No, it's just me hitting the wrong
button. All right, welcome everyone to
this very warm meeting and a balmy
August night. I'd like to start by
recognizing that we are on the unseated
territory of the Quudsen nation and that
in this room we have different views,
different ways of expression, different
emotional intensities, and different
roads that lead to conclusions. May we
combine clarity of mind with kindness of
heart and may we be impartial without
bending to strong personalities. May we
sacrifice self-interest for the good of
the whole. And may we do our work with
love and clarity of vision for the
benefit of those that we represent. And
with that, I will call this evening's
meeting to order. There's one late item
for permissive tax exemption for the
couch and district hospital auxiliary.
We can just move that as it is without
anyone having to go anywhere. Is that
correct? Okay. All right. So, approval
of agenda with the late item added.
Do we have to
Yeah, but no one has to go anywhere.
>> Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean right now. Yeah.
Okay. Thank you for the clarification.
All right. So, uh I'll move for an
approval of that agenda. Is there a move
in a second? Okay. Thank you. And we'll
go to the adoption of minutes from July
27th that those meetings be adopted as
circulated. Is there a mover and a
second? Any discussion? All those in
favor? Motion carries. And we'll move to
our first or uh our only delegation
tonight, Staff Sergeant Beard. Welcome.
And you brought a guest with you, I see.
Welcome,
Just have to turn on your mics.
» There we are.
>> There we go.
>> Thank you. Thank you, Mayor Council. Um
my colleague Stasher and Deb Kelly is
here. Um ma'am, with your approval, it'd
be nice to have her come up and give
some updates on uh a rather tragic file
that we were dealing with on on Friday
this weekend. So,
>> yes, absolutely. Thank you.
>> Awesome. Um if I may, I think
everybody's got a copy of our policing
report. This is the one from uh April,
May, and June. So, the most recent
quarter. We're actually in the That's
our first quarter, our CP's first
quarter. Um, if I can draw your
attention to the first couple of pages
there, uh, of the report, it talks about
some of the things that the RCMP members
at our detachment here were able to do
uh, in support of the community.
Um, quite a cross-section of events that
we were involved in. Um,
yeah, it's it makes for for a busy busy
year and and well-rounded. If you have
any questions on that, I' I'd love to to
update you and answer any questions.
Uh pending that uh we have the uh
three-month comparison. Again, this is
April to June 2026. Uh city of Duncan is
the center column. Um overall, we've
seen a 16% increase in crimes against
persons between 25 and 26. Um I always
have to caution uh with these numbers
here. The the percentages of 100% or
300% increase. Uh don't be thrown by
that. That's that those you have to
really look at the statistics. So, we
went from one uh extortion file to two.
So, that's 100% increase. So, keep that
in mind when you're looking at these
numbers if you could. Uh 200% increase
in robbery. So, that's one file in 2025
to three in 2026.
And then down the page, crimes against
property, an 83 in 83% increase in theft
from vehicles. Uh, and just some some
background on those. Um, the uh the the
uh made my notes here.
Yeah, the the harassment files there uh
that was um files involving one
individual that was creating a a higher
volume of of harassment files. So that
contributes to the the issues that we
were seeing there. And then the thefts,
um, there was an increase in thefts. Uh,
and these were characterized mostly by
parking lot and residential unit type thefts. So they're kind of again on
the the lower end of the the lower end
of the scale. Uh, they're consistent
with opportunistic thefts, the low
value, minimal effort to require to take
the item. Uh, rather unremarkable uh,
for the the first three months of our calendar year.
Uh and then following up on that,
there's the uh pages um with the uh the
pie chart. I just wanted to draw your
attention to the increase in call volume
for the first quarter of this year. Uh
compared to last year, we actually saw a
20% increase in in a jump in call volume
uh January, February, March. This year
versus last year, uh it's starting to
even off. Now we're we're basically only
up 9%. But uh first three months of the
year I thought if if we carry on this
way we're going to be there be no
shortage of job security for us.
And then um as you can see the next
couple pages uh talk about our
performance year to date on our annual
performance plan. Some late starts some
slow starts particularly in the crime
reduction area. Um part of that has to
do with uh school being out as it
relates to the um school liaison
program. We are weeks away from
starting, maybe two or three weeks away
from starting our partnership with uh uh
VIHA with a mobile crisis response team
to help deal with some of the mobile
mental health calls for service that we
experience uh quite regularly daily.
Um and um reporting under the Revoy and
SEO program reporting zero year to date.
That's the first three months of this
year, but I I'm looking forward to the
report for this quarter because we're
actually going to show much better
statistics. This is the Coint program
just got started this year as well. So,
a little bit slow out of the blocks um
uh in that regard, but we're definitely
going to pick up
and uh and continue to support the
community as best we can.
Then there's victim services graph or
not graph but table followed by the
prisoner statistics.
Yeah, nothing nothing really there to of
any remarkable nature.
So, subject to that, I know there might
be some questions about some other
things, but uh subject to that uh if
there's any questions, please let me
know.
>> Thank you,
Council Harington.
[snorts]
>> Thank you so much for your report and
all the work you guys do in the
community. Um going back briefly to the
um opportunistic
thefts from vehicles. Um are these
vehicles broken into or are they
unlocked and people are going into them?
>> Yes ma'am. Uh good question. Uh
predominantly vehicles left unlocked and
is change taken change taken from the
console. Uh a cell phone here and there
maybe something of lower value. It's on the lower end of the spectrum.
Yeah.
Councelor Duncan.
>> Thank you, Madam Mayor, and thank you
for the updated report. It's nice to see
that there's very little red in the
Duncan section. Red being bad news for
us. Uh but uh my question relates to
these statistics and recently, you know,
we were accused of being the worst uh
community in the province. Uh, so I'm my
question is were these the stats that
they were using to try and come up with
that incorrect uh information? Uh, I do
note that you're you and our CEO were
going to look into it with Stats Canada.
>> Yes, sir. Great question. I'm going to
do my best to explain the the CSI
program. This is a federal government
initiative uh CSI community uh crime
severity index. They take police off uh
police municipal and RCMP data and they
calculate um uh a number to reflect
crime in the communities across Canada
that are based on volume of calls for
service. It's a combination volumes of
volume of calls for service with the
seriousness of crime. Um it's not our
calculation
and it comes with a couple of provisos.
