they've told us they've ticketed
numerous individuals uh but the
situation has not changed for the past
eight or nine months it's particularly
the same the corporal's uh concluding
comments were he believes that for the
safety of our customers the shelter
should be removed there is definitely uh
safety concerns at times and so we need
to be um you know really taking that in
stride as to it's not just a cleanly
issue it's it's about the safety and we
recognize this is a tough decision
because our customers that do use the
shelter
um when they can they're the ones that
are going to be inconvenienced it's sort
of the Bad Apple ruins it for everybody
right so we do have to consider that but
that's ultimately where staff have come
from ended up with and you know Mr chair
I recognize this is a sensitive issue
and a topic but we would appreciate your
committee's direction on what you'd re
recommend we should do with that Shel
with our shelters okay I'll look around
for speakers I have director Douglas
anyone else while I'm here director
Abbott is
next Mr chairman happy to get the uh
staff recommendation on the floor as a
as a motion we have a mover in a
seconder and I will go to director
Abbott Mr Wan thank you chair Mr wman I
I've heard maybe on CBC about Montreal
and how people in the cold weather don't
need to wait at bus stops as much
because they can count on the uh the
travel app does UMO provide our
customers with um I I was just trying to
find it uh
a a minute by minute time schedule that
they their next bus so they needn't
stand out in weather like this today
yeah with the new with the new
technology smart uh smart technology we
have with BC Transit um our Riders can
and and and quite frankly even the
report mentioned this excuse me at
Village Green mall I know our commuter
Riders they sit in their cars they don't
go where those shelters are if you look
at the pictures of sort to see why they
don't go and they know when they're when
they're coming right so yes the Riders
not all of them though have that not
every body has a phone so some of them
still rely on um hard print outs or
writer guides and those type of things
right or they'll look at the the
schedule that's at most of our key stops
as well um so yes most of our our
regular riders that use this system they
they know when the buses are should be
there that's
right that conclud order Mr chair um do
we know what the motion on the floor is
it's the staff recommendation which is
for
direction which one was uh REM I can
clarify so the report doesn't have a
recommendation up front although in the
body of the report it does include a
staff recommendation so would be that we
direct staff remove the shelters and
benches at the Village Green mall and
couch and secondary school thank you
director Morrison for pointing that out
I have director Acton
next not sure this is going to work is
it working this m okay um I guess guess
I have a couple questions one would be
or first a comment this just is pretty
infuriating and we're forced
to kind of make a a decision that's not
in anyone's best interest and so I'm
wondering like have have the how much of
this information has been shared with
the province because this is obviously a
greater issue and
um you know where do we stop we're just
going to keep doing things like this now
we're removing bus
shelters
um and then my other question or
question comment is um what are other
areas doing like to me it's almost a a
matter of design so how can we design
the bus shelters to be less appealing to
set up as as a shelter you know a
long-term shelter so is there uh you
know do we is there a way to remove just
remove the Ben is remove some of the
walls make it somewhat uh keep people
out of the
elements and uh cuz you know it is nice
to have a bus shelter and and especially
really busy stops I know I've seen moms
sitting there with their kids and like
so for us to just com just react like
this when when is it going to stop and
you know we have a beer issue
here thank you for the question um
challenging one to answer so when you
say
has BC sorry has the province been made
aware they have through BC Transit and
by the way Seth Wright the uh BC Transit
senior manager of government relations
is here as well to help answer um
questions on this one more more
appropriately probably the second report
so BC transit's been aware of it they
hear about it from the operator daily
and the operator has an agreement with
BC Transit and so they hear about that
um we've had discussions with our our
team is BC Transit as well as the
operator we meet regularly every month
and we talk about it with our staff and
we we try to look at is it getting
better is it getting worse where is it
you know are we just pushing the problem
somewhere else so to answer your
question when's it going to stop I don't
have an answer to that this was a
conclusion that when we talk to the
group and we talk to which is also
mentioned in the in the report of what's
happening at Village and Green mall in
particular they've removed all their
Planters and benches off that property
for the same reason their property
manager also told us to do the same
thing if you leave a bench they're just
going to use the bench so unfortunately
just leave the bus stop sign and and the
poll if you will um in terms of design
of the shelters I'm not so sure it's the
design it's it's probably more about the
locations there is definitely some
higher risk locations than others and
and we're dealing with it in the core um
I did touch about uh sorry the report
does touch on a few other ones that are
getting a little bit challenging
sometimes even at the the current one at
the hospital is having some issues there
um so I can't comment about what type of
new designs might be out there uh Seth I
I don't know if you have any other
comments you might be able to help on
with regard to designs of shelters but
but I also know other areas Victoria's
dealt with it unfortunately in their
rougher area in the Pandora Street area
I know there's been shelter removed in
the Nimo are on some of their rough one
so we're not the only ones dealing with
this do you have another comment zth
yeah just provide one quick comment is
that um that Cuda the I always forget
what the acronym is for but it's the
Canadian Association of Transit associ
associations which BC Transit is a is a
member of um did a really great report
on Safety and Security and identifi that
Transit related safety concerns are not
fundamentally a Transit issue and I
think you alluded to that in the
question um but I identifies some some
broad uh Solutions and and sort of
strategies that require ultimately
senior levels of government to step up
and and so I won't go into that further
but I would say in terms of our
experience across the province we do
face these challenges at at shelters and
exchanges across the province one one
piece that is a recurring theme is the
collocation of liquor stores
um and and Cannabis stores with with
exchanges and that tends to hide in some
of these issues uh and exacerbate the
the issues uh in these locations um and
so thinking about the location where we
put the the central exchange is is a key
piece of this um the train station
doesn't seem to have the same level of
issues that we see at the Village Green
Mall exchange follow up director Aken
yeah so thank you you've mentioned a few
issues so then again we have the the
provincial government that promised when
they would be taxing cannabis locations
they'd be spending money on addiction
centers Etc so I think you know at this
table we talk about we have an item
later today that is about being
political I think we take this and be
political and and we make a big stink
we've had cck TV here uh I'm not even
quite sure that was uh that that became
news I think this is really big news and
and for us to just uh kind of just keep
reacting sure Victoria did that's fine
but I think we need to start to use this
opportunity everybody who lives in those
areas deserve a nice uh you know
Planters you've said and and like we all
deserve to live in a nice area and and
clean and safe and I think this is an
opportunity where we shouldn't just be
uh reacting so quickly and we should
start demanding The Province do
something and and at this table I think
we should make this a political issue
thank you for that
looking to director Stone next yeah I
agree with director Acton and it is a
political issue and it's driven by I
would say every municipality that has
any kind of urbanization in every
Regional District um the reality is is
these problems aren't going to be solved
in 3 months 6 months and right now our
bus stops are not accessible to the
people that need to use the buses
because they're intimidated afraid
unsafe whatever the reason is so it does
require um mitigative action um whether
it's reaction or not um so yeah
absolutely the the provincial and and
federal governments have responsibility
to take care of unhoused populations and
there's no measure that you can say
they're doing a sufficient job right now
it continues to get worse um and the
Investments aren't coming fast enough
and Swift enough to take care of the
issue but it doesn't mean we can't and
we shouldn't um take mitigative measures
in the meantime to allow those bus stops
to remain for their use and support the
people that need them so that's why I
seconded the the motion and support it
um share the frustration though 100% I
think it's gone long past time where um
excuses are acceptable when the
Investments are only uh not even coming
close to keeping up with the rapidly
growing issues um that they present and
when it goes from you know we talk about
things like placemaking and place for
community and connection and people
coming together and we're having to
remove those Investments that have been
made in communities um because senior
levels of government aren't carrying the
weight so to speak when it comes to
dealing with these issues um it's
absolutely political and it's it's often
set at this table and tables around the
province um but um that doesn't mean we
can't take mitigative actions uh as
appropriate in the meantime thanks thank
you looking online I have director
Staples
yeah thank you I mean it's this is
something that no one wants to do I
certainly I understand why this is being
recommended and why we're most likely
moving forward with this and it's you
know it's heartbreaking it it's like
how it's it's a you know this is
impacting people who aren't then able to
just access those that sort of basic
shelter while they're waiting you know
for
um for
Transit it's generally in impacting you
know a lot of people that with less
means as well um who are using Transit
and relying on Transit and sometimes
have to wait long periods of times for
buses because we don't have you know for
a lot of areas a robust um system and
and at the same time I I hear and
recognize and understand the challenges
that are being faced I mean I get calls
about those stations um quite often
and images um and concerns that people
have quite often and the fact remains
that that a province as a province and a
and a and a country this is a national
issue that is not being dealt with
adequately and so I support us writing
something you know to um but I feel like
how many times do we all have to write
you know I've been to every conference
I've been to since
2015 this
is invested in properly in all of our
communities um across BC and Canada
because we we have to just take this
head on and and finally do something to
to to change what's happening out there
it is just there are so many people
suffering and there is just not enough
being done and letters we write and
meetings we go to and you know
incremental changes are made but this
needs to be addressed like the crisis
that it
is thank you I have a growing list I
have director Morrison director toosi
director Douglas and director
martman I did miss you sorry uh director
Morrison thank you chair um I I just I I
think it's important that uh I
appreciate what director Staples had to
say and and um I'm increasingly uh
wanting to rely more on on actions as as
opposed to words and and note that we
have a multi-million dollar transit
system that is operated by or
administered by a a very very small
staff and I was here when we didn't have
Transit shelters and and it was a big
deal to get them but that's not their
core um responsibility I'm far more
interested in the work that they have to
do to increase
uh availability and get hours and and
provide greater Service as opposed to
the time and effort put into this is an
important issue but it it's not our
issue and I think that the action that
we have to take is to remove the stops
uh make them usable for our patrons and
uh uh sure if we need to write a letter
we write a letter but this this is this
is our Transit staff engaging in a uh a
a social problem that we have and I I'd
rather have them focusing on the uh the
business of operating our transit
services thank you thank you director
toosi next
please thank you Mr chair um I will
support this um motion to remove the
buest shelters unfortunate that we do
have to do this um but for safety
reasons of our students that may be
catching the bus or our constituents
that are catching the bus to um having
to be there and it's kind of you know
it's it's sad to see happening um a
quick search on the line it's happening
all the way down to Arizona where all of
you know the same kind of
um scenes are rolling out in every
community and I do
um what I what I would like to see is uh
May maybe a joint letter sent by
cvd couch and tribes city of Duncan
North couch and and Lady Smith signed
this letter to say we would like to have
um some help with this issue about
trying to
find um some Solutions on where we can
