Minutes of the West Shore Parks and Recreation Society Board of Directors Meeting - Wednesday, September 13th, 2023

b) Pickleball Consultation Presentation Grant Brown, administrator introduced the consultant, David Hewko. David Hewko, consultant showed a PowerPoint presentation which highlighted the following:

• Demand:
  • Growth of pickleball will not continue at the same rate when an eventual participation saturation point is reached and attrition offsets net increase.
  • Currently, there are just over eighty registered members of the Victoria Regional Pickleball Association that are residents of the Westshore communities. This group will generate a weekly demand of 90 hours based on playing on average, three times per week for 90 minutes each time.
• Demand projections: calculations do not include organized weekend play or non-league casual players weekdays and weekends.
  • Total projected daily players maximum:
    • 4 courts – 80 winter, 112 summer
    • 6 courts – 120 winter, 168 summer
    • 8 courts – 160 winter, 224 summer
    • 9 courts – 180 winter, 252 summer
  • Minimum and maximum number of players accommodated
    • 4 courts – 133 min, 187 max
    • 6 courts – 200 min, 280 max
    • 8 courts – 300 min, 420 max
    • 9 courts – 300 min, 420 max
  • Notes: plan to add 5 more players per year, consider that people will try it and walk away, the sport will grow over the next few years but will most likely decrease in growth once the baby boomers age out.
• Identified locations on WSPR site for pickleball courts:
  • Seven options presented.
  • Limited greenspace left aside from wooded areas or repurposing existing parking lots.
  • 12 criteria were considered (impacts to surroundings, noise impacts disrupting others, orientation – sun angles, compatibility with adjacent users, construction interruption to others, handicapped accessibility, future contiguous expandability, aesthetic appearance, user convenience, access to amenities, ease for facility operations, and capital construction cost).
  • Locations considered:
    • A1 – replace volleyball courts with 6 pickleball courts.
    • A2 – redevelop volleyball and tennis courts into 9 pickleball courts and 4 tennis courts.
    • B1 – develop 6 pickleball courts on greenspace next to the lacrosse box.
    • B2 – develop 6 pickleball courts on greenspace across the road from the lacrosse box.
    • C – turn one of the existing lawn bowling pitches into 8 pickleball courts.
    • D – paint lines within the lacrosse box for 6 pickleball courts.
    • E – replace existing volleyball and tennis courts with a parking structure and 8 pickleball courts and 2 tennis courts on the rooftop.
• Supply:
  • Each pickleball court has a seasonal weekday prime-time capacity of 37.5 to 40.5 hours per week. This is based on five daily preferred or prime booking slots that are morning through mid-afternoon (given the age-profile of participants) and up to seven slots during the summer when days are longer.
  • All other residual weekday and all-day weekend timeslots are available for public casual play or as additional timeslots for club members.
  • Inherent capacity to absorb more and additional users is the key to not under-building or over-building pickleball courts in the short and medium term.
  • Players in off-prime timeslots such as late afternoons, evenings, and weekends has the capacity to double if not triple utilization or prime daytime capacity.
• Recommendations:
  • Analysis in this report recommends that building 6 pickleball courts will support a capacity of 200 to 280 Victoria Regional Pickleball Association regular registered players from the Westshore.
  • Location recommendation: this report’s recommended solution is option A1: redeveloping the existing volleyball site to accommodate 6 pickleball courts. This option replaces an activity that has declined in participation, creates the least disruption to implement, is on a level and easily buildable site and offers the greatest cost-certainty/least financial risk to WSPR.
    • Option A1 provides more than enough court capacity to support the Victoria Regional Pickleball Association’s Westshore residents’ prime-time demand for the next 3-5 years. Thereafter, demand can reasonably be expected to begin levelling off or even modestly decline.
    • The location of option A1 is close to ideal (including positives like access to parking and no residential neighbours). If noise attenuation features can control impacts to surrounding uses such as tennis golf and the new skatepark. The only shortcoming is no space for adjacent future expansion without altering the existing tennis courts.
    • The capital cost estimate for option A1 is $353,000 in current dollars. An annual operating cost of about $20,000/year (likely offset completely by eliminating beach volleyball from the budget) is anticipated. The project process from design to occupancy would likely take about 4-6 months to complete.
  • Include benches for players to use when not playing.
  • Include extra area around court for easy entry and to minimize garden waste on the playing surface.

There was board discussion around the location options, current projects onsite, funding models and the relocation of volleyball activities regionally.

DAVID HEWKO LEFT AT 6:50PM.

MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS ANDERSON AND GUIRY THAT THE WSPRS BOARD OF DIRECTORS CONSIDER OPTION A1 FOR THE LOCATION OF THE NEW PICKLEBALL COURTS. CARRIED

c) Q2 Financial Consultant Presentation Wei Wu, manager of finance and administration, showed a PowerPoint presentation that highlighted the following:

• Source of Revenue: Breakdown - $15,427,876
  • Funding for Capital Projects 17%
  • Mun Requisitions 38%
  • Sale of services 45%
• Financial Highlights
  • Goal is to achieve a balanced budget
  • As of June 30, 2023, there is a surplus of $439,046 mostly due to:
    • Interest income $107K
    • Skatepark donations and sponsorship 119K
    • Net operating income 213K
  • 6 months or 50% through the year, revenues are at 51% of the budget and expenditures were at 48%.
  • As of June 30, 2023, cash and cash equivalents were at $5,529,975 compared to $5,249,171 the same period last year.
• Financial Position
  • As of June 30, 2034
    • Total financial assets
      • 2022 – $6,055,760
      • 2023 - $4,606,127
    • Total non-financial assets
      • 2022 – $1,473,1722
      • 2023 – $1,142,502
    • Total financial liabilities
      • 2022 – ($3,928,382)
      • 2023 – ($3,263,436)
    • Accumulate surplus
      • 2022 - $3,600,550
      • 2023 - $2,485,193
• YTD Revenue VS. Prior Year and Annual Budget
  • Sales of Services 53%
    • June 30, 2022 – YTD PY (previous year)
      • Almost $3,000,000
    • June 30, 2023 – YTD CY (current year)
      • Almost $4,000,000
    • Annual Budget
      • $7,000,000
  • Municipal Requisitions 50%
    • June 30, 2022 – YTD PY (previous year)
      • Almost $3,000,000
    • June 30, 2023 – YTD CY (current year)
      • Just under $3,000,000
    • Annual Budget
      • Almost $6,000,000
  • Funding for Capital Projects
    • June 30, 2022 - YTD PY (previous year)
      • $0
    • June 30, 2023 – YTD CY (current year)
      • $500,000 approx.
    • Annual Budget
      • $2,500,000 approx.
  • Operations 46%
    • June 30, 2022 – YTD PY (previous year)
      • Almost $6,000,000
    • June 30, 2023 – YTD CY (current year)
      • Just under $6,000,000
    • Annual Budget
      • Almost 12,500,000
  • Capital Projects 41%
    • June 30, 2022 – YTD PY (previous year)
      • Just under $250,000
    • June 30, 2023 – YTD CY (current year)
      • $500,000
    • Annual Budget
      • $2,225,000
• Future Budget Implications
  • Pool roof replacement was budgeted for $1,000,000 and quoted at $825,000. $175,000 adjusted capital approved at June board meeting for these two projects.
    • Installation of a cooling system in the Q Arena - $144K
    • Additional work during the resurfacing of the tennis courts - $15K
  • Property insurance increased by 18% in 2023 and there is another expected 5 to 10% increase next year.
  • WSPR’s collective agreement is up for renewal, and we are currently behind the region by 4-5%.
  • Sale of services continue to perform strong; potential surplus may help address the wage increase challenges next year.

d) Preliminary 2024 WSPR Budget Presentation Grant Brown, administrator, showed a PowerPoint presented that highlighted the following:

• Met with all department heads
• 2024 requisition increase sits at 4%
  • Aligns with current 5-year plan, 1% reduction from 2023 (5%)
• Fee increases in September 2024 of 4% on average
• Considerations
  • 10% insurance premium increase
  • 5-10% utility rate increase
  • Collective agreement negotiations, currently 4% behind the region, set to receive 3% in 2024
• Additions
  • HR Specialist
  • Reception Team Leads
  • Increased Reserve Contributions
  • Fitness
  • General Capital
  • Skatepark
  • Electric Car Charging Stations

MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS JANZTEN AND ANDERSON THAT THE REPORT BE RECEIVED AS PRESENTED. CARRIED

FOR INFORMATION

9. a) Administrator’s report Grant Brown, administrator, commented on the following:

Administration/Human Resources In finance, the 2024 budget process has begun. Meetings with the departments have been held and departmental budgets are currently being compiled and reviewed by the administrator. The first draft of the 2024 budget will be presented to the board of directors in October. The recently hired reception team leads have been fully trained and have begun supporting the finance team as part of the weekly duties.

