Council Meeting

Good evening, View Royal, and uh I'll call the council meeting on Tuesday, May 16th, 2023 to order.

Uh to begin, I'd like to uh acknowledge the Lakongwin speaking people known today as Iskwymalt and Songhees Nation and that their historic connections to these land continue to this day.

This evening we'll hear from the public who telephone in during public participation and question period portions of the agenda.

For members of the audience, uh the council is a safe and respectful and inclusive space.

I'd ask you all to refrain from uh clapping or cheering anybody on if you have opposing opinions.

Uh if you wish to provide comments by telephone, call 778-402-9227.

And when prompted, enter conference ID 709-460148 pound.

You'll be immediately asked to uh mute.

Um, once admitted to the meeting, please do not unmute until you're asked.

At the appropriate time in the agenda, I will then announce the last four digits of your telephone number.

Ask you to mute the live webcast to avoid feedback, and ask you to use your speakerphone, not to use your speakerphone to ensure sound quality.

Uh, and I'll ask you to unmute yourself by pressing star six.

To begin, please indicate your name and address for the record.

Speakers will have five minutes each during the public participation and two minutes to ask a question or questions during question period, and you will be timed.

Uh, the meeting will be recorded, and by participating in the webcast, you are consenting to being recorded, and the recording will be available uh on the town's website for future access.

And that meet that is 8.1, and that is staff reports for the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporations Accelerator Fund.

There are significant implications with that that I don't think with a full review of the Council of the Whole, we should uh really deliberate it here.

But checking temperature on that.

Councilor Brown.

Well I don't know how everyone else feels about it.

But when it was coming to that item, I was going to make a motion just to receive.

Way too restrictive.

Thank you, Councillor Brown.

Other thoughts?

Yeah thank you.

Um I understand where Councilor Brown's coming from.

I'm uh feeling mostly the same way, but um to give uh staff uh some opportunity to speak to it and to clarify some points and concerns that I have, um uh I wouldn't mind uh having a more wholesome discussion at the committee whole and then considering your suggestion.

Similar comments.

Just thank you, uh Councillor Mass.

I thought a number of the items there, I mean I was in full agreement with like the setting uh uh a number of houses, a number of units for in new complexes as uh you know for lower income or for or whatever calling affordable and you know potentially having uh I think one of the other ones was one we discussed about uh in rent oviction sort of things or giving people right of her first refusal.

So I think there were some good suggestions that just as policies, I think we could all probably all support.

But uh there were a number of other things there that I felt quite concerned about but again part of it is uh getting giving staff an opportunity to sort of explain would be helpful but I'm certainly leaning towards you know receiving it I uh as I read it I couldn't approve it.

Any other comments?

Councillor Lemon Yeah I um I agree with my colleagues um I I think a I've I've I would like to hear um staff's presentation and and um understanding of this um initiative um and I think there as counselor mass had said there is some some good points here wrapped in some rather um surprising ones so yeah can we do the whole please okay um uh council brand yeah i think the the way i read it is you we can't cherry pick so it's it's all or nothing or seven points so um yeah it's um for me personally i i can't sell my soul for the sake of uh uh getting a grant thank you.

So I don't want to debate it because the reason why we're moving it to the council of the whole is uh for that.

But Council mackenzie, please.

Uh so uh Mayor Tobias, is is your suggestion also for the staff presentation to be at the committee of the whole?

Okay.

Yeah, I'm happy um with either way.

I think it will be a lot of uh conversation, so it's probably the better place.

The only one I haven't heard from Damien, so I'm just gonna pick on you.

Well, thank you.

Uh well it's on the agenda, so we'll let uh if staff feels like they should prepare and that the public may be expecting some of a presentation, that seems reasonable.

Uh but I'm also open to moving a larger discussion to CAW if necessary.

Thank you.

Then uh I I guess the motion would be to um uh a motion to approve the agenda with the exception of item 8.1 uh to be referred to the next council of the whole.

Um can I with the additional blue sheet, yes, of course.

Um seconded, uh all in favor.

Uh any opposed?

I see none opposed.

So the motion carries.

So we're approving the agenda with the exception of 8.1, which will re refer to um the council of the whole.

So can I get a motion to uh adopt the minutes for uh the special council meeting on May 9th and the council meeting on May 2nd, please.

I'm sorry, you would should we um make a motion to approve the agenda as amended then?

Oh, I you know I wasn't quite clear that I thought all right, fair enough.

So moved.

So moved by councillor Lemon, seconded by Councilor McKenzie.

Uh all in favor of adoption of the minutes.

Any opposed?

None opposed.

Motion carries uh mayor's report.

I'll be brief this uh week.

In fact, last night we completed a third session for strategic planning.

That was um almost the third all-nighter we did.

Um and uh we uh we made significant progress and are now ready to move to the finalization for the strategic plan.

Um there was an opening of the skate park on Saturday that uh I think Councilor Rogers and uh a few folks attended, and and uh definitely um Councillor Kwalovich, as well as his capacity as chair uh wanna fika Parks and Rec.

Um, I think it was a significant event um for uh I guess all of the the uh municipalities in the area, particularly for our youth.

Uh I'm too old for a skateboard, I believe.

Um I wanted to uh announce that uh June is also ALS awareness uh month, and uh I know that many of you have been touched by uh the syndrome and uh just wanted to keep that in our minds.

Uh also announced that Maya Zidek, who's a resident of View Royal and a grade 11 student at St.

Andrews, has um taken upon herself to organize a fundraiser uh concert uh downtown, and we'll post some information on that on the website.

It's to raise money for the earthquake victims of Turkey and Syria.

Um and lastly, just a note that uh I've arranged a meeting between CRD Environmental Services and the City of Logan in Australia to uh get into the details on um gasifying their biosolids and creating biochar, uh saving them over $2 million dollars a year in transport of biosolids as well as running a 10 megawatt generator for the town to create energy.

So we're hopefully getting the blueprints for that.

CRD has announced a pilot study that started off with about $20 million to do the same thing at our landfill site.

And so I'm looking forward to that.

If you're wondering, and I know you're all curious, CRD produces 10 tons of biosolids per day.

So when we say the landfill is filling up, it's filling up with biosolids.

After it's mixed and treated, the plan is in the interim to take it to a mine reclamation site just outside of Nanaimo, where it is authorized to spread as a silviculture growth medium in order to reclaim a quarry there.

So that's the plan for it for now.

So that's uh my mayor's report, uh public participation.

We can move down to there.

Um so we'll go first in the room.

Is there anybody here that would like to speak to council?

You're all welcome.

If you're gonna speak to council, sir, can I ask you to come to the podium and uh and uh uh depress the mic if you want to address counsel, please.

And you'll have five minutes to uh to address council.

So if you notice there's a toggle on the microphone there, the uh light will go red.

Uh okay, thanks.

And so would I ask you to start by just stating your name and your address, please, sir.

