[2:56] No, it's just me hitting the wrong
[2:57] button. All right, welcome everyone to
[3:01] this very warm meeting and a balmy
[3:04] August night. I'd like to start by
[3:07] recognizing that we are on the unseated
[3:08] territory of the Quudsen nation and that
[3:11] in this room we have different views,
[3:13] different ways of expression, different
[3:15] emotional intensities, and different
[3:16] roads that lead to conclusions. May we
[3:19] combine clarity of mind with kindness of
[3:21] heart and may we be impartial without
[3:23] bending to strong personalities. May we
[3:25] sacrifice self-interest for the good of
[3:27] the whole. And may we do our work with
[3:29] love and clarity of vision for the
[3:30] benefit of those that we represent. And
[3:32] with that, I will call this evening's
[3:34] meeting to order. There's one late item
[3:37] for permissive tax exemption for the
[3:39] couch and district hospital auxiliary.
[3:42] We can just move that as it is without
[3:44] anyone having to go anywhere. Is that
[3:46] correct? Okay. All right. So, approval
[3:49] of agenda with the late item added.
[3:53] Do we have to
[4:05] Yeah, but no one has to go anywhere.
[4:09] >> Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean right now. Yeah.
[4:11] Okay. Thank you for the clarification.
[4:15] All right. So, uh I'll move for an
[4:18] approval of that agenda. Is there a move
[4:20] in a second? Okay. Thank you. And we'll
[4:22] go to the adoption of minutes from July
[4:24] 27th that those meetings be adopted as
[4:26] circulated. Is there a mover and a
[4:28] second? Any discussion? All those in
[4:29] favor? Motion carries. And we'll move to
[4:32] our first or uh our only delegation
[4:35] tonight, Staff Sergeant Beard. Welcome.
[4:38] And you brought a guest with you, I see.
[4:40] Welcome,
[4:48] Just have to turn on your mics.
[4:52] » There we are.
[4:53] >> There we go.
[4:53] >> Thank you. Thank you, Mayor Council. Um
[4:56] my colleague Stasher and Deb Kelly is
[4:58] here. Um ma'am, with your approval, it'd
[5:00] be nice to have her come up and give
[5:01] some updates on uh a rather tragic file
[5:04] that we were dealing with on on Friday
[5:05] this weekend. So,
[5:06] >> yes, absolutely. Thank you.
[5:07] >> Awesome. Um if I may, I think
[5:11] everybody's got a copy of our policing
[5:12] report. This is the one from uh April,
[5:15] May, and June. So, the most recent
[5:16] quarter. We're actually in the That's
[5:18] our first quarter, our CP's first
[5:19] quarter. Um, if I can draw your
[5:21] attention to the first couple of pages
[5:22] there, uh, of the report, it talks about
[5:25] some of the things that the RCMP members
[5:27] at our detachment here were able to do
[5:29] uh, in support of the community.
[5:32] Um, quite a cross-section of events that
[5:34] we were involved in. Um,
[5:37] yeah, it's it makes for for a busy busy
[5:39] year and and well-rounded. If you have
[5:41] any questions on that, I' I'd love to to
[5:44] update you and answer any questions.
[5:47] Uh pending that uh we have the uh
[5:50] three-month comparison. Again, this is
[5:52] April to June 2026. Uh city of Duncan is
[5:55] the center column. Um overall, we've
[5:58] seen a 16% increase in crimes against
[6:00] persons between 25 and 26. Um I always
[6:04] have to caution uh with these numbers
[6:06] here. The the percentages of 100% or
[6:10] 300% increase. Uh don't be thrown by
[6:12] that. That's that those you have to
[6:14] really look at the statistics. So, we
[6:16] went from one uh extortion file to two.
[6:20] So, that's 100% increase. So, keep that
[6:22] in mind when you're looking at these
[6:23] numbers if you could. Uh 200% increase
[6:26] in robbery. So, that's one file in 2025
[6:31] to three in 2026.
[6:33] And then down the page, crimes against
[6:36] property, an 83 in 83% increase in theft
[6:40] from vehicles. Uh, and just some some
[6:42] background on those. Um, the uh the the
[6:49] uh made my notes here.
[6:53] Yeah, the the harassment files there uh
[6:55] that was um files involving one
[6:58] individual that was creating a a higher
[7:01] volume of of harassment files. So that
[7:04] contributes to the the issues that we
[7:06] were seeing there. And then the thefts,
[7:08] um, there was an increase in thefts. Uh,
[7:10] and these were characterized mostly by
[7:13] parking lot and residential unit type thefts. So they're kind of again on
[7:18] the the lower end of the the lower end
[7:20] of the scale. Uh, they're consistent
[7:22] with opportunistic thefts, the low
[7:23] value, minimal effort to require to take
[7:25] the item. Uh, rather unremarkable uh,
[7:29] for the the first three months of our calendar year.