Number one, they don't calculate CSI for
populations under a thousand because it just throws off the numbers. It just
it's an inaccurate reflection. Uh and
they also say that any communities in
around 5,000 use that number with
caution. So, it's a it's it's dangerous.
It's it's risky to use the CSI. And I I
know you're getting at there, sir. Uh
we're reporting a 3 336 uh CSI for the
city of Duncan in 2025 and a 401 violent
CSI um figure for 2025.
Um
I'm going to do my best to try and
explain this. So CSI is a is a ratio
between the weighted
number associated to the amount of time
that the justice system convicts people
for offenses in the country over the
last 5 years and that becomes a weighted
number and that number is divided by the
population in the community. So anytime
you have a small population in the
community that will throw that number
off um and it becomes in my view it
becomes an inaccurate reflection of the
community and what's going on in the
community.
This the CSI number is best used for big
cities, big centers because there's a
large large population and they have the
cross-section of call volume, but they
have a a large population that's the
denominator that gives us the CSI number
that's more reflective of what goes on
in the community. So, um, just to draw
your attention to a couple of things
here.
In 2021, the city of Duncan reported a
CSI of 192.
And then in 2022,
uh the federal government
split Duncan into a rural and a
municipal uh component. So in 2022, and
it's a little bit the numbers are a
little bit off because of the the way
they split in the middle of the year,
but in 2022, the city of Duncan uh
reported a 230 CSI and the rural side of
it reported a 165. In 2023, all of a
sudden, now we got the full year data.
2023, Stats Canada is now reporting a
471 CSI in the city and a 145 rural.
In 2024, the city was reported as being
345
uh against the 131 rural and the city in
2025 reported 336 uh and rural was
reporting a 118. So if you take to kind
of put this all in context, if you take
the entire valley and you calculate the
CSI for the valley, the it actually the
CSI is 140. Now because the population
in the city of Duncan is 5,700ish about
there and we have a about four 4,800
calls for service in the city of Duncan
last year in 2012. You take that
weighted average given the five years of data from [clears throat]
uh given u from sentencing from various
offenses in the across the country and
you divide that by 5,500 people you get
a very very high CSI like what we have
again not reflective of our community so
it's really important that people take
that into account and on stats Canada's
website it actually says that it says
this very clearly don't rely on this
information because it's not reflective
of what goes on in a community of 5,500
people.
So, a little bit more information.
Um, so what's driving up the violent CSI
for the city of Duncan in 2025? So, we
had three extra uh aggravated assaults.
We had one human trafficking extra human
trafficking um file. It was drugrelated.
We had two extra kidnappings. Uh that
was one was involved uh at happened at
Shell gas station and the other one was
on Garden Street over here. The uh the
suspects were captured and they're still
in in in custody and we had six extra
robberies
and they're all drugreated.
So um it doesn't take much to throw that
number. So for instance, give you an
example. Um we haven't had a haven't had
a homicide in the city of Duncan since
2022. So, a a homicide is worth 8,200
points. This what Stats Canada gives us.
A stolen wheelbarl is 29 points. So, if
you have a series of stolen wheelbarls,
our CSI comes way down. But if you have
a murder, all of a sudden, our CSI goes
very high. So, that's the relationship.
And when you're dealing with such a
small population, it throws off that
number. So, it's not something that is
in in my mind, it's not
while accurate given the the confines of
the context, in my mind, it doesn't
describe our community.
>> Uh, you have a followup.
>> Uh, thank you. Um, I'm confused a little
bit with the rural designation that we
somehow got. I I can't think of as being
too much of a rural area because we're
only one square mile and we've got a
couple of parks, but uh, other than
that, how did we get to that rural
thing? And um over the years we've
complained about the failed to appears
that that are part of the stats that we
sort of have to bear.
>> Yeah.
>> Uh would those failed to appears have
been included in the five years?
>> Uh well there's typically not
convictions. There's not the sentences
off of a fail to compare. So it's very minor in nature in terms of uh
weight. So it it's almost minuscule. It
doesn't even really play into it. Um,
and in terms of the uh Duncan rural,
it's typically going to be anything
south of the river. And that's just what
the federal government has decided to
determine
that there's there's the municipality
north couch on the north end. On the
south end, there's the city and then the
rural. And then, of course, the city is
just this tiny little spot. and and that
with this small population but this very
transient um
elevated population but not necessarily
residents but everybody's contributing a
lot of those people are contributing to
the the call volume.
[snorts]
>> Yeah. So, so when they split it, they did they didn't do it according to
the area that you service and that would
be a difference as well like because in
a larger city the police force would
service the city. They wouldn't. So, you
would be looking at the number that the
police service actually um is in charge
of whereas here it's split into three
and then the the dominator doesn't make
any sense.
>> No.
>> So,
>> yeah. Okay. And and if we were to add
just the area that you service, it was
one what was the number [snorts] that
>> 140 would be the if we actually averaged
it if it was averaged based on the area
that you serve.
>> Yeah, that's right. And that would
include the 35,000 population
municipality north couch and 5,700 here
and 10,000 in the rural Duncan rural
area.
>> Okay. Thank you. And again, just the
area that that um Duncan North Couch and
RCMP serves.
>> Yes, ma'am. Yeah.
>> Thank you. Uh, councelor Duncan, are you
done with your questions? Okay,
councelor Bruce, over to you.
>> Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Um,
uh, Staff Sergeant Beard, um, with the
new program with VHA that's about to get
started, is it not?
>> Yes, sir.
>> And, um, how do you see that helping your group, your your employees?
How does that how can you explain how
that starts off in the morning? How do
you designate who's going with who?
>> My pleasure. My pleasure. Uh so over the
last two months or so um uh Vanc Health
Authority has gone through a selection
process and they've selected a
designated clinical counselor or crisis
nurse. That nurse has been sitting
waiting for us to get our house in
order. Um and we've gone through the
process now of selecting a member who
will be designated to be that partner.