A follow up to the emotional intelligence session for supervisors was held in early July. 3 parks staff have entered the self-directed work hours arrangement on a 4-month trial. At its conclusion, the trial will be evaluated to ensure clear benefit for both the employees and WSPR has been established. 1 arts & culture staff was converted from auxiliary to RPT.

As the current collective agreement is set to expire at the end of this year, negotiations with CUPE 1978 has been scheduled for early November. The Human Resources team have begun preparations, reviewing changes to the Employment Standards Act that require addressing and establishing compensation comparisons from the other parks & recreation departments in the region.

The procurement competition seeking a consultant to provide pricing on the potential twinning of the JDF Arena and the subsequent solution for the displaced parking, closes September 7th.

Operations Maintenance The maintenance department has undertaken an array of crucial tasks. Mechanical maintenance encompassed essential repairs, including painting the ammonia emergency stack, compressors, and pumps at the Q Centre Arena. Further repairs were executed on exhaust fans across the Library, Fieldhouse, and 55+ Activity Centre, as well as sauna elements and heat exchangers in the pool and the air handling units in the library, weightroom, pool, and Q Centre Arena. The efficient rebuild of a leaking boiler loop pump stands as a testament to the team's expertise.

Additionally, routine service work included the hot tub UV system receiving its service, the reception air handling unit undergoing its semi-annual service, and comprehensive maintenance on the Q Centre Arena ice plant cooling towers. Annul maintenance on the Grizzlies’ and Shamrocks’ office heaters, Q Centre Arena exhaust fans, reception communications room and Childcare Centre’s air handling units. The 55+ Activity Centre’s annual maintenance shutdown was successfully completed.

Noteworthy enhancements completed over the summer encompassed the prepping and painting of the upper Clubhouse entryway and deck, as well as pressure washing and painting of the pool's exterior walls and Kids’ Cottage door. A new card lock on the Clubhouse Velodrome storage area was installed as well as a Wi-Fi bridge to the clubhouse for connectivity improvements. Wi-Fi networking was run within the Q Centre Arena to improve wireless service and to facilitate live streaming during the Lawn Bowling National Championships.

General maintenance initiatives included the installation of water filters, replacing doors, and providing comprehensive annual ice plant training. Staff are currently retrofitting the front reception/lobby area, changing the layout and enhancing accessibility.

Staff are pleased to report that the maintenance team has a few new hires who are filling crucial auxiliary staff positions.

Parks The Parks department continues its commitment to excellence. The mobile equipment operations have proceeded without any significant issues with only a few minor repairs. On the golf course, favourable growing conditions have necessitated increased watering efforts to sustain the vibrant green hue of the turf. This has been supported by bi-weekly fertilization and the application of wetting agents on alternate weeks to ensure proper soil penetration.

The lawn bowls section witnessed a focus on maintenance, including painting fences and boards, while also addressing dry spots through dedicated hand watering in preparation for hosting the 2023 Canadian Championships.

Ensuring the fields and diamonds meet the highest standards, staff have diligently carried out regular maintenance, applied necessary fertilizers, and implemented targeted herbicide spraying to control weed growth. These efforts extended to hosting notable events, such as the Canadian Archery National Championship, the Layedout Field of Dreams car show, the West Shore Rugby 7’s tournament and the Salish Cup and Pacific Grand Prix. These events have been a testament to staff’s commitment to offering top-notch facilities for diverse activities.

Outside of the realm of grass, the lower park has witnessed a range of enhancements, from finishing parking lot lines to painting lower field washrooms. As well, challenges such as potable water leaks and irrigation issues were swiftly addressed. Both the annual and the perennial beds are looking great and feeding the pollinators, both bees and hummingbirds. The transit washrooms are being renovated and the electrical line feeding the washrooms was repaired. A sewer line that backed up three times in recent months has been scoped. The pipe has roots encroaching on the pipe and staff have now created a maintenance service plan for future years.

Programs Community Recreation Summer camps started on July 4th; 28 camp leaders, 20 youth leadership volunteers and 8 Inclusion staff provided care for over 300 children per week in camps ranging from Nature Preschool, licensed care, outdoor adventure, art, sport, leadership and licensed Kinderprep camps.

This summer’s fun themes included Galaxy Battles, Star Struck, Ocean Explorers, Mystery Mayhem, West Shore’s Got Talent, Animal Kingdom, West Shore School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Superheroes, and Colour Craze. These were just a few of the creative ideas that staff and supervisors planned for the kids. When out and about in camp, participants explored the WSPR property, jumped in the pool, and went on out trips to local parks and beaches.