[7:34] Uh and then following up on that,
[7:36] there's the uh pages um with the uh the
[7:40] pie chart. I just wanted to draw your
[7:42] attention to the increase in call volume
[7:44] for the first quarter of this year. Uh
[7:46] compared to last year, we actually saw a
[7:49] 20% increase in in a jump in call volume
[7:52] uh January, February, March. This year
[7:54] versus last year, uh it's starting to
[7:56] even off. Now we're we're basically only
[7:58] up 9%. But uh first three months of the
[8:01] year I thought if if we carry on this
[8:02] way we're going to be there be no
[8:04] shortage of job security for us.
[8:08] And then um as you can see the next
[8:11] couple pages uh talk about our
[8:13] performance year to date on our annual
[8:16] performance plan. Some late starts some
[8:18] slow starts particularly in the crime
[8:20] reduction area. Um part of that has to
[8:22] do with uh school being out as it
[8:24] relates to the um school liaison
[8:27] program. We are weeks away from
[8:30] starting, maybe two or three weeks away
[8:32] from starting our partnership with uh uh
[8:35] VIHA with a mobile crisis response team
[8:38] to help deal with some of the mobile
[8:39] mental health calls for service that we
[8:42] experience uh quite regularly daily.
[8:46] Um and um reporting under the Revoy and
[8:49] SEO program reporting zero year to date.
[8:51] That's the first three months of this
[8:53] year, but I I'm looking forward to the
[8:54] report for this quarter because we're
[8:57] actually going to show much better
[8:58] statistics. This is the Coint program
[8:59] just got started this year as well. So,
[9:02] a little bit slow out of the blocks um
[9:04] uh in that regard, but we're definitely
[9:06] going to pick up
[9:08] and uh and continue to support the
[9:11] community as best we can.
[9:14] Then there's victim services graph or
[9:16] not graph but table followed by the
[9:19] prisoner statistics.
[9:23] Yeah, nothing nothing really there to of
[9:26] any remarkable nature.
[9:30] So, subject to that, I know there might
[9:32] be some questions about some other
[9:34] things, but uh subject to that uh if
[9:36] there's any questions, please let me
[9:37] know.
[9:39] >> Thank you,
[9:41] Council Harington.
[9:44] [snorts]
[9:44] >> Thank you so much for your report and
[9:46] all the work you guys do in the
[9:47] community. Um going back briefly to the
[9:51] um opportunistic
[9:53] thefts from vehicles. Um are these
[9:56] vehicles broken into or are they
[9:58] unlocked and people are going into them?
[10:01] >> Yes ma'am. Uh good question. Uh
[10:03] predominantly vehicles left unlocked and
[10:05] is change taken change taken from the
[10:08] console. Uh a cell phone here and there
[10:11] maybe something of lower value. It's on the lower end of the spectrum.
[10:14] Yeah.
[10:16] Councelor Duncan.
[10:18] >> Thank you, Madam Mayor, and thank you
[10:20] for the updated report. It's nice to see
[10:22] that there's very little red in the
[10:24] Duncan section. Red being bad news for
[10:27] us. Uh but uh my question relates to
[10:30] these statistics and recently, you know,
[10:32] we were accused of being the worst uh
[10:35] community in the province. Uh, so I'm my
[10:38] question is were these the stats that
[10:41] they were using to try and come up with
[10:42] that incorrect uh information? Uh, I do
[10:47] note that you're you and our CEO were
[10:50] going to look into it with Stats Canada.
[10:53] >> Yes, sir. Great question. I'm going to
[10:55] do my best to explain the the CSI
[10:58] program. This is a federal government
[11:00] initiative uh CSI community uh crime
[11:04] severity index. They take police off uh
[11:06] police municipal and RCMP data and they
[11:09] calculate um uh a number to reflect
[11:14] crime in the communities across Canada
[11:16] that are based on volume of calls for
[11:18] service. It's a combination volumes of
[11:20] volume of calls for service with the
[11:22] seriousness of crime. Um it's not our
[11:25] calculation
[11:27] and it comes with a couple of provisos.
[11:29] Number one, they don't calculate CSI for
[11:31] populations under a thousand because it just throws off the numbers. It just
[11:36] it's an inaccurate reflection. Uh and
[11:38] they also say that any communities in
[11:41] around 5,000 use that number with
[11:43] caution. So, it's a it's it's dangerous.
[11:47] It's it's risky to use the CSI. And I I
[11:50] know you're getting at there, sir. Uh
[11:51] we're reporting a 3 336 uh CSI for the
[11:55] city of Duncan in 2025 and a 401 violent
[11:58] CSI um figure for 2025.
