[0:00] they've told us they've ticketed
[0:01] numerous individuals uh but the
[0:03] situation has not changed for the past
[0:04] eight or nine months it's particularly
[0:06] the same the corporal's uh concluding
[0:09] comments were he believes that for the
[0:11] safety of our customers the shelter
[0:13] should be removed there is definitely uh
[0:16] safety concerns at times and so we need
[0:18] to be um you know really taking that in
[0:21] stride as to it's not just a cleanly
[0:23] issue it's it's about the safety and we
[0:25] recognize this is a tough decision
[0:27] because our customers that do use the
[0:29] shelter
[0:30] um when they can they're the ones that
[0:32] are going to be inconvenienced it's sort
[0:33] of the Bad Apple ruins it for everybody
[0:35] right so we do have to consider that but
[0:38] that's ultimately where staff have come
[0:40] from ended up with and you know Mr chair
[0:42] I recognize this is a sensitive issue
[0:44] and a topic but we would appreciate your
[0:46] committee's direction on what you'd re
[0:48] recommend we should do with that Shel
[0:50] with our shelters okay I'll look around
[0:52] for speakers I have director Douglas
[0:54] anyone else while I'm here director
[0:57] Abbott is
[0:58] next Mr chairman happy to get the uh
[1:02] staff recommendation on the floor as a
[1:04] as a motion we have a mover in a
[1:05] seconder and I will go to director
[1:08] Abbott Mr Wan thank you chair Mr wman I
[1:13] I've heard maybe on CBC about Montreal
[1:17] and how people in the cold weather don't
[1:20] need to wait at bus stops as much
[1:21] because they can count on the uh the
[1:23] travel app does UMO provide our
[1:26] customers with um I I was just trying to
[1:28] find it uh
[1:30] a a minute by minute time schedule that
[1:33] they their next bus so they needn't
[1:35] stand out in weather like this today
[1:37] yeah with the new with the new
[1:39] technology smart uh smart technology we
[1:41] have with BC Transit um our Riders can
[1:44] and and and quite frankly even the
[1:45] report mentioned this excuse me at
[1:48] Village Green mall I know our commuter
[1:49] Riders they sit in their cars they don't
[1:51] go where those shelters are if you look
[1:53] at the pictures of sort to see why they
[1:54] don't go and they know when they're when
[1:55] they're coming right so yes the Riders
[1:57] not all of them though have that not
[1:59] every body has a phone so some of them
[2:01] still rely on um hard print outs or
[2:03] writer guides and those type of things
[2:05] right or they'll look at the the
[2:07] schedule that's at most of our key stops
[2:08] as well um so yes most of our our
[2:11] regular riders that use this system they
[2:13] they know when the buses are should be
[2:15] there that's
[2:17] right that conclud order Mr chair um do
[2:20] we know what the motion on the floor is
[2:24] it's the staff recommendation which is
[2:26] for
[2:27] direction which one was uh REM I can
[2:30] clarify so the report doesn't have a
[2:34] recommendation up front although in the
[2:36] body of the report it does include a
[2:38] staff recommendation so would be that we
[2:39] direct staff remove the shelters and
[2:41] benches at the Village Green mall and
[2:44] couch and secondary school thank you
[2:46] director Morrison for pointing that out
[2:48] I have director Acton
[2:52] next not sure this is going to work is
[2:56] it working this m okay um I guess guess
[2:59] I have a couple questions one would be
[3:03] or first a comment this just is pretty
[3:05] infuriating and we're forced
[3:09] to kind of make a a decision that's not
[3:14] in anyone's best interest and so I'm
[3:16] wondering like have have the how much of
[3:19] this information has been shared with
[3:20] the province because this is obviously a
[3:23] greater issue and
[3:26] um you know where do we stop we're just
[3:29] going to keep doing things like this now
[3:31] we're removing bus
[3:33] shelters
[3:34] um and then my other question or
[3:37] question comment is um what are other
[3:42] areas doing like to me it's almost a a
[3:44] matter of design so how can we design
[3:47] the bus shelters to be less appealing to
[3:50] set up as as a shelter you know a
[3:54] long-term shelter so is there uh you
[3:56] know do we is there a way to remove just
[3:59] remove the Ben is remove some of the
[4:01] walls make it somewhat uh keep people
[4:04] out of the
[4:05] elements and uh cuz you know it is nice
[4:08] to have a bus shelter and and especially
[4:11] really busy stops I know I've seen moms
[4:14] sitting there with their kids and like
[4:16] so for us to just com just react like
[4:19] this when when is it going to stop and
[4:21] you know we have a beer issue
[4:24] here thank you for the question um
[4:27] challenging one to answer so when you
[4:29] say
[4:30] has BC sorry has the province been made
[4:32] aware they have through BC Transit and
[4:34] by the way Seth Wright the uh BC Transit
[4:36] senior manager of government relations
[4:38] is here as well to help answer um
[4:40] questions on this one more more
[4:41] appropriately probably the second report
[4:44] so BC transit's been aware of it they
[4:45] hear about it from the operator daily
[4:47] and the operator has an agreement with
[4:49] BC Transit and so they hear about that
[4:51] um we've had discussions with our our
[4:53] team is BC Transit as well as the
[4:55] operator we meet regularly every month
[4:57] and we talk about it with our staff and
[4:59] we we try to look at is it getting
[5:00] better is it getting worse where is it
[5:02] you know are we just pushing the problem
[5:04] somewhere else so to answer your
[5:05] question when's it going to stop I don't
[5:06] have an answer to that this was a
[5:08] conclusion that when we talk to the
[5:10] group and we talk to which is also
[5:12] mentioned in the in the report of what's
[5:14] happening at Village and Green mall in
[5:16] particular they've removed all their
[5:17] Planters and benches off that property
[5:18] for the same reason their property
[5:20] manager also told us to do the same
[5:22] thing if you leave a bench they're just
[5:24] going to use the bench so unfortunately
[5:26] just leave the bus stop sign and and the
[5:27] poll if you will um in terms of design
[5:30] of the shelters I'm not so sure it's the
[5:32] design it's it's probably more about the
[5:34] locations there is definitely some
[5:36] higher risk locations than others and
[5:38] and we're dealing with it in the core um
[5:40] I did touch about uh sorry the report
[5:42] does touch on a few other ones that are
[5:43] getting a little bit challenging
[5:45] sometimes even at the the current one at
[5:47] the hospital is having some issues there
[5:49] um so I can't comment about what type of
[5:52] new designs might be out there uh Seth I
[5:55] I don't know if you have any other
[5:56] comments you might be able to help on
[5:58] with regard to designs of shelters but
[5:59] but I also know other areas Victoria's
[6:01] dealt with it unfortunately in their
[6:03] rougher area in the Pandora Street area
[6:05] I know there's been shelter removed in
[6:07] the Nimo are on some of their rough one
[6:09] so we're not the only ones dealing with
[6:12] this do you have another comment zth
[6:14] yeah just provide one quick comment is
[6:16] that um that Cuda the I always forget
[6:19] what the acronym is for but it's the
[6:20] Canadian Association of Transit associ
[6:23] associations which BC Transit is a is a
[6:25] member of um did a really great report
[6:27] on Safety and Security and identifi that
[6:30] Transit related safety concerns are not
[6:32] fundamentally a Transit issue and I
[6:33] think you alluded to that in the
[6:34] question um but I identifies some some
[6:38] broad uh Solutions and and sort of
[6:40] strategies that require ultimately
[6:42] senior levels of government to step up
[6:44] and and so I won't go into that further
[6:47] but I would say in terms of our
[6:48] experience across the province we do
[6:50] face these challenges at at shelters and
[6:52] exchanges across the province one one
[6:54] piece that is a recurring theme is the
[6:57] collocation of liquor stores
[7:00] um and and Cannabis stores with with
[7:03] exchanges and that tends to hide in some
[7:04] of these issues uh and exacerbate the
[7:07] the issues uh in these locations um and
[7:11] so thinking about the location where we
[7:13] put the the central exchange is is a key
[7:15] piece of this um the train station
[7:18] doesn't seem to have the same level of
[7:19] issues that we see at the Village Green
[7:22] Mall exchange follow up director Aken
[7:25] yeah so thank you you've mentioned a few
[7:27] issues so then again we have the the
[7:29] provincial government that promised when
[7:31] they would be taxing cannabis locations
[7:33] they'd be spending money on addiction
[7:35] centers Etc so I think you know at this
[7:37] table we talk about we have an item
[7:39] later today that is about being
[7:42] political I think we take this and be
[7:43] political and and we make a big stink
[7:45] we've had cck TV here uh I'm not even
[7:49] quite sure that was uh that that became
[7:52] news I think this is really big news and
[7:54] and for us to just uh kind of just keep
[7:58] reacting sure Victoria did that's fine
[8:01] but I think we need to start to use this
[8:03] opportunity everybody who lives in those
[8:06] areas deserve a nice uh you know
[8:08] Planters you've said and and like we all
[8:11] deserve to live in a nice area and and
[8:13] clean and safe and I think this is an
[8:16] opportunity where we shouldn't just be
[8:18] uh reacting so quickly and we should
[8:20] start demanding The Province do
[8:22] something and and at this table I think
[8:25] we should make this a political issue
[8:28] thank you for that
[8:30] looking to director Stone next yeah I
[8:32] agree with director Acton and it is a
[8:34] political issue and it's driven by I
[8:37] would say every municipality that has
[8:39] any kind of urbanization in every
[8:40] Regional District um the reality is is
[8:43] these problems aren't going to be solved
[8:45] in 3 months 6 months and right now our
[8:47] bus stops are not accessible to the
[8:49] people that need to use the buses
[8:51] because they're intimidated afraid
[8:53] unsafe whatever the reason is so it does
[8:57] require um mitigative action um whether
[9:00] it's reaction or not um so yeah
[9:02] absolutely the the provincial and and
[9:05] federal governments have responsibility
[9:07] to take care of unhoused populations and
[9:10] there's no measure that you can say
[9:12] they're doing a sufficient job right now
[9:14] it continues to get worse um and the
[9:17] Investments aren't coming fast enough
[9:18] and Swift enough to take care of the
[9:20] issue but it doesn't mean we can't and
[9:22] we shouldn't um take mitigative measures
[9:26] in the meantime to allow those bus stops
[9:28] to remain for their use and support the
[9:30] people that need them so that's why I
[9:33] seconded the the motion and support it
[9:37] um share the frustration though 100% I
[9:39] think it's gone long past time where um
[9:43] excuses are acceptable when the
[9:45] Investments are only uh not even coming
[9:48] close to keeping up with the rapidly
[9:51] growing issues um that they present and
[9:54] when it goes from you know we talk about
[9:57] things like placemaking and place for
[9:59] community and connection and people
[10:00] coming together and we're having to
[10:02] remove those Investments that have been
[10:04] made in communities um because senior
[10:07] levels of government aren't carrying the
[10:09] weight so to speak when it comes to
[10:11] dealing with these issues um it's
[10:14] absolutely political and it's it's often
[10:16] set at this table and tables around the
[10:18] province um but um that doesn't mean we
[10:21] can't take mitigative actions uh as
[10:23] appropriate in the meantime thanks thank
[10:26] you looking online I have director
[10:28] Staples
[10:31] yeah thank you I mean it's this is
[10:35] something that no one wants to do I
[10:36] certainly I understand why this is being
[10:40] recommended and why we're most likely
[10:42] moving forward with this and it's you
[10:45] know it's heartbreaking it it's like
[10:48] how it's it's a you know this is
[10:50] impacting people who aren't then able to
[10:53] just access those that sort of basic
[10:55] shelter while they're waiting you know
[10:58] for
[11:00] um for
[11:01] Transit it's generally in impacting you
[11:05] know a lot of people that with less
[11:07] means as well um who are using Transit
[11:10] and relying on Transit and sometimes
[11:11] have to wait long periods of times for
[11:14] buses because we don't have you know for
[11:16] a lot of areas a robust um system and
[11:21] and at the same time I I hear and
[11:23] recognize and understand the challenges
[11:24] that are being faced I mean I get calls
[11:26] about those stations um quite often
[11:29] and images um and concerns that people
[11:34] have quite often and the fact remains
[11:38] that that a province as a province and a
[11:41] and a and a country this is a national
[11:43] issue that is not being dealt with
[11:45] adequately and so I support us writing
[11:48] something you know to um but I feel like
[11:52] how many times do we all have to write
[11:54] you know I've been to every conference
[11:56] I've been to since
[11:58] 2015 this
[12:59] is invested in properly in all of our
[13:02] communities um across BC and Canada
[13:06] because we we have to just take this
[13:09] head on and and finally do something to
[13:13] to to change what's happening out there
[13:15] it is just there are so many people
[13:17] suffering and there is just not enough
[13:20] being done and letters we write and
[13:22] meetings we go to and you know
[13:25] incremental changes are made but this
[13:27] needs to be addressed like the crisis
[13:30] that it
[13:31] is thank you I have a growing list I
[13:34] have director Morrison director toosi
[13:37] director Douglas and director
[13:39] martman I did miss you sorry uh director
[13:45] Morrison thank you chair um I I just I I
[13:49] think it's important that uh I
[13:51] appreciate what director Staples had to
[13:53] say and and um I'm increasingly uh
[13:57] wanting to rely more on on actions as as
[14:00] opposed to words and and note that we
[14:04] have a multi-million dollar transit
[14:07] system that is operated by or
[14:10] administered by a a very very small
[14:14] staff and I was here when we didn't have
[14:17] Transit shelters and and it was a big
[14:19] deal to get them but that's not their
[14:21] core um responsibility I'm far more
[14:25] interested in the work that they have to
[14:27] do to increase
[14:29] uh availability and get hours and and
[14:32] provide greater Service as opposed to
[14:35] the time and effort put into this is an
[14:37] important issue but it it's not our
[14:40] issue and I think that the action that
[14:42] we have to take is to remove the stops
[14:46] uh make them usable for our patrons and
[14:49] uh uh sure if we need to write a letter
[14:52] we write a letter but this this is this
[14:54] is our Transit staff engaging in a uh a
[14:59] a social problem that we have and I I'd
[15:01] rather have them focusing on the uh the
[15:03] business of operating our transit
[15:04] services thank you thank you director
[15:07] toosi next
[15:11] please thank you Mr chair um I will
[15:14] support this um motion to remove the
[15:18] buest shelters unfortunate that we do
[15:19] have to do this um but for safety
[15:23] reasons of our students that may be
[15:25] catching the bus or our constituents
[15:27] that are catching the bus to um having
[15:32] to be there and it's kind of you know
[15:36] it's it's sad to see happening um a
[15:39] quick search on the line it's happening
[15:42] all the way down to Arizona where all of
[15:44] you know the same kind of
[15:47] um scenes are rolling out in every
[15:51] community and I do
[15:54] um what I what I would like to see is uh
[15:58] May maybe a joint letter sent by
[16:03] cvd couch and tribes city of Duncan
[16:07] North couch and and Lady Smith signed
[16:10] this letter to say we would like to have
[16:14] um some help with this issue about
[16:17] trying to
[16:18] find um some Solutions on where we can
[16:22] actually send UNH housee people all year
[16:26] round with the services that that they
[16:30] need um I know it's it's a big a big ask
[16:34] but I think if all of us joined together
[16:37] in this effort it could could be
[16:41] done um I know that you know there's
[16:45] other things going on in the background
[16:49] on you know Social Services the the cuts
[16:53] to Social Services and and trying to you
[16:57] know work towards
[17:00] filling those gaps that are actually you
[17:04] know having people become unhoused so
[17:09] anyways um I'm hoping I'm not speaking
[17:12] out a term or anything but I just I just
[17:15] think that we just need to continue
[17:16] working on a solution with what we have
[17:20] and also just using our voices or
[17:23] political voices to to move that forward