My name is Shahab Rahmanyan.

I um I live in Ville Royal, the number six, Atkin Place.

Hi John, I know.

Actually, and I don't know if this things is related to the your council, you know, uh meeting or not just I'm too uh interested about the the mirror as you just you are having planned to paint a mural on uh overpass and it was very interesting for me because my you know my profession is painting mural at a long time ago and I can serve you not as as a just just a service is any service that you want I can just in this relation I can do that.

I don't know is related to your topic or not because I came no thank you sir and uh I think the procedure is that we're going to select a theme.

Yes.

And then after the theme is selected, we'll probably go out for um for uh to to welcome invitations in those themes depending on what the theme is selected.

Yes.

Uh then we'll uh go out at I think that point.

Did I get that right, staff?

That once we select one, then we'll be in a position to go out to the uh kind of attender to request uh artists to come in.

So I don't know what the time frame is for that.

That's why we wanted to know.

Yeah, I think it's probably a month away from getting the word out there.

Okay.

Just looking to staff to see if they know.

I know that uh Sarah was stick handling it.

Zara Joels.

Yeah.

Yes.

Um so staff um think the uh it's July or yeah.

Okay.

So July we should be ready to go out, but I think uh in July, if you contacted Sarah or at the end of June, then she could give you more information.

Appreciate all your time.

Does that help?

Yeah, thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Is there anybody else that would like to address council?

I see nobody else here's uh Carl, is there anybody on the phone that would like to address counsel?

Mayor Tobias, we have no callers this evening so far.

Thank you, Carl.

Um I think we can go down to reports, and we're skipping 8.1 uh A and we can move to B.

I'll pass it over to staff.

Thank you, Mayor Tobias.

Ivan Leoung, Director of Engineering and Parks.

I'm here to speak to you with respect to the Nursery Hill Drive playground request.

So this was an action item that was um at Council Directed staff to take a look at earlier on this year.

And this is just a quick presentation to go over uh background, our findings and options.

So as you can see on the map there, the request is there requested a park uh just on the south end of um Gary Oak Windows Park.

It's accessed through Nurser Hill Drive.

There's a little lawned area.

Uh and uh ultimately, how come this is not working?

Oh, you know, we have my click on it.

There we go.

Perfect.

So if I can quickly go to the background here.

Thank you, Don.

Uh, this was actually initially brought forward to council a couple years ago.

Um, and at that time the request was opposed.

Uh, a couple of reasons why being um the five-year budget was stressed at the time with the pandemic, and also there were other the the community has expressed a need for parking in that area.

So um as uh as C 10221 that basically says the motion was defeated.

However, council did ask the requester to go back to the community and ask uh what kind of potential amenities would they like to see in that area.

So at this January 20, January 17th council meeting, um, it's unknown how much engagement was done by the requester, but ultimately uh there was a request for a small children's play area.

Um there was uh make there was mention of a swing there, and there's uh the photo you see on the right is a photo that uh the requester has taken a photo of as an example of what they'd like to see at um at that proposed park.

Um that actual park is um off of Chilco Road, so it's in in that neighborhood.

Uh and ultimately uh given the amount of uh residents in around the neighborhood, uh council has referred to staff's outline options.

So staff did a quick site visit uh with the measuring tape basically to just to take a look at the proposed locations, um, the dimensions of the areas uh that are proposed, and to look at issues and opportunities.

So, as you can see here, um there's two sections that were identified.

Um the length uh basically varies between you know from the west half and the east half, uh between 10 to 20 meters long.

Um as you can see, the depth varies between three meters and five meters.

So that's taking it from basically the edge of the tree line to the top of the slope.

And then as you can see, the land falls towards a sidewalk at a three to one slope, and what that means is that for every three meters you walk forwards, you drop one meter.

Um generally speaking, anecdotally, uh, three to one slopes are generally the maximum for from a maintenance perspective.

Uh it becomes an issue when you get steeper.

So when the town designs new playgrounds, uh, we typically go through CSA requirements.

They're uh they're nationally accepted documents.

And in this case, uh, given that's the requester was looking for a children's playground, uh, CSA Z614 20, children's playground equipment and servicing, uh, that's the document that we uh abide by.

And that document goes into a lot of detail about what is required in a playground, especially when it comes to what kind of setbacks are required, um, what areas must not have obstructions and accessibility.

And so in this case, specifically with respect to swings or slides, there is indeed a what's called a protective surfacing zone.

So those are uh zones that are protected in terms of um you know whether it's cushioning with uh with mulch or or wood fibar, um, and there's a there there is a uh surrounding requirement of that around the equipment, and then there's also the no encroachment zone, which basically means that uh there should be no obstructions in around the area that's even beyond the protective surfacing zone.

Based on the quick measurement, it was found that there is currently insufficient space in the requested area.

Uh the flat area, given that it's three to five meters that varies, is not enough uh when you take into account the no encroachment and protective surfacing zones that's required for equipment.

So, as you can see here, in terms of hazards and impacts, steep slopes is a safety issue for us, especially for a slope that uh gets conveyed towards a sidewalk and a pavement on uh Nursery Hill Drive.

Uh playgrounds also uh so pocket parks they do require maintenance from time to time, so um, staff are cognizant with the additional mobilization that's required for small parks here and there.

Uh, when it comes to playground maintenance, there is a need to uh take a closer look at what is required in the surrounding area.

Some uh oftentimes you know, open space like this doesn't require uh looking with a fine-tooth comb as to what kind of maintenance is required.

But when the students who put a playground in there, we do need to assess safety and make sure that the land can be used for use intended.

Uh finally, from uh from an environmental perspective, Gary Oak Meadows Park is a naturalized park, and um we're cognizant of the critical root zone and the drip line.

Uh specifically with respect to drip line, uh Gary Oak trees themselves, they do fall a lot of twigs and a lot of acorns, so that is also uh a maintenance concern.

That said, if we do wish to move forward with a a playground here, um it can certainly be engineered to do so.

It may require a little bit more money to do so, but uh what you see here is a is a rough kind of uh schematic as to what would be required.

Probably some retaining to bring the land up, flatten the surface, uh install a fence, and then that would act as a the land that could be used to support a playground.

Um as you can see here in terms of considerations, the capital costs given the small playground, it's quite significant given the size of uh what's requested.

Operational costs, while it is minor in nature, we always look at uh the death by a thousand cuts.

We have um you know, four four park staff, one park supervisor, and they every for every five minutes they're taking off a job, that's five minutes that's that they can't do for lawn mowing and and other important activities elsewhere.

So staff time workload uh diminish level service is of concern.

The recommended option that staff is suggesting is to put more focus on to Chilco Park.

Uh the Chilco Park playground upgrades are included in the 2023 to 2027 approved budget, uh, and actually is scheduled for 2025.

Uh there is great opportunities here because it's a flat and spacious area.