[12:02] Um
[12:04] I'm going to do my best to try and
[12:05] explain this. So CSI is a is a ratio
[12:10] between the weighted
[12:13] number associated to the amount of time
[12:17] that the justice system convicts people
[12:20] for offenses in the country over the
[12:23] last 5 years and that becomes a weighted
[12:25] number and that number is divided by the
[12:28] population in the community. So anytime
[12:31] you have a small population in the
[12:33] community that will throw that number
[12:35] off um and it becomes in my view it
[12:39] becomes an inaccurate reflection of the
[12:42] community and what's going on in the
[12:43] community.
[12:45] This the CSI number is best used for big
[12:48] cities, big centers because there's a
[12:50] large large population and they have the
[12:52] cross-section of call volume, but they
[12:54] have a a large population that's the
[12:56] denominator that gives us the CSI number
[12:59] that's more reflective of what goes on
[13:00] in the community. So, um, just to draw
[13:04] your attention to a couple of things
[13:05] here.
[13:07] In 2021, the city of Duncan reported a
[13:11] CSI of 192.
[13:13] And then in 2022,
[13:16] uh the federal government
[13:18] split Duncan into a rural and a
[13:21] municipal uh component. So in 2022, and
[13:25] it's a little bit the numbers are a
[13:27] little bit off because of the the way
[13:29] they split in the middle of the year,
[13:30] but in 2022, the city of Duncan uh
[13:34] reported a 230 CSI and the rural side of
[13:37] it reported a 165. In 2023, all of a
[13:41] sudden, now we got the full year data.
[13:43] 2023, Stats Canada is now reporting a
[13:45] 471 CSI in the city and a 145 rural.
[13:52] In 2024, the city was reported as being
[13:56] 345
[13:58] uh against the 131 rural and the city in
[14:02] 2025 reported 336 uh and rural was
[14:05] reporting a 118. So if you take to kind
[14:08] of put this all in context, if you take
[14:10] the entire valley and you calculate the
[14:12] CSI for the valley, the it actually the
[14:15] CSI is 140. Now because the population
[14:18] in the city of Duncan is 5,700ish about
[14:21] there and we have a about four 4,800
[14:26] calls for service in the city of Duncan
[14:28] last year in 2012. You take that
[14:30] weighted average given the five years of data from [clears throat]
[14:35] uh given u from sentencing from various
[14:38] offenses in the across the country and
[14:40] you divide that by 5,500 people you get
[14:44] a very very high CSI like what we have
[14:47] again not reflective of our community so
[14:50] it's really important that people take
[14:51] that into account and on stats Canada's
[14:53] website it actually says that it says
[14:55] this very clearly don't rely on this
[14:57] information because it's not reflective
[14:59] of what goes on in a community of 5,500
[15:01] people.
[15:03] So, a little bit more information.
[15:06] Um, so what's driving up the violent CSI
[15:09] for the city of Duncan in 2025? So, we
[15:12] had three extra uh aggravated assaults.
[15:16] We had one human trafficking extra human
[15:18] trafficking um file. It was drugrelated.
[15:22] We had two extra kidnappings. Uh that
[15:25] was one was involved uh at happened at
[15:27] Shell gas station and the other one was
[15:29] on Garden Street over here. The uh the
[15:32] suspects were captured and they're still
[15:34] in in in custody and we had six extra
[15:38] robberies
[15:39] and they're all drugreated.
[15:42] So um it doesn't take much to throw that
[15:45] number. So for instance, give you an
[15:47] example. Um we haven't had a haven't had
[15:50] a homicide in the city of Duncan since
[15:51] 2022. So, a a homicide is worth 8,200
[15:56] points. This what Stats Canada gives us.
[15:59] A stolen wheelbarl is 29 points. So, if
[16:02] you have a series of stolen wheelbarls,
[16:04] our CSI comes way down. But if you have
[16:07] a murder, all of a sudden, our CSI goes
[16:09] very high. So, that's the relationship.
[16:11] And when you're dealing with such a
[16:12] small population, it throws off that
[16:15] number. So, it's not something that is
[16:19] in in my mind, it's not
[16:22] while accurate given the the confines of
[16:26] the context, in my mind, it doesn't
[16:27] describe our community.
[16:30] >> Uh, you have a followup.
[16:32] >> Uh, thank you. Um, I'm confused a little
[16:35] bit with the rural designation that we
[16:38] somehow got. I I can't think of as being
[16:41] too much of a rural area because we're
[16:43] only one square mile and we've got a
[16:44] couple of parks, but uh, other than
[16:47] that, how did we get to that rural
[16:48] thing? And um over the years we've
[16:51] complained about the failed to appears
[16:53] that that are part of the stats that we
[16:56] sort of have to bear.
[16:57] >> Yeah.
[16:58] >> Uh would those failed to appears have
[17:00] been included in the five years?