[17:26] thank you thank you at the beginning of
[17:29] the meeting I forgot to acknowledge
[17:31] alternate director Harriet so welcome to
[17:34] the meeting and large shoes to Phill
[17:37] where you are sitting there now I've
[17:39] altered my list I didn't miss director
[17:42] ishd Das so I'll give him a chance to go
[17:44] and then Douglas and Hartman
[17:50] martman director ish Das thank you Mr
[17:53] chair uh just really quick I won't go
[17:56] over all the points that have been
[17:57] spoken I I I honestly I don't support
[18:00] the recommendation on the floor myself I
[18:02] would rather see a phased approach if
[18:04] possible I don't know what to design uh
[18:06] director aen did touch on it but I
[18:07] didn't hear the answer it was possibly
[18:09] where I was going was can we remove the
[18:11] walls and if that doesn't work then next
[18:14] we remove the benches but the entire
[18:17] shelter I think that's too radical and
[18:19] too fast even though I know there is
[18:21] safety concerns but I would rather try a
[18:24] few things differently than just an
[18:26] entire kneejerk all at one knee-jerk is
[18:29] probably a bad word because this is long
[18:31] been ongoing I just don't support the
[18:33] complete removal I just think of the
[18:35] many elders and as director AK can said
[18:38] as mothers and children there's a lot of
[18:39] people that don't have access I
[18:42] understand they don't can't use them I
[18:44] just using it as a protective shelter if
[18:47] we remove benches and walls first might
[18:50] make some change in there have we done
[18:52] that elsewhere so and I won't go over
[18:54] any other points because everybody spoke
[18:56] to that a great
[18:57] deal um Mr Mr chair through the director
[19:00] um you're not able to take portions of
[19:02] the shelter down it it it's it's it's
[19:04] structured so there's three sides to it
[19:06] and the roof the only thing that we
[19:08] could consider is leaving the bench and
[19:09] staff talked about that and we took in
[19:11] regards the comments that the uh in
[19:13] particular The Village Green mall um
[19:15] Property Management told us that where
[19:17] they had benches that's where these
[19:19] individuals are going to go they're
[19:20] going to try and get so it it it could
[19:21] be a phased approach we can try it if
[19:23] you'd like it's not a a major Time
[19:26] Savings to take the bench at the same
[19:28] time but we ultimately are recommending
[19:30] both if you choose to want to just take
[19:32] the shelter down and leave the bench
[19:33] there we could consider what the
[19:35] implications of that would be and
[19:36] potentially removing shelter or the
[19:38] bench or not at a future
[19:41] date thank you I have director
[19:46] martman uh thank you chair and you know
[19:50] yes many people have have a lot of
[19:52] experience in this I think and i' just
[19:55] maybe add another piece to it because
[19:58] you know they're people and everybody
[20:01] that uses the bus we care about
[20:04] everybody that has to use a shelter we
[20:06] care about and I don't think we're we're
[20:08] trying to make it to them and us I think
[20:10] it's trying to it's more of a we from
[20:12] what I'm hearing and I I struggle with
[20:15] this because I think of the person that
[20:17] has accessibility issues trying to get
[20:19] on a bus and having
[20:22] to they can't stand and wait um you know
[20:25] they have to sit um so you know removing
[20:29] everything for that um really
[20:32] discourages me for that person and I
[20:36] wonder you know I look at every bank has
[20:38] an ATM and every ATM is accessible and
[20:42] do can we go the other way where we can
[20:45] make it so to it's totally enclosed and
[20:47] you have access through your compass
[20:50] card or whatever you know means um has
[20:54] that been looked
[20:55] at uh Mr chair through to director Mar
[20:58] know that has not been looked at I don't
[20:59] know of a shelter and maybe Seth you may
[21:01] know of one I don't know of one where
[21:02] it's completely enclosed and you have I
[21:05] don't even know how you hand out passes
[21:06] to all it's a public transit system how
[21:08] would you hand out passes to you know
[21:10] whatever the number of riders we have I
[21:12] I don't know how that would work but
[21:13] Seth you know of a a shelter that would
[21:16] be something designed that way yeah the
[21:19] only par me in through the chair uh the
[21:21] only thing that I can think of is
[21:23] something like uh a brt station in a
[21:25] major Urban Metropolis in a place like
[21:27] South America where where there's an
[21:29] enclosed uh Fair paid Zone but I think
[21:32] that's not appropriate and hasn't been
[21:34] carried out in a small uh small town or
[21:37] or rural
[21:39] context and a followup if I may CH and I
[21:43] I guess the next thing I I guess I'm
[21:45] looking for thinking out of the box if
[21:48] we can and whether or not there's
[21:51] Partnerships out there where we could be
[21:53] located closer to somebody or somewhere
[21:56] that would uh make it a you know
[21:59] somewhere where you know those people
[22:00] with accessibility challenges or you
[22:03] know that can't have a place to sit
[22:05] nearby that wouldn't be you know a big
[22:08] challenge you know you may have to go a
[22:09] little bit further to when the bus
[22:11] arrives but and that may slow down the
[22:13] whole bus system specifically but I you
[22:17] know maybe there's something where there
[22:18] is a uh a you know way to work with some
[22:22] other close local I don't know if that's
[22:25] been looked at either and that's my last
[22:26] one thanks chair I Mr chair through to
[22:29] director marman so your your comments
[22:31] are are fair um I just don't think
[22:33] they're practical at this time like I
[22:35] think of the people with mobility issues
[22:37] right now they're not using the shelter
[22:38] they can't get in the shelters Andor
[22:40] they're feeling unsafe this is what
[22:41] we're hearing from customers when our
[22:43] staff go there and do inspections that's
[22:45] what they see so you know I if one if
[22:49] one course of action might be to leave
[22:51] the benches to potentially uh assist
[22:54] what you're looking to doing so we take
[22:55] the shelters down we leave the benches
[22:57] um staff's recommendation is it's only a
[22:59] matter of time and and the benches will
[23:01] probably need to be removed anyway but
[23:02] if the committee feels that might be a
[23:04] more um uh I don't W say softer approach
[23:07] but a more uh leveled approach we we
[23:10] could try that if you'd
[23:12] like I'm director Stone and director
[23:14] Acton thanks I I just want to thank
[23:17] director
[23:18] Staples and um martman for sort of
[23:20] humanizing the context like these folks
[23:22] are using the shelters for shelter for
[23:26] for their own protection because there's
[23:28] nothing adequate for them and that's
[23:30] really unfortunate but these are Transit
[23:32] shelters um when they're used in the way
[23:35] they're being used they're not
[23:36] accessible for their intended use so
[23:38] whether someone has accessibility issues
[23:40] or not when they can't use the shelter
[23:43] because it's being occupied um they're
[23:46] not there for shelter of people that are
[23:49] unhoused unfortunately they're there for
[23:52] people who need to use Transit and when
[23:54] they cannot use them and they're
[23:55] inaccessible for their intended use most
[23:58] of Transit stops do not have shelters
[24:00] nor do they have benches so the reality
[24:02] is is that Transit users are somewhat or
[24:06] with knowledge could be somewhat
[24:08] equipped um to the best of their own
[24:11] abilities to be able to actually use the
[24:12] transit sh system without a shelter um
[24:17] you know we can come up with uh a lot of
[24:19] ideas and and I just would Echo Mr
[24:23] wake's comments that it doesn't sound
[24:25] practical to me we need to take some
[24:27] action
[24:29] um I'll just leave it at that thank you
[24:32] very much director Acton
[24:35] please thank you um I've heard
[24:37] everyone's comments and I I appreciate
[24:40] them all and agree with them all um I do
[24:43] think though that with every maybe
[24:46] because this is the first time we're
[24:47] actually looking at this item but you
[24:50] know it's been going on for a long time
[24:52] and and we're trying to come up with a
[24:53] decision today I think we delay our
[24:55] decision for two months and we use this
[24:57] as an opportunity
[24:59] so we use this as an opportunity with
[25:01] our Communications Department and we
[25:03] really come out into the news into
[25:06] everywhere and and um make a stance like
[25:10] this this is connected to everything to
[25:12] our housing crisis to our Mental Health
[25:14] crisis drug crisis and enough is enough
[25:17] so we take this opportunity and we come
[25:20] out full full guns blazing to the
[25:22] provincial government and federal
[25:24] government and
[25:27] we demand some solutions that start to
[25:30] be implemented and then when when we're
[25:33] not at least we we wait for to be heard
[25:36] and we keep we keep the pressure on by
[25:39] now we're forced to remove the the the
[25:41] shelters because we're going to miss an
[25:43] opportunity what's going to happen is
[25:44] we're just going to remove the shelters
[25:46] and it's going to be uh somehow
[25:50] cbd's problem or BC Transit and and or
[25:53] not even problem that we just didn't
[25:55] consider uh you know the the person that
[25:58] director martman talked about and and
[26:00] like the mother that I talked about so I
[26:03] think um there's there's an order to do
[26:06] things and we work with Communications
[26:08] and turn this around into an
[26:12] opportunity thank you director Abbot
[26:14] please thank you chair and um Miss uh
[26:18] director Acton's remarks raised my
[26:21] concern every day we wait uh is another
[26:25] $500 pressure washing dipping into the
[26:27] reserves that BC Transit has at its
[26:30] disposal I think um the desire to bring
[26:34] to politicize this could be the very
[26:37] showcasing of us removing the shelters
[26:39] removing the benches using that as a
[26:41] message to Upper levels of government
[26:44] that suggests this is not the right
[26:46] course but it's the only course that we
[26:48] have to take as I drove in this morning
[26:50] across from Matrix marel uh no shelter
[26:53] and there was a couple standing with
[26:55] what I thought was insufficient clothes
[26:57] waiting for the bus there are as
[26:59] director um Stone has mentioned there
[27:02] are numerous shelters the bulk of the
[27:05] shelters do not have stops do not have
[27:07] shelters so removing a couple uh saving
[27:10] the transit authority the the resources
[27:12] that they desperately need at this point
[27:15] is is the message that we need to
[27:17] deliver the upper levels government
[27:18] thank you thank you director
[27:21] Seagal thanks I agree with everything
[27:24] that's been said I don't need to repeat
[27:25] any of that but I just was at the chair
[27:27] Cao BCM forum and connected with a
[27:30] number of chairs and other Regional
[27:32] districts so um in terms of this letter
[27:35] writing campaign I think we should reach
[27:38] out to other Regional districts that we
[27:39] know are having the same issues and have
[27:41] made you know potentially the same
[27:43] decisions and try to Lobby senior levels
[27:46] of government that
[27:48] way thank you looking around I put
[27:51] myself at the bottom of the list as a
[27:53] good chair
[27:54] would
[27:56] and that wasn't directed at than any
[27:58] other chairperson
[28:04] please this is true I could have done
[28:07] that but uh and called the question
[28:08] earlier
[28:10] but um just a point on on on my view of
[28:14] this I think it's imperative that the
[28:16] users of the system are provided a safe
[28:19] place to travel uh and unfortunately
[28:23] this is a reactive um stance that we're
[28:26] taking but it's one that we have been
[28:27] forced into to provide that safety to
[28:30] the users of the system uh it's as Mr
[28:35] um wake has said a very difficult topic
[28:39] to bring forward for the uh start of of
[28:41] our meeting but it's imperative that we
[28:43] do something aside from waiting I think
[28:47] the political uh portion of it will be
[28:50] the removal of those if that is the will
[28:53] of this board and that will uh bode well
[28:57] with uh followup of whether it be uh
[29:00] meetings with ministers or letters or
[29:03] whatever Avenue that we choose to do
[29:06] that we provide the safe operation of
[29:09] not only those who are traveling in
[29:11] there but the operators of the the
[29:14] system as well
[29:16] so any further
[29:18] input there is a motion on the floor
[29:22] could you reread
[29:23] that thank you Mr chair uh the
[29:26] recommendation before you is that it be
[29:29] recommended to the board that the
[29:32] transit shelters and benches located on
[29:35] James Street and Beverly Street be
[29:37] removed no not Beverly it's Village
[29:39] Green mall sorry Village Green
[29:42] mall uh clarification Bill Village Green
[29:47] and James
[29:49] Street ready for the question all those
[29:52] in
[29:53] favor
[29:54] opposed director ish Das and director o
[29:58] and are opposed that motion
[30:01] carries thank you Mr wakeen for that
[30:03] difficult
[30:05] discussion Miss
[30:08] Harrison thank you Mr
[30:12] CH director Nicholson I'm sorry thank
[30:15] you um so I'd like to move that um the
[30:20] regional district draft a letter to the
[30:22] minister or the premier and that they we
[30:26] request other jurisdictions in the cou
[30:27] and Val region District to sign on to
[30:30] that letter and that we also issue a
[30:33] develop a press release with including
[30:35] pictures that we've had in the thing to
[30:38] provide to the media so that this
[30:40] actually hits the newspaper and any
[30:44] other great ideas people I'd appreciate
[30:47] adding that to the motion thank you very
[30:49] much we were seconding that director
[30:51] Douglas comment who seconded director
[30:54] Acton I'll go to director Douglas and
[30:56] then
[30:57] n
[30:59] uh the the board chair is writing a
[31:01] letter to the uh Province regarding a
[31:05] permanent location more suitable
[31:07] permanent location for the Emergency
[31:10] warming Center and I'm just wondering if
[31:11] we want to send two separate letters to
[31:14] the province or or combine these I mean
[31:17] they are separate related issues but as
[31:19] is noted in the staff report many of the
[31:21] issues with the transit shelter at on
[31:24] James Street by couch and secondary
[31:26] school are related to the uh opening of
[31:29] the emergency warming Center uh at the
[31:32] couch Community Center in December so we
[31:35] we could we could obviously send two
[31:36] separate letters but we we could also
[31:38] send this in one letter to the province
[31:40] um highlighting uh the current
[31:43] challenges with these uh Transit stop
[31:46] stops as being connected to uh our
[31:48] decision to put the emergency warming
[31:50] Center at the community center would
[31:53] that be um amicable to you director
[31:56] Nicholson to add that
[31:58] topic to the already letter that is
[32:01] being sent regarding a permanent home um
[32:05] I would look to staff Communications for
[32:08] advice on this because actually maybe
[32:11] having them respond to two three five
[32:14] different letters might be more
[32:16] effective than one where you bundle
[32:18] everything up and part of the trick when
[32:20] you write letters to the provinces to
[32:22] ask them to respond to your concerns and
[32:25] what they're going to do about it so uh
[32:27] like we need to get smarter about this I
[32:30] agree completely with director Acton
[32:33] so I don't know oh thank you uh director
[32:37] iskash thank you chair uh it's not so
[32:41] much about the it's comment on the the
[32:43] letter going to the ministry and higher
[32:45] levels of government but uh I would just
[32:49] urge a proactive press release and
[32:51] getting ahead of this prior because I
[32:54] think this uh we see all the news media
[32:57] on on the uh emergency warming shelter
[33:00] and the inability to find a long-term
[33:03] secure space some people view these that
[33:06] maybe it's not being used as Transit but
[33:07] at least it's providing shelter and
[33:09] these people will now move to the
[33:11] overhangs on businesses and affect local
[33:13] businesses and other areas where public
[33:15] are already Gathering so I think this is
[33:17] something that possibly staff and the
[33:19] board might want to get ahead of and let
[33:21] the public know that this action is
[33:23] being taken and the difficult decision
[33:25] that it was thank you dor Staples
[33:31] online I think writing one letter that
[33:34] connects them makes the most sense um
