Minutes of the West Shore Parks and Recreation Society Board of Directors Meeting
Minutes from the March 10, 2022, meeting discussing facility operations, program updates, and staff reports.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Minutes of the West Shore Parks and Recreation Society Board of Directors Meeting
Thursday, March 10th, 2022, in Seniors Centre 201
PRESENT: Directors Damian Kowalewich (acting chair), Stewart Parkinson, Leslie Anderson, Roger Wade
ABSENT: Kyara Kahakauwila (chair)
STAFF PRESENT: Grant Brown, administrator Wei Wu, manager of finance and administration Wade Davies, manager of operations Geoff Welham, manager of recreation April Luchinski, manager of human resources Teresa Janisch, recorder
PUBLIC PRESENT: N/A
CALL TO ORDER
- The chair called the meeting to order at 5:30PM.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
- MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS WADE AND ANDERSON THAT THE AMENDED AGENDA BE APPROVED AS PRESENTED. CARRIED
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
- MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS STEWART AND ANDERSON THAT THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING HELD FEBRUARY 10TH, 2022, BE APPROVED AS PRESENTED. NO ERRORS, NO OMMISIONS. CARRIED
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
- N/A
CHAIR’S REMARKS
- Damian Kowalewich, acting chair, commented on the following:
- Thank you to everyone for their hard work and welcome back to our first in-person meeting. And welcome to Wei Wu who we are now able to meet in-person.
STANDING COMMITTEES
- N/A
OLD BUSINESS
- N/A
NEW BUSINESS
- N/A
FOR INFORMATION
9. a) Parks report
Bryan Wood, parks supervisor, is not able to attend tonight so we will move the Parks presentation to April’s board meeting. Arena & Events will also be presented at that time.
b) Call for Artists
Geoff Welham, manager of recreation, highlighted the following:
- We have officially launched the art project in the JDF Childcare Centre, the West Shore room and the Youth room. There are three types of honorariums being offered: municipal artists; indigenous artists; and youth artists. A press release has gone out and information has been released on social media. Information will be sent out to each of the municipal hall contacts. Completion date expected in June for the AGM.
Some group discussion by the board members in regards to the artists being evaluated by WSPRS arts & culture staff and a municipal representative. The local artists voiced concern that they want to be involved in the selection process. At this time, there will not be any changes made. Geoff stated that once artists have been chosen by the committee, WSPRS staff will confirm with the board members who that artist will be for their municipality.
c) Statistics Report
Grant Brown, administrator, commented on the following:
- This report started last year and has now been updated with the statistics from 2021. The #1 drop-in users are from the pool, fitness and skating rink. The report provides no budgetary impact, strictly for information purposes only.
The board asked if memberships were included in the drop-in fees and they are. These are an accumulated amount of admissions from 2018 to 2021 (four years’ worth).
d) Administrator’s Report
Grant Brown, administrator, highlighted the following:
Administration/Human Resources
The finance team continues working through year-end financials. The annual audit begins the week of March 7th, with KPMG staff on site. Financial reporting challenges with the new software continue to be investigated and corrected. Such challenges are to be expected with the move to a new system as staff learn how to correctly configure the financial back-end.
The new collective agreement has arrived and been distributed to staff. The annual review of the Respectful Workplace policy continues with a few staff still to complete. WorkSafeBC requires that employers ensure all staff review such policies annually. WSPRS develops questionnaires and surveys each year to ensure understanding. The Flexible Workweek trial as agreed upon during contract negotiations has been presented to eligible staff. This is a joint venture with the union beginning in March. Work continues on training staff regarding competencies, performance management and coaching supervisors with challenging conversations.
The JDF Seniors Association reopened with a soft launch on February 22nd, accepting members who were registered in 2020. Once they have assessed their membership and level of volunteers required, they will look at opening to a wider audience in the future. This will be assessed regularly.
Operations
Maintenance Auxiliary staffing levels are now meeting our needs. Next steps will be: getting the new hires up to speed, trained, and ticketed. Existing staff performance reviews are well underway.
Ongoing disinfection in rooms continues as we have increased our sani-sport mobile unit schedule.
Grizzly games are running fast and furious as they ramp up for playoffs. We have had a few glass replacement incidents in The Q Centre Arena during games. All replaced and more replacements on order. Maintenance areas are getting a spring cleaning in advance of room shutdowns. The Indoor Sports Complex (ISC) netting was restrung to remove sagging. Some floor refinishing occurred in the clubhouse, the Q Centre Arena bathrooms along with some touch up painting in the ISC and the Q Centre Arena lounge. Annual shutdowns this month included the lower fieldhouse, upper fieldhouse and golf pro shop.
Plumbing and electrical work continues in the clubhouse and annual emergency lighting checks have started. We are working on cable installation to accommodate scanners at the pool for the new Intelligenz recreation software. Some final work around the JDF second floor is being completed including window seals and drywall work around the elevator. A few plumbing issues at Centennial Center resulted in some fixture changes, and pool issues around lockers and floor tiles were resolved.
Mechanically, work has started and is ongoing to develop a new service contract with Cimco for the ice plant rooms. Twice annual service of the JDF tunnel air handling unit was completed, the pre-heat coil was cleaned, and several air leaks to the pneumatic system were also repaired. Quarterly plant room inspections were completed.
