Council Meeting

Good evening, everyone.

We'll call the meeting to order.

Welcome back from the summer.

I'm sorry that we it was our intention this meeting to have the public back in chambers for the first time since last March.

And because we haven't gone to step four, we haven't been able to do that.

We will have to reevaluate at the end of September because on I think on September 28th, the ministerial order that allows us to keep these meetings closed expires.

And so we may, even if we haven't gone to step four, have to go back to public meetings in October with a capacity limit and that sort of thing in place.

So we'll evaluate that as we move along.

But we are sorry that the public's not back as planned.

So I'd like to start the meeting by recognizing the Lakwungan speaking people, known today as the Esquimalt Nations and Songhees Nations, and that their historic connections to these lands continue to this day.

This meeting is being held under the auspices of Ministerial Order M192 due to the COVID 19 pandemic.

This evening, the public will be able to participate under public participation and then the question period portions of the agenda.

The numbers that you dial are on your screen at 778-402-9227.

And when prompted, enter conference ID 456 909456 Pound.

And at the appropriate time in the agenda, I will then allow the last four digits of your phone number.

I will ask you to mute the live webcast to avoid feedback, ask you not to use speakerphone to ensure sound quality, and ask that you unmute yourself by pressing star six.

You can give us your name and address for the record, and then you can give us the benefit of your views.

This meeting will be recorded by participating in this webcast.

You are consenting to being recorded, and the recording will be available on the town's website for future access.

And public participation will come up quite quickly.

So for any items on the agenda tonight that folks would like to speak to, that is your opportunity.

And we have one petition in delegation from Kim's Aladana.

And directly after that is public participation.

So that would be the time to call in.

So with all that, I would ask for a motion to approve the agenda.

Thank you.

Moved by Councillor Rogers, seconded by Councillor Lemon.

Minutes from July 20th.

Moved by Councillor Rogers, seconded by Councillor Lemmon.

Any comments, corrections?

I don't have any mayor's report other than what I have already said.

So Ms.

Saladana will go directly to you, and this is your opportunity.

Oh, and I should point out for the people at home that Councillor Mattson is is with us.

He's just with us remotely tonight.

Can you hello all?

Thank you very much for accommodating me on this evening's agenda.

Okay.

Um shall I share my screen?

Sure.

It is.

And can you hear me clearly?

We can hear you, yeah.

Fantastic.

So I am here this evening uh to discuss the building permit and um uh what we suspect are building compliance issues with uh or compliance issues with the approved development permit at 275 Kerwood, which is the property uh adjacent to my parents' home.

So I just wanted to get us all oriented since oh my computer is not wanting to.

Oh, you S3, I might need you to page me forward.

It doesn't seem to want to um move.

Yeah.

Would you be able to do that?

Yeah, I'm presuming they're listening.

So I'm giving them a sec.

Okay, yeah.

Just give the people who are running it behind you.

Oh, you know what?

If I hide this, uh I should be able to get out of my way.

Sorry.

I um have the there we go.

There we go.

So the objectives of my presentation are simply to provide a brief overview of the current situation, uh, review the current status of the build vis a vis-a-vis the approved variance and development permit, as well as discuss the impact on the adjacent property, potential compliance issues identified, and hopefully the path forward.

So, just a brief timeline to remind you on April the 6th, you um council and mayor, with the exception of councillor Mattson, approved a variance for 275 Kerwood in the DPA, that is the uh development developmentally protected area, the riparian zone.

Um, this included boat house, non-conforming boat house, retaining walls, and uh setbacks.

Um, and so if you fast forward into August, on August 3rd, um much has taken place, and we uh become aware that there is a 10-foot wall present.

On August the 3rd, my father submitted a letter to the town, an email and asked just a couple of questions in that is this all in compliance?

Uh has another variance been granted because it seemed quite um tall.

Um he received no response from the town.

He received one response.

Councilor and Councillor Rogers sent him an email almost immediately, um noting that he found the images shocking.

Uh, and then there was nothing for two weeks.

And so then on August 17th, Phil began being placed behind and in front of that 10 foot retaining wall.

