West Shore Parks & Recreation Society — Board of Directors Minutes (Oct 14, 2021)

Present

• Directors: Damian Kowalewich (acting chair), Stewart Parkinson, Leslie Anderson, Roger Wade, Kyara Kahakauwila (via MS Teams)

Absent

• N/A

Staff Present

• Grant Brown, administrator
• Wade Davies, manager of operations
• Geoff Welham, manager of recreation
• Ben Currie, manager of finance and administration
• April Luchinski, manager of human resources
• Teresa Janisch, recorder

Staff Absent

• N/A

Public Present

• Pat Ford, President, JDF 55+ Seniors Centre

Call to Order

1. The chair called the meeting to order at 5:31PM.

Approval of Agenda

2. MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS WADE AND PARKINSON THAT THE AGENDA BE APPROVED AS PRESENTED.
   CARRIED

Approval of Minutes

3. MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS PARKINSON AND ANDERSON THAT THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING HELD SEPTEMBER 9TH, 2021 BE APPROVED AS PRESENTED.
   NO ERRORS, NO OMMISIONS
   CARRIED

Public Participation

4. N/A

Chair’s Remarks

5. Acting Chair, Damian Kowalewich commented on the following:

• Compliments to staff for their hard work on the budget, the JDF Arena project, and the JDF Childcare Centre project. Comments have been made by the community that the Society is improving their lives with having childcare available right in our area.

Standing Committees

a) Finance Committee

Stewart Parkinson, finance committee chair commented on the following:

• The finance committee is currently reviewing the draft 2022 budget that was presented. It was noted that capital projects are moving along. The final budget will be presented in November for approval.

MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS WADE AND KAHAKAUWILA THAT THE FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT BE APPROVED AS PRESENTED.
CARRIED

Old Business

a) JDF Childcare Centre – art project

Grant Brown, administrator commented on the following:

• Both Colwood and Highlands councils have approved their $500 honorarium for this project. It will go to Metchosin’s council on October 18th for approval.

It was asked what the requirement is for each stakeholder. WSPRS will develop a call for submissions and a representative from each municipality will join the WSPRS staff in the selection. One municipality has a public art policy in place and we will take those into consideration.

b) 2022 BC 55+ Games

Grant Brown, administrator commented on the following:

• We have heard back from the organizers and they will be covering the revenue losses that result from their exclusive use of these spaces for the 3 days of the games. They will take place in September 2022 during daytime hours.

New Business

Cenotaph at WSPRS

Stewart Parkinson, board direct commented on the following:

• Colwood Councillors have been wanting to upgrade this cenotaph and enhance it. They would be the ones to fund the improvements. Would WSPR staff do the work or would a contractor do the work?

Grant Brown stated that WSPRS has been in contact with Colwood staff. Our staff have cleaned it up. We have given our letter of support for Colwood to apply for an accessibility grant. WSPRS will continue to work with Colwood as they seek a landscape architect to ensure the resulting design will not place undue financial hardship on WSPRS to maintain.

MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS PARKINSON AND WADE THAT SUPPORT FOR COLWOOD’S EFFORTS TO UPGRADE THE CENOTAPH BY CREATING A DESIGN AND FUNDING THE WORK AND ALLOWING WSPRS TO BE INVOLVED THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS, BE APPROVED AS PRESENTED.
CARRIED

For Information

9.a) JDF Arena Improvement Project

Wade Davies, manager of operations highlighted the following:

• Contractor was in and doing final adjustments.
• The ice pit is the next project to happen as part of the childcare project. The permit was picked up today from Colwood.

9.b) JDF Childcare Centre Project

Geoff Welham, manager of recreation highlighted the following:

• Playpark fence will be going in tomorrow. This is the last outstanding item. Licensing will follow that and then kids can play out there.
• The elevator is now shutdown for the next 5 weeks. A complete overhaul is happening on it.
• Final reporting will be done at the end of November.

