Minutes of the West Shore Parks and Recreation Society Board of Directors Meeting held November 24, 2022

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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

Thursday, November 24th, 2022, in the Westshore Room

PRESENT: Directors Damian Kowalewich, Leslie Anderson, Dean Jantzen, Shelly Donaldson and Kimberly Guiry

ABSENT: N/A

STAFF PRESENT:

• Grant Brown, administrator
• Wei Wu, manager of finance and administration
• Ron Dietrich, manager of operations
• Geoff Welham, manager of recreation
• April Luchinski, manager of human resources
• Chantelle Bremner, recorder

PUBLIC PRESENT: Pat Ford, JDF 55+ Activity Centre

CALL TO ORDER

1. The chair (Grant Brown, administrator) called the meeting to order at 5:00pm.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

2. Grant Brown, administrator, started the election of officers.

a) Chair Nominations were called for chair. Director, Dean Jantzen nominated Director, Damian Kowalewich (seconded by Director, Leslie Anderson). Director, Damian Kowalewich accepted the nomination. The administrator called three times for further nominations and hearing none, Director, Damian Kowalewich was elected as chair. Director, Damian Kowalewich assumed the chair at this time.

b) Vice-Chair Nominations were called for vice-chair. Director, Dean Jantzen nominated himself (seconded by Director, Leslie Anderson). Director, Dean Jantzen accepted the nomination. The chair called three times for further nominations and hearing none, Director, Dean Jantzen was elected as vice-chair.

c) Finance Chair Nominations were called for finance chair. Director and chair, Damian Kowalewich nominated Director, Leslie Anderson (seconded by Director, Dean Jantzen). Director, Leslie Anderson accepted the nomination. The chair called three times for further nominations and hearing none, Director, Leslie Anderson was elected as finance chair.

APPOINTMENTS

3. a) GVLRA Representative and Alternate Nominations were called for the Greater Victoria Labour Relations Association Representative. Director, Dean Jantzen nominated Director, Kimberley Guiry (seconded by Director, Shelly Donaldson). Director, Kimberley Guiry accepted the nomination.

Nominations were called for the Greater Victoria Labour Relations Association Representative Alternate. Director, Dean Jantzen nominated Director, Shelly Donaldson (seconded by Director, Leslie Anderson). Director, Shelly Donaldson accepted the nomination.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

4. MOVED/SECONDED BY ANDERSON AND GUIRY THAT THE AGENDA BE APPROVED WITH THE ADDITION OF AN IN-CAMERA MEETING. CARRIED

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

5. MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS ANDERSON AND JANTZEN THAT THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING HELD OCTOBER 13TH, 2022, BE APPROVED AS PRESENTED. NO ERRORS, NO OMMISIONS. CARRIED

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

6. Pat Ford, president of the 55+ Activity Centre
   • The centre’s bus had their catalytic converter stolen and as a result, have found a new parking spot at City of Colwood’s municipal lot.

CHAIR’S REMARKS

7. Chair, Damian Kowalewich commented on the following:
   • After sitting on the board for several years, I have a better understanding of how WSPR operates. There are countless hard-working staff that contribute in many different ways to WSPR
   • The society has had some great accomplishments including its diversity, equity and inclusion focus
   • Looking forward to having Kimberley, Shelly and Dean on as new board members to provide a new lens
   • Goal of this board is to continue our forward momentum and support staff to make WSPR the best facility it can be for all residents and visitors

STANDING COMMITTEES

8. a) Finance Committee Board chair, Damian Kowalewich asked for a motion regarding the Q3 report that was presented during the finance committee meeting.

MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS JANTZEN AND ANDERSON THAT THE Q3 REPORT BE APPROVED AS PRESENTED. CARRIED

OLD BUSINESS

9. a) 2023 Board Meeting Schedule

MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS GUIRY AND DONALDSON THAT THE PROPOSED 2023 BOARD MEETING SCHEDULED BE APPROVED AS PRESENTED. CARRIED

NEW BUSINESS

10. N/A

FOR INFORMATION

11. a) Administrator’s Report Grant Brown, administrator, highlighted the following:

Administration/Human Resources The recent municipal elections saw many new faces being elected and has resulted in new representatives being named to the West Shore Parks & Recreation Society Board of Directors. As such, staff have been busy updating the Board Orientation and Policy Manual and the presentation that will orient the new members to the Society, ensuring they have a good understanding of all that the Society encompasses and their roles within it.

The finance team continues to work through an abundance of work that resulted from one of the clerk positions remaining vacant for 3-months. With year-end just around the corner, the team is focused on catching up on reconciliations to ensure a smooth end to the year. The 2023 budget was presented to the owner CFOs and the board in October, receiving support by the board to forward the 2023 budget to the owner councils for final approval.