And my father again reached out to Councillor Rogers just asking for confirmation that another variance hadn't been approved, or that you know, perhaps the uh owner builder had been provided some sort of forgiveness.

Um, and then the next day he receives an email from Councillor Rogers.

CAO has advised that staff had followed up and the structure is compliant with the approved drawings, and Mayor Screech suggested that uh we wait for the finished results because there really wasn't much recourse based on staff's uh investigation.

All of that made perfect sense.

It was very jarring.

Um, April, August 18th is really an important day for me because that is one of the last days I saw my dad.

Um he and I hiked together about 12 or 13 kilometers a day, and I have seen him very briefly, maybe twice since then.

So that's significant.

He um he's gone to a really dark place.

The last couple of years have been really stressful.

Um, he is not a squeaky wheel kind of guy.

He's more a um uh uh quiet diplomacy.

I'm gonna put together a well-considered letter and submit it uh when the variance applications have come up.

And I don't think that served him well because when you have agendas that are two, three hundred pages long, I think oftentimes they get they get lost or they don't carry the same kind of impact that they might if you stood up and down and had a PowerPoint or what have you.

Um I was very um I was stunned that this could possibly be in compliance because it was so visibly jarring when you're down at the water looking uh up towards my parents' home.

And so I reached out to Councilor Rogers and he very kindly agreed to meet with me.

And so Monday the 23rd, we uh we meet.

He takes a bunch of photos and 48 hours later my father receives an email from the mayor indicating that uh I gather that staff is uh there is investigation still ongoing and the wall height will be adjusted which was I'm tremendously grateful that they intervened and um some manner of action is taking place and I am cognizant as I present these slides that there has been discussions and actions are moving forward.

So on to the this is a variance that you approved um so the main one was the um that you allowed for uh variety of retaining walls and you allowed for a maximum of 1.2 to 1.5.

Their earlier application had asked for retaining walls of 2.5.

At the same time that staff recommended this variance and that you approve the variants, they provided an alternative recommendation, and that was identical save for the fact it carved out the boathouse.

You uh council approved all of the requests.

Moving forward, uh I noticed through both this application and the previous applications, staff was consistent in maintaining that the impact on the uh adjacent properties, the significant massing of overall development and the setback is not something that staff supports in the context of the town shoreline, OCP goals, or the enjoyment of the shoreline for neighboring properties.

I found that curious that they would consistently include that in their reports and their background to council and yet put forward the whole variants, recommend that council approve the entire variants.

So public access would not be impeded.

The proposed landscape would provide a net increase to native vegetation.

It would enhance existing vegetation.

No hard measures were planned.

There would be no hard measures.

Innovative alternatives to stabilizing shorelines would be planned.

The environmental review also provided reassurances that the activities are not expected to have a significant negative impact to the current ecosystems in the 15-meter setback.

And the Rysack Geotechnical Survey had come out back in 2019, and they had examined the site, and it is a high bank, steeply sloping lot.

But they after examination, they identified that bedrock is known to be present along the shore and is expected to be relatively shallow within the area.

We also know that fills were present within the slope and very stiff to native soil clay soils may be encountered.

I know from my parents living there, and the last gentleman to live there, Jerry Weisberger, he was a lovely man, great neighbor.

Um, but he would he would throw his garden waste over the edge of the of the bank, basically.

And so all of that sloughing fill is what they Ryzek uh in their geotechnical survey um identified.

And it does it, they did you don't have to excavate that far to get to uh rock.

It's because there's a ton of rock and there was a ton of blasting that had to take place to accommodate the house.

So speeding forward, this is the rendering that you saw uh when you approved it, and you can see beautiful floating wood stairs.

And here is another view of it, and you can see that it is a steeply sloping, um, it is a sleep, steeply sloping lot.

The applicant indicated, these are direct lifts from the application.

So the applicant indicated that where these soil bits here are, those are going to be planted with a wildflower seed mix supplied by sanach native plants.

This is where you provided a variance.

So basically from four feet to five feet was the maximum wall height that you wanted to see.

Over here, there's going to be uh beautiful floating wood stairs.

