[0:36] How about now?

[0:40] >> Okay. I'd like to call this regular

[0:41] council meeting of Monday, July 27th,

[0:44] 2026 to order. I'm the acting mayor for

[0:47] the month of July. Um, Mayor Leonard may

[0:49] or may not be able to join us depending

[0:51] on where where he is on his vacation.

[0:56] And um

[0:59] so the as we open the meeting, I'd like

[1:02] to acknowledge with gratitude that we

[1:03] live and work on the traditional

[1:05] unseated territory of the Squamish

[1:07] nation whose people have been stewards

[1:09] of these lands and waters surrounding

[1:11] Nqualikum Bone Island. Um and be do you

[1:16] want to make a few comments before we

[1:18] approve the agenda?

[1:20] >> Um I did if you wouldn't mind the

[1:23] opportunity.

[1:24] >> Yeah.

[1:24] >> Thank you. I just um I'm Kristen Watson.

[1:27] I'm the acting CEO for Bowen Island

[1:29] Municipality. I just wanted to take this

[1:31] opportunity to thank staff, thank

[1:33] council. We had a very um significant

[1:36] interruption in our last council

[1:37] meeting. It arose from a situation where

[1:41] um some nefarious players entered our

[1:44] online council meeting and chose to um

[1:48] expose themselves on live uh YouTube

[1:51] which uh resulted in the fact that our

[1:54] council meeting uh was taken down

[1:56] immediately by YouTube. They canled our

[1:58] account for a short time until we were

[2:00] able to successfully get it back. Uh I

[2:04] just wanted to thank the public for the

[2:06] opport for the um understanding of our

[2:09] new uh meeting registration procedures

[2:12] which are requiring that people register

[2:14] in advance in order to keep our future

[2:16] meetings secure and not have a

[2:18] reoccurrence of that event. So, I just

[2:20] wanted to dispel any rumors or about

[2:22] what happened there, but certainly it

[2:24] was uh beyond the control of staff,

[2:26] beyond the control of uh uh council, and

[2:30] I just wanted to thank everybody for

[2:31] their understanding going forward with

[2:33] our new meeting registration procedure.

[2:35] So, thank you very much.

[2:36] >> So, you mean that you need to be

[2:38] registered online in order to speak

[2:41] online? Is that what you're trying to

[2:42] say?

[2:43] >> Yes, that's correct. If you want to

[2:44] participate online and you want to

[2:46] speak, you'll have to re uh register in

[2:48] advance for the new meeting.

[2:50] >> So, I think the new instructions are up

[2:53] with the um council agenda when it gets

[2:56] posted.

[2:58] >> That's correct. Okay. All right. So, if

[3:01] anybody is online and wanting to um

[3:05] register to speak, they're going to have

[3:07] to follow through the new processes for

[3:08] this particular meeting. Thank you.

[3:11] Okay. All right.

[3:14] So I forgot to introduce the council

[3:16] members that are sitting here at the

[3:18] table. So we have councelor Su Ellen

[3:19] Fast, councelor Judy Getty, our uh

[3:23] acting CEO and CFO

[3:26] Chris Watson, uh Sophia Inda, our

[3:29] corporate officer, Tim Wake, counselor

[3:31] Tim Wakeake, and counselor John

[3:33] Saunders. Thank you. Okay, approval of

[3:37] the agenda. Is there any late items,

[3:39] Sophie?

[3:40] Uh there are several on table items uh

[3:43] this afternoon. First is 7.1A

[3:46] correspondence from neighbors of 1639

[3:49] and 1658 Mount Gardner Road. Uh in

[3:52] relation to item 7.2 there is a replaced

[3:56] attachment to the staff report and that

[3:59] is the amended islands trust policy

[4:01] checklist. Item 7.2E

[4:04] new correspondence from Heather Miller.

[4:07] 7.2F 2F new correspondence from an

[4:09] Frankfare Shalot.

[4:14] Can I have a motion for approval of the

[4:16] agenda, please? As amended.

[4:20] Thank you. And a seconder, Judy. Um, all

[4:24] in favor?

[4:25] >> Oh, sorry.

[4:26] >> I just We just heard from Alex. He's

[4:28] wait he's in the waiting room.

[4:32] Uh,

[4:37] sorry I don't.

[4:40] Steph, do you have um councelor

[4:41] Jurgensson in the waiting room?

[4:46] » He sent a text indicator and that's

[4:48] where he is.

[4:48] >> Oh, I wonder if he went through the

[4:49] registration process.

[4:58] » Uh, so just to note, our deputy

[5:00] corporate officer is here. uh assisting

[5:04] >> our our deputy corporate officer is here

[5:07] assisting with the um with the Zoom

[5:09] meeting.

[5:11] >> Unfortunately, we don't have councelor

[5:13] Jurgensson in the waiting room. So, I'm

[5:15] not sure.

[5:19] » Uh so, we'll just let um staff work on

[5:22] that with councelor Jurgensson.

[5:25] So, are we okay to go ahead with public

[5:28] comments then?

[5:34] Okay, let's uh do we have any public

[5:36] comment? I think we might have one. We

[5:39] do.

[5:41] Uh we actually have three this

[5:44] afternoon.

[5:46] And the first one is uh Rob Perie, but I

[5:48] don't see him online either.

[5:52] Um so maybe we can skip to the people

[5:55] who are here. Uh so that's an Frank

[5:58] defer.

[6:07] So I'm going to read the letter that I

[6:08] sent and is part of your you know

[6:11] whatever it was on table package. Your

[6:15] worship and counselors first I would

[6:17] like to apologize for being so late at

[6:20] giving you my fe feedback about item 272

[6:24] on today's agenda.

[6:28] On May 26, I provided you with a report

[6:32] titled The Future of the Riley's

[6:34] Heritage Apple Orchard. It gives a

[6:37] detailed description of the orchard, its

[6:40] creation, history,

[6:43] maintenance notes, ulticultural notes,

[6:46] and the conclusion is as follow. I

[6:49] quote, "It is evident that the Ry's

[6:51] heritage apple orchard needs to be

[6:54] preserved. Any potential solution has to

[6:58] take into account the legacy that led to

[7:01] the creation of this unique and

[7:03] extraordinary treasure. And so a proper

[7:06] perpetual conservation covenant is

[7:09] needed. Such a perpetual conservation

[7:12] covenant has to fulfill two

[7:15] requirements.

[7:17] The Riley's Heritage Apple Orchard has

[7:20] to be integrated into a land trust that

[7:24] will monitor the orchard twice or three

[7:27] times annually and provide BIM with

[7:32] assessments of the health and

[7:33] maintenance of the orchard.

[7:36] Two, the horicultural maintenance has to

[7:39] be tailored to this particular heritage

[7:42] orchard as practiced by the Whan

[7:45] community orchard. The Whan community

[7:48] orchard h have the expertise to give

[7:51] guidance for the preservation of the

[7:53] Riley's Heritage Apple Orchard. The

[7:56] purpose is to allow for the production

[7:58] of apples at a rate where the health of

[8:01] the trees is preserved for a long time.

[8:05] Espalade apple trees are known for

[8:07] exceptionally long longe longevity

[8:12] sometimes even exceeding

[8:15] 50 years. This is in complete

[8:18] contradiction to Mr. Pertie's assession

[8:21] of apple trees living only 30 years. The

[8:25] challenge appears to be the write up of

[8:28] such a perpetual conservation covenant

[8:31] that will assure that the orchard will

[8:33] be constantly maintained to prevent the

[8:36] decline [clears throat]

[8:38] to prevent the decline and well into the

[8:41] future in order to preserve this unique

[8:44] and extra generate born island treasure.

[8:47] Thank you.

[8:53] » Uh thank you. Next on the list, we have

[8:54] Margaret Underh Hill.

[9:01] » Thank you. This is about 620 Laura Road,

[9:03] of course. Um and as we reported to

[9:06] council in May when the neighbors

[9:08] discussed with Rob Perie in May about

[9:12] the concept of um the resoning proposal,

[9:15] we were reluctantly agreed with with the

[9:18] resoning proposal with restrictions on

[9:21] the retail and picnic area size and a

[9:23] conservation covenant to protect the

[9:25] orchard. The relationship of the cery to

[9:28] the heritage orchard has been emphasized

[9:29] by applicants and councils for five and

[9:31] a half years. The latest wrinkle, the

[9:34] proposal to change the cidery definition

[9:36] again after five and a half years of the

[9:38] existing definition would not require

[9:41] any on-site apple input. What effect

[9:44] will this have on a conservation

[9:46] covenant and the future of the heritage

[9:49] orchard? If this proposal was in a

[9:51] letter dated July 21st, as indicated in

[9:54] Mr. Martin's report the same date as the

[9:56] applicant's submission to the APC. Why

[9:58] wasn't this proposal re revealed to the

[10:01] APC? A lot of their discussion was about

[10:04] the percentage of apples required from

[10:05] the 620 property. The planner's

[10:08] presentation at the APC meeting still

[10:10] showed the original cery definition made

[10:12] no mention of a new proposal. This is

[10:15] disturbing at this advanced stage of the

[10:17] process. Thank you very much.

[10:24] Thank you. That it [clears throat]

[10:26] >> uh unfortunately I don't see uh Rob

[10:28] Pretty online either. So um I guess we

[10:32] move on.

[10:32] >> Okay, we'll move on to delegations.

[10:38] And our first delegation is an electric

[10:41] vehicle charger upgrade project for the

[10:44] library in the community center. We have

[10:46] representatives from BC Hydro. Is this

[10:48] Phil Garber? Thank you.

[10:50] >> Thank you.

[10:52] >> Uh first off, thanks so much for having

[10:55] us. Um my name is Philip Garber. I'm

[10:57] with BC Hydro's EV charging program and

[10:59] joined by Sabrina Lux Cisero, our

[11:01] community relations manager for Bone

[11:04] Island. Um, so we

[11:08] approached um,

[11:12] Kirsten Watson and staff u a few I guess

[11:15] a couple months ago to pick up uh, a

[11:19] development that we had well a couple of

[11:22] years ago where we first explored um,

[11:24] installing some charging infrastructure.

[11:27] So I wonder I I did provide some pres

[11:29] the presentation um if if that is

[11:31] available.

[11:34] >> Just um hang on a minute while we

[11:36] >> Can you get that up Sophie?

[11:39] >> So I can while while we pull that up um

[11:43] I can speak to our program first um the

[11:47] EV PC hydro public charging program.

[11:51] it's its mandate, it's its mission, its

[11:52] goal, and it's kind of the

[11:54] >> the phase that in the development of the

[11:56] program we're at right now. And then

[11:58] come to to Bowen Island as well. Um what

[12:00] we are essentially are offered to to the

[12:03] community of Bowen Island. So BC Hydro's

[12:07] been in the public EV charging space for

[12:11] over a decade now. One one of the first

[12:13] networks and longest standing networks

[12:14] in North America. Uh it started with a

[12:17] site in Animo and Cam Loops and a few

[12:19] others. And over the last few years,

[12:22] it's really grown and evolved to become

[12:24] a real uh a backbone really to to EV

[12:29] electric vehicle travelers in in the

[12:32] province. So we in 2024

[12:35] uh concluded construction of the

[12:38] electric highway, BC's electric highway,

[12:40] which essentially connected

[12:42] folks in the entire province. You you

[12:44] could feasibly travel from Victoria to

[12:47] the Yukon border or to Alberta. um

[12:51] with a charger every 150 kilometers or

[12:53] so and and BC Hydro contributed to that.

[12:56] We can move along a couple of slides

[12:58] here um and to the next slide here. This

[13:01] is just kind of an overview of where the

[13:03] charger the sites are. So to date we

[13:07] operate 190 sites almost a little over

[13:10] 900 charging ports across the province

[13:12] and the electric highway the mandate was

[13:15] make sure that it's doable driving

[13:18] across the province. So uh a

[13:21] geographically geographically connected

[13:24] corridor that meant that communities

[13:27] like Bowen Island were close enough to

[13:30] feasibly to to let's say a charger on

[13:33] the Northshore to not necessarily be

[13:36] prescribed that we build a charge site

[13:37] here. We didn't have that opportunity

[13:39] under that buildout. Uh now just last

[13:42] week the province announced a an

[13:44] expanded mandate for BC Hydra's charging

[13:46] program to grow this network from 900

[13:48] ports to 3,500 ports. Uh a quadruple

[13:52] almost quadrupling at least a tripling

[13:54] um a major major investment

[13:57] provincewide. And that allowed us to

[14:00] revisit communities like Bowen Island

[14:03] where that we had on our kind of on our

[14:06] higher priority list where we say, "Hey,

[14:09] it is it is a community that has

[14:12] electric vehicles. It is an a sign

[14:15] sizable stock. It is a community that

[14:17] has a sizable um visitor traffic too.

[14:20] Even even today, I was surprised how

[14:22] busy that ferry was on Monday morning."

[14:24] Um turns out I shouldn't be. Um, so

[14:29] that's that's kind of where we're coming

[14:30] to in the next evolution of our program.

[14:33] So if we click click to the next slide,

[14:37] um, it it should speak to or illustrate

[14:40] what some of our sites look like. Our

[14:42] classic branding, uh, equipment gets

[14:44] better every year. If we go to the next

[14:47] slide, it should tell us kind of what we

[14:49] look for in a site. So we have

[14:52] requirements put on us by the regulator

[14:55] BC utilities commission requirements put

[14:57] on us by our funding partners that's the

[14:59] federal NRCAN program and the provincial

[15:02] clean BC program those include 247 365

[15:06] unrestricted access uh they include a

[15:10] minimum number of chargers which is now

[15:13] a minimum number of two chargers in our

[15:15] case that's four charging stalls four

[15:17] charging ports they include um

[15:21] requirements for accessibility. So you

[15:23] see in that picture, this is a site in

[15:25] at a at a the Suriri Art Center at Berry

[15:28] Creek Park. You can see an accessibility

[15:30] lane and wheelchair accessible. We've

[15:32] actually worked with manufacturers to

[15:33] make sure the the screen is a at an

[15:36] appropriate level as as a major

[15:38] purchaser of this kind of equipment.

[15:40] We've been able to to work with

[15:41] manufacturers on that. So it is uh those

[15:44] are some of the requirements. A 10-year

[15:46] location commitment is also a

[15:48] requirement that we have from our

[15:49] funding partners and we do um all that

[15:53] in mind we we come to communities saying

[15:57] this is what we need to make an

[16:00] investment. Um we understand the context

[16:03] here that land is scars especially in

[16:07] hightra areas where the amenities are.

[16:09] So this is an offer we'd like to make.

[16:11] Right. So we if we go to the next slide

[16:15] um we

[16:19] one of the benefits of working with us

[16:20] is that PC hydro carries the entirety of

[16:24] the capital and operational costs

[16:25] related to the site to to the chargers.

[16:28] So it is a sizable investment to install

[16:30] the service connection, the transformer

[16:32] infrastructure, the chargers themselves,

[16:34] and maintain the chargers so that if

[16:36] there's one of the two chargers goes

[16:38] down, which happens not that often, but

[16:41] it does happen, you have to plan for it.

[16:43] Um, we bring crews out to to to repair

[16:46] those. Now the typically the site host

[16:50] partner will maintain the stalls the way

[16:52] they already maintain the stalls today.

[16:54] So,

[16:56] it's nothing above and beyond on the

[16:58] site host partner. That would be what

[17:00] we're offering here is the the

[17:01] municipality and we could provide some

[17:03] information, some data on how many users

[17:05] there's been per per month or per year

[17:07] for your own reporting, your own goals.

[17:09] Um, so

[17:12] all that said, I think I have some

[17:14] slides on the locations we looked at.

[17:16] So, this is what the charges look like.

[17:18] 40 cents a kilowatt hour, 180 kilow. So

[17:21] what that means a full like a a car will

[17:24] now be able to charge in 20 30 minutes

[17:26] or average charge is 30 minutes. A top

[17:29] up can be 15 minutes sometimes 45

[17:31] minutes depending on this how empty the

[17:33] tank is and essentially and how big the

[17:36] battery is the tank is. Um so that's a

[17:39] significant upgrade from the flow

[17:41] chargers that are currently in place at

[17:43] your sites.

[17:45] And if we click along do we have is it

[17:48] in the same presentation? Yes. So

[17:51] we looked at a few sites

[17:54] um working with the municipality and

[17:56] again

[17:58] we absolutely know that parking is

[18:00] scarce. We we understand that. So what

[18:04] we came to is are looking to offer is

[18:07] building the site at at the library site

[18:11] property. So you currently have two

[18:14] level two chargers, two stalls dedicated

[18:16] to EVs. With the accessible stall, that

[18:19] would unfortunately turn into five from

[18:23] two to five. Um my understanding that's

[18:26] probably the biggest hurdle is to to

[18:29] overcome that. Um

[18:33] we looked at a few other sites and I can

[18:35] speak to those too. But in terms of the

[18:38] our requirements to as mentioned before

[18:41] with the accessibility with with the

[18:43] safety with um keeping the construction

[18:46] costs feasible as well is is is critical

[18:49] because we we do have to stretch these

[18:51] investment dollars that we have across

[18:52] the entire province. So we have metrics

[18:54] to hit and on a small site those are

[18:56] kind of tough to hit. So, uh, this is

[19:00] where we're offering and and if council

[19:03] and community are supportive, we can

[19:05] look to build that this winter um before

[19:08] next summer.

[19:10] If council and community would like to

[19:13] deliberate further or say maybe let's uh come back another time, we can

[19:18] come back another time, but I can't

[19:20] speak to how quickly we can slot that

[19:22] into the construction schedule because

[19:25] again, come summer, we we can build in

[19:27] the whole province. We need to build

[19:29] sites elsewhere in the province when

[19:31] there's no snow on the ground.

[19:33] So that's

[19:35] I I'll leave it with this and and

[19:37] welcome uh questions and feedback and

[19:40] comments.

[19:42] >> Councelor Saunders,

[19:44] >> thank you. Thanks for showing us. I um

[19:46] you said you looked at sites or

[19:49] >> what other sites did you look at? Yeah.

[19:51] So, we we when we first started

[19:53] screening two years ago, um we uh worked

[19:57] with with the CEO at the time um to

[20:00] explore different areas in the in the on

[20:03] the island and quickly narrow aligned

[20:05] that Snug Cove would be the place to

[20:07] make sense because this is where traffic

[20:09] everyone comes through here, right?

[20:11] Also, when there's a power outage is

[20:14] Snug Cove is usually

[20:16] less affected than the rest of the

[20:18] island, right? as you would know better

[20:20] than I do. Um,

[20:22] so sites that we looked at were

[20:24] municipally owned. So this is one.

[20:26] Another one is right out front of here.

[20:29] Um, that at the municipal hall, we we

[20:32] costed that out. Uh, significant

[20:35] additional cost related to to this site

[20:37] here. And my understanding and speaking

[20:39] with council gate gate Getty

[20:44] >> is that these stalls here are even more

[20:48] um constrained or more popular than down

[20:50] by the library.

[20:51] >> Uh so in terms of I we also explored an

[20:55] early stage two years ago the artisan

[20:58] square. Um,

[21:00] however,

[21:02] I mean, it's it's

[21:06] technically probably most sites are

[21:07] doable. It's the way the layout is

[21:10] there, you understand, is is less

[21:12] efficient here. Here's five stalls for

[21:14] four ports. There it might be seven or

[21:16] eight stalls for four ports because we

[21:18] have to place all the equipment and in

[21:20] the parking stalls here, we have some

[21:21] green space to place the equipment. Um,

[21:24] >> this is this is the best option. This is the the the least

[21:30] >> difficult option. Yeah. [laughter]

[21:34] » Municipally owned option.

[21:36] >> Anybody else got any questions?

[21:38] Councelor Fast,

[21:39] >> thank you. I'm um I'm wondering if we

[21:42] have um data from the flow stalls and I

[21:46] don't know if this is a question for mo

[21:49] municipal staff or whether you know but

[21:51] the um uh I'm wondering if those

[21:56] existing stalls which I gather are

[21:59] slower charging uh how what's the use

[22:04] pattern there? Are they being used or

[22:06] are people sort of squatting in them and

[22:08] pretending to charge? I wonder

[22:15] um through the marriage and counselor

[22:17] fast. Uh certainly we can um pull the

[22:20] data that's available from flow um from

[22:23] the corporation themselves that's

[22:24] accessible to us. can see what kind of

[22:26] statistics we can get from that. And uh

[22:29] we can also have a chat with bylaw to

[22:31] see what kinds of tickets may have been

[22:33] issued for violations of parking and not

[22:37] being um an EV parking in the EV stall.

[22:40] So um I can certainly request that data

[22:43] from staff and get back to you at a

[22:44] later council meeting in September.

[22:46] >> Thank you. because I'm I'm wondering

[22:48] about the need and uh what data we might

[22:51] have uh about those and uh I think you

[22:55] know [clears throat]

[22:56] I'm just do we want to attract more

[23:00] cars? I saw in your uh slide deck the words more sustainable future and um

[23:06] Bowen has been heading towards that

[23:08] direction as well obviously uh

[23:13] partly by not trying to attract more

[23:16] vehicles here. However, I'm uh I think

[23:20] this is a great offer to explore. Do you

[23:22] do bike charging? because we have two um

[23:26] bike sheds down at the uh at the public

[23:30] warf that are set up to perhaps at some

[23:34] point charge bicycles.

[23:37] >> At at the current point, our program

[23:39] focuses on cars and larger vehicles than

[23:42] that. Um

[23:43] >> Okay. Thank you,

[23:46] >> Councelor Saunders.

[23:47] >> Thank you to the chair. Just one more

[23:48] thing. when you uh in your presentation

[23:51] you indicated you know there's budget

[23:54] and a plan to move ahead with a bunch

[23:57] you know another 2500 or whatever it was

[24:00] and we'd certainly be considered and

[24:02] then you said um to be done next you

[24:05] know next spring or during the winter

[24:08] ready for next summer

[24:10] which implies to me there's a deadline

[24:12] here and you didn't indicate what that

[24:13] meant what do you need if we were to say

[24:16] yeah this is a great plan we want to do

[24:18] it What's our time frame?

[24:21] >> Yeah, it's tighter than I'd like. Um,

[24:23] especially considering just how involved

[24:26] the community seems to be here. Um, I

[24:28] would need to we would need to move this

[24:31] into detail design by the end of this

[24:33] month. So,

[24:35] >> next week

[24:36] >> I would need to come out from this

[24:37] presentation and from this conversation

[24:39] with you and and have strong confidence

[24:42] that that there will be support to move

[24:44] forward. If not, we we look our

[24:47] program's going to be around. We don't

[24:48] want to say this is it's this or never

[24:50] going to happen, right? Our programs

[24:52] around. PC Hydro is around. We don't go

[24:54] anywhere. Um

[24:56] we I mean the hydro just bought invested

[24:59] in the community here. So it's it's

[25:02] we can come back, we can have another

[25:05] conversation. Um

[25:07] we'll slot it in at a later time. So

[25:10] strong confidence means a motion from

[25:13] council or like an a past motion from

[25:15] council or just listening to our

[25:18] response here. You go, "No, I think

[25:19] they're going to do it."

[25:20] >> No, I a motion would be great. Yeah.

[25:23] >> Yeah. And if that's not realistic,

[25:24] that's fair. That's totally fair.

[25:26] Usually timelines aren't this tight by

[25:29] any means.

[25:30] >> Thank you.

[25:30] >> I understand that. Councelor

[25:32] >> We thank you through the chair. Um,

[25:37] following up on council fast question.

[25:39] So, currently we have just uh level two

[25:42] chargers and they take hours. Um, and a

[25:48] lot of people who have EVs on Bowen have

[25:50] their own level two chargers at home.

[25:52] I'm just wondering if it would make it

[25:54] more sense and safe some parking stalls

[25:56] if we just had fast chargers there and maybe the numbers that we're going

[26:01] to get will show us how much those have

[26:03] actually been utilized.

[26:04] >> Yeah. So the the the proposal here would

[26:06] actually free up those level two

[26:08] chargers, municipally owned level two

[26:10] chargers to be deployed elsewhere. There

[26:12] will be only two fast charges down

[26:13] there. Four that could charge four

[26:15] vehicles at once.

[26:16] >> Oh, I see. Okay. Thank you,

[26:20] >> Council Getty.

[26:21] >> So, um council was given an invitation

[26:24] to meet up with Mr. Gerber and um

[26:26] earlier this morning. So, um I took

[26:29] advantage of that with the um the li the

[26:32] chief librarian and um we talked about

[26:36] uh how basically the the from BC Hydro's

[26:40] point of view the the space by the and

[26:42] correct me if I'm wrong on this. Okay,

[26:44] summarizing but I remember um that it's

[26:48] almost shovel ready so that uh we don't

[26:50] have the detailed plans but we can get

[26:52] into that process if if we agree on um

[26:55] the library and we talked about um the

[26:58] real estate being at uh and parking

[27:01] spaces being so difficult in the cove

[27:04] and that that's not getting any better

[27:06] and we haven't been able to figure out

[27:08] other spaces that we might be able to um

[27:10] use as uh some sort of municipal

[27:14] government leverage to get more space.

[27:16] Um, and the um

[27:20] I'm sorry, I'm forgetting the

[27:22] librarian's name.

