Minutes of the West Shore Parks and Recreation Society Board - November 20, 2014

Minutes of the West Shore Parks and Recreation Society Board of Directors’ Meeting

Thursday, November 20, 2014 in the Fieldhouse

PRESENT: Directors Rob Martin (Chair), Arnie Hamilton, Cynthia Day, Ed Watson, Heidi Rast, Ken Williams, Lanny Seaton, Les Bjola, Matt Sahlstrom and Winnie Sifert

ABSENT: Directors David Screech, Moralea Milne, Shaun Wysiecki and Terry Young

STAFF PRESENT: Linda Barnes, Administrator Wade Davies, Manager of Operations Brian Merryweather, Manager of Human Resources Sandy Clarke, Manager of Recreation Annie Mulcahy, Recorder

PUBLIC PRESENT: Evelyn Woodward, President, JDF Seniors' Centre Carol Hamilton, Mayor of Colwood

1. Call to Order

The Chair called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

2. Approval of Agenda

Item to be added at Director Rast’s request under New Business: Action Item List.

MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS BJOLA AND HAMILTON THAT THE AMENDED AGENDA BE APPROVED. CARRIED

3. Approval of Minutes

MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS SIFERT AND WILLIAMS THAT THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING HELD SEPTEMBER 11, 2014 BE ADOPTED AS CIRCULATED. No omissions, no errors. CARRIED

4. Public Participation

Evelyn Woodward from the JDF Seniors’ Centre announced their Christmas Raffle with prize items all being handmade by the seniors – book of tickets circulated around the table for purchase.

5. Chair’s Remarks

The Chair opened the meeting with the following comments:

Congratulations to all the elected officials – everyone on the WSPRS Board was re-elected to Council, and Director Williams and Screech were both elected Mayor of their respective municipalities.
Recently attended a meeting with WSPR staff and Rock the Shores producer, Atomique – exciting stuff ahead as initial plans are being made for the 2015 event – this year’s musical festival looks bigger than ever.
Atomique is also looking at more medium sized events like the recent Sam Roberts Concert at WSPR.
Also attended Staff Day earlier this month – engaging day with some very creative ideas coming from staff. Fantastic to see the level of motivation – staff are clearly interested in what is happening in the big picture – what we do at the Board level is important to them and they are keen to know about it.
Housekeeping – new method of delivering hard copies of the Board Agenda to municipal offices is working well.
Reminder that the December Board Meeting/Social is happening 2 weeks from tonight – email invite will be sent out by the end of next week for people to RSVP.

6. Standing Committees

a) Finance

Director Williams spoke to item 7.a) in the absence of the Manager of Finance and the Chair of the Finance Committee (see below).

b) Strategic Planning

Nothing to report at this time.

c) Policy

Nothing to report at this time.

7. New Business

a) 2015 Draft Budget (attached)

Director Williams presented the Report provided by the Manager of Finance, Sue Dickson.
The budget produced some very solid results including a low operational requisition increase of 1.74% (still below the total municipal requisitions for 2013).
Despite some unavoidable cost increases including CUPE wage increases and higher utility costs (especially hydro), projections show revenues higher than budget; operating expenses and major repairs lower than budget; and a surplus of approximately $146K for future major repairs and maintenance.
After thorough review and discussion, the Finance Committee recommends that the budget be approved by the Board.

MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS BJOLA AND RAST THAT THE 2015 DRAFT BUDGET BE APPROVED FOR FORWARDING TO THE MEMBER MUNICIPALITIES. CARRIED

Discussion ensued around the wording in paragraph 1 of the Report and the amount of surplus – should it be higher? Agreement to defer the question for the Manager of Finance to answer and circulate upon her return.

Vote taken and Motion carried.

b) 2014 Third Quarter Financial Review (attached)

Also presented by Director Williams.

MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS DAY AND RAST THAT THE 2014 THIRD QUARTER FINANCIAL REVIEW BE APPROVED. CARRIED

c) Action Item List

Director Rast brought forward the idea that an action item list be maintained of any pending action items that arise at the monthly meetings and be shared on a regular basis.
The Administrator confirmed that a list is maintained documenting all decisions and action items that arise from regular and in-camera meetings to help build agendas and keep track of pending actions – an up-to-date copy will be added to the January agenda.

8. Old Business

a) Update on Neighbourhood Learning Centres (Report attached, L. Barnes)

The Administrator gave a verbal overview of the Report provided.
Have had an onsite tour of Royal Bay – building is exciting – having more day-to-day discussion, down to the program level – still forecasting the schools will be opening on schedule (September 2015 – WSPR programming to be in place in both spaces by January 2016).

Discussion: As requested, a presentation will be added to the January agenda to see plans, including the types of programs and how they will be scheduled time-wise into the NLC spaces, and an update on the transition from Centennial Centre.

MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS DAY AND RAST THAT THE REPORT BE RECEIVED. CARRIED

9. For Information

a) Human Resources Report (attached)

Manager of Human Resources, Brian Merryweather, gave a quick overview of the Report.
Low activity – low staff turnover – positive indication that we’re going in the right direction.

MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS WILLIAMS AND SAHLSTROM THAT THE REPORT BE RECEIVED. CARRIED

b) Administrator’s Report (attached)

The Administrator added that a lot has been happening to do with changing technology.
New App in the works – WSPR leading the way in Victoria with this new service for patrons (presentation will be ready for the January meeting).
CLASS registration software replacement – this is a huge project being undertaken intermunicipally as West Shore works with other municipalities to look for a new provider.
Also in the process of changing our HR system from ADP. Another big upheaval but one that promises to deliver a much superior product, accommodate WSPR’s needs better, and save a significant amount of money in the long term.
New intranet is now active – this idea has been envisioned for several years and it is a great accomplishment to have it up and running – the internal staff website is a new tool that will help enhance communication and engagement between departments and staff.
Staff Day was a wonderful day and we were very happy to have Rob Martin join us – invitation extended to all Directors that they are more than welcome to attend Staff Days in the future.

General discussion followed including what a good idea the App is and how regionally it’s exciting for staff to be the first. Idea suggested about getting all our regional communications people together to share challenges and ideas. The Administrator confirmed they do work together informally and hold meetings throughout the year to work through common initiatives such as the Annual Regional Pass, May Pass etc.

Conversation continued around the ongoing challenge of ticket sales. Sales for the Sam Roberts Concert were not great – although WSPR did not lose any money the organizers did not do particularly well – being mid-week may have been a factor. Still, Atomique Productions deemed the night as a good one and they are still interested in holding future similar events at WSPR.