Looks terrific.

Right here, I want to point out in this red box, all of the grayscale you see on the left doesn't exist.

It's you know, it's just it's washed out so that designers can really highlight the um the property that is being examined.

So that retaining wall there in gray, it's not there, it's not real.

Um, and then over here it was um they were they was this is an area where they were supposed to uh preserve any native species that they identified and found and relocate them prior to excavation.

I having known the lot for so many years, I know that there weren't any native plants.

It was grass, it was brush, it was blackberry bushes.

Um, so that's it seems perfectly reasonable that there's really nothing there now.

This is uh this schematic just to show you that the home is basically the home reaches to the very edge of the back of the embedded step.

And here we have the current steps.

Yeah.

So retaining wall, not only did they blow through the five-foot variants you provided them, they blew through the doors off the 2.5 meter variant you rejected last November, and they went a stitch over 10 feet.

So you can see the wall there sits a floor five feet above my parents' fence.

My parents' fence is wood, and there is no retaining wall under it.

All it is is it's the posts are in in concrete, you know, small buckets of concrete case, not buckets, but you know what I mean.

They're in they're bolstered in concrete, but there is no retaining wall.

So this made us feel quite panicky, this 10-foot wall.

We thought, what is the vision here?

And I understand that they want a gently sloping lot, but that isn't the lot that they purchased.

It's a steep slope.

As you can see on the left, my parents is a steep slope.

And this is the area of vulnerability.

And I wasn't sure what the plan was here.

And to be honest, my dad at this point was just so is so dejected.

I I felt compelled to take this on because it seems like it can't possibly be right.

Um, and I'm very, very grateful, as I said, that Mayor Screech and Councillor Rogers got involved.

Um, so that is what it looks like right now, this cluster bomb of concrete and rubble.

Uh, over here is the preservate up on the top right, or my the left picture over where my top arrow is pointing.

That's the preservation area.

I am not surprised that there is absolutely nothing there.

I don't think there was anything of value in terms of native species.

Now, if the DP had read that please feel free to excavate and build a wall as tall as you want, as long as only five feet of it is visible, I wouldn't be here tomorrow.

But that's not what the DP reads.

The T DP allows for a variance to 1.52 meters or five feet.

So here are some other views.

These are uh water, electrical, and sewage conduits.

Uh, you can see up on the left-hand photo the conduits, there are two sort of grace colored and then a black one.

That black one's the sewage, and the box, the black box in front, that is the lift station.

As we all know, that is absolutely prohibited by DD.

They do not love that.

They do not want to see boat houses starting to be used as accommodation.

And as soon as you put sewage into a building, you expand the scope of what it can be used for.

Here is the conduits coming out of the 10-foot wall.

Now, let's talk about this 10-foot wall for a moment.

So you are getting close to your time, so I don't know how much more you have planned, but you might want to clock in mind.

Yeah, thank you so much.

I forgot to set a timer, but thanks for keeping me honest.

This is the 10-foot wall.

This uh the um John Councillor Rogers and I came and take a look took a look at this.

Um, this is the proposed solution.

My understanding is this is the proposed solution and the only component that um the contractor made an error.

The this is what I know is fact.

The owners are on site virtually every day.

The owner oversaw or observed the retaining walls being erected.

They were in place for two or three days prior to the concrete going in, and he himself strung all that wire for the lights.

So I don't think this was a mistake.

I'll leave it at that.

What is more important here is this solution doesn't really address the problem.

If they had a five foot wall here, they'd still have a steep slope, and my parents' property wouldn't be in jeopardy.

This simple view is to show you that there are more forms going in.

I don't know what for.

I know there's another retaining wall because there are those two flower beds.

Very quickly, docks.

I was asked is the dock now, or is the boathouse now in compliance?

On the left is you can see here, this is a historical view from the mid 90s.

This is the boat house that Jerry scabbed together with all manner of woods, etc., that he managed to compile.

This is uh 2018.

Um, this is back in the very early 2000s.

You can see the steep bank.

The um new owners expanded the deck.