[27:24] >> Thank you. Um, she suggested u

[27:28] possibility of the lot that's below the

[27:30] general store, which means a whole lot

[27:32] of negotiating and contacts with other

[27:35] people, but I didn't think it would be

[27:36] that difficult to um have have those

[27:40] conversations. that that was an area

[27:42] that um we were we had a lot of good

[27:46] reception from the the owners of that

[27:48] property. So that's one possibility um

[27:51] that is only just come onto the radar so

[27:54] that there's no even preliminary um

[27:57] discussions but we did a walkound and

[27:59] there's potential for getting power into

[28:02] it and potential space and um you know

[28:04] it might it might be feasible. Um

[28:07] there's the problems with the artisan

[28:09] square is that the areas that are

[28:11] parallel parking there's a cliff behind

[28:13] it. So it's very very difficult in terms

[28:15] of providing all the um requirements in

[28:19] terms of what VC Hydro wants. Um,

[28:22] there's the fire hall, but that's too

[28:24] far away and it's not around the

[28:26] amenities and it's quite isolated. And

[28:29] there's other parts on the the west side

[28:31] that were looked at earlier two years

[28:33] ago that uh basically are are don't fit

[28:37] the requirements in terms of being on

[28:38] the other side of the world and not

[28:41] having any of the amenities that uh we

[28:43] might get in 10 years. And the other

[28:45] thing is that if this if we I think the

[28:48] decision today from my perspective is

[28:50] are we gung-ho and we want to um push

[28:54] this um amenity at the library or do we

[28:59] think about things and come up with some

[29:00] other plans because the the program

[29:02] isn't going away. the funding is like to

[29:05] stay the same or increase and um you

[29:08] know

[29:10] do we want more options um and not that

[29:13] they're necessarily going to be

[29:14] available but do we want to look at them

[29:17] so um it you know it might be a

[29:19] disappointment but I don't think we're

[29:21] losing the opportunity so

[29:25] thought I'd put all that on the table

[29:27] fair enough

[29:28] >> so I just had a couple for first round

[29:30] and then um I I was wondering if you had

[29:33] looked at the area up by um on Dorman

[29:36] Road by Village Square. There's par

[29:40] angle parking there and that's where the

[29:43] main line comes in. Um cuz I'm the

[29:48] library is already well used and

[29:51] overused and not able to get into most

[29:54] days, especially when the library is

[29:56] open. So, um I'd be concerned about

[29:59] taking away another two spots.

[30:02] Um,

[30:04] and do you have to have the two together

[30:06] or could you do two in one one charger

[30:08] in one place and one charger in another

[30:11] place? And then my last question I guess

[30:12] is this isn't on the agenda for

[30:14] discussion today and we don't normally

[30:17] pass motions with delegations. So it

[30:20] would be and we're not going to meet

[30:21] again until September. So if we were to

[30:24] discuss it in a meeting in September, is

[30:26] that too late for your time frame?

[30:30] >> Yeah. So the September question is if we

[30:33] want to build it this winter. September

[30:34] is too late. Uh however if you don't if

[30:39] I'm sure you can reach me by email too

[30:41] or we can set up a call later this week

[30:43] either with some folks or or or you can

[30:45] debrief with the CEO with staff and and

[30:48] get back to us that way too. I mean I

[30:50] get that having the sprung on to you is

[30:54] Yeah. No, I I get it. You want a ton to

[30:57] deliberate. So that's one two. Uh the

[31:00] question is one and one split them up.

[31:02] Unfortunately that's not an option

[31:04] because it [snorts] doubles the

[31:05] construction cost which is most of the

[31:07] cost of this

[31:08] >> construction and design and three

[31:11] village square to me is would be

[31:15] something new to look at. Uh angle

[31:18] parking

[31:20] is from experience from an organization

[31:23] that's run 190 sites. angled parking is

[31:25] not great because uh EVs have their

[31:28] ports, their charging ports or their fuel tanks on various sides and

[31:33] they might back in an angled area which

[31:38] don't back in an angle stall is there

[31:40] signs exist for a reason. Um it it just

[31:44] causes traffic headaches. We've done it.

[31:46] We have those sites. They're not great.

[31:47] They exist. You can do it, but they're

[31:49] not good.

[31:50] >> Okay. And um if we didn't go ahead now,

[31:55] we're not saying goodbye forever to the

[31:58] opportunity.

[31:58] >> Absolutely.

[31:59] >> Um Councelor Jurgensson, I believe, has

[32:01] um some questions.

[32:07] » Low audio unmuted.

[32:09] >> Yes. Thank you, uh Council Morris. Um

[32:13] through the chair.

[32:15] Um, so if I understand correctly, the

[32:17] accessibility features that you uh

[32:19] mentioned on this are uh wheelchair

[32:21] height. Is that correct?

[32:23] >> That's right.

[32:24] >> Is there any other accessibility

[32:25] features that have been included uh on

[32:27] these modules?

[32:30] >> It's more it's more around the site

[32:32] design, right? Making [clears throat]

[32:34] sure every that our sites that are paved

[32:37] is a big one, right? Gravel and

[32:41] wheelchairs is can be challenging. Um

[32:43] that's one. two is how we space the

[32:45] ballards to make sure that they're a

[32:47] little wider apart.

[32:48] >> Name is changed to counselor Alex

[32:49] Jurgensson.

[32:51] the the the the charger.

[32:55] >> I'd have to go back to to and look at

[32:59] exactly what other specs we incorporated

[33:01] or or already are incorporated, but

[33:03] essentially we've worked with the

[33:05] manufacturers, the the access the adv

[33:08] advocacy groups and and to make sure

[33:10] everything's aligned and and we meet certain features

[33:15] or requirements.

[33:16] >> Thank you. Um and also my second

[33:18] question is

[33:20] do you have um an idea of when if we

[33:24] don't go forward this winter when we

[33:26] might be able to uh have another

[33:29] opportunity or is it just kind of

[33:30] rolling opportunity?

[33:32] >> It's a rolling opportunity. It's I'll

[33:35] say when this pro announcement was made

[33:38] last week right for the the program to

[33:41] be scaled up internally we've been

[33:43] working towards that for the last few

[33:45] months. So we looked at various looked

[33:48] at our pipeline and said which sites

[33:50] could we build this winter right because

[33:52] to to to make them happen and Bone

[33:55] Island was on that list um going forward

[33:57] it's a rolling intake. So if we align on

[34:00] something in November then we look at

[34:03] when probably the following winter would

[34:05] be my guess. If if and if following if

[34:08] all construction slots are taken then it

[34:10] might be the next winter. So, it's it's

[34:11] not like it's never we're here until

[34:15] mandates change again, but [laughter]

[34:18] we're here. BC Hydro is here.

[34:20] >> Okay. Councelor Fast, you had a second

[34:22] question. Yeah, thank you. Um, and this

[34:24] sort of follows on uh Councelor

[34:25] Jurgensson's question, but I I'm looking

[34:28] at the um drawing for the hydro

[34:32] proposal, and it looks like it would be

[34:34] adding another pole to the multi-use

[34:36] pathway.

[34:37] >> That's right. in in line with the other

[34:39] polls

[34:39] >> with in line with the other polls. But

[34:41] okay, it's another poll in the multi-use

[34:43] pathway. All right. And I'm glad to hear

[34:45] about um uh the program not going away

[34:48] and uh hope so

[34:49] >> because I think it is one of the roots

[34:51] towards a sustainable future. Um I will

[34:53] note that Bowen rarely has snow in the

[34:56] winter. So if you have any cancellations

[34:58] maybe you could um fit but I would love

[35:01] to see the data and I I wouldn't uh I

[35:04] think it's very complex you know the the

[35:07] cove and how many multiple uses

[35:10] including ferry marshalling and the uh p

[35:14] passenger drop off and the um buses and

[35:17] everything that's concentrated in that

[35:20] uh small area. would there I'd like to

[35:23] think about whether the buses could be

[35:26] included in electrification, you know,

[35:29] um looking further down the uh um down

[35:33] the way and uh so I'm

[35:38] thank you for coming with your ideas.

[35:41] I'm I'm excited about the possibilities.

[35:43] I'd like to think about it a bit more

[35:44] and have some more information and hear

[35:46] from the library board and or the

[35:48] library too. Thank you.

[35:49] >> Absolutely.

[35:51] Any more questions? So, thank you very

[35:54] much for your presentation and we'll be

[35:56] adding it to an agenda item for

[35:58] discussion at a council future council

[36:00] meeting when we read come back to again

[36:03] after our August break.

[36:05] >> Okay. Thanks so much. Thanks for the

[36:07] opportunity.

[36:07] >> Thank you.

[36:12] » Okay. Who's next?

[36:18] » And we've got the Hearth delegation

[36:19] next.

[36:39] ready.

[36:41] >> Okay. Uh, good afternoon to Mayor and

[36:43] Council and thank you for welcoming us

[36:45] to present today. I'm Samantha Brett.

[36:47] I'm the programming and production

[36:49] manager for the hearth arts and I'm

[36:51] joined by Gail Lutenberg who is what are

[36:53] your are your full

[36:54] >> chair of the performing arts committee

[36:59] um the hearth arts on Bowen through the

[37:01] efforts of our performing arts committee

[37:02] which we refer to as the pack is

[37:04] celebrating the first full year of the

[37:06] hearth arts on Bowen present series at

[37:07] the Bowen theater. This work has been

[37:10] done with the support of the Bone Island

[37:11] Municipality and a very large group of

[37:13] volunteers who have contributed their

[37:15] time and resources to this inaugural

[37:17] program. Our goal is to build on the

[37:19] success of this first year both

[37:20] programmatically and financially as we

[37:22] look towards the 2627 season. We intend

[37:25] to increase both earned revenue and

[37:27] fundraising revenue over the next 12

[37:29] months to largely offset the expense of

[37:31] the programming and production manager

[37:32] position while we maintain a strong

[37:34] community focus and accessible

[37:36] programming. Uh in accordance with the

[37:39] conditional grant agreement, the hearth

[37:40] arts is providing our third and final

[37:42] report today. The purpose of this report

[37:44] is to fulfill the reporting requirements

[37:46] um in person as we are. Uh we want to

[37:49] talk to you a little bit about

[37:50] programming and community impact. Uh we

[37:52] uh specifically the arts survey summary.

[37:55] We have a brief financial overview for

[37:57] you today for our 2526 fiscal year.

[37:59] We've got a grant update for you today

[38:01] and we have some miscellaneous updates

[38:03] on technical committee and concession

[38:05] plans. And of course, finally, we are

[38:07] requesting continued funding for the

[38:08] programming and production manager

[38:10] position.

[38:12] >> So, I'll take over from there and start

[38:14] by talking a little bit about

[38:16] programming and community impact.

[38:18] Starting with the 20 2526 season um

[38:22] which ended in June, the Hearth Arts on

[38:26] Bowen proudly showcased a wide variety

[38:28] of music and dance as the presenter and

[38:32] also as a co-production partner. Over

[38:35] 1,200 guests attended performances and

[38:38] represented a wide range of the island

[38:41] community. And as an independent artist,

[38:43] I created a community work entitled Come

[38:46] Dance with Me in conjunction with the

[38:48] first year anniversary of this center.

[38:50] And it was with a pleasure to create a

[38:53] collaboration between BIM and the

[38:55] Heartharts and myself to bring the piece

[38:58] to the community. Plus, we were the

[39:01] first beneficiaries of the community

[39:03] discounted rental rate for the

[39:04] presentation of indigenous dancer Alex

[39:07] Wells. And together, these two events

[39:10] offered meaningful and joyful free

[39:12] experiences for the Bowen Island

[39:14] community.

[39:16] Upcoming programming for the 2026 27th

[39:20] season. It's always hard to decide

[39:22] whether we start in July or we start in

[39:24] September. So, I'll just start this one

[39:26] in July from a granting perspective. We

[39:29] had a show this past weekend which was a

[39:31] sellout show of Asanav

[39:33] um a indigenous artist but very

[39:36] contemporary indigenous artist from

[39:38] Ontario. It was a soldout show and it's

[39:42] a new concept um part of something

[39:44] called our headliner series that

[39:46] Samantha with um some members of the

[39:49] performing arts committee have really

[39:51] are are are bringing to bear. And the

[39:54] idea is to bring big name acts at a

[39:57] slightly higher ticket price so that we

[40:00] might be able to provide surplus

[40:01] revenues to support an annual local

[40:04] showcase plus partial funding for the

[40:07] programming and production manager

[40:08] position. Up next in September will be

[40:11] Dan Mangan, also part of that headliner

[40:14] series, a very big name that we can

[40:16] charge a higher um higher ticket price

[40:19] and the tickets sold out in three hours

[40:21] to give you an idea of the scale of this

[40:23] person's recognition.

[40:25] In October, we'll be having a show which

[40:27] is a second co-production with Comedy

[40:30] Underground, a local comedy space in

[40:34] Vancouver. And this is that

[40:35] co-production model, co-pro model where

[40:37] we take almost no financial risk and we

[40:40] create a partnership to bring uh work

[40:43] from Vancouver to Bowen's uh theater. We

[40:47] then have Marcus Mosley, a local R&B

[40:50] sensation from Vancouver. He'll be on

[40:52] stage in November and that that project

[40:55] has funding already secured from

[40:57] Creative BC. And then we go into our

[41:00] 2027 year, still part of the same

[41:02] season, and we're going to launch our

[41:04] first January show as a family show.

[41:07] Last year, we didn't find the best date

[41:10] in the fall in the spring. So, we're

[41:11] going to try a a third weekend in

[41:13] January, which on the docks around the

[41:17] national programming can be a very good

[41:19] weekend for family programming. So,

[41:21] we're going to give it a try with a um

[41:24] cause and effect circus act for families

[41:28] called Luminarium. And then we have in

[41:30] March a Canadian jazz pianist of huge

[41:33] renown. His name is Michael Caseammer to

[41:36] play and feature our grand piano.

[41:39] In April, um Company 605, a contemporary

[41:42] dance company out of Vancouver, but with

[41:44] roots in urban dance. And the idea here

[41:47] is to try and keep growing um an

[41:50] audience development strategy for youth

[41:53] to attend contemporary dance. We seem to

[41:55] be doing really well with youth and so

[41:57] we thought this might be a way of kind

[41:58] of leveraging that interest and growing

[42:01] it. Um we have the Aurora Piano Trio in

[42:05] May and it's just an aside for those of

[42:08] you who remember Victor Chan who lived

[42:10] on Bowen for many many years. It's his

[42:12] daughter who is the featured pianist of

[42:14] that trio and one of the reasons why we

[42:17] selected that company. And finally in

[42:20] June, we'll end the season with in a

[42:23] collaboration with Bowen Pride Society

[42:25] to present That's Gay Comedy. So comedy,

[42:29] but um with a a the pride theme.

[42:34] We're currently in conversation with

[42:37] larger Canadian artists um to round out

[42:40] that season to fill out the headliner

[42:43] season and some of them hopefully will

[42:45] be from a national um this sort of

[42:48] national scene and I'll talk more about

[42:49] why that's relevant in a in a later in

[42:52] the presentation.

[42:54] Um so now together we're going to move

[42:56] on to discuss the Bowen Island Art

[42:58] Survey. It was the first attempt our

[43:00] organization has ever undertaken to get

[43:02] a read on our community's preferences

[43:06] and um there were 30 I'm sorry 46 unique

[43:09] respondents and we felt it was a

[43:12] positive experience. Um the survey's

[43:15] goal was to measure the success of our

[43:17] year 1 theater programming our ongoing

[43:21] visual arts work and our general

[43:22] promotion and marketing of all arts

[43:25] efforts on Bowen. We also saw were

[43:28] seeking to identify barriers for

[43:30] residents to participate in the arts and

[43:33] encourage programming suggestions moving

[43:35] forward.

[43:37] Response to the survey was

[43:38] overwhelmingly positive. Nearly all

[43:40] respondents report having attended a

[43:43] performance at the Bowen Theater and

[43:45] intend to return. Music and theater are

[43:49] the most frequently cited favorites,

[43:51] followed closely by visual arts, dance,

[43:54] festivals, and workshops. Many

[43:56] respondents took the opportunity to

[43:58] praise the current programming, while

[44:01] others raised specific actionable

[44:03] concerns around cost, timing,

[44:06] transportation, and child care. So, I'll

[44:09] jump in here as well. Um, council can

[44:12] read u the feedback and the detailed

[44:14] feedback um at your leisure. will say

[44:17] that, you know, mostly support for what

[44:19] we're doing is is what we got. Um, in

[44:21] terms of I'd like to talk to barriers to

[44:23] attendance. So, we're always mindful of

[44:25] the cost. You know, as we look at a

[44:27] headliner series where we will have a

[44:29] more expensive ticket to bring larger

[44:31] names, a series like that, uh, to Gail's

[44:33] point, will support us to do things that

[44:35] are more accessible, a more accessible

[44:36] price tag so that we can offset our

[44:38] costs to holding things here. Timing.

[44:41] We've got um uh quite a few um uh mats

[44:45] happening. So that helps to address that

[44:47] as well as the transportation. Um child

[44:49] care, we hear that, which is why we're

[44:51] doing some family programming and

[44:52] accessibility. I will point out that um

[44:56] uh hearing and mobility was mentioned,

[44:57] but one respondent specifically pray uh

[44:59] praised the improved accessible parking,

[45:02] which in conjunction with Lee from the

[45:03] municipality, we took care of earlier

[45:05] this season. So that was great. Um we

[45:08] had notable concerns and suggestions.

[45:10] Two respondents independently raised

[45:12] privacy concerns about the survey um at

[45:14] the last council presentation uh

[45:16] requiring saying that requiring name and

[45:18] email uh they were concerned that this

[45:20] would discourage um honest or anonymous

[45:22] participation and in response we were

[45:24] able to immediately create an anonymous

[45:26] survey option for the last week of the

[45:28] survey. So we were glad we could address

[45:29] that. Um we've also um received a couple

[45:32] of requests for more diverse artistic

[45:33] perspectives beyond Bowen or BCbased

[45:36] artists. So, we're looking at that and

[45:38] we did have a call for more emotionally

[45:40] challenging or risk-taking programming

[45:42] rather than safe content. So, what I can

[45:44] tell you is that the hearth and the

[45:46] performing arts committee are working

[45:47] with all of these suggestions and

[45:48] concerns um to improve access and

[45:51] programming for everybody. So, um

[45:53] overall for a first foray into a survey,

[45:55] we're pretty pleased at the response

[45:56] that we got and of course it's something

[45:58] that we will do again at the appropriate

[46:00] time. Um I'll move on here to give you a

[46:03] little bit of a financial snapshot now

[46:04] of the year. Um, Hearthart's fiscal year

[46:07] runs July 1 through June 30th. We're

[46:09] still in the process of reconciling this

[46:11] fiscal year. Um, so the the figures that

[46:13] you're seeing here were provided by our

[46:14] finance person to me at the time that I

[46:17] submitted this proposal two weeks ago to

[46:19] council. As far as I know, they haven't

[46:20] changed. Um, right now, this is about as

[46:24] granular as the accounting gets. I will

[46:26] tell you that we are working with our

[46:27] accounting folks and um finance on our

[46:30] board to uh change up our chart of

[46:32] accounts so it's a little bit more

[46:33] granular and we can actually really take

[46:35] a look at sort of in and out of expenses

[46:38] uh to do with the theater. So we're

[46:39] making those changes now. They have been

[46:41] approved by the finance folks on our

[46:43] board. But for right now, you basically

[46:44] can see that, you know, we broke even.

[46:47] Uh we put a couple of thousand dollars

[46:48] in the bank, which is great. Uh so we're

[46:51] very pleased that the first year um

[46:53] ended in uh ended in a little bit of a

[46:55] surplus. Um I will point out

[46:57] specifically two figures I've pulled for

[46:59] you. Um total rental and custodial fees

[47:02] paid to the Bowen Island municipality

[47:04] were just over $6,000. This is from a

[47:06] report that um uh Sienna Valley kindly

[47:09] provided to me um from it's a receipt

[47:13] audit report she provided on July 3rd.

[47:15] So I'm taking the municipalities numbers

[47:17] when it comes to that reporting. And I

[47:19] will just also pull out the contract

[47:21] marketing expenses. So, our marketing

[47:23] manager not only works with Hearth

[47:25] Productions, but as you all know,

[47:26] because I'm sure you all get the

[47:27] newsletters and see the posters and

[47:29] whatnot, um we support and promote all

[47:32] arts organizations on the island that

[47:34] provide us with the content to do so.

[47:35] our expenditure uh to support all of

[47:38] those efforts was $9,000 um over the

[47:40] course of the year.

[47:44] um to add uh financial um revenue to our

[47:51] season, we are involved in lots of grant

[47:55] writing and um we have been successful

[47:59] in three out of the four grants to which

[48:01] we are um we've applied and are

[48:03] eligible.

[48:05] uh June 15th, we apply every year before

[48:08] we even opened the Bowen the new

[48:10] community center. We applied for our

[48:12] first year of funding from BC Live and

[48:15] we were successful which is why we were

[48:17] able to put um shows on the stage in the

[48:20] first season starting in April 20 24.

[48:24] Did I get that 2025? Okay. Um and then

[48:27] we received it again in um the the

[48:30] following year and we've put in an

[48:31] application what we'll hear in the fall.

[48:34] But I think we're well um entrenched in

[48:36] that program. I think we can um likely

[48:39] will see success on an annual basis.

[48:42] October 1st is the deadline for Creative

[48:45] BC. We were successful in our first year

[48:47] of application to that which was a

[48:49] surprise to all of us. Not many grant,

[48:51] not many arts organizations in British

[48:53] Columbia have thought to apply to that

[48:55] small little program with create

[48:57] creative BC. And somehow we managed to

[49:00] figure that one out and we're in. And

[49:03] let's hope, fingers crossed, we'll be um

[49:05] it will be an annual. And on October

[49:08] 15th, we applied to Canadian Heritage

[49:10] for the first time. It took many um it

[49:13] took a lot of steps to get to

[49:15] eligibility for that. We did put in a

[49:17] strong application, but it was denied.

[49:20] And we spoke with the program officer

[49:22] who told us that it is very rare for a

[49:25] firsttime applicant to be accepted. They

[49:28] were happy with the application except

[49:29] that their only caveat was that they

[49:31] felt we didn't have very much national

[49:34] um um representation of artists. And so

[49:39] that's something that's going to have to

[49:40] go back to the performing arts committee

[49:41] and to see how far we want to stray in

[49:43] our programming. Not just not from

[49:46] Bowen, but not from British Columbia. Do

[49:48] we want to get into more national recog

[49:51] um um more nationally recognized

[49:54] artists, but it is a grant that could

[49:57] bring a considerable revenue stream of

[49:59] 18,000 is what we applied for in our

[50:01] first year. Um

[50:04] we uh did receive our first um we

[50:08] received just in this year alone in the

[50:10] 2526 season we received $19,000 as well

[50:15] from the BC Arts Council and that was an

[50:18] infrastructure grant the exact same

[50:20] grant that bought the retractable

[50:22] seating for the theater and it is a

[50:27] grant um it was it was um infrastructure

[50:31] purchased through a grant but became an

[50:33] asset of the municipality. So that was

[50:36] the um retractable seating and in this

[50:39] year it was 19,000 for theater lighting

[50:42] inventory that again is now um a

[50:45] municipally owned asset.

[50:47] Um I think that's all I need to present.

[50:52] >> Yeah. Um I'll jump into miscellaneous

[50:55] updates. So, uh, a couple of the other

[50:57] things that we've worked on over the

[50:58] course of the last year is we have a

[51:00] technical committee and this is a group

[51:02] of volunteers once again made up of some

[51:05] BIM representatives. We have, um, Lee

[51:07] Vincent and Doug Woods from the

[51:09] municipality and then community members

[51:11] who have technical expertise and

[51:13] background. Um, they've formed uh they

[51:16] formed a technical committee and so they

[51:18] work on purchasing together, organizing

[51:20] equipment, maintaining equipment, um,

[51:23] running the equipment for the shows.

[51:25] That is a paid thing, just so you're

[51:26] aware. When we bring in the technicians,

[51:28] they get paid for their time to work the

[51:30] shows, which is great because they're

[51:31] all Bowen based. So, um that's a revenue

[51:33] generating thing for those folks. Um

[51:36] they they've been working sort of

[51:37] steadily as volunteers on um various um user manuals for the different

[51:44] equipment that's in the theater. It's

[51:45] quite complicated. I mean, the theater's

[51:47] technical. There's a full lighting

[51:48] system. There's a full sound system. So,

[51:50] slowly but surely, they've been putting

[51:52] it together. Um we have I have a

[51:54] commitment from the committee that we're

[51:55] going to meet as a group in late

[51:57] September to complete that work on the

[51:59] various so we've got a lighting manual

[52:01] started we have sound manuals started

[52:03] and we just have basic sort of user

[52:05] manuals so someone coming into the

[52:06] theater for the first time for example

[52:08] we're developing the manuals that they

[52:10] would use to be able to do basic

[52:11] operations. Um so this is a resource

[52:14] we're creating um alongside BIM but for

[52:16] BIM and for the community that uses the

[52:18] theater. So, I'm pleased to report that

[52:20] we've got a date to get that work done.

[52:22] Um, theater concession planning, this

[52:24] has been the toughest nut to crack over

[52:26] the last year. So, there's quite a bit

[52:28] of challenges when it comes to

[52:30] concession, but just to sum it up for

[52:32] you, there just not a lot of money in

[52:33] the concessions. Um, you know, by the

[52:35] time you get if you're serving alcohol,

[52:37] by the time you get a legal liquor

[52:38] license, you get the insurance, etc., we've only made over the course of

[52:42] the whole year about $500 in revenue,

[52:45] and that's from multiple concessions.

[52:48] So, um, staffing is a challenge.

[52:50] Technology with, uh, because people

[52:52] don't always bring cash, of course, they

[52:54] want an e payment option. Um, lack of

[52:56] ample storage to be able to to do stuff.

[52:59] So, all of that said, that sounds very

[53:01] negative, but it's a nut I'm still

[53:02] working to crack. Um, and I do think

[53:04] that there's some things that we can do

[53:06] from maybe, you know, securing some more

[53:08] permanent storage to coming up with some

[53:10] things with local folks, but at very

[53:12] least to break even because I think a

[53:13] concession really adds to all the things

[53:16] that happen in the theater, regardless

[53:17] of who the organization is that's using

[53:19] the theater, we'd like to be able to

[53:21] come up with something so that at very

[53:23] least uh they can break even and provide

[53:25] a better experience, guest experience

[53:26] for their guests. So, that's sort of a

[53:28] stand stand by and know that we're still

[53:30] working on all of that.

