Minutes of the West Shore Parks & Recreation Society Board of Directors Meeting Thursday, November 18th, 2021

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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

Thursday, November 18th, 2021 in the Seniors Centre – room 101

PRESENT: Directors Kyara Kahakauwila (chair), Damian Kowalewich, Stewart Parkinson, Leslie Anderson, Roger Wade

ABSENT: N/A

STAFF PRESENT: Grant Brown, administrator Wade Davies, manager of operations April Luchinski, manager of human resources Geoff Welham, manager of recreation via MS Teams Katherine Beck, aquatic and fitness coordinator Raf Olejniczak, acting aquatic coordinator Hamish Babin, aquatic program assistant Krista Enderud, fitness programmer Kaitlyn Waring, rehab and wellness programmer Teresa Janisch, recorder

STAFF ABSENT: N/A

PUBLIC PRESENT: N/A

CALL TO ORDER

1. The chair called the meeting to order at 5:42PM.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

2. MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS WADE AND ANDERSON THAT THE AGENDA BE APPROVED AS PRESENTED. CARRIED

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

3. MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS PARKINSON AND KOWALEWICH THAT THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING HELD OCTOBER 14TH, 2021 BE APPROVED AS PRESENTED. NO ERRORS, NO OMMISIONS CARRIED

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

4. N/A

CHAIR’S REMARKS

5. Kyara Kahakauwila commented on the following:

• Thank you for the work Ben has done and to all the staff at WSPRS.

STANDING COMMITTEES

6. a) Finance Committee Stewart Parkinson, finance committee chair commented on the following:

• Recommend we accept the budget and the fees and charges that were presented.

MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS KOWALEWICH AND WADE THAT THE DRAFT 2022 WSPRS BUDGET AND THE DRAFT 2022-2023 FEES AND CHARGES BE APPROVED AND PRESENTED TO COUNCIL MEMBERS. CARRIED

OLD BUSINESS

7. a) JDF Childcare Centre – art project Grant Brown, administrator commented on the following:

• We have received the honorarium approval from each municipality and will begin the project in the new year.

Director Parkinson mentioned that there are a lot of art type groups in the Colwood area so if there is any help needed in bringing people in, please let us know.

NEW BUSINESS

8. a) Major tenant advertising negotiations [board representation] Grant Brown, administrator commented on the following:

• We are preparing to work on the major tenant advertising agreements. I understand Director Wade will stand as a representative from the board in the upcoming negotiations and we would like to have one more board member.
• We are proposing to do something similar to the library funding agreement that is in place. It is based on 50% season length and 50% attendance.

MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS PARKINSON AND ANDERSON THAT A MOTION BE MADE TO APPOINT DIRECTORS WADE AND KOWALEWICH AS BOARD REPRESENTATIVES FOR THE UPCOMING MAJOR TENANT ADVERTISING NEGOTIATIONS BE APPROVED. CARRIED

FOR INFORMATION

9. a) Aquatics and Fitness Report The aquatics and fitness team presented a PowerPoint presentation that highlighted the following:

The board thanked Katherine and her team for a great, informative presentation and thanked them for being able to re-open and stay open during this pandemic time. They also understood the challenges the pool is facing in regards to recruiting more staff.

Director Kahakauwila inquired as to whether or not we are offering some of the advanced aquatic courses that were discussed. We do offer some of them, however, we haven’t been able to recruit many from them yet. She also wanted WSPRS staff to know that if they have any ‘out of the box’ type recruitment ideas to bring them to the administrator to pass along to the board and they would try and help move the process along in any way they could.

Director Kowalewich also made a request to have an update on the LIFE program that WSPRS offers so that we can showcase the society.

b) JDF Arena Improvement Project Wade Davies, manager of operations highlighted the following:

• We have received the JDF Arena completion paperwork.
• There was a $45,000 holdback from the project fees as the company needs to come back in the spring (when the ice is out) to complete some work on the boards.
• The new ice pit build will start on December 6th and should be completed by the end of February. This could cause some changes to the existing ice cleans as it may take maintenance an additional 5 minutes to complete them. User groups will be notified prior to this happening.