actually send UNH housee people all year
round with the services that that they
need um I know it's it's a big a big ask
but I think if all of us joined together
in this effort it could could be
done um I know that you know there's
other things going on in the background
on you know Social Services the the cuts
to Social Services and and trying to you
know work towards
filling those gaps that are actually you
know having people become unhoused so
anyways um I'm hoping I'm not speaking
out a term or anything but I just I just
think that we just need to continue
working on a solution with what we have
and also just using our voices or
political voices to to move that forward
thank you thank you at the beginning of
the meeting I forgot to acknowledge
alternate director Harriet so welcome to
the meeting and large shoes to Phill
where you are sitting there now I've
altered my list I didn't miss director
ishd Das so I'll give him a chance to go
and then Douglas and Hartman
martman director ish Das thank you Mr
chair uh just really quick I won't go
over all the points that have been
spoken I I I honestly I don't support
the recommendation on the floor myself I
would rather see a phased approach if
possible I don't know what to design uh
director aen did touch on it but I
didn't hear the answer it was possibly
where I was going was can we remove the
walls and if that doesn't work then next
we remove the benches but the entire
shelter I think that's too radical and
too fast even though I know there is
safety concerns but I would rather try a
few things differently than just an
entire kneejerk all at one knee-jerk is
probably a bad word because this is long
been ongoing I just don't support the
complete removal I just think of the
many elders and as director AK can said
as mothers and children there's a lot of
people that don't have access I
understand they don't can't use them I
just using it as a protective shelter if
we remove benches and walls first might
make some change in there have we done
that elsewhere so and I won't go over
any other points because everybody spoke
to that a great
deal um Mr Mr chair through the director
um you're not able to take portions of
the shelter down it it it's it's it's
structured so there's three sides to it
and the roof the only thing that we
could consider is leaving the bench and
staff talked about that and we took in
regards the comments that the uh in
particular The Village Green mall um
Property Management told us that where
they had benches that's where these
individuals are going to go they're
going to try and get so it it it could
be a phased approach we can try it if
you'd like it's not a a major Time
Savings to take the bench at the same
time but we ultimately are recommending
both if you choose to want to just take
the shelter down and leave the bench
there we could consider what the
implications of that would be and
potentially removing shelter or the
bench or not at a future
date thank you I have director
martman uh thank you chair and you know
yes many people have have a lot of
experience in this I think and i' just
maybe add another piece to it because
you know they're people and everybody
that uses the bus we care about
everybody that has to use a shelter we
care about and I don't think we're we're
trying to make it to them and us I think
it's trying to it's more of a we from
what I'm hearing and I I struggle with
this because I think of the person that
has accessibility issues trying to get
on a bus and having
to they can't stand and wait um you know
they have to sit um so you know removing
everything for that um really
discourages me for that person and I
wonder you know I look at every bank has
an ATM and every ATM is accessible and
do can we go the other way where we can
make it so to it's totally enclosed and
you have access through your compass
card or whatever you know means um has
that been looked
at uh Mr chair through to director Mar
know that has not been looked at I don't
know of a shelter and maybe Seth you may
know of one I don't know of one where
it's completely enclosed and you have I
don't even know how you hand out passes
to all it's a public transit system how
would you hand out passes to you know
whatever the number of riders we have I
I don't know how that would work but
Seth you know of a a shelter that would
be something designed that way yeah the
only par me in through the chair uh the
only thing that I can think of is
something like uh a brt station in a
major Urban Metropolis in a place like
South America where where there's an
enclosed uh Fair paid Zone but I think
that's not appropriate and hasn't been
carried out in a small uh small town or
or rural
context and a followup if I may CH and I
I guess the next thing I I guess I'm
looking for thinking out of the box if
we can and whether or not there's
Partnerships out there where we could be
located closer to somebody or somewhere
that would uh make it a you know
somewhere where you know those people
with accessibility challenges or you
know that can't have a place to sit
nearby that wouldn't be you know a big
challenge you know you may have to go a
little bit further to when the bus
arrives but and that may slow down the
whole bus system specifically but I you
know maybe there's something where there
is a uh a you know way to work with some
other close local I don't know if that's
been looked at either and that's my last
one thanks chair I Mr chair through to
director marman so your your comments
are are fair um I just don't think
they're practical at this time like I
think of the people with mobility issues
right now they're not using the shelter
they can't get in the shelters Andor
they're feeling unsafe this is what
we're hearing from customers when our
staff go there and do inspections that's
what they see so you know I if one if
one course of action might be to leave
the benches to potentially uh assist
what you're looking to doing so we take
the shelters down we leave the benches
um staff's recommendation is it's only a
matter of time and and the benches will
probably need to be removed anyway but
if the committee feels that might be a
more um uh I don't W say softer approach
but a more uh leveled approach we we
could try that if you'd
like I'm director Stone and director
Acton thanks I I just want to thank
director
Staples and um martman for sort of
humanizing the context like these folks
are using the shelters for shelter for
for their own protection because there's
nothing adequate for them and that's
really unfortunate but these are Transit
shelters um when they're used in the way
they're being used they're not
accessible for their intended use so
whether someone has accessibility issues
or not when they can't use the shelter
because it's being occupied um they're
not there for shelter of people that are
unhoused unfortunately they're there for
people who need to use Transit and when
they cannot use them and they're
inaccessible for their intended use most
of Transit stops do not have shelters
nor do they have benches so the reality
is is that Transit users are somewhat or
with knowledge could be somewhat
equipped um to the best of their own
abilities to be able to actually use the
transit sh system without a shelter um
you know we can come up with uh a lot of
ideas and and I just would Echo Mr
wake's comments that it doesn't sound
practical to me we need to take some
action
um I'll just leave it at that thank you
very much director Acton
please thank you um I've heard
everyone's comments and I I appreciate
them all and agree with them all um I do
think though that with every maybe
because this is the first time we're
actually looking at this item but you
know it's been going on for a long time
and and we're trying to come up with a
decision today I think we delay our
decision for two months and we use this
as an opportunity
so we use this as an opportunity with
our Communications Department and we
really come out into the news into
everywhere and and um make a stance like
this this is connected to everything to
our housing crisis to our Mental Health
crisis drug crisis and enough is enough
so we take this opportunity and we come
out full full guns blazing to the
provincial government and federal
government and
we demand some solutions that start to
be implemented and then when when we're
not at least we we wait for to be heard
and we keep we keep the pressure on by
now we're forced to remove the the the
shelters because we're going to miss an
opportunity what's going to happen is
we're just going to remove the shelters
and it's going to be uh somehow
cbd's problem or BC Transit and and or
not even problem that we just didn't
consider uh you know the the person that
director martman talked about and and
like the mother that I talked about so I
think um there's there's an order to do
things and we work with Communications
and turn this around into an
opportunity thank you director Abbot
please thank you chair and um Miss uh
director Acton's remarks raised my
concern every day we wait uh is another
$500 pressure washing dipping into the
reserves that BC Transit has at its
disposal I think um the desire to bring
to politicize this could be the very
showcasing of us removing the shelters
removing the benches using that as a
message to Upper levels of government
that suggests this is not the right
course but it's the only course that we
have to take as I drove in this morning
across from Matrix marel uh no shelter
and there was a couple standing with
what I thought was insufficient clothes
waiting for the bus there are as
director um Stone has mentioned there
are numerous shelters the bulk of the
shelters do not have stops do not have
shelters so removing a couple uh saving
the transit authority the the resources
that they desperately need at this point
is is the message that we need to
deliver the upper levels government
thank you thank you director
Seagal thanks I agree with everything
that's been said I don't need to repeat
any of that but I just was at the chair
Cao BCM forum and connected with a
number of chairs and other Regional
districts so um in terms of this letter
writing campaign I think we should reach
out to other Regional districts that we
know are having the same issues and have
made you know potentially the same
decisions and try to Lobby senior levels
of government that
way thank you looking around I put
myself at the bottom of the list as a
good chair
would
and that wasn't directed at than any
other chairperson
please this is true I could have done
that but uh and called the question
earlier
but um just a point on on on my view of
this I think it's imperative that the
users of the system are provided a safe
place to travel uh and unfortunately
this is a reactive um stance that we're
taking but it's one that we have been
forced into to provide that safety to
the users of the system uh it's as Mr
um wake has said a very difficult topic
to bring forward for the uh start of of
our meeting but it's imperative that we
do something aside from waiting I think
the political uh portion of it will be
the removal of those if that is the will
of this board and that will uh bode well
with uh followup of whether it be uh
meetings with ministers or letters or
whatever Avenue that we choose to do
that we provide the safe operation of
not only those who are traveling in
there but the operators of the the
system as well
so any further
input there is a motion on the floor
could you reread
that thank you Mr chair uh the
recommendation before you is that it be
recommended to the board that the
transit shelters and benches located on
James Street and Beverly Street be
removed no not Beverly it's Village
Green mall sorry Village Green
mall uh clarification Bill Village Green
and James
Street ready for the question all those
in
favor
opposed director ish Das and director o
and are opposed that motion
carries thank you Mr wakeen for that
difficult
discussion Miss
Harrison thank you Mr
CH director Nicholson I'm sorry thank
you um so I'd like to move that um the
regional district draft a letter to the
minister or the premier and that they we
request other jurisdictions in the cou
and Val region District to sign on to
that letter and that we also issue a
develop a press release with including
pictures that we've had in the thing to
provide to the media so that this
actually hits the newspaper and any
other great ideas people I'd appreciate
adding that to the motion thank you very
much we were seconding that director
Douglas comment who seconded director
Acton I'll go to director Douglas and
then
n
uh the the board chair is writing a
letter to the uh Province regarding a
permanent location more suitable
permanent location for the Emergency
warming Center and I'm just wondering if
we want to send two separate letters to
the province or or combine these I mean
they are separate related issues but as
is noted in the staff report many of the
issues with the transit shelter at on
James Street by couch and secondary
school are related to the uh opening of
the emergency warming Center uh at the
couch Community Center in December so we
we could we could obviously send two
separate letters but we we could also
send this in one letter to the province
um highlighting uh the current
challenges with these uh Transit stop
stops as being connected to uh our
decision to put the emergency warming
Center at the community center would
that be um amicable to you director
Nicholson to add that
topic to the already letter that is
being sent regarding a permanent home um
I would look to staff Communications for
advice on this because actually maybe
having them respond to two three five
different letters might be more
effective than one where you bundle
everything up and part of the trick when