[53:32] Um conclusions uh theater programming

[53:36] has demonstrated strong attendance,

[53:37] community support and financial

[53:39] performance. Um the hearth uh is very

[53:42] happy to contribute to municipal revenue

[53:45] through rentals fees and external grant

[53:47] funding. Uh my role, the programming and

[53:49] production manager role has really been

[53:51] essential in achieving operational and

[53:53] programming goals to date. and we're

[53:55] really hoping for continued investment

[53:57] to support the further growth and

[53:59] long-term financial um sustainability. I

[54:02] would just like to add some personal

[54:04] thoughts. Um I've been with you guys

[54:06] over the last year and I've really

[54:08] enjoyed my time with the hearth. Um

[54:10] thanks to our amazing volunteers. It's

[54:12] been a great year of learning and growth

[54:13] and ultimately success. I think everyone

[54:15] can sort of give themselves a pat on the

[54:17] back. Uh I believe we're now in an

[54:19] excellent position to significantly grow

[54:21] programming and revenue into the future.

[54:23] And I want to just finally thank

[54:25] everyone who supported me with all my

[54:26] work. I mean, I've run around the

[54:28] island. I've met with dozens of people.

[54:29] I've uh yeah, it's it's been quite a an

[54:33] immersive experience, but it's been a

[54:34] good one, and I feel like um yeah, I

[54:37] feel like our efforts have really

[54:38] benefited the community here. So, thank

[54:39] you so much for all your support and uh

[54:42] recommendations. Uh hoping you'll

[54:44] approve the funding for this position.

[54:46] We would also like to um have mayor and

[54:49] council direct the appropriate uh

[54:51] municipal staff to work with us to

[54:53] refine uh this role and the

[54:54] responsibilities and performance

[54:56] measures for the position. I think

[54:57] that's important as we go into year two.

[55:00] And finally, um thank you for receiving

[55:02] this report for information.

[55:04] >> Thank you. Does anybody have any

[55:06] questions for the presentation? And

[55:08] thank you for an excellent presentation,

[55:11] Council Getty.

[55:13] >> Okay. Um, thank you and uh through the

[55:17] mayor or the delegate. Um,

[55:21] so I think that it's uh I'm a little bit

[55:24] worried in terms of the sustainability

[55:26] of the position. Okay. So that it's

[55:28] grantheavy in terms of this budget. I'd

[55:30] be very very interested in all of the

[55:32] granular details in terms of you know

[55:34] where we can uh try and help sort things

[55:38] out so that it uh without raising ticket

[55:40] prices beyond um what our audience is

[55:44] used to and what they are you know

[55:47] willing to pay um and if they you know

[55:49] this whole thing in terms of wanting

[55:51] something that's a little edgier whether

[55:53] or not we can afford it to have it in

[55:55] this theater. Um yeah, it was our

[55:57] problem with you know the open house um

[56:00] >> theater production that we that was

[56:02] touchandgo in terms of whether or not we

[56:04] were going to break even in terms of

[56:05] it's a big space for um a I think that

[56:09] was an edgy production that uh you know

[56:11] some people were um it wasn't the

[56:13] typical audience comedy light you know

[56:17] costumeheavy kind of thing that our um

[56:20] our audience seems to enjoy the most.

[56:23] So, um, in terms of, uh, figuring out,

[56:27] um, first of all, my question is the

[56:29] theater expenses, does that in that's

[56:31] about 38,000. Does that include the

[56:34] payments to the performers?

[56:36] >> Yes, that's the majority of that is

[56:38] artist fees.

[56:38] >> Yeah. Okay. And then the um the payroll

[56:41] would be whatever you're paid and the um

[56:45] the 9,000 for the um

[56:47] >> Correct. Yeah. Because that is just the

[56:49] portion of work she does related to the

[56:51] theater.

[56:52] >> Yeah. and not to the the gallery.

[56:54] >> Okay. So then the um in terms of

[56:57] figuring out without it uh the theater

[57:01] revenue that would be mostly ticket

[57:03] sales, a little bit of concession, any

[57:05] merchandise that's sold and um things

[57:08] like that. So uh in terms of increasing

[57:11] that so that that would cover

[57:14] >> um your position.

[57:15] >> Yes. Yeah. Exactly.

[57:16] >> That would be the ideal.

[57:17] >> Correct. And so if I could just speak a

[57:19] little bit further to that and give you

[57:20] some granular information. So, you know,

[57:22] it's really important to us uh to as the

[57:24] pack to ensure that there's programming

[57:26] for everybody and that there's ticket

[57:28] prices that are accessible. So, that was

[57:30] sort of this one year that we've just

[57:31] done. We are programming the same level

[57:33] into next year. However, the the concept

[57:36] of this headliner, these headliner

[57:38] shows, just to give you an idea, if we

[57:40] could hold four or five Dan Mangan level

[57:42] shows a year, that will offset almost

[57:44] the full cost of the grant for the

[57:46] position. So

[57:49] Boweners will always have full. So for

[57:51] example, when Dan Mangan tickets were

[57:53] released, they were released on Bowen

[57:55] Island first. They sold out on Bowen

[57:57] Island. We did not release them to the

[57:58] mainland. We release them to Boweners

[58:00] first. So the idea with this headlining

[58:03] group, these headlining acts, is we do

[58:05] that first. It's a benefit to the

[58:06] community. If the community, if the

[58:08] ticket price is something the community

[58:09] won't bear, a 6070 $80 ticket for for

[58:13] quite a well-known name performer, these

[58:16] performers will be able to draw from the

[58:17] mainland. There's no question in our

[58:19] mind that this programming will sell

[58:20] out. And as long as it sells out, we

[58:23] know we're in a revenue position.

[58:24] Thankfully, I've had a year to track

[58:26] finances. I didn't have anything to go

[58:27] on because we didn't have programming.

[58:29] So, I've granularly tracked every

[58:31] expense related to every show. And we

[58:33] feel really confident with this approach

[58:35] moving forward. We hope that it will

[58:37] offset at least the majority of the

[58:39] position. Um, you know, we would like to

[58:41] ensure that we can we're self-

[58:42] sustaining. So, you know, we just need

[58:44] another year to to be able to work

[58:46] towards that. So, so yeah, to your

[58:48] point, we are focused exactly where you

[58:50] are, Judy, in making sure that this

[58:51] position can pay for itself.

[58:52] >> Great. And with respect to the grants,

[58:55] the other grants. So if if BIM is

[58:58] included in your grant revenue line, the

[59:01] whatever 4040 I think it was, then um

[59:04] the other grants from BC Arts and and um

[59:08] I can't remember the you had two or

[59:09] three that you were

[59:10] >> those are regular and you've been the

[59:12] hearth has been getting those maybe not

[59:15] for performing arts, but the I mean

[59:17] that's fairly secure right now as far as

[59:20] grants go.

[59:21] >> I didn't mention the BC Arts Council. Um

[59:24] that one is secure. That's an operating

[59:26] grant. That's correct. I didn't mention

[59:28] it because it's an operating grant. So

[59:30] BC Live, Creative BC, and Canadian Arts

[59:33] Presentation Fund are not operational

[59:36] grants and so they are performing arts

[59:38] specific and only began with the

[59:40] initiation of the Bowen Theater.

[59:42] >> Right. But in terms of their

[59:44] availability and our um ability to to

[59:49] get those, that's fairly steady and

[59:52] secure.

[59:54] [laughter]

[59:55] Is that possible to say with grants

[59:59] >> to the two that we um I think BC live I

[1:00:03] feel I mean I I don't want to give us a

[1:00:05] you know a negative um omen thing but um

[1:00:08] I think BC Live we have a secure

[1:00:10] position and we keep delivering what we

[1:00:12] say we will creative BC it's our first

[1:00:14] year and we've offered them free tickets

[1:00:16] to the Dan Mangan show to help uh

[1:00:19] nourish nurture that relationship and

[1:00:22] the Canadian Arts Presentation Fund with

[1:00:24] Canadian Heritage. We have not cracked

[1:00:26] it yet. We had a positive response. It's

[1:00:29] the one that they want to see more

[1:00:31] national representation to think that

[1:00:33] we're part of the national conversation.

[1:00:36] That's because it's a Canadian heritage

[1:00:38] federal organization.

[1:00:39] >> And just to be clear, none of these

[1:00:41] grants pay for the programming and

[1:00:43] production manager position, right?

[1:00:44] >> They're all related to artists artist

[1:00:46] fees.

[1:00:47] >> Um Yeah.

[1:00:49] >> Which is the big theater expense. Okay.

[1:00:52] So in terms of sustainability of the

[1:00:54] position which has been fabulous and

[1:00:57] it's you know very very essential in

[1:01:00] terms of getting this kind of program um

[1:01:02] both with respect to all of the work

[1:01:04] that the performing arts committee is

[1:01:06] doing to support that but all of the

[1:01:08] work that you've been doing in in terms

[1:01:11] of making that sustainable it seems to

[1:01:13] me that we can't necessarily rely on the

[1:01:16] grants although they help pay for

[1:01:18] farmers but we do have to figure out how

[1:01:20] to get the revenues is up.

[1:01:23] >> Yeah. And it's and it's the head it's

[1:01:25] this headlining approach that we're

[1:01:27] taking. And we're in conversations right

[1:01:28] now because of the fact that none of

[1:01:30] them are contracted. I can't share the

[1:01:32] names with you, but they were all Dan

[1:01:33] Bangan level. And for those that

[1:01:35] attended the show on Saturday night, you

[1:01:37] know, Asabi is a four-time Juno Award

[1:01:39] winner who headlined the Folk Fest in

[1:01:41] Vancouver and here he is performing for

[1:01:44] 179 people on Bowen Island a week later.

[1:01:47] So, you know, we feel the other thing

[1:01:49] that we're we're really doing is um you

[1:01:51] know, we care about artists a great

[1:01:53] deal. Uh most of our organizations

[1:01:55] volunteers are artists themselves in

[1:01:57] their own right. And I think that the um

[1:01:59] artistic community in Canada is getting

[1:02:01] to know us. We're dealing with agents,

[1:02:03] major agents across the country. And I

[1:02:06] think people are really starting to twig

[1:02:07] that this is a very cool place to to

[1:02:09] come and perform and that the support is

[1:02:10] really here. So I feel like the momentum

[1:02:12] is on our side, Judy, when it comes to

[1:02:15] programming in a way that will be

[1:02:17] financially remunerative.

[1:02:18] >> Yeah, we're going to have to start maybe

[1:02:20] not this council, but we're going to

[1:02:21] have to start talking about budget. So,

[1:02:24] you know, if there's if it's not

[1:02:26] sustainable and keep in terms of keeping

[1:02:28] $35,000 in our budget for that position,

[1:02:32] then the $2,000 profit has to increase

[1:02:35] considerably and that's absolutely

[1:02:37] that's going to be ticket sales.

[1:02:38] >> Absolutely.

[1:02:39] a realistic discussion in terms of, you

[1:02:42] know, whether or not this is going to be

[1:02:44] limited to a two two-year term or

[1:02:47] whether or not council, the future

[1:02:49] council is going to have to consider,

[1:02:51] you know, do we want to support this

[1:02:53] program and if so, why?

[1:02:54] >> Yeah. And I will tell you that our hope

[1:02:56] is that we greatly offset it. Yeah.

[1:02:58] >> That if we come back to council for year

[1:02:59] three, it would be for a significantly

[1:03:02] lower amount

[1:03:04] >> um just to support the the growth of the

[1:03:06] program. So that is where our focus is

[1:03:08] and uh again after a year of finance we

[1:03:11] now have we now have data financial data

[1:03:13] which really really helps us when it

[1:03:14] comes to to programming and planning.

[1:03:16] >> And councelor Jurgensson has his hand

[1:03:19] up.

[1:03:20] >> Press the Andy.

[1:03:22] >> Hi. Uh this is not a question councelor

[1:03:24] Morris but uh I just wanted to let you

[1:03:26] know uh I've been here since the

[1:03:29] beginning of the meeting but not been uh

[1:03:32] doing well and I'm going to have to step

[1:03:33] away from the meeting. [gasps and sighs]

[1:03:36] >> [clears throat]

[1:03:36] >> Thank you.

[1:03:37] >> And lower.

[1:03:41] » Any more questions? Well, thank you for

[1:03:43] your presentation. That was very, very

[1:03:45] interesting. And the agenda item on uh

[1:03:48] renewing the contract is uh coming up

[1:03:51] under the consent agenda.

[1:03:52] >> Wonderful. Thank you so much for your

[1:03:54] time.

[1:03:54] >> Thank you all.

[1:03:57] » Okay.

[1:04:01] » Given that we're now on to the consent

[1:04:03] agenda. Is there anything anybody wants

[1:04:05] to pull? Councelor Getty.

[1:04:08] >> Um 12.3 and 12.5, please.

[1:04:14] Anybody else?

[1:04:20] Give you a minute to shuffle the pages.

[1:04:23] All right, that's it.

[1:04:26] Okay.

[1:04:31] » I didn't pull anything. Um okay so um we

[1:04:36] will deal with 12.3 then

[1:04:39] >> 12.3 is a letter from the islands trust

[1:04:42] to the minister of uh jobs and economic

[1:04:45] growth rather kalan and uh it's

[1:04:48] supporting an upgrade of the um

[1:04:53] oh what is it the islands trust no

[1:04:56] island's coastal economic trust IC tea

[1:05:00] and um I we're part of the islands

[1:05:02] trust. So, we're signitories to this

[1:05:05] underneath the chairman or the chair and

[1:05:09] but I would I was wondering whether or

[1:05:11] not because the map for ICE tea

[1:05:13] specifically goes around Bowen and we're

[1:05:17] part of the trust but we're not um we're

[1:05:20] carved out of this ic tea whether or not

[1:05:22] we want to renew and emphasize that it

[1:05:26] would be extremely wonderful for us if

[1:05:28] we could be part of this um economic

[1:05:30] trust. um they do have excellent funding

[1:05:33] and um they do have excellent programs

[1:05:36] that we could um quite happily

[1:05:39] participate in. So I'm wondering if we

[1:05:42] want to supplement and augment this in

[1:05:44] terms of asking the minister again to

[1:05:47] consider um a slight amendment to their

[1:05:51] map to include Bowen Island.

[1:05:54] Um we have had grants from ICT

[1:05:58] >> and we have had we've had to get

[1:06:01] permission to apply but we've not had a

[1:06:03] problem but um it's an ongoing thing.

[1:06:06] So, I guess if you want to make a motion

[1:06:08] that we

[1:06:09] >> All right. Then I would move that um

[1:06:13] staff draft a letter to Minister Kalan

[1:06:17] uh or the Minister of Jobs and Economic

[1:06:19] Growth um to uh

[1:06:23] supplement the letter from Islands Trust

[1:06:25] dated July the 9th, 2026 to um request

[1:06:31] that the uh map of the Island Coastal

[1:06:35] Economic Trust be

[1:06:38] amended to include Bowen island. So, we

[1:06:41] have many of the same needs and features

[1:06:44] and uh interests as all of the other

[1:06:46] islands in the west. And

[1:06:47] >> are you wanting all of that last bit in

[1:06:49] the motion?

[1:06:50] >> Sorry. Okay.

[1:06:51] >> Okay.

[1:06:53] Um seconder.

[1:06:55] Is there any further discussion?

[1:06:59] All in favor?

[1:07:01] >> I

[1:07:04] » And Alex Councelor Jurgensson left the

[1:07:07] meeting, right? So, yeah.

[1:07:08] >> Okay. Thank you. Okay. 12.4.

[1:07:12] >> 12.5.

[1:07:13] >> 12.

[1:07:14] >> Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you said 12.

[1:07:16] Oh, sorry. 12.

[1:07:17] >> This is a letter from um

[1:07:20] Sue Rickett uh to um mayor and council

[1:07:24] asking for reconsideration of the uh

[1:07:28] fires smart bin that was uh out of the

[1:07:31] um

[1:07:32] >> fire hall number two. hall and um how

[1:07:35] useful it was to uh lots of members of

[1:07:38] the community. Um, and I think what's

[1:07:41] happened is that it may be more

[1:07:42] complicated than just having people put

[1:07:45] um

[1:07:47] un well there was garbage that was put

[1:07:50] in with the green waste and u the I

[1:07:53] think the excuse that was made public

[1:07:55] was that that had contaminated it so

[1:07:57] that um it was not accepted by the um

[1:08:01] recycling. But I think it might be a

[1:08:04] little bit more complicated in terms of

[1:08:06] funding sources and um the amount of

[1:08:09] time and energy that it took. So, I

[1:08:12] would like staff to investigate um and I

[1:08:16] um I meant to mention this, ask Carla

[1:08:19] whether or not this was possible in

[1:08:20] terms of our um environmental um

[1:08:24] planning to see what the barriers would

[1:08:27] be and then the feasibility of us um

[1:08:29] somehow working with funding sources and

[1:08:33] um other people in the community to

[1:08:35] reinstate this because it is a really

[1:08:37] good service. So, um, I've being living

[1:08:40] out in that side of the island, I

[1:08:42] actually did inquire and the problem was

[1:08:46] people were contaminating the container.

[1:08:49] And I know from our strata, having

[1:08:52] gotten a container once, they will not

[1:08:54] accept it at the recycling at the um,

[1:08:57] transfer station if it's got anything

[1:09:00] other than green waste in it.

[1:09:01] >> Y,

[1:09:02] >> so that was the problem that it was

[1:09:05] being contaminated. So,

[1:09:06] >> well, I had a very brief conversation on

[1:09:10] the street with um Steven and he sort of

[1:09:13] said that there were other problems as

[1:09:14] well, but I didn't get into what those

[1:09:16] were.

[1:09:17] >> So, um it would be interesting to follow

[1:09:20] up and see whether or not we

[1:09:21] >> what the barriers would be to reinstate

[1:09:24] this.

[1:09:26] >> Okay. So,

[1:09:28] can you

[1:09:29] >> um I'd also just like to add to that the

[1:09:31] funding source for this is of limited

[1:09:33] time. It's coming from the fires smart

[1:09:35] grant which should provide funding

[1:09:36] through till about the month of March

[1:09:38] next year. So um the fact that it was

[1:09:41] pulled back was um yeah dumping of a lot

[1:09:44] of construction waste drywall and things

[1:09:46] which is absolutely uh rejected by the

[1:09:50] land transfer station not from only the

[1:09:52] green waste but from the garbage itself.

[1:09:54] So, unfortunately, it's an unmonitored

[1:09:56] bin and um it was uh not respected by

[1:10:01] certain people in the community and

[1:10:02] we're just not able to put a bin out

[1:10:05] there that's not monitored and and we've

[1:10:07] had to pull it back. Um, additionally,

[1:10:10] as I said, the funding for this service

[1:10:11] would have run out by the end of March.

[1:10:16] » So, do you want to move receipt of the

[1:10:18] letter?

[1:10:19] >> No. I'd like staff to to investigate

[1:10:22] whether or not there's another place for

[1:10:23] it or there's some way of you know to

[1:10:25] get it monitored or to uh figure out if

[1:10:28] there's other funding sources so that uh

[1:10:31] and if it's not a huge uh

[1:10:34] amount that whether or not we include it

[1:10:36] in the tax base

[1:10:39] it's you know instead of our recycling

[1:10:41] or the green waste recycling we've got a

[1:10:43] bin so drop in the

[1:10:46] >> a motion along the lines of um council

[1:10:49] request staff to look into providing a

[1:10:53] green bin in a more secure location.

[1:10:56] >> Okay, thank you. I'll move that

[1:11:00] sec. Anybody want to second that?

[1:11:06] All in favor?

[1:11:08] Okay.

[1:11:12] Um,

[1:11:13] so back to the motion to approve the

[1:11:16] consent agenda. Council

[1:11:26] fast.

[1:11:28] >> Uh, I thought Judy had her hand up

[1:11:30] first. I was going to second.

[1:11:31] >> Oh, okay.

[1:11:32] >> Others.

[1:11:35] >> Okay. So, the motion is that council

[1:11:37] approve the items as outlined in the

[1:11:38] July 27th, 276 regular council meeting

[1:11:42] agenda.

[1:11:43] >> Consent agenda. Yes.

[1:11:44] >> Consent agenda. Yeah. Okay. So if Judy

[1:11:47] moves it. Okay. Moved by councelor

[1:11:49] Getty, seconded by councelor Fast. All

[1:11:51] in favor? I.

[1:11:54] >> Okay. So that skips us right through to

[1:12:00] Is the hearth still here? Because their

[1:12:01] programming funding just got approved.

[1:12:05] Okay, we are down to new bits. Where are

[1:12:08] we? Too many pages.

[1:12:11] Bylaws 7.1

[1:12:16] » 1639 Mount Gardener Road.

[1:12:24] » Thank you, council. Um, sorry, a quick

[1:12:26] technical issue. Uh, didn't realize what

[1:12:28] presenting in person that be affected by

[1:12:30] the new Zoom rules. So, if I can be led

[1:12:31] into the meeting, I'll be able to screen

[1:12:33] share. If not, I got the presentation

[1:12:34] saved in uh council for if you could

[1:12:37] open that up.

[1:12:38] >> Oh, you've got a PowerPoint you want to

[1:12:39] present? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I can run the

[1:12:41] presentation.

[1:12:42] >> Okay. Thanks so much. Doesn't matter

[1:12:43] what uh speed up until you get to

[1:12:45] propose conservation areas. Then just

[1:12:46] sit there and I'll let you know.

[1:12:55] » I'm just getting it up here.

[1:12:56] >> Sorry about that.

[1:12:58] >> You just have to remember to remind for

[1:13:00] [clears throat] prompting turning pages.

[1:13:02] >> Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

[1:13:06] Perfect.

[1:13:17] So, like I said, it doesn't matter how

[1:13:18] fast it go till the proposed

[1:13:19] conservation area.

[1:13:22] So, thank you. Uh, so this report is to

[1:13:24] present the amending bylaw for first

[1:13:26] reading to amend the zoning of 1658

[1:13:28] Mount Gardner Road for the purpose of

[1:13:30] establishing a smaller lot size and

[1:13:31] allowing this land to be subdivided from

[1:13:34] 1639 Mount Gardner Road. So the bylaw is

[1:13:36] attached as by number 723 20226 and it

[1:13:39] will reszone the property to a new zone

[1:13:41] variation called SR2F.

[1:13:44] So a new item that's committed to

[1:13:45] support this application u is a plan of

[1:13:47] proposed conservation areas prepared by

[1:13:50] Michael Florendo uh to satisfy the

[1:13:52] nature needs half requirement of the

[1:13:54] conservation development policy. So

[1:13:56] there are two conservation areas that

[1:13:57] are proposed u that are they're the most

[1:14:00] densest and most undisturbed areas of

[1:14:01] forest in the property. Um there's

[1:14:03] they're only separated by an access

[1:14:05] easement that also prohibits

[1:14:06] development. So essentially it is one

[1:14:08] big no development area. Uh the largest

[1:14:10] pond on the property as well as multiple

[1:14:12] water courses will be captured uh within

[1:14:14] that conservation area.

[1:14:16] Um the total area proposed for

[1:14:18] conservation is 25,400 m. That's

[1:14:22] equivalent to 47% of the property. Uh

[1:14:24] but combined with the that access

[1:14:26] easement I mentioned uh which already

[1:14:28] prohibits development. So the amount of

[1:14:30] the property under protection from

[1:14:31] further development will be 50%. So

[1:14:34] meeting the nature needs half.

[1:14:36] Um of note the conservation area will

[1:14:40] include a rock cliff/outcrop in the

[1:14:43] southwest area of the the lot. Um

[1:14:46] uh sorry if you can flip forward uh one

[1:14:49] or two. One more. Perfect. Thanks much.

[1:14:52] Um, so those areas are considered

[1:14:55] important as nesting sites for bats as

[1:14:57] well as snakes and lizards to shelter

[1:14:58] over winter. And then combined with the

[1:15:00] nearby pond, uh, that which attracts

[1:15:02] insects that bats and birds then feed

[1:15:04] on. This means that the conservation

[1:15:05] area will provide habitat, feeding

[1:15:07] grounds, and more for a variety of

[1:15:08] species. Um, next slide.

[1:15:12] And there's one more finding since

[1:15:14] writing this report that I need to share

[1:15:15] with council, which is to confirm the

[1:15:17] status of the roadway, which bisects

[1:15:18] lease Kummenuk's property. Uh so what's

[1:15:20] shown on bow maps is not correct and the

[1:15:22] legal plan is not saved with the land

[1:15:23] titles authority but now that I've

[1:15:25] managed to find that plan and it

[1:15:26] confirms that this roadway is in fact

[1:15:28] private property. It belongs to the

[1:15:30] adjacent property to the west. Uh if you

[1:15:32] want to go to the next slide uh you can

[1:15:34] there you can see the the large property

[1:15:36] on the west. So that's what it belongs

[1:15:37] to. Um

[1:15:41] so then yeah then there are municipal

[1:15:42] eastments that provide access to lease's

[1:15:44] property as well as to the adjacent

[1:15:45] neighbors. Um so my apologies to bring

[1:15:47] us up now. uh this but this will not

[1:15:49] affect the main staff recommendation.

[1:15:51] Instead, it does affect the first of the

[1:15:52] alternative recommendations. Um go go to

[1:15:55] the next slide there. Uh so the um in

[1:16:00] the report that that alternative stated

[1:16:03] the council will seek a public beach

[1:16:04] access as well as a public trail right

[1:16:06] away for access to the crownlands as

[1:16:08] well as a rightaway for the water line

[1:16:10] crossing Mount Carter Road. So instead

[1:16:12] with that that strip being private

[1:16:13] property, that last item about the water

[1:16:15] line is no longer necessary. However,

[1:16:16] there would be an additional easement

[1:16:18] needed for the public beach access. Uh

[1:16:20] so that's alternative number one would

[1:16:23] now read um that council directs staff

[1:16:26] to seek a public beach access as well as

[1:16:28] a public right of way leading to it. Uh

[1:16:30] in addition to a public trail right

[1:16:32] ofway for access south to the crown

[1:16:34] lands and a new right ofway access to

[1:16:36] 1658 mountainer road the proposed lot as

[1:16:39] a condition of approval.