Human Resources continues to be very busy with the recruitment and on-boarding of new staff. Annually, WSPRS takes part in Shake Out BC, which fell on October 20th this year. The annual bullying and harassment review has started, where an online survey format is used to ensure staff review the policy and includes questions for understanding. Department wide training was held on November 8th that covers strategies for dealing with aggressive encounters. This training will provide tools to help staff de-escalate these situations when they arise.

Operations

Maintenance With various new staff coming on board around the facility, crews have been busy setting up offices and adding fresh coats of paint. New built-in cabinets have been installed in the youth room and the conference camera was moved in the West Shore room to provide a better experience for web meetings. The Café has been closed in to facilitate staff meetings until a decision is made on the future of the space. JDF Figure Skating moved their office into their new home next door to the JDF Minor Hockey office in the JDF Arena and the upper and lower clubhouse spaces had their annual maintenance shutdown.

The swirl pool UV replacement project has started, the annual CRD backflow testing has been completed and the security camera for the skatepark has been installed on the Fieldhouse roof.

Parks Preparations are underway on the golf course to accept the excavated soils from the skatepark project. The fill will be used to expand tee boxes and improve the fairway between ponds 1 and 2. Flying bird kites have been installed to try and keep geese away from the course, reducing damage.

JDF Soccer has started their winter kids program on the lawn bowl greens. Each fall and winter, once the lawn bowl season ends, 3–5-year-old soccer players use the greens, which ensure year-round use of the facility. New wood borders that were purchased with the Lawn Bowl Association’s successful grant funding, will be installed shortly, updating the facility.

Circumference drain replacement around the JDF Arena has been completed and has been seeded with micro clover. Crews are dealing with an increase in camping onsite. Staff respectfully inform the campers of our policy prohibiting overnight sheltering, asking them to move along. There has also been an increase in vehicles using the Society lots as cut throughs to avoid the Wale Rd/Island Hwy intersection.

Programs

Community Recreation As previously mentioned at the end of 2021, through a partnership with Physical Literacy for Life and an anonymous funder, the CR team was able to deliver the “Girls Got Game” multi-sport program, designed for 9–15-year-olds, identifying as female. In this program, participants worked on fundamental movement skills and physical literacy to be confident to explore different sports. Participants were exposed to different team or individual sports, which were led by strong female athletes and coaches from their community. The program rotated through sports, and trained coaches/athletes were utilized from sport clubs or existing programs. Additionally, there were core leaders who were with the girls throughout the program so that they could build trusted relationships.

4 different program deliveries were initially offered:

• 12-week program in fall 2021 – 9 participants
• 12-week program in winter 2021/2022 - 17 participants
• 1-week camp in spring break 2022 – 18 participants
• 1-week camp in summer 2022 - 20 participants

Due to some savings, a fifth 12-week program was added in the fall 2022 with 20 new participants joining the program. The goal of the program is to break down barriers to help young people identifying as female to develop confidence and a passion for sport. The outcome is to improve their experience in sport and physical activity programming to lead to more sustained participation throughout their lifespan. The program was a huge success reaching over 80 participants with great feedback. Victoria’s first indoor Roundnet league (Spike Ball) started up on October 16th on the Juan De Fuca Recreation Centre indoor turf field. 15 teams signed up for the inaugural season, provided through local recreational sports company, Rex Sports.

In another first, the inaugural season of the “West Shore Mini Tour” started on October 15th. The Mini Tour is a golf tour for children aged 6-10. The tour includes two, 30-minute clinics, and four FUN rounds of golf played between Green Acres Par 3 and Juan De Fuca Golf Course. The tour was run by PGA of Canada golf professional, Craig Rencher.

West Shore Parks & Recreation Community events team attended the Langford Food Truck Festival on October 28th & 30th. Children’s craft tables were set up at Langford Station celebrating the fun of food trucks and the beauty of fall with popsicle stick creations and fall tree artwork.

A Wednesday Youth Night has been added. Youth get to attend drop-in skating for a toonie and then hang out in the Youth Room with friends for fun and games.

Fitness and Weights October has been a strong month for fitness programs, with 90% of programs running successfully. Many programs are starting to see higher registration numbers as the weather changes and patrons return to fitness indoors.

Newly launched drop-in fitness classes such as ‘On the Ball’, ‘Total Body Conditioning’ and ‘Stretch and Restore’ are continuing to grow as patrons learn about the newly expanded schedule offerings.

The Fitness department is excited to welcome two newly hired weight room staff and fitness instructors to the team.