It was unsafe, so it did need to be replaced, some boards need to be replaced.

They took the opportunity to expand it as well, as well as the footprint of the actual boathouse.

Um, here it is in 2021.

The reason my dad, he was very reasonable for August that for the April 6th variant, he had no thought that you would say no to their variants.

He was, he did state his approval his um, he got on board with the alternative recommendation.

The reason he didn't want to see the boat house is because in March he thought he knew what it would become when they expanded the footprint.

And in March of 2021, we watched a large flat screen TV go down during the pandemic and they would hang out in there with their friends.

And so if we're concerned that moving forward, if they put wastewater in there, perhaps it will be a little place for their uh adult children.

Um maybe it'll be a party shack.

Um what I ask is that this is if allowed, what I'm asking is simply that the approved development permit be adhered to to the letter.

And while I understand that it would be costly for them to redo some elements of their landscaping, it shouldn't be a surprise to them.

And very conservatively, low ball estimate, they're into this for 10, $2 million.

Another few 40 grand isn't gonna hurt them.

It's not going to move the needle on their project.

I think the really important thing for the town is that this sets a very important precedent.

If this moves forward with just this one correction, my parents have been keen to downsize for years.

And you'll end up with me in that house or my brother or some stranger.

And they're going to look next door and they're going to say, I want to do that.

And we're going to get to do that because there's an example right next door.

And then population, actually, Kim, and you know that every situation is approved on its merits.

That's true.

That's absolutely true.

But I think that anyone would, you know, who is wanting to pursue a change could use that as a precedent.

Um, perhaps not a 10-foot wall, but they could use this previous application to get retaining walls in the setback and develop it.

And then we might look at Brian um Brian Richards property and want a sunroom or fireplaces.

Sorry?

What would you I'm going to ask you to wrap up, please?

You are over 15 minutes now by several.

My apologies.

I simply would love to see uh that there is stringent oversight of the approved development permit.

Um, this is having a significant effect on my parents' property.

Um, it is the town's responsibility in overview to adhere to.

He has been provided a very generous variance.

I think it's going to look wonderful at the end as long as he applies the development permit.

No, you're welcome.

Thank you for coming.

Thank you.

And I am, you know, obviously there were some issues, but I do believe staff would have caught them in on site inspections.

Um, and we will ask staff to report back to us, but it'll likely be in camera because we can't be discussing a specific property in in an open meeting with this sort of issue.

Yeah.

Yeah, no, absolutely.

And I would welcome if you, if anyone, I would implore you to visit the site and check it out.

It is jarring.

Before you decide we're not, we're gonna leave it here.

You can coordinate with me, you can coordinate with my mom.

You're welcome to come and see it because from the ocean, it is significant, and the implications for my parents' property is significant.

Well, I certainly understand that, but at this point, of course, what the town's responsibility is to make sure that what was approved is what is built.

And we certainly take that very seriously.

So okay.

If you require any photos to show you the historical perspective of the wall prior to Phil being in place, we have a significant catalog.

Okay.

Well, it's good to know.

I know you met with Kim today, so I'm sure you had some of that conversation with him as well.

So we will um we'll get staff to have a look at it and and report back to us and and um thank you again.

Thank you, I appreciate it.

So is this uh appropriate time for council members to say something?

Like I'm really shocked.

What would you like to say, Councillor Madsen?

That I'm just incredibly shocked that that this got as far as it did.

And I as Kim had mentioned, Saladan had mentioned, we should go to the letter of the law in terms of only allowing what we approve because that is speechless.

Hard as it is safe for me to say this is just the most horrible bloody thing I've seen in ever.

And obviously the residents don't give a damn about council and and what we approved.

And I I counselor Madsen, I I think you need to be really careful, right?

We um I have trying to resist speaking.

You you're not, you have no idea whether a legitimate mistake was made or not.

We don't have that information, and I think for council to be jumping to conclusions um is not a good thing, personally.

I know it's just accidentally that it went from five feet to ten feet.

Well, I mean, staff have been on site and have said that it has to be corrected, and um so I think we should wait for that report back from staff.

We went through this at 27, not 275.

