Minutes of the West Shore Parks and Recreation Society Board of Directors meeting held February 13, 2020

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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

Thursday, February 13th, 2020 in the WSPR Fieldhouse

PRESENT: Directors Joe Martignago (Chair), Kim Anema, Loranne Hilton, Braden Hutchins, Selina Williams

ABSENT: Darren Kiedyk, Robert Earl

STAFF PRESENT:

Grant Brown, Administrator and Manager of Finance
Wade Davies, Manager of Operations
Chantelle Bremner, Recorder
Bobbi Neal, Community Development
Rob Wilson, Arena and Events Coordinator

PUBLIC PRESENT: N/A

CALL TO ORDER

The Chair called the meeting to order at 3:03pm.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS HILTON AND HUTCHINS THAT THE AGENDA BE APPROVED AS PRESENTED. CARRIED

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS ANEMA AND WILLIAMS THAT THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING HELD JANUARY 16TH, 2020 BE PRESENTED. NO ERRORS, NO OMMISIONS CARRIED

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

CHAIR’S REMARKS

The Chair welcomed Grant Brown as the new Administrator for WSPRS.

STANDING COMMITTEES

a) Finance Committee Administrator and Manager of Finance, Gant Brown highlighted the following:

The Town of View Royal, District of Metchosin and the City of Langford have provided letters approving the 2020 WSPRS budget. Presentations are being completed at the City of Colwood and the District of Highlands next week.

b) Skatepark Report Bobbi Neal, WSPR Community Development Programmer highlighted the following:

WSPRS, along with the Westshore Skatepark Coalition have made project presentations to all of the municipalities and have had positive feedback from all. It has been proposed that the skatepark project be added to the 2021 WSPRS capital budget.

MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS ANEMA AND HILTON THAT THE SKATEPARK PROJECT BE ADDED TO THE 2021 WSPRS CAPITAL BUDGET. CARRIED

OLD BUSINESS

NEW BUSINESS

a) Future Meeting Planning

CAO Advisory Meetings
Mayors Meetings

WSPRS staff were directed to coordinate individual meetings with the owners and with the CAOs on a quarterly basis.

b) Active Transportation Network Plan Grant Application Manager of Operations, Wade Davies highlighted the following:

WSPRS patrons have requested a covered bike shelter. WSPRS staff have sourced out an Active Transportation Network Plan Grant that will cover 50% of the cost. The remaining 50% of the cost would be allocated from the Parks department operating budget. WSPRS staff would like the support of the Board of Directors to submit an application.

MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS HUTCHINS AND WILLIAMS THAT WSPRS STAFF ARE TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION FOR THE BC ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION NETWORKS PLAN FOR 50% FUNDING OF THE COVERED BIKE SHELTER PROJECT AND THAT THE REMAINING 50% OF THE PROJECT COST IS TO BE ALLOCATED FROM THE PARKS DEPARTMENT OPERATING BUDGET. CARRIED

FOR INFORMATION

a) Administrator’s Report Administrator and Manager of Finance, Grant Brown highlighted the following:

Administration/Human Resources Staff Day was held on Wednesday January 27th and was attended by approximately 50 regular staff. The theme of the day was “The Future looks Bright”. Various staff teams prepared a look at the past decades from the 1960s and onward and the evolution of the physical spaces and programs and services that have occurred on our site. The day included a motivational keynote speaker who spoke on change, with Sandy concluding with an overview of all the positive upgrades and additions coming to WSPR in the next 2 years. Other updates given were on the Board, progress on the governance agreements and the status of the 2020 budget.

The finance team has closed 2019 and has begun preparing the 2019 financial statements. The next few weeks will be a very busy time with the auditors onsite the week of March 8th.

Recruitment for the Manager of Finance position is underway. The posting is currently on a number of websites and closes on February 18th at noon. The recruitment for the Recreation Program Assistant closes on February 5th and postings for summer camp staff will be available shortly.

Operations The maintenance team had been monitoring a heating issue in the pool since its re-opening after the annual closure. The Operations Manager and Maintenance Supervisor investigated the seams of the new liner with the aid of scuba equipment and were able to locate a faulty seam, which was causing water loss. The installer was contacted and a technician was flown out the next day to repair the seam. The work was carried out without affect to operations, resulting in no more water loss and water temperatures being maintained. The technician will be onsite during the annual pool shutdown in December to fully weld the seam.

Programs After a very successful Grand Opening held on Friday, February 7th, the Indoor Sports Complex is now officially open! The initial feedback from all of the turf and sport court users has been great! Request for usage continues to come in daily as well staff are preparing the letter of use request for April through June. Basketball hoops and other sports equipment have been ordered and are expected to arrive later in the month. Currently there is 82.5 hours of weekly use between rentals and programs.

In December, WSPR submitted a grant for gender equity in recreational sport through CPRA’s Community Grants Initiative 2019. The Girls Got Game program will address the issues facing girls such as inactivity, drop out and lack of confidence in sport and physical activity. We have been successful in receiving this grant from CPRA and have successfully secured $5,443.48 in funding. The Girls Got Game! program will consist of two parts. The first part will be a 12 week program, each week focusing on a different sport. Guest coaches will teach the hard skills of that sport, while WSPR female staff will touch on some soft skills that they learn while playing that sport. The second part of the grant funding will be for a week of sport camps for girls only where again a new sport will be taught each day with the help of community coaches.

WSPR staff and the Westshore Skatepark Coalition have now presented a funding request to all municipal councils. These have been very successful and currently confirmed or in-principal contributions are totalling $220,240. The Coalition and WSPR staff also met with the new Westshore Kiwanis group and a fundraising commitment of $106,000 was agreed upon for the build. Along with the WSC/WSPR fundraising efforts to date (in the account) the overall total is $329,753.

Staff have identified that the Pottery Studio will be moved from the Q Centre to the Centennial Centre for Arts Culture and Community at the end of 2020. Upgrades to the sewer, electrical and building will be completed before the pottery equipment is moved. This move will both increase capacity for the continual development of pottery, and arts and culture in Centennial Centre as well as create new opportunity for use within the Q Centre.

MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS ANEMA AND HILTON THAT THE ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT BE RECEIVED AS PRESENTED. CARRIED

FOR INFORMATION ONLY

IN CAMERA

MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS HUTCHINS AND ANEMA THAT THE MEETING MOVE IN CAMERA AND THAT THE STAFF STAY.

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 3.(2) of the Board policy shall be excluded on the basis of section 1.(2)(b) negotiations between West Shore Parks & Recreation and a third party and section 1.(1)(k) negotiations and related discussions respecting the proposed provision of a service that are at their preliminary stages. CARRIED

ADJOURNMENT

MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS ANEMA AND WILLIAMS THAT THE MEETING BE ADJOURNED AT 5:05PM. CARRIED