Use of pro maintainer software to plan and track safety inspections for all departments was implemented. The JDF arena and the Q Centre Arena plant room vestibules were overhauled and set up with better organization. Both plant rooms received their twice annual deep cleaning.
Parks The team is preparing for the busy growing season and ensuring the outdoor facilities are prepared for the upcoming spring season. Two seasonal team members have returned following their winter break. Crews will be deep tine aerating the fields as part of regular maintenance. Garden beds are being readied for spring plantings. The power washing of hardscapes has started.
Programs
Community Recreation WSPRS is now home to 13 wooden animals hidden amongst the trees along the Garry Oak walking trail. This art installation was graciously donated by artist Paul Lewis. We encourage the community to walk around the Garry Oak loop to see how many creations they can spot. Stay tuned for a photo contest and event associated with this art installation.
Registration for 10-month preschool programs opened on February 16th with a great response. Spaces will be allocated with priority given to current preschool families, siblings of current preschool families, current daycare and Bright Beginning families, and then new families.
Danielle Turner started in the afterschool care programmer role in a part-time capacity and will commence full time in April. Carly Nurmsoo has now left for her 18-month maternity leave. Interviews also started for the summer supervisor positions with great interest from internal staff. Two staff are required to provide support for the summer camps in July and August. Pro D day camps ran on February 18th with 135 children in a variety of camps including active, licensed, engineering for kids, and horseback riding.
The Call for Artists team began to develop the package for 3 projects:
- Local art representing each municipality for the childcare spaces.
- Indigenous art for the west shore room.
- Youth art for the new youth room.
The application for submissions was released at the beginning of March and will be open until April 1st. Staff look forward to working with municipal staff from the 5 owner municipalities to help select an artist from each municipality to work with.
Aquatics, Fitness and Weights On February 17th, Public Health Order restrictions were lifted for fitness and weights, permitting the weightroom and fitness classes to return to full capacity with no reservations or physical distancing measures in place. Proof of Vaccine and masking still remain in effect.
The weightroom will continue with added safety measures, such as personal cleaning spray bottles, enhanced cleaning procedures, and distanced equipment spacing.
Drop-in fitness classes will remain reservable, permitting patrons to reserve their spot in a class through the website up to 2 weeks in advance. In person drop-ins remain available, space permitting. This method has received positive feedback by both patrons and reception in helping to streamline the check-in process and experience. Several new program offerings, such as Pound Fitness (using weighted drumsticks) and Jumping Fitness (using small trampolines) have started off with great interest and success.
Arena, Events and Golf Even with cold weather at the end of February, the golf course rounds played are the top 10 highest for the month since 1999. Alcoholic beverages continue to be a popular commodity with the golfers - the most popular beers in January 2022 were: #1 Lucky Lager; #2 Lighthouse; #3 Budweiser; #4 Keith’s; and #5 Coors Light.
Top five sales items in the concession for Grizzlies and Wolves games for January: #1 Popcorn – 485 bags; #2 Pop – 402 bottles; #3 Chocolate bars – 336 bars; #4 Fries – 286 orders; #5 Hot Chocolate – 221 cups. Honourable mention: Hot Dogs – 190 hot dogs.
Those sales were from five Grizzlies and five Wolves games. The West Shore Wolves are heading into playoffs and the Grizzlies begin BCHL playoffs the April 1st weekend.
Inclusion, Diversity and Equity
Human Resources has added Diversity and Inclusion into the core competencies for staff:
Diversity and Inclusion: Participates in building a culture of trust and respect to ensure others feel comfortable to share perspective, identity, and life experiences. Staff demonstrates the following:
- Seeks to increase self-awareness of diversity and inclusion; is mindful of personal prejudices.
- Supports new ideas and different perspectives shared by team members and ensures everyone is equally engaged, invested and sharing power.
- Recognizes inclusion as an important part of the work environment by modeling inclusive behaviors and encouraging others to do the same.
- Promptly addresses and responds to diversity situations (both positive and negative) with appropriate action to achieve a positive outcome.
Grant Brown, administrator, added the following to the report.
- We have now started discussions with the Grizzlies and the Shamrocks in regards to advertising. Staff are currently researching some of the potential options out there.
- Youth nights on Friday’s have been growing. Approximately 50+ kids are showing up for the youth only swim from 6:30 to 8:00PM and more are now staying after in the youth room (old childminding room) or accessing the ISC. Activities in the ISC will grow as we move forward.
The board asked what the youth are doing. Geoff commented that after the swim they are heading into the youth room and making snacks, watching videos, listening to music, hanging out, or on the ISC floor playing soccer or other sports. It’s completely supervised by our youth leaders. There is a wide variety of kids aged 9 to 15/16 attending. This creates positive recreational experiences for the youth.
- Information on the skateboard park will be forthcoming in the near future.
MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS PARKINSON AND ANDERSON THAT THE REPORTS for 9. A), B), C) AND D) BE RECEIVED AS PRESENTED. CARRIED
IN CAMERA
- N/A
ADJOURNMENT
- MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS WADE AND PARKINSON THAT THE MEETING BE ADJOURNED AT 5:54PM. CARRIED