[33:37] and just having it in different sections
[33:39] and and
[33:40] also that that request you know there's
[33:44] a request for a followup to meet with um
[33:47] the leaders in our
[33:48] communities and um the excuse me the
[33:52] Coalition of the minister um and the
[33:56] premier to move move forward on some of
[33:59] the actions that we need in our
[34:01] community there's a lot of work being
[34:02] done to um you know
[34:06] to come up with what we what we actually
[34:09] need as a region and so I would just
[34:12] hate to have kind of these things
[34:14] disconnected from each other because
[34:16] they all are connected and I think one
[34:18] letter is actually better because of
[34:19] that um but also just to acknowledge
[34:22] somehow in that letter and and I'm happy
[34:24] to speak to the chair uh about you know
[34:27] what is going on that we can actually
[34:30] advocate for and having a meeting with
[34:32] all of us again whether it's at you know
[34:34] ubcm still far away but we're close to
[34:37] Victoria so we can head down there and
[34:39] have a discussion with them at any time
[34:42] I think is really important we're in an
[34:44] election year and to you know be able to
[34:47] establish some form of a commitment um
[34:50] would be ideal for more investment in
[34:54] our region and not even just in our
[34:56] region I don't even want to say that any
[34:57] more just more investment to actually
[34:59] addressing this as a as a province I
[35:03] mean we have to this has to be one of
[35:06] the number one um investment areas that
[35:09] that needs to be moved on quickly
[35:12] because of the we're losing people every
[35:14] day people are dying families are
[35:17] suffering people are losing their
[35:19] housing and and on and on it goes and I
[35:21] don't won't repeat what I said earlier
[35:24] uh other than to say when we write this
[35:27] what whatever it is that we write we
[35:28] need to make sure that it is connecting
[35:30] in with um you know the the next best
[35:33] best steps for us to get an audience to
[35:37] bring forward what our region needs
[35:39] thank you thank you so the motion is to
[35:43] write a separate
[35:44] letter uh pertaining to this topic uh
[35:48] there was discussion about including
[35:50] that in a letter that you already are
[35:52] Penning uh about a permanent warming
[35:54] Center uh director Stone please yes and
[35:57] I don't want to lose sight of like I've
[35:59] heard comments around the table like it
[36:00] doesn't take there's been tons of news
[36:03] coverage on this in every community in
[36:05] this province there's been a ton of
[36:08] coverage of just search Transit shelter
[36:09] remove on Google News um it's across the
[36:12] country um leadership in senior
[36:15] government are well aware of the issues
[36:18] um and I don't mean to sound jaded but
[36:21] we can write letters until our hands are
[36:24] broken and bleeding that doesn't mean we
[36:26] don't continue to do it and continue to
[36:28] Advocate but some of the commentary I
[36:31] heard felt insulting to me that
[36:33] there's uh more work needs to be done at
[36:36] the local level um there are people on
[36:38] this board that spend days of every
[36:41] single week like when you sum the hours
[36:44] up of their work week working on this
[36:47] issue in particular um and it's been
[36:50] ongoing for years so the failure is not
[36:53] at the advocacy level on this issue the
[36:55] failure is not at the
[36:58] uh media level on this issue because if
[37:01] you search cowch and Duncan uh lady
[37:05] Smith Victoria N IMO uh
[37:08] unhoused uh drug crisis um there's
[37:12] multiple articles every week in the
[37:14] media about these issues um it takes the
[37:19] the broader Community to hold um
[37:24] government accountable for this and to
[37:26] say that it's important
[37:28] um and it is an election year so um
[37:31] absolutely support separate letters
[37:34] summary letters um and I'll I'll happily
[37:37] assist in Penning and signing all of
[37:39] those letters um and the meetings and
[37:42] the advocacy because we're in them all
[37:44] the time um but until senior government
[37:50] is is pressed on this as the biggest
[37:53] issue they need to deal with um we're
[37:56] not going to see see change you know I
[37:58] feel like this is a little bit of
[37:59] Groundhog Day because these kinds of
[38:01] conversations have been happening for
[38:02] years um and yet like I said at the very
[38:05] beginning the problem only continues to
[38:07] get worse so I support a separate letter
[38:09] and I'll also include this information
[38:11] in other letters um that are being sent
[38:14] but um you know I just think it's
[38:17] important to recognize the really hard
[38:19] work that has been done by people that
[38:20] sit at this table and our staff on these
[38:23] issues uh and not forget that thanks
[38:27] thank you thank you I'm going to test
[38:28] the floor are you ready for the question
[38:30] separate letter be
[38:32] sent all in
[38:34] favor opposed if any that motion carries
[38:38] thank you very much moving on Miss
[38:42] Harrison thank you Mr chair uh the next
[38:46] item on the agenda is the report from
[38:48] the facilities and Transit division
[38:51] regarding uh three-year Transit
[38:53] expansion request for 2024 to 202 7 and
[38:58] that's an update on that process is this
[39:00] a good news story Mr wake part partially
[39:03] partially good news about news director
[39:05] Stone indicates yes so this is for
[39:07] information as well the good news is um
[39:09] we were successful in receiving
[39:10] provincial funding for two of our
[39:12] service requests so this is custom
[39:13] service or handy Dart um The Province
[39:16] supported 1400 hours um for that service
[39:19] that is scheduled to commence in
[39:20] September and an additional 500 hours
[39:23] for our inter regional service to n and
[39:25] the ncx for uh I believe it's two return
[39:28] trips on Fridays and Saturday evenings
[39:29] so that's good news um the unfortunate
[39:32] part is we didn't receive uh funding for
[39:35] what's badly needed in my opinion is our
[39:37] conventional service we asked for 2,700
[39:39] hours this is the third year in a row
[39:41] that we've asked for conventional
[39:42] service funding that we did not receive
[39:45] um I gone back to double check we
[39:47] actually our our last conventional
[39:49] service expansion didn't happen until
[39:51] 2018 um when we got 1500 so
[39:53] unfortunately the pandemic hit and so
[39:55] there was really no uh need quite
[39:59] frankly to get additional Service uh
[40:00] during a couple years of that but
[40:02] unfortunately 3 years in a row the
[40:03] province has said no to our request um
[40:06] and for me this is really disappointing
[40:07] for for staff and particular and of
[40:10] course the residents particularly for
[40:11] all the planning work and public
[40:13] engagements for the last year to year
[40:14] and a half that staff have been doing
[40:15] with BC Transit and and um and the
[40:19] residents on this and so what's also
[40:21] included in the report is attachment C
[40:23] and it explains BC transits expansion
[40:25] service evaluation process that they use
[40:28] to recommend which regions and services
[40:31] uh do receive funding um and and as the
[40:34] report indicated we understand the
[40:35] province has had a tremendous amount of
[40:37] expansion hour requests I'm led to
[40:38] believe about two and a half times the
[40:40] normal um which also to me is not really
[40:42] surprising in light of um many regions
[40:45] that were coming out of the pandemic uh
[40:47] the ridership has starting to rebound
[40:49] their population growth is going
[40:51] continued Improvement to assist with the
[40:53] reduction of greenhouse gas and and all
[40:55] the appropriate environmental uh
[40:58] factors that we plugged into it which
[41:00] support Transit um so to me it wasn't
[41:02] surprising the province got a huge
[41:03] request from many regions um but there's
[41:06] two key factors that I'll try and
[41:08] address here and then if I need a little
[41:10] bit more assistance I'll call upon Seth
[41:12] there's two factors that BC Transit has
[41:13] to look at which is different than
[41:15] they've done in the past because they're
[41:17] they're dealing with a bit of a
[41:18] transition of their Fleet but firstly is
[41:20] ridership and I've said this many times
[41:22] due to the couch and region being so
[41:24] spread out with not a large Metropolis
[41:26] of population
[41:28] um we don't score too highly on a
[41:30] ridership or a ridership cost recovery
[41:33] um and to me it's about that's why it
[41:35] speaks we need more service we need more
[41:37] frequency of our bus I look at some of
[41:39] our areas and particularly in the South
[41:41] it's going to be a struggle to see
[41:43] improvements without more additional
[41:44] hours and we've tried to Advocate that
[41:46] to BC Transit I think they understand
[41:48] but they have to go through their
[41:50] scoring mechanism however they do to
[41:52] decide what regions receive funding the
[41:55] second part that is a challenge for them
[41:57] is um they have to strategize which
[42:00] regions get funding and it's it's
[42:02] partially because of if you get
[42:04] expansion small amount of hours don't
[42:07] necessarily require another bus but at
[42:09] certain levels approximately 2500 hours
[42:12] it uh BC Transit Fleet um U procedure
[42:15] means you need to add another bus well
[42:17] they're in this situation right now
[42:19] they're trying to transition their Fleet
[42:20] into electric and CNG and for some
[42:24] places that uh don't have that quite
[42:26] ready they're likely going to have to
[42:28] incur along with local governments large
[42:31] increases to extend the life of the
[42:33] buses so if we're not ready for electric
[42:35] yet or CNG and our buses are due to be
[42:37] replaced our next ones are on the
[42:39] commuter buses they're due to be
[42:40] replaced in 2028 and if there's not CG
[42:44] or there's not electric well what are we
[42:45] going to do um my understanding is the
[42:47] BC Transit is not ordering any more
[42:49] fossil fuel buses for uh or diesel or
[42:52] gas for um heavy duty or medium duty
[42:55] Fleet so then they're like going to have
[42:57] to do some fairly large uh renovations
[42:59] to the buses to extend their life um and
[43:02] so that's my understanding of the
[43:04] Dilemma BC transit in and we're just
[43:06] really in an unfortunate situation as I
[43:07] said I'm I'm I've U expressed my dis my
[43:11] displeasure to to bect that I'm you know
[43:15] really disappointed with all the
[43:16] planning work we've done our Transit
[43:17] future action plan local area Health
[43:19] couching plan we did an optimization
[43:22] plan to look at could we reallocate ours
[43:25] within the region and that came back
[43:27] there's winners and losers if you take
[43:29] from one region that's not doing well
[43:30] and gave it to a region that needs it um
[43:33] it's not going to sit well and quite
[43:35] frankly the summation said you need
[43:37] significant hours so you can't make a
[43:39] whole lot of improvement without
[43:41] significant hours so they know our
[43:42] situation um um that's kind of where
[43:46] we're sitting with this and it's going
[43:48] to be a little interesting because in
[43:50] another couple months we're going to
[43:52] come back with the next three-year ask
[43:54] in front of you again which typically we
[43:56] would roll over the same ask we've asked
[43:59] we may even ask to increase that number
[44:01] because we're we're getting backlogged
[44:03] we were trying to do an improvement in
[44:04] 2024 one in 2025 one 2026 because we
[44:07] don't get anything in 2024 maybe we'll
[44:09] put 24 and 25 together but we'll have to
[44:12] see what BC Transit is able to do with
[44:15] uh I know there was various regions and
[44:16] many on the island that receive no
[44:18] conventional surface expansion either so
[44:20] it is just for your information um
[44:23] that's the the good news and the bad
[44:24] news on expansion thank you I have
[44:27] director Stone and then Morrison anyone
[44:29] else while I'm looking
[44:30] around uh well thankful for the ncx
[44:33] stuff but I I I recognize based on our
[44:36] experience I think it's been proven out
[44:37] in elsewhere that unfunctional Roots
[44:39] don't get ridership right so it's like
[44:41] the chicken in the egg scenario
[44:42] especially those South End routes like
[44:44] that milk run is not functional right if
[44:47] you're um well it's just like a one-way
[44:49] Loop right um yeah it's just if you're
[44:53] if you want to get into town and you're
[44:54] on the southbound you know initiating on
[44:57] the southbound part of that routee you
[44:59] got a long run to get into town you
[45:01] better off walk in the other direction
[45:05] um so you know I think we all recognize
[45:08] that and it's been proven out in changes
[45:09] we've made over the years um I just want
[45:11] to ask did the reduction for the ncx
[45:14] fair get missed reduction sorry I'm
[45:18] going to keep pushing on that because
[45:19] the number one feedback I get about ncx
[45:21] is it's just too expensive I just lost
[45:23] an employee yesterday who gave notice
[45:25] because the um ncx monthly pass was too
[45:29] expensive um and they they live in Nimo
[45:33] so um it's hurting people because it's
[45:36] just way too expensive um both the
[45:38] monthly passes and the daily
[45:40] fair I think I see the ridership there I
[45:43] see the people on the bus that's great
[45:45] but I think we could really fill those
[45:47] buses and get better cost recovery if we
[45:49] could just lower that darn fair I would
[45:52] use a different exploitive than darn but
[45:53] I'm in a public meeting thanks for not
[45:55] using that exploitive
[45:57] Mr chair just a response through to
[45:59] director Stone I totally Echo your
[46:01] comments and totally support it I can
[46:02] tell you that we've had our first uh
[46:04] meeting with PC transit to go over so
[46:07] both regions the the rdn and the cvrd
[46:09] we're going through a fair review
[46:10] process and we just started our first
[46:11] meeting so this is all our Affairs and
[46:13] we of course have that partnership with
[46:14] the ncx um my understanding from both
[46:17] staff sides both would like to see a
[46:19] reduction of the ncx um we don't know
[46:21] what that means if you drop it from what
[46:23] it is now to what it comes down there
[46:26] may be an increase and and probably
[46:28] would optimistically of more Riders but
[46:30] it's going to put a large it's going to
[46:31] put a burden on the tax base right
[46:32] you're not going to receive at all um
[46:34] but that process two things we were
[46:35] reminded by BCT is that our Fair review
[46:40] would uh which is going to happen over
[46:41] the next couple months with the intent
[46:43] to um seek board's approval but not to
[46:47] commence until April 1 of 2025 and the
[46:49] reason for that is because the funding
[46:51] we got when the pandemic hit the
[46:53] province gave us pretty significant
[46:55] funding to help us through the ways when
[46:57] a ridership went down and the condition
[46:59] was you could not increase fairs more
[47:00] than 2.3% anom so the most would be a
[47:04] nickel on Two and a quarter we could
[47:05] raise it at nickel which may or may not
[47:08] be worthwhile at this time it's not a
[47:09] significant amount so we all felt with
[47:12] it doesn't make sense to bring forth in
[47:14] a couple months let's raise fairs
[47:16] potentially by
[47:17] 2.3% um it makes more sense to have a
[47:20] more uh robust uh Fair adjustments
[47:23] whatever those are for April of next
[47:25] year the ncx uh interestingly enough uh
[47:28] Mr Stone as you know is we're
[47:29] recommending a reduction staff are
[47:31] saying a reduction to BCT so they're
[47:33] going through that exercise right now is
[47:34] to what would be some various options we
[47:37] also recognize something you've brought
[47:39] up in the past is mainly around the
[47:40] students the fair for the students is um
[47:43] it is a reduction of course from the
[47:45] regular but we're also looking at what
[47:46] could we do what could they do um to
[47:49] propose that both the cvrd and the ardn
[47:52] have to agree on right so right now the
[47:54] three entities are are targeting April 1
[47:56] of next year the ask did go out to BCT
[48:00] could we potentially look at the ncx
[48:02] separately and if it was a reduction
[48:04] could we do that and they're still um
[48:06] mulling that over so I don't have a
[48:07] particular answer on that for you great
[48:09] thank you director Morrison
[48:12] next thank you chair um I'm kind of more
[48:15] interested in how we can help staff to
[48:19] help Seth to uh have some uh
[48:23] modification of this uh scoring system
[48:25] that you're using because
