10,000 people attended each of the 2 days
• many changes were made from the first year to improve the logistics and general flow and we were able to make a couple of changes to increase revenues this year
• by extending our existing liquor licenses and were able to get a cut of the liquor sales – this resulted in approx. $43,000 in additional revenues over the first year
• a ticketing surcharge brought in another $2,600
• food sales were also a source of revenue as we provided a food tent this year that added a net revenue of approx. $4,000
• the field rental contract was $35,000 plus some incidental rentals of $1,200 (upper lounge, golf carts etc.) make up the remainder of revenue realized
• expenses listed in the staff report were inclusive of staff wages, DND security, road opening costs and all costs associated with field maintenance

DISCUSSION: Wade Davies pointed out an error in the bottom line of the figures in the Staff Report. It should read: Total Gross Revenue of $92,805, less Total Expenses of $34,993 = Total Net Revenue of $57,812

QUESTION: Director Heidi Rast: How are places like the BMX Track affected by the event? ANSWER: (Geoff Welham) We give them advance notice so they can work around it with as little impact as possible. For example, the golf course stayed open in the mornings. There is a lot of communication around the event.

QUESTION: Director Moralea Milne: How was the traffic flow? ANSWER: Geoff Welham: Traffic flow was fantastic. (about 5,000 people arrived by bicycle)

DISCUSSION: Director Cynthia Day: I want to say it was all very well done. Really something to take away – a positive reflection on our organization.

QUESTION: Director Terry Young: What about the numbers in proportion to the food and beverage revenues? Couldn’t we still increase revenue? Concession is a big, big money maker – a 10,000 per day population should bring in bigger amounts. ANSWER: Geoff Welham: We did a lot of research to prepare for the best results this year and we did take a bigger risk with licensing that paid off. We don’t have the final budget in but we are happy with the numbers.

DISCUSSION: Director Shawn Wysiecki: I was at the event and that it was all very well done. The only question I can see is around the logistics of the beer garden – once you get in there, there’s no incentive to leave. How much does WSPR get involved in the logistics? Geoff Welham: We worked closely with logistics of that. If the whole event was licensed it would take away from the family atmosphere, but we can still work more on that – look at different layouts, etc.

Director Rob Martin: We can always fine tune things. The bottom line is that this year, over a 2-day period, we brought in a little over $57,000 net. Let’s celebrate that. I was at a Protected Services Meeting last night that people were talking about RTS – this is a great event and gives West Shore a great reputation.

MOTION: MOVED/SECONDED by Directors Heidi Rast and Terry Young that the report be received. CARRIED

b) Neighbourhood Learning Centres (NCLs) Report

Wade Davies gave update as follows:

• we've been in talks with SD62 and are now at a point where we want to enter into a formal agreement
• we have the opportunity to lease space in brand new facilities – the SD is doing all the building, all they’re looking for is someone to contribute to operating costs
• we would remove our programs out of Centennial Centre into the new NLCs – there would be no actual extra cost as we would be using funds we currently have designated for CC

DISCUSSION: Director Lanny Seaton expressed his concerns about mixing under-age children with high school age children. He was unaware that we were going to do away with CC, and that Langford just recently put in a new water park next to CC. Wade Davies: There are preschool and day care programs designated in schools. And the problem with CC is that we'd be looking at significant costs to maintain and operate it. The building requires extensive upgrades. We have a huge opportunity here that we don’t want to miss. It will not cost any additional money for us to move our recreational programs into new facilities and we will prevent the cost of having to invest money into CC for the upgrades necessary to be able to continue to use that facility.

Director Cynthia Day: I am part of the Family Justice Committee and we have been looking at the NLCs and child care options. Part of the ministry's mandate is to create useful spaces. CC has been a good space for us but I’d like to move forward with the NLCs – it’s the only way we’re going to get programming.

QUESTION: Director Terry Young: I’d like to support the idea, but what about cleaning costs? ANSWER: Wade Davies: That will not be our cost – they’ve given us a $ per square foot. Director Terry Young: What will we do with our staff at CC? Wade Davies: We hire 2-3 hours a day at CC – auxiliaries off the end. Director Terry Young: I just don't want to see duplication. Wade Davies: There would be no extra staff – that staff just wouldn't be called – it wouldn't be doubled up.

Director Rob Martin: We’re looking for a motion.

MOTION: MOVED/SECONDED by Directors David Screech and Shawn Wysiecki for the Society to enter in a formal agreement with School District 62 for the lease and use of space for recreational programming at the NLCs at Royal Bay High School and Belmont High School. CARRIED

9. For Information

a) Publicity at WSPR this summer

For information only.

MOVED/SECONDED by Directors Heidi Rast and David Screech that the information be received. CARRIED

b) Human Resources Report

Brian Merryweather presented these two items

1. West Shore / CUPE Local 1978 – Bursary Award
   • WSPR and CUPE Local 1978 awarded a $1,000 bursary to 4 deserving post-secondary students, being dependants of WSPR employees
2. Staffing Report – May-August 2013
   • $30,000 grant received for full time summer students
   • Manager of Recreation position has been successfully filled and we are pleased to announce the appointment of Sandy Clarke, who will begin mid-October
   • We received about 90 applications for the posting of some very high quality applicants, encouraging indication that WSPR has become an employer of choice WSPR
   • Sandy will be bringing a wealth of experience having worked for many years with the City of Victoria together with her many talents, creativity and lovely, upbeat approach to people, work and life

MOVED/SECONDED by Directors Heidi Rast and Moralea Milne that the information be received. CARRIED

c) Administrator’s Report

For information only.

MOVED/SECONDED by Directors Shawn Wysiecki and Ken Williams that the information be received. CARRIED

10. In Camera

MOVED/SECONDED by Directors Cynthia Day and Matt Sahlstrom that the Board move to IN CAMERA. CARRIED

11. Adjournment

MOVED/SECONDED by Directors Shawn Wysiecki and Ken Williams that the Board Meeting be adjourned at 8:55PM. CARRIED