West Shore Parks and Recreation Society Board Meeting - February 9, 2023

Call to Order

1. The chair called the meeting to order at 5:32pm.

Approval of Agenda

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

Approval of Minutes

3. MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS DONALDSON AND ANDERSON THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING HELD JANUARY 19TH, 2023, BE APPROVED AS PRESENTED.
   NO ERRORS, NO OMMISIONS.
   CARRIED

Public Participation

4. Pat Ford, 55+ Activity Centre commented on the following:

• Pat mentioned that the Senior’s Association now has 1,040 members.
• Their bus has a new catalytic starter and is now being parked offsite.

Chair’s Remarks

5. N/A

Standing Committees

6. N/A

Old Business

7. N/A

New Business

8. a) Maintenance department presentation

Tristan Webb presented a PowerPoint presentation that highlighted the following:

• Departmental structure

  • 6 categories of positions:
    • No qualifications required
      • RFT Cleaner
      • Auxiliary Cleaner
    • Pool Operator Level 1 &2
      • Facility Maintenance Worker 1
    • Ice Facility operator + Pool Operator Level 1 & 2
      • Facility Maintenance Worker 2
    • Refrigeration Operator + Pool Operator Level 1 & 2
      • Facility Maintenance Worker 3
      • Facility Maintenance Worker 4 (Lead Hands)
      • Facility Maintenance Worker 5 (Maintenance Supervisor)
  • Hierarchy of positions:
    • Afternoon Shift Lead Hand supervises two level 3s and 4 level 1s
    • Night Shift Lead Hand supervises two level 3s, two level 2s, and two cleaners
    • Mechanical Lead Hand and Utility Lead Hand look after four level 3s and one Level 1
    • Maintenance Supervisor looks after the all of the positions listed above

• Janitorial statistics

  • Every 24 hours:
    • 224, 954 square feet of floor space is covered
    • 112 toilets
    • 49 urinals
    • 104 sinks
    • 100 mirrors
    • 206 panes of glass
    • 96 garbage, recycle and compost bins are emptied
    • 26 showers are scrubbed
    • 17 janitor’s stations are stocked
    • 213 lockers are sanitized
    • 3 pool and fitness dressing rooms are foam sanitized nightly
    • 8,030 setups and teardowns are completed annually, breaks it down to an average of 22 daily
  • Routine check sheets
    • Used for daily tasks in each area
    • Weekly/monthly routine maintenance
    • Excellent for training
    • Creates consistent expectations
    • Assist in evaluating performance

• Utility work

  • Work orders
    • 1,450 work orders are completed annually
      • Repair work and general tasks for all departments
      • Special requests from user groups
      • Modifications and arrangements for programs

• Ice maintenance

  • A 4-hour routine is completed every night on both rinks and includes:
    • Building of low areas and cutting of high ones
    • Brightening of lines and advertisements
    • Removal of ice buildup on puck board and gates
    • Repairs to glass, netting and boards
  • 3,150 ice cleans are performed annually

• Pool back

  • Pool maintenance includes:
    • Pool chemistry balance
    • Automated system calibration
    • Preventative maintenance

• Shutdowns

  • 24 room shutdowns are performed annually, which includes repairs and upkeep on:
    • Walls and trim (patching/painting)
    • Plumbing fixtures
    • Lights
    • Doors
    • Windows
    • Floors (stripping/waxing)

• In house builds and renovations

  • Includes the bar in the Fieldhouse and the men’s washroom in the ISC lobby

• Mechanical

  • A list of all the mechanical equipment onsite was provided

• Asset Management

  • ProMaintainer software is used to keeping track of equipment maintenance and preventative maintenance tasks

• Preventative Maintenance (PM)

  • Scheduled PM tasks include:
    • Grease runs
    • Filters
    • Belts
    • Coil cleaning
    • Annual service tasks
    • Manufacturers recommended service
    • Part replacement
    • Cleaning

• Direct Digital Controls

  • 25 Delta DDC Boards around the facility which are used to:
    • Connect analog field devices to enteliweb
    • Convert analog signals to digital ones
    • Convert digital control signals to analog ones
  • Staff have learned the program’s language to be able to make changes internally

• Energy Savings

  • Pool dehumidifier – heat is taken out of the air and re-purposed within the facility
  • JDF Arena Energy Recovery heat pump – re-purposed heat within the facility
  • More than 600 light fixtures have been converted to LED
  • Arena/pool LED light upgrade from metal halide to LED
  • Looking at introducing peak shaving by the addition of a facility battery unit

Board conveyed their appreciation for the continued work on lessening energy costs and being a leader in the industry. The board also recommended that the public may be interested in seeing the initiatives being made towards energy savings, if it could be made public on the website.