Um, it's just looking at the map here, the amount of lawn space it is uh the the there's a lot of potential to uh improve the playground space to meet the needs of the surrounding community.

It is centralized and accessible, it's surrounded by residential roads, sidewalks, and the gallop and goose nearby.

And from a maintenance perspective, which is what's important to our staff, if you have everything in one park as opposed to in different areas, it's uh there's a reduction in mobilization time.

So, with that, the recommendation is that uh the request for a small program be denied due to the spatial constraints and the fact that the playground improvements at Chilco Park are scheduled for 2025.

Any questions?

Thank you, staff.

Just for a point of um so I can spatially uh make it aware of the um last I think it's on, I'm not sure what number of slides you're on there, but it's the one that you're outlining uh recommended option, Chilco Park.

How far is that from the proposed site that um that is has been requested to be turned into a park?

I'm just trying to spatially orientate myself from the two places.

Yeah, so I think what it did before was and if I can highlight it, let's see if it works here.

So there's this white car in this area here.

And this road here is probably the only opportunity for vehicles to park to get to a nursery hill park playground.

And the reason why I say that is because Nursery Hill is a strata road.

It's not owned or maintained by the town, although the town does have rights for access through it.

But that said, there's no parking.

So, what staff did was we measured the distance from this white car to Nursery hill park, and then from that car to Chilco Park.

And Chilco Park is only 50 meters further away from that white car versus going to Nurser Hill Park.

And I mean it's not necessarily a thing, but uh going to Chilco Park is a lot flatter of a walk as well.

Thank you, Staff.

Questions?

Council Road.

Yeah, uh thank you.

And I know that we'd uh asked that you would have a look at Harry's um uh who uh he's the president of the Strata uh unit behind, and and uh he'd he'd come forward with his ideas.

Um but I don't think Harry had um really solicited the opinion of other residents and what they were interested in uh in terms of amenities.

I mean, he said a slide and a and a play uh and uh swings, which of course would require CAC uh approval, but um you know perhaps other residents would be happy to uh for a passive play, you know, much like we have in V Roll Elementary School or behind in uh at Nelson Square.

So I don't know if we've really been consulting with the uh the residents in that area about what they uh the one have had is any other council consultation happened with the residents.

I believe as part of our uh Mayor Tobias, I I believe um as part of the October 2021 council resolution, the onus for engagement was by the strata.

And the idea was that the strata was to come back with information as to what the what this community wanted as an amenity in the area.

And that's why I mentioned that it's unclear how much engagement has been done, uh, in the sense that uh it was there's a suggestion to have swings and a photo of a playground.

So staff went off of that uh to provide the information to council.

Um in the report, uh I believe what's written in there is that there might be addition alternative opportunities in that small uh lawn area.

Uh Giorgio Meadows Park is a naturalized park.

Perhaps it's something that can be um uh some sort of soft landscaping or additional trees can be planted to kind of enhance Aero Park.

Um certainly something that could be uh asked of as part of the urban forest strategy.

I know there's um there are little park areas in around in this neighborhood that may benefit from that from that as well.

Uh counselor Maps thank you.

Yeah I I could certainly see how play um what our standard vision of a playground is wouldn't work there without huge cost and ongoing upkeep.

But I'm just wondering, like I I've seen where would some sort of passive equipment like which basically from what I've seen is a a a log or a couple, you know, it's a real sort of simple.

And my concern would be again, are there CSA rules that would uh be prescribed?

I mean, for that type of passive playground.

And I guess the other thing would staff be willing to sort of if somebody came up with a passive playground idea, would you be willing to sort of review that and just give us an indication of whether that was feasible?

The CSA standards, they you know, I've I've read through it.

Um, it is very detailed as to what specific um requirements are for each little piece of equipment.

A lot of it is is relatively active, but um I was looking at the minimum constraints.

So what I'm saying is that uh the smallest piece of equipment that could be placed in a playground like this, and one of them is uh like a um I don't know how to explain it too well, but it's one of those uh like um like a horse that with a spring and it goes back and forth.

Uh that's the smallest piece of equipment, and that requires a protective zone of 1.8 meters on all sides.

So that is 3.6 meters.

There might be one spot to put that, but there is no overlap in the protective zone.

So that would be the only thing that you could put in there.

Um the other concern that's that we have is that three to one slope, and the reason why we have these protective zones and these uh no encroachent zones is because that is the is supposed to encompass the area at which something can happen.

And a three to one slope can certainly exacerbate that situation.

Um there is an opportunity to level it and uh I believe in the report you we don't need to basically flatten the whole area up to the sidewalk.

Um but if we're steeping the slope, then that becomes a maintenance issue for the lawnmowers.

And I think just my looking at it, the re the um retaining wall um kind of scares me more than the slope does.

Uh if somebody kid was to get over the fence, for instance, that's a that's kind of a big drop.

So um yeah, I think I think there's need there, but I think we've got one person's comments.

I think that it's likely a a good idea, but until we really see what the community wants to do there, uh I thank staff for the report.

But I I I think proceeding on this on that particular piece of land may be problematic.

Council Rogers.

Yeah, I I'd move receipt and that uh we referred to PRIAC.

Um the Parks Advisory Committee had um uh looked at this um a few years ago, and uh they thought it was there was something feasible out of it.

Um we're again Harry was um uh was part of that committee.

And I recall that um uh PRAC has been very successful in in um their uh parks initiatives the playground uh in Portage Park you know that was a very great consolidation and uh I know uh staff were concerned about it the green teams were concerned about it and you look at it now hallelujah we got it and the same thing with um the um the uh bike park in in Vero Park again credit to the um PRAC um parks advisory committee so I would like um the matter referred to them they um hopefully they would be able to give uh some community assessment give some other ideas that uh staff could assess.

Um and I think looking at the parks we've got now, I'm thinking of Heart Park Heart Road, you know, which is right up tight to the trees.

I'm thinking of Nollwood Park, right up tight to the trees in the root zones.

Granted they're not Gary Oak fur Gary Oaks, but I think there still may be some options available to um uh to because the residents know about Choco.

And um and certainly the um uh Harry and and the folks on the Estrada would um rather have something more immediate than in Choco and and when you look at it includes residents over on Presley Drive or whatever you know behind there.

So um yeah my motion is to receive and and uh refer it to PREAC.

Thank you, Councilor Brown's motion on the table I'd I'd like to give PREAC a specific direction though, and not just what are we asking PREACT to do here?

Sorry.

I yeah, I um for them to um uh look at the um the area, uh make recommendations of what uh kind of um player is, and and I I think it's we could also ask them to um uh hopefully um engage with the community, do some uh public um maybe informal, but at least a public um assessment.

I know staff are really busy, but let's ask uh pre ac if they can reach out to the community because that's what we haven't done yet.

We haven't asked the public what they want, other than one individual.

Thank you, Councillor Roger.