[48:27] it's it's become apparent that um you
[48:31] know we've gone through the covid
[48:33] recovery phase and and I can tell you
[48:36] that from my area's perspective and it's
[48:39] already been noted about the south end
[48:41] that there's you know desperate
[48:44] Improvement needed and I I'm saddened
[48:47] because the the approach and the views
[48:50] about transit in uh in my area is that
[48:54] it's the absolute Last Resort short that
[48:57] people will look to uh Transit as as an
[48:59] option and you know we've always tried
[49:03] to make uh Transit a viable option for
[49:06] people to you know live work and play
[49:09] and and shop and the likes and uh it's
[49:11] just not viewed that way and and with
[49:15] and this is another one of those words
[49:16] versus actions because you know clearly
[49:19] it looks like the province is really
[49:22] interested in transit as uh a key
[49:24] component of their Environmental
[49:27] strategy and ghg reduction strategy but
[49:29] they're leaving entire communities
[49:32] behind and and as I said my community
[49:35] looks at Transit as well if you really
[49:37] have to so you know we've got to somehow
[49:41] get BC transit to understand that
[49:44] investments in these areas will make a
[49:47] big difference and we used to joke about
[49:49] fuel being at a a buck 50 a lader would
[49:52] drive people in droves to uh to Transit
[49:56] it's 94 a lader going up on April 1st
[49:59] even higher and uh you know people just
[50:02] don't look at it as a viable option so
[50:04] anything that we can do to help BC
[50:07] Transit look at modifying the scoring
[50:10] system I think is huge because we can't
[50:12] continue going along this path of trying
[50:15] to make improvements but not have the
[50:18] hours thank you more of a comment and a
[50:21] question there
[50:23] so I can
[50:25] um I give response here I I think the
[50:28] position is uh we're we're we're
[50:30] supportive of that because I think of
[50:31] our residents that are relying on
[50:33] Transit and and staff and the board are
[50:35] trying to get we we've taxed our
[50:37] residents we've put it in our budget but
[50:39] unfortunately we have to wait for the
[50:40] province to tell us what they're going
[50:41] to do um and so this I said is three
[50:43] years in a row of of unsuccessful
[50:45] attempts and so um we're trying to get a
[50:48] better service for our residents we
[50:50] can't I have expressed uh when I met
[50:52] with Seth last week um saying that there
[50:55] there's got to be a different way the BC
[50:56] has to look at the regions that did not
[50:58] receive conventional service and why
[51:01] can't they be looked at as sort of the
[51:03] first entity but I can't speak for their
[51:05] process um it might have Merit uh
[51:08] director uh Morrison to potentially the
[51:10] cvrd write a letter to BCT Andor The
[51:12] Province indicating our I don't want to
[51:14] put words in your mouth but indicating
[51:16] sort of our dissatisfaction with what's
[51:17] happened for three years in a row and
[51:19] how badly we need the transit service
[51:21] all the planning that we have worked and
[51:23] the hours spent with BC Transit and some
[51:25] public consultation and First Nations
[51:27] group um seems to be just stagnant and
[51:29] it's it's really disheartening to go
[51:31] through it and not wave that you know
[51:33] the the the the you know the candy in
[51:35] front of the in front of the people but
[51:37] to sort of give them a feeling that yes
[51:38] we're going to improve Transit and our
[51:40] hands are tied because we can't so it
[51:42] might have some Merit in potentially
[51:44] writing a letter um that would be the
[51:47] committee's uh that be your
[51:50] direction your
[51:52] pleasure good for good for now we'll
[51:55] keep that uh in the back of our minds
[51:58] for future
[52:00] consideration seeing no other
[52:03] input thank you very much Mr wakeen
[52:05] thank you and with that I I think a
[52:08] 10-minute break is in order stretch our
[52:11] legs etc etc so we'll see you back at
[52:21] 10:50 yeah stabus is running it now so
[52:25] yeah it's you know it'll go weave it way
[52:27] through the courts and
[52:29] stuff
[52:55] yeah
[53:06] mention the BC can
[53:10] May online forums for colle
[53:25] officials
[53:27] just got it in minutes
[53:32] ago sounds
[53:55] good
[54:25] start
[54:50] okay I know Jeff Jeff's daughter and my
[54:54] daughter are good friends and
[55:25] world
[55:55] would
[56:25] the
[56:50] I think it's
[56:52] okay somebody's got a hot
[56:55] mic
[57:25] I
[57:55] e
[58:25] for
[59:25] e
[59:55] for
[1:00:55] e
[1:01:24] for
[1:01:54] e
[1:02:54] for
[1:03:24] e
[1:03:54] for
[1:04:18] are you there director
[1:04:21] marman does the the display look any
[1:04:23] better to you now do you see more people
[1:04:27] no I don't even see you
[1:04:34] now come again I could didn't hear
[1:04:37] you sorry I I don't even I know I don't
[1:04:40] see you I just see oh I see you now I
[1:04:43] see you and I see nope you're gone again
[1:04:46] I saw Deborah for a second oh there's
[1:04:48] Deborah you guys are playing with me or
[1:04:50] at well I put on my I took it off I put
[1:04:55] it off and I think that's what mle just
[1:04:58] did too but I I was having trouble on my
[1:05:01] computer as well I just went up to the
[1:05:03] layout button and started fiddling
[1:05:05] around with it and went to full
[1:05:07] screen I don't know if that'll
[1:05:10] help I
[1:05:13] quiet very quiet hard to hear you when
[1:05:16] you're speaking me or Deborah both of
[1:05:21] you oh okay how am
[1:05:24] I
[1:05:26] can you hear me Tim
[1:05:29] yes I think it's something with the
[1:05:31] speakers because it it comes out of this
[1:05:33] speaker but sometimes it comes out of
[1:05:35] those speakers and then right when
[1:05:36] they're talking it stops coming out of
[1:05:37] those speakers so it's the mysteries of
[1:05:40] the boardroom ghost Mysteries I think
[1:05:43] we're going to start the hamsters
[1:05:49] again now reconvene into the committee
[1:05:52] of the whole and moving on Miss Harrison
[1:05:55] our next item please uh thank you Mr
[1:05:57] chair our next item is a report from the
[1:06:00] Environmental Services Division
[1:06:02] regarding drinking water and Watershed
[1:06:04] Protection Program
[1:06:06] update good
[1:06:09] morning good morning uh Mr chair what I
[1:06:13] just want to just briefly the next two
[1:06:15] items are coming from the Environmental
[1:06:17] Services Division and I'll let Mr Moore
[1:06:20] and Mr Lawrence present the uh the uh
[1:06:23] reports there and updates but I also
[1:06:25] wanted to share with the board just that
[1:06:27] we are uh in April we'll be we'll be
[1:06:30] commencing our uh corly strategic uh
[1:06:34] reporting so a lot of the information uh
[1:06:36] Rel that is part of the Strategic uh uh
[1:06:39] plan will be begin to be reported out to
[1:06:42] the board in that process as well but we
[1:06:44] wanted to bring this information as a a
[1:06:47] regular update as I know that it is a a
[1:06:49] priority of the board right now and we
[1:06:51] we can certainly answer any questions
[1:06:53] today um but we'll also have some
[1:06:55] regular updates moving forward and I'll
[1:06:57] talk about that in uh during the April
[1:06:59] uh uh meeting there so I'll hand it over
[1:07:03] to Mr Moore for the first uh item there
[1:07:06] thank you very much for the
[1:07:11] introduction okay thank you uh is there
[1:07:14] a way to bring up the presentation
[1:07:24] here
[1:07:26] this doesn't seem to control anything
[1:07:37] here it's frozen is
[1:07:54] it
[1:07:58] little technical difficulty just bear
[1:08:00] with us and we'll get that up as soon as
[1:08:18] possible I I can begin with just a bit
[1:08:21] of an introduction uh and try to
[1:08:23] remember what's in the uh the slides
[1:08:24] here while we're waiting at and
[1:08:25] hopefully they can catch up uh the the
[1:08:28] purpose of this report today is uh is
[1:08:30] just to provide an update to the
[1:08:32] committee on uh some of the activities
[1:08:34] we've been doing with the uh drinking
[1:08:35] water and Watershed Protection Program
[1:08:38] and what some of our priorities are for
[1:08:40] for
[1:08:40] 2024 um so uh as a bit of background um
[1:08:45] the the program came into effect uh
[1:08:47] after a successful referendum in 2018
[1:08:50] and then the uh the first step was
[1:08:51] really to uh develop a drinking water
[1:08:54] and Watershed protection uh 10-year plan
[1:08:57] and that was done with a a process that
[1:08:59] involved a community uh input and
[1:09:01] Technical working group and that uh that
[1:09:04] plan uh came up with uh three program
[1:09:08] areas um basically uh Watershed science
[1:09:13] is one of them that has a lot of the
[1:09:15] focus in terms of actions of learning
[1:09:17] the background and then there's
[1:09:18] communicating out that information and
[1:09:21] uh to the public and then taking action
[1:09:23] to make sure that the the science we get
[1:09:26] actually gets used keep
[1:09:28] talking your
[1:09:33] places and within each of those three
[1:09:35] program areas there was a series of uh
[1:09:37] of priority uh actions that are
[1:09:39] identified so we'll be able to uh to
[1:09:41] bring that up uh hopefully here and then
[1:09:44] um recognizing that the these 10e these
[1:09:47] uh priority actions were intended to
[1:09:49] take place over the first 10 years of
[1:09:51] the program um the other thing that came
[1:09:53] out uh was a series of priority uh
[1:09:57] actions that for um IM immediate
[1:10:00] implementation or things that we could
[1:10:01] try to kick off within ideally the first
[1:10:03] two years of the program uh it's been
[1:10:05] going a little longer than that and and
[1:10:06] we're still working on that uh looking
[1:10:09] back I see that the the last update that
[1:10:11] was provided to the board was actually
[1:10:14] um in September of 2022 so that would
[1:10:17] have been to the previous board so so
[1:10:18] some of this will be be new to the
[1:10:20] others um basically what we were trying
[1:10:23] to do with the drinking water and
[1:10:25] Watershed Protection Program in the
[1:10:27] initial stages um was uh was staff up
[1:10:30] the program and develop the plans to
[1:10:32] move forward uh the the first item
[1:10:35] within within the priority actions was
[1:10:37] uh was to hire a program coordinator um
[1:10:40] we're still trying to to accomplish that
[1:10:43] it's very challenging to find uh someone
[1:10:45] that has all the skills that we need for
[1:10:47] that uh what we have moved forward with
[1:10:49] is hiring a technician for the program
[1:10:52] um who has been really instrumental in
[1:10:54] uh in moving the pr program forward and
[1:10:56] and seeing that we are starting to get
[1:10:58] out into the field doing the water
[1:11:00] sampling preparing some Outreach
[1:11:02] materials and things like that a couple
[1:11:04] of the other priorities that we've
[1:11:06] completed is some of these plans and
[1:11:08] strategies so a uh uh surface water
[1:11:12] quality uh strategy has been completed
[1:11:15] and we're actually implementing that
[1:11:16] we're out in the field uh doing water
[1:11:19] quality sampling we're actually out uh
[1:11:21] Monday and Tuesday all day doing the the
[1:11:23] spring sampling so that'll complete our
[1:11:25] first first year of sampling and we're
[1:11:26] really excited to see the results on
[1:11:28] that um the other one was the
[1:11:30] hydrometric uh monitoring strategy
[1:11:32] across the region has been completed and
[1:11:34] we're looking at ways to implement that
[1:11:36] um the the third piece that uh we've
[1:11:38] heard a lot of calls for this is uh is
[1:11:42] for the um the groundwater quality
[1:11:45] strategy so that is a high priority item
[1:11:48] for this year and uh the RFQ RFQ for
[1:11:52] that one sorry uh should be going out uh
[1:11:55] any day for that so we hope to move
[1:11:57] forward with that very soon um chase
[1:12:01] this is the other presentation I don't
[1:12:04] know if we can get to the uh the
[1:12:06] drinking water
[1:12:24] one
[1:12:36] just got to make sure we share
[1:12:49] it good to
[1:12:51] go okay thank you very much I'll skip
[1:12:54] through uh through most of this because
[1:12:56] I have gone through it and I can come
[1:12:58] back if there's any questions on
[1:13:02] it um so uh Ju Just quickly a background
[1:13:06] on the the program itself uh this is the
[1:13:08] goal a fairly simple goal that we're
[1:13:10] looking for healthy watersheds and aqua
[1:13:12] but there's a lot behind that there's a
[1:13:14] series of objectives that are intended
[1:13:16] to be the steps that we take towards
[1:13:18] meeting that that overall goal of
[1:13:20] healthy watersheds and
[1:13:22] aquifers several guiding principles of
[1:13:24] of how the program operates in terms
[1:13:26] that it it's partnership based and and
[1:13:29] we're a really small division the
[1:13:30] program is still really small so we can
[1:13:32] get a lot more done if we work with
[1:13:34] Community groups that are out there in
[1:13:35] the field and have a lot of the
[1:13:37] expertise the enthusiasm to uh to work
[1:13:39] together with this so uh setting up
[1:13:41] Partnerships to work with with groups in
[1:13:43] the community uh we're action oriented
[1:13:45] and I mentioned this that the uh the
[1:13:47] science that we do the information we
[1:13:49] collect we want it to be used to inform
[1:13:51] policy and and planning decisions within
[1:13:53] the region uh adaptive and continuous
[1:13:56] Improvement uh we don't have all the
[1:13:58] information yet our understanding is
[1:14:00] going to change as as we gather more
[1:14:02] information and we try and we learn what
[1:14:04] what's going to work uh in terms of
[1:14:06] watershed management and uh just
[1:14:08] performance standards that it's
[1:14:09] important for this to be be high quality
[1:14:12] I touch briefly on the program areas
[1:14:15] these are the uh the priority actions
[1:14:17] for the first 10 years so so a lot of
[1:14:19] the the really key pieces and then the
[1:14:22] uh the priorities for early
[1:14:24] implementation so uh catching up where I
[1:14:26] was here that we've filled the tech
[1:14:27] position got the uh surface water
[1:14:30] quality and hydrometric monitoring
[1:14:32] qualities complete and the groundwater
[1:14:34] is a priority for 2024 um in terms of
[1:14:37] setting up a data management strategy
[1:14:39] data warehousing and access that's a a
[1:14:42] big piece it's ongoing with a lot of
[1:14:44] connections to uh you know our it
[1:14:46] capacity uh within the cvrd there were
[1:14:49] recommendations within the hydrometric
[1:14:50] monitoring strategy there a and some of
[1:14:53] the data at at the moment the water
[1:14:55] quality sampling we've partnered with
[1:14:56] the province so that data is all in the
[1:14:58] provincial EMS system and can be shared
[1:15:01] out anyone can go take a look at the
[1:15:03] results that we're
[1:15:05] collecting uh the other priorities for
[1:15:07] early implementation um is identifying
[1:15:10] gaps and existing monitoring networks so
[1:15:13] that this is sort of opportunistic when
[1:15:15] we uh see an opportunity and as we have
[1:15:17] more capacity we'll keep building out
[1:15:19] these hydrometric monitoring stations
[1:15:21] whether those are gauges in rivers or or
[1:15:24] monitoring Wells
[1:15:26] establishing Partnerships um so we've
[1:15:28] brought a number of these agreements
[1:15:29] forth to the board already Partnerships
[1:15:31] with the CCH and Watershed board
[1:15:33] shanigan Basin society and the
[1:15:35] partnership for water sustainability and
[1:15:38] BC um and there's still uh possibilities
[1:15:41] for uh for other Partnerships there uh
[1:15:43] we did a preliminary screening on
[1:15:45] high-risk watersheds and now we need to
[1:15:47] look at flushing that out but that that
[1:15:49] was the priority uh supporting uh
[1:15:52] planning with the the mocp and where we
[1:15:55] can bring in some of this Watershed
[1:15:56] knowledge uh into the planning process
[1:15:59] is ongoing and then another priority for
[1:16:01] 2024 is establishing the technical
[1:16:04] advisory team to guide the work of the
[1:16:06] program um there was a a committee to
[1:16:09] develop the the strategy so that needs
[1:16:12] to now evolve into the uh the group to
[1:16:14] monitor the plan and um provide the
[1:16:17] ongoing guidance so we'll be we
[1:16:19] continuing with the terms of reference
[1:16:20] for that and seeking membership to get
[1:16:22] that up and running and then a couple of
[1:16:25] other priorities that weren't on that
[1:16:26] initial list um but have risen to the to
[1:16:29] the top as priorities is things like the
[1:16:32] uh Cella uh Watershed planning process
[1:16:35] participating in that seeing what the uh
[1:16:37] the cvr's role is in that really