MAINTENANCE STAFF LEFT THE MEETING AT 6:09PM.

For Information

9. a) Skatepark update

Ron Dietrich, manager of operations, highlighted the following:

• A video capture of the project is being done from start to finish.

Geoff Welham, manager of recreation, commented:

• Concrete is currently being poured.

9. b) Strategic Plan update

Grant Brown, administrator, commented:

• The board was asked that if changes were needing to be made to the overall, strategic plan, a meeting with the consultant could be arranged.

9. c) Administrator’s report

Grant Brown, administrator, highlighted the following:

Administration/Human Resources

• The skatepark project is moving along nicely!! The project is now moving into the installation of the forms and first concrete pours. The three sections of the park are becoming recognizable. A media release for the title sponsor Thrifty Foods took place on January 17th. The announcement of the Thrifty Foods Skatepark on social media was very active, and the feedback was extremely positive. The post reached 5,097 users and had 514 engagements.
• During February and March, the finance team will be focusing on year end closing and preparing the 2022 financial statements. KPMG will be onsite the week of March 6th to conduct the annual audit. The year-end financial review to the board will be held during the April board meeting.
• Labour relations has been heavy this past month which included a multi-topic meeting with the union. Employee mental health continues to be a focus, drawing quite a bit of time from human resources supporting staff and supervisors. The new staff appreciation program “Most Valuable You“ is being rolled out next month. Education on the program will be provided to supervisors and staff in the next few weeks.
• Staff received a refresher on the Tuition Reimbursement program. This program has made a great impact on the retention and advancement of current staff into more advanced and harder to fill roles.

Operations

Maintenance

• Ongoing work is being done maintaining the facility as the library lobby had its failed exhaust fan replaced including the entire housing motor and fan assembly. The library’s heat pump #2 had a coil freeze up due to low refrigerant, so staff topped up the charge and a very small leak was repaired. The women’s washroom exhaust fan motor had failed and was replaced at the 55+ Activity Centre. The pool water main had backflow prevention installed that was required by CRD Water to meet code following an inspection. And finally, lobby glass panels at the Q Centre Arena that were broken by pucks, were replaced along with a cracked window in the Fieldhouse.
• Preventative maintenance continues on the Q Centre Arena unit heaters #1 to #7, which all received service and repairs including full cleanings, the replacement of 3 motors and 2 belimo valves. JDF Recreation Centre exhaust fans, Q Centre Arena fan coils, the Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus packs, library heat pumps, and 55+ Activity Centre heat pumps all received their semi-annual service. The 55+ Activity Centre fridge and freezers received their annual coil cleanings.
• Annual shutdowns saw Centenial Centre closed for deep cleaning of the entire site, new shelving installed to expand storage in the pottery studio, new lighting in the pottery studio, and a complete restoration of the washroom floors. Along with the usual scrub, wax, patch, and paint, a ballet bar was installed in the fitness studio. The Childcare Centre kitchen was also closed, and the floors were deep cleaned.
• Staffing is still an issue with maintenance and three regular full-time postings open, in addition there is an auxiliary posting open to replenish the auxiliary list.