you write letters to the provinces to
ask them to respond to your concerns and
what they're going to do about it so uh
like we need to get smarter about this I
agree completely with director Acton
so I don't know oh thank you uh director
iskash thank you chair uh it's not so
much about the it's comment on the the
letter going to the ministry and higher
levels of government but uh I would just
urge a proactive press release and
getting ahead of this prior because I
think this uh we see all the news media
on on the uh emergency warming shelter
and the inability to find a long-term
secure space some people view these that
maybe it's not being used as Transit but
at least it's providing shelter and
these people will now move to the
overhangs on businesses and affect local
businesses and other areas where public
are already Gathering so I think this is
something that possibly staff and the
board might want to get ahead of and let
the public know that this action is
being taken and the difficult decision
that it was thank you dor Staples
online I think writing one letter that
connects them makes the most sense um
and just having it in different sections
and and
also that that request you know there's
a request for a followup to meet with um
the leaders in our
communities and um the excuse me the
Coalition of the minister um and the
premier to move move forward on some of
the actions that we need in our
community there's a lot of work being
done to um you know
to come up with what we what we actually
need as a region and so I would just
hate to have kind of these things
disconnected from each other because
they all are connected and I think one
letter is actually better because of
that um but also just to acknowledge
somehow in that letter and and I'm happy
to speak to the chair uh about you know
what is going on that we can actually
advocate for and having a meeting with
all of us again whether it's at you know
ubcm still far away but we're close to
Victoria so we can head down there and
have a discussion with them at any time
I think is really important we're in an
election year and to you know be able to
establish some form of a commitment um
would be ideal for more investment in
our region and not even just in our
region I don't even want to say that any
more just more investment to actually
addressing this as a as a province I
mean we have to this has to be one of
the number one um investment areas that
that needs to be moved on quickly
because of the we're losing people every
day people are dying families are
suffering people are losing their
housing and and on and on it goes and I
don't won't repeat what I said earlier
uh other than to say when we write this
what whatever it is that we write we
need to make sure that it is connecting
in with um you know the the next best
best steps for us to get an audience to
bring forward what our region needs
thank you thank you so the motion is to
write a separate
letter uh pertaining to this topic uh
there was discussion about including
that in a letter that you already are
Penning uh about a permanent warming
Center uh director Stone please yes and
I don't want to lose sight of like I've
heard comments around the table like it
doesn't take there's been tons of news
coverage on this in every community in
this province there's been a ton of
coverage of just search Transit shelter
remove on Google News um it's across the
country um leadership in senior
government are well aware of the issues
um and I don't mean to sound jaded but
we can write letters until our hands are
broken and bleeding that doesn't mean we
don't continue to do it and continue to
Advocate but some of the commentary I
heard felt insulting to me that
there's uh more work needs to be done at
the local level um there are people on
this board that spend days of every
single week like when you sum the hours
up of their work week working on this
issue in particular um and it's been
ongoing for years so the failure is not
at the advocacy level on this issue the
failure is not at the
uh media level on this issue because if
you search cowch and Duncan uh lady
Smith Victoria N IMO uh
unhoused uh drug crisis um there's
multiple articles every week in the
media about these issues um it takes the
the broader Community to hold um
government accountable for this and to
say that it's important
um and it is an election year so um
absolutely support separate letters
summary letters um and I'll I'll happily
assist in Penning and signing all of
those letters um and the meetings and
the advocacy because we're in them all
the time um but until senior government
is is pressed on this as the biggest
issue they need to deal with um we're
not going to see see change you know I
feel like this is a little bit of
Groundhog Day because these kinds of
conversations have been happening for
years um and yet like I said at the very
beginning the problem only continues to
get worse so I support a separate letter
and I'll also include this information
in other letters um that are being sent
but um you know I just think it's
important to recognize the really hard
work that has been done by people that
sit at this table and our staff on these
issues uh and not forget that thanks
thank you thank you I'm going to test
the floor are you ready for the question
separate letter be
sent all in
favor opposed if any that motion carries
thank you very much moving on Miss
Harrison thank you Mr chair uh the next
item on the agenda is the report from
the facilities and Transit division
regarding uh three-year Transit
expansion request for 2024 to 202 7 and
that's an update on that process is this
a good news story Mr wake part partially
partially good news about news director
Stone indicates yes so this is for
information as well the good news is um
we were successful in receiving
provincial funding for two of our
service requests so this is custom
service or handy Dart um The Province
supported 1400 hours um for that service
that is scheduled to commence in
September and an additional 500 hours
for our inter regional service to n and
the ncx for uh I believe it's two return
trips on Fridays and Saturday evenings
so that's good news um the unfortunate
part is we didn't receive uh funding for
what's badly needed in my opinion is our
conventional service we asked for 2,700
hours this is the third year in a row
that we've asked for conventional
service funding that we did not receive
um I gone back to double check we
actually our our last conventional
service expansion didn't happen until
2018 um when we got 1500 so
unfortunately the pandemic hit and so
there was really no uh need quite
frankly to get additional Service uh
during a couple years of that but
unfortunately 3 years in a row the
province has said no to our request um
and for me this is really disappointing
for for staff and particular and of
course the residents particularly for
all the planning work and public
engagements for the last year to year
and a half that staff have been doing
with BC Transit and and um and the
residents on this and so what's also
included in the report is attachment C
and it explains BC transits expansion
service evaluation process that they use
to recommend which regions and services
uh do receive funding um and and as the
report indicated we understand the
province has had a tremendous amount of
expansion hour requests I'm led to
believe about two and a half times the
normal um which also to me is not really
surprising in light of um many regions
that were coming out of the pandemic uh
the ridership has starting to rebound
their population growth is going
continued Improvement to assist with the
reduction of greenhouse gas and and all
the appropriate environmental uh
factors that we plugged into it which
support Transit um so to me it wasn't
surprising the province got a huge
request from many regions um but there's
two key factors that I'll try and
address here and then if I need a little
bit more assistance I'll call upon Seth
there's two factors that BC Transit has
to look at which is different than
they've done in the past because they're
they're dealing with a bit of a
transition of their Fleet but firstly is
ridership and I've said this many times
due to the couch and region being so
spread out with not a large Metropolis
of population
um we don't score too highly on a
ridership or a ridership cost recovery
um and to me it's about that's why it
speaks we need more service we need more
frequency of our bus I look at some of
our areas and particularly in the South
it's going to be a struggle to see
improvements without more additional
hours and we've tried to Advocate that
to BC Transit I think they understand
but they have to go through their
scoring mechanism however they do to
decide what regions receive funding the
second part that is a challenge for them
is um they have to strategize which
regions get funding and it's it's
partially because of if you get
expansion small amount of hours don't
necessarily require another bus but at
certain levels approximately 2500 hours
it uh BC Transit Fleet um U procedure
means you need to add another bus well
they're in this situation right now
they're trying to transition their Fleet
into electric and CNG and for some
places that uh don't have that quite
ready they're likely going to have to
incur along with local governments large
increases to extend the life of the
buses so if we're not ready for electric
yet or CNG and our buses are due to be
replaced our next ones are on the
commuter buses they're due to be
replaced in 2028 and if there's not CG
or there's not electric well what are we
going to do um my understanding is the
BC Transit is not ordering any more
fossil fuel buses for uh or diesel or
gas for um heavy duty or medium duty
Fleet so then they're like going to have
to do some fairly large uh renovations
to the buses to extend their life um and
so that's my understanding of the
Dilemma BC transit in and we're just
really in an unfortunate situation as I
said I'm I'm I've U expressed my dis my
displeasure to to bect that I'm you know
really disappointed with all the
planning work we've done our Transit
future action plan local area Health
couching plan we did an optimization
plan to look at could we reallocate ours
within the region and that came back
there's winners and losers if you take
from one region that's not doing well
and gave it to a region that needs it um
it's not going to sit well and quite
frankly the summation said you need
significant hours so you can't make a
whole lot of improvement without
significant hours so they know our
situation um um that's kind of where
we're sitting with this and it's going
to be a little interesting because in
another couple months we're going to
come back with the next three-year ask
in front of you again which typically we
would roll over the same ask we've asked
we may even ask to increase that number
because we're we're getting backlogged
we were trying to do an improvement in
2024 one in 2025 one 2026 because we
don't get anything in 2024 maybe we'll
put 24 and 25 together but we'll have to
see what BC Transit is able to do with
uh I know there was various regions and
many on the island that receive no
conventional surface expansion either so
it is just for your information um
that's the the good news and the bad
news on expansion thank you I have
director Stone and then Morrison anyone
else while I'm looking
around uh well thankful for the ncx
stuff but I I I recognize based on our
experience I think it's been proven out
in elsewhere that unfunctional Roots
don't get ridership right so it's like
the chicken in the egg scenario
especially those South End routes like
that milk run is not functional right if
you're um well it's just like a one-way
Loop right um yeah it's just if you're
if you want to get into town and you're
on the southbound you know initiating on
the southbound part of that routee you
got a long run to get into town you
better off walk in the other direction
um so you know I think we all recognize
that and it's been proven out in changes
we've made over the years um I just want
to ask did the reduction for the ncx
fair get missed reduction sorry I'm
going to keep pushing on that because
the number one feedback I get about ncx
is it's just too expensive I just lost
an employee yesterday who gave notice
because the um ncx monthly pass was too
expensive um and they they live in Nimo
so um it's hurting people because it's
just way too expensive um both the
monthly passes and the daily
fair I think I see the ridership there I
see the people on the bus that's great
but I think we could really fill those
buses and get better cost recovery if we
could just lower that darn fair I would
use a different exploitive than darn but
I'm in a public meeting thanks for not
using that exploitive
Mr chair just a response through to
director Stone I totally Echo your
comments and totally support it I can
tell you that we've had our first uh
meeting with PC transit to go over so
both regions the the rdn and the cvrd
we're going through a fair review
process and we just started our first
meeting so this is all our Affairs and
we of course have that partnership with
the ncx um my understanding from both
staff sides both would like to see a
reduction of the ncx um we don't know
what that means if you drop it from what
it is now to what it comes down there
may be an increase and and probably
would optimistically of more Riders but
it's going to put a large it's going to
put a burden on the tax base right
you're not going to receive at all um
but that process two things we were
reminded by BCT is that our Fair review
would uh which is going to happen over
the next couple months with the intent
to um seek board's approval but not to