And so Monday morning at 9:00 in the
morning or 10 o'clock in the morning,
our team goes out and they start
answering calls for service for all that
all are all mental health related or
based. Last year we had 1500 mental
health calls for service. Uh in that
process or in that time we ended up
apprehending over 500 people under the
mental health act. So with this
designated partnership, we're going to
be able to have subject matter experts,
particularly the clinical counselor, uh
member, their twoperson team going to a
scene. The member contains the situation
and then the clinical counselor takes
over and starts to use their expertise
to try and deescalate and minimize risk
to the the indivi individual and to the
public and make calls based on the
information they get. and then when
they're not on calls for service, they
wrap around to do follow-up with uh
those folks that have been identified
that need some support. So, it it it
should it's going to help our call
volume with the detachment. It's going
to give our our members a better
opportunity to be on the road, be more
visible, and it will put um expertise
where it's needed.
» So, uh so that's that's one that's one
shift then, one
>> oh
>> 10 hour shift or whatever.
>> My apologies. uh it' be Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday and then uh Friday
uh our member our members work four
hours four on four off but the the vihan
nurse works five days a week so we will
work Monday to Thursday or or a Tuesday
to Friday and then when we're not
working that that crisis nurse is
responding to other uh concerns in the
valley uh through through the mental
health um
uh unit.
Yeah, we're we're looking forward to it.
I'm hoping that that the the data is
going to show that this is uh this is a
definitely a need in our community.
>> Thank you. And is this this what would
have been the car 60 program?
>> It would be it'd be enhanced. Yeah. Just
like that.
>> 60 program. Okay.
>> Any other questions for anyone? Not
right now. So, um would you like to
pass?
>> Yeah, if I could with your approval.
Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you very
much and thanks again for coming out and
for clarifying the CSI as well.
» Thank you, Mayor and Council. Um I have
a few updates. Um but first, um I I'll
talk about the fire. So, um, tragically,
um, on August 21st, Friday morning, in
the early hours, um, at 10:30 Government
Street, there was a massive fire that
was responded to, and I can confirm two
individuals are deceased. Um, it is
being treated as suspicious. The
autopsies are this week. Um, and the
investigation is ongoing, and we'll
learn we'll learn more. So, it's well in
hand. Um,
any questions on that or
I don't see any questions right now.
I'll speak to it at the end. Perfect.
Okay. On a more positive uh note, I have
two um updates. The first one is I'd
like to invite everybody to our third
annual community safety expo at the
North Couch and Duncan Detachment on
September 26 from 12 to 2. Um last year
we had over a thousand community members
come out. We have over 50 partner
agencies. um country grocerers donate at
lunch. Um PDS, our police dog services
and our emergency response um team are
putting on presentations. Um and it
should be a great afternoon for family
and friends and and the community. So um
just wanted to make sure everybody got
an invite. And then the second um
positive news is uh the detachment put
in an application to the province of
British Columbia for extra funding under
the community safety and target
enforcement program. It's called Seep.
Um and we were successful um in they
granted us $232,000
um to utilize over the next year. So the
objectives of the C um step program are
to support police operations that
address crimes associated with street
disorder and their impacts on public
safety, community well-being, and
economic activity. Um the funds will
assist law enforcement activities in
high incident high hotspots, including
major shopping c corridors and areas
where public safety concerns intersect
with homelessness, addiction, and mental
health crisis. Um, so what we're doing
is we're increasing our patrols um that
are extra um twice a week and there'll
be high uh visibility um bike patrols uh
walking mobile patrols. We'll do some
shoplifting blitz and it's a phased
approach over the next eight months.
Thank you. Are there any questions from
anyone right now? No questions.
I just wanted to thank thank um the RCMP
and all of your staff for the response
and the all of the emergency um
responders. When I was up there on
Saturday, I guess it was uh just
speaking to people about how respectful
everyone um was, how much support people
felt that they had. And there was still
there was people there including people
in here that had not slept all night.
And I I was there early in early midday
I guess. And um and that was what the
experience of the people who were
displaced um was that was all the all
the reports that I got back just really
were grateful and thankful but also
really pointed out how people supported
them. um from RCMP to fire department to
the emergency responders to the
community. So, I just wanted to thank
you while you were here and and please
pass that back to to your members and also the the tragedy and the loss of two lives. Um I know one of the
families has now shared um on social
media around their lost um their their
loved one who was who was lost. And so,
yeah, the community is in mourning right
now. And um I I just feel like people
need a lot of extra support right now
and am grateful for the services that
are being offered um offered to everyone
and for what you have done. So thank you
very much and thanks for your report and
uh the work that you continue to do for
our community. I look forward to hearing
more about the funding and also um we
know that the other program works. It's
worked well and uh we've and when it is
active and and running, it it works well
and I'm grateful that that is um coming
back in in an an updated form. So, thank
you for all your work on all of these
files and for our community.
All right. So, next on our agenda,
uh we have the report of the chief
administrative officer, Mr. Dverti.
Thank you, Mayor Staples.
A few things to update on. The Heather
Street water main replacement is out for
tender. Constructed uh construction,
sorry, is expected to start this fall.
Uh we've also started the um camera
work, which is the annual CCTV
inspection program. It's underway for
focusing on the sanitary and the storm
mains in neighborhoods at the top of
Government Street as the for this year's
focus.
The uh two small ornamental trees uh
that are at their end of life have been
removed in anticipation of the
installation of the new Duncan gateway
sign at the south corner uh or south
east corner of the old high school field
along the TCH.
the Miller Road uh water man, the
engineering department is working with
Couch and Tribes uh and um myself I'm
working with uh um engineering staff at Couch and Tribes and and Duncan at on
the agreements to put in place for a new
uh 8 in uh water man from Trestle Road
to Coo Isil Road that would loop the
system through that area and that would
be subject to council consideration of
the terms of the agreement. The the area
is currently a major focus for couch and
tribes as it's currently on a do not
consume notice from Island Health and
they need a new water source. All of
them are on wells that are uh not
potable or forget potable, not use, not functional, not consumed. Um the
next one to update on is uh 447 Fester
uh street which is the couch and housing
association um development for 18 units
on u on fester there that we have now
received a building permit application
and that's under review by staff.