Parks

• Spring clean-up of the parks’ yard has started and as the growing season is just around the corner. Several pieces of equipment are receiving significant work in preparation for heavy use in the coming months. The mechanic is working on engine modules, rollers and bearings, and has had to shoehorn in a new cylinder head replacement on the remaining propane Zamboni for the maintenance department. One of the 3 pump motors for the irrigation system has been removed and is being rebuilt and staff are also having work done on the Variable Frequency Drive computers that control the speed of the motors.
• The winter was hard on both the golf greens and lawn bowl greens. To promote growth and help them recover from disease, parks have verti-cut and fertilized. Although staff try to keep people off the ball fields, the public are jumping the fences and running their dogs on them. All the fields were deep tined for the month and will be done again in the coming weeks, this helps with recovery and drainage.
• The upper play park passed the recent inspection from Island Health. Staff will be doing more regular maintenance to help with the lowered chip levels resulting from use, to continue to meet regulation.
• The installation of the irrigation feed to the new skatepark is being installed by the parks crew to help offset rising construction costs. At the same time crews are starting to replace the main irrigation line that runs to the upper park. Work has started on the design phase to improve the cenotaph. WSPR is working with Colwood to determine scope, possible multiple phases of implementation to make the site more usable without requiring increased resources by WSPR.
• Parks has implemented labour use forms to better define jobs, identifying needs to provide better service.
• Inventory of the horticulture beds on the property is complete and inventory of all hardscapes on the property has started to help future planning and prioritizing. This includes roadways, curbs, sidewalks and speed bumps. This will aid staff when making decisions on where to allocate capital monies in the future.
• To improve security, crews have started the process of changing the pad locks on the property.

Programs

Community Recreation

• Starting January 30th, a new Parent and Toddler drop-in program called Active Start for ages walking-5 years will be offered. Registration is online and filled extremely quickly. The staff will lead families through many activities to encourage physical literacy, movement, and fun. It will run Mondays in the Indoor Sports Complex. The Bright Beginnings program for ages 2-3 years started up again last week and each program is full. There are a total of 24 kids registered with a waitlist.
• Registration for the 10-month programs running September 2023 - June 2024 begins on Monday, February 13th for 26 spots for current families and siblings. New families’ registration will start March 6th. Registration this year will be online for the very first time. The 10-month program currently has 95 families and 5 remaining spaces in the program and our Nature Preschool has 40 families with 19 remaining spaces available, which were excellent registration numbers and staff expect the same for 2023.
• The daycare program is full with a large waitlist. Staff implemented the new Childcare Government Grant starting in December 2022 with a fee reduction of $545 per child, resulting in monthly fees of $505 per child ($1050.00 original monthly fee). Parents are very pleased. Staff are implementing a new parent app for the daycare called HiMama. Staff are currently being trained and will start using it February 1st which allows a paperless platform providing parents real time pictures and communication with staff. Everyone is very excited to start it.
• A new indoor soccer league started on January 7th on the Juan de Fuca Recreation Centre indoor turf field. 42 players signed up for the league, which is provided through the local recreational sports company, Rex Sports. Drop-in reserved ball hockey began on January 26th and staff are excited to add this new opportunity to the Indoor Sports Complex and has been included in the membership pass.

Fitness and Weights

• The fitness department was excited to see it’s first New Year’s rush in over two years following the COVID-19 pandemic closures. Weightroom admissions and headcounts were the highest since pre-pandemic stats, with over 70 patrons in at peak times. Fitness programs also saw a spike in attendance with many indoor cycling and drop-in classes full with record high attendance (30 participants). Over 87% of registered fitness programs ran successfully. Youth fitness programs also showed a strong start with the new Youth Fitness Foundations course running successfully for the first time. Youth weightroom orientations continue to increase in demand with 4 additional group orientations added to supplement the existing offerings.
• Several new pieces of fitness equipment were added to classes and the weightroom in time for the new year, including a new Olympic lifting platform and set of bumper plates to help meet the demand for dedicated lifting space and equipment. This equipment has been well received with steady usage and appreciation from patrons.
• A ‘Total Body & Stretching’ staff training workshop was offered to WSPR and regional fitness staff to increase training and development opportunities and continuing education credits needed to maintain annual certification requirements. The workshop was a success with 11 fitness staff attending.