[1:16:41] Um and go to the next slide. So

[1:16:43] ultimately staff feel that this resoning

[1:16:45] request is low impact but that the

[1:16:47] municipality stands to gain valuable

[1:16:48] environmental protections and a possible

[1:16:50] trail connection. Uh staff recommend

[1:16:52] that bylaw number 723 20226 is read a

[1:16:55] first time and that the bylaw and policy

[1:16:56] checklist are referred to the islands

[1:16:58] trust. Thank you.

[1:17:01] >> Do we have any questions for the planner

[1:17:04] councelor Fast and Councelor Getty?

[1:17:07] >> Um thank you. That's really interesting

[1:17:09] to know about the that it's a private

[1:17:11] road uh there. So if uh public beach

[1:17:15] access was to be proposed

[1:17:18] uh would it

[1:17:20] would the municipality need to arrange

[1:17:23] that through another property owner?

[1:17:28] >> It looks that way. That's that's

[1:17:29] correct. Yeah.

[1:17:30] >> Okay. Uh thank you. And then um uh just

[1:17:35] confirming that that's all

[1:17:38] uh shoreline is public below the high

[1:17:40] tide line.

[1:17:41] >> That's correct.

[1:17:42] >> Okay. There's no crown strips or

[1:17:44] anything around there?

[1:17:44] >> No.

[1:17:45] >> Okay. Thank you,

[1:17:48] Council Getty.

[1:17:49] >> So the public access um or sorry the

[1:17:52] trail that is marked in the in between

[1:17:55] the two um proposed

[1:17:58] um ecological

[1:18:00] protected areas. Is there any way that

[1:18:03] the municipality can put a covenant on

[1:18:06] that trail so that it is not I mean it

[1:18:09] may become part of the public trail

[1:18:10] system but can we do anything in terms

[1:18:14] of motorized vehicles at this point so

[1:18:17] that it if it's between two protected

[1:18:19] areas that it not have that kind of

[1:18:22] traffic through it. Is there any way we

[1:18:25] can

[1:18:26] >> Good question. Um I would want to reread

[1:18:28] that easement. Uh I can't recall off the

[1:18:30] top of my head if it was if if so so

[1:18:32] basically what that easement uh allows

[1:18:34] access to is some further further lots

[1:18:36] down to the southwest and I can't recall

[1:18:38] off the top of my head if it was

[1:18:39] motorized access or by foot probably

[1:18:41] motorized because that's a long ways to

[1:18:42] go. Um so yeah I would have to review

[1:18:45] that the the implications of that if if

[1:18:47] we can stack something on top of that would kind of supersede that in

[1:18:50] terms of it preventing motorized

[1:18:51] vehicles. Yeah, I'll have to look into

[1:18:53] that further. So that's an access

[1:18:55] easement between

[1:18:58] the property owner on and another

[1:19:01] property to the other side.

[1:19:02] >> That's correct.

[1:19:03] >> Okay. So it's a different access

[1:19:06] counselor fast.

[1:19:08] >> Uh is that the [clears throat] same

[1:19:10] property beyond that also owns the road?

[1:19:14] >> No. Uh though the one the one that this

[1:19:17] roadway is part of is directly to the

[1:19:18] west whereas this trail leads to the one

[1:19:21] to the southwest.

[1:19:22] >> Yes.

[1:19:23] Thank you. I have um um I have comments

[1:19:27] about alternative number one which I

[1:19:30] would like to move. So, thank you for

[1:19:32] adjusting the wording, but when you get

[1:19:34] when you're ready

[1:19:35] >> when you're ready.

[1:19:36] >> Um did were you able to put up the um to

[1:19:40] get the um map the b the bow map ortho

[1:19:46] map up?

[1:19:47] >> I have it up on my computer and then

[1:19:49] sorry I didn't put it on the slide. I

[1:19:51] didn't didn't uh foresee this issue with

[1:19:53] me not connecting. Um

[1:19:57] is there any way we can go and bow map

[1:19:58] and zoom in there? Sorry about that,

[1:19:59] guys.

[1:20:02] >> So, you'd like me to pull up the bow

[1:20:03] map? Um

[1:20:05] >> yeah, maybe if if um corporate officer

[1:20:08] could pull up bow map and type in the uh

[1:20:12] address. It's 1639, right?

[1:20:15] >> 1658.

[1:20:17] Okay.

[1:20:19] >> Working on it.

[1:20:22] We'll give the

[1:20:24] members of the public a demonstration of

[1:20:26] bow map that for those that haven't used

[1:20:28] it. Okay. And then when you go on the

[1:20:30] layers, click on or

[1:20:34] now. Click on oro

[1:20:40] » and then if you just turn on the Oh, you

[1:20:42] got it.

[1:20:42] >> There we go. So, um I'm asked to have

[1:20:47] this put up because there is already a

[1:20:49] public beach access on the um I guess

[1:20:53] it's on everybody's left um beside the

[1:20:56] public dock that we already can use at

[1:20:59] Mount Gardener. And you can see that

[1:21:02] there is a fair amount of sand and nice

[1:21:04] little access on that beach. So, um, and

[1:21:08] given the planner's comments about the,

[1:21:10] um, if we turned on the contours layer,

[1:21:13] you would see how steep and difficult

[1:21:16] any sort of beach access would be there

[1:21:19] and very expensive to build. And the

[1:21:22] other is because there is no um, parking

[1:21:26] or anything around there, that's an

[1:21:27] impossibility as well. It's not

[1:21:29] something that would be a destination

[1:21:31] beach and all the local neighbors can

[1:21:33] walk to and get to a beach right now.

[1:21:37] So, I'm certainly not in favor of the

[1:21:40] option number one.

[1:21:44] Councor Fast, thank you. Um, if I can

[1:21:48] speak to option number one. Um, and if

[1:21:52] maybe if you could u bring that up on

[1:21:54] the screen. um Sophie from the planner's

[1:21:58] presentation,

[1:22:00] he had revised wording for alternative

[1:22:03] number one. And [clears throat] uh so

[1:22:05] I'm going to speak to why I still think

[1:22:08] it's worth uh creating a safer uh public

[1:22:12] access to the beach. Um, right now, as

[1:22:15] uh, councelor Morris has pointed out,

[1:22:17] there is public access. If you go down

[1:22:21] beside the Mount Gardener dock, uh,

[1:22:23] where the boats are stored and, um, uh,

[1:22:26] and across the rocks, you can get out to

[1:22:29] the, um, beach. Um, and, uh, it's

[1:22:33] slippery rocks. It's not the safest. I

[1:22:36] have to confess I haven't swam there so

[1:22:38] I can't remember uh exactly but I'm

[1:22:41] pointing I'm looking at um the islands

[1:22:44] trust uh directives checklist and number

[1:22:47] 5.5

[1:22:49] which I see on I I believe in your uh

[1:22:53] checklist doesn't have a check mark

[1:22:55] there it says um local trust committees

[1:22:57] and island municipalities shall in their

[1:22:59] official committed plans and regulatory

[1:23:00] bylaws which this would be as a resoning

[1:23:03] it's changing in our land use bylaw.

[1:23:07] Right. Okay. Um address the uh

[1:23:11] identification of sites providing safe

[1:23:13] public access to beaches, the

[1:23:15] identification and designation of areas

[1:23:17] of regional significance da and um

[1:23:20] locations for community and public boat

[1:23:22] launches, docks and anchorages as well.

[1:23:25] So mostly I think the Mount Gardner dock

[1:23:28] public access is used for uh boats and

[1:23:31] people to go out on the docks and um I'm

[1:23:34] not sure and and to store their private

[1:23:38] uh little boats under the docks and uh

[1:23:41] access the water that people do, but I'm

[1:23:44] not sure that I've ever seen swimmers

[1:23:45] there. And uh I'm not sure how much it's

[1:23:47] used and I'd like to uh investigate

[1:23:50] that. I note in the parks plan uh which

[1:23:54] is also not referred to in the planners

[1:23:56] uh comments. Maybe it was in your

[1:23:58] earlier uh report. I don't know. Um but

[1:24:00] it speaks to the official community plan

[1:24:03] includes recommendations to guide the

[1:24:05] development of municipal parks, trails,

[1:24:06] and beach areas on Bowen. Parks plan

[1:24:09] expands on this. And I won't go into

[1:24:12] huge detail, but just to um mention that

[1:24:15] some of the goals on the park's plan are

[1:24:19] uh promote walking, hiking, cycling,

[1:24:21] horseback riding, and trail. We're

[1:24:23] talking about trails. Um and this is a

[1:24:26] publicly maintained, taxpayermaintained

[1:24:28] road up until this lot. I thought it was

[1:24:32] all the way along, but apparently not.

[1:24:35] Uh up to the edge of uh this resoning.

[1:24:39] Correct. Yeah. Okay. And um so uh across

[1:24:44] the island to facilitate commuting uh

[1:24:46] access and um uh recreation. Uh number

[1:24:51] three goal is beaches and uh so there's

[1:24:54] three goals there about all ages and

[1:24:56] opportunities to experience the islands

[1:24:58] beaches protect shoreline da da da da um

[1:25:01] support non-motorized water-based

[1:25:03] recreational opportunities. And then um

[1:25:06] goal f four is to acquire beach

[1:25:09] accesses. And uh this one I wanted to uh

[1:25:12] point out doesn't come often this

[1:25:15] opportunity to acquire a beach access.

[1:25:18] And um [clears throat] I think that um

[1:25:21] some homeowners in this uh area,

[1:25:25] including the prospective uh private lot

[1:25:29] uphill,

[1:25:30] um might like to walk down to the beach

[1:25:33] and uh swim at some point in the future.

[1:25:36] Um people on Bowen enjoy swimming. I

[1:25:39] think it's worth exploring um these

[1:25:42] ideas that are in our uh major guiding

[1:25:45] documents and um uh and the idea of

[1:25:49] safer public access to beaches. I think

[1:25:52] people swim from the Mount Gardener

[1:25:54] dock, which I don't know how safe that

[1:25:56] is, and those slippery um rocks going

[1:26:00] down to the water um below the Mount

[1:26:03] Gardener dock. Um,

[1:26:05] having watched my uh some family members

[1:26:08] sort of teetering on the top of them,

[1:26:11] um,

[1:26:13] I'm I think a safer uh public beach

[1:26:16] access um at a lower uh that's easier to

[1:26:21] get down to the water uh might be

[1:26:23] worthwhile. And uh so I just wanted to

[1:26:26] um suggest that it might add uh be

[1:26:30] something that other property owners

[1:26:32] around in the neighborhood might enjoy,

[1:26:34] particularly if they've got um dock

[1:26:37] that's going to take several years to

[1:26:39] replace or something like that. They

[1:26:41] want to get down to the water. Uh of

[1:26:42] course there's the Mount Gardner dock um

[1:26:46] beach access, but it's my

[1:26:48] feeling that that's getting busier with

[1:26:50] smaller boats and people coming and

[1:26:52] going. So, I um I just uh would like to

[1:26:55] move the motion that's on um

[1:26:59] the screen as the alternate one. I move

[1:27:03] that council direct staff to seek seek a

[1:27:06] public beach access as well as public

[1:27:08] right ofway leading to it from Mount

[1:27:10] Gardner Road in addition to a public

[1:27:13] trail right ofway for access south to

[1:27:16] the crownlands and a new right ofway

[1:27:18] access to 1658 Mount Gardner Road as a

[1:27:22] condition of approval.

[1:27:25] >> Have a question.

[1:27:28] Council Getty

[1:27:30] >> um before this gets um seconded and we

[1:27:32] have a discussion on that motion. The

[1:27:35] recommendation that was in the agenda

[1:27:37] was to have first reading and refer that

[1:27:41] to the trust with the checklist. So does

[1:27:44] this motion to have staff explore

[1:27:49] um some other beach access and rights

[1:27:52] away delay that process? It it would um

[1:27:56] it could uh it could be worded that like

[1:27:59] that could be stuck in at the end of all

[1:28:00] those other processes so we can move

[1:28:01] ahead with um referring the bylaw and

[1:28:05] checklist to the island trust but also

[1:28:07] continue working on setting up these

[1:28:08] rightways.

[1:28:13] [clears throat]

[1:28:14] >> Question two,

[1:28:16] >> um just because I'm first it's my first

[1:28:18] time seeing this alternative text. Uh we

[1:28:21] didn't have it before. Um,

[1:28:27] regarding the island's trust checklist,

[1:28:30] uh, you've got a not applicable beside

[1:28:34] 5.5 and that's because the beach access

[1:28:37] wasn't included in the proposal that's

[1:28:39] recommended.

[1:28:40] >> Exactly. So, council motions on that,

[1:28:42] then I can check because it'll now be

[1:28:44] part of the application.

[1:28:45] >> Thank you. Yeah. So, just so people

[1:28:46] understand, this is just so that this

[1:28:48] step could take place before. I just um

[1:28:51] I had a clarifi clarification question

[1:28:53] on the motion um and then we'll look to

[1:28:56] see if anybody wants to second it. Um it

[1:28:58] says in addition to a public trail right

[1:29:00] away for access. That's already in the

[1:29:03] proposal, isn't it?

[1:29:05] >> Correct.

[1:29:05] >> Okay. So basically what this motion

[1:29:08] wants to do is is just the first um two

[1:29:11] lines up to the comma

[1:29:14] because the other is already covered off

[1:29:16] in your package.

[1:29:18] >> True.

[1:29:18] >> Yeah. Thank you.

[1:29:19] So, is there a second for the motion?

[1:29:21] >> There's three. There's beach access.

[1:29:24] There's um rightway access to 1658 Mount

[1:29:28] Garner, and there's access south to

[1:29:30] Crown Labs, right?

[1:29:31] >> But those, from what I'm understanding

[1:29:33] from the planner, are already covered

[1:29:36] off in in the in the

[1:29:40] >> package. Sorry, I guess only the middle

[1:29:42] one.

[1:29:42] >> Only only the middle one,

[1:29:43] >> the public trail right away for access

[1:29:45] south to crown lands. that that's

[1:29:46] included in the applicants amenity

[1:29:48] package. But I guess so sorry. So So

[1:29:49] yeah, the first and third of the

[1:29:52] uh lines there would be the ones to add.

[1:29:57] >> Okay. So there's no access to 1658 Mount

[1:30:02] Gardner Road in the package.

[1:30:04] >> Uh no.

[1:30:08] » Sorry. And but is that needed because of

[1:30:12] the fact that the road isn't a public

[1:30:14] road all the way along?

[1:30:15] >> Exactly. Yeah. So they already do have

[1:30:18] easement to uh can't remember the six

[1:30:21] sorry can't remember the name of the

[1:30:22] address the large portion of the south.

[1:30:24] So at the moment this is one one legal

[1:30:26] parcel. So they they had their legal

[1:30:28] access but now now they'll be se severed

[1:30:30] um and that that will be a private

[1:30:31] roadway separating them. Yeah. Will need

[1:30:33] public access to sorry um to get to that new northern portion 1658. So you

[1:30:39] really have three things. So in which

[1:30:41] case I might want to ask to have it

[1:30:43] severed into three separate motions.

[1:30:49] So is there a seconder for the motion?

[1:30:55] Okay. Then I'm going to ask to have it

[1:30:57] separate into three separate motions.

[1:31:03] You

[1:31:03] >> do that after it's seconded or is that

[1:31:05] before?

[1:31:06] >> No, you do it after.

[1:31:15] So, we've got a motion that's moved and

[1:31:17] seconded and separate into three parts,

[1:31:20] which corporate officer might have a

[1:31:22] little fun trying to do.

[1:31:47] Okay. So, on the first clause, the

[1:31:49] council directs staff to seek a public

[1:31:51] beach access as well as a public right

[1:31:53] ofway leading to it from Mount Gardner

[1:31:55] Road.

[1:31:57] All in favor?

[1:32:01] Opposed?

[1:32:05] Councelor Getty, you

[1:32:07] >> um I'm not keeping up. So, um I've

[1:32:10] abstained which counts as a positive.

[1:32:12] >> You can't. Yeah. Okay.

[1:32:16] » Okay. Um in the second one, in addition

[1:32:20] to a public trail right away for access

[1:32:23] south to Crown Lands,

[1:32:26] and is that already covered in the

[1:32:28] package now? No. Okay. So, um maybe that

[1:32:32] so

[1:32:34] um a public do we leave the word

[1:32:37] addition in there if we severed it or

[1:32:40] does it matter?

[1:32:43] >> Um

[1:32:47] you severed it. Okay. You're going to

[1:32:49] put council direct staff in front of

[1:32:51] each one. Okay.

[1:32:58] All right. So, the council directs staff

[1:32:59] to seek a public trail right of way for

[1:33:02] access south to the crown lands.

[1:33:07] All in favor?

[1:33:11] Opposed? Nobody's here. And a new right

[1:33:16] of way across access.

[1:33:20] And that one you've got in your report,

[1:33:22] right? This last one.

[1:33:24] >> No, sorry, this is this is new. um

[1:33:27] because we just found that uh that's a private roadway. So a need that

[1:33:31] was identified.

[1:33:32] >> So you need this one. The council direct

[1:33:34] staff to seek a new rightway access to

[1:33:36] 1658 Mount Gardner Road as a condition

[1:33:38] of approval.

[1:33:41] >> All in favor?

[1:33:42] >> Favor

[1:33:44] opposed. Nobody's else is here. Okay.

[1:33:50] All right.

[1:33:52] So

[1:33:54] now your main one is first reading.

[1:33:58] >> Okay.

[1:34:00] So would somebody like to move that

[1:34:02] bylaw number 723 cited as mun bone

[1:34:06] municipality land use bylaw number 57

[1:34:08] 2002 amendment bylaw number 723 2026 be

[1:34:12] read a first time.

[1:34:15] Second. Thank you. All in favor?

[1:34:20] I

[1:34:22] okay

[1:34:26] » okay or carried you

[1:34:28] >> if the staff investigate the other

[1:34:30] rights away and it's attached to this

[1:34:33] then does this come back with those

[1:34:36] amendments those if they are organized

[1:34:40] then come back as an amendment or

[1:34:41] something

[1:34:42] >> they go back to trust after that

[1:34:44] >> so we'd be referring these bylaws and

[1:34:46] checklisted on as trust and then

[1:34:48] ultimately those those would be those

[1:34:49] ements rightways would be a condition of

[1:34:51] approval. So, we'd have have them set up

[1:34:52] before this bile is ultimately adopted.

[1:34:54] That it' only be this bio at the end of

[1:34:56] the process would only be adopted if

[1:34:57] those things have been secured.

[1:35:00] >> Would that have to go back to trust?

[1:35:02] >> No.

[1:35:02] >> At the end of the process, um yeah,

[1:35:04] after after uh final reading, but before

[1:35:07] adoption, this goes back to that trust.

[1:35:09] Yeah.

[1:35:12] » Okay. We on to seven. We're on to 7.2

[1:35:15] now.

[1:35:17] >> Oh, sorry. I believe uh the the second

[1:35:20] and third part of the motion on the

[1:35:22] agenda uh needs to be voted on.

[1:35:26] >> Oh,

[1:35:26] >> so it's that that council refer by

[1:35:28] number 7.

[1:35:29] >> I'm sorry I didn't flip the page and

[1:35:30] read that.

[1:35:31] >> Did we vote on the first one?

[1:35:33] >> Yeah, we did. And I didn't flip the page

[1:35:35] to add um

[1:35:37] >> the it be referred. Um, so we need to

[1:35:40] move that council refer bylaw number 723

[1:35:42] 20226 and the attached islands trust

[1:35:44] policy statement checklist to the

[1:35:47] islands trust and the council direct

[1:35:48] staff to return with the results of that

[1:35:50] referral.

[1:35:51] >> Can I ask a question?

[1:35:52] >> Yeah. Um, since we've

[1:35:57] passed this uh motion about the public

[1:35:59] beach access be explored um number 5.5

[1:36:05] on the trust uh directives checklist.

[1:36:08] Would you put that in a note on there or

[1:36:10] how does will that be included in the

[1:36:12] referral to the islands trust?

[1:36:14] >> I'll include it and I'll tweak the like

[1:36:15] specifically the 5.55.5 section. I'll confirm that one when I send it to

[1:36:19] >> Thank you.

[1:36:22] All in favor

[1:36:24] or do we have a mover in a second or

[1:36:28] we it was moved and seconded.

[1:36:29] >> It was moved and seconded. Okay. All in

[1:36:31] favor?

[1:36:32] >> I

[1:36:36] thank you.

[1:36:37] >> Okay. Now we're on to 7.2.

[1:37:20] Eat this thing.

[1:37:36] Are you ready?

[1:37:37] >> Yes. Thank you, Council Mor. So, I'm

[1:37:39] here today um to bring you um a resoning

[1:37:42] application at 620 Laura Road and a

[1:37:44] bylaw for consideration of first

[1:37:46] reading. Um so, by way of background,

[1:37:49] this is an application at 620 Laura

[1:37:51] Road. It's at the intersection of

[1:37:52] Westside Road and Laura Road on the west

[1:37:55] side of Bowen Island. And the

[1:37:57] application that is before you is to

[1:37:59] seek the cider use at 620 Laura Road.

[1:38:03] By way of background, this was last

[1:38:05] before you May 25th. Um, and at that

[1:38:07] point, we brought a revised application

[1:38:09] to you that council referred to two

[1:38:11] advisory committees. Um, and directed

[1:38:13] staff to prepare bylaws to amend the

[1:38:15] land use bylaw to allow the development

[1:38:17] proposal and directed staff to provide

[1:38:20] notice of first reading of the land use

[1:38:22] um bylaw amendment bylaw as required

[1:38:24] under section 467 of the local

[1:38:26] government act. And that's the section

[1:38:28] that is to provide notice in lie of to

[1:38:30] provide notice of first reading when a

[1:38:32] public hearing is not being held.

[1:38:35] Um just some background on the property.

[1:38:37] is zoned rural residential

[1:38:39] 2. Um and that allows the uses that are

[1:38:43] allowed in all of our rural residential

[1:38:44] zones. So that includes dwelling,

[1:38:46] agriculture, stable, kennel. It allows a

[1:38:48] list of accessory uses. It includes

[1:38:50] residential guest accommodation and home

[1:38:52] occupation.

[1:38:54] Um and then agriculture definition is

[1:38:56] here. It means the use of land buildings

[1:38:58] or structures for the growing, rearing,

[1:38:59] producing, harvesting of crops, plants,

[1:39:01] livestock and other animals. It includes

[1:39:04] the processing and sale of products

[1:39:05] harvested, reared or produced on that

[1:39:07] lot as well. Um and then in our current

[1:39:11] OCP, this property is designated R1

[1:39:14] rural is the designation. So this is um

[1:39:18] this this designation is described as

[1:39:21] including large lots that provide rural

[1:39:23] resource value such as agriculture and

[1:39:25] forestry and properties that have been

[1:39:27] maintained for purposes of a rural

[1:39:28] lifestyle.

[1:39:30] Um and then on this page I just have a

[1:39:32] number of objectives that are identified

[1:39:34] in our current OCP regarding

[1:39:36] agriculture.

[1:39:38] Um so supporting commercial and domestic

[1:39:40] agriculture in suitable locations and to

[1:39:42] encourage local food production to

[1:39:44] preserve lands that are used or or are

[1:39:47] suitable for agriculture activity and

[1:39:50] there's a number here. So 88 to provide

[1:39:52] for supporting infrastructure necessary

[1:39:53] to maintain and strengthen the

[1:39:55] agriculture economy or encourage land

[1:39:57] uses that are compatible with farming to

[1:39:59] be established in conjunction with

[1:40:00] agriculture activity. Um and so the

[1:40:03] report um that you have goes over the

[1:40:06] OCP our current OCP designations

[1:40:08] concludes that this application is

[1:40:09] consistent with the official community

[1:40:11] plan. Um, just for context, I've

[1:40:13] included a couple slides just on our

[1:40:14] draft 2026 OCP, knowing we're at the

[1:40:17] sort of in between stage where we have a

[1:40:18] circulated draft of an updated OCP, but

[1:40:21] not a obviously a bylaw to enact that

[1:40:23] OCP yet. Um, but for context, that draft

[1:40:27] um that draft would place this land

[1:40:30] designation in the rural residential

[1:40:32] transition designation,

[1:40:35] um, which has roughly the same the same

[1:40:37] densities. Um and our 2026 OCP has um

[1:40:41] some additional policies around

[1:40:42] agriculture. So 2.6.67

[1:40:45] is to protect and expand existing farms

[1:40:48] and orchards, especially heritage fruit

[1:40:50] trees to enhance historical as historic

[1:40:52] aspects of the island's food production.

[1:40:56] Um okay, final one on context for this

[1:40:58] site. Um there is a temporary use permit

[1:41:00] on this site that was issued initially

[1:41:02] in 2021 and then renewed in 2023. and

[1:41:05] that is to permit cider use on the

[1:41:07] property um with some restrictions.

[1:41:11] [gasps]

[1:41:11] Where we are in the overall process,

[1:41:13] this was this application was introduced

[1:41:15] to council in May. It was referred to

[1:41:17] committees and I'll I'll talk about them

[1:41:18] later and then we are here at the

[1:41:20] presentation for first reading. Um as

[1:41:23] currently um slated, this would get

[1:41:26] referred to the islands trust and come

[1:41:28] back for presentation for second and

[1:41:30] third reading and then considered for

[1:41:31] adoption.

