Council Meeting

So now we're into our council meeting.

So again, all the numbers.

Thanks everyone.

All the numbers for phoning in tonight remain the same.

Public participation will come up quite quickly after we officially start here, and that's to speak to any item on the agenda tonight except for the 53 Knollwood Road Environmental Development Permit.

There is a section in the agenda directly where people in the room and people at home can speak to that.

So I think I've already said everything I need to say earlier, so I'm not going to repeat it again.

So we say that again.

Yep.

Um so then I'll look for a motion to approve the agenda.

All in favor, opposed, that's carried.

There's minutes A through D.

Move adoption.

Thank you.

Moved by Councillor Rogers, seconded by Councillor Mattson.

Any comments, corrections?

All in favor, opposed, that's carried.

Mayor's report.

I just wanted to mention briefly our totem poll dedication ceremony that we have had two Saturdays ago.

Um, and especially to thank Tom LaFortune for carving and Charla Huber for organizing it, but also thank the two nations, Songheads and Esquimalt for working with us, and staff and the fire department and Chief Hearst and the council for supporting and working through it.

It was a really beautiful ceremony.

The totem pole is gorgeous.

I think it looks just amazing there.

I've driven by it numerous times, and it looks amazing at night as well.

Um, and very well received by both nations as a you know real display of friendship and community.

And um, so it was a success all around.

It was a really good, good event and a good thing to do.

And it's a beautiful piece of public art to boot, so you can't lose.

Um, and also to thank staff, especially Elena, for a successful volunteer dinner, um, the first one in person since 2019.

So it was good to see everyone.

And thank you to the community businesses that came up with some really nice and good door prizes for the volunteers and to the casino for hosting it and holding the dinner.

It was a good evening.

But it was all good.

So there's no petitions and delegations.

So we are at public participation period.

Do we have any callers on the line, Steph?

Your worship, we have no callers at this time.

Okay, thank you.

Is there anyone in the room who wanted to speak to an issue that's on the agenda tonight, other than 53 Nollwood?

No, okay.

So I'm gonna close out public participation and we'll go to number seven, which is business arising from previous minutes, which is the UBCM resolution.

So we're just looking for a motion, I think, to endorse this and for it to be sent to UBCM.

So we please.

Okay, so that's moved by Councillor Mattson, seconded by Councillor Lemmon.

Even though you'd have to say, anyways, fine.

So does anyone want to speak to it, or we're all good with it?

I d um I brought I spoke to it last month.

Um I can speak to it again, you know, for but perhaps for members of the public that are, you know, here and and those listening.

Um this is it the un UBCM is the Union of BC municipality, which is the the uh the the over of the the grand organization of all um councils and regional districts, um all local government throughout British Columbia.

So what this is doing is it's a resolution that will go to the convention in September, hopefully if they they agree to put it in their resolution book and calling calling in which UBCM would call on the governments, government of BC, to address the doctor's crisis with the same urgency that it does any state of emergency in the province.

And I I was at FCM over the weekend, which is all the municipal governments across Canada, and it's certainly not just a BC.

I mean, it was just it was a state of discussion from every corner of our country of our conference of the problems.

So and just a bit of information, the province is negotiating a new agreement with the of doctors of BC, I think we're referred to now.

So uh obviously primary care will be a huge issue in that in those negotiations.

Okay, so we're gonna call the question.

All in favor, opposed, that's carried.

Thank you, Councillor Lemon.

And then we go to 8.1A, which is the environmental DP for 53 Knollwood.

Stop.

Jeff, are you able to get your mic a bit closer to your your mouth?

Well, I'll help I turn it on.

Yeah, turn it on now.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh this is a development permit uh where the proposal is to install retaining walls and landscaping to stabilize the slope within the natural work watercourse and shoreline development permit area.

And um and this property at 53 Nollwood uh is on Price Bay, which is part of the Squamwalt Harbor.

Um so it's a marine environment, it is a steep slope.

And so variances are requested for the height and sighting of those retaining walls.

There was a landslip on the property in 1995, and this is a photo from the uh from the biologist who that shows how the uh slope shifted down about two meters.

Uh the two trees you see in the photo also shifted down in two meters as well.

And the Arbus report indicates that although the trees are healthy, they are at risk of toppling.

So they will be removed whether this development permit is approved or not.

And you also hear the see here the remains of the uh of the uh the retaining walls that were that were there previously.

And uh and um since then the applicant uh has installed uh there was a uh Allen block retaining wall installed near the top to stabilize it with with geotechnical uh engineering and this is the proposal now to um to sort of fix that slope many years later um the proposal is to use Gabian uh walls which are kind of uh cages that hold rocks and soil and there would be a series of them on the site uh that include some built in steps so that they can access the waterfront.

In the center of this development permit area there the the two trees that are to be removed.

There's also a willow near the uh the base of the slope and that would, although it's non-native, it would um be retained because it willows actually are great for holding slopes up.

And this particular one is kind of like leaning out over the water so it actually has a lot of environmental value to it because it provides shade and also they drop nutrients and including insects into the into the water.