[1:16:39] exciting process um and continuing on
[1:16:42] with the the work towards replacing the
[1:16:44] cin Lake Weir and the other Associated
[1:16:47] uh projects to the dmap in terms of
[1:16:49] works in the mid and Lower River um the
[1:16:52] water quality sampling I mentioned uh is
[1:16:54] ongoing three times a year on streams
[1:16:57] and rivers and then uh hopefully
[1:16:59] expanding that uh into Lake sampling and
[1:17:02] groundwater as well as we have the
[1:17:04] capacity and then exploring other
[1:17:06] opportunities um there there's been a
[1:17:08] lot of talk uh that we can look and see
[1:17:11] what opportunities there may be for uh
[1:17:14] some sort of incentives for water
[1:17:15] conservation rainwater harvesting
[1:17:18] there's a a lot of interest in that so
[1:17:21] if there is some direction we can
[1:17:23] explore that and then also uh there's
[1:17:26] some opportunities we've just heard
[1:17:27] about meeting with the province uh
[1:17:29] grants for agricultural water storage
[1:17:32] and just looking uh at various uh ways
[1:17:34] we can address some of the challenges
[1:17:36] that we know we're experiencing in the
[1:17:37] watersheds particularly around the the
[1:17:39] dro
[1:17:46] situation where we going there okay so
[1:17:49] and that's supposed to say thank you but
[1:17:50] I don't see it there
[1:17:53] so questions it's best that you say it
[1:17:55] in person anyway hka hka uh look to the
[1:18:00] board I have director ish Das director
[1:18:05] deck director
[1:18:08] Stone so we'll start with this
[1:18:13] stash thank you Mr chair um my question
[1:18:17] in regards to um within this strategy uh
[1:18:20] just because I wasn't at previous board
[1:18:22] meetings was the moderating of uh
[1:18:26] aquafers um what I worked in before
[1:18:28] moving to the a was 20 years actually in
[1:18:30] electric submersible uh Wells and our
[1:18:33] job was to uh my key role was man
[1:18:37] managing and monitoring Reservoir
[1:18:39] pressures on on downhole reservoirs so
[1:18:42] essentially the aers are reservoirs and
[1:18:43] it seems to be the biggest question that
[1:18:45] we keep getting asked is I I've heard
[1:18:48] the term that our aquifers are okay and
[1:18:50] they're recharging but are we
[1:18:53] monitoring statistics Ally long-term
[1:18:55] downhole and I'm going to use use my
[1:18:58] industry term Reservoir pressures so
[1:19:00] even though it's recharging are we
[1:19:02] seeing a consistent Reservoir pressure
[1:19:05] that's maintaining um just because
[1:19:08] that's the biggest concern with less
[1:19:10] snow pack um possibly that's where a lot
[1:19:13] of our recharging of the aquafers is
[1:19:15] because it's an unsen thing we can see
[1:19:17] lakes and rivers rising and dropping but
[1:19:19] we can't see the aquaverse so I'm just
[1:19:21] curious in this is if it's a cvrd rooll
[1:19:24] or is it the min indry that's do we have
[1:19:26] bottom hole pressure monitors
[1:19:29] essentially yeah uh thank you for the
[1:19:32] question and through the chair to to
[1:19:33] director estash um I'm not uh familiar
[1:19:38] with the the technology that's used
[1:19:40] there what I've seen is more water level
[1:19:42] readings in most of the provincial
[1:19:44] observation Wells rather than the
[1:19:46] pressures
[1:19:48] itself um so so I'm I can't really speak
[1:19:52] to that um we we are uh taking advantage
[1:19:55] of the existing ones and we have the
[1:19:58] hydrometric monitoring strategy which
[1:20:00] has identified um preferred aquifers for
[1:20:03] where we should try to partner with
[1:20:05] existing observation Wells um so we've
[1:20:08] been taking steps uh when for example
[1:20:10] when we see a development application
[1:20:11] come forward within uh some of these uh
[1:20:15] uh aquifers where we really need more
[1:20:16] information then sometimes that presents
[1:20:18] an opportunity uh to get a right of way
[1:20:21] for a an observation while on the
[1:20:23] property and partner
[1:21:24] something we should be measuring to
[1:21:26] inform our our understanding of it and
[1:21:28] our decision
[1:21:30] making thank you uh director
[1:21:39] deck um so I I'm just wondering if you
[1:21:42] already know uh the aquifers that you
[1:21:46] perceive to be at most risk or are there
[1:21:51] are there some measurements going on
[1:21:52] right now that that you can rely on to
[1:21:57] prioritize your well or your aquifer
[1:22:02] monitoring um thank you so through the
[1:22:04] chair to uh to director deck again thank
[1:22:06] you for the the question um the
[1:22:10] hydrometric monitoring strategy that uh
[1:22:13] was prepared a couple of years ago sort
[1:22:15] of looks at the big picture across the
[1:22:17] region and identifies where we have the
[1:22:20] monitoring Wells and where there's
[1:22:22] information and and then um
[1:22:25] so they identify places where there's
[1:22:27] gaps in the information that we do have
[1:22:30] um and then the preliminary risk
[1:22:33] assessment that we had for the water
[1:22:34] watersheds that that was done did uh
[1:22:38] that was one of the factors that was
[1:22:40] included in that was looking at uh
[1:22:43] possible impacts to the to the aquifers
[1:22:45] there within the watersheds but again
[1:22:48] it's quite preliminary um there's been
[1:22:50] some provincial mapping a couple of
[1:22:52] different ones that look at aqua for
[1:22:55] vulnerability uh so one thing that we
[1:22:57] have it's called the DraStic mapping
[1:22:58] that's been done for this region that
[1:23:00] looks at a number of different factors
[1:23:02] that affect the aquifer so I mean that's
[1:23:04] something that we could follow up with
[1:23:06] uh offline I can give you those
[1:23:08] resources if you're interested in and
[1:23:11] really diving into those details be
[1:23:13] Beyond
[1:23:14] this um may I ask another question um
[1:23:19] now I I've understood that the severe
[1:23:22] rainstorms don't allow um as much um
[1:23:27] what's what did word did you use now in
[1:23:30] infiltration infiltration thank you um
[1:23:33] so that's not the case
[1:23:36] then uh through the chair uh to the
[1:23:39] director I think there's a lot of
[1:23:40] uncertainty in this U and again it comes
[1:23:44] back uh not not only to the intensity of
[1:23:46] the rainfall but on the land cover too
[1:23:48] and how long that water is trapped and
[1:23:50] has is slowed down and has the
[1:23:52] opportunity to infiltrate oh yeah so so
[1:23:55] there's a lot of factors and you know
[1:23:56] the topography and whether it's gravel
[1:23:59] and there's layers of soil and stuff
[1:24:01] there's a lot of factors there uh and we
[1:24:03] don't have evidence for the whole region
[1:24:05] that what we do have is a report that um
[1:24:08] The Province did in the South couch and
[1:24:10] looking at some specific aquifers there
[1:24:12] they found that their their projections
[1:24:14] were increase in water availab
[1:24:17] availability that some of it would make
[1:24:19] it into the aquifer and that would
[1:24:20] outweigh the increased EV Appo
[1:24:22] transpiration from from warmer dryer
[1:24:25] Summers thank you I just one more one
[1:24:28] more
[1:24:29] um okay you went through me this time so
[1:24:32] I'll let you do
[1:24:35] it sorry you worship
[1:24:38] um I'm just
[1:24:42] uh I'm just wondering too uh if um
[1:24:47] pollutants are part of the the um issue
[1:24:51] that you going to be looking at not just
[1:24:54] how much water is in in the um aquer
[1:24:57] itself yeah and and through the chair
[1:25:00] again to the director uh thank you
[1:25:01] that's that's a key part of the the
[1:25:03] groundwater quality strategy piece that
[1:25:06] we're putting out for an RFQ now is what
[1:25:08] do we need to uh to look at what uh
[1:25:11] types of tests should we be doing on the
[1:25:13] water and where do we need to do it um
[1:25:17] all those things the hydrometric was
[1:25:19] looking more at the quantity side so now
[1:25:21] we're trying to bring both pieces
[1:25:23] together looking for opportunities where
[1:25:26] you can get both types of information
[1:25:27] out of the same infrastructure you know
[1:25:29] like we have a monitoring well that we
[1:25:31] can also take water samples from and
[1:25:33] things like that thank you thank you
[1:25:36] director Stone next please uh thank you
[1:25:39] and and just compliments to our
[1:25:41] colleagues on asking good questions um I
[1:25:43] just wanted to to compliment staff on
[1:25:45] the you know the maturation of the the
[1:25:48] function um and the the growing sort of
[1:25:51] breadth of information in detail that's
[1:25:53] being
[1:25:55] um collected and and also recognizing
[1:25:58] though that it's never enough and it's
[1:26:00] never fast enough um just like we're
[1:26:03] really concerned about both the
[1:26:04] quantitative and qualitative
[1:26:06] measurements of water in the region
[1:26:09] um you know the data that we have to
[1:26:11] support decisions going forward and you
[1:26:14] know reflecting on you know supporting
[1:26:15] ocp processes and providing supportive
[1:26:18] information to municipalities during
[1:26:19] their land use planning processes is a
[1:26:22] big part of the drinking water and
[1:26:23] Watershed protection function um and I
[1:26:26] and I hope that we continue to gain
[1:26:30] momentum you know as we sort of put some
[1:26:32] of these um you know sort of data points
[1:26:35] and get these Baseline measurements and
[1:26:37] stuff that we're able to continue to not
[1:26:39] only Monitor and measure the the trends
[1:26:42] in those areas but continue to broaden
[1:26:44] throughout the region the understanding
[1:26:46] that we have around water but I was just
[1:26:48] struck by kind of reading it through and
[1:26:50] going like this actually feels like
[1:26:52] something with a bit of substance to it
[1:26:54] and I'm looking forward to how it folds
[1:26:55] into the bigger strategic plan but I'm
[1:26:58] just thankful that we're we're getting
[1:26:59] to that point where it's maturing to a
[1:27:02] point of some some usefulness if you
[1:27:04] will um because I know that um you know
[1:27:08] I'm glad actually that it's not like a
[1:27:11] conversation that you have on community
[1:27:13] that feels like cuz I remember when this
[1:27:14] function came forward for the referendum
[1:27:17] um there was a lot of sort of push back
[1:27:19] on taxing at a local level to get this
[1:27:22] information and now he's just seeing how
[1:27:24] fundamental it is and then when you talk
[1:27:26] to people about growth pressures and
[1:27:28] development the first question and the
[1:27:30] last question is always about water so
[1:27:34] um it it just shows the wisdom of the
[1:27:37] the boards of the day and staff that
[1:27:39] brought forward this function and the
[1:27:40] importance of it so I just thankful for
[1:27:42] that
[1:27:43] thanks alternate director Harriet thank
[1:27:46] you um just to make some comments to um
[1:27:50] preference my questions but just to make
[1:27:53] sure I did spend some time with director
[1:27:55] Wilson over the weekend just to make
[1:27:57] sure my comments reflect his concerns
[1:27:59] and we won't hold that against you okay
[1:28:02] um so I I was act as a I'm a trustee of
[1:28:07] the Cobble Hill improvement district
[1:28:08] which provides water to Cobble Hill and
[1:28:11] in that capacity our chair and myself
[1:28:14] actually participated in the community
[1:28:16] and
[1:28:17] advisory um group um that developed the
[1:28:21] strategy and and I'm glad Mr M touched
[1:28:23] on it because one of the common themes
[1:28:25] in that discussion in that group was
[1:28:28] because as director Stone mentioned
[1:28:30] there was a lot of push back on on the
[1:28:34] function we needed to show some
[1:28:38] tangible actionable items right away and
[1:28:41] hence the key key priorities so it it is
[1:28:44] a bit unfortunate that things have been
[1:28:47] slower um and two of the ones that were
[1:28:50] one's important to me particularly but
[1:28:53] one was important to the the group was a
[1:28:55] uh to make sure the coordinator position
[1:28:57] was filled because anything like this
[1:28:59] requires a champion and if you don't
[1:29:01] have a champion it can kind of fall um
[1:29:04] so I have a couple questions any idea
[1:29:07] when the coordinator Position will be
[1:29:10] filled um through the chair to the oh
[1:29:12] sorry I did it myself no no you were
[1:29:15] fine you were fine through the the chair
[1:29:17] chair the director and Mr postings can
[1:29:19] can chime in with this as well but um we
[1:29:22] we're finding it very challenging to
[1:29:23] find someone that had all the
[1:29:25] qualifications you we had a couple of
[1:29:27] Staff members who who didn't uh last in
[1:29:30] the position and other times we weren't
[1:29:31] able to fill it so rather than not
[1:29:34] getting anywhere we made the decision to
[1:29:36] move forward with a technician and you
[1:29:38] we had some of the plans in place so uh
[1:29:41] she's been very capable with being able
[1:29:43] to uh to implement it um moving forward
[1:29:46] we're uh we're seeing if there's going
[1:29:47] to be uh anything that informs this from
[1:29:50] uh the organizational review uh piece
[1:29:53] that's going on whe whether uh the the
[1:29:56] role of the the program is going to
[1:29:58] change but we would like to to move
[1:29:59] forward with filling some sort of
[1:30:01] leadership position within the the
[1:30:03] drinking water and Watership uh drinking
[1:30:06] water and Watershed Protection Program
[1:30:08] as soon as we can thank you a followup
[1:30:11] um yeah another comment um particularly
[1:30:14] due to our concerns in Cobble Hill
[1:30:16] because as you probably know we have
[1:30:18] some nitrate concerns in the groundwater
[1:30:22] so um getting the strategy up and going
[1:30:26] through the chair to Mr Moore um when do
[1:30:30] you anticipate the groundwater strategy
[1:30:32] being um getting up to up and running
[1:30:34] and
[1:30:37] implemented um again through the chair
[1:30:39] to the director uh the RFQ is
[1:30:42] anticipated to go out uh within days um
[1:30:47] and uh the the timeline that we're
[1:30:49] looking at is for it to be completed by
[1:30:51] the end of this year in terms of the
[1:30:53] having the strategy in place um the
[1:30:56] actions and the implementation will
[1:30:58] that'll depend on what the plan tells us
[1:31:00] we need what resources are required and
[1:31:02] we'll be bringing that uh to the back to
[1:31:04] the committee and to the board looking
[1:31:06] for for direction on how to implement
[1:31:08] the recommendations whatever they may be
[1:31:11] you had one more I gave director deck
[1:31:13] three so I must give you three okay I've
[1:31:15] got a few more but I'll come back to it
[1:31:17] um and it goes along with what director
[1:31:20] isach was mentioning is incorporating
[1:31:23] the other
[1:31:24] um the other uh monitoring sites that
[1:31:27] are are in the area already and there
[1:31:31] are several and some that the cvrd have
[1:31:34] put in but there's also a couple
[1:31:36] provincial ones and two specifically I
[1:31:38] know director Wilson's had some
[1:31:40] discussion with with staff about these
[1:31:43] um it's unfortunate there's two that are
[1:31:45] currently monitoring one's monitoring
[1:31:48] aquifer 197 and one's monitoring aquifer
[1:31:53] 202
[1:32:54] that that's one of the big pieces that
[1:32:56] we're trying to look at the best data
[1:32:57] warehouse for that if we have capacity
[1:33:00] to bring that in or if we can take
[1:33:02] advantage of the provincial uh systems
[1:33:05] that are bringing it in and you've
[1:33:07] identified some of the limitations uh
[1:33:09] with those systems so um recognizing
[1:33:12] those challenges and if that represents
[1:33:14] a limitation in a particular device then
[1:33:17] maybe a simpler approaches to uh look at
[1:33:19] improving that measurement device rather
[1:33:22] than going to a whole new one and
[1:33:24] another location so I th those kind of
[1:33:26] priorities are things that we would hope
[1:33:28] to see in the strategy thank you I do
[1:33:31] have a growing speakers list I have
[1:33:33] director Nicholson director Sagal
[1:33:35] director martman director deck director
[1:33:38] Morrison I'll go director Morrison first
[1:33:41] because he hasn't spoken yet but first
[1:33:42] of all director
[1:33:44] Nicholson thank you very much thank you
[1:33:47] so much for the update um I really
[1:33:49] appreciate it water um water is you know
[1:33:54] it's just it's very much like the
[1:33:55] homeless situation it's one of those
[1:33:57] really big issues but it also is kind of
[1:34:00] hidden until you have a real problem and
[1:34:03] so maybe it's a little bit more
[1:34:04] challenging than the homelessness
[1:34:06] problem but I think it's something that
[1:34:07] we need to take keep on top of um and
[1:34:11] it's it's going to be the environment is