Is that the one five?

315.

Oh, with the same thing where the retaining walls have to be cut down because there they ended up too high as well.

So I have every confidence that our staff will ensure that what was approved is what was built or what is built.

Go ahead.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's a thank you, worship.

And I appreciate the uh the information from the neighbor and um and the work that I think staff is already working on.

And and uh I was thinking the same thing about uh I think it was 283, 285, uh Kerwood just down the street, and and how staff had moved in and and uh ensured compliance, even though it was very costly for for that neighbor or that individual.

Um and I look forward to uh staff uh bringing back a report um you know that you know discusses the wall um i'm concerned about the lighting that's in the wall i didn't uh see that in in the drawings i'm concerned about um uh the the sewer if that is the case and um and i'd also seek clarification that the the boathouse reduction is what um uh what we had prescribed i i think from council's perspective the what we need to know is that what was approved is what's being built yeah right yeah that's what but i'm seeing things that weren't approved well i don't know that you lighting in an environmental dp that we actually do a lot of detail on that yeah but at any rate, staff can get back to us on that.

Yeah.

So you can certainly make a motion for staff to to report back at a future date in camera on it.

Simple.

Okay.

So that's moved by Councillor Rogers.

Is there a seconder?

Second, please.

Seconded by Obi Joyful, Councillor Madsen.

So all in favor?

Joyfully.

Opposed?

That's carried.

So next up we have public participation period.

So this is the opportunity if any members of the public would like to speak to an item on the agenda tonight.

This is your opportunity to do that.

So we'll just is is there any callers on the line, Steph?

Uh yes, your worship.

We have 11 callers on the line.

Eleven?

Eleven callers, sir.

Good lord.

Okay.

Well that's here.

The first caller is seven five seven two.

Okay, so caller with the last four digits seven five seven two.

This is your opportunity to speak to an item on the agenda tonight.

So if you can give us your name and address, please.

I'm just looking at the agenda trying to see what would have generated so many such interest.

So we'll soon find out.

So caller with the last four digits seven five seven two star six you need to press star six to unmute yourself seven five seven two okay hello hello okay so let's maybe Pat we'll come back to that one what's the next one stuff worship the next number is zero three zero nine I'm I'm unmuted now hello caller with the last four digits zero three zero nine this is drop yeah, so seven five seven two is that you we can hear through the Yes.

Okay, go ahead.

I have nothing to say.

Thank you.

Okay.

It'll be so much easier when the public can just come and be in here again.

No, no, I meant it for everybody.

It'll be easier.

Call her with the last four digits, 0309.

This is your opportunity.

Are you there?

That's four digits.

Zero three zero nine.

It's four digits.

Yes, the last four digits after your phone number.

Is that you?

No.

Okay, thank you.

So one one last call for the caller with the last four digits, zero three zero nine.

Okay, the next number, Steph.

Staff.

Yes, your worship.

The number is six one six six.

Okay, thank you.

Caller with the last four digits, six one six six.

This is your opportunity to speak to us, six one six six.

So is it possible that something's malfunctioning?

Because I mean if we're seeing these callers.

So caller six one six six.

If you I can see your number there, it looks like you're mute muted, so you need to press star six.

Press stars.

I'm six one six six.

And what happened was I was muted.

Um I was on here and I was unmuted, and then suddenly I heard a message.

You've been muted.

So that's what the mix up is.

I don't know what how you fix that, but for your tech people, that's what the problem is.

My name is Cly Stotes, and I'm at 281 Kerwood.

Okay, one point.

So uh I'm one house, uh Saladana's house is uh between me and the subject property.

I'd like to know a couple of things is one um when I asked to see the plans, I was told that um there was no variances on on this property and that so they weren't going to be issuing uh pe uh allowing people to come in and see those plans.

I thought that was very unusual.

Um and my option appeared to be a uh uh applying for uh private of uh information so that seemed to be a long ways away and too much work to do so I didn't do that.

Um and but there was w definitely information withheld in my in my view at that time.

I don't have anything against uh the proponents of these pe these people I find Dennis to be a nice guy.