[1:41:34] All right. The parks environment climate

[1:41:35] action committee met to do it meant to

[1:41:38] consider this application. So they

[1:41:41] recommended that the proponent meet

[1:41:43] BIM's conservation development policy.

[1:41:46] So protecting 50% or greater of the

[1:41:48] property for conservation purposes

[1:41:50] including using conservation covenants

[1:41:52] to include the heritage orchard Murray

[1:41:55] Creek riparian areas

[1:41:57] um indicating on the map where it is.

[1:41:59] They were seeking an assessment from a

[1:42:01] professional hydrogeeologist

[1:42:03] um and a registered on-site wastewater

[1:42:05] practitioner and looking for

[1:42:07] clarification on quantity and

[1:42:09] composition of solid and liquid waste.

[1:42:12] Uh and consider restriction on or a

[1:42:14] limit on cery output

[1:42:17] if um if dilitterious effects are

[1:42:20] anticipated with a significant increase

[1:42:21] in cery production. Um and then the

[1:42:24] advisory planning commission met last

[1:42:26] week to discuss and they provided

[1:42:27] recommendations regarding envir

[1:42:30] environmental waste management

[1:42:32] assessment be required. Um they

[1:42:35] recommended consideration of the

[1:42:36] reasoning be deferred pending completion

[1:42:38] of the graft and lake watershed

[1:42:39] management plan. They wanted

[1:42:42] consideration to

[1:42:44] um through the conservation development

[1:42:46] policy preserve the diversity of the

[1:42:48] existing heritage orchard and they

[1:42:50] recommended council should still

[1:42:51] consider having a public hearing for

[1:42:53] this application.

[1:42:56] Um so then as directed by council staff

[1:42:58] have prepared a bylaw to amend the land

[1:43:00] use bylaw to enable this development

[1:43:03] proposal. So it would reszone 620 Laura

[1:43:05] Road to be in a zone variation. So R R2A

[1:43:09] um so zone variation works by

[1:43:12] um varying the zone in certain ways but

[1:43:14] leaving the rest of the zoning the same.

[1:43:16] So um this zone variation would allow

[1:43:18] cidery as a permitted use. It would say

[1:43:20] the cidery may not have a lounge

[1:43:22] endorsement which is a um a thing that's

[1:43:25] open for ceries in BC. Essentially it

[1:43:26] functions like a restaurant would be a

[1:43:28] lounge endorsement. M you would set

[1:43:31] maximum floor area of the retail space

[1:43:33] at 25 square meters which is about the

[1:43:35] actual size of the retail area and the

[1:43:37] maximum area of the exterior patio space

[1:43:39] at 80 square meters which again matches

[1:43:41] what's there on site and it would set

[1:43:43] the same hours as as in the temporary

[1:43:44] use permit 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

[1:43:46] daily.

[1:43:48] Um and then the the bylaw itself would

[1:43:51] include these two definitions. So the

[1:43:52] cidery is the same definition that's in

[1:43:54] the temporary use permit. um with the

[1:43:56] difference being I think the temporary

[1:43:57] use permit just says lounge area and

[1:44:00] then we felt like if we were calling it

[1:44:01] out as something that's not allowed we

[1:44:03] wanted a definition so we've included a

[1:44:05] definition of lounge endorsement as well

[1:44:07] that matches what's from the um I think

[1:44:09] the LCB

[1:44:14] says um this notice was given at first

[1:44:16] reading so within properties of 300

[1:44:18] meters of the property it was included

[1:44:21] in the undercurrent and on our municipal

[1:44:23] website and so you've heard from two of

[1:44:25] the neighbors today and we have letters

[1:44:27] in the the package from those neighbors.

[1:44:28] We also have letters from um people

[1:44:31] outside of the the notice area as well

[1:44:33] or from any person outside of the notice

[1:44:35] area.

[1:44:38] Um some additional staff discussions. So

[1:44:40] water. So you'll see in your package the

[1:44:41] Riley Cider provided a hydrogeeologist

[1:44:44] report that was completed in 2021 as

[1:44:46] part of the application for a permit

[1:44:48] from Vancouver Coastal Health. And this

[1:44:50] report um gives details on water supply

[1:44:52] for the property. Um noting um water

[1:44:56] coming from a surface water license for

[1:44:58] irrigation of the orchard and an

[1:44:59] existing well for wash water in its

[1:45:01] commercial operations. And just noting

[1:45:04] water is not used in the production of

[1:45:05] the cider itself.

[1:45:08] Um and secondly for septic. So in my

[1:45:11] initial staff report in April, I brought

[1:45:13] comment from Vancouver Coastal Health

[1:45:15] and at that point the application was

[1:45:16] for cery and guest house use and

[1:45:18] Vancouver Coastal Health were

[1:45:20] recommending that we seek a registered

[1:45:22] on-site wastewater practitioner letter

[1:45:24] of assurance for that application. So

[1:45:27] when the applicant revised their

[1:45:29] application, I re-referred it to Coastal

[1:45:30] Health and asked specifically about the

[1:45:32] recommendation and said um if this is

[1:45:34] just for the side is that does that

[1:45:36] recommendation still hold? So this was

[1:45:38] the reply from Vancouver Coastal Health

[1:45:40] saying no, they don't think a letter of

[1:45:42] assurance from a registered on-site

[1:45:44] wastewater practitioner is required for

[1:45:45] this revised application and partly

[1:45:47] noting the original um the sewage system

[1:45:51] filing for the septic system for the

[1:45:52] cery and that's included in your

[1:45:54] application as well.

[1:45:57] Uh and then finally discussion on the

[1:45:59] conservation development policy. So

[1:46:01] council's familiar with this policy. The

[1:46:03] goal of the policy is a minimum of 50%

[1:46:05] of the total land subject to the

[1:46:06] resoning application is protected from

[1:46:08] further development priority to be given

[1:46:10] to protection of any identified

[1:46:11] environmentally sensitive areas and

[1:46:13] green space. So staff note areas of the

[1:46:16] property suitable for protection include

[1:46:18] riparian areas of Murray Creek and

[1:46:20] existing farmland.

[1:46:22] Um

[1:46:24] yeah and I'll just say I think through

[1:46:26] discussion with the applicant the

[1:46:27] applicant is hesitant to encumber the

[1:46:30] property with with covenants that would

[1:46:33] place further restrictions on their

[1:46:35] operations. And so one of the things

[1:46:37] staff is looking for is direction from

[1:46:39] council in terms of um council's desire

[1:46:41] to seek protective covenants of riparian

[1:46:43] area and um and the orchards.

[1:46:49] Uh and the staff report itself lists

[1:46:51] alternatives. So one you would see a um

[1:46:54] a cery definition that was provided by

[1:46:57] the applicant to better align with the

[1:46:59] liquor distribution branch. And so that

[1:47:02] definition um ties the cery definition

[1:47:06] to a minimum size of orchard but not to

[1:47:08] production from the lot. Um, so part of

[1:47:12] the discussion from the applicant is

[1:47:14] that this would is that the current

[1:47:16] definition may provide incentives for a

[1:47:19] future owner to, you know, maximize

[1:47:21] apple production in the orchard rather

[1:47:22] than the diversity of of apple species

[1:47:25] in the orchard. Um,

[1:47:29] but the flip is that the current

[1:47:31] definition limits production to that

[1:47:33] produced on the lot. So that may, you

[1:47:35] know, seem like that's the goal, the

[1:47:37] goal of it is you're you're tying it to

[1:47:39] specific production on the lot.

[1:47:42] Um, second alternative is, um, so

[1:47:46] council in May directed staff to bring

[1:47:48] this for first reading and not to a

[1:47:50] future public hearing. So just noting as

[1:47:51] an alternative, council can still, as we

[1:47:53] discussed at that meeting, council could

[1:47:55] still at this point say we want to refer

[1:47:57] to a future public hearing following a

[1:47:58] second reading. Um, the third

[1:48:00] alternative is the one brought forward

[1:48:02] by the APC. So, council could direct

[1:48:05] staff to not pursue the proposal any

[1:48:07] further until the Grafton Lake watershed

[1:48:08] management plan is complete. Um, so I

[1:48:11] think I have another report on this

[1:48:12] agenda that notes that that's likely to

[1:48:14] be the end of this year. And so that

[1:48:17] just with that alternative just noting

[1:48:18] for council um that that would mean that

[1:48:21] TUP has expired before the graft and

[1:48:23] lake management plan is ant anticipated

[1:48:25] to be complete.

[1:48:28] Um, so with all that in mind, the

[1:48:29] recommendation from staff is to grant

[1:48:32] first reading to the amendment bylaw to

[1:48:33] refer the bylaw and the islands trust

[1:48:36] policy statement checklist to the

[1:48:37] islands trust and direct staff to return

[1:48:39] with the results of that referral. Thank

[1:48:41] you.

[1:48:44] >> Any questions? Council fast, counselor

[1:48:47] wait um just uh to confirm that the

[1:48:52] referral to the islands trust is the one

[1:48:54] that's in our ontable that's correct

[1:48:56] >> package. Okay.

[1:48:58] Thank you. Because I was going to ask

[1:49:00] about the um agricultural uh directive

[1:49:05] policies and uh so they're in this other one. Thank you.

[1:49:11] >> And uh so would the wording for that be

[1:49:14] instead of the attached

[1:49:16] islands trust policy statement would

[1:49:18] just say [clears throat] the island's

[1:49:19] trust policy statement checklist in the

[1:49:21] on table agenda or something like that.

[1:49:24] Anyway, I'll let Sophie think about that. She's probably the one to do

[1:49:28] that. Okay, never mind. Thank you.

[1:49:30] >> Okay, now you've confused me. Do you

[1:49:32] have a revised island stress checklist

[1:49:34] in our package?

[1:49:36] >> It's in the on table. Um,

[1:49:38] >> okay. Cuz that that wasn't clear, I

[1:49:40] guess.

[1:49:41] >> The one Yeah, the one in the published

[1:49:42] agenda was the duplicate of Mount

[1:49:44] Gardner Road.

[1:49:47] Sorry.

[1:49:48] >> Um

[1:49:50] and the other I guess is

[1:49:53] the um definition that the applicant

[1:49:57] wants

[1:49:59] versus the definition you've got in the

[1:50:01] bylaw.

[1:50:03] Is there a comparison of those?

[1:50:06] What's the difference? Just going back

[1:50:08] again.

[1:50:08] >> Yeah, I believe it's in my report. I

[1:50:11] didn't bring here.

[1:50:14] I'm having trouble flipping between

[1:50:16] documents.

[1:50:21] » Okay.

[1:50:33] I guess I'm thinking that the liquor

[1:50:35] distribution branch might be a better

[1:50:38] definition just so we don't they don't

[1:50:41] end up running a follow of them.

[1:50:46] » This is legible. Okay. So with the

[1:50:49] liquor distribution branch for landbased

[1:50:51] winery requirements say 100% of the

[1:50:54] product must be made from fruit grown or

[1:50:55] produced in British Columbia which is in

[1:50:57] our definition. They talk about at least

[1:50:59] 25% of the fruit used in production must

[1:51:02] come from acreage owned or leased by the

[1:51:04] license whereas we seek it to be on the

[1:51:07] lot.

[1:51:08] >> Okay.

[1:51:08] >> And at least 2 acres of fruit orchard

[1:51:10] must be maintained. So the difference

[1:51:12] being that currently we would say 25% of

[1:51:15] the fruit is produced on the lot. Um

[1:51:18] they would not have that requirement.

[1:51:20] Instead they would have a requirement

[1:51:21] that they maintain 2 acres of orchard.

[1:51:27] » Okay. Councelor Wake, I think you had

[1:51:30] >> uh Yes. Thank you. Um so both the parks

[1:51:35] environment and climate action advisory

[1:51:37] committee and advisory planning

[1:51:39] commission have uh stipulated that there

[1:51:43] should be protective covenants on the

[1:51:47] orchard

[1:51:49] uh portion and they there's a I'm not

[1:51:52] sure if it if it's a heritage covenant

[1:51:55] or just a protective covenant but um

[1:52:00] are are that was part of your

[1:52:02] recommendation. I don't I don't see

[1:52:05] >> um I I think I would seek council

[1:52:08] direction if that's desired to be

[1:52:10] included. I think in terms of you know

[1:52:12] the riparian area covenant is is fairly

[1:52:15] straightforward. It's a small portion of

[1:52:17] the lot that's outside the agriculture

[1:52:19] area that is riparian. Um and then in

[1:52:22] terms of agriculture covenant

[1:52:26] um I guess there's different ways

[1:52:28] council could want to go. So one is to

[1:52:29] say that we protect this area as

[1:52:31] agricultural land is fairly

[1:52:34] straightforward, right? You you draw it

[1:52:35] on a map, you say this is agriculture.

[1:52:37] It has to be agriculture can't be used

[1:52:39] for residential purposes or whatever

[1:52:41] else it could be. Um

[1:52:44] and that would protect it as you know

[1:52:46] orchard or other farmland something. And

[1:52:49] then if you want to go the step of you

[1:52:51] know protecting the heritage orchard

[1:52:54] that's a more involved process. I think

[1:52:56] you heard from the public comment, you

[1:52:58] know, somebody proposing it it being a a

[1:53:00] land trust, you would need some way to

[1:53:02] regulate it. If the covenant is supposed

[1:53:04] to say we want to protect the heritage

[1:53:06] trees that they are maintained, that the

[1:53:08] biodiversity is maintained, then you

[1:53:10] then you're looking at okay, who's who's

[1:53:12] monitoring that on a regular basis and

[1:53:14] ensuring follow-up and that's a much

[1:53:16] more comp complicated covenant

[1:53:20] um and more involved.

[1:53:22] Well, it may be much more complicated,

[1:53:23] but I think

[1:53:26] what I'm understanding is that's what we

[1:53:27] should be doing. We should be protecting

[1:53:29] the diversity and um the the specific uh

[1:53:35] heritage of that orchard. Um then the

[1:53:40] question came up, well so if we if we

[1:53:43] don't do that, what's to pre prevent a a

[1:53:46] future owner from basically just keeping

[1:53:50] his agriculture land but letting the

[1:53:51] orchard fail?

[1:53:54] And so I mean my thought would be we

[1:53:56] should be protect

[1:54:05] » through the chair. Thanks.

[1:54:06] [clears throat]

[1:54:07] I I understand the arguments about

[1:54:09] protecting the orchard and the heritage

[1:54:12] of the orchard, but it's also private

[1:54:15] property and telling people what to do

[1:54:18] with private property. I I realize

[1:54:21] there's there certain things we must

[1:54:23] tell them what to do, but telling the

[1:54:27] owner or a potential future owner, you

[1:54:29] must grow apples. You must maintain this

[1:54:32] orchard here.

[1:54:34] We're basically,

[1:54:37] well, not basically, we are telling them

[1:54:39] this is the use of your property, like

[1:54:41] it or not. And and I'm I'm troubled by

[1:54:44] that approach to private property.

[1:54:48] That's my comment.

[1:54:50] >> Councelor Fast. Um, thank you and I

[1:54:54] appreciate the comments. I too um like

[1:54:58] uh councelor wake am interested in a

[1:55:00] conservation covenant for the heritage

[1:55:04] orchard apple trees and uh that's

[1:55:07] because I see them their value more as a

[1:55:09] gene bank and uh as a uh heritage

[1:55:15] um value uh to Canada and beyond. Some

[1:55:18] of that um uh genetic material was

[1:55:22] collected from down in the United

[1:55:25] States. As I understand it, this is a

[1:55:27] international kind of uh gene bank uh

[1:55:30] for our changing climate uh future. Um

[1:55:34] and I would look at in terms of the

[1:55:35] private property part, um I would look

[1:55:38] at it as a uh like a heritage building.

[1:55:42] Um this is a heritage uh property or an

[1:55:46] heritage part of the property that's

[1:55:48] been uh developed and uh by planting

[1:55:52] these her collecting and planting these

[1:55:54] heritage trees and maintaining them uh

[1:55:56] so that they can share the um cutings uh

[1:56:01] the the the twigs with other um people

[1:56:04] because you can't reproduce these

[1:56:07] heritage varieties from seeds. Um and um

[1:56:11] I appreciate the um uh

[1:56:17] conversations that have happened with

[1:56:19] the neighborhood and with the uh ideas

[1:56:22] coming forward from uh people including

[1:56:25] the uh Wellland Community Orchard and

[1:56:28] any others that uh people come up with

[1:56:30] as examples for how such a covenant uh

[1:56:33] or uh arrangement could happen.

[1:56:37] As I recall earlier in the process,

[1:56:39] there was uh interest from prospective

[1:56:43] land owners at the time to working with

[1:56:45] the community to find way um to uh

[1:56:49] involve the community to to care for the

[1:56:52] trees, that kind of thing. And uh so I'm

[1:56:54] in favor of a conservation covenant on

[1:56:57] the heritage apple tree um varieties

[1:57:01] that orchard. Yeah. Thank you

[1:57:06] » councelor Sonnage here.

[1:57:08] >> Um I I want to make sure that my

[1:57:11] positions on this is clear is I I fully

[1:57:14] understand the concept of heritage and I

[1:57:18] and um

[1:57:20] councelor F comments about the genetic

[1:57:23] seedlings. I I get that and and I agree

[1:57:25] with you on that. I I think there's real

[1:57:28] value in that. Um, my concern about it,

[1:57:32] I'm if we're particularly that

[1:57:34] interested in maintaining this, maybe we

[1:57:37] should own it if we're going to have to

[1:57:39] if we're going to tell other people what

[1:57:41] to do with that specific area of the

[1:57:42] property. It just sounds like it sounds

[1:57:46] like an imposition from government that

[1:57:49] isn't warranted um without what without us supporting it in

[1:57:57] uh in some way. Um I I just I struggle

[1:58:02] with the private property part of it

[1:58:03] understanding the uh the comments that

[1:58:06] have been raised already and and

[1:58:08] appreciating them and agreeing with many

[1:58:10] of them. But I I think at its core I

[1:58:12] struggle with the telling people

[1:58:15] more about what to do with their

[1:58:17] property than we already do in many

[1:58:18] cases. I I know I understand the need

[1:58:21] for it. You can't um you know like in a

[1:58:24] lot of cases don't be building your

[1:58:26] building right up against the sea coast

[1:58:28] and things. I understand that. I think

[1:58:31] this one is possibly going beyond that.

[1:58:34] Just my thoughts. Thank you,

[1:58:35] >> Cathery.

[1:58:38] Um, okay. Two or three points. Um, I

[1:58:41] think that the, um, if what we're doing

[1:58:44] is trying to send this off to trust and

[1:58:47] to get through their checklist, then

[1:58:49] that's that's one part of the process.

[1:58:52] And I understand that the um in terms of

[1:58:56] um the timeline and that the um that

[1:58:59] this is being rushed to a certain extent

[1:59:02] um to accommodate the um the owners in

[1:59:05] terms of the continuation of the side

[1:59:08] can't renew the temporary use program.

[1:59:11] They have to have had it uh reszoned. um

[1:59:16] and that they've left that application

[1:59:18] late in the process so that they were

[1:59:20] now trying to push up against that

[1:59:23] timeline. Um so what um the material

[1:59:28] that I've been reading um that was

[1:59:30] attached to this item in the agenda uh

[1:59:33] from Heather Miller in particular but

[1:59:35] also um Margaret Underh Hill and she

[1:59:38] spoke uh Margaret spoke earlier in the

[1:59:41] public thing um uh public statements um

[1:59:47] raise issues and I'm not sure that the

[1:59:50] referral to the island's trust and

[1:59:52] getting it through first reading

[1:59:54] is um

[1:59:56] uh

[1:59:58] necessarily going to interfere with the

[2:00:01] questions that are raised. But I would

[2:00:02] like to put it on record that having

[2:00:04] read this material, I think that it's

[2:00:06] rational and reasonable and sounds fair

[2:00:09] and it's something that I need more time

[2:00:12] on. Um so I'm not prepared to go um I'll

[2:00:16] put the proponents on notice. I'm

[2:00:18] certainly nowhere close to prepared to

[2:00:20] go to second or third reading uh unless

[2:00:22] a whole lot of those questions are

[2:00:24] answered. Um and the question that was

[2:00:27] raised at the APC in terms of and in

[2:00:29] this correspondence with respect to the

[2:00:31] definition of cery and the amount of

[2:00:34] juice that can be brought in. Whether

[2:00:37] that protects the heritage orchard or

[2:00:39] whether that um you know turns it into

[2:00:42] manufacturing instead of agriculture is

[2:00:45] a question that I think needs much

[2:00:47] deeper um conversation. And I think that

[2:00:51] actually that for me opens up the whole

[2:00:53] issue of there being an open house on

[2:00:55] this um and whether or not we should

[2:00:57] resend that decision that we made in May

[2:01:00] before we had a lot of this other

[2:01:02] information on the table. So I think

[2:01:04] that's up in the air as well.

[2:01:07] um the the business of the heritage and

[2:01:10] protecting a heritage asset. Um that's

[2:01:12] the what uh councelor Saunders is

[2:01:15] talking about. That's the struggle that

[2:01:16] goes on with every heritage property.

[2:01:18] It's an interference by the community in

[2:01:21] the private property interests of

[2:01:23] somebody that wants to change things. So

[2:01:25] that's the whole point of heritage

[2:01:28] protection. And um you know, yes, it the

[2:01:32] legislation clearly allows for that kind

[2:01:35] of interference. And it is unusual and

[2:01:37] it's unique and it's a special section

[2:01:39] of the local government act, but it's it

[2:01:42] is allowed and it's a a public community

[2:01:45] definition or decision in terms of yes,

[2:01:48] that's an asset that we think needs to

[2:01:50] be without having to buy it. Um that you

[2:01:53] can put certain conditions on it in

[2:01:55] terms of you know it's something that a

[2:01:57] whole lot of effort was put into

[2:01:58] creating it in the beginning or however

[2:02:00] long ago that was. So um I would say

[2:02:04] that if we move to u a referral to

[2:02:07] islands trust that's one thing in terms

[2:02:10] of this checklist but it's quite an a a

[2:02:13] much more difficult process I think once

[2:02:16] it comes back from trust and we have to

[2:02:19] deal with second and third reading I'm

[2:02:20] nowhere close to being and I'm changing

[2:02:23] my position from when was this last year

[2:02:27] May

[2:02:28] >> May

[2:02:29] >> um so you know I at that point. I

[2:02:32] thought that the problem was that the um

[2:02:35] the neighbors had reconciled to the

[2:02:38] operation of a commercial cery and

[2:02:40] without the bed and breakfast and that major issue had been resolved. And

[2:02:47] now at the you know the 11 11 and a half

[2:02:51] hours there's a whole bunch of other

[2:02:53] material that comes in with respect to

[2:02:54] water in particular and um uh septic and

[2:03:00] um green waste and uh whether or not all

[2:03:03] of that has been put to um Vancouver

[2:03:08] Coastal Health. if I had them here

[2:03:09] today, I'd be asking them some questions

[2:03:11] in terms of whether or not they had

[2:03:14] taken some of these other things into

[2:03:15] consideration and I would certainly hope

[2:03:17] that um staff would take the

[2:03:20] correspondence seriously and maybe ask

[2:03:22] those questions on our behalf of

[2:03:23] Vancouver Coastal Health, but um we

[2:03:26] don't have that material in front of us

[2:03:27] today. So, um

[2:03:30] I'm I don't think that our decision

[2:03:34] today to refer it to trust would

[2:03:36] necessarily change in terms of it having

[2:03:38] going back to trust. So, you know, if we

[2:03:41] can have some of our concerns

[2:03:43] alleviated, that's fine. But, um I agree

[2:03:47] with the very detailed uh conservation

[2:03:51] covenant and protection of a heritage

[2:03:53] value asset in the community. And I'm

[2:03:56] very concerned about the definition of

[2:03:58] the cidery and

[2:04:01] um yeah some of these other water

[2:04:04] concerns that are raised in the the

[2:04:07] correspondence.

[2:04:08] I don't appreciate getting 14 pages of

[2:04:11] detailed um argument on the day of a

[2:04:15] meeting. It's really hard to digest it.

[2:04:17] But that's beside the point.

[2:04:21] So, um, myself and the speakers list,

[2:04:24] too. Um, as a point of information, um,

[2:04:28] all of those detailed letters have come

[2:04:30] from somebody who no longer, as far as

[2:04:33] we can tell, resides on Bowen Island or

[2:04:36] owns property on Bowen Island. Um, and

[2:04:40] those were all sent to us

[2:04:43] directly earlier.

[2:04:45] I mean, my my inbox has been inundated

[2:04:48] with them, so I'm assuming yours has,

[2:04:50] but the other is um is there a way to

[2:04:54] with the definition of apples on the

[2:04:57] lot? Um

[2:05:00] I mean, I'm everybody wants to protect

[2:05:02] the existing trees, but if we had a huge

[2:05:05] awful winter storm and they all died,

[2:05:06] well, they all died and then what do you

[2:05:08] do? Um you can't build something else.

[2:05:11] But could could we put in the word um

[2:05:14] something along the lines in the

[2:05:16] definition of cery that the production

[2:05:17] comes from uh the existing trees from

[2:05:21] fruit grown on the existing trees on the

[2:05:23] lot unless those trees die.

[2:05:27] Um you know so that they could be

[2:05:30] replaced with I mean what happens if

[2:05:32] those trees did get wiped out?

[2:05:35] I mean

[2:05:36] >> they had to replant if there was a

[2:05:37] covenant saying you had to keep those

[2:05:39] trees.

[2:05:41] >> Yeah. To the chair. I mean I think

[2:05:43] that's a question more for the the

[2:05:44] covenant than the cidery definition

[2:05:47] which is more supposed to be like an an

[2:05:49] islandwide definition for the the cidery

[2:05:52] land use.

[2:05:53] >> Okay. So my other question is if we gave

[2:05:55] it first reading today

[2:05:58] and referred it to the trust,

[2:06:01] could the covenant be explored

[2:06:05] um after and be a condition of going you

[2:06:09] know ask staff to explore the covenant

[2:06:12] and then

[2:06:14] at second reading we make it a condition

[2:06:16] of second or third or final reading.