[1:34:13] going to keep changing
[1:34:15] so I think that the most important part
[1:34:18] of this program um good information is
[1:34:20] important but I also think Partnerships
[1:34:22] are going to be really key to being
[1:34:24] successful because we have to work with
[1:34:25] all the people in the community that are
[1:34:27] working on water and it crosses
[1:34:30] jurisdictions and it crosses UH
[1:34:32] responsibilities a lot so we really need
[1:34:34] to take advantage of our uh very active
[1:34:37] stewardship community and I'm thinking
[1:34:40] as long as we don't have the coordinator
[1:34:42] position um in place I think this
[1:34:45] technical guiding team should be a
[1:34:47] really high priority to get established
[1:34:49] because we've been five years into this
[1:34:51] program now and it would really make me
[1:34:53] feel good if we had a community-based um
[1:34:56] partnership with other people on Guiding
[1:34:58] the program and what the priorities
[1:35:00] ought to be because I know things are
[1:35:02] changing rapidly um I'm also curious as
[1:35:06] to the um results on the your
[1:35:09] preliminary preliminary screening um of
[1:35:13] watersheds and where the risks are and
[1:35:15] I'm wondering if I could we could I
[1:35:17] could get that information I don't think
[1:35:19] I've seen it I I think that that's
[1:35:21] something that that we as a region
[1:35:22] really need to pay attention to is where
[1:35:24] are the biggest risks on water um as we
[1:35:27] move forward on this issue of
[1:35:30] potentially a regional growth strategy
[1:35:33] but even without that each of our
[1:35:36] jurisdictions need to understand where
[1:35:38] the biggest risks are so we develop
[1:35:40] wisely
[1:35:41] [Music]
[1:35:42] um yeah I guess I'll stop there thank
[1:35:45] you thank you very much director Seagal
[1:35:47] next
[1:35:48] please thank you through the chair to Mr
[1:35:51] Moore I'm wonder if you could just
[1:35:52] comment on um relationships with
[1:35:55] different provincial Ministries and
[1:35:56] information sharing um I know just in my
[1:36:00] area there's a number of new commercial
[1:36:01] well licenses that have been
[1:36:04] approved but they um require extensive
[1:36:07] monitoring plans that regulate the
[1:36:10] rolling out of development um as well as
[1:36:13] with treaty negotiations and groundwater
[1:36:15] rights there's extensive hydrogeology
[1:36:18] reports you know done in specific areas
[1:36:21] so just wondering if we can access that
[1:36:23] and so that we avoid duplicating that
[1:36:25] kind of
[1:36:28] information yeah through the chair to
[1:36:30] director seal uh thank you yes uh we
[1:36:32] work very closely with uh a number of
[1:36:35] the provincial agencies and uh they they
[1:36:37] keep change the responsibility shifts so
[1:36:39] it's different agencies now but uh yeah
[1:36:42] a couple of examples was the the report
[1:36:45] on the the water budget for the South
[1:36:46] cin was an example where we actually
[1:36:48] contributed some money to that report so
[1:36:50] that they could add a component looking
[1:36:53] at
[1:36:54] what things are going to look like in
[1:36:55] the future with climate change so
[1:36:56] bringing our climate projections in um
[1:36:59] in terms of the water quality sampling
[1:37:01] that we're doing right now um Island
[1:37:03] Health is uh looking at those results
[1:37:06] and doing some preliminary analysis and
[1:37:08] now that we have the once we have the
[1:37:09] spring sampling results back in a few
[1:37:11] weeks they'll be able to look at a
[1:37:13] Year's worth of of data and and see some
[1:37:15] of these Trends um so and it's being
[1:37:17] brought into the provincial system um
[1:37:20] some of these very site specific ones um
[1:37:23] would probably take a little more
[1:37:25] investigating to make sure that you know
[1:37:27] if they are being brought into the the
[1:37:28] provincial system that we want to
[1:37:30] capture that and make sure those results
[1:37:32] are available to you know whomever is
[1:37:34] looking at them in terms of a big
[1:37:35] picture analysis so that
[1:37:38] concludes uh moving online to director
[1:37:41] martman to speak about his underwater
[1:37:43] Lake I'm
[1:37:44] sure yes of course and that's my first
[1:37:47] question I have two questions chair if
[1:37:49] you don't mind uh and thank you Mr Moore
[1:37:52] very appreciate the uh the background
[1:37:54] and also you know where where we're at
[1:37:56] and where we're going particularly this
[1:37:58] year I just it's not clear though in any
[1:38:01] of the material are read about where the
[1:38:05] you know the Cassidy water shed and the
[1:38:08] Cassidy aqu fits into the plans within
[1:38:11] the
[1:38:11] cvrd um wonder if you can help me with
[1:38:14] that and I have a second question after
[1:38:17] that um yeah through the chair to
[1:38:20] director martman um I'm a apologize I
[1:38:24] don't have all the details of which
[1:38:27] aquafers um are recommended for which
[1:38:29] types of monitoring and stuff but uh
[1:38:32] definitely the Cassidy aquafer we we did
[1:38:35] consider all the aquafers within the the
[1:38:37] region in in terms of developing the uh
[1:38:41] um hydrometric strategy looking at at
[1:38:43] the quantity there and um I would
[1:38:45] anticipate that uh the quality
[1:38:47] groundwater quality is we all know it's
[1:38:50] a a concern in in the yellow Point area
[1:38:53] and with the capity aquifer so we'd be
[1:38:55] uh seeing something coming out of that
[1:38:57] as
[1:38:59] well follow up you thanks for that yeah
[1:39:02] I and the follow-up and I I appreciate
[1:39:04] all the questions from all the other
[1:39:05] directors and my question is more around
[1:39:09] what the board can do to help um
[1:39:13] complement or achieve some of the goals
[1:39:16] within this um within this area and and
[1:39:20] one of the things I think about is what
[1:39:23] what we might be buying or purchasing in
[1:39:25] the future around
[1:39:27] properties and what parts of what you're
[1:39:30] doing can help inform that type of
[1:39:33] decision making particularly as very
[1:39:35] trying to create strategies around you
[1:39:38] know I use the the very general term of
[1:39:40] Parkland acquisition meaning that you
[1:39:43] know it's it's areas and of of different
[1:39:46] parts of our region that could be very
[1:39:49] useful and supporting drinking water and
[1:39:51] Watershed protection so wondering if is
[1:39:54] that technical advisory the part that we
[1:39:56] need up in place or do we need other
[1:39:58] other things in place from your
[1:40:03] perspective um yeah through the chair to
[1:40:06] uh to director martman
[1:40:08] um I think that raises a lot of really
[1:40:10] interesting points and it's great to see
[1:40:12] uh support uh from the directors and
[1:40:15] wanting to be engaged too because that
[1:40:17] really helps us out
[1:40:20] um in terms uh one of the
[1:40:24] points that that really comes to mind
[1:40:27] and it it touches on what we heard in
[1:40:28] the public input period too is the
[1:40:30] importance of communication and the
[1:40:32] education piece that that fits into this
[1:40:35] drinking water and Watershed protection
[1:40:37] strategy and um you know a lot of uh the
[1:40:42] directors having such you know extensive
[1:40:45] ties within the community you know we
[1:40:47] might be able to uh look for some ideas
[1:40:50] of how to better communicate a lot of
[1:40:52] this information out
[1:40:55] um and uh also uh um just uh other ways
[1:41:02] of sharing the uh the the information um
[1:41:05] out to the community um and in terms of
[1:41:08] the uh the the land piece I I could see
[1:41:12] a possibility that that one factor that
[1:41:14] that might come up is if we identify
[1:41:16] areas that are particularly um sensitive
[1:41:20] for a groundwater surface water
[1:41:22] interaction so if there was any area
[1:41:23] that we knew was just amazing for uh
[1:41:26] groundwater recharge that you know lots
[1:41:28] of water accumulates there there's nice
[1:41:30] gravel it gets down into the uh into the
[1:41:33] aquifer then that might be a factor for
[1:41:35] hey you know this this is an area that's
[1:41:37] important whether that looks at uh at
[1:41:40] purchasing it or or ensuring that it's
[1:41:42] an environmentally sensitive feature
[1:41:44] that gets uh preserved when
[1:41:45] development's considered in that area I
[1:41:47] think that's another important
[1:41:50] piece that concludes director marman
[1:41:56] I think we've lost him so I guess it
[1:41:58] does uh looking yes it does thank you
[1:42:00] chair okay thank you very much director
[1:42:04] Morrison thank you chair through you
[1:42:07] um I don't know exactly how to put this
[1:42:10] but it's it's a concern around scope
[1:42:14] creep and and maybe a little bit about
[1:42:16] what uh director Sagal was was uh
[1:42:20] starting to uh inquire about so I you
[1:42:23] know but fully supportive of of this
[1:42:26] Department's initiatives and this
[1:42:28] particular um function that that we have
[1:42:31] and I know that uh I think uh someone
[1:42:34] mentioned earlier that there was some
[1:42:36] push back initially and I'm really
[1:42:39] thrilled to see all of the different
[1:42:41] areas of of study that's going on I
[1:42:43] think it's great it's helping to make us
[1:42:47] better at our decision making because
[1:42:49] we've got access to not only more but
[1:42:52] more accur
[1:42:53] information but I I wonder too where
[1:42:58] that line is that imaginary line between
[1:43:02] Regional District uh you know
[1:43:05] self-imposed responsibilities and those
[1:43:08] of other orders of government and I I
[1:43:12] guess what I'm asking is do you and
[1:43:15] staff know where that line is and are
[1:43:17] you staying on your side of it because I
[1:43:20] I get the sense that you know your
[1:43:22] success is going to breed more success
[1:43:24] and more requests for uh additional
[1:43:28] information so are you comfortable where
[1:43:30] you're operating now and do you see
[1:43:33] increased pressures and will that spill
[1:43:36] over into what maybe other jurisdiction
[1:43:39] or other orders of government's
[1:43:43] jurisdiction yeah through the chair to
[1:43:45] director Morrison some some excellent
[1:43:47] questions there and definitely some
[1:43:48] things to think about um we are seeing
[1:43:51] you know Perhaps Perhaps some examples
[1:43:53] of this as director seigal alluded to
[1:43:55] the uh the Water license uh applications
[1:43:58] that are coming in and they're quite
[1:44:00] often ones that get referred uh to the
[1:44:02] cvd so we we could imagine a situation
[1:44:05] where we have quite a bit of information
[1:44:07] about water supply in the area that's
[1:44:10] informing those decisions and you know
[1:44:12] should that be coming from us or should
[1:44:13] it be coming from the province who who
[1:44:16] is the uh the decision maker with
[1:44:18] regards uh to
[1:44:20] licenses U so there's definitely uh
[1:44:23] uh some some gray area there another way
[1:44:27] is that you know we want to gather
[1:44:30] information from a lot of broad
[1:44:31] different sources not just for those
[1:44:33] specific water licensing questions but
[1:44:35] hopefully to inform the broader uh big
[1:44:38] picture of watershed management um so so
[1:44:42] there's the the information we're
[1:44:44] collecting isn't limited to that one one
[1:44:46] purpose so there's definitely some pros
[1:44:49] and cons there would be something I see
[1:44:51] um at the moment we we're working
[1:44:53] working quite cooperatively with the the
[1:44:55] various um agencies and organizations
[1:44:59] and trying to share information and as
[1:45:01] best we POS as we best we possibly can
[1:45:04] um that that is probably a question that
[1:45:06] you know as we develop a a technical
[1:45:09] advisory or or oversight committee and
[1:45:11] with you know regular check-ins to the
[1:45:13] board that we would hope to keep that
[1:45:16] you know within our lane of where we
[1:45:18] should be and we would get some
[1:45:20] oversight if we were starting to stray
[1:45:23] thank you any other first time speakers
[1:45:26] before I go to my list of second
[1:45:30] round see none I have director deck and
[1:45:33] then director
[1:45:35] Harriet thank you chair sure you um I'm
[1:45:39] just wondering about um contamination of
[1:45:44] aquifers and I and just in general not
[1:45:48] anyone in particular
[1:45:50] just so the enforcement
[1:45:53] of of fines or
[1:45:57] mitigation that is the responsibility of
[1:46:01] the provincial government am I correct
[1:46:03] so
[1:46:05] how how does that relationship work in
[1:46:09] terms of of um follow following up are
[1:46:13] is the provincial government following
[1:46:16] up with you on these kinds of issues how
[1:46:20] you know how does that work yeah um
[1:46:22] through the chair to uh to director deck
[1:46:25] um we haven't had um really a specific
[1:46:28] instance where we you know we've got a
[1:46:29] water um Quality well and all of a
[1:46:32] sudden some toxin shows up in there and
[1:46:35] you know there's a real concern so so we
[1:46:37] haven't had that if that was the case
[1:46:39] you know if we identified any source of
[1:46:41] pollution regardless of where it's
[1:46:42] coming from then we would report that to
[1:46:45] the provincial authorities who um have
[1:46:47] the responsibility to follow up on it um
[1:46:51] a lot of what we would try to capture
[1:46:54] with the uh the groundwater quality it
[1:46:57] might not be those Point sources of
[1:46:59] pollution um but just a broader picture
[1:47:02] uh you know it could be from not from
[1:47:05] one specific location but just well
[1:47:07] there's industrial activity or there's
[1:47:09] agricultural activity and some sort of
[1:47:11] runoff and you know the these big
[1:47:13] picture ones we're more likely to find
[1:47:16] rather than a very targeted one if we
[1:47:18] did we would certainly it would be the
[1:47:20] province that would follow
[1:47:22] up alternate director Harriet thank you
[1:47:26] um another comment I I meant to mention
[1:47:30] before my last one was that
[1:47:33] um I did enter into that Advisory Group
[1:47:37] with a a little bit of skepticism and
[1:47:39] cynicism being a a cynic um but I must
[1:47:43] say that's one of the best processes
[1:47:45] that I've ever gone through the staff
[1:47:47] and I I don't think any of the staff are
[1:47:49] still here that we part of that but the
[1:47:52] cvrd St staff and the Consultants did a
[1:47:54] very good job and at the end they asked
[1:47:56] us what our impression was and to go
[1:47:59] along with the question that um director
[1:48:02] Morrison asked was it was pretty much a
[1:48:06] consensus that we felt it was a great
[1:48:08] process provided we stick to those
[1:48:10] priorities and and follow that direction
[1:48:14] that we laid out and through the chair
[1:48:18] uh a question i' would be remiss if I
[1:48:20] didn't ask this question for director
[1:48:22] Wilson do you know how much of the
[1:48:24] budget has been spent to date and and
[1:48:27] what's what uh what's
[1:48:31] remaining um through the on the spot uh
[1:48:36] of the overall
[1:48:37] dww how much been spent to date um on
[1:48:41] the initiative yeah yeah uh I don't have
[1:48:44] the the numbers across the whole uh
[1:48:46] program I I know largely because we
[1:48:49] haven't had the capacity we haven't uh
[1:48:51] been spending all the uh the money that
[1:48:54] has been allocated within the budget U
[1:48:57] part of that's just having vacant
[1:48:58] positions that obviously we're not
[1:48:59] paying out the salaries um and and in
[1:49:02] some cases uh we haven't you know a lot
[1:49:05] of the budget had been uh allocated
[1:49:07] towards some Capital infrastructure in
[1:49:10] terms of installing hydrometric
[1:49:12] monitoring stations or or climate
[1:49:14] stations and stuff um the those are
[1:49:17] funds that haven't been expended yet so
[1:49:19] those are going into to reserve for when
[1:49:21] we have the opportunity ities in the
[1:49:23] capacity to to do more with it you know
[1:49:25] we've been kind of focusing on the
[1:49:27] pieces that we can do where we're um
[1:49:29] getting the strategies and plans in
[1:49:32] place through the chair is is it
[1:49:34] possible to get that number at some
[1:49:36] point yeah yeah we can certainly follow
[1:49:38] up with that and if you can give me any
[1:49:39] you know parameters on you know we can
[1:49:41] give you last year's numbers sure okay
[1:49:43] thank you thank you I have someone
[1:49:49] online director mclinton please I was
[1:49:51] just going to ask you what my name
[1:49:54] was it came up on the screen so
[1:49:56] everything's good thank you chair uh
[1:49:59] through you um a kind of a a big picture
[1:50:04] question you know might be a little
[1:50:06] challenging to answer but I I'm be
[1:50:08] looking for your your personal opinion