9.c) Administrator’s Report

Grant Brown, administrator highlighted the following:

Administration/Human Resources

• The finance team has been focusing on the Intelligenz recreation software project and 2022 budget. At the end of September, the draft 2022 budget is near complete, staff are in the final stages of review and pulling the financial information together.
• The Intelligenz project went live for childcare registration and required support from the reception team and finance team. Through September, staff have still been fine tuning the software for registration, payments, and adjustments. Going live in the new software for childcare has been a good test and helps staff work through the obstacles before the entire organization comes online. The rest of the organization will be configured, trained, and begin to use Intelligenz between October and December. The software will officially go live for winter registration in December.
• The Asset Management Plan consultant contract work is underway, and the consultant has hosted a series of discovery session to better understand our capital assets.
• CUPE 1978 contract negotiations have been underway for most of September. In response to the current staff recruitment challenges being faced, the HR department has made updates to the tuition reimbursement policy that will expand eligibility and see auxiliary staff being able to participate. The updated policy has been shared with department heads to provide feedback. A review of our current staffing resources is underway, as many staff have expressed difficulty in balancing their current staffing resources with the public demand for childcare and recreational activities.

Operations

Maintenance

• Work has begun on the conversion of key entry door locks to swipe cards which will reduce the costs associated with misplaced keys. The system will have the added benefit of allowing supervisors to review access logs when warranted. High security areas such as the ice plant and locations with safes will be the first to be converted.
• Much of the JDF Arena received updates as preparations were underway for the return of ice. The zamboni water fill station was rebuilt, the humidifier was brought back online and the cooling tower chemical fee station was revamped and moved to a new location to make room for the plant renovations that included modifications to the brine system to allow for the new quick ice HX.
• Many repairs were made throughout the site including the hot tub, library and senior’s centre heat pumps, and the pool sound system. Annual backflow prevention testing has been completed.

Parks

• Crews have been aerating the greens, tees and fairways. Work on tee #3 has begun to increase the size, and the willows on tee #8 are being trimmed. Rugby poles will be installed on field #2 to allow for upcoming tournaments and a new deep tine aerator will be put into operation on all fields shortly.
• Micro clover is being planted in a few areas around the senior’s centre and the library instead of grass as it requires less water and trimming then traditional ground cover. Once the library painting project wraps up, the gardens on the side facing the weight room will be planted with perennials and sunflowers. New irrigation has been installed by the senior’s centre and library.
• Overnight campers are still a concern on the site, leaving their waste for staff to clean up. An agreement is underway with the Commissionaires to sweep the lots each night and lock the gate to the lower park. They will also be doing a lot sweep for RV’s mid-morning on the weekends.

Programs

Community Recreation

• Daycare, preschool and afterschool care all opened with a bang in September. Over 200 families per day enjoy these services.
• Like all departments CR is also dealing with staffing challenges in the afterschool care program, having to cancel one bus route per day with many full-time staff stepping in to help in program. Once additional staff are recruited and hired, we will be offering this pick-up again.
• Staffing shortages are also preventing us to accommodate any children requiring one-on-one inclusion support in program, we look forward to providing this service once the staff are recruited. Thankfully families have been very understanding with respect to the afterschool and inclusion support challenges we have faced through September.

Centennial Centre for Arts Culture and Community

• Hosted a Pottery sale on Saturday, September 25th from 11:00AM – 2:00PM. The public was able to shop a wide variety of pottery created by local potters. The event had 9 vendors and processed 55 transactions for a total of $3,471 in sales. 15% of proceeds from the sale will go towards the pottery program and help fund new equipment in the pottery studio.
• Lisa Lehive, our Arts and Culture programmer, represented Westshore Parks & Recreation at the Westhills Light up the Hill event on Saturday, September 18th. The public were able to participate in a glow-in-the-dark star craft and find out information on WSPRS’ art programming.
• The childminding room began its transformation into a youth space. There have been lots of inquiries for home alone, babysitter courses and youth drop in for when it is ready to go.
• The community special event team led by Bobbi attended the Highlands Fling and assisted with the children’s games, art station and face painting on September 11th.

Aquatics, Fitness and Weights

• Staff welcomed back Krista Enderud the fitness and wellness programmer from maternity leave in mid-September.
• Weightroom operating hours have been extended further to 6:00AM-10PM Monday through Friday, and 7:00AM-8:00PM Saturdays and Sundays, with weightroom attendants on duty Monday through Friday 9:00AM-11:00AM and 4:00PM-10:00PM, and Saturday and Sunday 10:00AM-12:00PM and 5:30PM-8:00PM.
• As well, the number of fitness programs have increased from 20 to 30 classes per week for the fall. These classes include parent and tot spin express, bootcamp, work it circuit it, TRX, easy yoga, and strength and stretch. The variety of classes have been well received by patrons.
• The pool has also seen an extension of operating hours very similar to the weightroom. Our fall 2021 swimming lesson program is well underway and demand for our programs and public swims is very high. We are actively recruiting staff and look forward to when our staffing levels can accommodate the large waitlists for lessons. We have hired a new Aquatic Program Assistant, Hamish Babin, who has been a tremendous support on the pool deck and administratively.