[17:02] >> Uh well there's typically not
[17:04] convictions. There's not the sentences
[17:06] off of a fail to compare. So it's very minor in nature in terms of uh
[17:10] weight. So it it's almost minuscule. It
[17:12] doesn't even really play into it. Um,
[17:14] and in terms of the uh Duncan rural,
[17:18] it's typically going to be anything
[17:20] south of the river. And that's just what
[17:22] the federal government has decided to
[17:24] determine
[17:25] that there's there's the municipality
[17:28] north couch on the north end. On the
[17:30] south end, there's the city and then the
[17:32] rural. And then, of course, the city is
[17:35] just this tiny little spot. and and that
[17:37] with this small population but this very
[17:40] transient um
[17:43] elevated population but not necessarily
[17:45] residents but everybody's contributing a
[17:48] lot of those people are contributing to
[17:49] the the call volume.
[17:54] [snorts]
[17:55] >> Yeah. So, so when they split it, they did they didn't do it according to
[17:58] the area that you service and that would
[18:01] be a difference as well like because in
[18:02] a larger city the police force would
[18:04] service the city. They wouldn't. So, you
[18:07] would be looking at the number that the
[18:08] police service actually um is in charge
[18:11] of whereas here it's split into three
[18:14] and then the the dominator doesn't make
[18:16] any sense.
[18:16] >> No.
[18:17] >> So,
[18:18] >> yeah. Okay. And and if we were to add
[18:21] just the area that you service, it was
[18:23] one what was the number [snorts] that
[18:25] >> 140 would be the if we actually averaged
[18:27] it if it was averaged based on the area
[18:30] that you serve.
[18:30] >> Yeah, that's right. And that would
[18:32] include the 35,000 population
[18:34] municipality north couch and 5,700 here
[18:37] and 10,000 in the rural Duncan rural
[18:40] area.
[18:41] >> Okay. Thank you. And again, just the
[18:43] area that that um Duncan North Couch and
[18:45] RCMP serves.
[18:46] >> Yes, ma'am. Yeah.
[18:47] >> Thank you. Uh, councelor Duncan, are you
[18:50] done with your questions? Okay,
[18:51] councelor Bruce, over to you.
[18:54] >> Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Um,
[18:58] uh, Staff Sergeant Beard, um, with the
[19:02] new program with VHA that's about to get
[19:06] started, is it not?
[19:07] >> Yes, sir.
[19:08] >> And, um, how do you see that helping your group, your your employees?
[19:15] How does that how can you explain how
[19:17] that starts off in the morning? How do
[19:20] you designate who's going with who?
[19:22] >> My pleasure. My pleasure. Uh so over the
[19:25] last two months or so um uh Vanc Health
[19:29] Authority has gone through a selection
[19:31] process and they've selected a
[19:33] designated clinical counselor or crisis
[19:35] nurse. That nurse has been sitting
[19:38] waiting for us to get our house in
[19:39] order. Um and we've gone through the
[19:41] process now of selecting a member who
[19:43] will be designated to be that partner.
[19:46] And so Monday morning at 9:00 in the
[19:48] morning or 10 o'clock in the morning,
[19:50] our team goes out and they start
[19:52] answering calls for service for all that
[19:54] all are all mental health related or
[19:56] based. Last year we had 1500 mental
[19:59] health calls for service. Uh in that
[20:01] process or in that time we ended up
[20:03] apprehending over 500 people under the
[20:06] mental health act. So with this
[20:08] designated partnership, we're going to
[20:10] be able to have subject matter experts,
[20:13] particularly the clinical counselor, uh
[20:16] member, their twoperson team going to a
[20:19] scene. The member contains the situation
[20:21] and then the clinical counselor takes
[20:23] over and starts to use their expertise
[20:26] to try and deescalate and minimize risk
[20:29] to the the indivi individual and to the
[20:32] public and make calls based on the
[20:35] information they get. and then when
[20:36] they're not on calls for service, they
[20:39] wrap around to do follow-up with uh
[20:41] those folks that have been identified
[20:42] that need some support. So, it it it
[20:45] should it's going to help our call
[20:46] volume with the detachment. It's going
[20:48] to give our our members a better
[20:49] opportunity to be on the road, be more
[20:51] visible, and it will put um expertise
[20:54] where it's needed.
[20:58] » So, uh so that's that's one that's one
[21:01] shift then, one
[21:02] >> oh
[21:03] >> 10 hour shift or whatever.
[21:04] >> My apologies. uh it' be Monday, Tuesday,
[21:07] Wednesday, Thursday and then uh Friday
[21:11] uh our member our members work four
[21:13] hours four on four off but the the vihan
[21:16] nurse works five days a week so we will
[21:18] work Monday to Thursday or or a Tuesday
[21:21] to Friday and then when we're not
[21:23] working that that crisis nurse is
[21:26] responding to other uh concerns in the
[21:28] valley uh through through the mental
[21:30] health um
[21:33] uh unit.
[21:35] Yeah, we're we're looking forward to it.
[21:37] I'm hoping that that the the data is
[21:39] going to show that this is uh this is a
[21:41] definitely a need in our community.
[21:44] >> Thank you. And is this this what would
[21:46] have been the car 60 program?
