Minutes of the West Shore Parks and Recreation Society Board of Directors Meeting Thursday, December 9th, 2021
Administrative minutes covering the society's board of directors meeting including administrator reports on recreation software and facility operations.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Minutes of the West Shore Parks and Recreation Society Board of Directors Meeting
Thursday, December 9th, 2021 in the Fieldhouse
PRESENT: Directors Kyara Kahakauwila (chair), Stewart Parkinson, Leslie Anderson
ABSENT: Roger Wade; Damian Kowalewich via cell phone
STAFF PRESENT: Grant Brown, administrator 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 PARKINSON AND ANDERSON THAT THE AGENDA BE APPROVED AS PRESENTED. CARRIED
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
- MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS PARKINSON AND ANDERSON THAT THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING HELD NOVEMBER 18TH, 2021 BE APPROVED AS PRESENTED. NO ERRORS, NO OMMISIONS. CARRIED
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
- N/A
CHAIR’S REMARKS
- Kyara Kahakauwila commented on the following:
- Thank you for the work on the grand opening and re-opening of the facilities this past Monday. I wasn’t able to attend but I heard great things. Congratulations.
- Merry Christmas to everyone and to all the other staff here at WSPRS.
STANDING COMMITTEES
- N/A
OLD BUSINESS
- N/A
NEW BUSINESS
- a) Meeting schedule for 2022 The 2022 meeting schedule was included in the agenda package. It was agreed by everyone in attendance that the West Shore room (aka boardroom) would be a sufficient space for 2022 meetings.
b) Declaration forms for 2021 These forms were emailed to the board members on December 1st, 2021, and they were asked to sign and email them back into the administrative assistant. One last form to follow-up on for Director Wade.
FOR INFORMATION
- a) Administrator’s Report Grant Brown, Administrator highlighted the following:
Administration/Human Resources
The finance team has seen their FTE’s drop with the departure of the manager and the temporary clerk coverage leaving earlier than expected. They continue to work diligently, preparing for the year-end process. KPMG will be onsite at the end of December to conduct a pre-audit for 2021 which will lessen their work in the spring.
The recreation software implementation and reception teams are working behind the scenes in preparation for the public launch of the new Intelligenz recreation software system. The new system launched on November 29th allowing patrons to set up their accounts, proof their existing information and peruse the winter 2022 program offerings. Winter registration begins December 9th for programs, with the exception of swimming lessons which opens December 16th.
Human resources continue to sort out the changes to the new collective agreement and are working closely with payroll on the retro payout. The first planning meeting was held with the union to develop the framework for the pilot flex time program, which is set to commence in March 2022 and will be evaluated over the following 12 months. Various labour relations issues are being dealt with and preparations have begun for an arbitration that is scheduled for early 2022. Year-end tasks have begun including the auditing of pay step increases and regular part time staff hours and the resulting effect on their leave entitlements. Performance management training with the maintenance supervisor and lead hands has been on going.
The grand opening event for the JDF Childcare Centre and the JDF Arena will be held on December 6th at 10:00AM at the entrances to the JDF Arena and Childcare Centre.
Operations
Maintenance
Staffing shortages and a lack of skilled applicants have led to work on an internal process for filling positions. Staff have implemented a new training strategy and the lead hands are going through performance review training to build a better crew faster and have better retention. Postings for auxiliary positions are ongoing.
Staff are moving through the buildings in the wake of larger projects completing. Scorekeepers’ box sound and phone issues were resolved in the JDF Arena and finishing work at Centennial Centre is being addressed after the roof completion, which includes the ceiling tiles and new air handling unit settings. The overall computer control energy management system is being evaluated to ensure we are receiving the expected return on energy savings. Work has started on the new UniFi door access card locks that will replace the current key entry system. The first two areas of installation include the JDF Arena and The Q Centre Arena ice plant rooms. This is a multi-year project that will lower the risk presented by lost keys and remove the costly re-keying of areas when keys are lost.
Some unexpected issues occurred in November including The Q Centre Arena compressor 3 which had a major motor failure and was replaced. The contactor for this motor failed as well and we are waiting for its replacement. The JDF Arena tunnel air handling unit is an old pneumatic system, which is over 45 years old and had various issues and repairs when started it back up after the lengthy shutdown. These included the contactor coil transformer and both exhaust fans in the changerooms failing. As well, the compressed air connections from the JDF basement were cut and capped during the upstairs renovations in error. There is exhaust and heat in those areas, however, staff are looking at upgrading parts of the system. The kid’s cottage heat had a failed over amp protection device and a faulty thermostat. Both issues were corrected, and the heat was setup to operate on 2 stages for better efficiency. New glass has been ordered for The Q Centre press box, which was damaged by an errant puck.
Parks
The grounds received over 9 inches of rain in November with above average temperatures. Damage was minimal and crews responded promptly to prevent further concern, including pumping out all catch basins and removing debris in their vicinity. Leaf clean-up is ongoing, and trees were planted in the newly renovated senior’s garden bed.
The grass fields saw more days closed to play than usual due to the high rainfall. Crews performed deep tine aeration of the grass fields. The mechanic performed semi-annual maintenance service on the 4 community recreation vehicles. The administration van failed its inspection due to the fuel hose being cut and parts have been ordered. Zamboni #4007 had its tires replaced and received auger and wash water pump repairs.