And then this uh this far end of the site you can see in my mouse there, there's a rock outcrop where a gabing wall won't be required.

And there's also some native vegetation there that they'll be working around some native a native uh sedge, I believe.

Uh this is a cross section of the slope that shows how it's constructed.

Uh so you would have uh there'll be some uh reinforcing kind of material to uh as as a backing for the Gabians.

The Gabians themselves would have included some um soil material and they would be vegetated with native species and intent there's to stuff as many as you can and it'll create kind of a green wall over time.

Um some uh smaller trees would be planted along that slope.

Um this the all this would be um uh uh would be over would be uh inspected by a geot geotechnical engineer.

In this case, um this is illustration shows the variances.

The uh the maximum height of retaining walls is 1.2 meters, and they're proposing proposing up to two meters along the water's edge and at the highest point.

And um and these gabians are designed to handle this the the slope which is still continuing to move.

By doing this work it'll it will stabilize it and reduce it but there will still be some pressures which is why a Gabian wall um is is permeal so allows drainage to happen but it also holds the slope in a more kind of flexible manner if things shift around and over time the plants will also help uh help stabilize that that slope.

In this particular location on Esquilold Harbor, it is a mud-flat environment which uh which uh most of the time does not experience uh strong waves um and uh and the idea here is this um this uh wall here uh is kind of a it's not uh gabian walls are kind of not softer methods are are preferred to to stabilize slopes and this employs a number of them in this case the Gabian wall is is vastly superior to like a hard uh hard seawall which when you do get wave action distributes that transfers that force elsewhere to the neighbor's property uh so this by uh by having a vegetated uh wall that'll kind of soften the energy and and keep it from spreading along the shoreline.

Um in terms of uh horizontal separation between uh unreinforced walls, um, the bylaw specifies one to two, so that um say a one-meter wall would be two meters away from another one-meter wall.

Uh in this case, they're proposing that they be closer together.

And that can be justified in this case.

Part of it is because this this the uh slope as you see in the picture is quite steep.

And in this case, would um it's a design that's uh that's been designed by geotechnical engineer, and in the end, they will inspect it and they would certify it in the end, because uh a building permit will be required for that.

Uh the biologist report provides a number of recommendations that would be included into the development permit, and some of them include a work window, which would be July 1st to October 1st, because there's a fisheries window for marine shorelines.

The work would be conducted in such a way to minimize impact to the shoreline.

So in this case, no permit structures or land alteration is proposed below the present natural boundary.

And the work would preserve the sedge on the west end of the shoreline.

So in conclusion, the proposal can be supported for a couple of reasons.

In this case, the development permits area guidelines call for 50% of an area of the development permit area to be uh to be restored with native species.

In this case, they're proposing 85%, which is which is quite high.

The work will include invasive species removal.

There are no large-scale negative impacts expected to the marine environment.

They're just building a wall.

And the Gabian, and we talked before about the Gabian walls, in this case, uh would be considered to be the least invasive approach to stabilize the shore given the specific site context.

So the recommendation is to approve the development permit, and there's a number of can of uh conditions that I've that are outlined in the report, which include um monitoring by the bio the uh biologist, um letter of completion at the end stating that everything is done has been done in accordance with the uh the development permit in the biologist report um i believe some work is being done on the storm water um and any such work would have to be constructed and restored under the direction of the biologist and the geotechnical engineer the retaining walls and other slope stability works would be uh um inspected and certified by a geotechnical engineer and finally, there would be a security deposit for um for for protect for the landscape and protection of the natural environment uh the uh the two variances are also supported.

That concludes the presentation.

And the applicant is here if there's any questions.

Yeah, thank you, staff.

Any questions for staff before we go to the applicant?

I'll try the applicant and if we can maybe staff can jump in.

Thanks.

Everybody else is good?

Good.

Okay.

Applicant, welcome.

Good evening, honorable mayor, fellow counselors, and respected staff.

My name's Doug Ko.

I'm representing John and Echo tonight on uh 53 Norwood.

And we have both material that we're ready to show and also anything that we can support the brief that uh Jeff has uh described.

Right, straight to it.

Please go ahead.

Yeah, yeah, some questions.

Oh, okay.

Um, so this the I guess I'm concerned about um uh the the Gabian wall is going to be straight down onto the beach, right?

So it's gonna start there.

It will be sloped slightly, yes.

You can uh there is there will be a slight slope at present at the beach.

Um it basically just drops off with some vegetation hanging out onto it.

Yeah.

Are you gonna there is some bedrock?

Um are you gonna anchor to that bedrock?

Um, with the design of the Gabian walls, it's is not required as long as we set back from recess from the land a little bit and just sit it on onto the soil.

That's what the Gabian walls are designed to do.

It's a galvanized steel mesh.

Okay.

Yes.

All right.

It's a w it's a mesh.

What's what's the longevity of that mesh um with corrosion and you know everything rocks in under the sea.

So what's the what's the life expectancy of that um mesh?

I think it's 50 to 60 years is what this is published, right?

So they're as much as but they've guaranteed a minimal life expectancy of 20 to 30 years.