Director Kahakauwila asked if the events that happened earlier this week (flooding, road closures, etc.) could potentially have any bearing on construction supply issues and/or delays. Wade said it’s possible. It isn’t a very big build and we will make sure that all the required supplies to start the project are onsite prior to them breaking ground.

c) JDF Childcare Centre Project Grant Brown, administrator highlighted the following on behalf of Geoff Welham, manager of recreation:

• December 6th is the date for the grand opening of the JDF Arena and Childcare Centre. More information will be forthcoming; however, we do anticipate it being a fairly small event.
• Work is still being done on the elevator upgrades.

d) Administrator’s Report Grant Brown, administrator highlighted the following:

Administration/Human Resources

The Island Health rental of the senior’s centre for COVID-19 testing was due to expire at the end of October, enabling the Seniors Association to prepare for their return in January 2022. The two groups met and agreed upon a shared tenancy until December 31st and will be meeting in early December to discuss extending the relationship into early 2022. Island Health will continue to make month rental payments to WSPRS while the testing site is operational, and the Seniors Association will begin forwarding their membership dues in January 2022.

The finance team continues to work with programs in the implementation of the Intelligenz recreation software. Developing new month-end procedures and program reconciliations. Two successful payment runs have been completed with little difficulty for the childcare module. The pace of the implementation continues to pick up as we move closer to the winter registration day of December 9th.

Two key staff will be moving on to new opportunities. Ben Currie, Manager of Finance and Administration, and Kyle Laberge, Sports Programmer. The management position has been posted and the competition closes on November 9th. The opening in the sports department provided the opportunity to evaluate our staffing structure and make changes to existing staff portfolios. The food & beverage supervisor (currently in an acting childcare role) will be moving into the role of events and arena programmer and the afterschool care and youth programmer will be moving into the role of sports and youth programmer. These changes will take place over the next two months as open positions in the childcare department are filled.

Operations

Maintenance

Keeping and holding staff is a challenge. We are seeing less applicants with less ability applying for positions in the last few months within the maintenance department. It has been more difficult to find qualified stationary engineers for plant operation, so we have embraced supporting our existing staff in educating from within. Using our RFABC connections we have managed to expedite the process to meet our needs more efficiently. We have hired a new group of auxiliaries (4) and they have completed their orientation.

Preventative maintenance continues in the form of cleaning compressor windings, adding brine to systems, completion of the library painting, annex roof repairs on the senior’s centre completed, centennial centre roof replacement and a new backflow preventer in the fieldhouse is being installed.

Mechanical issues that arose and were managed included the pool office air handling unit compressor repair, the Q Centre arena lobby air handling unit repair, compressor 3 motor for the Q Centre refrigeration plant replacement and library exhaust fan replacement.

Parks

Crews are keeping busy with leaf removal and the wintering of gardens. With all the rain in recent weeks, the grounds are very wet, however, fields remain open and in great shape. Clean up work will begin shortly to ensure the Cenotaph is clean and presentable for Remembrance Day ceremonies.

Programs

Community Recreation

Through a partnership with Physical Literacy for Life and an anonymous funder, the CR team has secured $21,350 to deliver the “Girls Got Game” multi-sport program, designed for 9-15 year olds identifying as female. In this program, participants will work on fundamental movement skills and physical literacy to gain confidence in exploring different sports. Participants will be exposed to different team and individual sports, which will be led by strong female athletes and coaches from their community. The program will rotate through sports, and trained coaches/athletes will be utilized from sport clubs or existing programs. Additionally, there will be core leaders who are with the girls throughout the program so that they can build trusted relationships. There will be a focus on training the leaders/coaches who will be delivering the sport segments of this program, as well as having the core leaders trained to support the participants throughout the programs. This program will have 4 different offerings including two 12-week programs in fall and winter and two 1-week longs camps in the spring and summer. The goal is to break down barriers and help young people identifying as female to develop confidence and a passion for sport. The outcome is to improve their experience in sport and physical activity programming leading to more sustained participation throughout their lifespan.