[21:48] >> It would be it'd be enhanced. Yeah. Just
[21:50] like that.
[21:50] >> 60 program. Okay.
[21:52] >> Any other questions for anyone? Not
[21:56] right now. So, um would you like to
[22:00] pass?
[22:01] >> Yeah, if I could with your approval.
[22:02] Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you very
[22:04] much and thanks again for coming out and
[22:07] for clarifying the CSI as well.
[22:13] » Thank you, Mayor and Council. Um I have
[22:15] a few updates. Um but first, um I I'll
[22:20] talk about the fire. So, um, tragically,
[22:23] um, on August 21st, Friday morning, in
[22:26] the early hours, um, at 10:30 Government
[22:28] Street, there was a massive fire that
[22:31] was responded to, and I can confirm two
[22:33] individuals are deceased. Um, it is
[22:36] being treated as suspicious. The
[22:38] autopsies are this week. Um, and the
[22:40] investigation is ongoing, and we'll
[22:42] learn we'll learn more. So, it's well in
[22:44] hand. Um,
[22:47] any questions on that or
[22:53] I don't see any questions right now.
[22:55] I'll speak to it at the end. Perfect.
[22:57] Okay. On a more positive uh note, I have
[23:00] two um updates. The first one is I'd
[23:03] like to invite everybody to our third
[23:05] annual community safety expo at the
[23:07] North Couch and Duncan Detachment on
[23:09] September 26 from 12 to 2. Um last year
[23:13] we had over a thousand community members
[23:15] come out. We have over 50 partner
[23:17] agencies. um country grocerers donate at
[23:20] lunch. Um PDS, our police dog services
[23:23] and our emergency response um team are
[23:26] putting on presentations. Um and it
[23:28] should be a great afternoon for family
[23:30] and friends and and the community. So um
[23:33] just wanted to make sure everybody got
[23:34] an invite. And then the second um
[23:37] positive news is uh the detachment put
[23:41] in an application to the province of
[23:44] British Columbia for extra funding under
[23:46] the community safety and target
[23:48] enforcement program. It's called Seep.
[23:51] Um and we were successful um in they
[23:55] granted us $232,000
[23:58] um to utilize over the next year. So the
[24:01] objectives of the C um step program are
[24:03] to support police operations that
[24:05] address crimes associated with street
[24:07] disorder and their impacts on public
[24:10] safety, community well-being, and
[24:11] economic activity. Um the funds will
[24:14] assist law enforcement activities in
[24:17] high incident high hotspots, including
[24:20] major shopping c corridors and areas
[24:23] where public safety concerns intersect
[24:25] with homelessness, addiction, and mental
[24:27] health crisis. Um, so what we're doing
[24:30] is we're increasing our patrols um that
[24:33] are extra um twice a week and there'll
[24:36] be high uh visibility um bike patrols uh
[24:39] walking mobile patrols. We'll do some
[24:41] shoplifting blitz and it's a phased
[24:43] approach over the next eight months.
[24:47] Thank you. Are there any questions from
[24:50] anyone right now? No questions.
[24:53] I just wanted to thank thank um the RCMP
[24:57] and all of your staff for the response
[25:00] and the all of the emergency um
[25:03] responders. When I was up there on
[25:06] Saturday, I guess it was uh just
[25:09] speaking to people about how respectful
[25:12] everyone um was, how much support people
[25:15] felt that they had. And there was still
[25:18] there was people there including people
[25:21] in here that had not slept all night.
[25:24] And I I was there early in early midday
[25:26] I guess. And um and that was what the
[25:31] experience of the people who were
[25:33] displaced um was that was all the all
[25:35] the reports that I got back just really
[25:38] were grateful and thankful but also
[25:40] really pointed out how people supported
[25:42] them. um from RCMP to fire department to
[25:45] the emergency responders to the
[25:47] community. So, I just wanted to thank
[25:48] you while you were here and and please
[25:50] pass that back to to your members and also the the tragedy and the loss of two lives. Um I know one of the
[25:58] families has now shared um on social
[26:01] media around their lost um their their
[26:05] loved one who was who was lost. And so,
[26:10] yeah, the community is in mourning right
[26:11] now. And um I I just feel like people
[26:16] need a lot of extra support right now
[26:18] and am grateful for the services that
[26:20] are being offered um offered to everyone
[26:24] and for what you have done. So thank you
[26:26] very much and thanks for your report and
[26:29] uh the work that you continue to do for
[26:30] our community. I look forward to hearing
[26:32] more about the funding and also um we
[26:36] know that the other program works. It's
[26:39] worked well and uh we've and when it is
[26:42] active and and running, it it works well
[26:44] and I'm grateful that that is um coming
[26:46] back in in an an updated form. So, thank
[26:49] you for all your work on all of these
[26:50] files and for our community.
[27:02] All right. So, next on our agenda,
[27:06] uh we have the report of the chief
[27:08] administrative officer, Mr. Dverti.