And just two more, the the 2026 property
tax notices. Uh the payments of and
homer grant claims were due July 2nd and
5% penalty was added to outstanding
balances at that time. A second 5%
penalty will be added to any remaining
balances unpaid at 400 p.m. on September
1st. So just encouraging folks to get those done so we don't have to apply
additional penalties. And lastly, the
2026 tax sale. Properties with taxes
that remain unpaid for three years in a
row are subject to an annual tax sale
pro process which is a legislated
process for municipalities to recover
outstanding property taxes through the
public auction of properties with
delinquent taxes. The tax sale is held
on the last Monday of September each
year in all municipalities around the
province. There's currently five
properties with delinquent tax
delinquent taxes in the city that are
subject to this tax sale process.
Currently, staff are actively pursuing
uh payment with those uh property owners
in an effort to resolve the outstanding
taxes before the tax sale process
commences.
That's it.
>> Excellent. Thank you. Are there any
questions for Mr. Dvertai right now?
>> Councelor Bruce, go ahead.
>> Thank you, Mayor. Um the the apartment
block I don't think it's mentioned here
on uh Evans Street. Um there was was the
um senior's
uh the sign is still up right right next
to Duncan Manor on Evans.
Um is that still
is is it's gone away or is it the sign
is still there? I was just wondering if that is [clears throat] still in the
works at all.
>> You know what? Do you know the one I
mean?
>> Yeah, I I know which one you're speaking
of. Uh to my knowledge, I think we
haven't heard from the applicant in
quite some time. So, um not thinking
that there's a lot of action that we're
expecting on that on that application
currently. So, we do check in
periodically, but um I I think they're
um going through some some challenges.
» All right. Any other questions for Mr.
Dvertai?
Seeing none, uh, that the council
receives the August 24th report of the
chief administrative officer for
information only. Move in a second. Any
further discussion? All those in favor.
Motion carries. We'll move to Miss
Crossman who's going to talk about the
budget update.
Thank you, Mayor Staples. Uh, I normally
would bring this in earlier in the year,
maybe in June, but I didn't get a chance
to bring it. And so, here we are. We're
going all the way from January to July
31st. There's a listing of our operating
income and expenses and a listing of our
capital projects. I won't go through it
line by line by any means, um, but if
there are any questions, I'm happy to
try and answer them for you.
Are there any questions for Miss
Crossman on this?
I'll read out the motion and give people
a little bit more time if they need it.
The council received the report titled
2026 budget update dated August 24th by
the director of finance for information
only. Mover and a seconder. Any
questions? All those in favor? Motion
carries. Thank you. And we'll move to
Miss Hodgkins for the Royal Canadian
Legion fee waiver request.
Thank you, Mayor Staples. Earlier this
year, council provided a letter of
support for the Royal Canadian Legion
Branch 191 application to the
commemorative partnership program for
funding to refurbish the Senate at
Charles Hoey Park. The Legion was
successful in its application and has
begun planning for the refurbishment
work. However, as the Senate is located
on city property, a work on city
property permit is required. The city's
fees and charges bylaw establishes a fee
of $50 for applications to conduct work
on city property and does not provide
staff with discretion to wave the fees.
The Legion is therefore requesting that
council authorize the waiver of fees.
Thank you.
>> Thank you very much. Are there any
questions for Miss Hutchkins? No. Okay.
that council wave the city fees
associated with the work detailed in the
Canadian Legion's August 11th, 2026
letter regarding the restoration of
Duncan Senotap in Charles Hoy Park in a
secondary. Are there questions?
Go ahead, councelor Dun.
>> Not so much a question, but a comment uh
with we were at the Burma Star
ceremonies uh a couple of weeks ago and
I spoke with Dave, I believe is his
name. He's very happy with the the way
that things are proceeding and he says
he's had no problems at all working with
Jessica. So
>> excellent. Thank you so much. Uh so all
those in favor motion carries and back
to you for the next one. The liquor
primary club license application for the
lawn bowling club.
>> Yes. Thank you. Mayor Staples. So, the
Couch and Lawn Bowling Club has applied
concurrently to the city of Duncan and
the BC Liquor and Cannabis Regulation
Branch for a liquor primary club
license. And this would permit the club
to serve liquor to its members and their
guests at the clubhouse at 321st Street.
And this would be uh the application is
for that to be every day between 3 p.m.
and 9:00 p.m. during the months of May
through September.
The city provided public notice of the
application to properties within a 100
meter radius of 321st Street by mailing
notices the week of July 27th.
The club has requested a person capacity
of 40 people for the licensed area and
this is well within the clubhouse's
maximum occupant load of 93 people.
The city has not received any comments
from the public about this application
and council's liquor and cannabis
licensing policy outlines the areas that
the city can comment on uh regarding a
liquor primary license application. The
recommendation in the report was
designed to support council in
developing comments for the submission
to the LCB. However, it does not need to
be in the form uh presented and at
council's discretion, it could be made
much more succinct. Thank you.
>> Excellent. Thank you. Are there any
questions right now?
The council consider the location,
person capacity, and proposed hours of
the liquor service at the couch and lawn
bowling club at 321st Street. The
council offer the following comments on
the impact to the community, including
general impacts and noise impacts.
If the application is approved, the
council offer the following comments on
the views of the residents. the council
either recommend or not recommend the
liquor primary license be approved
for
that's an interesting motion
for the following reasons.
So there would have to be someone to put
forward um one to three and then four
either a motion to approve or a motion
to not approve.
Councelor Newington, please go ahead.
the the Thank you. The only um comment
that I have is what did you say the
hours were again?
>> Uh 3M to 9:00 p.m.
>> That's that's what I thought. So the
park itself closes at 8 though, right?
» No, I think it closes at 8, doesn't it?
Yeah. So, if it closes at 8, how are the
people that are um at the clubhouse
going to get it out of the park if it
closes at 8? That's my only observation
when I read this.
>> Well, I know, but let's face it, they it
happens,
right?
We don't have
um anyway, that would be my question to
them.
I think that's something that we could
bring to the attention of the lawn
bowling club and also could be included
in the comments to the LCRB. Um, in
terms of uh that's the 9 p.m. is what
they have requested. Um, so this is
something that could be included in the comments back to the LCRB.
>> Anything else anyone would like to add?