So what we're asking uh the the motion would be to receive it, and we're specifically going to ask pre act to investigate uh other alternatives to kind of a formal playground and to um uh to work on some engagement counselor uh yeah I s I I feel that's a big ask of a committee of of non experts um when there are such we've just heard about the the confines of doing just about anything with four you know related to children or or um some kind of play area um so I you know I I I I support um obviously I support that the community be consulted and engaged, but inviting their uh ask ask ask asking them to with without the full um understanding of the the logistics and the you know the the safety issues, I feel I just feel it's a big ask of a committee.

Thank you, Councillor Low and Councillor Martin.

Yeah, just not not beating this dead horse.

But but in terms of this one, I think the ask would be of pre act is you know, a formal playground isn't gonna work on this site and talk to the community to see if there's other options that are yeah.

Yeah, just see if they have some other options other than a sort of a formal playground, something that they think might would work within the space without having to go to massive construction issues.

And I the other part of this is it just gives preact something to do and see if they can come up with some thoughts, and because that's what we're supposed to be doing, asking the community for for input.

Uh seeing how you've talked twice, we're gonna go to Council Brown.

Um yeah, I think it's good to use our committees in a manner, and they may come back and say agree with what the staff has recommended.

They may as well say no.

But uh, I think it's good.

Uh I know when I was on the pre-act committee, a lot of times we never even had agenda items, so I think it's good for council to to use them for this type of thing.

Okay, thank you, Councillor Rogers.

Yes, thanks.

So I guess it's uh this is a dry run um for uh public consultation and neighborhood consultation.

We had um rejected the idea of spending $30,000 consultant fees for every single park Watkas Way, Erskine Lane, um you know park endless and and of course Little Road $30,000, 30,000, 30,000.

So I think what we're we're trying to uh and we should be experimenting with is is um uh finding some means of public engagement and and um uh uh whether they reach out to the public or Harry then arranges to have the public come and meet them and they have a a community uh in involvement.

There's no harm in asking.

And I think it's reasonable and actually incredibly amazing that we could actually get the public to feel that they've been asked.

Councillor Rogers, any other questions, thoughts, comments?

Okay, so uh I think the motion on the table is the motion to receive it and refer for input in the from PRIAC.

Can I get a motion to that effect?

Motion to that effect, and we got a seconder.

All in favor.

Any opposed.

Seeing none opposed, motion carries.

Thank you, Steph.

Thank you, Mayor.

I think it's over to you, Don, for growing communities Fund Eligibility criteria.

Okay, microphone.

There we go.

Thank you very much.

Don Christensen, Director of Finance.

So this is probably one of the shorter presentations that I have uh had the privilege to present to council lately.

You're used to me being up here for 20 or 30 minutes.

That's not going to happen tonight if I can help it.

So thank you.

So, Growing Communities Fund.

You we have had several different references to it, you know, in the last several months.

Uh really the purpose tonight of my presentation is is informational.

Um this isn't this is a gift, however, it does come with strings.

And I hope to try to unravel some of the strings for you and help us gain a clear understanding of what the province's requirements are for the use of these funds.

The good news is that we have five years to spend it all.

And and even the wording in the letter that is attached to the report is a little bit, I would describe it as soft.

You know, if we have uh a project on the go and it's not done by exactly five years from the day that we got it, I have a feeling, and it's just a feeling, that um nobody's gonna shut us down.

So that's good.

So we have five years, and and I would argue then that should tell us that we should take our time and get it right because once it's gone, it's gone, and we need to see how how you know that we can have the most effective use of these funds.

The primary purpose is to increase the housing supply.

That is throughout all of the documentation and information that is provided from the province.

That is what they want us to do with the money, and they recognize that to increase the housing supply, we're going to need to look at our infrastructure.

So they are targeting projects that are primarily capital projects or are related to capital projects.

So there are you'll see some verbiage in the letter about feasibility studies and capacity assessments.

Those are all what I would consider related to capital.

There are a list of categories of capital infrastructure that are approved for use of these funds.

And you can read them as well as anybody else.

So I won't go through those specifically, but I wanted to also spend a little bit more time on this concept of incrementality.

It must be incremental.

That is a that is a term that people in my field have understood is is perhaps one of the favorite words of the province when it comes to money.

And what it means is really the province wants this money to make a difference in terms of what we have been we've been going along this way and they want to raise the bar and add to so we're going to talk just a little bit about what that means and I do apologize for those looking the the font is a little bit small if this table is in the report that is attached to your agenda.

So I just want to help us understand that incrementality concept because, and I have clarified this with uh with the province that if a project is already in our financial plan with approved funding, we cannot just replace that funding with growing communities fund and say, Oh, look, there we found a new for new source of funding.

We can save our reserves or whatever the the original funding was to uh to be replaced with this money.

Just for clarification on that point.

So our financial plan, like we have a five year financial plan.

So what you're saying is anything that's in our five year financial plan because it was on our wish list, we can't use this fund for?

So I'm I'm gonna describe how I mean the the short answer is yes, but I am gonna describe how the there is a unless in this table.

So for example, um if a project in any year of the five-year plan is funded from casino revenue, it is not going to be eligible for using this fund unless we are going to bump that project to a sooner date such that we don't have enough casino revenue to fund it.

So if you recall, casino revenue comes in every year, and we plan our projects to use that, you know, that are that are using that fund to for their funding source, you know, to time so that we don't run out of money before it comes in.

So that's a very planned way about it.

And so what we're saying is if we want that project that is planned for 2025 to come into 2024 or or something like that, and there isn't enough casino money in the reserve, we can use this fund to pop up the funding source.

So and you're going to see that same concept on some other rows in this table.

Community works fund, same thing.

Now, Community Works Fund, I often have to bump eligible projects out of community works funding because there isn't enough money, or we have to bump it to a future year because there isn't enough funding.

And in fact, uh the community works fund uh funding source is in the process of the talking about being renewed.

So there's no 100% guarantee that it is going to continue, right?

So next year we could be talking about some more opportunity to use growing community funds if the community fund you know drops off or is reduced.

I'm I'm not sure what the plan is, but we haven't heard yet.

So if at any time a planned project you know you want to use growing communities fund for it, you're going to need to change something about the project.

You're going to need to change the timing and if you change the timing and there isn't enough money in the planned source of funding, then you can use community works sorry, growing communities fund to to to help us get that done.

DCC's, development cost charges, of course, are a little bit of a different story in that they are meant to fund infrastructure for growth.

Very specifically, growing communities fund cannot displace development cost charges.

If they were, we would have to revise the DCC bylaw to recalculate those development cost charges because you've already paid for the projects that were meant to be funded by that.

So you know that that is not to say that we couldn't fund the municipal assist factor or if DCCs were not enough to fund a particular project, that is something that could be looked at as well for the use of growing communities funds.

Same thing applies to any of our reserves.