[2:06:20] >> Um I mean yes it can be. So I me and the

[2:06:23] corporate officer had drafted some

[2:06:25] wording of of council wanting to move

[2:06:26] that forward. Um I think the one piece I

[2:06:29] guess would be if if the island trust

[2:06:31] comes back and says well our approval

[2:06:33] would be you know conditional on there

[2:06:35] being a covenant which they've done for

[2:06:36] some reasoning applications then we

[2:06:38] would be saying okay well then clearly

[2:06:40] you know the trust's expectations this

[2:06:42] is this is included as well. Um, but

[2:06:45] definitely, you know, council can amend

[2:06:48] the application at second reading.

[2:06:52] >> Council passed. Thank you. I'd be

[2:06:54] interested in seeing the draft wording

[2:06:57] that uh you and the corporate officer

[2:06:59] have uh talked about.

[2:07:07] Okay. So you've just called it ongoing

[2:07:09] protection of

[2:07:12] >> yeah we written yeah in terms of ongoing

[2:07:14] protection of the biodiversity of the

[2:07:16] heritage orchard. So it's not about

[2:07:17] protection of the agriculture land but

[2:07:19] about but the the idea of ongoing

[2:07:21] protection is saying it's beyond just

[2:07:23] saying you know you can't you can't

[2:07:24] build a house here but there needs some

[2:07:26] provision for ongoing protection.

[2:07:29] >> Well I like that because it doesn't mean

[2:07:31] that it has to be a conservation

[2:07:33] covenant. There could there's other

[2:07:34] tools

[2:07:35] >> uh potentially. Um

[2:07:38] but if that's the wording from staff, if

[2:07:41] I move that now, can we still move on to

[2:07:43] the um uh giving it first reading and um

[2:07:48] >> I I would see those two as sort of

[2:07:50] happening and then and then the

[2:07:52] recommendation if council wishes. So

[2:07:55] yes.

[2:07:56] >> Okay. Then I move that council direct

[2:07:59] staff to seek protection of the riparian

[2:08:01] areas as a condition of reasonzoning

[2:08:03] approval and that council direct staff

[2:08:06] to seek ongoing protection of the

[2:08:07] biodiversity of the heritage orchard as

[2:08:10] a condition of reasonzoning approval.

[2:08:16] » Second.

[2:08:21] » All in favor?

[2:08:23] All right.

[2:08:25] >> Okay.

[2:08:27] >> Um and then

[2:08:29] are you going to move the second part of

[2:08:31] the motion?

[2:08:32] >> I would be delighted to. Um

[2:08:36] this is the same as it's in our package,

[2:08:38] I think. Okay. um that bylaw number 726

[2:08:41] cited as Bowen Island Municipality Land

[2:08:43] Use bylaw number 57, 2002, amendment

[2:08:47] bump number 726,2026

[2:08:50] be read a first time and that council

[2:08:53] refer uh bylaw number 726206

[2:08:58] and the wording from Sophie about the on

[2:09:02] the um islands trust policy statement

[2:09:06] checklist. list.

[2:09:09] Uh,

[2:09:09] >> sorry, just go. It's on the It's on the

[2:09:12] screen.

[2:09:12] >> Oh, thank you. Uh, checklist included in

[2:09:15] the on table items package of the July

[2:09:18] 27 regular council meeting to the

[2:09:20] island's trust and that council uh

[2:09:23] direct staff to return with the results

[2:09:25] of the referral.

[2:09:26] >> Do we have a seconder? Council Saunders.

[2:09:29] All in favor?

[2:09:31] I [clears throat]

[2:09:33] Good. I have a quick question.

[2:09:38] Do you have a question?

[2:09:39] >> Yeah. Okay. Um Daniel, don't disappear.

[2:09:42] >> U just a quick question for the planner.

[2:09:44] Um and do any of these um resolutions

[2:09:49] preclude council from moving to public

[2:09:50] hearing at a later date um as this

[2:09:54] application proceeds.

[2:09:55] >> Thank you. That's a great great

[2:09:56] question. I was going to raising it for

[2:09:58] council Getty. Um so typically when when

[2:10:01] there's no public hearing required and

[2:10:04] where council's given the notice, we

[2:10:05] would come back as staff um for the

[2:10:07] bylaw for consideration of second and

[2:10:09] third reading. We would bring an

[2:10:11] alternative which would be council would

[2:10:12] give second reading and refer to a

[2:10:14] public hearing at that time.

[2:10:17] >> Okay,

[2:10:18] >> if that's clear.

[2:10:19] >> So if we want to proceed to public

[2:10:20] hearing, we do it after second.

[2:10:22] >> Correct.

[2:10:23] >> Okay.

[2:10:25] >> Thank you.

[2:10:29] Okay.

[2:10:31] Oops. Have we lost everybody here? Uh,

[2:10:34] staff report solid waste service

[2:10:36] agreement. Christina Cali.

[2:10:46] Thank you, council. I haven't prepared a

[2:10:48] presentation, but I can walk you through

[2:10:49] the staff report.

[2:10:51] Okay. So staff are seeking council

[2:10:54] direction to issue a notice of intent

[2:10:55] for a proposed 2-year solid waste

[2:10:57] services agreement with Bowen Waste

[2:10:59] Solutions. This is for the period of

[2:11:01] January 1st, 2027 to December 31st,

[2:11:04] 2028.

[2:11:06] Bowen Waste Solutions is is the

[2:11:08] municipality's current contractor and

[2:11:10] has provided continuous solid waste

[2:11:12] services on Bowen Island since 1994.

[2:11:15] Their proposed agreement would maintain

[2:11:16] existing service levels for garbage,

[2:11:18] organics, recycling, collection, as well

[2:11:21] as operation of the bird facility,

[2:11:23] ensuring uninterrupted service while the

[2:11:25] municipality completes a comprehensive

[2:11:27] review of its long-term solid waste

[2:11:29] system.

[2:11:31] In addition to maintaining current

[2:11:32] services, the negotiated agreement

[2:11:34] includes a commitment from Bow and Waste

[2:11:36] Solutions to work collaboratively with

[2:11:38] the municipality, Recycle BC, and

[2:11:41] potentially other extended uh producer

[2:11:43] responsibility recycling programs in

[2:11:45] order to inform the development of an

[2:11:47] updated solid waste strategy for Bowen

[2:11:49] Island. This work will support

[2:11:52] evaluation of future opportunities which

[2:11:54] could include potential participation in

[2:11:56] recycle BC assessment of depot versus

[2:11:59] curbside recycling models analysis of

[2:12:02] recycling revenues and costs possible on

[2:12:05] island solid waste or composting

[2:12:06] solutions as well as the identification

[2:12:09] of long-term service delivery options

[2:12:10] that maximize both environmental and

[2:12:13] financial benefits.

[2:12:16] The negotiated contract value is 1.434

[2:12:18] 434 million annually. This is

[2:12:21] representing a 14.5% increase over the

[2:12:24] current agreement. This increase

[2:12:26] reflects higher labor, fuel,

[2:12:28] transportation, equipment, maintenance,

[2:12:30] and regulatory costs experienced by

[2:12:32] Bowen Waste over the term of the

[2:12:34] existing contract.

[2:12:36] The two-year term was intentionally

[2:12:38] selected to provide a short-term cost

[2:12:40] certainty while preserving flexibility

[2:12:42] to implement recommendations from the

[2:12:44] forthcoming solid waste strategy.

[2:12:47] Uh preliminary analysis indicates that

[2:12:49] participation in recycle BC could

[2:12:50] provide significant financial benefits

[2:12:53] as well as enhance recycling performance

[2:12:55] which would make it important that the

[2:12:56] municipality retain flexibility while

[2:12:58] these opportunities are fully evaluated

[2:13:00] over the next two years.

[2:13:02] Issuing a notice of intent would support

[2:13:05] the transparency and compliance with

[2:13:06] procurement uh requirements by providing

[2:13:09] an opportunity for other qualified

[2:13:11] suppliers to demonstrate their ability

[2:13:13] to deliver comparable services. If no

[2:13:16] valid changes or challenge is received,

[2:13:18] staff will proceed with finalizing the

[2:13:20] agreement and return to council for

[2:13:22] approval. If a valid challenge is

[2:13:25] received, staff will undertake

[2:13:26] competitive procurement process.

[2:13:28] >> Thank you.

[2:13:30] >> Would somebody like to move the motion

[2:13:32] or has questions?

[2:13:35] >> I'll move the motion.

[2:13:40] » Want me to read it?

[2:13:41] >> Yeah. [laughter]

[2:13:42] Uh the council directs staff to post a

[2:13:46] notice of intent to proceed with a

[2:13:48] direct award to Bowen Waste Solutions,

[2:13:50] Inc. for a solid waste services

[2:13:53] agreement and that upon expiry of the

[2:13:56] notice period without receipt of a valid

[2:13:58] challenge that staff will be authorized

[2:14:00] to enter a 2-year contract beginning

[2:14:03] January 1st, 2027 with Bowen Waste

[2:14:06] Solutions, Inc. for1,443

[2:14:11] 434,112

[2:14:13] per year and further that should the

[2:14:15] notice be successfully challenged staff

[2:14:18] will be directed to undertake a

[2:14:20] competitive procurement process

[2:14:22] including a request for proposals in

[2:14:25] accordance with the applicable

[2:14:27] procurement policies and legal

[2:14:29] requirements. Seconder council Getty.

[2:14:33] Any questions, discussion? All those in

[2:14:35] favor?

[2:14:40] » Thank you.

[2:14:40] >> Can I take a two-minut break or I'm

[2:14:43] going to disappear for

[2:14:44] >> couple minutes?

[2:14:52] » Have we still got?

[2:14:53] >> Yeah, we've got four. Well, I don't

[2:14:54] know. We've lost two two members right

[2:14:56] now. I think just roll everybody.

[2:14:59] >> I think we're taking a twominut break.

[2:18:50] Everyone, my name is Mer Bornia. I'm the

[2:18:53] new manager of infrastructure with Roy

[2:18:56] Municipality.

[2:18:57] Today I will provide an update on the

[2:19:00] emergency repairs at the Snove North and

[2:19:03] South WS. This is an information update

[2:19:06] only and I'm not asking council for any

[2:19:09] direction or approval. I will just

[2:19:11] explain what we have found, what we have

[2:19:14] done so far and what happens next.

[2:19:18] This is the agenda [clears throat] of my

[2:19:20] today's presentation. I will begin with

[2:19:22] some background on why why these warves

[2:19:25] are important. I will then explain what

[2:19:27] the structural assessment have found the

[2:19:29] immediate the immediate safety measures

[2:19:32] that you have taken the periscope

[2:19:35] how the work will be completed approval

[2:19:38] costs schedule and risk and last but not

[2:19:42] least the long-term plan for these

[2:19:43] warfs.

[2:19:46] Um the area photo that you see on this

[2:19:49] slide u has been taken by my drone. It

[2:19:53] shows north and south bars um are next

[2:19:56] to BC Ferris terminal. These barves

[2:20:00] support public access, vessel morage,

[2:20:02] municipal operations and the ambulance

[2:20:05] and emergency vehicle access.

[2:20:08] The warves are supported on timber piles

[2:20:12] in salt water and are exposed to tides

[2:20:15] and marine borers which damage the

[2:20:17] timber from the inside.

[2:20:20] When the concerns were identified, we

[2:20:23] have acted quickly and emergency

[2:20:25] inspection was completed on June 12th

[2:20:28] followed by a detailed assessment on

[2:20:30] June 16.

[2:20:32] So what did the assessment found in

[2:20:35] summary? Widespread marine border damage

[2:20:38] and localized advanced deterioration.

[2:20:42] The photos on this slide show the main

[2:20:45] concern better than I can explain. Some

[2:20:48] piles might appear reasonably solid from

[2:20:51] the outside but contain large internal

[2:20:54] cavities. The assessment also found

[2:20:57] timber decay, splitting, the

[2:21:01] deterioration of the pile caps and the

[2:21:04] stringers. In total, 12 structure

[2:21:08] components were identified for immediate

[2:21:10] repair or replacement.

[2:21:13] Other components identified will need

[2:21:16] require will require near-term

[2:21:18] rehabilitation and ongoing monitoring

[2:21:23] immediate safety measures. So we did not

[2:21:27] wait for the perimeter repair design

[2:21:29] before taking action.

[2:21:31] Temporary full height timber support

[2:21:34] post were installed beside the two most

[2:21:36] deteriorated part. This is what you see

[2:21:38] in this photo here. We also introduced

[2:21:42] operating restrictions.

[2:21:45] Only essential municipal emergency

[2:21:48] vehicles are permitted with a maximum

[2:21:51] speed of 5 kilometer per hour and only

[2:21:53] one vehicle at a time. We train access

[2:21:56] remains available and emergency and

[2:21:58] ambulance access is maintained.

[2:22:04] So in this slide I have briefly shown

[2:22:08] the the repaircope.

[2:22:11] The repair scope includes replacement of

[2:22:14] severely deteriorated timber piles,

[2:22:17] replacement of deteriorated timber uh

[2:22:21] timber pile caps, localized stringer and structural connection repairs, rehab

[2:22:28] rehabilitation of piles with large

[2:22:30] cavities with grafted steel jacket to

[2:22:32] restore part capacity in locations where

[2:22:35] pile placement is not feasible. So if

[2:22:38] contractor cannot get access to fully

[2:22:41] replace a pile, what they do is that

[2:22:43] they're going to fill the cavity with

[2:22:44] grout and then protect it with steel

[2:22:47] jacket. This is what this detail is

[2:22:49] showing here. Um removal of deteriorated

[2:22:53] or marine infested timber from site and

[2:22:56] reinstatement of decking and other

[2:22:58] temporary removed components.

[2:23:03] A common question that might be asked is

[2:23:07] how the construction will be done.

[2:23:10] Um most of the answer to that question

[2:23:12] is that the most of the work will be

[2:23:15] completed from the water side. The dark

[2:23:18] areas on these slide show the

[2:23:21] approximate barge positioning.

[2:23:24] Um the red area is pile driving

[2:23:27] equipment on top of the barge. We have

[2:23:30] retained a specialized marine contractor

[2:23:33] who is equipped with a specialized wars.

[2:23:36] that uh have pile driving equipment

[2:23:39] and they also have boats that can go in

[2:23:42] between the piles that are underneath

[2:23:44] the the the pier structure.

[2:23:52] What one thing that is um important to

[2:23:55] note on this slide is that during the

[2:23:57] active construction we plan to install

[2:24:00] operable gates. The operable gates will

[2:24:04] keep public out of the active

[2:24:06] construction zone but it will let the

[2:24:09] emergency vehicle and ambulance to go

[2:24:12] through the gate. Um that also includes

[2:24:15] the owners of these um boats that are

[2:24:17] parked here. So it's going to be closed

[2:24:19] to public but it will allow the

[2:24:22] necessary people to pass through. The

[2:24:24] other thing that's important to mention

[2:24:27] is that and this is going to be a phased

[2:24:29] operation. Phase one would be the

[2:24:32] southwarf and that's where the

[2:24:34] contractor is is planning to position

[2:24:36] their barge to do the repair from the

[2:24:38] water side. Phase two is going to be the

[2:24:41] north pier and that's where the

[2:24:44] contractor is planning to position their

[2:24:46] barge to do the repairs. So these gates

[2:24:48] will be installed when there's going to

[2:24:50] be active construction on each of these

[2:24:52] wars

[2:24:54] where we stand with approvals and a

[2:24:56] stakeholder coordination. We have

[2:24:58] submitted an application to DFO because

[2:25:01] we are doing work over over and inside

[2:25:04] the water. The application is currently

[2:25:06] in review pending approval. We have

[2:25:09] submitted the documentation to our own

[2:25:11] building department. We have coordinated

[2:25:14] with transport Canada. They have

[2:25:17] confirmed that this work doesn't require

[2:25:20] navigation program approval mainly

[2:25:22] because it meets the requirement

[2:25:25] uh mainly because it meets the

[2:25:27] definition of repair as opposed to

[2:25:29] rebuild. We have also had a meeting with

[2:25:32] BC fairies on last Friday. They have

[2:25:34] raised some concern about the size and

[2:25:38] dimension of the barge. Therefore, they

[2:25:40] has asked the contractor to submit a

[2:25:42] drawing that shows exactly where they're

[2:25:45] going to um position their equipment in in respect to BC Fair's operational

[2:25:52] envelope.

[2:25:56] Uh the total cost of the project at this

[2:25:59] point is estimated at $260,000.

[2:26:03] The cost includes the the contractor's

[2:26:07] fee as well as consulting cost which

[2:26:09] includes a structural and environmental.

[2:26:12] We have used emergency procurement to

[2:26:15] procure the contractor and consultant

[2:26:17] mainly because when the concerns were

[2:26:20] identified the the time of failure could

[2:26:23] not be reliably predicted. So that's why

[2:26:25] we went ahead and um and hired both the

[2:26:30] consultant and contractor.

[2:26:32] In terms of project timeline, uh as you

[2:26:35] can see on this slide, things have moved

[2:26:37] pretty quickly since we since the

[2:26:40] concerns were identified. Uh we are

[2:26:42] currently here. We had our meeting with

[2:26:45] BC Fairies. We will submit the

[2:26:47] documentation that they have um asked us

[2:26:50] to provide. The construction is

[2:26:52] anticipated to begin mid August pending

[2:26:57] receiving approvals from DFO and

[2:26:59] approval of BC fairies to move forward

[2:27:01] with the work. The target completion

[2:27:04] date is September 15. However, if we can

[2:27:08] start earlier in August, uh we are

[2:27:10] aiming to complete everything before the

[2:27:12] month of September.

[2:27:16] Risks and mitigation. So like every

[2:27:19] construction project, this project has

[2:27:21] its own risks. It's important to

[2:27:24] identify them and have appropriate

[2:27:27] response for each identified risk. I'm

[2:27:30] not going to go over all the risk that

[2:27:32] we have identified. But to give you just

[2:27:35] one example, an example of the risk that

[2:27:37] was identified was a risk of internal

[2:27:41] damage not visible from surface. And the

[2:27:44] proper risk respond for that was

[2:27:46] resistorraph testing by the structural

[2:27:50] consultant before the construction

[2:27:51] begins. And then field verification and

[2:27:54] engineering review during construction.

[2:27:56] So if contractor comes across piles that

[2:28:00] he seems suspicious of needing to be

[2:28:03] replaced, you're going to bring us bring

[2:28:05] us to our attention and we will move

[2:28:07] forward with replacing those as well.

[2:28:11] Long-term wolf management. I want to be

[2:28:13] very clear about what these repels will

[2:28:16] and will not achieve. The project

[2:28:19] addresses the highest priority

[2:28:21] deficiencies.

[2:28:22] However, marine border activity is

[2:28:25] present at several location across both

[2:28:28] WS and will continue.

[2:28:31] Because of this, we need a long-term

[2:28:34] asset management program. Their

[2:28:36] recommended future measures are regular

[2:28:39] tide structural inspection, targeted

[2:28:42] resistorraph testing for piles that are

[2:28:45] suspicious of having cavities inside

[2:28:47] them, monitoring of the repaired and

[2:28:50] previously identified piles, removal of

[2:28:53] infested timber debris from site, pile

[2:28:56] encapsulation or jacket system at

[2:28:58] priority locations. a phase

[2:29:01] rehabilitation and renewal strategy and

[2:29:04] future capital planning um for these

[2:29:07] bars to make sure every year there's

[2:29:09] budget to do the proper measures for for

[2:29:13] these barbs.

[2:29:16] With this I conclude uh my presentation

[2:29:19] and I am open to questions from council

[2:29:22] and the public. Thank you.

[2:29:24] >> Any questions councelor Getty? Um so

[2:29:29] somewhere in your report you talk about

[2:29:31] uh trying to find measures to prevent

[2:29:33] the marine borers.

[2:29:34] >> That's correct. Um, and my

[2:29:38] vague knowledge is that they used to use

[2:29:40] creassote on the pilings, but that was

[2:29:43] um considered to um put unnecessary

[2:29:47] chemicals into the water, which um was

[2:29:50] part of the cleanup of house sound in

[2:29:52] terms of wrapping the piles with I think

[2:29:54] it was something as simple as netting to

[2:29:56] keep the maybe it was the muscles, not

[2:29:59] the bores. But um in in terms of

[2:30:04] whatever preventative measures um are

[2:30:06] going to be considered um then I think

[2:30:09] we have to talk about the environmental

[2:30:11] protection at the same time. Um, so I'd

[2:30:14] like you to keep that in mind. And I'm

[2:30:16] wondering if there's any alternatives in

[2:30:17] terms of the materials that are can be

[2:30:20] used for ponds like possibly cement or

[2:30:25] um some metal although it's salt water

[2:30:28] but

[2:30:30] through the chair. Um in terms of

[2:30:32] protection um the protection methodology

[2:30:35] that BCeries has also lose on their

[2:30:39] piles is the use of I think HTTP

[2:30:42] membrane to cover this piles to protect

[2:30:45] them against marine activity. However,

[2:30:47] we need to compare the cost of that with

[2:30:51] full replacement of the pile because it

[2:30:53] could be that the cost associated with

[2:30:55] that repair is higher than the full

[2:30:58] replacement of the P. We have the cost

[2:31:00] associated with full replacement as a

[2:31:03] result of the work that we are doing

[2:31:04] now. But that's a good um subject to

[2:31:07] discuss with the structural engineer and

[2:31:09] contractor to find out what's the best

[2:31:12] solution for our situation.

[2:31:15] >> And um I've got two other questions. Is

[2:31:18] there going to be a fairly complete

[2:31:20] assessment done before construction

[2:31:22] starts so that we have while we've got

[2:31:24] the equipment on site um if we if it's

[2:31:26] within budget that we can do as much

[2:31:29] protection as possible.

[2:31:31] >> So a full assessment was completed

[2:31:34] >> but the scope of assessment was to

[2:31:36] identify the immediate concerns which

[2:31:39] were safety issue. the ones the what

[2:31:42] cons um consultant has recommended

[2:31:46] they are basically safety issues and we

[2:31:48] need to take care of them immediately.

[2:31:50] However, we can I I will discuss with

[2:31:54] the consultant whether um there are

[2:31:56] protection measures that we can take

[2:31:59] during the construction if that is if

[2:32:02] that is considered feasible.

[2:32:04] And lastly on the um south dock um the

[2:32:10] float that's attached to it that's

[2:32:13] heavily used by visitors.

[2:32:15] >> Yes,

[2:32:15] >> boat visitors. So how do we keep them

[2:32:17] off?

[2:32:18] >> And second part of that is that that's

[2:32:21] notifying the public. How do we notify

[2:32:24] and and is there a plan to notify the

[2:32:26] bed and breakfast operators that are in

[2:32:28] the area that are going to be disturbed

[2:32:31] by the pile driving?

[2:32:34] My understanding is that um

[2:32:37] the communication will be done through staff to public and they will be

[2:32:43] informed of these upcoming operations.

[2:32:46] In terms of visitors going over the um

[2:32:49] dock, we are going to put operable gates

[2:32:53] there and we're going to put signage

[2:32:55] there that the public are not allowed

[2:32:58] and people who are allowed are basically

[2:33:00] the ambulance and the owners of the

[2:33:03] boats who are park on that dock. It's a

[2:33:07] risk measurement. It's a riskmanagement

[2:33:10] um effort to limit public access to make

[2:33:13] sure during active construction we don't

[2:33:16] have public wandering around those

[2:33:18] ducks. So that's why we're going to put

[2:33:21] a upper gate with proper signage that

[2:33:24] can be accessed by um by um authorized

[2:33:28] personnel.

[2:33:30] >> So we don't really have any we're not

[2:33:32] closing down the float for tourists

[2:33:34] coming in.

[2:33:36] I would say for tourists we have to

[2:33:39] close it down. Only the people who have

[2:33:42] u boats parked there

[2:33:44] >> should go through because if you think

[2:33:47] about it this is going to be an active

[2:33:49] construction zone. The contractor knows

[2:33:51] that once they leave the site they have

[2:33:53] to um put the condition of the site in a in a condition that the ambulance

[2:34:00] can go through. But I would not

[2:34:03] recommend giving general public access

[2:34:06] to these docks during the construction

[2:34:08] especially that the construction

[2:34:10] duration is not that long.

[2:34:13] >> I think the one to two weeks

[2:34:15] >> CAO had a comment.

[2:34:16] >> Uh thank you through the mayor to

[2:34:18] counselor Getty I can add to that too.

[2:34:20] We have had a coordinating meeting with

[2:34:22] um a large number of staff to try and

[2:34:24] identify all of the different um

[2:34:26] interest holders who would need to be

[2:34:28] notified ahead of time. um talking about

[2:34:31] notification of the the those residents

[2:34:33] right in Snug Cove was part of that

[2:34:35] conversation. Um the manager of

[2:34:39] infrastructure did indicate that it was

[2:34:41] his understanding that all of the

[2:34:43] construction activity would be taking

[2:34:44] place during daylight hours. However, he

[2:34:46] is going to follow up with that because

[2:34:49] of course it's working in the water with

[2:34:51] tides and if there is to be nighttime

[2:34:54] construction then absolutely members of

[2:34:56] the community need advanced and

[2:34:58] significant knowledge about that

[2:35:00] potential. We are planning on closing

[2:35:02] the float to um to tourists. So, we are

[2:35:07] going to be contacting two of the

[2:35:09] marinas in Horseshoe Bay and in West

[2:35:12] Vancouver that often send their tourists

[2:35:14] to say, "Hey, it's a great trip to come

[2:35:16] on over to Bowen for the day." We are

[2:35:18] going to do a very big advanced

[2:35:21] communication plan ahead of time to make

[2:35:23] sure that all of the relevant parties

[2:35:26] that we can identify ahead of time have

[2:35:28] advanced knowledge of this um activity

[2:35:30] going on.