>> Mr. Versai,
>> I would just say that as it stands, the Lumboly may often have events that
are after the park hours and would be
quite used to having to park outside the
gate for for evenings where they have an
event that goes past past the park hours
because we don't we don't leave it open
just for them. So, they're they're quite
accustomed to knowing when when the
gates are closing or they should.
I realize that, but this is an event an
event like once a month or once every couple of
weeks is different than um four nights a
week, right? To the to the people that
are in the community. I I'm not
objecting to this. I just think that the
hours need to be um adjusted slightly.
maybe start a tad earlier and finish by
8 o'clock
or just there could also be something to
the Lawn Bowling Club just as a reminder
that the the park is closed and that
they deal with that and if someone gets
locked in it's at their expense to get
them out
just like we do down here. People get
towed. I almost got towed the other day.
I was like 10 minutes away from being
towed.
But that's a but that would be feedback
not to the liquor board necessarily.
That would just be feedback I would
imagine through staff. So anyone else on
does anyone have any comments that they
would like to offer additionally at this
time? Councelor Bruce go ahead.
>> Well I I guess the third part that
council offer following comments on the
views of the residents and Jessica you
were saying that at this point we have
no objections. Is that is that correct?
>> Uh that's correct. We've received no
feedback either way on this.
>> So, we could put that in there, I guess,
and in that line, I suppose.
» So, adding no comments received
» and the comments that council had would
be to staff, not to the the LCV. Okay.
All right. Anyone else?
Okay. And so then it would be that
council uh a motion to approve.
Correct. Okay.
So I I won't read the motion out again.
Um other than to add that the motion is
to be approved
uh and that there's no comments on 3 A
or 3B, but no on 3A. we've actually or sorry 2 A or 3A but on 3A we've just
acknowledged that there's no comments in
the feedback to the other control board.
Okay. So all those in favor
motion carries. Thank you. Thank you
very much for your work on that. I don't
I was trying to remember the last time
we had an application. I feel like it
was the wine bar
>> street.
>> Oh yeah, that's right too. But that one
already existed though. It was just an
expansion.
>> So, I think that yeah, it's been a long
time. We don't get a lot of these.
Okay. So, thank you for that. Uh we'll
move on to the wildfire deployment gear
and equipment. Um Chief Spriggs,
welcome.
» Thank you, Mayor Staples.
As you're probably well aware, we're
finding ourselves in a pretty
exceptional wildfire season this year.
Since uh July 26, we've been asked to
deploy with wildfire service to um the
Clinton area for the big barf fire. Um
we're now in our third rotation of
deployment to that. Uh the membership
has asked me to come forward with a
request essentially to uh use a portion
of the profit that should be coming from
this deployment as a reinvestment into
the items listed for uh the continuation
of this deployment. And we're
anticipating with the El Nino year this
year and anticipated next year that the
requests will continue um which will
keep bringing the profit back to the uh
the organization.
Um and with this like I said we've been
anticipating that we might get called.
So, we've done a lot of training this
year in making sure all of our equipment
and personnel are meeting the standards
that BC Wildfire has been setting and
they keep uh increasing the requirements
and being very detailed in the scrutiny
that they are looking at things like the
equipment listed for uh coveralls as an
example to meet certain safety
standards. So, we have a limited amount
of that uh equipment currently in the
hall and this reinvestment would help us
continue with this activity. So, with
that, I'd like to invite any questions.
>> Thank you. Are there any questions from
council? I see councelor Duncan and then
councelor Bruce.
>> Great. Thank you, your worship. Uh so
that this will be enough equipment for
every firefighter or do you anticipate
that we would only send like say five or six each time or
>> um with the deployments? So the the goal
is to have every firefighter trained and
able to deploy. The deployments are
somewhat dependent on uh personal
schedules um and whether there's people
actually available to respond. The um
start of the season, as an example, had
only two or three people interested in
the deployment. We're up to 14 or 15.
So, it continues to increase as the
stories come back and as the activities
are really necessary in the province.
People are seeing the need and wanting
to fulfill that.
» Councelor Duncan or sorry, Councelor
Bruce.
>> Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Thank you
for what you're doing with the with the
whole department. Thank you very much.
Sounds like good news in there as far as
the way everybody's thinking about the
department and the camaraderie and
sounds to me like things are in a a
healthy state and and I was just
wondering with the $22,000
have you got other than other than uh
what do you call it? Uh overhauls or
what do you call it? Other than that,
coveralls. I mean, have you got one
specific piece of equipment that you
think needs to be purchased to to help
these people when they're in the
wildfire scene?
>> Um the so the list that you have in the
report is um it's the uh requests from
the people who are actually doing this
in the field right now. So this is the
primary items that really uh actually to
be fair they have many requests they'd
like to buy a whole bunch of things but
what we've done in the report is to try
and focus it on things that relate to
the wildfire activity specifically and
the things that will assist them
specifically um as you might see there's
things like tents and cs and uh the the
creature comforts of camp which uh as of
the lightning storm that came through
over the weekend camp is now a mud pit
So there's a there's not very nice
conditions that they're working in uh
and having to live in. So the focus is
um personal protective equipment. It's
the wildland specific clothing. Uh it's
having changes of clothes so that they
can survive in those camp environments.
Um that's the the focus of what the
request is here.
» You councelor Newington.
Thank you very much for this. Now, um
CBC had a a whole thing about
firefighters and and that sort of um do
our lads get training before they go?
>> Yes. Specific. So, there's something
called the inter agency agreement
between the BC Wildfire Service and the
Association of Fire Chiefs of BC. It
outlines training standards from first
aid requirements to the levels of uh
wildland firefighting certificates that
are needed to deploy. So the training
that we've been doing this spring was to
get that certification across the entire
department. Um, also because if a
wildfire was to occur here and we were
to have the assistance of BC Wildfire
Service here, we want to be working off
the same page, same playbook as them.
Uh, and then we're trying to create some
depth in the next levels. Uh, there's
something called an engine boss, sort of
a leader of the crew. Uh, we only
currently have four people trained at
that level. So, we'd like to in future
invest in that, but that's for our
future planning, not related to this
particular report.
>> Anyone else?
