Minutes of the West Shore Parks and Recreation Society Board of Directors meeting held September 8, 2022

STANDING COMMITTEES

6. a) Finance Committee

Stuart Parkinson, finance committee chair commented on the following:

• The 2022 budget is on track as expected.

OLD BUSINESS

7. N/A

NEW BUSINESS

8. a) City of Colwood: Vision + Action Plan

Ian Bourhill, City of Colwood commented:

• As we plan the vision for the City of Colwood, we are interested in hearing from the property owners and have worked closely with Grant and the other WSPR staff and we look forward to more feedback.

Edward Porter, Consultant with City of Colwood presented a PowerPoint showcasing their vision for the City of Colwood in 30-50 years’ time.

The board commented that the high traffic, which is only going to increase, through Colwood from other municipalities to Victoria would need to be considered. That the plans shown will most likely increase the usage of the facilities and therefore operating and maintenance costs will also increase, including more wear and tear.

The board would be interested in a further presentation in the spring of 2023 to identify more about the vision for part of the lands owned by the 5 municipalities.

CITY OF COLWOOD STAFF AND CONSULTANT EDWARD PORTER LEFT THE MEETING AT 6:21PM.

b) Department Presentation: Fitness and Wellness

Krista Enderud, fitness and wellness coordinator and Kaitlyn Waring, rehabilitation and fitness programmer commented on the following:

• Focus is on offering more youth programs, and a free sample class.
• It was mentioned that there is a return of drop-in participants to group classes.
• New replacement strategy being implemented for all fitness equipment.

There was board and staff discussion that replacement funds will be put in the reserve each year.

Staff were commended for their adaptation and enthusiasm during COVID.

THE FITNESS DEPARTMENT REPRESENTATIVES LEFT THE MEETING AT 6:45PM.

c) Strategic Plan Progress Report

Grant Brown, administrator, commented on the following:

• The Strategic Plan itemizes the updates completed in BOLD.
• Grant’s goal is to work closely with each department on the items listed in the Strategic Plan.

FOR INFORMATION

9. a) Administrator’s report

Grant Brown, administrator, highlighted the following:

Administration/Human Resources

Weekly meetings are held including both WSPR and Newline Skateparks staff. Currently, they are reviewing budget figures and updating the skatepark plans following the community session and geotechnical study. The estimated start of construction is at the end of September.

Finance has been short staffed over the summer as the AR clerk provided their notice in late spring, however, they will be fully staffed by September. Priorities have been keeping up on the day-to-day processes, budget preparation and maintaining accounts receivable. The 2023 budget will be reviewed and consolidated for CAO review in the week of September 5th. Once approved by CAO, it will be prepared for presentation to the board.

Human resources remain heavily involved in recruitment, supporting all departments as they face hiring shortfalls for upcoming fall programming. Creative strategies are being implemented in the more dire departments.

Operations

Maintenance

A leak was discovered in the leisure pool which resulted in increased chemical, water and natural gas use to keep the pool functioning as required. Many isolation tests were conducted over a number of weeks when the least impact would be felt by bathers. With great excitement and appreciation of the maintenance team, the source was identified and blocked off. The leak was located in the upper main drain system. The isolation of this line has no adverse effect on pool operations and will be repaired during the next pool shutdown.

Crews are prepping the Q Centre Arena for the return of ice. This includes repairs to the puck board, flooring replacement in the player benches and painting of the dressing rooms.

The process of having the site risk assessed in relation to the two ice plants is being reviewed. This process involves rating the risk of the site’s ammonia plants and safety procedures. Currently, WSPR is required to always have 1 refrigeration officer on site. If the risk assessment is successful, this requirement will be removed, requiring lower ticketed staff. The result will have a positive affect on the current hiring challenges.

The maintenance team has successfully filled 5 of the 7 vacant regular positions, many with current auxiliary staff.

Parks

Crews remained busy throughout the summer as the use of outdoor spaces increased. Two covered bike shelters were donated to WSPR from the bus loop and were installed at the main and childcare entrances. Work has begun on the Cenotaph in partnership with the City of Colwood, who successfully applied for a federal grant to improve the space. Work includes a path that will increase the accessibility of the monument.

Programs

Community Recreation

Summer camps continued with great success with over 2200 children participating in August. Children enjoyed many activities and excursions, including trips to Thetis Lake, Lake Cowichan, Esquimalt Lagoon and visits from Rugby Canada, Camosun Basketball and Volleyball.

A grant of $7,500 was secured through the Province of BC, Francophone Affairs program to provide financial assistance to provide French programming, activities and special events for children and families within the childcare (daycare and preschool) programs. WSPR will partner with Société Francophone de Victoria to provide the leaders/instructors for the program.