[2:35:31] >> Okay. Councelor Saunders.

[2:35:32] >> Thank you to the chair. Um, you may have

[2:35:34] addressed this in your presentation and

[2:35:36] I missed it. Is there any reason to

[2:35:39] expect that ferry schedules might be

[2:35:41] impacted during operations or should be

[2:35:44] non-issue

[2:35:46] >> to the chair? Um, no. No impact on ferry

[2:35:50] schedule is expected unless something

[2:35:52] unforeseen happens that is beyond

[2:35:54] everybody's control. [laughter] But the

[2:35:56] contractor has confirmed that they can

[2:35:58] work from the water side and they will

[2:36:00] stay out of F's operational envelope and

[2:36:05] we had a coordination meeting on Friday

[2:36:06] with them and uh also BC fairies did not

[2:36:09] mention anything about any disruptions

[2:36:12] in their operation as a result of our

[2:36:14] voters.

[2:36:15] >> Thank you.

[2:36:17] >> Anybody else? Councelor Wake

[2:36:20] >> through the chair. Uh thank you for a a

[2:36:23] very thorough report. This this gives me

[2:36:26] confidence. Um just following up on the

[2:36:28] question about materials. Um where were

[2:36:31] replacing piles? Is there any option for

[2:36:34] steel or something that uh wouldn't rot?

[2:36:40] >> To the chair. Um the plan is like for

[2:36:43] leg replacement, but that's a good

[2:36:46] question. I can uh ask that question

[2:36:48] from the structural engineer and provide

[2:36:51] reasoning about why we can move forward

[2:36:54] with the steel.

[2:36:56] >> Thank you.

[2:36:57] >> And I had a question sort of along the

[2:37:00] same lines I guess. um if all of the

[2:37:03] piles are in say one side or one corner

[2:37:05] or something like that. I mean has

[2:37:07] anybody thought about just making the

[2:37:09] war smaller on the north dock, not uh

[2:37:13] you know not replacing the whole thing

[2:37:15] if the piles are all in one particular

[2:37:17] area. And I I know the dock dance for

[2:37:19] the fire chief would be

[2:37:22] impacted, but other than that, you know,

[2:37:24] I mean, do we need that big a north dock

[2:37:28] >> through the chair? um on the north or

[2:37:31] even south dock. We don't plan to

[2:37:33] replace all piles. It's only 12 members

[2:37:35] that are identified for emergency

[2:37:37] replacement

[2:37:38] >> and they're interspersed throughout the

[2:37:40] they're not all along the one side or

[2:37:42] something like that.

[2:37:43] >> They're they're scattered to some

[2:37:45] extent, but on the south dock luckily

[2:37:48] most of them are on one end of the pier

[2:37:52] which allows the contractor to to do

[2:37:54] their repair work from the water side.

[2:37:56] they're not in kind of in the middle

[2:37:59] that requires basically taking out the

[2:38:01] deck and do the work. There one or two

[2:38:03] piles that are in the middle and for

[2:38:06] those

[2:38:07] what the contractor will do is that

[2:38:09] they're going to temporarily support

[2:38:11] everything from the bottom and they do

[2:38:13] the replacement from the steel from

[2:38:15] below.

[2:38:16] >> Yeah. No, I was more thinking of you

[2:38:18] know the north dock cert.

[2:38:22] So I was just thinking if all the piles

[2:38:25] were the one end of the north dock then

[2:38:27] make it smaller

[2:38:28] >> through through the mayor to your

[2:38:30] question. Uh there's actually not a

[2:38:32] significant amount of work that has to

[2:38:34] take place on the north dock. There's I

[2:38:36] think two piles is

[2:38:38] >> there's much limited the extent of

[2:38:40] damage to the north pier is much smaller

[2:38:44] than the

[2:38:45] >> than the south than the south beer.

[2:38:47] >> Okay. So, it's only a pile cap and I

[2:38:51] think maybe one or two columns that need

[2:38:53] to be replaced.

[2:38:54] >> Yeah. Okay, great. Any more questions?

[2:38:59] » Um, sure. Since you're looking at me, I

[2:39:02] just uh thank you. I'm really happy to

[2:39:04] see the safety of that uh do of the

[2:39:07] docks addressed and uh I always wondered

[2:39:11] about the dock dance and all the people

[2:39:13] jumping up and down at the same time and

[2:39:15] uh would like to be sure that we've been

[2:39:18] as careful as possible. So, thank you

[2:39:20] very much.

[2:39:21] >> Okay, thank you for your presentation.

[2:39:23] It was great.

[2:39:26] » Okay, who's up next? Oh, Daniel's back.

[2:39:48] Thank you. Yes, I'm back again. I don't

[2:39:50] have a presentation with this. This is

[2:39:51] an update on the septic um septic

[2:39:54] maintenance bylaw implementation plan.

[2:39:56] And so what is in the report is just um

[2:40:00] essentially status update on where we

[2:40:01] are in providing more information that

[2:40:03] would form the basis of that

[2:40:04] implementation plan. Um specifically the

[2:40:06] Grafton Lake management plan and our

[2:40:08] work with Vancouver Coastal Health to

[2:40:10] get data on existing septic fields on

[2:40:12] Bowen Island. Um so the recommendation

[2:40:15] is that council receive this report for

[2:40:17] information and then I'm open for any

[2:40:19] questions you might have.

[2:40:21] >> Does anybody have any questions on the

[2:40:23] report?

[2:40:27] Can we have a motion to receive?

[2:40:32] » Okay, you're going to make the motion to

[2:40:34] receive. Motion

[2:40:35] >> to receive.

[2:40:36] >> Thank you. A seconder. Thank you. Um,

[2:40:39] all in favor?

[2:40:41] >> I.

[2:40:43] >> Well done. [laughter]

[2:40:45] >> Sophie, can you bring up the key?

[2:40:48] >> Okay. Um, the next one is uh 8.4, 4

[2:40:51] which is our quarterly um municipal

[2:40:54] report and then 8.5 and 8.6

[2:40:58] our acting CEO and CFO have those three.

[2:41:02] >> Uh thank you mayor through the mayor to

[2:41:04] the rest of council. I just wanted to

[2:41:06] take the opportunity to thank staff for

[2:41:08] putting together the Q2 spring update to

[2:41:11] council. Um this report it covers a very

[2:41:14] uh busy time for staff. These are

[2:41:16] activities reported from the month of

[2:41:18] April through the month of June. It's

[2:41:20] typically a busy time for all of our

[2:41:22] staff. Uh in the corporate services

[2:41:24] department, uh the ongoing work to

[2:41:27] review and update bylaws, policies, and

[2:41:29] procedures is ongoing. The big project

[2:41:32] for this reporting period of course

[2:41:34] includes managing the procurement and

[2:41:35] installation of the new audiovisisual

[2:41:37] equipment in this the conference room.

[2:41:40] Uh this was also supported um with an

[2:41:43] accessibility component that was funded

[2:41:45] with a $25,000 uh spark grant. Ongoing

[2:41:49] support is provided by the corporate

[2:41:51] services department to municipal

[2:41:53] projects such as the OCP review um and

[2:41:56] all of that work that is undertaken by

[2:41:58] the communications and the deputy

[2:42:00] corporate officers work following up

[2:42:03] with our finance department. Uh work on

[2:42:05] the 2025 audit was wrapped up during

[2:42:08] this period. Um, we had acceptance of

[2:42:11] council's acceptance of the 2025 audited

[2:42:13] financial statements as well as

[2:42:15] submission of all required government

[2:42:18] reports to the province which were

[2:42:20] submitted and approved. Uh, this period

[2:42:22] also marked the approval of the 2026

[2:42:26] 5-year financial plan and setting of the

[2:42:29] annual tax rates and sending out of all

[2:42:31] the tax notices and collection of the

[2:42:33] annual property taxes. So Q2 marks a

[2:42:36] very busy period in the financial

[2:42:38] services department. The engineering and

[2:42:41] public works department has been busy

[2:42:43] with a new project that's begun. As you

[2:42:45] just learned, the um the docks located

[2:42:48] in Snug Cove as well. A large culvert

[2:42:51] replacement on Dorman Road has been

[2:42:53] started at Davies Creek and that will

[2:42:55] move um forward as well as work that was

[2:42:59] undertaken um up on Taylor Road at

[2:43:01] Dallas at Dallas Drive was completed

[2:43:05] which resulted in improved drainage and

[2:43:07] road structure there. Um work on the

[2:43:10] wastewater treatment plant. So within

[2:43:12] the sewer system uh currently there has

[2:43:14] been a technical review of the sewer

[2:43:16] inflow and infiltration project. So

[2:43:18] council can expect an update uh results

[2:43:21] from that project next quarter as that

[2:43:24] review is taking place over the summer.

[2:43:26] Um a lot of uh work was undertaken in

[2:43:30] quarter 2 on a new bylaw to update the

[2:43:32] sewer regulations addressing the fog,

[2:43:35] the fats, oil and grease going into the

[2:43:37] wastewater treatment plant. And work on

[2:43:39] the sewer outfall um I'm happy to report

[2:43:43] is still progressing albeit at a snail's

[2:43:45] pace. A lot of the um the hold up in

[2:43:49] that project moving that forward has to

[2:43:50] do um beyond factors of our control.

[2:43:53] It's around permitting approvals and

[2:43:54] things that are done at the provincial

[2:43:56] level. Uh staff have completed

[2:43:58] significant program of ongoing flushing

[2:44:01] and PRV pressure reducing valve uh

[2:44:04] maintenance throughout all seven of our

[2:44:06] water systems. And um as we move into

[2:44:09] the summer and implementation of our uh

[2:44:11] water conservation and restriction uh

[2:44:14] requirements though we are monitoring

[2:44:16] those and making sure that uh that

[2:44:19] people are abiding by those uh water

[2:44:21] conservation regulations.

[2:44:23] Routine maintenance is going on at the

[2:44:25] wells and pump stations and um lots of

[2:44:29] work going on around installation of

[2:44:31] backflow prevention devices in several

[2:44:34] of the systems. Parks and trail work is

[2:44:36] going on underway during this period,

[2:44:38] especially when the spring when we have

[2:44:40] the combination of sun and warm

[2:44:42] temperatures and rain. Um, a lot of

[2:44:45] really kickstarted vegetation growth.

[2:44:47] So, you see a lot of activity around the

[2:44:50] island on brushing maintenance programs.

[2:44:52] Significant progress made as well in the

[2:44:55] public works department on the

[2:44:56] implementation of their software, new

[2:44:58] asset management systems software which

[2:45:00] was acquired and is being implemented.

[2:45:03] And I hopefully you've all seen the new

[2:45:05] citizen request portal that's up and

[2:45:07] operational. And that's an opportunity

[2:45:09] for citizens to um directly enter their

[2:45:12] own service requests. You know, if they

[2:45:13] see a pothole, they can notify the

[2:45:15] public works department. And we'll get

[2:45:17] that into our worklist and a work order

[2:45:19] created for that. Um this report, it

[2:45:22] also contains some nice looking graphs

[2:45:24] there that report publicly on the

[2:45:26] numbers and the types of uh service

[2:45:29] requests that have been logged during

[2:45:30] the period. and the team has been busy

[2:45:33] managing and prioritizing those

[2:45:35] requests. Uh moving on to fire and

[2:45:37] emergency department. They've been busy

[2:45:39] with ongoing firefighter training

[2:45:41] opportunities uh including a lot of

[2:45:43] wildland firefighting rural water

[2:45:45] supply. You may have noticed a recent um

[2:45:48] notification that the department has

[2:45:51] achieved water shuttle accreditation uh

[2:45:53] through the fire underwriters surve uh

[2:45:56] fire underwriters survey recently. So,

[2:45:59] this is great news for our residents as

[2:46:01] it provides the opportunity to

[2:46:02] potentially review their home insurance

[2:46:04] policies and perhaps uh receive some

[2:46:07] discounts to their premiums as the new

[2:46:10] um underwriter survey accredititation uh

[2:46:12] the benefits of achieving that kick in.

[2:46:15] Um I should note too that firefighter

[2:46:17] volunteers responded to 54 callouts and

[2:46:19] attended a whopping 555 hours of

[2:46:22] training during the second quarter of

[2:46:24] 2026. Our emergency program has hosted a

[2:46:27] successful um emergency preparedness

[2:46:30] week speaker event. Um they've

[2:46:32] undertaken a do-it-yourself fresh air

[2:46:34] filter construction project and this is

[2:46:36] particularly meaningful at this time of

[2:46:38] the year where residents can learn how

[2:46:40] to improve their own indoor air quality

[2:46:42] through a a cheap and fun project. Um

[2:46:46] it's a necessary way to make

[2:46:47] improvements to our air quality and we

[2:46:49] should all be mindful and cognizant of

[2:46:52] the wildfire risk um at this time

[2:46:54] especially in um many of areas of our

[2:46:56] province at the at this time. Uh the

[2:46:59] recreation department has reported

[2:47:01] hosting over 6,000 v uh visitors to the

[2:47:04] community center this quarter. Um our

[2:47:06] fitness center visits are up 31%. They

[2:47:09] have an average of about 18 to 20 users

[2:47:12] per day in the weight room. We had 915

[2:47:15] program registrants along with 321

[2:47:18] drop-in participants and 1659

[2:47:22] fitness center visits this quarter

[2:47:24] alone. So the usage by the community of

[2:47:26] this facility is strong and it speaks to

[2:47:29] the support that the community has um of

[2:47:32] this facility. Events that were held

[2:47:34] included the moonflower screening of the

[2:47:37] Bowen Island filmmaker in support of

[2:47:39] World Oceans Day. Skate days are

[2:47:41] continuing for the youth programming um

[2:47:43] in partnership with IPS down at the

[2:47:45] fieldhouse and um completion has uh the sorry the bike barn mural has been

[2:47:54] completed down um at the cove with the

[2:47:56] work going on at the dock. We're going

[2:47:58] to hold off on any kind of unveiling of

[2:48:00] that mural until the fall when the

[2:48:01] work's completed down there in the

[2:48:04] theater. Uh the report you'll see in

[2:48:06] there that it sets out the events that

[2:48:07] have taken place. It's also um been

[2:48:11] noted that staff have arranged for

[2:48:13] installation of the handrails in the

[2:48:15] theater which have been which have

[2:48:16] proven to be a real important and

[2:48:18] necessary safety upgrade. Uh

[2:48:20] installation of a new donated orac

[2:48:23] broadcast system um from Sky. This is a

[2:48:27] system that was donated from Sky and it

[2:48:29] will um assist in a new hearing um uh

[2:48:34] system that's more robust and easier to

[2:48:36] use. Lastly, uh I'm proud to announce

[2:48:39] that BIM received a KMA award for

[2:48:41] innovation for design of this facility

[2:48:44] and uh this award took place in May and

[2:48:48] we won it in the category for small

[2:48:50] municipalities under 20,000 for this

[2:48:52] building. In the parks department,

[2:48:55] there's been new signage for indigenous

[2:48:57] names um that have been gifted to the

[2:49:00] beaches on the west side of the island.

[2:49:01] It's been ordered and the province has

[2:49:03] recently approved those proposed name

[2:49:06] changes. Swimmer safety upgrades uh were

[2:49:09] undertaken by the installation of a life

[2:49:11] boy that was uh installed at Sandy Beach

[2:49:14] and new uh handles to assist swimmers

[2:49:17] from getting out of the water have been

[2:49:19] installed on the Mount Gardener dock.

[2:49:21] We've been um exploring options of

[2:49:23] community forest models to expand

[2:49:26] stewardship over crown lands. And the

[2:49:28] big event in June, of course, um if you

[2:49:31] missed it, you can still uh go online

[2:49:33] and and view it. It was a wildlife

[2:49:35] safety education event with wildlife

[2:49:38] experts and the Metro Vancouver parks,

[2:49:40] the RCMP conservation officers all

[2:49:42] taking part. And I recommend everybody

[2:49:44] go online and and watch that event. Um

[2:49:47] it was a a busy time for our planning

[2:49:50] department. Of course, they're still

[2:49:51] working on several initiatives. Most

[2:49:53] importantly, of course, is the OCP

[2:49:54] review. just that has just recently

[2:49:57] closed the round two engagement process

[2:50:00] and those results will be delivered to

[2:50:02] council in the fall. The ongoing

[2:50:05] initiative to reszone municipal lands as

[2:50:07] parks um is wrapping up and that will

[2:50:10] help to ensure that public lands are

[2:50:11] held and protected for recreational,

[2:50:14] environmental and community purposes in

[2:50:16] perpetuity. the work of the septic

[2:50:19] maintenance program review as um planner

[2:50:21] Martin [clears throat] has just

[2:50:22] indicated it is uh just kind of on hold

[2:50:26] while we uh work through this OCP

[2:50:29] process but uh we're going to pick this

[2:50:31] one up again um in the new year once the

[2:50:33] OCP review has concluded um bylaw has

[2:50:36] been very busy supervising and

[2:50:38] overseeing the fairy marshalling program

[2:50:40] um we're halfway through the summer the

[2:50:42] program has proven to be very successful

[2:50:44] uh adding to the safe and orderly

[2:50:47] marshalling of vehicles and pedestrians

[2:50:49] in Snugo. The work um again I'd like to

[2:50:53] commend their work publicly. It's very

[2:50:56] important to assist keeping that ferry

[2:50:58] loading on time, hassle-free, and

[2:51:00] contributing to on-time operations of

[2:51:02] the ferry. Um other work within the

[2:51:05] bylaw department has been to support the

[2:51:08] uh development of the new um fog, fat,

[2:51:10] oil, and grease regulation in the sewer.

[2:51:12] So, uh, Doug has been out taking many,

[2:51:16] um, samples of, uh, water from grease

[2:51:20] traps throughout all of the food service

[2:51:22] establishments, and we'll be working

[2:51:23] with those businesses quite closely in

[2:51:25] order to implement those recommendations

[2:51:28] beginning um, you know, beginning this

[2:51:30] month. there there's going to be ongoing

[2:51:32] checking and compliance and requirements

[2:51:34] for making sure that that um that the

[2:51:37] fog going into our wastewater treatment

[2:51:39] system is kept to a minimum which we

[2:51:42] anticipate is going to help to address

[2:51:44] the smell.

[2:51:46] Uh lastly in bylaw they've got a new

[2:51:48] violation ticket maintenance module that

[2:51:50] has been implemented. So that software

[2:51:53] has been acquired. It's going to

[2:51:54] streamline the violation ticket tracking

[2:51:56] and monitoring process going forward. HR

[2:52:00] is busy uh new hires for the manager of

[2:52:02] infrastructure role. So uh we welcome

[2:52:05] our new manager of infrastructure. Of

[2:52:07] course there's ongoing recruitment

[2:52:08] opportunities for ferry marshallers um

[2:52:11] ongoing opportunities for auxiliary

[2:52:13] custodial staff as well as um new meter

[2:52:16] readers in the public works department.

[2:52:18] We're supplementing their staff capacity

[2:52:21] by hiring casual meter readers. And

[2:52:25] there's always ongoing uh recruitment,

[2:52:27] interviewing and and posting and filling

[2:52:30] work going on there. Um

[2:52:33] should be noted uh when we look at the

[2:52:37] section of the report on the library, uh

[2:52:39] the library bid a bond farewell to our

[2:52:42] 30 plus year chief librarian, Tina

[2:52:44] Nielsen. Staff and council wish Tina a

[2:52:46] happy and fulfilling retirement after

[2:52:48] years of dedicated service in that role.

[2:52:50] And I would like to take the opportunity

[2:52:53] to welcome Jennifer Strechman to the

[2:52:55] role as Bowen's new chief librarian.

[2:52:57] She's working hard to develop new

[2:52:59] programming and services to fill those

[2:53:01] big shoes left behind by Tina and

[2:53:04] Jennifer's here in attendance today. So,

[2:53:06] thank you. Um, lastly, the work of the

[2:53:09] strategic initiatives officer is

[2:53:11] ongoing. Projects worked on and advanced

[2:53:13] this quarter include the drafting of the

[2:53:15] new purchasing policy, uh development of

[2:53:18] a systemic ferry traffic data collection

[2:53:20] process which is being used to gather

[2:53:23] information uh about uh numbers of cars,

[2:53:27] numbers of overloads that are left

[2:53:28] behind. All pieces of data that we um we

[2:53:32] can only really collect from this side

[2:53:34] and that BC fairies I'm sure will be

[2:53:36] keen to share um as we move forward.

[2:53:40] There's initiation of a new solid waste

[2:53:42] contract that will be kicking off the

[2:53:44] two-year period where the municipality

[2:53:46] will investigate the potential to join

[2:53:48] with recycle BC in managing our

[2:53:50] recycling streams. Discussions have been

[2:53:53] taking place and are ongoing with Circle

[2:53:55] Fairies to explore the feasibility of

[2:53:58] new passenger onlyly ferry service in

[2:54:00] the Cove. very high level discussions at

[2:54:02] this point, but um they certainly have

[2:54:05] indicated a keen interest to include

[2:54:07] Bowen um as a stop off for their new

[2:54:09] service.

[2:54:11] Um and lastly, the library included a

[2:54:15] summary of the programming and events

[2:54:17] that have been taking place um at the

[2:54:19] library, including very successful

[2:54:21] summer reading club, implementation of

[2:54:24] accessibility improvements to assisted

[2:54:26] technology, including some new

[2:54:28] computers, uh dedication of new spaces

[2:54:30] for large print books, and it was

[2:54:33] interesting, they provided comparative

[2:54:35] statistics on business um on sorry, on

[2:54:37] visits on the lending of books and the

[2:54:40] man material. sales and electronic

[2:54:41] lending, as well as the new items added

[2:54:44] to the collection, which showed an

[2:54:46] impressive year-over-year increase. So,

[2:54:49] this report is included in the agenda.

[2:54:51] It's comprehensive, it's easy, it's fun

[2:54:53] to read, and I recommend taking a look

[2:54:54] at it to learn about what is happening

[2:54:56] and the work taking place by both

[2:54:58] municipal staff, uh, department

[2:55:01] managers, and our communications staff.

[2:55:03] I thank them all for their work in

[2:55:05] putting the report together and I would

[2:55:07] like to give council the opportunity to

[2:55:09] ask any questions of the senior managers

[2:55:11] here today should you seek clarity or in

[2:55:14] addition to the information on any of

[2:55:16] the items included in that report.

[2:55:19] >> Anybody got questions? Council for

[2:55:21] Getty.

[2:55:22] >> Um sorry with respect to the report on

[2:55:25] recreation and in particular the bike

[2:55:27] barn mural. Um, I want to give a shout

[2:55:30] out to uh Jamie Schffer because this

[2:55:32] young artist um Simeon Deutsch

[2:55:36] Deutschinov

[2:55:37] um came to the hearth and uh wanted to

[2:55:41] replace a wall full of graffiti with uh

[2:55:43] some of his art and um you may not it's

[2:55:47] on page 12 of this report and the what

[2:55:49] the mural it actually says the word

[2:55:51] Bowen so it's it's contemporary art that

[2:55:56] you might need a little help with but

[2:55:58] it's one of our little symbols, the

[2:56:00] deer, right in the middle of it. So, um,

[2:56:02] both Jamie and Simeon figured out how to

[2:56:05] go through the process. Um, this was

[2:56:07] when the public art advisory committee

[2:56:09] was was up and running. And, uh, it's it

[2:56:11] was almost exciting to see it in the

[2:56:14] report. It had been finished. So, shout

[2:56:17] out to the artist and to, um, Jamie in

[2:56:20] terms of getting this one completed.

[2:56:25] » Whoops. Counselor F. Um, thank you. I

[2:56:28] um, this is a question for the CEO. I

[2:56:31] think did I hear you mention that the

[2:56:34] electric circle ferry exploring circle

[2:56:38] ferry in the cove or did you mean?

[2:56:43] >> Uh, no. I I meant the cove. They

[2:56:45] initially had a plan to head out to

[2:56:48] Seymour Bay. I think with um the timing

[2:56:52] of that development probably doesn't

[2:56:54] align with their wish to um get some

[2:56:58] kind of service going. So in the

[2:56:59] interimm they're keen to look at Snug

[2:57:02] Cove as a drop off point for foot

[2:57:04] passenger air um service only. Thank

[2:57:07] you.

[2:57:09] >> Anybody else?

[2:57:11] So, I can't resist

[2:57:14] um asking the manager of environment,

[2:57:16] [laughter]

[2:57:17] has she had any confirmation on the

[2:57:19] cougar?

[2:57:21] [laughter]

[2:57:27] » Thank you, chair, for the question. No,

[2:57:29] we have not received any confirmation

[2:57:31] about the um cougar's presence on the

[2:57:34] island. Um currently, the last update we

[2:57:38] gave was on July 8th. there is a um news

[2:57:42] release that everyone can read to uh

[2:57:45] that's that's the last update we've

[2:57:47] received from conservation and um

[2:57:50] nothing further on that.

[2:57:51] >> Thank you.

[2:57:54] >> Anybody else? So um we need um a motion

[2:57:58] that uh council I I'll move that council

[2:58:01] receive the 2026 quarter 2 quarterly

[2:58:03] report as presented at its July 27th

[2:58:06] 2026 meeting for information.

[2:58:08] >> Second.

[2:58:09] >> Thank you. All in favor?

[2:58:10] >> I.

[2:58:14] » Okay.

[2:58:15] >> Budget update.

[2:58:16] >> Uh, thank you. Item 8.5 is a quarter 2

[2:58:19] budget update. Um, I will like to start

[2:58:23] this presentation off just with a quick

[2:58:25] review of property tax collection

[2:58:27] statistics. Um, in 2026, the total taxes

[2:58:32] levied were just over $18.2 million. And

[2:58:35] as of uh July 2nd, the due date, we had

[2:58:38] collected um about 17.1 million. So

[2:58:42] that's a collection rate of about 94%

[2:58:46] which is um in line with previous years.