After a two-year pause, the Regional Island Fitness Conference returned for it’s 31st year on Sunday, October 23rd, 2022 at the Oak Bay High School and Neighbourhood Learning Centre. The conference was put on by a collaboration of committee members from various regional recreation centres, including WSPR and private fitness facilities on the Island. The conference hosted world class presenters from the fitness industry to provide continuing education opportunities to fitness professionals and instructors required to maintain their certifications. The conference was a great success and welcomed 106 registrants.

Aquatics Our Aquatic staff have launched the new WSPR swim program, and we currently have over 900 preschools to youth registered in fall swim lessons. The pool hosted the annual Halloween Howl swim meet for the JDF Royals on Oct. 30th and was a great success!

We currently have 10 bookings scheduled for November from local schools to come and use our pool for field trips, these swims are held in quieter afternoons and bring a lot of energy into the building. A new climbing wall has been ordered and will be added to the pool deck bringing added excitement and replacing the diving board that has reached its end of life.

Arena, Events and Golf September and the first half of October were busy in both arenas with Grizzlies and Wolves heading into their regular season. Minor hockey has had most of their tiering games and are getting ready to kick off regular season games. The Grizzlies had their first Indigenous Recognition game on October 2nd. It was successful with around 1200 fans in the building.

The golf course has had an excellent fall so far. September saw 4,409 rounds, which puts it 7th best since 1999. October saw 3,347 rounds, 5th best since 1999.

Here are some fun stats for the beginning of fall. September 1st-October 14th

• Top seller in the concessions is during 6 Wolves games and 4 Grizzly games is popcorn with 620 bags sold.
• Some of the new and improved items in the concession have been very successful. The hotdogs have new buns and wieners, and they are delicious!! F&B added garlic fries to the menu this past month and they overtook hot dogs for second most popular item with 283 sold. The smell of the garlic from the concession makes them irresistible.
• The small concession has sold 151 slices of pizza.
• The top alcoholic beverage is once again Lucky with 152 sold but coming on strong in second were Nudes with 128 sold.

Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Staff attended the LIFE Intermunicipal meeting. This meeting occurs twice a year and brings the regional LIFE committee members together to discuss any changes, challenges, or updates to the program. One recommendation is to keep the low-income threshold status quo in 2023 and look at a 5% increase on the low income cut off in 2024.

Three big announcements occurred in the month of October for the skatepark:

1. The sharing of the 5 municipality’s contributions towards the skatepark - combined contribution of $459,600. The breakdown for each municipal owner is based on converted assessment and is as follows: City of Colwood - $99,880, City of Langford - $239,325, District of Highlands - $16,785, District of Metchosin - $36,130 and Town of View Royal - $67,480.
2. The announcement the Federal Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada (PacifiCan), announced an investment of $627,151 through PacifiCan's Canada Community Revitalization Fund for the West Shore Parks & Recreation Society.
3. The public presentation of the Westshore Skatepark - final design for feedback available at www.wspr.ca

Marketing staff attended a virtual training session on Web Accessibility & Inclusion for Municipalities that was put on by our website designers UpanUp. The session was very valuable for staff and some great ideas came on how we can make our website more accessible to all populations and abilities were shared.

Grant Brown, administrator, added the following to the report.

• 2023 budget has been approved by the District of Highlands and the District of Metchosin. The other three will move to council in the next couple of months.
• On November 8th, WSPR staff participated in a workshop held by Sheepdog Training which focused on conflict and aggressive behaviour management.
• Hired a new aquatics coordinator, who has left to go back to his former recreation centre in the same position – we have hired an internal candidate who is currently on maternity leave. Internal posting has gone out and will most likely require staff to move personnel around within the aquatics department to accommodate that role.

b) Skatepark Update Ron Dietrich, manager of operations, commented on the following:

• Design phase has been confirmed
• The project broke ground this week with a target completion date of March 31st, 2023.
• The project is on budget.

Geoff Dietrich, Manager of Recreation, commented on the following:

• Staff have applied to a grant which will provide funding for a learn to skateboard program for girls.
• The plan is to offer skateboarding programs as early as next summer.

12. MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS ANDERSON AND JANTZEN THAT THE REPORTS BE RECEIVED AS PRESENTED. CARRIED

IN CAMERA

13. MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS JANTZEN AND ANDERSON THAT THE MEETING MOVE IN CAMERA. CARRIED

THAT there is a need to have a meeting closed to the public and persons other than the West Shore Parks & Recreation Board of Directors, and staff and those identified under section 1.(2)(b) negotiations between West Shore Parks & Recreation and a third party.

WEI WU, APRIL LUCHINSKI, AND PAT FORD LEFT THE MEETING AT 5:30PM.

ADJOURNMENT

14. MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS GUIRY AND ANDERSON THAT THE MEETING BE ADJOURNED AT 5:38PM. CARRIED