commence until April 1 of 2025 and the
reason for that is because the funding
we got when the pandemic hit the
province gave us pretty significant
funding to help us through the ways when
a ridership went down and the condition
was you could not increase fairs more
than 2.3% anom so the most would be a
nickel on Two and a quarter we could
raise it at nickel which may or may not
be worthwhile at this time it's not a
significant amount so we all felt with
it doesn't make sense to bring forth in
a couple months let's raise fairs
potentially by
2.3% um it makes more sense to have a
more uh robust uh Fair adjustments
whatever those are for April of next
year the ncx uh interestingly enough uh
Mr Stone as you know is we're
recommending a reduction staff are
saying a reduction to BCT so they're
going through that exercise right now is
to what would be some various options we
also recognize something you've brought
up in the past is mainly around the
students the fair for the students is um
it is a reduction of course from the
regular but we're also looking at what
could we do what could they do um to
propose that both the cvrd and the ardn
have to agree on right so right now the
three entities are are targeting April 1
of next year the ask did go out to BCT
could we potentially look at the ncx
separately and if it was a reduction
could we do that and they're still um
mulling that over so I don't have a
particular answer on that for you great
thank you director Morrison
next thank you chair um I'm kind of more
interested in how we can help staff to
help Seth to uh have some uh
modification of this uh scoring system
that you're using because
it's it's become apparent that um you
know we've gone through the covid
recovery phase and and I can tell you
that from my area's perspective and it's
already been noted about the south end
that there's you know desperate
Improvement needed and I I'm saddened
because the the approach and the views
about transit in uh in my area is that
it's the absolute Last Resort short that
people will look to uh Transit as as an
option and you know we've always tried
to make uh Transit a viable option for
people to you know live work and play
and and shop and the likes and uh it's
just not viewed that way and and with
and this is another one of those words
versus actions because you know clearly
it looks like the province is really
interested in transit as uh a key
component of their Environmental
strategy and ghg reduction strategy but
they're leaving entire communities
behind and and as I said my community
looks at Transit as well if you really
have to so you know we've got to somehow
get BC transit to understand that
investments in these areas will make a
big difference and we used to joke about
fuel being at a a buck 50 a lader would
drive people in droves to uh to Transit
it's 94 a lader going up on April 1st
even higher and uh you know people just
don't look at it as a viable option so
anything that we can do to help BC
Transit look at modifying the scoring
system I think is huge because we can't
continue going along this path of trying
to make improvements but not have the
hours thank you more of a comment and a
question there
so I can
um I give response here I I think the
position is uh we're we're we're
supportive of that because I think of
our residents that are relying on
Transit and and staff and the board are
trying to get we we've taxed our
residents we've put it in our budget but
unfortunately we have to wait for the
province to tell us what they're going
to do um and so this I said is three
years in a row of of unsuccessful
attempts and so um we're trying to get a
better service for our residents we
can't I have expressed uh when I met
with Seth last week um saying that there
there's got to be a different way the BC
has to look at the regions that did not
receive conventional service and why
can't they be looked at as sort of the
first entity but I can't speak for their
process um it might have Merit uh
director uh Morrison to potentially the
cvrd write a letter to BCT Andor The
Province indicating our I don't want to
put words in your mouth but indicating
sort of our dissatisfaction with what's
happened for three years in a row and
how badly we need the transit service
all the planning that we have worked and
the hours spent with BC Transit and some
public consultation and First Nations
group um seems to be just stagnant and
it's it's really disheartening to go
through it and not wave that you know
the the the the you know the candy in
front of the in front of the people but
to sort of give them a feeling that yes
we're going to improve Transit and our
hands are tied because we can't so it
might have some Merit in potentially
writing a letter um that would be the
committee's uh that be your
direction your
pleasure good for good for now we'll
keep that uh in the back of our minds
for future
consideration seeing no other
input thank you very much Mr wakeen
thank you and with that I I think a
10-minute break is in order stretch our
legs etc etc so we'll see you back at
10:50 yeah stabus is running it now so
yeah it's you know it'll go weave it way
through the courts and
stuff
yeah
mention the BC can
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see you and I see nope you're gone again
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did too but I I was having trouble on my
computer as well I just went up to the
layout button and started fiddling
around with it and went to full
screen I don't know if that'll
help I
quiet very quiet hard to hear you when
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can you hear me Tim
yes I think it's something with the
speakers because it it comes out of this
speaker but sometimes it comes out of
those speakers and then right when
they're talking it stops coming out of
those speakers so it's the mysteries of
the boardroom ghost Mysteries I think
we're going to start the hamsters
again now reconvene into the committee
of the whole and moving on Miss Harrison
our next item please uh thank you Mr
chair our next item is a report from the
Environmental Services Division
regarding drinking water and Watershed
Protection Program
update good
morning good morning uh Mr chair what I
just want to just briefly the next two
items are coming from the Environmental
Services Division and I'll let Mr Moore
and Mr Lawrence present the uh the uh
reports there and updates but I also
wanted to share with the board just that
we are uh in April we'll be we'll be
commencing our uh corly strategic uh
reporting so a lot of the information uh
Rel that is part of the Strategic uh uh
plan will be begin to be reported out to
the board in that process as well but we
wanted to bring this information as a a
regular update as I know that it is a a
priority of the board right now and we
we can certainly answer any questions
today um but we'll also have some
regular updates moving forward and I'll
talk about that in uh during the April
uh uh meeting there so I'll hand it over
to Mr Moore for the first uh item there
thank you very much for the
introduction okay thank you uh is there
a way to bring up the presentation
here
this doesn't seem to control anything
here it's frozen is
it
little technical difficulty just bear
with us and we'll get that up as soon as
possible I I can begin with just a bit
of an introduction uh and try to
remember what's in the uh the slides
here while we're waiting at and
hopefully they can catch up uh the the
purpose of this report today is uh is
just to provide an update to the
committee on uh some of the activities
we've been doing with the uh drinking
water and Watershed Protection Program
and what some of our priorities are for
for
2024 um so uh as a bit of background um
the the program came into effect uh
after a successful referendum in 2018
and then the uh the first step was
really to uh develop a drinking water
and Watershed protection uh 10-year plan
and that was done with a a process that
involved a community uh input and
Technical working group and that uh that
plan uh came up with uh three program
areas um basically uh Watershed science
is one of them that has a lot of the
focus in terms of actions of learning
the background and then there's
communicating out that information and
uh to the public and then taking action
to make sure that the the science we get
actually gets used keep
talking your
places and within each of those three
program areas there was a series of uh
of priority uh actions that are
identified so we'll be able to uh to
bring that up uh hopefully here and then
um recognizing that the these 10e these
uh priority actions were intended to
take place over the first 10 years of
the program um the other thing that came
out uh was a series of priority uh
actions that for um IM immediate
implementation or things that we could
try to kick off within ideally the first
two years of the program uh it's been
going a little longer than that and and
we're still working on that uh looking
back I see that the the last update that
was provided to the board was actually
um in September of 2022 so that would
have been to the previous board so so
some of this will be be new to the
others um basically what we were trying
to do with the drinking water and
Watershed Protection Program in the
initial stages um was uh was staff up
the program and develop the plans to
move forward uh the the first item
within within the priority actions was
uh was to hire a program coordinator um
we're still trying to to accomplish that
it's very challenging to find uh someone
that has all the skills that we need for
that uh what we have moved forward with
is hiring a technician for the program
um who has been really instrumental in
uh in moving the pr program forward and
and seeing that we are starting to get
out into the field doing the water
sampling preparing some Outreach
materials and things like that a couple
of the other priorities that we've
completed is some of these plans and
strategies so a uh uh surface water
quality uh strategy has been completed
and we're actually implementing that
we're out in the field uh doing water
quality sampling we're actually out uh
Monday and Tuesday all day doing the the
spring sampling so that'll complete our
first first year of sampling and we're
really excited to see the results on
that um the other one was the
hydrometric uh monitoring strategy
across the region has been completed and
we're looking at ways to implement that
um the the third piece that uh we've
heard a lot of calls for this is uh is
for the um the groundwater quality
strategy so that is a high priority item
for this year and uh the RFQ RFQ for
that one sorry uh should be going out uh
any day for that so we hope to move
forward with that very soon um chase
this is the other presentation I don't
know if we can get to the uh the
drinking water
one
just got to make sure we share
it good to
go okay thank you very much I'll skip
through uh through most of this because
I have gone through it and I can come
back if there's any questions on
it um so uh Ju Just quickly a background
on the the program itself uh this is the
goal a fairly simple goal that we're
looking for healthy watersheds and aqua
but there's a lot behind that there's a
series of objectives that are intended
to be the steps that we take towards
meeting that that overall goal of
healthy watersheds and
aquifers several guiding principles of
of how the program operates in terms
that it it's partnership based and and
we're a really small division the
program is still really small so we can
get a lot more done if we work with
Community groups that are out there in
the field and have a lot of the
expertise the enthusiasm to uh to work
together with this so uh setting up
Partnerships to work with with groups in
the community uh we're action oriented
and I mentioned this that the uh the
science that we do the information we
collect we want it to be used to inform
policy and and planning decisions within
the region uh adaptive and continuous
Improvement uh we don't have all the
information yet our understanding is
going to change as as we gather more
information and we try and we learn what
what's going to work uh in terms of
watershed management and uh just
performance standards that it's
important for this to be be high quality
I touch briefly on the program areas
these are the uh the priority actions
for the first 10 years so so a lot of
the the really key pieces and then the
uh the priorities for early
implementation so uh catching up where I
was here that we've filled the tech
position got the uh surface water
quality and hydrometric monitoring
qualities complete and the groundwater
is a priority for 2024 um in terms of
setting up a data management strategy
data warehousing and access that's a a
big piece it's ongoing with a lot of
connections to uh you know our it
capacity uh within the cvrd there were
recommendations within the hydrometric
monitoring strategy there a and some of
the data at at the moment the water
quality sampling we've partnered with
the province so that data is all in the
provincial EMS system and can be shared
out anyone can go take a look at the
results that we're
collecting uh the other priorities for
early implementation um is identifying
gaps and existing monitoring networks so
that this is sort of opportunistic when
we uh see an opportunity and as we have
more capacity we'll keep building out
these hydrometric monitoring stations
whether those are gauges in rivers or or
monitoring Wells
establishing Partnerships um so we've
brought a number of these agreements
forth to the board already Partnerships
with the CCH and Watershed board
shanigan Basin society and the
partnership for water sustainability and
BC um and there's still uh possibilities