The Francophone Society has received funding to provide French programming at WSPRS. Initial conversations have commenced around running French yoga, parent meetup and youth events as well as providing French programming for the childcare programs.

The Westshore Skateboard Coalition was chosen by Hoyne Brewery as their featured charity in October, partial proceeds from the sale of growler fills from the growler station at the brewery will be donated to the skateboard park project. The Westshore Chamber of Commerce continues to support the fundraising efforts for a new skatepark and is helping promote the 100x1000 fundraising campaign for the skatepark in the e-newsletter in November.

Aquatics, Fitness and Weights

The weightroom has seen an increase in usage along with the return of several former patrons that have been away prior to the COVID-19 shutdown. The evening hours on weekends have shown the greatest increase in usage. 90% of programmed registered fitness and wellness programs ran successfully for the month of October with an additional program added due to popular demand. The parent & tot spin express class has been running at full capacity; therefore, an additional class was created to provide another offering. Drop-in fitness classes, specifically indoor cycling classes, have also seen a rise in numbers which is encouraging to see for future planning.

The pool remains busy throughout various public swims, aquafit programs and our Friday night youth swim is gaining popularity. The Canucks Autism Network started their swimming program on Saturdays with positive feedback from their organizers. We’re excited to have added more lifesaving and lifeguarding courses. A new Bronze Medallion course has been added to the month of November and a National Lifeguard re-certification course was recently added in December.

Sports

The wet season has caused a slight dip in October golf green fees paid in comparison with 2020. However, year-to-date rounds played and paid are sitting at 8th most ever for the year and close to surpassing that into 7th with over 40,000 rounds for the year.

The indoor sports complex was host to a very successful fall Home Show in October. As well, we are hosting a Mineral and Gem show in November. The JDF Arena opened in September and the user groups are very happy with the quality of the ice and the new amenities and upgrades. The Westshore Wolves have played some of their games in the JDF Arena and are excited to explore options to play there fulltime in the 2022/23 season.

September/October skating lessons had 230 kids registered for this set with 125 registered for Saturday lessons alone. The next lesson set started Wednesday, November 3rd with 309 kids registered and 100 on the waitlist. The arena staff hired 8 new instructors over the past few weeks to be able to accommodate the influx. Hockey has been strong out of the gate with many of the sessions full with a waitlist.

Facility bookings has been busy trying to keep up with their usual requests while learning the new booking system that will be up and running in the next few months.

Kyle Laberge is leaving WSPRS to take a position with Lake Cowichan Recreation. He has been with us for 17 years in various positions. The arena and sport team will have a huge hole to fill, and he will be missed. We wish him luck in his new journey.

Inclusion, Diversity and Equity

WSPRS received the link to the “Diverse Families Through Sports and Physical Activity” presentation that WSPR staff were a part of in September. As well this presentation was featured in the latest “Community Partnership Network” newsletter. https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Fall-2021--The-latest-CPN-newsletter-for-you-.html?soid=1128914498669&aid=wY7S86woa0A

Grant Brown, administrator verbally added to the report:

• There has been a flurry of hiring happening. Next week we will be interviewing for the manager of finance and administration position and we just completed interviews for the recreation program assistant today.

There was some group discussion on where positions are being advertised when they’re posted. Also discussed was the newly created recruitment committee that April Luchinski has been working with. WSPRS has been quite pro-active with our staffing.

• VIHA has continued their rental of the senior’s centre space until the end of December.

MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS WADE AND PARKINSON THAT THE REPORTS FOR 9.A), 9.B), 9.C), AND 9.D) ARE RECEIVED AS PRESENTED. CARRIED

IN CAMERA

10. N/A

ADJOURNMENT

11. MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS WADE AND KOWALEWICH THAT THE MEETING BE ADJOURNED AT 6:36PM. CARRIED