Recruitment for the 2022/23 afterschool care program has been extremely slow with approximately 50% of the positions filled. New Afterschool Care Team Leader positions which include driving and enhanced responsibilities within the program were posted to offer potential candidates more meaningful work and encourage greater recruitment. A referral program has also been offered to ASC families, which includes a family pass provided to any family who recommends a successful candidate. The pass will be valid for the duration of their employment (up to a maximum of one year).

The daycare said “goodbye” to 8 friends at the end of August as they headed off to kindergarten. 8 new friends will be joining us in September.

The Community Special Event Team participated in the 10th Annual Langford Car Show at Langford Station and provided children’s crafts with a car theme.

Neighborhood Nights at Royal Bay’s Meadow Park has been a tremendous success with an average of 40 families attending each week. Funding for this program has been provided by Gable Homes. Each week, WSPR staff attend the park on Tuesday evenings with a wide range of yard games and craft activities.

Aquatics, Fitness and Weights

Drop-in fitness classes, especially Indoor Cycling class numbers have remained strong and stable over the summer months which has supported the full class offering on the summer schedule this year.

Despite a strong team of fitness and weightroom staff, the fitness/weights department is starting to see a growing staff shortage in the industry which has also been seen across the region as expressed by other recreation centres. The department is looking at ways of grouping classes and weightroom programs together to create more meaningful shifts to appeal to new applicants and existing staff as well as promoting posting across regional recreation centres to encourage staff sharing.

Aquatic staff have been working hard to develop the new WSPR swim program, which will launch for the fall 2022 lesson set. The new WSPR swim program includes a re-design of our existing in-house preschool swim lessons, and a brand-new school age program to replace Red Cross Swim Kids. Exciting features of the new program include:

• Streamlined early years programs to align parent participation requirements with current child development practices
• Adjusted child to instructor ratios to ensure participant safety and maximize learning
• School age levels which are designed to develop safety in deep water and proficiency in core swim strokes and techniques
• Two new school age levels which focus on speed, endurance and advance technique, to act as a bridging program between swim lessons and advanced aquatic courses for future lifeguards and instructors

Program descriptions, graphics, and conversion charts to Red Cross Swim Kids, YMCA, and Lifesaving Society swim programs are featured in the fall 2022 activity guide. Fall courses for 2022 were visible online on August 12th with registration took place August 18th.

Arena, Events and Golf

The Sr. Shamrocks ended their season in the first-round vs Langley in 6 games. The Jr. A Shamrocks have advanced to the National Championship Minto Cup which was held at the end of August. The last time they won a Minto Cup was 1988. Good luck to them!

Ice will be going back into the Q Centre Arena with the installation process beginning on August 28th. The West Shore Wolves have started their exhibition games at JDF Arena while the Grizzlies have camp starting September 2nd and have their first exhibition game September 9th.

The golf course is having a good August and there will be close to 5400 rounds played for the month. Not as good as 2021 but 3rd best since 2006.

Inclusion, Diversity and Equity

LIFE Newcomer program – Over the summer, we saw families from the Ukraine register in the LIFE program. It is well documented that recreation centres and libraries are the first facilities families from other countries access in their communities.

Each year, we add to our StoryWalks library. To date, we have 26 books to choose from. This year, we have made intentional selection of books that reflect the following themes:

• Honoring local indigenous culture
• LGBTQ2+
• Inclusion
• Perseverance, individuality, leadership, love and acceptance.

These books have beautiful stories along with stunning artwork.

Grant Brown, administrator added the following to the report:

• The 50th Anniversary of the JDF Arena is soon. We will be offering a Everyone Welcome Skate at discounted prices on a select day TBD.
• We have filled a lot of the afterschool care positions already since the report above was written.
• Katherine Beck, long standing employee, has left to go to Panorama Recreation Centre. We therefore returned to the previous structure of separating the Fitness and Wellness Coordinator and the Aquatics Coordinator positions. Krista Enderud, the previous Fitness and Wellness Programmer became the Coordinator, and the Assistant Aquatics Coordinator from Panorama Recreation Centre will be joining us on September 19th to fulfil the Aquatics Coordinator position.

9. b) Skatepark update

Ron Dietrich, manager of operations, commented on the following:

• New Line Skateparks Inc. has completed stage 1 of the project which involved meeting with the public, reviewing the project timeline, scope, and budget.
• A site analysis occurred, and the design was changed slightly to incorporate the natural slopes of the land.
• The project is now in the design phase and New Line is making sure the elements included meet public and staff’s desires.
• Geotech survey has been submitted and the results are that more soil and fill is needed.
• Permit is currently being completed and will be submitted to Colwood.
• Due to budget, some features had to be dropped from the list of desires, including the EV charging stations.
• The parks department will do some of aspects of the project inhouse to save on the overall project budget.

IN CAMERA

10. N/A

ADJOURNMENT

11. MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS PARKINSON AND WADE THAT THE MEETING BE ADJOURNED AT 6:57PM. CARRIED