No. Okay. Uh, and just I'll do the
motion first and then I just would like
to just um
just say something. Uh, that the fire
department be authorized to purchase
wildfire gear and equipment up to a
maximum of $22,040.
very specific to be funded from net
revenues from the 2026 BC Wildfire
Services deployment and that staff be
directed to draft a financial amendment
to include $22,40 for wildlife
deployment gear and equipment. So mover
and a second all those in favor motion
carries. Thank you. And and just also I did see um so two things. One, thank
you to um the department for supporting
everyone to do this training and also
for deploying supporting the deployment
of people. There's is it four people
that have been deployed or is it is it
four at a time?
>> There's uh one of our vehicles with a
threeperson crew um and now on the third
rotation. So, um it's it's a little bit
complicated because we've had to move
people not exactly with that 14-day
schedule, but essentially nine
firefighters and we've shared one to the
Malahhat. So, 10 firefighters have
deployed to this point um with a
expectation that there's likely a next
deployment as well. So, another three
would go.
>> Okay. Thank you. And thank thanks
extended thanks to them and to everyone
that also stays behind to you know fill
in the back back fill while people are
away too. And with that uh I did see you
on Saturday. Um I think you were on
about I don't even know how many hours
when when I saw you and thanks to the
department and and to our neighboring
departments as well for all the work
that you did. um that could not have
been an easy situation on so many levels
and just know that we're extremely
grateful for the work that you do. And
um when I went up to uh when I was up
there, one of the things that I saw was
just you know there's a lot of talk
about um how no one works together and
you know in different jurisdictions and
we've just given two examples of how
well we do work together you know one
being um sending people out to
deployment for fires also working with
other fire departments on that on
training Um, but also when it comes to
um when it comes to to fires or
situations, there was the CVRD was
there, there was people from Couch and
Tribes there, North Couch and Fire
Department was there, Cow Bay Fire
Department, um, and the school district
and local businesses. And the list just
goes on and on of the people who
actually were in that room supporting
everyone there. And it was just, you
know, it's remarkable to see everyone in in that space and and
how well oiled that whole system is with
emergency response with the regional
district. Um, but also just again the
appreciation to all of you for the work
that you do because it's not it's not
easy and I there's been, you know, we've
had two major fires in a month. I
believe it is just just over a month and
that's a lot on people. And so just know
that we recognize that and um and I know
that you make sure that everyone takes
good care of themselves and that the
community is here to support you in the
ways that we can as well. So thank you
councelor Bruce.
>> Thank you mayor. I I was just wondering
what what kind of how big is the income
coming back
with the firefighters from their job?
Uh
So, if I if I may, first I thank you for
the comments. I'd like to take that um
support and share that back with the
fire department. Um and I also would
echo the support across the region uh
from our other partners like you've
mentioned the emergency management couch
and the RCMP BC ambulance service was
working extremely hard at that
particular incident. Um all our partner
fire agencies um the there was a lot of
hard work going into that and very much
appreciated and did feel like we're
really working as a team in the
community. So, if I may [clears throat]
specifically back to your question, if
you're uh referring to from the wildfire
deployment to the end of the current
rotation, the profit expected is around
92,000.
Um and it will depend on the total
length of the deployment. So that's
where we're anticipating presently. Uh
but if we get extended, of course, that
grows.
You're welcome.
All right. Thank you again and uh
have a good night.
We'll move on to permissive tax
exemption. And we have a few people who
need to get out of here. Can you please
state on your mics why you need to
leave?
Um, I work for the hospital auxiliary
thrift store as a assistant manager.
>> I volunteer at the hospital auxiliary
foot store as someone on sales.
We don't need to got to make sure we
keep quum.
All right. So that council direct staff
to draft a permissive tax exemption
bylaw for the 2027 and 2028 tax years to
include a two-year tax exemption for the
couch and district hospital auxiliary
for 56% of the property at 138 Craig
Street as detailed in the August 24th
report of the director of finance or the
council deny the permissive except tax
exemption application from the couch and
district hospital auxiliary.
So, do we have a mover for either of
those motions? Councelor Caps.
>> Uh, yeah. I would move approval of the
exemption.
>> Is there a seconder for that? Councelor
Mumis, any discussion on that? Councilor
Bruce.
>> Yeah. I I'm just wondering if we're
going I mean, I agree with it, too, but
I'm just wondering if we're going down
the rabbit trail of businesses of
certain
I know Imagine speaking against the
hospital auxiliary. But nevertheless, it
is a business uh that store is and it's
a very successful business. they bought
the property and um I'm just wondering
if we as a community should be giving
tax exemptions
uh to that particular
uh business and whether that would um
bring other like-minded businesses
looking for tax uh relief as well if
they were parti partially sponsoring
something or I'm just I'm just concerned
that We're opening a door that maybe we shouldn't, as much as I hate to
talk against the hospital auxiliary for
crying out loud, but um should we be
giving tax exemptions to uh an actual
retail store in the city core is kind of
my question.
>> So, is there someone from staff who
would like to speak to this? I'm happy
to, but if there's I'm assuming it would
be Miss Crossman or Mr. Dverai.
It's
I could only note that u last year
council did not approve it. I think
there was was some concern around um
other thrift stores. So
>> uh so the hospital auxiliary raises
funds to contribute to the um care of
patients at the couch and district
hospital, residents of Karensmore Place
and Hospice House and residents of the
Couch and Valley. So it is an an active
um it gives it the money that it makes
it gives back to the community.
So
go ahead council Bruce.
>> Thank you. I I I totally agree with you,
but um so does the um um the the the
other business on um Kenneth Street. I
used to work there. What's it called? Um
Sassy Lion. and um they're making
contributions all through the community
for various various activities, parks
and and uh everything the Lions Club's
involved with. So, um I mean I'm not
sure where all the other the other uh uh
stores, the thrift stores and so on u
send all their money, but that is
exactly my point. Should we be opening
this up for all of those other ones to
make application? And I know darn well
this is very very wellreceived and so is the Sassy Lion. They do they do a
great job as well. And um I think the
Sassy Lion has one paid employee and I I
don't know that the the hats has even
one I don't think they have one paid
employee, but nevertheless, I was just
concerned about opening up that that uh
that whole field. Uh and they're doing
good work in the community for sure, but
I just don't want to get something going
here that we and that's why we shut it
down. We did not approve this last year
and and I would I would agree with what
we came our conclusion last year. I
would I would uh think that that should
be the same thing that we come to this
year. Thank you.