[27:11] Thank you, Mayor Staples.
[27:14] A few things to update on. The Heather
[27:16] Street water main replacement is out for
[27:17] tender. Constructed uh construction,
[27:20] sorry, is expected to start this fall.
[27:23] Uh we've also started the um camera
[27:25] work, which is the annual CCTV
[27:28] inspection program. It's underway for
[27:30] focusing on the sanitary and the storm
[27:31] mains in neighborhoods at the top of
[27:33] Government Street as the for this year's
[27:35] focus.
[27:36] The uh two small ornamental trees uh
[27:40] that are at their end of life have been
[27:42] removed in anticipation of the
[27:43] installation of the new Duncan gateway
[27:45] sign at the south corner uh or south
[27:48] east corner of the old high school field
[27:50] along the TCH.
[27:52] the Miller Road uh water man, the
[27:55] engineering department is working with
[27:56] Couch and Tribes uh and um myself I'm
[27:59] working with uh um engineering staff at Couch and Tribes and and Duncan at on
[28:05] the agreements to put in place for a new
[28:09] uh 8 in uh water man from Trestle Road
[28:11] to Coo Isil Road that would loop the
[28:15] system through that area and that would
[28:17] be subject to council consideration of
[28:18] the terms of the agreement. The the area
[28:20] is currently a major focus for couch and
[28:22] tribes as it's currently on a do not
[28:25] consume notice from Island Health and
[28:26] they need a new water source. All of
[28:28] them are on wells that are uh not
[28:30] potable or forget potable, not use, not functional, not consumed. Um the
[28:37] next one to update on is uh 447 Fester
[28:42] uh street which is the couch and housing
[28:44] association um development for 18 units
[28:47] on u on fester there that we have now
[28:50] received a building permit application
[28:51] and that's under review by staff.
[28:55] And just two more, the the 2026 property
[28:57] tax notices. Uh the payments of and
[29:01] homer grant claims were due July 2nd and
[29:04] 5% penalty was added to outstanding
[29:06] balances at that time. A second 5%
[29:08] penalty will be added to any remaining
[29:11] balances unpaid at 400 p.m. on September
[29:14] 1st. So just encouraging folks to get those done so we don't have to apply
[29:18] additional penalties. And lastly, the
[29:21] 2026 tax sale. Properties with taxes
[29:23] that remain unpaid for three years in a
[29:25] row are subject to an annual tax sale
[29:27] pro process which is a legislated
[29:29] process for municipalities to recover
[29:31] outstanding property taxes through the
[29:33] public auction of properties with
[29:35] delinquent taxes. The tax sale is held
[29:37] on the last Monday of September each
[29:40] year in all municipalities around the
[29:41] province. There's currently five
[29:43] properties with delinquent tax
[29:44] delinquent taxes in the city that are
[29:46] subject to this tax sale process.
[29:48] Currently, staff are actively pursuing
[29:51] uh payment with those uh property owners
[29:54] in an effort to resolve the outstanding
[29:55] taxes before the tax sale process
[29:57] commences.
[30:00] That's it.
[30:03] >> Excellent. Thank you. Are there any
[30:05] questions for Mr. Dvertai right now?
[30:09] >> Councelor Bruce, go ahead.
[30:11] >> Thank you, Mayor. Um the the apartment
[30:15] block I don't think it's mentioned here
[30:17] on uh Evans Street. Um there was was the
[30:22] um senior's
[30:24] uh the sign is still up right right next
[30:28] to Duncan Manor on Evans.
[30:31] Um is that still
[30:33] is is it's gone away or is it the sign
[30:37] is still there? I was just wondering if that is [clears throat] still in the
[30:41] works at all.
[30:42] >> You know what? Do you know the one I
[30:43] mean?
[30:44] >> Yeah, I I know which one you're speaking
[30:45] of. Uh to my knowledge, I think we
[30:47] haven't heard from the applicant in
[30:48] quite some time. So, um not thinking
[30:52] that there's a lot of action that we're
[30:54] expecting on that on that application
[30:56] currently. So, we do check in
[30:57] periodically, but um I I think they're
[31:00] um going through some some challenges.
[31:06] » All right. Any other questions for Mr.
[31:08] Dvertai?
[31:10] Seeing none, uh, that the council
[31:12] receives the August 24th report of the
[31:15] chief administrative officer for
[31:16] information only. Move in a second. Any
[31:19] further discussion? All those in favor.
[31:22] Motion carries. We'll move to Miss
[31:25] Crossman who's going to talk about the
[31:28] budget update.
[31:30] Thank you, Mayor Staples. Uh, I normally
[31:33] would bring this in earlier in the year,
[31:36] maybe in June, but I didn't get a chance
[31:39] to bring it. And so, here we are. We're
[31:41] going all the way from January to July
[31:43] 31st. There's a listing of our operating
[31:47] income and expenses and a listing of our
[31:50] capital projects. I won't go through it
[31:53] line by line by any means, um, but if
[31:56] there are any questions, I'm happy to
[31:59] try and answer them for you.