But the great thing about a Gabian wall is once or if it starts to fatigue and fail, they can just lash in another layer of the mesh.

Okay.

And then they recover that again with uh coconut husk to promote this um living wall.

So it's actually easily remediated.

Yeah.

Is one of the things that's why we look to that solution as well, versus a hardscape that once you get it all built, getting down there to redo a hardscape would be pretty hard to say.

You know, we've we've got um, you know, I've I've seen over the years, you know, we see them a rise impacting existing dogs that we never thought would uh you know be underwater.

But uh, you know, on king tides that happens.

Sure.

So um how much of that first wall do you anticipate being at a king tide undercover?

Less than the first two gabians.

So the first Gabian.

The first Gabi.

It gets about two feet deep right along the shoreline.

And that's about the extent of it.

Okay.

Be that a king tide or not, I couldn't really speak to say, but um that's about as deep as I saw it whenever I was there.

It's pretty shallow.

Yeah, it's not too bad there.

No.

No.

Right, that's that's good.

Um the in the report you speak of um having plantings including anchor trees, which sounds like a good idea.

How many of those will you plant?

Um again, the uh biologist is working with the landscape architect to make sure that uh we're planting what and the geotech.

There's all disciplines involved to make sure that what we're planting is well within what we need.

In obviously our best interest to make sure that we do so.

So specific numbers, it's detailed on the drawings.

Okay.

Yeah, it is one thing when you see a drawing, whether it's conceptual or real, for the plantings, right?

And you know how those plantings can help solidify the wall.

Well, it it's all really a system, right?

It starts it starts with the smaller plants and then gets to larger shrubs, then it gets to full trees.

Looking at the Gabian wall that um the CRD put along the ENN here, it took a long time.

It was uglier than SIN.

Um and yeah, it long time before that vegetation came in.

Yeah.

Um, and you know, you've got the addition, you know, erosion and and those complications.

So it it sounds like it's gonna be a lot of maintenance.

I think on this one, it may be a little bit different than the CRD one.

This one we are uh weaving it with the co coconut husk or okay uh cloth and it is organic so that things can actually just and we'll put soil on top, so seeds it is embedded with seeds or coating seeds.

So in that way we're promoting the growth right away instead of just letting moss to grow on rocks and then dirt to trap on moss and then things to go on the moss and dirt again.

So I think that's uh in that part, it should accelerate the green mat, as we call it, a lot faster than what a typical baby wall you would see on the side of a highway.

Yeah, yeah.

So it's covered.

I guess it's a dressed product from kind of day one, right?

That and the biologist too is on mine for three, five years to maintain that it's growing out.

Yeah, yeah, that's that's good.

Okay, it's um the last thing you know, and and I hope it works, you know.

The last thing on my mind is is fortunately there's not a lot of boaters and people down your neck of the woods, but you know, from from a shoreline uh perspective, um it looks like it's gonna be uh how oh ultimately what um six meters, eight meters.

If it's two, two, two, yeah.

Yes, for twenty.

Yeah, probably twenty six somewhat twenty small, yeah, six meters.

And that's terrace.

Yeah, terrace with, yeah, but it's gonna be initially the again, thank goodness you're putting in the husk uh material to help um you know help that along.

Okay.

Yes, yeah.

Okay, thank you.

Oh, sorry.

And also on the flatter or lower slope areas, there will be plants seated and also um put in already at the time.

Yeah, the biologist has designed some tall climbing, not climbing, but some taller uh frontline shrubbery that's to reach out over top of the water again, dropping uh insects as such into that into the water.

So there's a there's a tall fence line to the front, sort of short one.

Yeah.

That's good.

Yeah, yeah, it should help with that.

Thank you very much for answering the questions.

Counselor Madsen?

Not so much a comment, but just uh a question, just a comment.

I was quite pleased to see the extent that you know, in terms of the reports that you're going to to improve things, and uh also you know felt quite feel fairly confident that this is going to work given the number of experts that you've you've hired.

And thank you.

I can I can only imagine what it's costing to do that, but uh so anyways, I anyways.

I was quite pleased with uh what's happening in it.

I'm sure it's gonna be fine.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Okay.

You're all good on the subject.

I'm very good.

Good.

So thank you.

And um thank you.

Is there anyone in the room who wish to speak to this?

No.

Staff, do we have any callers on the line?

Your worship, we have no callers.

Okay, thank you.

And there's no correspondence, so there is a recommendation there.

Staff recommendations.

Second.

Thank you.

So it's moved by Councillor Mattson, seconded by Councillor Kowalewich.

Okay.

Anyone want to speak to it or are we all good?

Yeah.

So I'm gonna call the question.

All in favor.

Opposed.

That's carried.

You're good?

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thanks.

We won't mind if you sneak away.

Thanks.

So moving on to item B, which is the temporary sign permit for 258 Helmcken.

Do we need a presentation on this?

No.

I just had one question.

Okay.

Do you want to move the recommendation?

So moved.

Okay.

Seconded by Councillor Koalowich.

Go ahead, Councilor Manson.

I just wondered how long the banners were going to be.

How long the banners are?