So a funding uh you know project funded in 2027, we want to do it in 2025, we're gonna fund it from reserves, but advancing it we won't we won't have enough money.

We can use growing communities fund for that.

When it comes to grant funding, if we have grants a project that are already funded by an approved grant, you will not displace that approved grant funding, it just wouldn't make sense really to displace that already approved grant funding for that.

However, if you have a project in the financial plan that has no identified source of funding other than some grant that might come along in the future, you know, it is important to, even though we haven't identified sources of funding for projects, to have them in the financial plan, the five-year plan, because it tells the community what the plans are.

But by putting it as grant-funded approval pending, we're saying we need to get a grant for this or we can't do it.

We don't have the money.

That project would be a good use.

This is this is the growth, this is the grant then that becomes identified for those projects that we are just holding in case a grant got approved, or for that circumstance where a grant got approved.

So, yes, if there is a project in the financial plan that has no source of funding other than some approved you know, approval yet to be obtained, we can use growing communities fund for that.

And of course, debt, what in the future that we have not either got community approval for for um borrowing, or uh you know, there's no other source of funding for a project other than debt, that would be a good candidate for growing communities fund use.

Now, the only project that we have in our five-year financial plan is the expansion of the RCMP West Shore RCMP facility.

I would argue that that would be an acceptable use of growing communities fund.

Okay.

Is there any questions on that?

I I've got some to start, then I'll go to Councillor Brown.

Um one is that I know Langford, I think, is using all of their growing community fund for the RCMP because they've got a larger share.

They've also got a YMC to buy.

So I understand that.

So something like, for instance, uh the sound barriers that we haven't identified in any money might be a good source.

Some of the um I don't think we've identified them, although notionally we had though the sidewalk um yet to be determined between Irkskin and Eagle Creek, for instance.

I don't think that was attached to funding yet.

I could be wrong there.

I I I was I was hoping not to get into too much of the just discussion about specific projects because staff will need to assess if they are otherwise eligible.

And and I'm I'm not quite prepared to speak to that.

I think that is that is a process that we are going to need to go through.

Um, because there are, of course, all of the other eligibility requirements as well.

But but in principle, yes, the you know, the um the fact that a project is not currently in our financial plan, um, you know, my initial uh advice would be uh it looks like it could be eligible, yes.

So then what we what may be um just best is if we hang on, let staff do their homework, uh collect the data, look at impact for uh a number of options, a do-nothing potentially as some all investment into the RCMP station would be it's an expense that that we're gonna pass on to to uh to residents anyway, and and whatever's left over.

But I think uh we can provide staff to do that.

And then when staff is ready, I think we can come up with uh with with like is are there new projects, are there opportunities to uh invest this money into the RCMP building or whatever and make an assessment then?

Councillor Brown.

Yeah, in regards to the police building, so uh we could use a portion of or we don't have to use all of it, right?

But for for example, if we had to borrow, say a million dollars, for example, every year for five years, we could do one million, one million, one million for five years.

Is that a possibility or or do we have to do it all one time?

The the proposal in the budget is that we would borrow all at once with with debt charges after that.

Um, you know, so one concept would be, and again, I I I really don't want to get in too much in the details of a specific project, is is that if we use this money to basically like a down payment, we would reduce the total amount that would would need to be borrowed, thus reducing our future debt service costs.

So that would be the concept with that one.

Uh counselor Matson and Councillor Rogers.

Yeah, just and this isn't uh I I guess in terms of the question, one of the things you said before in terms of eligibility, it sounded as if it had to be uh the money had to use to somehow to promote uh growth in housing.

That's the impression I got.

And I'm just wondering how roads would roads fit in there, and I mean I guess one of the things I'd be interested in because for example, Don keeps pestering us about Atkins, putting sidewalks along Atkins.

And I'm just wondering if unless you increase the density because you put a sidewalk along Atkins, you know, would it be eligible?

And and I I know you don't have to have you don't have to have an answer now.

I'm just curious as to how that would work if you could.

Yeah, so certainly the province, as I understand it, is expecting us to tie our use of the money to growth.

Now, how we do that, uh you know, there there may be you know some creative ways to do that, but but certainly um, you know, if putting in a new sidewalk is going to invite people to you know make single family lots to duplexes or fourplexes, you know, uh whether that's I I I think that's the concept.

Um so uh yeah, there there needs to be a tie there as I understand it.

Thank you.

And Councilor Rudd.

Yes, thank you for explaining the uh the chart here.

It was a little confusing for me.

And um it it really is interesting with respect to the DCCs, um, and what projects uh as we have a good uh look at that, um, what projects the growth-related projects that uh are not covered by DCCs.

And um we knew that uh the Watkiss Way roundabout was a prime example that we had no DCCs to cover that.

So I I guess that's one example of where that would have been useful, and and goodness knows, would there have been other others um in that surprise?

That would be uh interesting to see.

Uh and again, thank you for the description of the community of works fund because I do note in 2020 24 we dipped down to 9,000, a mere nine thousand dollars in in that so that would be uh an interesting uh aspect so thank you again for the report uh council please thank you and in looking at the letter I see thank you um in looking at the letter I I see sidewalks curbing lighting etc are are all on the list of um possibilities um I'm just wondering could if can we have more than one can we have a menu of of up of of um um projects that are funded by this one source yeah okay thank you yes absolutely we you know there there isn't a limit to you know the diversity of projects let's say okay to my knowledge yeah thanks okay that's and just one last uh um question is that could that be a mix could we identify the funding out of uh the growing communities fund and do some sidewalks and top it up with uh casino revenue for instance yeah uh in in grant terminology we call that stacking and absolutely there they're the only stacking prohibition prohibitions would be on the fund that we are stacking it with.

For example, if we had another grant from uh another department in the in the min in the uh province that had rules about stacking, and you couldn't stack it with other provincial money, then we could not use this.

So and we do see that sometimes.

So that is again something that we would have to look at if that was the plan.

Very quickly, the the um conditions of the grant do allow transfers to a third party.

And you should think one day rec center, West Shore Parks and Recreation, you should thank uh West Shore RCMP or or in this case uh another local government, the uh city of Langford for the RCMP building, um, and First Nations.

So First Nations can own the product the capital at the end of the day as long as we are in partnership with them to deliver a service to our communities collectively.

So that's really what it's all about.

We can transfer it to the Capital Regional District as long as it's for a service in which we participate.

So really sharing with other partners, municipal or municipal like partners, is something that we can do with the fund.

Okay.

We have already met the requirement for placing it into a reserve.

It is earning interest as we speak.

There are reporting requirements.

The financial reporting requirement is par for the course, as far as I can tell, and is not going to be burdensome at all for staff.

There is another report that is work related to housing needs report and pre-zoning requirements.

Please don't ask me any questions about that because I don't know anything about it.

And indeed, the province has not yet provided a template, but they have said that they will be coming forth with a template.