[1:50:09] on it you know I mean at least in my
[1:50:12] community and folks I talk with um you
[1:50:15] know the the thought is we live in a
[1:50:17] temperate rainforest and you know we've
[1:50:20] we've got some pretty good water and
[1:50:21] then a lot of the stuff we talk around
[1:50:23] at the board table is you know concerns
[1:50:26] about aquafer Supply you know those
[1:50:28] sorts of things I'm just wondering you
[1:50:31] know both in terms of quantity and
[1:50:33] quality you know maybe you could just
[1:50:35] offer up your your personal opinion on
[1:50:37] how we stack up to other jurisdictions
[1:50:41] and and then the F the second part of
[1:50:43] that question do you see any
[1:50:46] immediate concerns red flags things that
[1:50:50] uh you know from your person doing the
[1:50:52] work on the ground that you know that we
[1:50:56] should be putting immediate attention
[1:51:00] to okay uh yeah through the chair to uh
[1:51:03] to director mclinton
[1:51:05] um those are some uh some big picture
[1:51:08] questions um it it's with our region
[1:51:11] it's really hard to give a a single
[1:51:13] answer as to how it looks because it
[1:51:16] it's very uh varied across the region
[1:51:18] depending on where our water sources
[1:51:20] come from so uh you know unlike some
[1:51:23] other jurisdictions where all the water
[1:51:25] comes from a single large Reservoir up
[1:51:28] in the mountains and it's very easy to
[1:51:30] to understand how much water is
[1:51:31] available um we have dozens of small
[1:51:35] water systems spread across the region
[1:51:38] um some like Sal a come from surface
[1:51:41] water um where you know we've got
[1:51:43] stocking Lake it's pretty easy to
[1:51:45] understand uh that system most of our
[1:51:48] water actually comes from groundwater
[1:51:50] within the region um most of the the
[1:51:52] larger Community Systems are come from
[1:51:56] groundwater and um then outside of the
[1:51:59] Community Systems most uh residents rely
[1:52:01] on their their own individual Wells and
[1:52:04] it's a lot trickier to get a a bigger
[1:52:07] picture of that because it depends so
[1:52:10] much on the the specific Wells um in in
[1:52:13] addition to the overall aquafer picture
[1:52:16] um on a a broad brush across the whole
[1:52:20] region the all you know the larger
[1:52:22] systems are saying that they're in
[1:52:24] pretty good shape um you know there
[1:52:26] seems to be a decent amount of water
[1:52:28] available um there are definitely some
[1:52:30] exceptions where we've had uh a number
[1:52:33] of our water systems and some of the
[1:52:34] smaller ones especially uh where we have
[1:52:37] had to truck water in uh from the provin
[1:52:39] or from other neighboring systems when
[1:52:41] we're uh in real drought conditions um
[1:52:44] and then outside of our cvrd systems um
[1:52:47] we're we are all aware of huge pressures
[1:52:50] on water supplies that we're seeing
[1:52:52] especially in the coke Silo we're also
[1:52:54] seeing um a lot of it in yellow point
[1:52:56] and in other areas where where there's
[1:52:59] development pressures that uh there's uh
[1:53:02] definitely not enough water to go around
[1:53:04] to meet all these demands so so a lot of
[1:53:06] the water systems are generally in good
[1:53:08] shape but it's a lot of the other the
[1:53:10] other users and some of the smaller
[1:53:13] systems that really need
[1:53:15] support thank you if I could just get
[1:53:17] you to turn your microphone off D sorry
[1:53:20] dor
[1:53:21] har any further questions comments I
[1:53:24] think what the um interest from the
[1:53:27] director shows is that water has no
[1:53:30] boundaries no Municipal boundaries just
[1:53:32] like the air shed it's shared uniquely
[1:53:35] throughout the region and the quality
[1:53:37] and the quantity of that is is
[1:53:38] imperative for for uh good health and
[1:53:42] and good uh growth within our community
[1:53:45] and I will Channel director Nicholson
[1:53:47] with her permission on on the need to
[1:53:49] identify those natural assets and to uh
[1:53:52] identify by those that could be included
[1:53:54] within a purchase opportunity to protect
[1:53:57] the water quality and quantity within
[1:54:00] those regions that are developing so
[1:54:02] with that this was just for information
[1:54:05] and I thank you for uh a great
[1:54:08] presentation and for great input from
[1:54:10] you directors I thank you for that as
[1:54:12] well thank you thank
[1:54:16] you sorry to channel you director
[1:54:18] Nicholson but uh I heard someone else
[1:54:21] Channel a previous mayor of North cin
[1:54:24] and staying to their Lane so I thought
[1:54:26] it would be
[1:54:27] appropriate moving on Direct or Miss
[1:54:32] Harrison thank you Mr chair next item is
[1:54:35] item R4 which is a report from the
[1:54:37] Environmental Services Division
[1:54:40] regarding the cowch and adapts update
[1:54:43] and this too is for
[1:54:49] information thank you Mr chair and thank
[1:54:51] you director good morning it is um a
[1:54:54] tremendous opportunity to get to share
[1:54:56] with you the coin adapts update for
[1:55:00] 2024 uh we appreciate uh the the input
[1:55:05] received from from numerous partners and
[1:55:07] want to acknowledge all of those uh
[1:55:09] externally and internally that have
[1:55:11] provided uh that uh that input uh as
[1:55:14] well as uh director's leadership uh the
[1:55:17] incorporation of the adaptation strategy
[1:55:20] in in as a priority item in in the uh
[1:55:23] strategic planning documents uh in Prior
[1:55:26] years uh as as uh as that piece of
[1:55:28] background there as well the adaptation
[1:55:31] strategy was uh adopted by the board in
[1:55:34] 2021 the implementation framework in
[1:55:37] 2022 and the implementation plan in 2023
[1:55:41] and so uh before we continue is there a
[1:55:44] possibility to share that online I don't
[1:55:47] see it uh coming up
[1:55:51] online
[1:55:54] it's just not coming through on the
[1:55:56] laptop on
[1:55:58] WebEx and I can give you the PID of
[1:56:00] those um those properties if if you wish
[1:56:04] that picture does that picture does come
[1:56:07] from the lake couch and
[1:56:10] area
[1:56:12] okay thank you that's uh that's that
[1:56:15] that's being shared now I just want to
[1:56:16] make sure that those online can uh
[1:56:18] follow along with the
[1:56:21] PowerPoint
[1:56:32] we
[1:56:40] go are we seeing the presentation in
[1:56:43] shair mode Now Yep looks good excellent
[1:56:46] if we can make it full size that would
[1:56:48] probably help
[1:56:51] but
[1:56:56] yeah it's not streaming apparently
[1:56:58] according to director Wilson's
[1:57:07] email I heard from
[1:57:12] EV that's
[1:57:14] better hopefully it will uh be recorded
[1:57:17] and uploaded
[1:57:19] later yes
[1:57:21] ma'am
[1:57:25] okay it has been communicated that uh
[1:57:28] there is some problems with the live
[1:57:29] stream and it will be published uh at a
[1:57:33] later date thank you to our
[1:57:36] CAO please continue thanks thank you Mr
[1:57:40] chair uh so if we may continue with the
[1:57:42] the acknowledgments um this this
[1:57:45] strategy also acknowledges how our first
[1:57:48] nation's Partners have been
[1:57:50] disproportionately affected by the
[1:57:51] impacts of climate change uh while also
[1:57:55] understanding uh how First Nations have
[1:57:57] have stewarded these lands for thousands
[1:57:58] of years uh and the opportunity that is
[1:58:01] there to interweave traditional
[1:58:03] knowledge with uh with Western science
[1:58:05] going forward and so we will talk um
[1:58:08] some more about uh some of the
[1:58:09] opportunities uh in in that space as
[1:58:12] well and so uh the strategy recognizes
[1:58:14] that climate change is this large Global
[1:58:17] issue with um local impacts and so uh
[1:58:21] the strategy very much focuses on these
[1:58:23] these local Solutions and uh again the
[1:58:26] update today is really to provide you
[1:58:28] information on the program the the
[1:58:31] various actions there's an attachment in
[1:58:33] the in the package the staff report
[1:58:35] package there that uh includes uh that
[1:58:38] that update uh and the tables at the
[1:58:41] back end of that uh that strategy
[1:58:44] include not only those actions led by um
[1:58:47] our division but also by um other other
[1:58:51] groups within the cvrd as well as
[1:58:53] external partners and so uh that
[1:58:55] provides that that comprehensive update
[1:58:58] and uh we'll talk a little bit about uh
[1:59:00] some of the focus areas for next steps
[1:59:02] for implementation this
[1:59:04] year and so coming back to a little bit
[1:59:07] about that uh that background uh the
[1:59:10] linkages to the the Strategic plan and
[1:59:12] so uh again the strategy was adopted by
[1:59:15] the board in
[1:59:17] 2021 uh with implementation planning uh
[1:59:21] uh developed in 202 2 and
[1:59:23] 2023 uh the uh adaptation strategy has a
[1:59:27] number of actions objectives goals that
[1:59:29] link to uh the various strategic plan
[1:59:32] themes including uh the uh the new
[1:59:35] priority Focus area for reconciliation
[1:59:37] that is in the 2023 to 2026 strategic
[1:59:43] plan and so a bit of background because
[1:59:45] we'll be talking a little bit about both
[1:59:47] of these uh these Focus areas of
[1:59:49] adaptation and mitigation uh when we're
[1:59:51] talking about adapt we're really talking
[1:59:53] about actions to reduce the
[1:59:54] vulnerability of the natural and human
[1:59:57] systems to change climate change uh
[1:59:59] impacts but um and then also at the same
[2:00:02] time we'll be talking about mitigation
[2:00:04] and that's about reducing our carbon
[2:00:05] footprint so reducing our greenhouse gas
[2:00:08] emissions both uh uh as an organization
[2:00:11] and uh as a community and so we do
[2:00:13] recognize at the same time that there's
[2:00:15] some uh uh actions that have co-
[2:00:17] benefits so they'll have that uh that
[2:00:19] benefit of reducing our footprint as
[2:00:21] well as help prepare us for uh the
[2:00:23] impacts of of climate
[2:00:26] change and uh we have been following
[2:00:29] this this five phased process to develop
[2:00:32] the adaptation strategy uh and it's a a
[2:00:36] circular process in the sense that we
[2:00:38] can enter into it at various places so
[2:00:40] that we can continue to provide uh uh uh
[2:00:43] refinements uh with updated information
[2:00:46] into the strategy which is uh very much
[2:00:48] a dynamic document uh and uh so it began
[2:00:52] that that phase in 2016 with the
[2:00:54] development of climate projections
[2:00:56] working with the pl Pacific climate
[2:00:58] impacts Consortium as well as a number
[2:01:00] of other partners uh to develop that as
[2:01:03] well as the recommendations that came
[2:01:05] came out of that uh which set us up for
[2:01:08] this phase of vulnerability and risk
[2:01:09] assessments uh which um did have a focus
[2:01:13] on uh those specific risks related to
[2:01:15] climate so uh including flood uh slope
[2:01:19] failure uh but also um sea level rise
[2:01:22] and uh Wildfire risk assessments all at
[2:01:25] the same time now recognizing that this
[2:01:27] is an ongoing piece of work and we have
[2:01:29] a number of groups across the
[2:01:30] organization uh as well as uh the
[2:01:33] community that are doing risk
[2:01:34] assessments so uh working with the
[2:01:36] municipality of North cin for example uh
[2:01:39] with their climate risk assessment
[2:01:40] working with Emergency Management cowit
[2:01:42] and uh uh with their Hazard risk and
[2:01:45] vulnerability assessment as well as
[2:01:46] First Nations Partners such as malahat
[2:01:49] Nation uh with their sea level rise risk
[2:01:51] assessment so looking at how we
[2:01:53] synthesize this information around risk
[2:01:55] so that we can have uh a broad but
[2:01:58] coordinated
[2:01:59] response and uh this this phase of work
[2:02:03] sets us up for that development of the
[2:02:05] strategy uh where we work through that
[2:02:07] with numerous Partners to uh identify
[2:02:10] actions that were needed going forward
[2:02:12] we'll talk a bit about this fourth and
[2:02:15] parallel phase of work around mitigation
[2:02:17] and the opportunities to to move forward
[2:02:19] there and make uh make progress uh and
[2:02:22] then of course uh the the phase that
[2:02:24] we're currently in which is this
[2:02:26] implementation piece and uh the
[2:02:28] opportunities to uh to go forward and
[2:02:31] work with Partners on
[2:02:33] that and so the strategy came together
[2:02:37] with uh with the input from these these
[2:02:39] various Partners including provincial
[2:02:41] agencies Community
[2:02:43] stewards um from our first nation's
[2:02:45] Partners um Island Health our Municipal
[2:02:49] partners and um other community agencies
[2:02:53] including the school district to develop
[2:02:55] this uh this Vision uh as well as six
[2:02:58] supporting goals and then actions which
[2:03:01] link to uh to each of those those goals
[2:03:05] uh and uh they're grouped according to
[2:03:08] these five thematic areas so we have a
[2:03:10] first thematic area of uh resilient gray
[2:03:13] and green infrastructure and so we're
[2:03:15] thinking about Asset Management uh but
[2:03:17] we're also looking at uh uh building
[2:03:20] standards and um how we move forward
[2:03:23] with uh protection of uh infrastructure
[2:03:27] uh from uh climate impacts we have this
[2:03:30] second theme around Community Health and
[2:03:32] emergency management looking not only at
[2:03:35] um the immediate needs that come with um
[2:03:37] emergency situations but also uh some of
[2:03:40] the preventative opportunities that are
[2:03:42] there um as it relates to for example
[2:03:45] air quality um but also um how we uh are
[2:03:49] are responding to uh to emergencies
[2:03:52] uh and so many actions being led through
[2:03:55] our Emergency Management Group and uh
[2:03:58] and as well as a number of other
[2:04:00] partners in in that realm a third
[2:04:03] thematic area for green growth and
[2:04:04] sustainable development uh which uh
[2:04:07] captures um u a good uh amount of work
[2:04:11] being done by the uh Economic
[2:04:14] Development uh group uh the cvrd uh but
[2:04:18] also uh working with a number of
[2:04:19] Partners so for example uh the develop
[2:04:22] the the uh the progress being made
[2:04:24] around uh circular economy strategy um
[2:04:27] and then this fourth thematic area which
[2:04:29] is uh linked to ecosystems and Biore
[2:04:32] Regional carrying capacity and so uh we
[2:04:34] spoke a bit about that in relation to
[2:04:36] the drinking water and Watership
[2:04:38] Protection Program but we'll talk a bit
[2:04:40] about some of these additional actions
[2:04:42] as well that are uh carrying forward
[2:04:44] this work a fifth thematic area which is
[2:04:47] linked to cross cutting actions and
[2:04:49] those are really about uh partnership
[2:04:52] building capacity building so addressing
[2:04:55] some of the um the comments and the the
[2:04:57] concerns around uh overlapping
[2:04:59] jurisdiction and um ultimately looking
[2:05:02] at how do we look at these big problems
[2:05:05] uh but uh various organizations can come
[2:05:08] together and uh and and really build the
[2:05:11] capacity uh with those shared resources
[2:05:14] that we we all have in a coordinated way
[2:05:16] and we'll talk a bit about some of the
[2:05:18] the mechanisms for that uh and how
[2:05:21] there's the 39 prioritized actions under
[2:05:23] these thematic areas and so uh coming
[2:05:27] back to that fourth uh phase of work on
[2:05:29] the climate mitigation and so the Comm
[2:05:32] commitments that we have in that area
[2:05:34] are uh through the BC climate action
[2:05:36] Charter and so they include uh becoming
[2:05:39] carbon neutral in our corporate
[2:05:40] operations measuring and Reporting our
[2:05:43] community
[2:05:44] ghgs uh and then also uh uh working
[2:05:47] towards complete compact and more energy
[2:05:49] efficient communities uh and and so on
[2:05:52] that uh Community Front we did develop a
[2:05:55] regional energy strategy in 2012 uh but
[2:05:59] a number of uh parameters have have
[2:06:02] changed around that in terms of uh the
[2:06:04] opportunities for for uh uh improved uh
[2:06:08] input data as well as a broadening of
[2:06:10] that strategy to not only look at resid
[2:06:13] the residential sector but also uh the
[2:06:15] number of other sectors that are
[2:06:17] responsible for our and contributing to
[2:06:19] our carbon footprint as a community so
[2:06:22] um the the strategy is is in need of
[2:06:25] update uh uh going forward and so that
[2:06:27] is one of the uh the recommended uh
[2:06:30] steps for this year uh and also
[2:06:32] recognizing that the Local Government
[2:06:34] Act uh does require us to establish
[2:06:36] those ghd reduction targets at the
[2:06:38] community level and identify mechanisms
[2:06:41] to uh achieve and undertake that uh that