[32:02] Are there any questions for Miss
[32:03] Crossman on this?
[32:07] I'll read out the motion and give people
[32:08] a little bit more time if they need it.
[32:10] The council received the report titled
[32:12] 2026 budget update dated August 24th by
[32:15] the director of finance for information
[32:17] only. Mover and a seconder. Any
[32:19] questions? All those in favor? Motion
[32:23] carries. Thank you. And we'll move to
[32:25] Miss Hodgkins for the Royal Canadian
[32:27] Legion fee waiver request.
[32:37] Thank you, Mayor Staples. Earlier this
[32:39] year, council provided a letter of
[32:41] support for the Royal Canadian Legion
[32:43] Branch 191 application to the
[32:45] commemorative partnership program for
[32:47] funding to refurbish the Senate at
[32:49] Charles Hoey Park. The Legion was
[32:51] successful in its application and has
[32:53] begun planning for the refurbishment
[32:55] work. However, as the Senate is located
[32:58] on city property, a work on city
[32:59] property permit is required. The city's
[33:02] fees and charges bylaw establishes a fee
[33:04] of $50 for applications to conduct work
[33:07] on city property and does not provide
[33:09] staff with discretion to wave the fees.
[33:11] The Legion is therefore requesting that
[33:13] council authorize the waiver of fees.
[33:16] Thank you.
[33:18] >> Thank you very much. Are there any
[33:20] questions for Miss Hutchkins? No. Okay.
[33:23] that council wave the city fees
[33:25] associated with the work detailed in the
[33:27] Canadian Legion's August 11th, 2026
[33:30] letter regarding the restoration of
[33:32] Duncan Senotap in Charles Hoy Park in a
[33:35] secondary. Are there questions?
[33:38] Go ahead, councelor Dun.
[33:40] >> Not so much a question, but a comment uh
[33:42] with we were at the Burma Star
[33:45] ceremonies uh a couple of weeks ago and
[33:47] I spoke with Dave, I believe is his
[33:49] name. He's very happy with the the way
[33:52] that things are proceeding and he says
[33:54] he's had no problems at all working with
[33:57] Jessica. So
[34:00] >> excellent. Thank you so much. Uh so all
[34:03] those in favor motion carries and back
[34:06] to you for the next one. The liquor
[34:08] primary club license application for the
[34:11] lawn bowling club.
[34:13] >> Yes. Thank you. Mayor Staples. So, the
[34:16] Couch and Lawn Bowling Club has applied
[34:18] concurrently to the city of Duncan and
[34:20] the BC Liquor and Cannabis Regulation
[34:22] Branch for a liquor primary club
[34:24] license. And this would permit the club
[34:26] to serve liquor to its members and their
[34:28] guests at the clubhouse at 321st Street.
[34:31] And this would be uh the application is
[34:33] for that to be every day between 3 p.m.
[34:35] and 9:00 p.m. during the months of May
[34:37] through September.
[34:39] The city provided public notice of the
[34:41] application to properties within a 100
[34:43] meter radius of 321st Street by mailing
[34:46] notices the week of July 27th.
[34:49] The club has requested a person capacity
[34:51] of 40 people for the licensed area and
[34:54] this is well within the clubhouse's
[34:56] maximum occupant load of 93 people.
[35:00] The city has not received any comments
[35:02] from the public about this application
[35:05] and council's liquor and cannabis
[35:07] licensing policy outlines the areas that
[35:09] the city can comment on uh regarding a
[35:11] liquor primary license application. The
[35:14] recommendation in the report was
[35:16] designed to support council in
[35:17] developing comments for the submission
[35:19] to the LCB. However, it does not need to
[35:22] be in the form uh presented and at
[35:25] council's discretion, it could be made
[35:27] much more succinct. Thank you.
[35:31] >> Excellent. Thank you. Are there any
[35:33] questions right now?
[35:35] The council consider the location,
[35:37] person capacity, and proposed hours of
[35:39] the liquor service at the couch and lawn
[35:40] bowling club at 321st Street. The
[35:43] council offer the following comments on
[35:45] the impact to the community, including
[35:46] general impacts and noise impacts.
[35:49] If the application is approved, the
[35:52] council offer the following comments on
[35:53] the views of the residents. the council
[35:56] either recommend or not recommend the
[35:58] liquor primary license be approved
[36:02] for
[36:03] that's an interesting motion
[36:07] for the following reasons.
[36:11] So there would have to be someone to put
[36:13] forward um one to three and then four
[36:16] either a motion to approve or a motion
[36:18] to not approve.
[36:22] Councelor Newington, please go ahead.
[36:25] the the Thank you. The only um comment
[36:28] that I have is what did you say the
[36:30] hours were again?
[36:33] >> Uh 3M to 9:00 p.m.