I would expect they are looking for some sort of metrics about how this money is going to improve the housing supply or support growth.

So staff in in talking to our director of engineering and our director of development services, we do get a little bit twitchy.

I think I said to Councillor Rogers the other day, we have if we had $4 million and spend it on 4 million projects, you're gonna need 4 million staff to deliver those projects.

So please, you know, staff is is asking for you to not do 4 million projects.

Every time we do a project, a staff member or more or one or more staff members need to manage the project, do the RFP, you know, it it it it's more work.

And our concern is that if we accelerate projects or we add projects, it means that unless we hire more staff to get it done, which the fund doesn't pay for, something's going to not get done that that you might want to get done.

So this really is going to be a conversation about priorities or alternatively hiring more people to help get us done, help help get these things done.

So that's really what this staff is this this slide is about is is that you know we we we just want to you know you know when we develop the financial plan it's not just making the the the money um you know kind of work over the five years it also is is set that way based on staff's capacity.

Well, you throw something else in the mix, and we're going to have to have a conversation about staff capacity.

So that's that's what that's about.

And we do want to keep in mind, and what what uh staff are looking at right now is that we have lists of projects in our master plans, in our active transportation network plan, in in our D well, not we can't use the DCCs, but they may be related to uh to DCCs and and need extra top up.

Um you know, so so those are projects that council has already seen and approved.

Maybe we need to refresh the quotes, maybe we need to re examine whether or not they still are priorities, but that's that's where that's kind of our starting point at looking at those for for adding projects that are not already in the financial plan.

Okay, so so really the next thing that we want to do is to bring a report to council that uh provides the list of projects that you know we kind of prevet them for funding from this fund.

Um and you know, we will be looking at those foundational documents.

We want to focus on approving projects based on the project merits.

Like is this is this something that we want to do, and and is it more important than some other thing, and what are all of the impacts?

And and the the where should it be funded?

Um we can you know we can identify this fund, um, but I would hate to do that to a a a project that maybe has a really good chance of getting a different grant right you don't want to take away something that you might have some potential in the future of getting even more um grant funding or or some other some other thing that we can imagine and you know really think of this as the pie just got bigger but really the same principles and approaches and methodology we are recommending we we do the same thing evaluate the projects on the merits.

Is it feasible?

What is the impact to the community?

What are the financial future financial implications to operations and and staffing and and so on?

So we do need to look at the big picture, and that's what we're asking of uh council to help guide us through that process and help us understand the community priorities.

And the recommendation council is to receive the report tonight.

Okay, uh moved and then it's gonna and seconded by counselor Rogers, but I'll go to Councillor Matson to see uh sees the mover to comment anything.

Okay, Councillor Rogers.

So um Edgon, you the capital projects over the five years, uh, you're gonna be going through those and and seeing uh just to make sure you're if any of those might qualify.

Certainly we'll see that some of them that might be kind of interesting.

Especially those wanting per house that were identified.

All in favor of uh receiving the growing community funds uh staff report.

Any opposed?

Seeing none opposed, uh motion carries, and I think we're down to code of conduct review, and this is all in the committee whole resolutions.

I'll move to staff's recommend or move to recommendations from the Cal committee.

Second.

Uh I think we'll move.

Um I have a question and then a comment on the uh number two.

Uh so my question on the first one is whether we can add a date uh to when we're going to review it right now at a future date.

I'm just wondering if it's the next month or many months from now.

I I think um I want to be clear for the public too, because there was a misconception that we weren't uh governed by the code of conduct, and certainly when we were all sworn in, uh we all signed a code of conduct.

The adequacy of that is what we suggested we would like to review, right?

So council is writing under the code of conduct we signed when we were sworn in.

Within six months of council being sworn in, we have we need to flag to the province whether we're going to review that or not.

That's the option I think uh uh that we have.

We've indicated that we are going to review it so.

So I don't know if we have to be really crunchy about exactly when that review takes place and for its the process of finalization because I think one of the lessons learned is that if we make some changes to it, and I think um staff already has gone to a lawyer, so there would be kind of we're happy with the wording.

Uh we should get legal review after that, and maybe after the legal review, then kind of adopt that.

I will say that um the CRD has now voted in favor of um of a code of conduct as well.

Um it seems to be uh interesting for me that each one of the municipalities has a different code of conduct the CRD will have a different code of conduct so I as a director at CRD will sign a different code of conduct with different articles maybe with different language than I would with the town whereas we uh with the provincial government sign a code of conduct that is kind of uh more broad so uh uh council McKenzie are you're looking for a specific date that it would be brought back and finalized I think we'll be brought back and and bring it up again but I'm not sure if we could nail down the exact date that we'd finalize.

Okay, yes, I was just thinking for people who have been kind of following along or tuning in tonight to to know if it's a longer term thing or um they should be expecting a sooner update, but thank you, Councilor McKenzie, Councillor Rogers, then I'll go to staff just to make sure that my wheels are still in the right lane.

Yeah, my understanding is that um uh staff have given us to um May the 26th to review the document that's um uh make comment.

And then I guess we'd go from there.

Staff would collate.

That's correct.

The um the deadline for your comments is near the end of May, and then staff will be collating the comments, and depending on the number and uh level of detail once we get that completed, then we'll provide information back to council.

Thanks, Steph.

And uh, and would it go out for legal review once we've finalized kind of what we we we've thought you've taken a look at it, would it go up for legal review before uh we actually uh adopt?

That's great.

Is that clear?

Cool.

Uh so that was a question on code of conduct review.

And did you have a question on the second one as well, Councilor McGins?

Yes, comment slash question.

I know when we were speaking about uh during budget discussions and we were talking about these uh grant and aids, we were saying for those uh that were receiving substantial grants uh that we would ask if they could come and you know update us uh during the year on on what their project was um so i just wanted to make sure that this one uh was in their letter perhaps to invite them to come back and speak about it since it was one of the more um the bigger grants that we approved and it was for a specific thing i think as well um thank you councilor makenzie councillor rock yes i and uh and i had sent an email to uh the two presenters and asked that they would uh invite us to the hall once uh the uh everything's been in installed so we can see for ourselves counselor matzon yeah just in in terms of that stuff i just wondered if you could remind us whether or not there is any sort of uh strings attached to to the funds we provide in terms of getting back to us because over the many years I don't really recall too many people ever coming in to tell us how the funds were spent and and but if it is maybe that's something we should be doing through the mayor uh we do have a fairly comprehensive grant and aid policy it does require for the funds to be spent on the proposed project it does require a report back to council of how the funds were used um we we often uh do get uh a letter back thanking uh us for uh for the funds and in telling us more about the project.

We don't uh have a formal process to collect those and bring those formally to council.

Um, but certainly the policy I I would say is fairly robust in making it very clear that the funds are to be used for the purpose that they were granted and that a report back to back to the town is required, and that is reiterated to them in the letter when we send them the funds.