This is the site.

So your worship.

There's a sample right there.

Oh.

And they will actually fit on each of the metal panels on fencing.

That's that's on the site right now.

So um and I think in their plan they showed eleven different eleven kind of so that's an actual complete banner there.

So a little bit taller, obviously, because it's folded a bit but okay and it's another all right yeah but it would cover the um it covered the whole frontage all the way from um i guess all the way f along both frontages of the site okay thank you i guess it's um i i I think the banner's good I like the uh the pictures I think they uh they complement and and um um you know even uh they advertise via the boutique market so that's uh that's a good thing um what what's interesting, however, when you go to the website, um, because it says check it out, and sort of checked it out, and um this uh the royal is apparently gonna redefine view oil.

So that that's an interesting perspective.

Um and what's what's curious is it gives the distances that it you can drive to So can can we stick to what we have on our agenda, please, which is whether or not we're gonna approve the signs.

Yeah, yeah.

People can mark it as they see fit.

Yeah, true enough.

It's um it's completely their discretion.

Do you have any questions about the signs?

I don't just the content on the website.

Counselor Levant.

I have no questions about the sign, but I'm I'm wondering when 298 Island Highway became 258 Helmkin.

True enough.

I suspect there's a couple of addresses there.

Good.

Yes, to your worship, um the uh the address will change about a month or two ago, and uh part of it has to do with the primary driveway entrance is going to be off Helmkin, and that's how we prefer to uh address properties.

Right.

Okay, thank you.

Councillor Kowalowicz.

Well, I'm gonna sneak a question in here because uh because I can.

I'm asking about uh sign the sign permit panel six, because I get asked about this every day.

Is there is there a grocery store boutique going in that we know of now?

It's it's the only thing it's zoned for.

Right.

But it but is someone's committed to it?

Is there a well?

We don't know that.

I don't, you know, I think only the applicant knows that, but they cannot put another use in there unless they rezone.

Right.

I mean it's yeah to me it means that there is one going in there.

So that's all all we can say.

They certainly were confident.

Yeah.

The panel speaks the truth.

How come our name is panel six one of the panels?

You want council's name on the panel?

That's an election year, right?

Maybe we can put our signs up in place.

Well, they got R for Rogers.

That works.

Okay, so I'm going to call the question.

All in favor?

Opposed, so that's carried.

Next up we have item C, which is the disposition of parkland to the CRD.

Moves to ask recommendation.

Thank you.

So that's moved by Councillor Rogers, seconded by Councillor Matson.

I did just have one question.

10.

In terms of all the properties, how much property is that that we're moving over?

Do you remember how many acres it is, Sarah off the it is in hectares.

I only have it in hectares, not acres.

And in terms of the math, I'm going to do it super fast here.

Seven eight hectares.

Yeah, so close to 20 acres.

For for anyone at home who may be watching or in the room, this is this is land that the town of View Royal owns, um, which is for all intents and purposes parkland in the Chilco area.

We've actually sold it to the CRD, so it'll become part of a the CRD park system.

There'll be covenants on it that can only be used as such, and view where I'll be able to use the funds that we've received, which are pretty sad close to a million dollars.

Um, we'll be able to use that to buy parkland within the town or to protect land within the town.

So okay, everybody's good.

Okay, all in favor, opposed, that's carried.

Thank you, Sarah.

I know that's been a lot of work to get it to this point, and it's great to see it there.

Yeah.

The Active Transportation Network Plan Update Engagement Strategy.

Thank you, Your Worship.

Uh, this is just a um short presentation on the Active Transportation Network Plan.

Council was last apprised of this project back in April 5th at the regular council meeting, and that was regarding the award of the project to Watt Consulting.

So the purpose of this presentation is to update Council on the progress of the Active Transportation Network Plan.

It's been about two months since uh the last April 5th meeting.

And finally, to notify Council of the first public engagement event that is scheduled to take place June 25th, 2022.

Next slide.

So this is just a brief work plan structure on our on the project.

It's broken into five phases, going left to right, basically from project start to phase five, which is the finalization of the active transportation network plan.

Uh phase one is basically just gathering info for the consultant, providing information to the consultant for mapping data, um, our bylaws, relevant bylaws, and that.

Uh phase two is the initial stakeholder and public engagement phase, which is to understand current active transportation strengths, challenges, and opportunities.

Uh, with the engagement in place, it will shape the overall vision and goals of the active transportation network plan.

Uh phase three is the it's a long, long sentence network analysis and preliminary strategy solutions, um, which in short basically just takes the results from phase one and two to identify potential transportation improvements.

Uh, the public engagement will also be ongoing in this case to focus on establishing the future network and understanding level of support from the community.

Phase four is the creation of the draft actors transportation network plan.

And basically it collates all the feedback from the community and key stakeholders to develop the draft.

After another round of feedback, we enter phase five, which is the finalization of the actor transportation network plan.

Next slide.

The objectives of this um, or I should mention that uh the consultant provided us the uh community engagement plan.