[2:58:48] We range about 93% um of our taxes

[2:58:52] collected by the due date. So that's

[2:58:53] really good news. It shows that people

[2:58:55] are um not not paying their taxes in

[2:58:59] favor of paying other bills. they are

[2:59:01] maintaining their um priority on paying

[2:59:04] those property taxes of course because

[2:59:06] it is a significant penalty for late

[2:59:08] payments. So um I'm happy to see that is uh staying high. Um kind of

[2:59:14] handinhand in that is the property tax

[2:59:16] deferment statistics. Um it was very

[2:59:18] interesting this year with the changes

[2:59:20] to the provincial government's interest

[2:59:21] rate on the deferment program. Um, last

[2:59:24] year we had 293

[2:59:27] uh applicants for the property tax

[2:59:29] deferment program. This year it was

[2:59:31] dropped way down by 43%. We had only 168

[2:59:36] um applicants for the program this year.

[2:59:39] Uh last year the amount deferred was

[2:59:41] just over almost $1.9 million in

[2:59:44] property taxes and this year it's with

[2:59:46] the fewer number of applicants it's

[2:59:48] dropped down to 1.1 million. So that's a

[2:59:50] decline of as I said 43%.

[2:59:53] um residents participating in the

[2:59:56] program. And you can only chalk that up

[2:59:59] to the change in the um very favorable

[3:00:02] interest rate that until now the

[3:00:04] provincial government had um had applied

[3:00:06] to that program. Uh average deferral is

[3:00:09] about $6,987.

[3:00:13] Um so looking at our uh financial

[3:00:18] results up till second quarter um we

[3:00:22] have our taxation revenue taxation

[3:00:24] revenue is very much in line with

[3:00:26] budget. Um there was a change in the

[3:00:29] number of folios between the preliminary

[3:00:31] budget and the final budget. So there

[3:00:33] was an overestimation of a few folios.

[3:00:36] So, our our solid waste parcel tax

[3:00:38] revenue is down by about $7,700

[3:00:41] than what we had budgeted for. Um, there

[3:00:44] are no other um property tax appeals

[3:00:47] that are underway at the moment that um

[3:00:50] that would indicate that we should be

[3:00:52] concerned in any way about the property

[3:00:54] tax revenue figure that we will um that

[3:00:57] we will uh receive for this year. Other

[3:01:00] fees and charges of course are

[3:01:02] categories such as development fees and

[3:01:04] business licenses, recreation revenue

[3:01:06] and warf fees. Um I do believe that that

[3:01:10] possibly could be a little bit lower

[3:01:12] than budget. A couple of things um that

[3:01:15] are driving that of course with this big

[3:01:17] warf project that's going on and the

[3:01:19] closure of the dock. I'm assuming that

[3:01:21] we're going to have reduced um warf

[3:01:24] revenue this year. So I put a provision

[3:01:25] in for that as well as um we do have we

[3:01:29] are noticing again a slowdown in b in

[3:01:33] building activities. So I do believe

[3:01:35] there's a possibility that we will not

[3:01:37] meet our um our building permit revenue

[3:01:41] target for this year but uh I do believe

[3:01:43] that we should be close maybe about

[3:01:45] $10,000 under. So uh all in all we'll be

[3:01:48] very close on that line item. Our

[3:01:50] federal grant revenue is typically tied

[3:01:53] to specific projects. Um I do believe

[3:01:56] that the OCP review process, we may need

[3:01:59] to access some potential uh housing

[3:02:03] potentially if we can access the housing

[3:02:05] accelerator funds to fund any overages.

[3:02:08] Um I do believe that we could uh require

[3:02:12] use of almost up to $20,000 of that

[3:02:15] funds in order to complete the OCP

[3:02:17] review project. Other um uses of the

[3:02:20] housing accelerator funds this year will

[3:02:22] be 120,000 to complete the wastewater

[3:02:26] treatment plant inflow and infiltration

[3:02:28] program. We are um committed to

[3:02:30] providing birch with $150,000 of funding

[3:02:34] and as well uh they we do have set aside

[3:02:37] $20,000 to complete the sewer DCC bylaw

[3:02:40] project. Um fed provincial grants that

[3:02:44] we'll be receiving this year. There's

[3:02:46] about $132,000 left of Fires Smart

[3:02:49] funding to support the coordinator

[3:02:50] position as well as the assessments and

[3:02:52] the rebates and the community events

[3:02:54] that take place under that program.

[3:02:56] $230,000 of funding approximately is

[3:02:59] remaining towards the Eagle Cliff water

[3:03:01] main portion of the project. Uh there's

[3:03:04] about $50,000 funds remaining in the OCP

[3:03:08] development approvals grant project.

[3:03:10] About 25,000 of Spark grant funding was

[3:03:13] received and used to finance the

[3:03:14] accessibility component of this room and

[3:03:17] $150,000 of Translink funding has been

[3:03:20] included in the budget in order to

[3:03:22] undertake the upcoming project to

[3:03:24] improve trunk road.

[3:03:27] Um I'll talk a little bit about our

[3:03:29] other revenues. They include things like

[3:03:32] late pay late payment penalties or

[3:03:34] interest on unpaid taxes. Uh we do

[3:03:37] believe that that should come in at

[3:03:39] approximately 144,000 this year. Last

[3:03:42] year it came in at 153,000. So not a

[3:03:46] significant amount of variance

[3:03:47] year-over-year.

[3:03:49] And as well we do have um a couple of

[3:03:53] other items in this revenue category

[3:03:55] where there we we anticipate that we'll

[3:03:57] have variances. One of them of course is

[3:03:59] the fact that we are collecting money

[3:04:00] and setting aside for the Knickknack

[3:04:02] Nook building project. We've received

[3:04:04] approximately $31,000 there, which we

[3:04:07] are holding aside for the new building

[3:04:09] replacement at the Knickknack Nook. And

[3:04:12] we have approximately 16,000 of new

[3:04:15] revenue that came through the public

[3:04:16] works department as we are um

[3:04:19] undertaking agreements with homeowners

[3:04:20] who are encroaching on public property

[3:04:23] to um um collect annual fees for the for

[3:04:26] the right to continue that encroachment.

[3:04:29] So that's um unbudgeted revenue and it's

[3:04:32] a new program started this year. Our

[3:04:34] investment revenue uh potentially could

[3:04:37] be down. Um interest rates have stayed

[3:04:40] lower than maybe um anybody anticipated

[3:04:43] this year given the fact that there is

[3:04:45] ongoing turmoil uh with tariffs with war

[3:04:49] in Iran. um interest rates are likely to

[3:04:53] increase for the second half of the

[3:04:55] year, but so far they have managed to

[3:04:57] stay quite low um for the first half of

[3:04:59] the year. So I am putting a provision in

[3:05:02] there that it is possible that we could

[3:05:04] um not reach our investment income

[3:05:06] target of 250 this year for the general

[3:05:08] fund and and I've uh projected that to

[3:05:10] perhaps be as low as 200. So um putting

[3:05:14] those um you know those conservative

[3:05:17] estimates in there means that we are

[3:05:21] probably going to come in quite close on

[3:05:23] our revenue targets

[3:05:25] and nothing certainly that is going to

[3:05:27] put us in any kind of financial um cons

[3:05:31] concern if we um if we

[3:05:35] nothing that's expected to put us in any

[3:05:37] kind of financial concern. Our

[3:05:39] operations expenses are um uh quite

[3:05:42] close to budget uh for the most part our

[3:05:44] fire and emergency which has a

[3:05:46] significant potential budget variance

[3:05:48] there. It's mostly related to the fact

[3:05:50] that we have not received the grant

[3:05:53] funding for the EOC program this year

[3:05:56] nor the grant funding for the ESS

[3:05:57] program this year. So um we're planning

[3:06:01] uh to be under budget because we're not

[3:06:03] going to be incurring the expenses

[3:06:05] related to those grant-f funded programs

[3:06:07] as well. So, we are taking a hit on the

[3:06:09] revenue side, but we're taking an

[3:06:10] offsetting hit on the um expense side as

[3:06:13] well. Um public works has uh a little

[3:06:16] bit of a delay in hiring. It's got some

[3:06:18] other savings that we've um managed to

[3:06:21] achieve from um like for example the ice

[3:06:24] and snow purchases. Our we had a very

[3:06:26] mild winter where we didn't do very much

[3:06:29] plowing or sanding and we managed to

[3:06:31] save some money there. there's potential

[3:06:33] that we are not going to be spending all

[3:06:35] of our arborous budget these years. I've

[3:06:37] just estimated some some savings in some

[3:06:40] of those line items and and all in all

[3:06:43] adding all of those up, we could

[3:06:44] possibly come in at about $100,000

[3:06:47] savings in that budget line item this

[3:06:49] year. Um

[3:06:52] what else is a significant variance

[3:06:54] there?

[3:06:55] uh strategic planning is under that of

[3:06:58] course has our contingency of

[3:07:00] approximately $80,000

[3:07:02] um included within that budget line item

[3:07:04] and we have not um currently identified

[3:07:08] a need for that contingency. So um if

[3:07:11] all goes well to the end of the year, we would expect to be under budget in

[3:07:14] that line item. Um as well in our

[3:07:19] community and facility management

[3:07:21] program uh we do budget for uh provision

[3:07:25] for backfilling of the community center

[3:07:27] manager. We um estimate that that all

[3:07:32] sickness or vacation leaves will be will

[3:07:35] be backfilled and um we've just managed

[3:07:37] to kind of um do a minimum amount of

[3:07:40] backfilling for those. So, we we do

[3:07:42] potentially uh will see some savings in

[3:07:45] that line item as well. Contributions to

[3:07:47] reserves, they've all been posted as

[3:07:49] budgeted. Um at the end of the year, any

[3:07:52] unspent um any unspent operations will

[3:07:55] also get posted to uh contribution to

[3:07:58] accumulated surplus. I'll talk a little

[3:08:00] bit about our capital expenditures. You

[3:08:02] know, we spend the first three months

[3:08:03] kind of developing our budget still. We

[3:08:05] spend the next three months approving

[3:08:07] the budget and we really get into the

[3:08:09] bulk of the capital work in this period

[3:08:11] right now. So, um I will have a much

[3:08:15] more comprehensive expenditure report to

[3:08:18] provide you at the end of Q3 when the

[3:08:20] summer work um starts taking out.

[3:08:22] There's a lot of RFPs that have recently

[3:08:24] gone out are right in the process of

[3:08:26] being awarded and we're going to be

[3:08:28] undertaking significant portion of our

[3:08:31] capital spending um at that time. So

[3:08:33] next quarterly variance you will see um

[3:08:35] the roll out of our capital program. Um

[3:08:38] so I don't have anything else. I'm happy

[3:08:41] to take questions about the report or um

[3:08:44] provide any other information.

[3:08:51] you commented on one thing in there that

[3:08:53] we hadn't received the grants both for

[3:08:57] um emergency ESS and

[3:09:01] >> but they were both related to the

[3:09:02] emergency program.

[3:09:03] >> That's right. [clears throat] So every

[3:09:05] year we apply for um an EOC an emergency

[3:09:08] operations center grant of about between

[3:09:10] 30 and $40,000.

[3:09:12] that was not um approved this year and

[3:09:16] nor was the $30,000 grant that we

[3:09:18] applied for to support our emergency

[3:09:21] social support uh volunteer.

[3:09:23] >> But none of that has any impact on um

[3:09:26] >> bottom line

[3:09:27] >> on on the um staffing or positions that

[3:09:31] are in that emergency operations

[3:09:34] section. No, we fund all of the staffing

[3:09:37] um out of the municipal taxation budget

[3:09:39] and the grants are extra events,

[3:09:42] workshops, tabletop exercises, those

[3:09:44] sorts of things that we would normally

[3:09:45] undertake.

[3:09:46] >> Anybody else got any questions?

[3:09:49] So, I will move that um council receive

[3:09:52] the 2026 quarter 2 quarterly report. Am

[3:09:57] I getting the right one? At its as

[3:09:59] presented at its July 27 No, just a

[3:10:02] minute. Am I in the right one? No, I'm

[3:10:04] not. Um, I would move that council

[3:10:06] receive the 2026 quarterly 2 budget

[3:10:09] update as provided at its July 27, 2026

[3:10:13] meeting for information.

[3:10:14] >> Yeah, second.

[3:10:15] >> Second. Okay, we'll give councelor wake

[3:10:17] that one. All in favor?

[3:10:20] >> I

[3:10:23] so 8.6. Lastly, uh the last update

[3:10:26] report for council. Uh I just wanted to

[3:10:29] give you uh a bit of an oversight of

[3:10:32] where you're at with your strategic plan

[3:10:34] objectives uh for this point in your

[3:10:36] council term. Um

[3:10:39] looking at the first uh area of

[3:10:43] priority, those objectives related to

[3:10:46] diverse and resilient community. Um

[3:10:48] several of the objectives are going to

[3:10:52] be complete are complete now or will

[3:10:54] reasonably be complete um by the end of

[3:10:57] the council term in the fall. Um for

[3:10:59] example, the MRDT bylaw, you'll be

[3:11:02] looking at a recommendation from the

[3:11:04] planner coming forth at your first

[3:11:05] meeting back in September as to whether

[3:11:08] or not to move forward with that uh

[3:11:11] municipal regional district taxation

[3:11:14] bylaw.

[3:11:15] um the wastewater DCC bylaw will be uh

[3:11:19] we'll be looking at getting that done by

[3:11:21] the fall. There is a developer meeting

[3:11:24] uh a meeting with the development

[3:11:25] community scheduled for September 21st

[3:11:28] and that of course is um a bylaw that is

[3:11:31] set to collect uh funds from new people

[3:11:35] joining the wastewater system. So that's

[3:11:37] been in the works for quite a long time

[3:11:39] and that developer meeting is a key part

[3:11:42] of that bylaw. Um ongoing and updating

[3:11:46] things. Um we will be looking uh

[3:11:50] probably in the new council term to

[3:11:52] update uh the agreement with the hearth.

[3:11:55] Um do a new agreement with family place

[3:11:58] and as well as tourism bowen. That of

[3:12:00] course is um dependent on the results of

[3:12:03] the MRDT bylaw process. [clears throat]

[3:12:06] So at the same time we are hoping to um

[3:12:09] continue to work with BC fairies uh

[3:12:12] moving towards um uh we do have of

[3:12:16] course we do have a bylaw that has been

[3:12:18] uh moved by council to three readings.

[3:12:21] Um that is uh just on the on the council

[3:12:25] agenda be looking at uh what council

[3:12:28] wants to do with that bylaw in the fall.

[3:12:30] But again, we are hoping to work with BC

[3:12:33] fairies as our partner to improve safe

[3:12:35] and orderly ferry marshalling in the

[3:12:37] cove. Um, moving to the next area

[3:12:39] priorities are the strong and

[3:12:41] infrastructure asset management. A lot

[3:12:43] of policy work um is going on there.

[3:12:47] I have uh quite a few policies that are

[3:12:51] um on my work plan. Most importantly,

[3:12:53] redoing the planning and budgeting

[3:12:55] decision-making policy. Um I expect that work will begin over the summer. Um

[3:13:01] may not likely be uh complete by um

[3:13:05] September. Um but that will be a new one

[3:13:08] for council consideration in the new

[3:13:09] term. Um work to roll out those asset

[3:13:13] report cards. Um a significant amount of

[3:13:15] work has been included um in that

[3:13:18] project and we do believe that the uh

[3:13:21] the road condition assessment will be

[3:13:24] complete by the end of October 2026. So

[3:13:26] having that report um will be um

[3:13:29] instrumental in informing the director

[3:13:31] of engineering's uh road plan for 2027.

[3:13:35] Uh water master plan, the RFP is being

[3:13:38] finalized. that will be going out um and

[3:13:41] posted uh looking for submissions on

[3:13:43] that um in the fall. and as will the um the report for

[3:13:51] uh the

[3:13:54] asset management plan. The overall asset

[3:13:56] management plan RFP is also currently in

[3:13:59] review and that will be posted very soon

[3:14:01] in the next couple of weeks and um we'll

[3:14:03] be looking to award that um in the fall

[3:14:06] and work be um be underway on that

[3:14:09] initiative.

[3:14:10] Um

[3:14:13] I think the new term can look forward to

[3:14:16] development of the new solid waste

[3:14:18] management strategy. The sewer outfall

[3:14:20] project as I mentioned is underway

[3:14:22] waiting for a permitting process but

[3:14:24] that is probably one that that capital

[3:14:27] project will be undertaken and and well

[3:14:29] underway into the new council term in

[3:14:32] the fall. And as well uh something that

[3:14:35] is really um great to for me to be

[3:14:39] reporting on is the work that's been

[3:14:41] done on Cove Bay. So everything that we

[3:14:44] can do internally given the plant as its

[3:14:47] existing um capacity is working as

[3:14:51] optimally as we can get it to get it to

[3:14:54] operate. Um the work on the intake flush

[3:14:57] has been completed which is creating a

[3:15:00] much cleaner source of water going in

[3:15:01] which produces a cleaner source of water

[3:15:03] going out. Um work that needs to be

[3:15:06] undertaken now is to develop some uh

[3:15:09] potential technology for pre-treatment

[3:15:11] and that um amount of work is what will

[3:15:14] be going on and starting with the next

[3:15:17] council in the new term. So, um looking

[3:15:20] at improvements and upgrades to um to

[3:15:24] address the quality of the water that

[3:15:26] goes into the plant will, um we'll be

[3:15:31] looking at ways to fund that, ways to uh

[3:15:35] come up with options and will be part of

[3:15:38] the budget process for the director of

[3:15:40] engineering um come the fall. And

[3:15:43] lastly, engaged community and infect and

[3:15:46] effective government. Um these are items

[3:15:49] that are really ongoing things. Um we

[3:15:53] can always uh undertake programs and

[3:15:56] practices that continuously uh you know

[3:15:59] for continuous improvement to ensure

[3:16:01] that the um community is engaged in our

[3:16:04] government are more effective. So, one

[3:16:06] of the things that has recently been um

[3:16:09] adopted just today by council was

[3:16:11] adoption of the new procurement

[3:16:13] purchasing policy um as well as the

[3:16:17] projects to install the interpretive

[3:16:19] signage um on the westside beaches.

[3:16:21] These are things that are complete tick

[3:16:24] we can mark those off and then the

[3:16:26] ongoing work of course cons um continues

[3:16:29] to do the relationship building with

[3:16:31] Squamish Nation. Uh we're looking at

[3:16:34] moving the project forward to um

[3:16:36] construct the welcome figure outside the

[3:16:38] front of the um community center and as

[3:16:42] well um implementation of accessibility

[3:16:45] um uh implementation of the

[3:16:47] accessibility plan is always going to be

[3:16:49] an ongoing um project. Building

[3:16:52] accessibility features into every new

[3:16:54] project that we that we take on is just

[3:16:56] going to be a new filter, a new lens

[3:16:58] through which every project is is looked

[3:17:00] at. Um

[3:17:02] and for the last point, your responsible

[3:17:05] ecosystem protection objectives. Um if

[3:17:08] you want to mark off in the complete

[3:17:10] box, we've got the um the MRDT tax which

[3:17:14] will drive that tourism sector um to

[3:17:18] develop new modes of of um

[3:17:25] sorry uh finalizing the municipal land

[3:17:28] zoning designation is the second point

[3:17:30] that um council could put a check mark

[3:17:33] box in complete and as well as

[3:17:35] completion of the builder's workshop.

[3:17:37] Then the ongoing things that will

[3:17:39] probably carry forward into the new

[3:17:41] council includes as I said ongoing

[3:17:44] engagement with Squamish Nation

[3:17:46] regarding the OCP um the septic the new

[3:17:49] septic management bylaw and as well

[3:17:52] looking at options to manage graywater

[3:17:54] reuse. All of those uh little projects,

[3:17:59] not little, but um all of those projects

[3:18:01] will uh be ongoing things that the new

[3:18:04] council will uh continue to work on in

[3:18:08] the new term starting in 2026.

[3:18:12] >> Any questions?

[3:18:14] Councelor Gettys

[3:18:15] >> on the last page under forest landscape

[3:18:18] management um this is uh there's a word

[3:18:21] at the very last under status of July 26

[3:18:24] it says complete um but staff will

[3:18:27] continue to explore alternative options

[3:18:30] for stewardship of crownlands. I was at

[3:18:32] one meeting and it was very interesting

[3:18:34] and productive and um but there was a

[3:18:37] lot of uh followup and homework. So I

[3:18:40] would ask that you remove the word

[3:18:42] complete

[3:18:44] in that

[3:18:47] >> one point.

[3:18:47] >> I think it said complete because the

[3:18:49] staff report had come back to council um

[3:18:52] to uh provide the information about the

[3:18:54] community for us. Um that's not to say

[3:18:57] that that there aren't more.

[3:18:58] >> I thought that was the start. [laughter]

[3:19:02] >> Does the manager of parks and

[3:19:03] environment have anything to add to that

[3:19:05] one?

[3:19:07] Um, thanks for asking. I think we just

[3:19:11] put complete because we thought that uh

[3:19:15] in terms of the council direction to

[3:19:17] look into forest landscape plans that portion of the research was done

[3:19:23] and that council had decided not to move

[3:19:25] forward with the forest landscape plan

[3:19:27] or a community forest and that the um

[3:19:30] direction from council was then to kind

[3:19:32] of shift into looking at different uh

[3:19:35] methods for community uh stewardship of

[3:19:39] properties.

[3:19:40] Um I [clears throat]

[3:19:42] though that the other that um the

[3:19:45] meeting that we did have moved back a

[3:19:47] little bit into community forest but I

[3:19:49] think uh in terms of the council

[3:19:51] direction that's not um what I have

[3:19:55] currently

[3:19:56] um so I would I would say for this

[3:19:58] strategic plan that that item is

[3:20:04] >> that's my recollection.

[3:20:06] Anybody [clears throat]

[3:20:07] else? Okay. So, I will move that council

[3:20:12] receive the strategic plan status update

[3:20:15] as presented at its July 27th, 2026

[3:20:17] regular council meeting for information.

[3:20:20] Second. All in favor? I.

[3:20:24] >> Okay. All right. We're on new business.

[3:20:28] Um Mayor Leonard isn't here on the Metro

[3:20:31] Vancouver board meeting. Um but

[3:20:34] interestingly there was a press release

[3:20:36] that came out right after that and they

[3:20:38] are going forward to the province for

[3:20:40] the reduction of the size of the board

[3:20:43] not the number of votes each

[3:20:45] municipality has and I very quickly

[3:20:47] looked at it. The board size will go

[3:20:50] from 41 to 34 which means the city of

[3:20:53] Vancouver is losing four representatives

[3:20:55] but no no loss of votes and Siri is

[3:20:58] losing three. So it it we and I think we

[3:21:02] all saw the mayor of Suriri was on the

[3:21:04] news I think not happy with that. Um so

[3:21:08] that's all I know about that and anybody

[3:21:11] know anything about Translink meeting?

[3:21:13] No. Okay. Um islands trust update.

[3:21:19] >> Nothing new for me. and the um the link

[3:21:21] that was in the agenda of all of the

[3:21:23] different little meetings of the um

[3:21:25] local trust committees and um there

[3:21:28] really isn't a whole lot of activity

[3:21:30] going on with um with the trust um

[3:21:35] for July and and parts of August.

[3:21:37] There's some meetings coming up in terms

[3:21:39] of planning things, but um it's a

[3:21:42] summer. So,

[3:21:44] >> I have a couple of things I can add.

[3:21:46] [clears throat]

[3:21:47] um uh trust council tried to hold a

[3:21:50] committee the whole uh meeting last week

[3:21:53] uh but we were short one of a quorum. So

[3:21:56] that uh it was sort of um reviewing the

[3:22:01] input received from agencies from the

[3:22:04] formal referrals about the um update of

[3:22:08] the trust policy statement. So that

[3:22:10] meeting didn't happen. Uh we did have a

[3:22:12] trust programs committee that um meeting

[3:22:14] that I was in on um the Thursday and of

[3:22:18] interest might be that uh islands trust

[3:22:21] put together a webinar for realtors

[3:22:24] about what is the island's trust so that

[3:22:28] they can communicate that with people

[3:22:29] wishing to purchase property and uh so

[3:22:32] to reduce surprises and um uh and then

[3:22:37] um I haven't looked at it yet. I've just

[3:22:40] found out about it and uh financial

[3:22:42] planning committee um is having a

[3:22:45] meeting in mid August and uh I'll be

[3:22:47] chairing that but I don't have any

[3:22:48] information yet.

[3:22:52] » Nobody else. All right.

[3:22:56] >> I could just add to update council that

[3:22:58] the work between the islands trust CFO

[3:23:01] and myself is ongoing. We meet um

[3:23:03] usually every Friday for an hour or two

[3:23:06] and we're going over the Islands Trust

[3:23:08] requisition allocation formula. So that

[3:23:10] is um a very detailed process. It's a

[3:23:13] good learning opportunity for the

[3:23:14] Islands Trust CFO because they are new

[3:23:16] in their role this year. So really

[3:23:18] taking uh an opportunity to review all

[3:23:22] of those budget line items and really

[3:23:23] understand what's in them and help to

[3:23:26] decide if that is something that should

[3:23:28] appropriately be allocated to the

[3:23:30] municipal pool or not. And um I just I

[3:23:32] think that's very positive work that's

[3:23:34] going on there.

[3:23:35] >> Thank you. All right, I think we're down

[3:23:38] to question period. I don't think

[3:23:41] there's anybody in the audience. Nobody

[3:23:43] online.

[3:23:44] >> No.

[3:23:45] >> Um motion to adjourn. John, Councelor

[3:23:48] Saunders, Councelor Wake. Okay, the

[3:23:52] meeting is adjourned. We've got a closed

[3:23:54] meeting. Um, so 4:30

Regular Council - 27 Jul 2026

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