Contracted camps such as Byte Camp, Engineering for Kids, Forest school, Horseback Riding and Hop On also provided a variety of specialty camps for children in the Westshore. WSPR had great success with Technology camps, running 21 camps this summer with 274 participants in attendance. The camps ranged from building apps, creating your own films, playing Minecraft, and building their own robots.

Roving Playparks, the low-cost camp, took place in 4 local parks, including Centennial Park, Sangster, Twin Flower and View Royal Park, providing low cost, outdoor programming for 25 children per week. The Westshore RCMP have been visiting the Roving Playparks camp weekly on Tuesdays, playing games and supplying the leaders and camper with treats and popcorn.

Centennial Centre ran many other camps including art, dance, pottery and acting all at full or near capacity. Based on the registration, staff added a second leader to all of our Aspiring Artists Summer Camps in order to accommodate our growing waitlists. As well, the pottery studio currently has 67 members.

One of the new start-up programs last January “Little Ninjas Jiu-Jitsu” continues to grow. It jumped in numbers from 9 participants in the spring session to 14 for the July session, 1 away from being full. Between the 2 sessions that ran, there were 35 children participating in the Learn to Fish programs through GoFishBC.

The Afterschool Care program for the fall is currently full with large waitlists for all schools. Supervisors staff are working on setting up staff training and scheduling as part of the preparations for the start of program on September 11th. The program will welcome 140 returning and new children to the facility. This year, WSPR was able to opt into the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative program from the BC Ministry of Education and Child Care for not only kindergarten children but for grades 1-5 children as well. This provides a discount to all families in the program.

Daycare is preparing for 13 children leaving for kindergarten whose last day is August 31st so staff will be hosting a “grad” with the children and families. Some of these children have been in the program since it opened, so it will be very emotional. The daycare supervisor has been doing one on one visits and tours with 13 new families getting them all set up to start on Friday, Sept 1st.

Fitness and Weights The weightroom completed a 3-day closure from July 24th - 26th to accommodate the replacement of all cardio equipment along with a reconfiguration of select strength equipment to improve the weightroom layout.

The new Matrix Performance Series cardio equipment includes 8 treadmills, 4 recumbent bikes, 6 upright bikes, 7 elliptical trainers, 2 step mills, 1 rower and 9 Keiser M3i spin bikes. The Matrix cardio equipment comes with advanced tech features including virtual interactive scenery, apps, music, TV, internet access, phone charging and in house marketing capabilities.

During the weightroom reconfiguration, 2 bench presses along with the Olympic lifting platform were moved to along the back wall to provide improved safety and keep plate loaded free form equipment together. This helped to provide more free space in the middle floor of the weightroom to accommodate free form activities and stretching space.

A deep clean of all strength equipment, rust removal, painting and general maintenance of the weightroom was also performed.

The fitness studio was closed from July 24th - 28th for the installation of 9 new Keiser M3i spin bikes to replace older models. The floor was deep cleaned, and new mat racks were installed.

The upgrade was well received by patrons and staff who have commented on the clean space, new equipment and improved layout.

Aquatics July saw a successful start to summer swimming lessons with over 1,100 swimmers registered within 316 separate courses. All drop-in swims have been very busy with West Shore summer camps using the pool.

The WSPR National Lifeguard Program concluded in early July, with 10 new lifeguards being certified, many of which are now employed at the JDF Pool. The aquatics team is very happy to announce that Carly Nurmsoo returned on August 23rd after 18 months of maternity leave to begin her position as Aquatic Coordinator. Raf, Hamish and Emily who have been doing an amazing job in acting capacities also returned to their roles as aquatic programmer, assistant programmer and team lead.

Fall registration for swim lessons is scheduled for August 28th and 29th. Over 650 lessons are available to register in over 2 lesson sets between September and December.

In July, 3 new portable electric accessibility lifts were purchased. These lifts are located in the 2 accessible change stalls and between the three tanks in the pool. The portable nature of these lifts allow staff to interchange them as needed to ensure consistent operations.

The aquatic team continues to grow, well surpassing the total active aquatics employees before the pandemic closure. Below is a picture of the current staff team from a recent June in-service training session.

Arena, Events and Golf The golf course has seen a remarkable year, boasting a significant increase of over 1,000 rounds compared to June 2022, totalling an impressive 4,968 rounds YTD. With a mere three days of precipitation and an average temperature of 21 degrees Celsius, June offered ideal playing conditions.