Sports

• Golf in September started strong but with some of the wet weather in the middle of the month, play slowed down. Year-to-date rounds are 35,051 which puts 2021 in 9th place with 3.5 months remaining in the year.
• PowerWest skating programs at the end of August have seen $127,000 in registrations so far this year. The fall has started just as strong. JDF skating lessons were 20% full after a few hours of the fall registration day and continue to fill throughout September. Public skate registration is strong already as well. The re-opening of the JDF Arena involves the re-opening of the skate shop. Training went well with a staff of 10 who are now ready for the start of lessons and public sessions. Grizzlies started training camp on September 17th and had their first exhibition game on September 19th. Wolves are in full swing of the regular season already. Hockey Evolution High Performance Skills Academy has returned for the 2021 season and will begin when the newly renovated JDF Arena opens.
• Summer sport camps finished with a bang with over 228 kids participating in contractor camps which included Soccertron, Richardson Sport, tennis, and PowerWest camps during the last week of summer. In total, there were 1,717 arena and sport registrants in 2021 which was up from 553 in 2020.
• Pickleball is back in the ISC with a few sessions over the summer and more starting for the fall as the weather starts to deteriorate. Tennis programs have also made a major comeback this fall. Staff have also created a new partnership with Craig Rencher, a CPGA golf pro and tennis pro to offer women’s golf lessons in the ISC and play games on the JDF golf course.
• Special events are making a comeback in the fall with a small home show in the ISC planned for October and a Gem and Mineral Show planned for November. One exciting potential event for the spring is the Boat Show. The details and dates still need to be ironed out.

Food & Beverage

• The modified food and beverage team has pulled together to get ready for the fall hockey season after long-time concession lead, Kerri Jack, has moved on to her full-time position at the Victoria General Hospital. Kerri will be missed. Marnie Dunn has stepped into that role and has been with us for many years, as well as working within catering and bartending. Chef Dean Ferguson and Marnie have pulled the F&B crew together for what will be another successful season in the concessions.

Inclusion, Diversity and Equity

• Bobbi Neal (community development and adult programmer) was a key presenter on the Engaging Diverse Families Through Sport & Physical Activities webinar on Thursday, September 23rd. The webinar was a partnership through Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria (ICA) and the Community Partnership Network (CPN).
• WSPRS is an in-kind sponsor working with the HeroWork Program Society. This is a charity that renovates other charity’s buildings in the Greater Victoria area. Starting this fall, HeroWork will be renovating the Indigenous Perspectives Society (IPS) in Langford. WSPRS has been able to assist with the use of 100 chairs for their volunteer base through the month of October, working on developing new relationships in the community.

Grant Brown, administrator verbally added to the report:

• There have been 3 meetings held with the asset management company. We’re coming up with a plan on how to maintain those capital assets and who has funding responsibility. It’s the long-term maintenance of them.
• We’ve been having continuous issues with RVs parking on-site. We have a contract with a security company now. They are responsible for locking up the gates each night.

There was a group discussion on some of the issues that have been happening.

• We are still being faced with staffing challenges. We are hiring people constantly.

Leslie Anderson commented that there was an article about Esquimalt partnering with the local highschool for lifeguards – it was an interesting approach.

9.d) Strategic Plan 2021 progress

Grant Brown, administrator highlighted the following:

• The amended strategic plan was provided to all.
• We will update the board members twice a year and provide an update at the annual AGM.

9.e) Asset Management Plan

Ben Currie, administrator highlighted the following:

• We are progressing well and nearing completion. There is a sophisticated plan in place. The levels of service will be finalized soon.

MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS WADE AND PARKINSON THAT THE REPORTS FOR 9.A), 9.B), 9.C), 9.D) AND 9.E) ARE RECEIVED AS PRESENTED.
CARRIED

In Camera

10. MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS WADE 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.

GEOFF WELHAM AND WADE DAVIES LEFT THE MEETING AT 6:12PM

Adjournment

11. MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS WADE AND KAHAKAUWILA THAT THE MEETING BE ADJOURNED AT 6:25PM.
    CARRIED