for uh for other Partnerships there uh
we did a preliminary screening on
high-risk watersheds and now we need to
look at flushing that out but that that
was the priority uh supporting uh
planning with the the mocp and where we
can bring in some of this Watershed
knowledge uh into the planning process
is ongoing and then another priority for
2024 is establishing the technical
advisory team to guide the work of the
program um there was a a committee to
develop the the strategy so that needs
to now evolve into the uh the group to
monitor the plan and um provide the
ongoing guidance so we'll be we
continuing with the terms of reference
for that and seeking membership to get
that up and running and then a couple of
other priorities that weren't on that
initial list um but have risen to the to
the top as priorities is things like the
uh Cella uh Watershed planning process
participating in that seeing what the uh
the cvr's role is in that really
exciting process um and continuing on
with the the work towards replacing the
cin Lake Weir and the other Associated
uh projects to the dmap in terms of
works in the mid and Lower River um the
water quality sampling I mentioned uh is
ongoing three times a year on streams
and rivers and then uh hopefully
expanding that uh into Lake sampling and
groundwater as well as we have the
capacity and then exploring other
opportunities um there there's been a
lot of talk uh that we can look and see
what opportunities there may be for uh
some sort of incentives for water
conservation rainwater harvesting
there's a a lot of interest in that so
if there is some direction we can
explore that and then also uh there's
some opportunities we've just heard
about meeting with the province uh
grants for agricultural water storage
and just looking uh at various uh ways
we can address some of the challenges
that we know we're experiencing in the
watersheds particularly around the the
dro
situation where we going there okay so
and that's supposed to say thank you but
I don't see it there
so questions it's best that you say it
in person anyway hka hka uh look to the
board I have director ish Das director
deck director
Stone so we'll start with this
stash thank you Mr chair um my question
in regards to um within this strategy uh
just because I wasn't at previous board
meetings was the moderating of uh
aquafers um what I worked in before
moving to the a was 20 years actually in
electric submersible uh Wells and our
job was to uh my key role was man
managing and monitoring Reservoir
pressures on on downhole reservoirs so
essentially the aers are reservoirs and
it seems to be the biggest question that
we keep getting asked is I I've heard
the term that our aquifers are okay and
they're recharging but are we
monitoring statistics Ally long-term
downhole and I'm going to use use my
industry term Reservoir pressures so
even though it's recharging are we
seeing a consistent Reservoir pressure
that's maintaining um just because
that's the biggest concern with less
snow pack um possibly that's where a lot
of our recharging of the aquafers is
because it's an unsen thing we can see
lakes and rivers rising and dropping but
we can't see the aquaverse so I'm just
curious in this is if it's a cvrd rooll
or is it the min indry that's do we have
bottom hole pressure monitors
essentially yeah uh thank you for the
question and through the chair to to
director estash um I'm not uh familiar
with the the technology that's used
there what I've seen is more water level
readings in most of the provincial
observation Wells rather than the
pressures
itself um so so I'm I can't really speak
to that um we we are uh taking advantage
of the existing ones and we have the
hydrometric monitoring strategy which
has identified um preferred aquifers for
where we should try to partner with
existing observation Wells um so we've
been taking steps uh when for example
when we see a development application
come forward within uh some of these uh
uh aquifers where we really need more
information then sometimes that presents
an opportunity uh to get a right of way
for a an observation while on the
property and partner
something we should be measuring to
inform our our understanding of it and
our decision
making thank you uh director
deck um so I I'm just wondering if you
already know uh the aquifers that you
perceive to be at most risk or are there
are there some measurements going on
right now that that you can rely on to
prioritize your well or your aquifer
monitoring um thank you so through the
chair to uh to director deck again thank
you for the the question um the
hydrometric monitoring strategy that uh
was prepared a couple of years ago sort
of looks at the big picture across the
region and identifies where we have the
monitoring Wells and where there's
information and and then um
so they identify places where there's
gaps in the information that we do have
um and then the preliminary risk
assessment that we had for the water
watersheds that that was done did uh
that was one of the factors that was
included in that was looking at uh
possible impacts to the to the aquifers
there within the watersheds but again
it's quite preliminary um there's been
some provincial mapping a couple of
different ones that look at aqua for
vulnerability uh so one thing that we
have it's called the DraStic mapping
that's been done for this region that
looks at a number of different factors
that affect the aquifer so I mean that's
something that we could follow up with
uh offline I can give you those
resources if you're interested in and
really diving into those details be
Beyond
this um may I ask another question um
now I I've understood that the severe
rainstorms don't allow um as much um
what's what did word did you use now in
infiltration infiltration thank you um
so that's not the case
then uh through the chair uh to the
director I think there's a lot of
uncertainty in this U and again it comes
back uh not not only to the intensity of
the rainfall but on the land cover too
and how long that water is trapped and
has is slowed down and has the
opportunity to infiltrate oh yeah so so
there's a lot of factors and you know
the topography and whether it's gravel
and there's layers of soil and stuff
there's a lot of factors there uh and we
don't have evidence for the whole region
that what we do have is a report that um
The Province did in the South couch and
looking at some specific aquifers there
they found that their their projections
were increase in water availab
availability that some of it would make
it into the aquifer and that would
outweigh the increased EV Appo
transpiration from from warmer dryer
Summers thank you I just one more one
more
um okay you went through me this time so
I'll let you do
it sorry you worship
um I'm just
uh I'm just wondering too uh if um
pollutants are part of the the um issue
that you going to be looking at not just
how much water is in in the um aquer
itself yeah and and through the chair
again to the director uh thank you
that's that's a key part of the the
groundwater quality strategy piece that
we're putting out for an RFQ now is what
do we need to uh to look at what uh
types of tests should we be doing on the
water and where do we need to do it um
all those things the hydrometric was
looking more at the quantity side so now
we're trying to bring both pieces
together looking for opportunities where
you can get both types of information
out of the same infrastructure you know
like we have a monitoring well that we
can also take water samples from and
things like that thank you thank you
director Stone next please uh thank you
and and just compliments to our
colleagues on asking good questions um I
just wanted to to compliment staff on
the you know the maturation of the the
function um and the the growing sort of
breadth of information in detail that's
being
um collected and and also recognizing
though that it's never enough and it's
never fast enough um just like we're
really concerned about both the
quantitative and qualitative
measurements of water in the region
um you know the data that we have to
support decisions going forward and you
know reflecting on you know supporting
ocp processes and providing supportive
information to municipalities during
their land use planning processes is a
big part of the drinking water and
Watershed protection function um and I
and I hope that we continue to gain
momentum you know as we sort of put some
of these um you know sort of data points
and get these Baseline measurements and
stuff that we're able to continue to not
only Monitor and measure the the trends
in those areas but continue to broaden
throughout the region the understanding
that we have around water but I was just
struck by kind of reading it through and
going like this actually feels like
something with a bit of substance to it
and I'm looking forward to how it folds
into the bigger strategic plan but I'm
just thankful that we're we're getting
to that point where it's maturing to a
point of some some usefulness if you
will um because I know that um you know
I'm glad actually that it's not like a
conversation that you have on community
that feels like cuz I remember when this
function came forward for the referendum
um there was a lot of sort of push back
on taxing at a local level to get this
information and now he's just seeing how
fundamental it is and then when you talk
to people about growth pressures and
development the first question and the
last question is always about water so
um it it just shows the wisdom of the
the boards of the day and staff that
brought forward this function and the
importance of it so I just thankful for
that
thanks alternate director Harriet thank
you um just to make some comments to um
preference my questions but just to make
sure I did spend some time with director
Wilson over the weekend just to make
sure my comments reflect his concerns
and we won't hold that against you okay
um so I I was act as a I'm a trustee of
the Cobble Hill improvement district
which provides water to Cobble Hill and
in that capacity our chair and myself
actually participated in the community
and
advisory um group um that developed the
strategy and and I'm glad Mr M touched
on it because one of the common themes
in that discussion in that group was
because as director Stone mentioned
there was a lot of push back on on the
function we needed to show some
tangible actionable items right away and
hence the key key priorities so it it is
a bit unfortunate that things have been
slower um and two of the ones that were
one's important to me particularly but
one was important to the the group was a
uh to make sure the coordinator position
was filled because anything like this
requires a champion and if you don't
have a champion it can kind of fall um
so I have a couple questions any idea
when the coordinator Position will be
filled um through the chair to the oh
sorry I did it myself no no you were
fine you were fine through the the chair
chair the director and Mr postings can
can chime in with this as well but um we
we're finding it very challenging to
find someone that had all the
qualifications you we had a couple of
Staff members who who didn't uh last in
the position and other times we weren't
able to fill it so rather than not
getting anywhere we made the decision to
move forward with a technician and you
we had some of the plans in place so uh
she's been very capable with being able
to uh to implement it um moving forward
we're uh we're seeing if there's going
to be uh anything that informs this from
uh the organizational review uh piece
that's going on whe whether uh the the
role of the the program is going to
change but we would like to to move
forward with filling some sort of
leadership position within the the
drinking water and Watership uh drinking
water and Watershed Protection Program
as soon as we can thank you a followup
um yeah another comment um particularly
due to our concerns in Cobble Hill
because as you probably know we have
some nitrate concerns in the groundwater
so um getting the strategy up and going
through the chair to Mr Moore um when do
you anticipate the groundwater strategy
being um getting up to up and running
and
implemented um again through the chair
to the director uh the RFQ is
anticipated to go out uh within days um
and uh the the timeline that we're
looking at is for it to be completed by
the end of this year in terms of the
having the strategy in place um the
actions and the implementation will
that'll depend on what the plan tells us
we need what resources are required and
we'll be bringing that uh to the back to
the committee and to the board looking
for for direction on how to implement
the recommendations whatever they may be
you had one more I gave director deck
three so I must give you three okay I've
got a few more but I'll come back to it
um and it goes along with what director
isach was mentioning is incorporating
the other
um the other uh monitoring sites that
are are in the area already and there
are several and some that the cvrd have
put in but there's also a couple
provincial ones and two specifically I
know director Wilson's had some
discussion with with staff about these
um it's unfortunate there's two that are
currently monitoring one's monitoring
aquifer 197 and one's monitoring aquifer
202
that that's one of the big pieces that
we're trying to look at the best data
warehouse for that if we have capacity
to bring that in or if we can take
advantage of the provincial uh systems
that are bringing it in and you've
identified some of the limitations uh
with those systems so um recognizing
those challenges and if that represents
a limitation in a particular device then
maybe a simpler approaches to uh look at
improving that measurement device rather