It's a small report that was attached to this um to the to the staff report, and the objective of this engagement plan is to is threefold, and it's to provide opportunities for the community to provide input and ideas to the development of the active transportation network plan, is to increase understanding, awareness, and support of active transportation through meaningful engagement, focusing on local context, information sharing, education, and promotions, and finally is to show the community how their input helps shape the outcomes of this project.

Next slide.

So this is just a brief sketch or figure on the number of engagement events that we have for this project.

Each working phase from now on will have engagement events for key stakeholders and public.

With the recent lowering of the COVID restrictions, we have a combination of in-person and virtual events.

So the blue stars that you see on that slide signifies in person events.

Next slide.

So the first engagement activity, which is expected to take place June 25th, is what's called the Community Ideas Fair.

It's in person and it's an outdoor event.

The idea is to introduce the community to the project through a series of maps and display boards and to obtain high level feedback asking high level questions with respect to you know what are the key barriers and concerns that we have right now, what opportunities should be considered for an active transportation network plan.

And the goal is to identify what a great active transportation network plan would look like in the town of View Royal.

It is going to be located located in two key locations, one in the northern side of View Royal and one in the southern side of View Royal.

So on the northern side, the proposal to put it at the event at Chancellor Park, and on the southern side at the northern tip of Portage Park.

These were chosen because they are connectors to the Gallup and Goose Regional Trail as well as the ENN Trail, which are current conduits of active transportation in the region.

And they're also located in Parks and gathering areas, so it's better able to accommodate families, older adults, and other members of the View Royal community.

Next slide.

It will be our first survey.

And it is to better understand the barriers facing active transportation in View Royal.

It'll ask specific questions to better understand, or it will be the questions will target corridors, intersections, and maintenance protocols.

At this point, the plan is to launch it at the same time as the community ideas event, which is still currently in design right now, but hopefully, when the ideas event is complete and when the surveys launch, we should be able to collate a lot of data from that, both in person and virtual.

Next slide.

And the final engaging activity for this phase is uh stakeholder interviews, expected to take place around July 2022.

So after the community ideas fair and online survey, we'll have uh community data that will inform of the next phase.

Uh so virtual interviews and keys uh uh with key stakeholders and interest groups will be had, and it'll have a focus on transportation and accessibility.

Next slide.

So next steps.

The next steps for us is to focus on finalizing our design of the community ideas fair.

So that'll involve preparing maps and display boards for the public to view the material, preparing wayfinding boards along key corridors and gathering areas to notify the public ahead of time.

So it could be along the Galvin Goose Corridor, ENN Corridor, other parks, just to notify them of the event expected on June 25th.

Notifying key stakeholders of the anticipated event by email and other promotions, other promotions such as press releases, social media, newsletters, uh, and a town of View Royal Active Transportation Network Plan project webpage.

Next slide.

So before I conclude, um, I had a uh staff report and recommendation was for the June 2nd, 2022 Active Transportation Network Plan update to be received.

Yeah.

Questions for staff, Councillor Matson?

Thank you.

First off, I just wanted to compliment you on the report.

Uh you had hundreds of pages of uh look like hundreds of pages of other reports.

You were able to cobble together a very concise report that was easy to follow.

So thank you for that.

One question I did have was for the the two uh meetings uh on the 25th.

Will there be sufficient time?

Uh they'll be held at this the same time.

Are they gonna be separated at all?

Sound as if they're gonna be at the same time so it at um through your worship that uh there are two events and the idea is to have one in the morning and one in the afternoon okay good yeah yeah my only concern was people be having the ability to to see both of them and then write comment both so thank you councillor Rogers yeah thanks um it it's yeah great to have the two and one in the morning one in the afternoon so I'm assuming they'd be about two or three hours long each is that the idea through your worship yes that's uh that's correct we we're still in the design phase of the of this community ideas fair um and talking to the consultant is it'll probably take around two, three hours.

Yeah uh I like the locations.

You got it on the on the uh the Gallup and goose, the two regional trails, as well as it's gonna be easy for people to get to.

So that's a great idea.

Um the uh I guess I'm concerned about this being in the summer.

You know, June 25th is after school's gone and people are gone.

School's still in.

School's in.

Yeah, yeah, there's sooner, but they're thinking about other things like getting other gods.

Um and uh you say the um the stakeholders is gonna be in July.

Is that right?

Uh your worship, the stakeholder interviews are expected to be in July 2022.

That's what's in the schedule right now.

Again, you know, I I'm hoping that we're gonna have uh enough of those stakeholders are around or reachable uh to be able to be able to give comment.

Um and I I'm hoping also that the survey will uh have open-ended questions as well as just you know pick one to five and some an opportunity for for people to you know give ideas, suggestions, concerns.

Your worship, yeah, so we're right now in the process of uh designing these questions.

Um so while consulting the staff there are uh IAP2 and um as well as myself so we'll be uh designing questions that are indeed open-ended and I'll be sure to forward that to the Watts staff.

Certainly we've we've had uh um the benefit of of the consultant who doing the work for squamalt.

So I'd imagine that we've pretty well got a good idea what kind of questions we're gonna be asking.

It's uh it's interesting.