>> Okay. Thank you. Any other comments or
questions? Councelor Caps, go ahead.
Yeah, just to I definitely understand
the spirit of what you're saying and for
full transparency, I was not at the
meeting earlier today, so I'm not sure
um which applications from other
applicants were approved or denied for
this round. Um but I I just think like I agree and I don't really see a
situation in which we would start
approving applications for forprofit
retail spaces. You know, this is so so
clearly quite different to that. And
again, I I I see that you you do you you
know, there's there's an understanding
of that. I think that it's a very
different thing and we're not seeing
some influx of for-profit businesses
applying for this. And if we did, that
wouldn't be uh a fit under our, you
know, general guidelines of this sort of
thing anyway. So, I think I I obviously
I moved it. Obviously, I I agree with
it. I think this is a reasonable
proposition. Um Yeah. Thank you.
>> Go ahead.
The motion was for how much? Like 100%,
75, 56%.
It was Is it 56%? Yeah, it's the
property is 56%.
>> Right. So, um the request was made by
the applicant to exempt 100% of the
portion of the area that they occupy.
They do have other areas of the building
that they rent out and they're not
asking for an exemption on those areas.
So the the portion of the building that
they occupy themselves comes to
uh is it 56% that I wrote on here?
>> 56%. So it's basically 100% exemption of
the area that they use for their
services.
But the question was, what was the
motion? Was 56% or was it
100%. I didn't didn't hear that. I just
heard the 56% of the land, but I never
heard a percentage of exemptions.
>> Sorry. No, the I think Miss Crossman is
referring to the recommendation that was
on the um cover there of the agenda. And
I will admit that I don't I didn't hear
the the exact wording of recommendation
myself. So or sorry of the resolution
that was proposed by councelor Caps.
Were you suggesting that it should be
the 56%.
» I if I may I believe um councelor
McKinley is speaking to is it 100%
exemption on that 56% of the property?
Is that correct? that. So that's what I
took from that um first suggested
recommendation and so that was what I moved 100% of that 56% which they
occupy and use for that purpose.
Okay. Anyone else? All those in favor?
Any opposed? Councelor Bruce opposed.
Motion carries. We'll just take a moment
and um invite them back in.
Welcome.
Just give them a minute to get settled
back in.
All right, go ahead. Welcome. Uh, thank
you. Good evening, Mayor and Council.
Uh, I'm here tonight to present a zoning
amendment uh, application for 521 Canada
Avenue.
Do I have to tell you, Jessica? Okay. Uh
so the purpose of the application is a
proposed sightsp specific amendment to
the zoning bylaw at 521 Canada Avenue to
allow for the ongoing operation of the
current cannabis retail store. Uh
currently cannabis retail stores are
prohibited in all zones of the zoning
bylaw unless permitted through a
temporary use permit or a sight specific
amendment. The zoning amendment would
allow uh for cannibal sorry the zoning
amendment to allow for cannabis retail
store is limited to this property only.
Uh the existing cannabis retail store is
operated continuously at this location
for 6 years uh authorized by two
consecutive temporary use permits. Uh
there's been no increased enforcement
calls related to the existing store.
cannabis retail stores regulated by the
liquor and cannabis regulation branch.
Uh this change would allow the business
to continue operating without needing to
apply for a new temporary use permit or
a renewal every 3 years.
Uh this is the subject property
and a couple of site photos. So, the
storefront and then just the storefront
in the context of the existing building
in our downtown.
And these are the options before council
this evening. Uh so to give three
readings to and adopt the zoning
amendment bylaw. Council could refuse
it. Uh or amend and then give three
readings to and adopt the amended bylaw.
» Council Duncan
>> and sorry. Oh, not quite done.
>> Oh, okay. Sorry. And
>> this is the staff recommendation uh that
council give first three readings to and
adopt zoning bylaw amendment bylaw
number 3166.13
2026, a bylaw to establish and permit
the sight specific use of cannabis
retail store at 521 Canada Avenue.
Thank you.
>> Thank you, Councelor Duncan.
>> I was just going to move uh the
resolution to grant I see a number of
hands going up for seconders. Is there
any discussion or questions right now?
Seeing none, all those in favor? Motion
carries. Thank you very much.
And we'll move on to Miss Hajins for the
fees and charges amendment bylaw. Thanks
for coming out.
Okay. Uh thank you, Mayor Staples. Um
this bylaw is uh council saw it
previously. It's coming back uh for
adoption. Fees and charges amendment
bylaw. Um, one of the primary changes
within it is to um, adjust the fire
hydrant flow testing report fees uh, so
that the fees that we charge covers the
cost of staff doing the work. Um, and
there are some other uh, small
corrections in there as well that have
been included in the bylaw. Thank you.
All right. Are there any questions?
Uh, that council adopt fees and charges
bylaw amendment number 3212 decimal 13
2026. Mover and a seconder. Any
discussion? All those in favor? Motion
carries. Thank you very much. That was
so quick. Uh 9.2 financial plan
amendment bylaw, Miss Crossman, that we
adopt the financial uh plan amendment
bylaw number 326201.
Uh is there anything you'd like to say?
Only that I should have waited a little
bit longer because now we have a fire
department amendment to bring back to
you to a future meeting. But this one
has come to council at the last meeting
for three readings and is here for
adoption. And uh there's nothing on here
that affects taxes.
Um so council has already seen all these
items previously.
Thank you very much. Uh so uh mover and
a second there for that. Any discussion?
All those in favor? Motion carries.
Thank you. A proclamation that council
proclaim September 20th to 26 as
national forest week in the city of
Duncan for our growing urban forest. A
mover and a seconder. All those in
favor? Motion carries. Are there reports
from counselors this evening? Any
councilors that would like to make I see
councelor Newington, councelor Duncan.
Anyone else? Going once, going twice.
All right, the two of you are up. Do you
want to draw straws to see who wants to
go first?
I pushed the button first. There we go.
>> Over to you.