And they do have up until uh they do have the year to to complete that process.

Maybe just for the future, if there was some way to report back to us whether or not people who were especially those applying for second or playing for applying for a grant the next year that they've actually met that requirement and told you how the funds were spent because otherwise we're just sort of giving money away and without having enough at least on council and certainly the public don't don't know that uh we're getting information back on it.

Yeah uh point taken and uh maybe uh I don't want to make it too onerous for staff either maybe just a table or a list of the grants made that we've got gotten out and we don't even have to have necessarily the thing that was proposed and what it was being spending on that we did rehear back from them that the there was a confirmation that they used the money maybe before the cycle where we go through the next grant and aid, um, would be helpful for council to know it.

I mean, so for some things it's was for rent for a facility, and there's uh uh understanding there, but for some of the specific asks, uh, would that be too much, staff, to to before we get to our our next title?

We don't need to get into the details just saying that these people that have received a grant and aid have uh we've got a letter back or correspondence that uh the project's been complete.

We will make it so.

Thank you.

Thanks, Don.

Um so we've uh any other comments?

No other comments.

Um, then we've got a motion on the table.

Um that we can that we can move ahead with the uh code of conduct review and the view royal community uh association grant and aid request.

All in favor.

Any opposed?

None opposed.

Motion carries.

Um other reports.

There was the meeting of minutes from the West Shore Parks and Rec Society Board of Directors.

Council Quelich, do you want to talk to that?

As uh is typical every month at our meetings, we have a uh presentation from a department.

So we had the arena and events programmer uh present as well as the 2022 auditors report by KPMG, which uh we go through every year just like we have here.

Uh that was also a good result.

But of course, the the the news of the day what it would be to report on the grand opening of the skate park, counselor Rogers and I were in attendance there, as well as many other elected officials from the CRD, and it was very well received.

Received a lot of media coverage.

Um there are a lot of people that have been using it already for for a while now, and it's officially open.

And uh everybody here and all of our residents should be uh really proud to be a part of it.

And uh if you have a chance, please go down, have a look.

It's it's cutting edge, world-class uh skatepark that is getting just uh top quality reviews all over the place.

So uh thank you everybody for your uh support on that and uh to the residents um for for supporting us uh making that decision and everyone seems quite happy.

Thank you.

Any questions?

Counselor Matson Long, Council McKinsey.

Counselor Rogers, Councilor McKinsey.

Yeah, thank you.

Uh yeah, it was a great honor to be there for the uh grand opening of the skateboard park.

Um nice to see all the uh uh the political uh interest from the mayors and so on.

Um what uh I think the two standouts uh highlights for me was um the two presenters, Jimmy and Bobby.

Uh Jimmy's the um uh if the main man, I guess, that uh facilitated the community and and the seaport community.

Um but I what was really striking for him, me and I talked to him later was um uh the whole idea of of um each municipality, each neighborhood, thinking about what they could do on a much smaller scale, but still being able to provide that uh that skating um opportunity.

And I I would hope that um and I I challenged Jimmy to uh give some ideas to um to the the West Shore board that they can take back to their communities and so that we could assess what uh what possibilities that might be in in our parks.

And of course, um, you know, remarkable with Bobby and and her uh incredible perseverance and dedication to the the West Shore as a whole and to this particular project.

So uh thank you very much, Chair, for taking hand taking care of all that.

I do have another comment on another portion of the minutes, if I may.

Uh let's go to Councillor McKenzie first.

Thank you.

So the the thing that kind of just piqued my interest uh in reading the minutes was about the emergency use of the facilities by uh Culwood.

It it first made me question where is our emergency um kind of location.

I don't know if staff uh he present know that I'm not sure I understand the question.

Sorry, sorry, it's the um if there was an emergency such as I think a or disaster um for residents to stay to shelter.

We uh we would use the same facility if it was available as well um we would access schools and and other types of facilities that would uh accommodate large groups.

Okay, uh just curious, um, given that it states that there's an MOU, so I assume that View Royal also has an MOU with the West Shore.

Um through my experience over the years with West Shore Parks Center, because the West Shore uh facilities are on Callwood property, um, they do deal with them more exclusively in regards to contracting them for particular responsibilities, sometimes uh such as uh they had a partnership when they refurbished their um uh war uh cenotaph which is actually in the parking lot near the hockey arena and they deal with them in particular with their directors for sometimes seeking advice on issues so there are um I would call um special agreements with them that are extraordinary beyond our scope as directors representing the town because of its geographical location if that makes sense okay council right yeah um um june the first we have a uh an emergency meeting and so i think that's a really good question to ask troy and and uh see uh you know there are places that we have within our community for mouse and uh i think troy can elaborate on those thank you.

Uh I can speak to that.

I think we've got uh a move receipt coming up.

Uh movie seat with a comment.

Sure.

I need a second.

Did you want the comment before your yeah we can we can get a seconder?

Uh seconder, but we require a seconder for this.

Uh Councilor Brown seconds now, Mover.

Okay.

Um in the programs on page eight, second paragraph, um, there was a partnership uh between Royal Bay and um and I gathered the West Shore on a 2023 neighborhood nights programs.

And uh that really is quite intriguing to me because it was a weekly thing where encouraging neighbors to engage with one another at um uh uh at a place in in Callwood, there I guess.

Um and I guess my question is um in terms of programs, one of the things that we had going with Shoreline Community School was Nights Alive for uh youth at risk and and uh as well as you know anybody that was going to shoreline community school is this possible that um what we could have some chance of resurrecting nights alive for our youth um with the help of the West Shore well counselor Rogers thank you for your interest in the youth in View Royal and I would love to hear from you by way of an email uh I would be adding that to the next agenda and that would be up for uh open discussion on on a West Shore uh agenda and I think it's a great idea.

So we got a move in and a seconder for uh reports for the West Shore Parks and Rec uh Board of Directors meeting.

Uh all in favor.

A opposed, none opposed.

Um that report is received.

So correspondence.

We have some late items, of course, on the blue sheet.

On the first A, I would refer the issue of speed homes to staff to apply traffic common policy review.

Uh counselor Low.

Um I have a question before before a motion, if I may.

Staff, have we done speed monitoring on pheasant lane?

A complete or mayor to buy us a complete came in last year, and so a speed review was done.

Um based on that speed review, the uh traffic calling policy dictates that we could move forward with stage one, which is to put in a speed router sign there and then we'll assess the speeds and volumes at that time.

It's just that the speed counter is elsewhere with other priority projects, but it will eventually get there.

Uh so it is within our uh it is within our work plan.

And uh after chatting with the develop deputy develop our deputy director, um it's going to be on pheasant lane shortly.

Terrific.

Thank you.

Sure, I have moved a staff's recommendation or rare.

No, it was a question to staff.