With the arrival of ice, the JDF Arena commenced a bustling summer schedule featuring public sessions and PowerWest programs. Public sessions in the JDF Arena were busy with most of the Duffer and Stick and Puck sessions at max capacity. Public skates were busy as well, with people looking to cool down and go for a skate. The dedicated bookings staff has been hard at work finalizing contracts for the upcoming fall season.

The senior Shamrocks regular season wrapped up on July 26th. They qualified for the playoffs with a 4th place finish. They played New Westminster in the first round and unfortunately were eliminated in 3 straight games. The average attendance for the Shamrocks regular season was 1,803 people, while gross food and alcohol purchase per person for regular season Shamrock games was $6.93.

The Junior teams faired better. The Jr. A Shamrocks lost in the league final to Coquitlam, the Jr. B Tier 1 Shamrocks won the league and qualified for the National Championship in Coquitlam, the Jr. B Tier 2 Bears finished 2nd in the league and qualified for Provincials and Western Canadians. They lost in the Semi Finals of Westerns to the season rival Saanich.

The recent craft beer agreement with Hoyne and Driftwood Breweries has proven to be a success, with sales of Driftwood and Hoyne products up by a notable 6% compared to previous craft offerings during the same period in 2022. Notable top-selling beers include Hoyne Pilsner and Driftwood Fat Tug.

Throughout the Shamrocks season, a sales pattern emerged, marked by a decline in domestic beer sales coupled with a notable rise in craft beer sales. Staff were surprised to note a shift in draft beer sales, showing a decrease during the Shamrocks season in contrast to the substantial increase observed during the Grizzlies season. Notably, the top-selling beer during the Grizzlies season was Lucky, with 1,033 cans sold.

The sales breakdown for the Grizzlies season is displayed in the chart below. Compared to the 2021/22 season, domestic beer saw a decrease of 17%, cider a 2% drop, Nude up 3%, craft beer cans up 7%, draft up 12% and wine dropping 2%.

As for special events, the last few months have seen the site host the annual Turf Burn; 7-a-side adult soccer tournament, Canadian Archery Championships, West Shore Rugby’s 7’s tournament, Lawn Bowl Canada’s National Championship and numerous velodrome events.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion New “Equity Across the Board” skateboarding camps were offered this summer with full registration including these highlights:

• Provided 2 camps available to all public and two camps focussed on seeking groups.
• Partnered with Help Ukraine Vancouver Island and were able to provide a skatepark camp for a blend of 40 children from the Ukraine and local families. This experience was a tremendous success. With this partnership, WSPR was able to have staff on site that acted as interpreters to help bridge the language barrier and resulted in many children requesting to come back again. Each child left the camp with 2 free passes to use the recreation facility.
• A girls-only skatepark camp was offered with 10 enthusiastic girls ages 8-13. Providing a safe space for girls to learn the sport of skateboarding amongst their peers.
• Each week the skatepark staff saw a tremendous amount of improvement and progression.

StoryWalks had 216 people attend with an average attendance of 31 people each week and the creative craft portion was added back to this program allowing participants to make a craft that related to the story and take it home with them. Feedback from an attendee:

“I just wanted to pass along how amazing we found the StoryWalk last night! (July 26th). My children (7 and 4) absolutely loved participating. They were still talking about it this morning. The leaders who did the craft with them were so kind and welcoming. Please keep this program up!”

Neighbourhood Nights sponsored by Gable Craft Homes at Royal Bay (staff and supply costs were covered) saw an average of 50 families each week with an attendance of 390 overall. Activities ranged from yard games, crafts, parashoot and the ever popular facepainting station. The special events team participated in the following events this summer:

• Canada Day – attended both the Langford and View Royal events with supplies for 1,000 children, making hand printed Canadian flags.
• Eats and Beats – In Colwood on July 29th, WSPR provided games and entertainment for all ages in between the band sets.
• Coming Up: Highlands Fling – Sept 9th

Grant Brown, administrator added the following to the report verbally:

• Hosting Brecky Breck in October and will sponsor the rental fees and some supplies. Will increase our exposure.
• Total number of children in summer camps was 3,321.
• Victoria Shamrocks were eliminated from the playoffs. Saw 19,142 spectators during the season and playoffs.
• The 2023 National Lawn Bowling Championships was held at WSPR.
• New partnered caterers – first event was the 2023 National Lawn Bowling Championships.
• Tennis court resurfacing will start anytime.
• The RFP for the consultant search for twinning the JDF Arena did not receive any submissions.

IN CAMERA

10. N/A

ADJOURNMENT

11. MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS GUIRY AND DONALDSON THAT THE MEETING BE ADJOURNED AT 7:47PM. CARRIED