Yeah, you worship, yeah.

So the Squai Maltz active transportation network plan was 100% virtual.

Um that was done during the time uh during the the the restrictions with our engagement strategy.

We have um and I think it's a good thing that we're doing in-person engagement as well.

So we're doing a combination of both and I think both types, whether it be virtual surveys, um stakeholder meetings, as well as our open houses, bike shops, community ideas fair, they'll they'll they'll interlock quite well.

Okay, thank you.

Everybody good?

Quick question.

Yep, go ahead.

Yeah, regarding the um communication to to um get people to these these two events um apart from the you know the resources available for the town will what be what as in WAT what what be um doing some some communication on their own and putting up signboards and and and you know putting mess messaging out through neighborhoods and and indeed through all view royal your worship yeah we'll we'll certainly be putting on on the main corridors like the Galloping Goose and the the ENN trail, certainly in gathering areas such as parks.

Um, we'll be working with Watt on other areas that we could post um notification signs.

Um they have been very good in the past with uh with providing notifications to key stakeholders.

Um a lot of them are in the list and in the engagement strategy there.

And the hope is that uh we do provide a blanket notification, try to get everyone to this event.

Um, the more the merrier, right?

Important.

Yeah, good.

Thank you.

Okay, so if we're all good, there's a recommendation there.

Yeah, this has recommended by counselor rogers, seconded by counselor Kwalovich.

Thanks, Evan.

Thank you for the all in favor, opposed, that's carried.

So now we're on to 8.3a, which is the West Shore minutes from April 14th.

Move a seat.

Thank you.

Yes, thank you.

Seat is moved by Councillor Matson, seconded by Councillor Rogers.

Councilor Matson.

Uh probably just a few questions for Damien there.

Uh the RFP outcome.

Well it was April 20th.

So have you guys picked somebody yet to do the building?

Uh which building?

Oh, for the um skate park.

Yes, uh, we uh I'm not sure really uh at this point.

Some of the stuff we talked about had been in camera before.

Of course, now the announcement's out, so um I should double check on if I'm able to say the company name, but we have settled on one, yes.

And they have experience in uh in Canada building skate parks.

And do they have a time, I guess, in the RP as when it's going to be done?

Uh there I don't think that's in the minutes, and I don't know if I have it on me, but it was actually uh uh quicker timeline than I anticipated.

They're trying to get uh trying to get shovels in the ground as soon as possible.

The uh federal government will be also making their own announcements in regards to the uh funding shortly.

Okay, okay.

Just two other quick questions.

Are the bowling greens used?

Bowling greens.

So you're talking about the the greens behind the Q center?

I guess I yeah, probably yes, they are.

So they're used, they have uh multi-purpose use.

Uh young children play their first soccer games there, and also older adults in Greater Victoria and adults of all ages also do uh lawn bowling there.

Okay, and one other question.

I just want to show you how actually read this report part of the part, but I but they were actually legitimate questions.

Uh you mentioned that 89%, this is under aquatics, fitness, and weights.

89% of the registered programs ran successfully with many programs gaining momentum.

So I'm just curious what didn't work.

Sounds like 11%.

Is there any specific things that can that didn't work?

Yeah.

I I really I really don't know that the specifics of the 11%.

I can find out.

But I'm just if there was something that you know, it didn't come up at the last board meeting at all.

Probably lack of enrollment and things like that.

I can what I can tell you is that we have had record registration for summer camps to the point of hiring more staff.

Uh we're we've implemented a diversity, equity, and inclusion lens uh for the uh different populations in the West Shore to allow them to attend various summer camps.

We've received some funding through uh Queen Alexandria for for certain individuals to attend camps with support services so that individuals uh from all walks of life, youth can attend the west shore Parks and Recreation summer camps rogers i'm gonna ask some percentage questions um well i'm good at those okay so on uh phase three there was the uh 2022 energy report i is that um the same thing as what we're doing the ghc and greenhouse gas reductions is that what that's all about my understanding is that was more focused on the actual energy efficiency of the buildings okay and we're undergoing uh quite an extensive review right now of of all the buildings on site uh long-term planning.

We have a special meeting next week for uh for for for buildings and uh replacement costs, things like that, looking to the future.

My understanding, Councilor Rogers, is that was actually to do with how energy efficient each building is, if it could be updated with modern heating or cooling.

And I don't think I I I think it was probably caught in the net the the you know the lens of uh climate change.

I don't think it was the focus.

I can I can go back and look at that again if you're interested.

Yeah you know it's in certainly in keeping with all the efforts of the the member municipalities reduce uh greenhouse gases so yeah it'd be interesting to know that um the uh in what was it?

Oh it's interesting also that um and I'm sure um seniors are pleased that they're gonna be able to get a their have they've now got their center back, right?

Um the the center is open.

They are actively using it once again.

We've been host our hosting our meetings in the senior center, uh some some of our monthly meetings, and they are there back.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay.

And in the inclusion diversity uh equality uh page six.

Um nice to see about the newcomer families and with refugees um from Ukraine.

Any consideration uh from the border or the um society to give a discount for for the Ukrainian refugees or refugees in general.