than going to a whole new one and
another location so I th those kind of
priorities are things that we would hope
to see in the strategy thank you I do
have a growing speakers list I have
director Nicholson director Sagal
director martman director deck director
Morrison I'll go director Morrison first
because he hasn't spoken yet but first
of all director
Nicholson thank you very much thank you
so much for the update um I really
appreciate it water um water is you know
it's just it's very much like the
homeless situation it's one of those
really big issues but it also is kind of
hidden until you have a real problem and
so maybe it's a little bit more
challenging than the homelessness
problem but I think it's something that
we need to take keep on top of um and
it's it's going to be the environment is
going to keep changing
so I think that the most important part
of this program um good information is
important but I also think Partnerships
are going to be really key to being
successful because we have to work with
all the people in the community that are
working on water and it crosses
jurisdictions and it crosses UH
responsibilities a lot so we really need
to take advantage of our uh very active
stewardship community and I'm thinking
as long as we don't have the coordinator
position um in place I think this
technical guiding team should be a
really high priority to get established
because we've been five years into this
program now and it would really make me
feel good if we had a community-based um
partnership with other people on Guiding
the program and what the priorities
ought to be because I know things are
changing rapidly um I'm also curious as
to the um results on the your
preliminary preliminary screening um of
watersheds and where the risks are and
I'm wondering if I could we could I
could get that information I don't think
I've seen it I I think that that's
something that that we as a region
really need to pay attention to is where
are the biggest risks on water um as we
move forward on this issue of
potentially a regional growth strategy
but even without that each of our
jurisdictions need to understand where
the biggest risks are so we develop
wisely
[Music]
um yeah I guess I'll stop there thank
you thank you very much director Seagal
next
please thank you through the chair to Mr
Moore I'm wonder if you could just
comment on um relationships with
different provincial Ministries and
information sharing um I know just in my
area there's a number of new commercial
well licenses that have been
approved but they um require extensive
monitoring plans that regulate the
rolling out of development um as well as
with treaty negotiations and groundwater
rights there's extensive hydrogeology
reports you know done in specific areas
so just wondering if we can access that
and so that we avoid duplicating that
kind of
information yeah through the chair to
director seal uh thank you yes uh we
work very closely with uh a number of
the provincial agencies and uh they they
keep change the responsibility shifts so
it's different agencies now but uh yeah
a couple of examples was the the report
on the the water budget for the South
cin was an example where we actually
contributed some money to that report so
that they could add a component looking
at
what things are going to look like in
the future with climate change so
bringing our climate projections in um
in terms of the water quality sampling
that we're doing right now um Island
Health is uh looking at those results
and doing some preliminary analysis and
now that we have the once we have the
spring sampling results back in a few
weeks they'll be able to look at a
Year's worth of of data and and see some
of these Trends um so and it's being
brought into the provincial system um
some of these very site specific ones um
would probably take a little more
investigating to make sure that you know
if they are being brought into the the
provincial system that we want to
capture that and make sure those results
are available to you know whomever is
looking at them in terms of a big
picture analysis so that
concludes uh moving online to director
martman to speak about his underwater
Lake I'm
sure yes of course and that's my first
question I have two questions chair if
you don't mind uh and thank you Mr Moore
very appreciate the uh the background
and also you know where where we're at
and where we're going particularly this
year I just it's not clear though in any
of the material are read about where the
you know the Cassidy water shed and the
Cassidy aqu fits into the plans within
the
cvrd um wonder if you can help me with
that and I have a second question after
that um yeah through the chair to
director martman um I'm a apologize I
don't have all the details of which
aquafers um are recommended for which
types of monitoring and stuff but uh
definitely the Cassidy aquafer we we did
consider all the aquafers within the the
region in in terms of developing the uh
um hydrometric strategy looking at at
the quantity there and um I would
anticipate that uh the quality
groundwater quality is we all know it's
a a concern in in the yellow Point area
and with the capity aquifer so we'd be
uh seeing something coming out of that
as
well follow up you thanks for that yeah
I and the follow-up and I I appreciate
all the questions from all the other
directors and my question is more around
what the board can do to help um
complement or achieve some of the goals
within this um within this area and and
one of the things I think about is what
what we might be buying or purchasing in
the future around
properties and what parts of what you're
doing can help inform that type of
decision making particularly as very
trying to create strategies around you
know I use the the very general term of
Parkland acquisition meaning that you
know it's it's areas and of of different
parts of our region that could be very
useful and supporting drinking water and
Watershed protection so wondering if is
that technical advisory the part that we
need up in place or do we need other
other things in place from your
perspective um yeah through the chair to
uh to director martman
um I think that raises a lot of really
interesting points and it's great to see
uh support uh from the directors and
wanting to be engaged too because that
really helps us out
um in terms uh one of the
points that that really comes to mind
and it it touches on what we heard in
the public input period too is the
importance of communication and the
education piece that that fits into this
drinking water and Watershed protection
strategy and um you know a lot of uh the
directors having such you know extensive
ties within the community you know we
might be able to uh look for some ideas
of how to better communicate a lot of
this information out
um and uh also uh um just uh other ways
of sharing the uh the the information um
out to the community um and in terms of
the uh the the land piece I I could see
a possibility that that one factor that
that might come up is if we identify
areas that are particularly um sensitive
for a groundwater surface water
interaction so if there was any area
that we knew was just amazing for uh
groundwater recharge that you know lots
of water accumulates there there's nice
gravel it gets down into the uh into the
aquifer then that might be a factor for
hey you know this this is an area that's
important whether that looks at uh at
purchasing it or or ensuring that it's
an environmentally sensitive feature
that gets uh preserved when
development's considered in that area I
think that's another important
piece that concludes director marman
I think we've lost him so I guess it
does uh looking yes it does thank you
chair okay thank you very much director
Morrison thank you chair through you
um I don't know exactly how to put this
but it's it's a concern around scope
creep and and maybe a little bit about
what uh director Sagal was was uh
starting to uh inquire about so I you
know but fully supportive of of this
Department's initiatives and this
particular um function that that we have
and I know that uh I think uh someone
mentioned earlier that there was some
push back initially and I'm really
thrilled to see all of the different
areas of of study that's going on I
think it's great it's helping to make us
better at our decision making because
we've got access to not only more but
more accur
information but I I wonder too where
that line is that imaginary line between
Regional District uh you know
self-imposed responsibilities and those
of other orders of government and I I
guess what I'm asking is do you and
staff know where that line is and are
you staying on your side of it because I
I get the sense that you know your
success is going to breed more success
and more requests for uh additional
information so are you comfortable where
you're operating now and do you see
increased pressures and will that spill
over into what maybe other jurisdiction
or other orders of government's
jurisdiction yeah through the chair to
director Morrison some some excellent
questions there and definitely some
things to think about um we are seeing
you know Perhaps Perhaps some examples
of this as director seigal alluded to
the uh the Water license uh applications
that are coming in and they're quite
often ones that get referred uh to the
cvd so we we could imagine a situation
where we have quite a bit of information
about water supply in the area that's
informing those decisions and you know
should that be coming from us or should
it be coming from the province who who
is the uh the decision maker with
regards uh to
licenses U so there's definitely uh
uh some some gray area there another way
is that you know we want to gather
information from a lot of broad
different sources not just for those
specific water licensing questions but
hopefully to inform the broader uh big
picture of watershed management um so so
there's the the information we're
collecting isn't limited to that one one
purpose so there's definitely some pros
and cons there would be something I see
um at the moment we we're working
working quite cooperatively with the the
various um agencies and organizations
and trying to share information and as
best we POS as we best we possibly can
um that that is probably a question that
you know as we develop a a technical
advisory or or oversight committee and
with you know regular check-ins to the
board that we would hope to keep that
you know within our lane of where we
should be and we would get some
oversight if we were starting to stray
thank you any other first time speakers
before I go to my list of second
round see none I have director deck and
then director
Harriet thank you chair sure you um I'm
just wondering about um contamination of
aquifers and I and just in general not
anyone in particular
just so the enforcement
of of fines or
mitigation that is the responsibility of
the provincial government am I correct
so
how how does that relationship work in
terms of of um follow following up are
is the provincial government following
up with you on these kinds of issues how
you know how does that work yeah um
through the chair to uh to director deck
um we haven't had um really a specific
instance where we you know we've got a
water um Quality well and all of a
sudden some toxin shows up in there and
you know there's a real concern so so we
haven't had that if that was the case
you know if we identified any source of
pollution regardless of where it's
coming from then we would report that to
the provincial authorities who um have
the responsibility to follow up on it um
a lot of what we would try to capture
with the uh the groundwater quality it
might not be those Point sources of
pollution um but just a broader picture
uh you know it could be from not from
one specific location but just well
there's industrial activity or there's
agricultural activity and some sort of
runoff and you know the these big
picture ones we're more likely to find
rather than a very targeted one if we
did we would certainly it would be the
province that would follow
up alternate director Harriet thank you
um another comment I I meant to mention
before my last one was that
um I did enter into that Advisory Group
with a a little bit of skepticism and
cynicism being a a cynic um but I must
say that's one of the best processes
that I've ever gone through the staff
and I I don't think any of the staff are
still here that we part of that but the
cvrd St staff and the Consultants did a
very good job and at the end they asked
us what our impression was and to go
along with the question that um director
Morrison asked was it was pretty much a
consensus that we felt it was a great
process provided we stick to those
priorities and and follow that direction
that we laid out and through the chair
uh a question i' would be remiss if I
didn't ask this question for director
Wilson do you know how much of the
budget has been spent to date and and
what's what uh what's
remaining um through the on the spot uh
of the overall
dww how much been spent to date um on
the initiative yeah yeah uh I don't have
the the numbers across the whole uh
program I I know largely because we
haven't had the capacity we haven't uh
been spending all the uh the money that
has been allocated within the budget U
part of that's just having vacant
positions that obviously we're not
paying out the salaries um and and in
some cases uh we haven't you know a lot
of the budget had been uh allocated
towards some Capital infrastructure in
terms of installing hydrometric
monitoring stations or or climate
stations and stuff um the those are
funds that haven't been expended yet so
those are going into to reserve for when
we have the opportunity ities in the
capacity to to do more with it you know