So anyways um but one of the uh other questions I have is how many times did the town staff go to that site and inspect it?

It would appear to me that not very often, because I could see that big wall.

Uh uh and I just went, my goodness, how is that wall there?

And uh everything was taken off that lot, just everything.

Uh so um it didn't seem to be that it would go from the original um setback that they had to what what the uh what the rules are, the bylaws for all this, and then there's no and there was big thing big changes they need to make.

And then they say, well, there's no no uh uh variances now.

Well, I think there was.

There's no variances for stokes.

There was there was no variances for the house.

So that may be what you're thinking.

There was variances for in the deep development permit area, but that was very public process.

The plans were on our agendas and online and very easily accessible.

Well, um certainly that wall is above five feet.

Yeah, well, we are aware of that, and staff has been on site.

Okay.

That's all.

Okay, thank you very much for calling in.

The next caller, please, staff.

Uh your worship, the next caller is 1522.

Okay, caller with the last four digits, one five ten.

This is your opportunity.

1522.

Can you guys hear me talking?

We can hear you, yes.

Okay, yeah.

No, I'm just calling in tonight.

I walk in the neighborhood often.

And I I had also noticed the large retaining wall structure going up and had some concerns about it.

Can we get your your name and address, please, for the record?

Oh, yes.

Yeah, my apologies.

It's Meredith Walker.

And I live at 103 Meadow Park Lane.

Oh, okay, on the other side of town.

Yeah, I often frequent that side, though, just a little bit nicer for walking past.

Sure.

Yeah, and I just I noticed the structure, so I had asked around a bit and I heard it was on the agenda for council tonight, and I thought it'd be a good idea to listen in just because it does seem a bit concerning that you know I have no problem with new builds, but things that go up that seem out of the normal, and you just wonder how that would happen.

So I wanted to log in and just sort of feel what's going on with that.

Okay, thank you.

Okay, thanks so much.

Thanks very much.

The next caller, staff, please.

Yes, your worship.

The next caller is 5345.

Okay, caller with the last four digits, five, three, four, five.

Hello, can you hear me?

We can.

Can you hear me now?

We can.

Yeah okay um name's Sean Vanstell I also live on the Meadow Park and uh just uh just calling in uh support hello yeah we we're listening okay yeah no I'm just calling in for support for um for for my friend that's all a dance okay thank you very much okay thank you by so to other callers on the line we we have referred this matter to staff um so there there's not a whole lot more we can do with it at this meeting.

I mean, it really is a staff matter by law inspection and bylaw enforcement, far more than it is a council matter.

So I just say that for the the rest of the callers who are on the line.

The next one, staff.

Yes, your worship.

The next number is 5493.

5493.

So call her with the last four digits, 5493.

This is your opportunity.

Thank you, Mayor.

I don't have any questions or comments at this time.

Okay, thank you very much.

Next number.

And the next number is your worship is seven four eight nine.

Caller with the last four digits, seven four eight nine.

This is your opportunity.

Last four digits seven four eight nine.

You don't forget to press star six to unmute yourself.

Okay, so I think we'll pass over that one and go to the next one.

Those are all the callers that we have right now.

Okay.

Great.

Thank you, everyone.

And so with that, um we're gonna Councillor Matson're lapses breathing.

Um we're gonna move down through right to staff reports 8.1A, which is council appointees to the climate action strategy.

Who has a burning desire to be on the the work the on the committee?

I'm happy to be on it with my colleague Jerry since we've been dealing with the committee for so long.

I'm happy to be on it because I deal with under liaison for the BRCC.

Okay.

And John's happy to be on it.

You might have all three of us.

Well, yes, uh certainly um, you know I don't think we need to do that.

Councilor Matson, I I wouldn't mind attending as well, being on the uh parks of uh environment committee.

I think count that would begin to have council taking it over.

Well I don't think we need three members of council on it, right?

Yes probably isn't the idea.

Yeah.

One of the reasons I thought I'd be on is to actually add some balance.

Yeah well that I mean that may be partially true.

You're a bit more of a skeptic um so we can skeptic on more realistic on what we should or shouldn't be doing.