My understanding is that these programs do have discounts built into them.

I don't know the specifics of exactly how that works.

I know that there is different uh applications that are filled out by different populations and the costing does change.

I don't know for uh Ukrainian refugees.

I agree with you.

I I think it's uh it makes sense.

And I can also um I can also find that out for you as well.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

No, we're all good.

Okay, thank you, Damien.

All in favor?

Opposed, that's carried.

So next we have um the letter from Mr.

Pierce.

Even though we have a resolution later, one of the things Jeff asked is that we send it.

Yeah.

So if when we pass the resolution, if we could just add that part to it later to mail it off to the this is the same Mr.

Pierce, I believe, that spoke to us about the gondles.

So let's receive the letter from receipt of A and B.

Okay.

We're all good with receiving B as well.

We don't want to give any money to the police course.

Opposed.

Can we never talk about that.

Next reason.

Okay, so those are both received.

So move.

So on to land 10.

We've got third reading of bylaw 1101.

Second.

Okay.

All in favor.

Opposed.

That's carried.

We've got adoption of the election procedures bylaw 1075.

So moved.

Thank you.

Moved by councillor Lemmon.

Seconded by Councillor Matthew.

We're all good.

Opposed to it.

Okay.

Opposed.

Okay.

So all in favor.

Opposed.

Councillor Rogers is opposed.

That carries.

We have adoption of bylaw 1076, which is the signed bylaw, amendment bylaw.

Sure.

So move someone to move adoption.

So here appointed by Councillor Madsen.

Seconded by seconded by Councillor Rogers.

All in favor.

One's unanimous.

That's carried.

Next up we have new business UBCM resolution, Councillor Lemmon.

Um Island Rail Corridor.

Right.

Um, can I speak to that?

Sure.

And I'd like I'd like to make one minor amendment in the resolution itself.

Um, but first I'll I'll speak to it first and just um explain what's going on here.

Okay.

Um so the the island corridor as as everyone knows extends from Victoria up to Courtney and come next March, March 15th, um we're we we risk losing it forever and the continuity of you know possible rail service freight service um any use of the rails could be lost um a the Supreme Court of BC last September um or September last September Yeah yeah um gave until March 15th uh 2023 um uh for a commitment from both uh levels of senior government from the federal government and the province to fund the corridor and get service back on it and that your worship is the one word that is actually missing from the resolution and that is not um I would like to change um uh be it resolved call on the provincial to make the necessary investments.

I would like to change that to commit to making the necessary investments to preserve the outland corridor.

I spoke with um the CEO of the Island Corridor Foundation, um Larry Stevenson, and he explained that it may not happen right away, I guess, right?

Right.

So what what is what is required is the commitment so yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay.

So Councillor Lemon then is moving the motion with that amendment that the that new wording of commit to making the necessary investments.

I'll second it.

Okay.

So that's moved by Councillor Lemmon, seconded by Councillor Matson.

Discussion.

I I'd give one one point besides thinking it's a great idea, and we should have never stopped running the rail anyway.

I think in terms of uh somebody was saying it was like four to five hundred million dollars to sort of uh get it running and to make all the changes to the tracks, etc.

Well, whatever that number is, but I just wanted to point out that we're gonna be spending $130 million to on the Pat Bay Highway to do uh an overpass.

So in the scheme, well, those numbers seem big when you look at what's actually happening on the money we're spending on highways, uh it's it's not that bad.

That's right.

Yeah, I agree.

Anyone else?

Councillor Rogers?

Yeah, I I will oppose the uh the motion.

Um I've I've read the report um by my Island Corridor Foundation, um, both the the with the one from the province and from uh Island Corridor, and there's a lot in it that concerns me.

Um and uh the one of the key points is the uh the we say that we are at risk of losing it.

Um it is the whole thing is about the provincial and federal governments to come up with funding uh to restore the rail.

And um, like to say in the in the report, the ENN grant has been a source of frustration and controversy from the inception from the get-go.

And um, you know, while I'm really pleased and maybe a bit confused that the ICF board has um you know a good number of of uh First Nations representatives on the board as board members, but um, you know at the same breath, the the Island Court of Foundation um in the report is not recommending at this point to go ahead with the railroad.

I I don't see any mention of any report in this motion or any discussion of the maintain any report on this motion.

Any corridor from being broken up and sold off.

Yeah, this is this isn't discussing any the business case, which I believe is why you're referring to.

This is just simply asking the provincial and federal governments to get off their behinds and make the necessary commitments to ensure that this corridor doesn't get broken up.

The report also states given the history and the nature of the issues, the role of the government must play settlement.

The business case does not address the necessary.

Now, Sir Rogers, this motion has nothing to do with the business case.

It's it has nothing to do with the business case.

We are okay.

It doesn't.

You're you're I'm sorry, but you're off topic.

We are missing the um the core issue of that this is before the Supreme Court.

And why is it?

Because the First Nations want their land acts.

One of them does.

Right.