we've been kind of focusing on the
pieces that we can do where we're um
getting the strategies and plans in
place through the chair is is it
possible to get that number at some
point yeah yeah we can certainly follow
up with that and if you can give me any
you know parameters on you know we can
give you last year's numbers sure okay
thank you thank you I have someone
online director mclinton please I was
just going to ask you what my name
was it came up on the screen so
everything's good thank you chair uh
through you um a kind of a a big picture
question you know might be a little
challenging to answer but I I'm be
looking for your your personal opinion
on it you know I mean at least in my
community and folks I talk with um you
know the the thought is we live in a
temperate rainforest and you know we've
we've got some pretty good water and
then a lot of the stuff we talk around
at the board table is you know concerns
about aquafer Supply you know those
sorts of things I'm just wondering you
know both in terms of quantity and
quality you know maybe you could just
offer up your your personal opinion on
how we stack up to other jurisdictions
and and then the F the second part of
that question do you see any
immediate concerns red flags things that
uh you know from your person doing the
work on the ground that you know that we
should be putting immediate attention
to okay uh yeah through the chair to uh
to director mclinton
um those are some uh some big picture
questions um it it's with our region
it's really hard to give a a single
answer as to how it looks because it
it's very uh varied across the region
depending on where our water sources
come from so uh you know unlike some
other jurisdictions where all the water
comes from a single large Reservoir up
in the mountains and it's very easy to
to understand how much water is
available um we have dozens of small
water systems spread across the region
um some like Sal a come from surface
water um where you know we've got
stocking Lake it's pretty easy to
understand uh that system most of our
water actually comes from groundwater
within the region um most of the the
larger Community Systems are come from
groundwater and um then outside of the
Community Systems most uh residents rely
on their their own individual Wells and
it's a lot trickier to get a a bigger
picture of that because it depends so
much on the the specific Wells um in in
addition to the overall aquafer picture
um on a a broad brush across the whole
region the all you know the larger
systems are saying that they're in
pretty good shape um you know there
seems to be a decent amount of water
available um there are definitely some
exceptions where we've had uh a number
of our water systems and some of the
smaller ones especially uh where we have
had to truck water in uh from the provin
or from other neighboring systems when
we're uh in real drought conditions um
and then outside of our cvrd systems um
we're we are all aware of huge pressures
on water supplies that we're seeing
especially in the coke Silo we're also
seeing um a lot of it in yellow point
and in other areas where where there's
development pressures that uh there's uh
definitely not enough water to go around
to meet all these demands so so a lot of
the water systems are generally in good
shape but it's a lot of the other the
other users and some of the smaller
systems that really need
support thank you if I could just get
you to turn your microphone off D sorry
dor
har any further questions comments I
think what the um interest from the
director shows is that water has no
boundaries no Municipal boundaries just
like the air shed it's shared uniquely
throughout the region and the quality
and the quantity of that is is
imperative for for uh good health and
and good uh growth within our community
and I will Channel director Nicholson
with her permission on on the need to
identify those natural assets and to uh
identify by those that could be included
within a purchase opportunity to protect
the water quality and quantity within
those regions that are developing so
with that this was just for information
and I thank you for uh a great
presentation and for great input from
you directors I thank you for that as
well thank you thank
you sorry to channel you director
Nicholson but uh I heard someone else
Channel a previous mayor of North cin
and staying to their Lane so I thought
it would be
appropriate moving on Direct or Miss
Harrison thank you Mr chair next item is
item R4 which is a report from the
Environmental Services Division
regarding the cowch and adapts update
and this too is for
information thank you Mr chair and thank
you director good morning it is um a
tremendous opportunity to get to share
with you the coin adapts update for
2024 uh we appreciate uh the the input
received from from numerous partners and
want to acknowledge all of those uh
externally and internally that have
provided uh that uh that input uh as
well as uh director's leadership uh the
incorporation of the adaptation strategy
in in as a priority item in in the uh
strategic planning documents uh in Prior
years uh as as uh as that piece of
background there as well the adaptation
strategy was uh adopted by the board in
2021 the implementation framework in
2022 and the implementation plan in 2023
and so uh before we continue is there a
possibility to share that online I don't
see it uh coming up
online
it's just not coming through on the
laptop on
WebEx and I can give you the PID of
those um those properties if if you wish
that picture does that picture does come
from the lake couch and
area
okay thank you that's uh that's that
that's being shared now I just want to
make sure that those online can uh
follow along with the
PowerPoint
we
go are we seeing the presentation in
shair mode Now Yep looks good excellent
if we can make it full size that would
probably help
but
yeah it's not streaming apparently
according to director Wilson's
email I heard from
EV that's
better hopefully it will uh be recorded
and uploaded
later yes
ma'am
okay it has been communicated that uh
there is some problems with the live
stream and it will be published uh at a
later date thank you to our
CAO please continue thanks thank you Mr
chair uh so if we may continue with the
the acknowledgments um this this
strategy also acknowledges how our first
nation's Partners have been
disproportionately affected by the
impacts of climate change uh while also
understanding uh how First Nations have
have stewarded these lands for thousands
of years uh and the opportunity that is
there to interweave traditional
knowledge with uh with Western science
going forward and so we will talk um
some more about uh some of the
opportunities uh in in that space as
well and so uh the strategy recognizes
that climate change is this large Global
issue with um local impacts and so uh
the strategy very much focuses on these
these local Solutions and uh again the
update today is really to provide you
information on the program the the
various actions there's an attachment in
the in the package the staff report
package there that uh includes uh that
that update uh and the tables at the
back end of that uh that strategy
include not only those actions led by um
our division but also by um other other
groups within the cvrd as well as
external partners and so uh that
provides that that comprehensive update
and uh we'll talk a little bit about uh
some of the focus areas for next steps
for implementation this
year and so coming back to a little bit
about that uh that background uh the
linkages to the the Strategic plan and
so uh again the strategy was adopted by
the board in
2021 uh with implementation planning uh
uh developed in 202 2 and
2023 uh the uh adaptation strategy has a
number of actions objectives goals that
link to uh the various strategic plan
themes including uh the uh the new
priority Focus area for reconciliation
that is in the 2023 to 2026 strategic
plan and so a bit of background because
we'll be talking a little bit about both
of these uh these Focus areas of
adaptation and mitigation uh when we're
talking about adapt we're really talking
about actions to reduce the
vulnerability of the natural and human
systems to change climate change uh
impacts but um and then also at the same
time we'll be talking about mitigation
and that's about reducing our carbon
footprint so reducing our greenhouse gas
emissions both uh uh as an organization
and uh as a community and so we do
recognize at the same time that there's
some uh uh actions that have co-
benefits so they'll have that uh that
benefit of reducing our footprint as
well as help prepare us for uh the
impacts of of climate
change and uh we have been following
this this five phased process to develop
the adaptation strategy uh and it's a a
circular process in the sense that we
can enter into it at various places so
that we can continue to provide uh uh uh
refinements uh with updated information
into the strategy which is uh very much
a dynamic document uh and uh so it began
that that phase in 2016 with the
development of climate projections
working with the pl Pacific climate
impacts Consortium as well as a number
of other partners uh to develop that as
well as the recommendations that came
came out of that uh which set us up for
this phase of vulnerability and risk
assessments uh which um did have a focus
on uh those specific risks related to
climate so uh including flood uh slope
failure uh but also um sea level rise
and uh Wildfire risk assessments all at
the same time now recognizing that this
is an ongoing piece of work and we have
a number of groups across the
organization uh as well as uh the
community that are doing risk
assessments so uh working with the
municipality of North cin for example uh
with their climate risk assessment
working with Emergency Management cowit
and uh uh with their Hazard risk and
vulnerability assessment as well as
First Nations Partners such as malahat
Nation uh with their sea level rise risk
assessment so looking at how we
synthesize this information around risk
so that we can have uh a broad but
coordinated
response and uh this this phase of work
sets us up for that development of the
strategy uh where we work through that
with numerous Partners to uh identify
actions that were needed going forward
we'll talk a bit about this fourth and
parallel phase of work around mitigation
and the opportunities to to move forward
there and make uh make progress uh and
then of course uh the the phase that
we're currently in which is this
implementation piece and uh the
opportunities to uh to go forward and
work with Partners on
that and so the strategy came together
with uh with the input from these these
various Partners including provincial
agencies Community
stewards um from our first nation's
Partners um Island Health our Municipal
partners and um other community agencies
including the school district to develop
this uh this Vision uh as well as six
supporting goals and then actions which
link to uh to each of those those goals
uh and uh they're grouped according to
these five thematic areas so we have a
first thematic area of uh resilient gray
and green infrastructure and so we're
thinking about Asset Management uh but
we're also looking at uh uh building
standards and um how we move forward
with uh protection of uh infrastructure
uh from uh climate impacts we have this
second theme around Community Health and
emergency management looking not only at
um the immediate needs that come with um
emergency situations but also uh some of
the preventative opportunities that are
there um as it relates to for example
air quality um but also um how we uh are
are responding to uh to emergencies
uh and so many actions being led through
our Emergency Management Group and uh
and as well as a number of other
partners in in that realm a third
thematic area for green growth and
sustainable development uh which uh
captures um u a good uh amount of work
being done by the uh Economic
Development uh group uh the cvrd uh but
also uh working with a number of
Partners so for example uh the develop
the the uh the progress being made
around uh circular economy strategy um
and then this fourth thematic area which
is uh linked to ecosystems and Biore
Regional carrying capacity and so uh we
spoke a bit about that in relation to
the drinking water and Watership
Protection Program but we'll talk a bit
about some of these additional actions
as well that are uh carrying forward
this work a fifth thematic area which is
linked to cross cutting actions and
those are really about uh partnership
building capacity building so addressing
some of the um the comments and the the
concerns around uh overlapping
jurisdiction and um ultimately looking
at how do we look at these big problems
uh but uh various organizations can come
together and uh and and really build the
capacity uh with those shared resources
that we we all have in a coordinated way
and we'll talk a bit about some of the
the mechanisms for that uh and how
there's the 39 prioritized actions under
these thematic areas and so uh coming
back to that fourth uh phase of work on
the climate mitigation and so the Comm
commitments that we have in that area
are uh through the BC climate action
Charter and so they include uh becoming
carbon neutral in our corporate
operations measuring and Reporting our
community
ghgs uh and then also uh uh working
towards complete compact and more energy
efficient communities uh and and so on
that uh Community Front we did develop a
regional energy strategy in 2012 uh but
a number of uh parameters have have
changed around that in terms of uh the
opportunities for for uh uh improved uh
input data as well as a broadening of
that strategy to not only look at resid