>> Okay. I attended the board meeting um at
the couch and independent living and um
they're really coming along well after
their um problems that they had earlier
on or two years ago and they've managed
to recover from that. And um the
executive director Michelle Barrett is
really doing a grand job and working
hard at um getting grants and helping
them fund what their programs that they
have there. Um I attended the river
cleanup startup. Unfortunately, my knee
is in the shape that I cannot go up and
down the banks anymore um until I get it
fixed. But um it was nice to see a lot
of the diversity of people. There were
people my age who I was informed just
recently that I was elderly. I don't
understand that part but anyway um and
uh a lot of young people and so that was
really good to see another generation
coming along um interested in the satlo
and on two occasions one just after our
committee of the whole meeting and one
on Saturday
I came across people kind of looking
around town like this and I went up to
them and said are you from out of town?
Yes. And so, um, they both both groups
of people, and councelor, uh, Duncan can
attest to this, both groups of people
were just blown away at how beautiful
the city was looking. So, pass that on.
Thank you,
» Councelor Duncan. Thank you, Councelor
Nton.
>> Thank you. your worship. I attended uh
with some other staff members uh the
lawn bowling uh I guess it would be the
rematch perhaps. Uh and also uh I guess
to show us that really it's not the same
as curling. They're not yelling sweep sweep when you throw the ball.
It's pretty quiet. So I don't anticipate
that we're going to have any problems
with the liquor license if it's granted.
Uh I also attended the Burma Star
ceremony. Uh that is the ceremony that
actually celebrates uh Charles Hoey. Uh
he was uh uh killed uh in action uh
while he was uh taking out a machine gun
nest and that's the reason we have the
Charles Hoey Park. So it was great to
see we had some of the Sheamanus group
down and some from uh Duncan still. So
and again also there was a report from
Dave saying that he's really pleased to
get Senate uh fixed up.
Thank you.
Uh so I was at the lawn bowling also and
I have to just uh commend councelor
Bruce on his exceptional uh last and
final throw at the lawn bowling and he
beat us all. It was it was great and
they've done a lot of work. It looked
really good. I mean it looked good last
year but they've definitely done a lot
of extra work. So it was great. And it's
nice for us to be able to do those types
of things. Um, which we don't get to do
terribly often together. So, I
appreciate that. And I was also at the
river cleanup. Um, I saw Council
Newington there. And yeah, many people
were there and they everyone said for
the day after that that crazy lightning
storm that we had where a lot of people
did not get a lot of sleep, um, they
were really pleased with the turnout
uh, of of people being there. And I
don't even know how many years it's been
going on. 16 years now
and so yeah and good to see a new
generation coming up and taking the
reigns and um speaking. They did an
excellent job. Uh also went to the some
of the 39 days of July as some of the
final kind of nights that were there and
I did get to see the song that was
created for them. Uh I was at the Zumba
class on the Saturday and they did they
made a song for Long John and the 39
days and it was it was very emotional.
It was really lovely and uh yeah it was
incredibly wonderful and also at the I
think it was the art in the avenue as
well that happened around that time.
There seems to be just a lot of things
happening uh all all together. And I've
been to the market a number of times and
it has been busy here on on the weekends
and even during the week. Um I'm
downtown a lot and there's been a lot of
people and a lot of people Yeah. from
other places and so many people
commenting on uh on how much they love
the city. Uh also it was amazing to have
uh Mark Lakeman stop by. So for most of
our council will remember Mark and staff
that are here just before the pandemic.
He came in and he did a a communitywide
um like design shred, I guess we would
call it. It's he he runs something
called city repair. And who was all
involved in that from here? Councelor
Duncan, you would have been there. You
were there, too. Councelor Caps, and you
were there. And and so we we came
together. There's about 60 of us and and
uh people from all ages and
demographics. And we created a design
for the park downtown. And then and we
also created a second design for
Whistler Street area. And then the
pandemic hit. And so um after years of
staff repeatedly applying for funding,
we got funding. The park is open. And it
was his very first time uh in Duncan
since then. And so he I found out very
last minute that he was coming through.
and uh and he he didn't he was un he was
supposed to come before but he had a
drill in his car and he couldn't get
across the border. So he wasn't sure if
he would get across this time but he did
and I I met him sitting in the park.
He'd been there for about two hours just
watching people move in the space
because all his whole work is about how
people um how people interact with the
space around them and he absolutely
loves the the interaction and the way
that that park ended up being designed,
but it's a good reminder that that was a
that was something that we built
together that has now, you know, not
every single thing that everyone wanted
made it into the final design and of
course funding and lack of funding and
increasing costs, they narrowed that
some of the things down, but there's
opportunities to build on it. Uh, but he
was so proud of proud of um of seeing
that and just of the work that the
community did and that we were able to
get that up. And then he also uh went we
went to see the village as well. And so
Mark uh was also part of doing the I
think it was 27 years ago I want to say
I could be wrong on that number so no
quotes there but a long time ago. Um he
was part of the uh first village
projects that happened in Portland. And
so prior to the pandemic as well, I did
get to go down and visit some of the
sites. And he did a number of
presentations at the regional district
over the years, letting people know um
far long before we had the the crisis
that we have now, the housing um house
housing crisis and the homelessness
crisis to talk about the things that
they were doing in those early days of
um creating villages for all sorts of
different um types of people in in need.
And so again, he was just just
absolutely loved the site. Um he got to
talk to people who work there and people
who live there. And so it was just
really nice to see sometimes your
community, the things that you've
accomplished in community that we've all
accomplished together through someone
else's eyes. Um and someone that was
such an inspiration to the the things
that um have actually happened. And so I
just wanted to share that with everyone
because he had nothing but amazing
things to say. and uh posted it on
social media and yeah it was it was
great to be able to spend that time with
him and uh and yeah share those things w
with someone. So on that note we will
move to
I close the agenda council Duncan
question period. Any questions?
I still need it though because I've got
to I've got to read it out. You're gonna
have to read it out because I don't Oh,
no. Yeah, you got to read it out. Go
ahead.
>> Uh 13.1 motion to close that the meeting
be closed to the public under the
following sections of the community
charter to discuss matters related to
employee relations. Section 90 bracket
one bracket C labor relations or other
employee relations.
>> Excellent. So we'll take uh yeah we'll
also moved all those in favor. Motion
carries and we will take uh 10 minutes
and come back to our little seats and go
into close. Thank you.