Programs
Community Recreation
Staff were excited to restart several drop-in and registered programs for youth in November. A partnership with the Pacific Centre Family Services Association commenced in November to run the LEGO group, a Trans and Queer youth drop-in program on Fridays in the youth room. One Pacific Centre staff and one WSPRS staff support the youth in weekly programming, activities, and social time. The LEGO group is only advertised through school counsellors and word of mouth and is not described as a Trans and Queer group so that youth can feel comfortable attending if they are not yet out to their families or friends.
To build on the success of the Friday night youth swim, staff have added additional Friday night activities for youth including access to the ISC from 7:30-9:00PM for drop-in sports as well as the youth room is now open from 6:00-9:00PM for a hang out. The fee to drop-in is only $2 for all these options and youth receive a wrist band as they enter and pay at reception to track them in the facility.
Home Alone classes and Cooking for Fun classes ran in November. Staff were trained in usage of the new kitchen space and youth enjoyed a Thai-tastic menu created in the new space.
The Community Development Programmer, Bobbi Neal, has been working with the seniors to prepare for their re-opening in the new year and accessing the building with Island Health’s new configuration.
Many job postings occurred for the Community Recreation area which include the afterschool care program assistant, recreation programmer youth/sports, RPT daycare ECEA and afterschool care driver positions. The afterschool care programmer posting will be sent out in early December in conjunction with a maternity leave.
Aquatics, Fitness and Weights
In the pool, November was a particularly difficult month with regards to staffing as many employees have required time off for health and school reasons. Despite having hired 7 new lifeguards/swim instructors this season, shift coverage has been a major challenge. Staff are proud that service disruptions have been rare and have taken great efforts in maintaining a minimum of 2 lifeguards for an average of 12-14 hours each day. There continues to be excellent overall usage of the pool and an increase in popularity during the Friday night youth swim and within the aqua yoga program.
In fitness, the Take Heart and Breathe Well Cardiac Rehabilitation program has officially started back up as of November 1st after nearly two years following the COVID-19 closures. The instructor has been busy connecting with past clients and completing intake assessments with new clients to re-establish the classes. This program is in partnership with Island Health and consists of a 12-week supervised cardiac exercise program designed for participants recovering from a cardiac event or chronic condition. Clients are referred to the program directly from their cardiologist or transferred from other program locations. It has been greatly encouraging to welcome these participants back to the facility.
Indoor cycling class numbers have been continually climbing with an average of 10 participants per class. Other evening classes such as body sculpt have also seen increasing attendance with full registration.
Sports
The November rain put a damper on the golf course, however, golfers are still playing when there is a glimpse of sunlight. Even with a slow fall, the yearly number of rounds played will be around 41,000-42,000 which put is 7th best on record. 64 adult and 11 youth winter passes have been sold. The youth pass is new and there was an increase of 4 adult winter passes compared to last year.
The JDF Arena was busy with well attended public skates, and skating lessons are busy with 320 registrants this set. There are 8 children taking private lessons and are booked for 11 weeks. Winter Wonderland is coming up in the JDF Arena, running December 11th to 15th with all available school and private rentals full.
The Mineral and Gem Show has cancelled all December events due to COVID-19 restrictions and look forward to working with them in the future.
Grizzlies and Wolves games have had a busy month with several home games. This continues into December with a small break for the holidays and then right back at it on January 1st.
Staffing has been challenging and the department has been interviewing for concessions staff, a line cook, skate shop staff and security staff.
Inclusion, Diversity and Equity
The regional Leisure Involvement For Everyone (LIFE) program has begun the enrolment process for 2022. This provincially recognized program provides low-income families and individuals the option of 52 free drop-in visits per calendar year or a 50% reduced fee on an annual pass to the centre in their community. Participants also receive 50% off eligible programs 4 times per year.
Grant Brown, administrator added the following to the report.
- Wei Wu was the successful applicant of our manager, finance and administration posting. We will be welcoming her to WSPRS on January 5th.
- Our new registration software Intelligenz launched today and there were no major issues. A little bit of lag time at 6:00AM when we went live. Membership sales and swimming lesson registration will start to happen over the next week.
- Human Resources confirmed that retro pay for the collective agreement wage increases was started for all regular part-time and full-time employees this pay period. Auxiliary staff will be on the next pay period.
- Given the amount of rain we’ve been having, our fields have been open and doing well. We’ve received great feedback from our user groups.
- The Seniors Centre and VIHA have agreed to an extension until the end of April. VIHA will not occupy any of the inside space, just in the ‘tunnel’ out front.
There was a group discussion on the last of the projects that were added-on to the end of the JDF Childcare Centre and JDF Arena projects.
MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS ANDERSON AND PARKINSON THAT THE REPORT BE APPROVED AS PRESENTED.
Director Kahakauwila mentioned the 2022 budget will be going to her committee next Monday and she will advise if there are any issues.
IN CAMERA
- N/A
ADJOURNMENT
- MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS PARKINSON AND ANDERSON THAT THE MEETING BE ADJOURNED AT 5:45PM. CARRIED