So moved by counselor Rogers, second by Councillor Matson.

Uh all in favor of receipt.

Any opposed?

Pardon me.

We we're just doing one at a time for for action.

Uh that was to pass to staff.

We can do it over.

I just moved receipt for for all, but we can specify and go through them one by each if you would like.

I move restate of B and all the information items in 9.2.

I guess second.

All in favor?

Any opposed?

Seeing none uh post.

Um introductory readings of bylaw, and I noticed we had some correspondence on that.

I want to address them all at once.

Is that of course there's a bylaw amendment that's mainly administrative?

It was just grammarical, I think would probably be the best term.

Um, however, it did elicit quite a significant response in emails and phone calls, both to staff and myself.

So that report, of course, was for the zoning that's already been in place, but we're just amending.

Does staff want to speak to that first?

Sure.

Um, thank you, Mary Tobias.

The um bylaw number 1117 is to deal with a text in a text amendment in the existing CD1 zone by decoupling the light manufacturing medical clinic uh and to avoid um future conf confusion and um on zoning interpretation in the future, as well as when we see receive business licenses at business license applications, there's there's just no confusion there.

So it's simply a text amendment to the existing zone.

I move received a staff's report.

Second.

All in favor.

Any opposed?

None opposed.

And so I move first through third of uh bylaw one one one seven.

Moved by counselor rogers, seconded by counselor Matson.

All in favor?

Any opposed?

None opposed.

Um question period.

Uh it's your opportunity to ask council any questions they would like.

I think we've got uh two minutes to ask uh or five minutes to ask questions.

Two minutes to ask questions, I think.

Uh and we'll go to in the room first.

Do you anybody want to ask counsel a question?

Please approach the microphone and activate it so you see the red light and just uh state your name and uh your address, sir.

My name is Mike Mike Lloyd.

I live at 193 Weera Road.

Uh my my small question is about the official community plan.

Um I understand that it's perhaps still in discussion.

Now my background on this is that when I lived in Oak Bay uh about 10 years ago, I was a citizen member of the uh steering committee for about a year that guided on their uh their review.

And so I was paying attention when View Royal was was um running um their review.

And I'm I'm just I I understand that it things seem to have been diverted uh somehow.

And I would like to know what's the status of the of the discussion around the official community plan.

No, that's uh an excellent and topical question.

I thank you for it, Mr.

Uh McCoy.

And uh welcome to View Royal formally.

Um so I think this the the status of the OCP right now is we reverted from the draft um to the 2011, which was always the OCP in it that was in effect.

Uh I think there was some challenges around the OCP around engagement because it was done around the time of COVID, and there was some sensitivities, particularly around proposed land use that would relate to zoning.

So where we're at right now is that we've as a council have uh committed to uh bringing up those discussions again, uh probably looking at our engagement policy first to make sure that we're getting it right and getting neighborhoods involved, um and uh and uh then carrying on with any other work that we need to do with the OCP.

But I think the the the thing that we did get very right in 2011 was the engagement, not so much potentially because of COVID and other factors the second time.

Did that answer all your questions, or did you get another one?

And there are committees that are coming up very shortly.

So uh if you're interested uh in participating again, we can certainly um uh enlist your expertise in those.

Okay, that was my other little question was about the advisory committees because I understand that structure is being revised, and um there they're uh the number of committees is going to be changing.

So I was just I think that that's an important thing to be done to get settled so we can get on with absolutely thank you very much for your question, sir.

Much appreciated.

Anybody other questions in the room?

Seeing none.

Uh Carl, let's go to the phone.

Any questions on the phone?

Mayor Tobias, we have a caller.

Last four digits 1205.

Uh caller 1205.

Exciting.

Can you press unmute by pressing star six and state your name and address for the record, please?

Hello.

Carl, are they still on the line?

Uh Mayor Tobias, they're showing on the line still, but uh I didn't show them.

I didn't see them unmuting.

I can unmute them manually right now just in case.

Sure.

Good evening.

Uh you've uh reached the council chambers for the council meeting during question period.

How can council assist with your question?

Don't think we're getting any response there, Carl.

Um, I don't see don't see anything coming up with them.

Hello.

Oh, there we are.

Hello, you've reached the uh council chambers.

You had a question for council.

Oh my gosh.

I keep unmuting and I get muted.

Um yes, sorry, I it's Janice Della Viola at 333 Stewart Avenue, and I didn't actually had a question um to say to council.

I had submitted some correspondence into council and I was just dialing in to listen.

Oh, um, I I think we have yeah, we re we received your correspondence and thank you for it.

Did you have any other questions?

No, no, not at all.

I just wanted to raise that and and see if that was something council was going to consider looking at the costs of of um biweekly carbage compost pickup versus weekly from a cost analysis perspective.

I think Councillor McKenzie has it on her agenda uh perhaps when uh one of those questions come up again uh that the council can deliberate, and I'm sure she will not let us forget it.

Just for clarification, staff did a report in which they looked at cost, I think, on a weekly as well as a bi-weekly basis.

But like and we now have a contract that we signed for three years.

Right.

So in the court in the material that I read, um, which was the analysis done by staff, it had said that they would have to break the contract, and there was a fee for that, but there was no analysis of that cost, and therefore this also the savings of bi weekly or other options like private uh private garbage pickup.

It just there was just a one line saying that that could be done, but it wasn't shown in that report for public consumption.

Thank you.

I think we're we're probably going to bring it up again with council, and we'll we'll definitely have to weigh this as well because I know some families, even do though they do recycle a lot, they are more than full every week with extra bags that they have to buy.

So it's something that we're also gonna have to balance out personally.

I think it's a it's a it adds some merit, but we're gonna have to balance all that out with the rest of the community's needs as well.

Right, absolutely.

Yes, and it it, you know, like a lot of things, cost per use, right, should should come into play in some regards.

And I know a lot of other municipalities are biweekly and also cost per bag.

Um, but I know that you're doing the analysis.

I just I just wanted to raise it because it there was no data showing the cost of breaking the contract and what the difference would be to go to biweekly.

And and if cost is only one of the factors I realize, um, but is that still an option of changing it?

No, it's uh it's definitely worth raising.

I'm also cognizant of flooding staff with requests, so I'm sure if we give them a bit of time, they can go back and do some homework and give us some rough figures about when the contract would end and what that might look like because I think we're also dealing with whether it's picked up once a week or once every two weeks, we're still dealing with a weight charge uh as well and what that would be an impact and it would be a change for all of you, Royal.

So um, yeah, so uh I know that this will come back on our agenda items, but please stay tuned.

Okay, that's great.

Thank you.

Was there anybody else on the phone, Carol?

Mayor Tobias.

Mayor Tobias, we have no other callers this evening.

Move termination.

Moved and seconded by councillor uh brown.

All in favor, termination.

Uh motion carries.

Any posed.

Seeing none.

Thanks, Stock.