the residential sector but also uh the
number of other sectors that are
responsible for our and contributing to
our carbon footprint as a community so
um the the strategy is is in need of
update uh uh going forward and so that
is one of the uh the recommended uh
steps for this year uh and also
recognizing that the Local Government
Act uh does require us to establish
those ghd reduction targets at the
community level and identify mechanisms
to uh achieve and undertake that uh that
ongoing monitoring and help us uh meet
those those targets at the corporate
level uh we also have strategy in place
and again there's an opportunity for
update there um currently it has a focus
on on buildings and structures but also
uh an opportunity to look at the broader
corporate footprint and reflect current
input data targets and best practices
which have changed uh in in many ways uh
since uh the uh that that strategy was
developed and
so uh and so coming back to the the
adaptation work and some of these these
key actions for for the coming year and
so um uh the implementation of the high
priority items in the 10year drinking
water and Watershed Protection Program
is a big component of the adaptation
strategy as well and so um as as Mr
Moore was was speaking about uh many of
those actions link to uh this thematic
area around uh ecosystems protection as
well as bi Regional carrying capacity so
identifying those High stress aquifers
uh like we did with the South CCH and uh
groundwater budgets for aquafer 197 and
206 to understand that those are the
those are ones that are are are
exhibiting high water supply stress that
helps us understand the the bi Regional
carrying capacity as well as the the
water quality for example in those those
areas too whether it's related to uh
nutrient levels in in in groundwater
seeing elevated levels there in uh
Cobble Hill but then similarly in the uh
the South cin watersheds uh with with
shaigan Lake uh and the the the
background data that was that was useful
there to support uh planning around uh
uh liquid waste infrastructure and so
these these components support that
thematic area of Biore Regional carrying
capacity um in a substantial way and so
uh at the same time uh there's a number
of other actions that link to uh
ecosystems protection and uh as well as
uh Communications of the of the work and
so a big component of that uh that we're
working on right now is the review and
refresh of The New Normal coin uh web
page and Communications program so uh
not only having uh web-based tools uh
updated but uh having uh deployment of
uh of of physical uh media as well for
for spreading the word uh but also
inviting uh participation from community
members on uh their Reflections on on
impacts and
solutions the conservation strategy
development uh including an updated Esa
inventory the setting of conservation
targets uh is also a key action within
the adaptation strategy and something
that uh uh is uh intended to to be
moving forward uh in this in this coming
year uh as well as ongoing invasive
plants monitoring uh and identification
of new priority plants for inclusion in
the bylaw which uh uh we uh had
established uh in in
2016 uh implementing the updated airshed
protection strategy uh updated last year
uh including uh now going forward with
the uh refreshed uh wood stove uh
replacement program wood stove Reduction
Program uh that we partner on with the
province uh as well as um uh partnering
internally with the various uh groups
around uh reviewing the the the burning
bylaws as well so key actions uh to be
moving forward within the airshed
protection strategy uh flood management
planning also key within the adaptation
strategy and fits across a number of
those thematic areas also strong tie-ins
to the drinking water and Watershed
protection uh strategy
implementation uh and of course uh a key
um underlying component to uh the
various uh subject areas is uh planning
for updates to uh the state of the
environment
uh reports which includes these these 14
sections that were that were developed
and some have been updated in more
recent years uh and of course uh many
have been brought forward to the board
in different forms uh in terms of
updated information uh whether it's uh
air air quality uh reporting updates or
um environmentally sensitive area uh
updates we've been bringing information
forward in in different ways but we're
at whether there's an opportunity to
bring that forward in a state-of the
environment report fashion or or other
mechanisms so that it's uh it's
informative to uh to to
folks uh of course a significant action
also linked to uh this concept of
ecosystems protection and Biore Regional
carrying capacity is uh to continue
working with Partners on the replacement
of the CCH and Lake Weir uh which uh we
now have that that additional funding
from uh the senior government uh and uh
link to that is the associated flood
mitigation
Works cross cutting actions that support
not only those actions that are being
led by our group which we've just
mentioned again supporting ecosystems of
bi Regional caring capacity but all of
the other uh thematic areas linked to
Community Health and
infrastructure uh and these cross
cutting actions again link back to that
key concept of of capacity building and
so uh it speaks to our opportunities to
engage with the public to not only
communicate out the information but to
gather input and so um some key
mechanisms to be able to do that and
some that are already in place uh we're
looking forward to hosting a regional
climate and health Forum so looking at a
broad number of Partners across the
region uh for a large space discussion
uh given the uh the number of various
folks that are active in this space uh
to understand where we are at with our
activities where can we learn from each
other and uh invite that broad level of
participation um uh this would build on
what uh the mech one of the mechanisms
we already have which is uh as as
directed by the board in in in the
previous years this development of The
Advisory Group which includes the
intergovernmental participants the
various Municipal Partners our first
Nations partners to support implementing
the priority actions in the adaptation
strategy and so uh again this is a
mechanism to uh ensure that the strategy
continues to uh reflect the the broad
views of of the community uh and uh that
we're able to to implement those actions
in a most in a more coordinated way uh
wherever we can uh ongoing collaboration
with partner climate initiatives is key
so uh working for example with the
municipality of North cowit and on their
climate planning program uh with the
risk assessment and now going forward
into the adaptation planning work that
they're looking to do but this also
includes and and speaks to uh the
opportunities for directors to be
involved so there was um a question in
the in the earlier uh presentation there
about that and one of one of these
opportunities is through the Vic can uh
forum and so we have uh we have been
notified that they'll be online for
Forums on May 6th and May 13th for that
so that's for elected officials but also
for staff uh and uh there'll be uh
additional uh opportunities through that
uh that uh that Forum the vicc can and
so we're anticipating more information
about that ourselves and uh looking
forward to to that opportunity uh and
really just examining uh uh OPP
additional partnership opportunities to
work with the local stewardship groups
who um can have uh uh a tremendous role
for for adaptation going forward uh on
the mitigation side as mentioned the
opportunities are there to uh to update
the community greenhouse gas reduction
strategy the corporate greenhouse gas
reduction strategy uh continue
implementing those actions that may uh
already being implemented for example
electrical electric vehicle support uh
but also uh building upgrades and
ultimately those updated strategies
would identify
those that broad range of actions across
the number of emissions categories that
could um be reduced and uh looking at um
looking at how we can work with that uh
with with our various partners and so
with that thank
you to the directors and uh thank you
very much for the presentation um
considering this was for information and
I'm aware that a few directors have a
12:00 uh appointment that they were
trying to keep uh could we or are you in
favor of taking your questions or
comments
offline uh if if that is appropriate and
that we consider the closed session that
would follow after the board if that is
okay with uh the body we could we could
do that uh I'm seeing nodding so chair
Stone I mean director Stone I just don't
want to take away the thanks to Mr
Lawrence and the team um for doing this
work and uh we'll talk about how North
Couch's getting all these resources
later yes and we'll share them around
for sure so if that's okay with the uh
with the body we will uh take our
questions and comments offline I do have
some that I'll forward as well and uh
we'll move forward with the closed
session after the board completion so Mr
chair would be appro appropriate to move
the motion to close session then adjourn
the close session until after regular
board so I'd make the motion to go into
close session a after Miss Harrison
tells us
why um thank you Mr chair for you to
director Stone we have question period
first so I will turn to the public for
questions and please be kind to me it's
been a long
morning Mr chair it has been a long
morning and I'm feeling the privilege of
being the only public witness to this
morning's deliberations because of the
technical difficulties today so my
question is can the board look at
alternative ways to communicate
excellent reports like Mr Lawrence's
material in more of an audio visual
format that could be going viral and
sharing just like we did with the cowch
and tourism almost like a b-roll where
we can show snapshots from around the
region and really get people excited and
emotionally invested in this material
because I really hate to see reports
like this be left on the Shelf thank you
Mr chair thank you very much and we'll
do our utmost within our it upgrade to
implement something that you have
mentioned thank you no followup thank
you so now a motion to go into close
Miss Harrison on what
matters uh thank you Mr chair uh we have
uh section 91 k
91a move by director Stone and seconded
by Ish Dash director ish Das that is all
in favor opposed if any motion to
adjourn
yes so moved and seconded all in
favor okay we will convene
later
last stay
tuned refresh yeah it's all yeah
hopefully
longm data but you might
see
okay
well we don't know I don't know
what
I know
it's
[Music]
makide even if they can't help there's
nothing can do they would just sit here
for while we are drowning in other I
would I would at this point
Optics we need to I'm just
sharing
so so all of that has to do with having
on the
[Applause]
screen
out
system needer and just get back
to just yeah no no no I agree so what
I'm just saying is that
that's priority
[Music]
we observation wise I know but I think
that um
that is unfortunate and
it's but I want I want to do things to
actually fix the situation I don't want
to do things that just obiously make us
look good even though the situation
can't be fixed that way
techology no that's actually not true it
all works the thing that doesn't work
St like that's actually the
misconception is that some technology is
bad and there are some things that are
bad like one thing that's really
bad pieces that are
not because they are in and they
but you you tell me one I can hon I
don't know
one
laptop
abely we need we need to have the
cameras in here and then
versatile you and I
can totally that's I'm saying got so
there's
yeah no no I
realiz I'm only sharing the
I chase got come in here he doesn't know
what's going on we got
weone
St the problem
isas well I'll tell you I I'll read the
report but I will tell
you I I met guy who did all our
system
we and just deliver on this tomor after
hours get it
done
I'm be six 12 months with the same same
issue some
so if we do that if we come in here
other than what you just mentioned about
the video cameras which actually has
been like the problems that we're having
have nothing to do with video we've not
had a problem with video ceras period in
two years I mean you may not like the
fact that right now we
have this going on but in fact that
that's not problem complaint
the complaints have audio
complaints
computer well the WebEx issues to have
almost been all user error setting up
meetings
soat now
[Music]
isable
so this morning not first time last
couple weeks we had a meeting
withi I the third party was
all so
weed and um we went into teams and uh
fine but what I'm saying is is we've had
audio issues that
are
external sometimes internal sometimes
exal I don't think it's actually the
user I think it's it's
not three weeks ago I submitted the help
us uh where half the grou
but
were and then today was weird
because no I was
here
um no it was it
[Music]
[Applause]
waser exact then there was also one that
later in the
day weird
gety verified unified things apparently
update on it
probably
changes what I have to tell you we
pursed Your solution we got $250,000
worth of it upgade overnight and
implemented it we would have all
it would not improve anything so I don't
know why we would do that that's
actually not
Sol don't dise that yeah it's just I
think
Improvement tra something new every
Municipal has technology issues but they
also are probably 10 years ahead in the
the new system
the support I don't know how they would
support
anyway just that yeah I just
started okay
sorry
e
for
e
for
e
for
e
for
e
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for
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for