Lindsay did you want to say something or um just to clarify that this is uh two members of council to attend um two stakeholder workshops.

Right.

So the the there there isn't a a a committee per se uh for this, but we are looking for two uh representatives of council to attend the workshops and the same members of council because the workshops uh build on each other.

Okay, yeah, that's fine.

Well, I mean, if someone would like to make a motion, I think councillor Matson and Lemon is is a good combination.

I would like to put my name forward, please.

Well, somebody needs to make a motion.

I will make the motion that you just mentioned, David.

Okay.

So yourself and councillor Lemmon?

Yes.

Seconder.

Oh, sure.

Second.

Okay, so that's on the floor for discussion.

Ron.

Oh, it's just that uh Jerry and I have been dealing with the committee and coming up with motions over the last year or so.

And I just thought that uh we have uh a good perspective in terms of issues and how we can actually implement things that are more reasonable or fairly reasonable in terms of what the town can or can't do.

Jerry, do you want to say anything to it or no?

Um well I I have nothing to say to that.

Uh just that you know I I feel um a responsibility to be in attendance because I represent council with the VRC uh local climate coalition.

Okay.

John?

Yes, um with with all respect to uh uh councillor Matson, um I've had a very strong involvement um with the climate action through uh the parks and the environment.

Um very strong proponent and supportive um uh position to um uh the staff and to the um uh climate action initiatives to you know ensure that there's adequate funding uh for this a serious matter.

And um I I I feel it's important to um have a very strong proponent uh for climate action on um on these uh workshops.

Anybody else want to weigh in?

I must admit I don't feel strongly about it.

I think Councillor Mattson and Councillor Lemmon would be just fine.

I don't think it should become controversial.

No.

No, and and if my colleague, uh you know, if there's room for three, fine.

They're just sitting in and um but well, yeah, staff have asked for two.

I mean, I think if it's workshops, it's it's better not to have a quorum of council in attendance.

Yeah.

Okay, sorry.

Yeah.

Well, I've I I must say that I've been involved, you know, you know, at great length with um um with with this matter um for a long time and with the the other um councillors uh throughout uh the region.

So um, you know, I'm quite determined and hopeful that I would be uh on this workshop strategy.

Let's put it to the vote uh but just wondering the expectation of council members at these workshops director uh more of an observational uh perspective or are they uh wanting uh input they will be asked for uh to be participants in the meeting and we are concerned about three members uh two we are concerned about more than two members of council because that actually does create quorum for a council meeting, and it is not intended to be a council meeting.

So if we if we were a bigger council, it wouldn't be a problem.

There could be three members there.

Uh Director Chase, at the conclusion of the two workshops, uh, I would assume that a full briefing will be presented to council in a timely manner.

That is correct.

There will be an engagement report that comes from these workshops, and there will be other opportunities for community engagement as we move through the community climate action strategy project.

Who will be facilitating the workshops?

Will it be a member of town of URL staff or an external contracted employee?

It is our it is our contractors who will be facilitating this.

And it is a stakeholder meeting.

So it is various identified stakeholder groups will be asked to send representatives.

So council is identified as one of the stakeholder groups, and council is being asked to send two representatives to this particular these particular sessions.

I understand.

So I'm going to call the question on the motion.

All in favor?

Opposed.

So councillor Rogers is opposed.

That's carried.

Thank you, everyone.

And we look forward to all of us hearing back and being able to voice our opinions at that point.

Um so next we're going down to 9.1, which is the email regarding parking.

Um the staff have any director Rosenberg, did you have any thoughts on on this?

Or thank you, worship.

Uh we've uh when that development first went in, we did remove one of those parking spots in the corner of the driveway.

Um and you you can pull out the sea, but uh, I would agree that the parking or at least the uh amount of parking utilization there is uh higher than it was previously just because it's more populated.

And I'm sure the people at uh 280 have visitors that come and visit and probably park in there and go in and visit.

And wouldn't surprise me if it was more than two hours at a time.

You come over for uh some kind of social activity, it's usually longer than two hours.