[2:06:44] ongoing monitoring and help us uh meet
[2:06:47] those those targets at the corporate
[2:06:50] level uh we also have strategy in place
[2:06:52] and again there's an opportunity for
[2:06:54] update there um currently it has a focus
[2:06:58] on on buildings and structures but also
[2:07:01] uh an opportunity to look at the broader
[2:07:04] corporate footprint and reflect current
[2:07:07] input data targets and best practices
[2:07:09] which have changed uh in in many ways uh
[2:07:12] since uh the uh that that strategy was
[2:07:16] developed and
[2:07:17] so uh and so coming back to the the
[2:07:21] adaptation work and some of these these
[2:07:24] key actions for for the coming year and
[2:07:26] so um uh the implementation of the high
[2:07:30] priority items in the 10year drinking
[2:07:32] water and Watershed Protection Program
[2:07:34] is a big component of the adaptation
[2:07:35] strategy as well and so um as as Mr
[2:07:39] Moore was was speaking about uh many of
[2:07:41] those actions link to uh this thematic
[2:07:44] area around uh ecosystems protection as
[2:07:47] well as bi Regional carrying capacity so
[2:07:50] identifying those High stress aquifers
[2:07:53] uh like we did with the South CCH and uh
[2:07:55] groundwater budgets for aquafer 197 and
[2:07:59] 206 to understand that those are the
[2:08:01] those are ones that are are are
[2:08:03] exhibiting high water supply stress that
[2:08:05] helps us understand the the bi Regional
[2:08:08] carrying capacity as well as the the
[2:08:10] water quality for example in those those
[2:08:12] areas too whether it's related to uh
[2:08:14] nutrient levels in in in groundwater
[2:08:17] seeing elevated levels there in uh
[2:08:19] Cobble Hill but then similarly in the uh
[2:08:22] the South cin watersheds uh with with
[2:08:25] shaigan Lake uh and the the the
[2:08:28] background data that was that was useful
[2:08:29] there to support uh planning around uh
[2:08:33] uh liquid waste infrastructure and so
[2:08:35] these these components support that
[2:08:37] thematic area of Biore Regional carrying
[2:08:40] capacity um in a substantial way and so
[2:08:43] uh at the same time uh there's a number
[2:08:46] of other actions that link to uh
[2:08:48] ecosystems protection and uh as well as
[2:08:51] uh Communications of the of the work and
[2:08:54] so a big component of that uh that we're
[2:08:57] working on right now is the review and
[2:08:58] refresh of The New Normal coin uh web
[2:09:02] page and Communications program so uh
[2:09:05] not only having uh web-based tools uh
[2:09:07] updated but uh having uh deployment of
[2:09:11] uh of of physical uh media as well for
[2:09:15] for spreading the word uh but also
[2:09:17] inviting uh participation from community
[2:09:19] members on uh their Reflections on on
[2:09:22] impacts and
[2:09:24] solutions the conservation strategy
[2:09:26] development uh including an updated Esa
[2:09:29] inventory the setting of conservation
[2:09:31] targets uh is also a key action within
[2:09:34] the adaptation strategy and something
[2:09:36] that uh uh is uh intended to to be
[2:09:39] moving forward uh in this in this coming
[2:09:41] year uh as well as ongoing invasive
[2:09:44] plants monitoring uh and identification
[2:09:46] of new priority plants for inclusion in
[2:09:48] the bylaw which uh uh we uh had
[2:09:52] established uh in in
[2:09:54] 2016 uh implementing the updated airshed
[2:09:57] protection strategy uh updated last year
[2:10:00] uh including uh now going forward with
[2:10:03] the uh refreshed uh wood stove uh
[2:10:06] replacement program wood stove Reduction
[2:10:09] Program uh that we partner on with the
[2:10:11] province uh as well as um uh partnering
[2:10:15] internally with the various uh groups
[2:10:18] around uh reviewing the the the burning
[2:10:20] bylaws as well so key actions uh to be
[2:10:23] moving forward within the airshed
[2:10:25] protection strategy uh flood management
[2:10:28] planning also key within the adaptation
[2:10:30] strategy and fits across a number of
[2:10:32] those thematic areas also strong tie-ins
[2:10:35] to the drinking water and Watershed
[2:10:37] protection uh strategy
[2:10:39] implementation uh and of course uh a key
[2:10:43] um underlying component to uh the
[2:10:46] various uh subject areas is uh planning
[2:10:48] for updates to uh the state of the
[2:10:50] environment
[2:10:52] uh reports which includes these these 14
[2:10:54] sections that were that were developed
[2:10:57] and some have been updated in more
[2:10:58] recent years uh and of course uh many
[2:11:02] have been brought forward to the board
[2:11:04] in different forms uh in terms of
[2:11:07] updated information uh whether it's uh
[2:11:10] air air quality uh reporting updates or
[2:11:14] um environmentally sensitive area uh
[2:11:17] updates we've been bringing information
[2:11:19] forward in in different ways but we're
[2:11:21] at whether there's an opportunity to
[2:11:23] bring that forward in a state-of the
[2:11:25] environment report fashion or or other
[2:11:27] mechanisms so that it's uh it's
[2:11:30] informative to uh to to
[2:11:33] folks uh of course a significant action
[2:11:36] also linked to uh this concept of
[2:11:40] ecosystems protection and Biore Regional
[2:11:42] carrying capacity is uh to continue
[2:11:44] working with Partners on the replacement
[2:11:46] of the CCH and Lake Weir uh which uh we
[2:11:48] now have that that additional funding
[2:11:50] from uh the senior government uh and uh
[2:11:54] link to that is the associated flood
[2:11:57] mitigation
[2:11:58] Works cross cutting actions that support
[2:12:01] not only those actions that are being
[2:12:04] led by our group which we've just
[2:12:06] mentioned again supporting ecosystems of
[2:12:08] bi Regional caring capacity but all of
[2:12:10] the other uh thematic areas linked to
[2:12:12] Community Health and
[2:12:14] infrastructure uh and these cross
[2:12:16] cutting actions again link back to that
[2:12:19] key concept of of capacity building and
[2:12:22] so uh it speaks to our opportunities to
[2:12:25] engage with the public to not only
[2:12:27] communicate out the information but to
[2:12:29] gather input and so um some key
[2:12:31] mechanisms to be able to do that and
[2:12:34] some that are already in place uh we're
[2:12:36] looking forward to hosting a regional
[2:12:39] climate and health Forum so looking at a
[2:12:42] broad number of Partners across the
[2:12:44] region uh for a large space discussion
[2:12:47] uh given the uh the number of various
[2:12:50] folks that are active in this space uh
[2:12:53] to understand where we are at with our
[2:12:57] activities where can we learn from each
[2:12:58] other and uh invite that broad level of
[2:13:02] participation um uh this would build on
[2:13:05] what uh the mech one of the mechanisms
[2:13:07] we already have which is uh as as
[2:13:09] directed by the board in in in the
[2:13:12] previous years this development of The
[2:13:14] Advisory Group which includes the
[2:13:16] intergovernmental participants the
[2:13:18] various Municipal Partners our first
[2:13:19] Nations partners to support implementing
[2:13:22] the priority actions in the adaptation
[2:13:24] strategy and so uh again this is a
[2:13:27] mechanism to uh ensure that the strategy
[2:13:30] continues to uh reflect the the broad
[2:13:33] views of of the community uh and uh that
[2:13:36] we're able to to implement those actions
[2:13:39] in a most in a more coordinated way uh
[2:13:42] wherever we can uh ongoing collaboration
[2:13:45] with partner climate initiatives is key
[2:13:46] so uh working for example with the
[2:13:49] municipality of North cowit and on their
[2:13:51] climate planning program uh with the
[2:13:54] risk assessment and now going forward
[2:13:56] into the adaptation planning work that
[2:13:57] they're looking to do but this also
[2:13:59] includes and and speaks to uh the
[2:14:02] opportunities for directors to be
[2:14:03] involved so there was um a question in
[2:14:07] the in the earlier uh presentation there
[2:14:09] about that and one of one of these
[2:14:11] opportunities is through the Vic can uh
[2:14:15] forum and so we have uh we have been
[2:14:18] notified that they'll be online for
[2:14:21] Forums on May 6th and May 13th for that
[2:14:24] so that's for elected officials but also
[2:14:26] for staff uh and uh there'll be uh
[2:14:29] additional uh opportunities through that
[2:14:32] uh that uh that Forum the vicc can and
[2:14:35] so we're anticipating more information
[2:14:37] about that ourselves and uh looking
[2:14:39] forward to to that opportunity uh and
[2:14:43] really just examining uh uh OPP
[2:14:45] additional partnership opportunities to
[2:14:47] work with the local stewardship groups
[2:14:49] who um can have uh uh a tremendous role
[2:14:53] for for adaptation going forward uh on
[2:14:56] the mitigation side as mentioned the
[2:14:58] opportunities are there to uh to update
[2:15:01] the community greenhouse gas reduction
[2:15:03] strategy the corporate greenhouse gas
[2:15:05] reduction strategy uh continue
[2:15:07] implementing those actions that may uh
[2:15:09] already being implemented for example
[2:15:12] electrical electric vehicle support uh
[2:15:15] but also uh building upgrades and
[2:15:17] ultimately those updated strategies
[2:15:19] would identify
[2:15:21] those that broad range of actions across
[2:15:24] the number of emissions categories that
[2:15:28] could um be reduced and uh looking at um
[2:15:33] looking at how we can work with that uh
[2:15:35] with with our various partners and so
[2:15:37] with that thank
[2:15:38] you to the directors and uh thank you
[2:15:42] very much for the presentation um
[2:15:45] considering this was for information and
[2:15:47] I'm aware that a few directors have a
[2:15:50] 12:00 uh appointment that they were
[2:15:53] trying to keep uh could we or are you in
[2:15:56] favor of taking your questions or
[2:15:58] comments
[2:16:00] offline uh if if that is appropriate and
[2:16:03] that we consider the closed session that
[2:16:07] would follow after the board if that is
[2:16:09] okay with uh the body we could we could
[2:16:12] do that uh I'm seeing nodding so chair
[2:16:17] Stone I mean director Stone I just don't
[2:16:19] want to take away the thanks to Mr
[2:16:22] Lawrence and the team um for doing this
[2:16:24] work and uh we'll talk about how North
[2:16:27] Couch's getting all these resources
[2:16:29] later yes and we'll share them around
[2:16:31] for sure so if that's okay with the uh
[2:16:33] with the body we will uh take our
[2:16:35] questions and comments offline I do have
[2:16:37] some that I'll forward as well and uh
[2:16:41] we'll move forward with the closed
[2:16:43] session after the board completion so Mr
[2:16:46] chair would be appro appropriate to move
[2:16:49] the motion to close session then adjourn
[2:16:50] the close session until after regular
[2:16:53] board so I'd make the motion to go into
[2:16:55] close session a after Miss Harrison
[2:16:58] tells us
[2:16:59] why um thank you Mr chair for you to
[2:17:03] director Stone we have question period
[2:17:08] first so I will turn to the public for
[2:17:10] questions and please be kind to me it's
[2:17:13] been a long
[2:17:17] morning Mr chair it has been a long
[2:17:19] morning and I'm feeling the privilege of
[2:17:21] being the only public witness to this
[2:17:23] morning's deliberations because of the
[2:17:25] technical difficulties today so my
[2:17:28] question is can the board look at
[2:17:30] alternative ways to communicate
[2:17:32] excellent reports like Mr Lawrence's
[2:17:35] material in more of an audio visual
[2:17:37] format that could be going viral and
[2:17:39] sharing just like we did with the cowch
[2:17:41] and tourism almost like a b-roll where
[2:17:43] we can show snapshots from around the
[2:17:45] region and really get people excited and
[2:17:48] emotionally invested in this material
[2:17:50] because I really hate to see reports
[2:17:52] like this be left on the Shelf thank you
[2:17:54] Mr chair thank you very much and we'll
[2:17:55] do our utmost within our it upgrade to
[2:17:58] implement something that you have
[2:18:00] mentioned thank you no followup thank
[2:18:03] you so now a motion to go into close
[2:18:06] Miss Harrison on what
[2:18:09] matters uh thank you Mr chair uh we have
[2:18:14] uh section 91 k
[2:18:19] 91a move by director Stone and seconded
[2:18:23] by Ish Dash director ish Das that is all
[2:18:27] in favor opposed if any motion to
[2:18:32] adjourn
[2:18:36] yes so moved and seconded all in
[2:18:39] favor okay we will convene
[2:18:49] later
[2:19:17] last stay
[2:19:19] tuned refresh yeah it's all yeah
[2:19:24] hopefully
[2:19:27] longm data but you might
[2:19:33] see
[2:19:49] okay
[2:20:05] well we don't know I don't know
[2:20:19] what
[2:20:45] I know
[2:20:49] it's
[2:21:19] [Music]
[2:22:11] makide even if they can't help there's
[2:22:13] nothing can do they would just sit here
[2:22:16] for while we are drowning in other I
[2:22:19] would I would at this point
[2:22:24] Optics we need to I'm just
[2:22:49] sharing
[2:23:12] so so all of that has to do with having
[2:23:15] on the
[2:23:18] [Applause]
[2:23:19] screen
[2:23:36] out
[2:23:42] system needer and just get back
[2:23:46] to just yeah no no no I agree so what
[2:23:49] I'm just saying is that
[2:23:51] that's priority
[2:23:57] [Music]
[2:24:01] we observation wise I know but I think
[2:24:05] that um
[2:24:07] that is unfortunate and
[2:24:09] it's but I want I want to do things to
[2:24:13] actually fix the situation I don't want
[2:24:15] to do things that just obiously make us
[2:24:17] look good even though the situation
[2:24:19] can't be fixed that way
[2:24:25] techology no that's actually not true it
[2:24:28] all works the thing that doesn't work
[2:24:32] St like that's actually the
[2:24:34] misconception is that some technology is
[2:24:36] bad and there are some things that are
[2:24:38] bad like one thing that's really
[2:24:43] bad pieces that are
[2:24:47] not because they are in and they
[2:24:53] but you you tell me one I can hon I
[2:24:57] don't know
[2:25:01] one
[2:25:04] laptop
[2:25:07] abely we need we need to have the
[2:25:10] cameras in here and then
[2:25:13] versatile you and I
[2:25:16] can totally that's I'm saying got so
[2:25:20] there's
[2:25:21] yeah no no I
[2:25:23] realiz I'm only sharing the
[2:25:31] I chase got come in here he doesn't know
[2:25:34] what's going on we got
[2:25:49] weone
[2:26:01] St the problem
[2:26:09] isas well I'll tell you I I'll read the
[2:26:12] report but I will tell
[2:26:19] you I I met guy who did all our
[2:26:30] system
[2:26:32] we and just deliver on this tomor after
[2:26:36] hours get it
[2:26:39] done
[2:26:43] I'm be six 12 months with the same same
[2:26:48] issue some
[2:26:58] so if we do that if we come in here
[2:27:00] other than what you just mentioned about
[2:27:02] the video cameras which actually has
[2:27:04] been like the problems that we're having
[2:27:06] have nothing to do with video we've not
[2:27:08] had a problem with video ceras period in
[2:27:10] two years I mean you may not like the
[2:27:13] fact that right now we
[2:27:15] have this going on but in fact that
[2:27:18] that's not problem complaint
[2:27:21] the complaints have audio
[2:27:24] complaints
[2:27:28] computer well the WebEx issues to have
[2:27:31] almost been all user error setting up
[2:27:41] meetings
[2:27:43] soat now
[2:27:47] [Music]
[2:27:49] isable
[2:27:53] so this morning not first time last
[2:27:56] couple weeks we had a meeting
[2:28:07] withi I the third party was
[2:28:11] all so
[2:28:15] weed and um we went into teams and uh
[2:28:20] fine but what I'm saying is is we've had
[2:28:23] audio issues that
[2:28:25] are
[2:28:29] external sometimes internal sometimes
[2:28:31] exal I don't think it's actually the
[2:28:32] user I think it's it's
[2:28:43] not three weeks ago I submitted the help
[2:28:46] us uh where half the grou
[2:28:52] but
[2:28:54] were and then today was weird
[2:28:58] because no I was
[2:29:01] here
[2:29:02] um no it was it
[2:29:09] [Music]
[2:29:10] [Applause]
[2:29:14] waser exact then there was also one that
[2:29:18] later in the
[2:29:19] day weird
[2:29:27] gety verified unified things apparently
[2:29:32] update on it
[2:29:33] probably
[2:29:39] changes what I have to tell you we
[2:29:42] pursed Your solution we got $250,000
[2:29:45] worth of it upgade overnight and
[2:29:48] implemented it we would have all
[2:29:51] it would not improve anything so I don't
[2:29:53] know why we would do that that's
[2:29:54] actually not
[2:30:08] Sol don't dise that yeah it's just I
[2:30:11] think
[2:30:14] Improvement tra something new every
[2:30:16] Municipal has technology issues but they
[2:30:20] also are probably 10 years ahead in the
[2:30:23] the new system
[2:30:25] the support I don't know how they would
[2:30:28] support
[2:30:31] anyway just that yeah I just
[2:30:34] started okay
[2:30:49] sorry
[2:31:19] e
[2:40:18] for
[2:40:48] e
[2:42:48] for
[2:43:48] e
[2:44:48] for
[2:46:18] e
[2:46:48] for
[2:47:48] e
[2:48:18] for
[2:48:48] e
[2:49:17] for
[2:49:47] e
[2:50:17] for