Aquatics

• The winter 2023 swimming lesson season is successfully underway with almost full enrolment in all swimming classes. Happy to report that the group of newly trained swim instructors and lifeguards have done an excellent job so far.
• The weekend leisure and fun swims have been busier than anticipated, regularly reaching roughly 200 swimmers. Since adding additional lifeguards, staff are no longer experiencing capacity limit/waiting issues in the lobby.
• Due to interest from the public to work at the JDF Pool, staff have created an open posting for aquatic staff until the end of February. It is anticipated that 6-8 aquatic staff will be added to the team before the start of spring break with two separate intake dates. The vacant acting aquatic program assist role was filled at the beginning of January. Emily Newton, one of the most experienced and well-respected team leaders has successfully taken this opportunity until the end of summer.

Arena, Events and Golf

• The golf course had a good January with the mild weather. There were over 1,200 rounds by January 25th. This makes the month the 8th best January since 1999. The Pro Shop staff and food and beverage staff have started to plan for an influx in youth purchasing food and drink items from the Pro Shop, as an expectation of new patrons from the skatepark is expected.
• The skating team participated in the intermunicipal Learn to Skate training at Pearkes Arena on January 22nd. There was a good turnout of current and future skate staff from all the recreation centres in the region. This program has given skating lessons consistency throughout Greater Victoria.
• January 20th – 22nd saw the return of the Pacific Cup to the Greater Victoria region. 122 teams in men’s and women’s divisions consisting of age categories of 19+, 30+, 35+, 40+, 45+, 50+ and 55+. The JDF Arena and The Q Centre Arena were booked solid Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with tournament games. This tournament kept local accommodations and restaurants hopping over the three days.
• Attendance has picked up at both Grizzlies’ and Wolves’ games. The past few games for the Grizzlies have been around 600. The Wolves had an Indigenous game that saw 450, and a JDF Minor Hockey appreciation night in the JDF Arena had 350 in attendance.
• The food and beverage team has been working on an RFP for the Fieldhouse kitchen which would consist of a rental and a caterer onsite.
• The bookings department has sent out the request letter for spring and summer rentals, and are working hard scheduling events for the year including the potential Beyond Van Gogh exhibit.

Inclusion, Diversity and Equity

• The JDF Senior’s Association has reached a membership of 1,014 members, which is closing in on the pre-COVID numbers of 1,200.
• WSPR was a successful in securing $15,000 from the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association (CPRA) “Reaching Each and Every One: A Community Sport Intervention Program”. Funding will be used for skatepark programming that removes barriers and increases sport access, participation and retention rates for equity deserving groups, in particular Black, Indigenous, racially diverse, 2SLGBTQQIA+, low-income and newcomer populations, as well as people living with disabilities. This will be a pilot project and act as the foundation to future programming at West Shore Parks & Recreation.
• The program will be titled ‘Equity Across the Board Skatepark Programs’. The goal is to create a location and programming for youth where everyone can fully participate and have equitable opportunities to succeed by building a skateboarding environment that is accessible, safe and welcoming for all participants, especially those underrepresented in skateboarding.
• The regional LIFE Program has begun for 2023 with 34 members. We are seeing steady uptake on this program and a return to pre-COVID use. Staff have been working on developing a report to track this assistance program through the Intelligenz recreation software.

Grant Brown, administrator verbally added to the report:

• The City of Langford has passed the budget. Presentations are being made to the City of Colwood and the Town of View Royal next week.

• The Outdoor Pickleball Courts RFP is ready and will be posted in March. In September, the board will be presented with the options.

• The Café RFP will be ready next week for posting.

• A meeting with the Tennis Club of Canada is tentatively scheduled for March or April. The organization is interested in looking at possibly putting a temporary bubble over the tennis courts during the winter months.

• A grant application has been submitted for projects involving clean energy and if successful will be used towards replacing some of the air handing units.

• The board commented that the $15,000 grant that will be used towards skatepark programming is a great start to this new amenity.

In Camera

10. MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS ANDERSON AND OLSEN 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.

WSPRS STAFF (GEOFF WELHAM, RON DIETRICH, AND APRIL LUNCHINSKI) AND MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC LEFT THE MEETING AT 6:27PM.

Adjournment

11. MOVED/SECONDED BY DIRECTORS ANDERSON AND GUIRY THAT THE MEETING BE ADJOURNED AT 7:38PM.
    CARRIED