So it would make sense to me, but um other than that, I I wouldn't have any comments on it.

I haven't been involved in the bylaw aspect of it.

So it's something we probably will be monitoring as that new building comes online.

That seems to be their concern.

We certainly within the the why the buildings are being built, um, we do have requirements for off-site parking and we take deposits and uh we do have penalties when uh we see things um where if we see a contractor parked in a spot that he shouldn't be, then there are uh re repercussions to that.

So we do monitor the uh construction activity parking uh as it goes.

But once it's built, we don't monitor at least the engineering staff don't monitor uh parking on on or off the streets uh after something's being built.

Okay, thank you.

Ron, are you trying to I I'm waving just uh so so just one of the concerns I have in general about on street parking on on Island Highway where people are allowed to park is some of the businesses there i i i've noticed that uh you know some of their employees sort of park uh along plow right, etc., which is you know fine given that if it's allowed, but my concern is if people who are uh working full time are are parking and spending a full day in those parking spots as opposed to it being sort of uh you know two three hours or whatever to do a do a visit and then leave and and I've no idea how staff can deal with that but that's just one of my concerns.

Yeah and just from a parking perspective that certainly is uh on bylaws uh radar I I do know that when 280 was being built um we asked them to be a little more uh vigilant with regards to parking requirements.

So um certainly I'm sure a follow-up with uh our new guy, Jim, would probably uh be a good place for him to start.

John?

Yes, thanks.

Um staff I I could I'd sort of share um uh councilor Mattson's concern with with respect to businesses um is the parking um and I'm assuming these are going to be with the those that are constructing the um the new the new building.

Um have we had any complaints from businesses about um them uh not having parking for their customers?

From an engineering uh concern, we haven't received any that I'm aware of.

Okay.

Is there a time limit um on the parking there, like two hours or something like that?

That is correct.

It is two hours, yes.

Oh, yeah, I guess then that um if we were to enforce those two hours, then that would hopefully loosen things up for businesses.

Great, thank you.

Certainly it would.

I mean, that's the whole issue behind two hour parking, is to kind of get that turnover of the spots.

No, that was gonna be my question.

Had we had any concerns from the reading reading center, the the pizza restaurant or uh so this this did go to bylaw as well, right?

It was sent to Mayor and Council email and copied to bylaw.

So I'm presuming that bylaw received it.

Um we just need a motion to receive by councillor Rogers, seconded by Councillor Matson.

All in favor, opposed, that's carried.

So we have a report on the sanity sanitary sewer rates.

No.

Okay.

Okay, thank you.

It's moved by counselor.

Seconded by Councilor Matson.

Questions?

No, exactly.

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

So that's receipt of the report.

And then we need to do first, second, and third of bylaw 1077.

Okay, move by counselor Rogers, seconded by Councillor Madsen.

Everyone's good.

Okay.

All in favor, opposed, that's carried.

So next up before we go in camera is question period.

So I'll pause here.

Just if any now questions can be questions on any matter.

They don't have to be something that was on the agenda, but they do need to be a question.

So you're welcome to dial 778-402-9227.

778-402-9227.

And when prompted, enter conference ID four five six nine oh nine four five six pound.

And we'll just pause there for 30 seconds.

Staff, do we have any callers on the line?

Uh We didn't didn't.

I don't know if you can you hear me now?

There.

Okay, my battery is.

Yeah.

Okay, so we have one caller on the line.

I believe they're just monitoring, but the number is five four nine three.

Right.

And I think we asked them earlier.

Yep.

And they were just listening.

Yeah.

But I can certainly ask them again.

Caller five four nine three.

Did you have a question you would like to ask?

Caller five four nine three.

Okay.

Okay.

So we need.

That's very much.

So I'll read the there is a need to have a meeting closed to the public and persons other than the media members of council, officers, and employees of the town, and those identified under section 91 slash two of the community charter shall be excluded on the basion basis of section 901c, working relations and e-land.

So if someone could move that, please.

So moved.

Okay, moved by councillor Lemmon.

Seconded by second.

Councillor Kowalowich.

All in favor?

Opposed.

That's carried.