And the one of the key cornerstones, I think, um, if if we're going to respect our neighbors, is that we should have somewhere as clause or something in this um proposal motion that we recognize that the the government must work to resolve these historical grievances because to just go ahead is the um is makes um gives no recognition to the issues that are.

Councillor Roger, I'm sorry, but with respect, you're just you're completely off topic.

Therefore, be it yes, you are.

Nope.

Well, you are off topic in terms of the motion that's on the floor.

Yeah, therefore, be it resolved that the UBCM call on the provincial and federal governments to make the necessary investments or to commit to making the necessary investments to preserve the island corridor so that it continue to connect communities, establish a safe and environmentally sound passenger and freight rail service, and strengthen economies up and down and across Vancouver Island.

So we're not making any comment on what discussions have to take place with First Nations and regional governments along the way.

What this motion is doing is asking them to come to the table, which so far they've absolutely refused to do to ensure that those conversations take place.

And it's important to remember that ICF, which is the operator and the controller of the island corridor, is made up of First Nations and local governments.

If I, yep, and and I think because you're the operator and controller, and because they recognize that the government must resolve the historical grievances, you know, one of which is before the Supreme Court, um, or we'll soon be back.

Um, I I think the the other aspect is that um, you know it again you can't do this in isolation without considering what's in the report and what the Island Corridor Foundation is recommending and and what um so again I'm going to call you back to the motion that's in front of us please would you restrict your comments to that yeah right I would move a an amendment that we remove the word rail that this be a transportation corridor and that allows it to open up to all sorts of um opportunities besides it's very limiting.

The motion is is limited.

Well, if there's a second, or we can debate it.

So I mean, but the only comment is that the the court is pretty clear, Councillor Rogers, that it's rail.

Right.

So you're you're at any rate, I yeah.

Yeah.

So for me, I'm happy to support this.

I think you know, it if 50 years down the road, if we look back on this and think that that intact corridor was lost because of inaction by the higher levels of government, the the loss to Vancouver Island and the future transportation needs, regardless of whether it's rail or whatever it may end up to be, um, from Port Alberni to Nanaimo, when they're talking about making Port Alberni a deep water port, um, there's just so much at stake, and and something needs to change to make the upper levels of government realize that while we dither and procrastinate and argue about you know um historical facts, et cetera, et cetera, that we're gonna lose the corridor because this court date is going to come and go, and the court is gonna break it up.

And that is just the loss is just monumental.

So on the basis of that, the my only comment would be that it's an odd motion to take the UBCM because it's not really a provincial issue.

But an island issue.

It's an island issue, and and we're gonna have to work very hard at UBCM to convince the delegates on the mainland and in the north, especially that they should be concerned about it.

Yeah.

So it really should go to ABICC, but by then it's too late.

So yeah, and it has already been to A BICC.

In 2019, ABICC made the recommendation in support.

Yeah.

And um, so I don't know if that followed through with the resolution to UBCM.

And I wouldn't be surprised if it already has been there.

It would have, but it that was a different motion again.

And now we have a firm date from a court that we're gonna lose the corridor if there isn't action taken.

I guess I suppose this is um if we were going to do this, we should have been doing it as soon as the Supreme Court said get going.

Yeah, you know, could have done this a year ago.

But even so, the costs really to make this uh viable is uh a whole different matter and and and I support the idea of rail between uh and freight with um Port Albernian and I'm that makes sense but they want to do freight down here.

Well then someday that'll make sense.

No it won't not call the question report.

I'm gonna call the question all in favor opposed counselor rogers is opposed so that's carried so staff is that all you need then to send those both off to UBCM I'd also like to move that we send our motion off to the premier and all of the rest of those individuals that Mr.

Mr.

Pierce mentioned.

Yeah.

Sure.

Well, how about a letter from the mayor along with the motion?

Yeah.

And may I may I just uh to Sarah?

Sarah, um, if if you need uh provenance for the information in the background, the source was the Allen Corridor Foundation.

Attach the report.

No, the report has nothing to do with this.

So for the public at home, um, we'll very soon be at question period, and that's your opportunity to ask a question about anything that you've seen here tonight or really anything at all, as long as it is a question, and we'll be there very quickly.

So now would be the time to dial in.

So last we have is the temporary use permit for number two hospital way.

And there is a staff recognition.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So it's moved by Councillor Mattson, seconded by Councillor Rogers.

Comments, questions?

No?

Everyone's good?

It's a good head start to get the uh trail going too.

Yeah.

No, I think that's good.

And the fact that the owners signaled the intent to be prepared.

Ron wants to put rail on the trail.

All in favor.

That's carried.

So now we are at question period and we should probably pause for 30 seconds just to give us time to catch up.

And don't run away after the meeting, because I want to have a little chat with Kim as well.

You don't want any of us to run away.

No.

You're going to have desserts.

Are there any callers on the line, Steph?

Your worship, we have no callers at this time.

Well that seems to have been the trend tonight.

So I think we're gonna presume that we don't have five people frantically trying to phone in right now.

Do you have any questions?

Good.

So we just need a motion to terminate.

So second.

Good.

Thank you, everyone.

Thank you, Steph.

Thanks for coming.

Thank you.