[36:35] >> That's that's what I thought. So the
[36:37] park itself closes at 8 though, right?
[36:46] » No, I think it closes at 8, doesn't it?
[36:48] Yeah. So, if it closes at 8, how are the
[36:51] people that are um at the clubhouse
[36:54] going to get it out of the park if it
[36:56] closes at 8? That's my only observation
[37:00] when I read this.
[37:03] >> Well, I know, but let's face it, they it
[37:07] happens,
[37:09] right?
[37:10] We don't have
[37:14] um anyway, that would be my question to
[37:17] them.
[37:19] I think that's something that we could
[37:21] bring to the attention of the lawn
[37:22] bowling club and also could be included
[37:24] in the comments to the LCRB. Um, in
[37:27] terms of uh that's the 9 p.m. is what
[37:29] they have requested. Um, so this is
[37:31] something that could be included in the comments back to the LCRB.
[37:36] >> Anything else anyone would like to add?
[37:40] >> Mr. Versai,
[37:42] >> I would just say that as it stands, the Lumboly may often have events that
[37:47] are after the park hours and would be
[37:49] quite used to having to park outside the
[37:51] gate for for evenings where they have an
[37:53] event that goes past past the park hours
[37:55] because we don't we don't leave it open
[37:57] just for them. So, they're they're quite
[37:58] accustomed to knowing when when the
[38:01] gates are closing or they should.
[38:05] I realize that, but this is an event an
[38:08] event like once a month or once every couple of
[38:12] weeks is different than um four nights a
[38:15] week, right? To the to the people that
[38:19] are in the community. I I'm not
[38:20] objecting to this. I just think that the
[38:22] hours need to be um adjusted slightly.
[38:26] maybe start a tad earlier and finish by
[38:28] 8 o'clock
[38:33] or just there could also be something to
[38:35] the Lawn Bowling Club just as a reminder
[38:37] that the the park is closed and that
[38:39] they deal with that and if someone gets
[38:41] locked in it's at their expense to get
[38:43] them out
[38:45] just like we do down here. People get
[38:47] towed. I almost got towed the other day.
[38:50] I was like 10 minutes away from being
[38:52] towed.
[38:53] But that's a but that would be feedback
[38:55] not to the liquor board necessarily.
[38:56] That would just be feedback I would
[38:58] imagine through staff. So anyone else on
[39:01] does anyone have any comments that they
[39:03] would like to offer additionally at this
[39:05] time? Councelor Bruce go ahead.
[39:07] >> Well I I guess the third part that
[39:10] council offer following comments on the
[39:13] views of the residents and Jessica you
[39:16] were saying that at this point we have
[39:18] no objections. Is that is that correct?
[39:21] >> Uh that's correct. We've received no
[39:23] feedback either way on this.
[39:24] >> So, we could put that in there, I guess,
[39:26] and in that line, I suppose.
[39:33] » So, adding no comments received
[39:40] » and the comments that council had would
[39:42] be to staff, not to the the LCV. Okay.
[39:46] All right. Anyone else?
[39:51] Okay. And so then it would be that
[39:55] council uh a motion to approve.
[40:00] Correct. Okay.
[40:03] So I I won't read the motion out again.
[40:05] Um other than to add that the motion is
[40:09] to be approved
[40:11] uh and that there's no comments on 3 A
[40:15] or 3B, but no on 3A. we've actually or sorry 2 A or 3A but on 3A we've just
[40:22] acknowledged that there's no comments in
[40:24] the feedback to the other control board.
[40:26] Okay. So all those in favor
[40:30] motion carries. Thank you. Thank you
[40:33] very much for your work on that. I don't
[40:35] I was trying to remember the last time
[40:37] we had an application. I feel like it
[40:38] was the wine bar
[40:41] >> street.
[40:43] >> Oh yeah, that's right too. But that one
[40:45] already existed though. It was just an
[40:47] expansion.
[40:48] >> So, I think that yeah, it's been a long
[40:50] time. We don't get a lot of these.
[40:53] Okay. So, thank you for that. Uh we'll
[40:57] move on to the wildfire deployment gear
[40:58] and equipment. Um Chief Spriggs,
[41:01] welcome.
[41:04] » Thank you, Mayor Staples.
[41:07] As you're probably well aware, we're
[41:08] finding ourselves in a pretty
[41:10] exceptional wildfire season this year.
[41:14] Since uh July 26, we've been asked to
[41:16] deploy with wildfire service to um the
[41:20] Clinton area for the big barf fire. Um
[41:24] we're now in our third rotation of
[41:27] deployment to that. Uh the membership
[41:31] has asked me to come forward with a
[41:32] request essentially to uh use a portion
[41:36] of the profit that should be coming from
[41:38] this deployment as a reinvestment into
[41:41] the items listed for uh the continuation
[41:45] of this deployment. And we're
[41:47] anticipating with the El Nino year this
[41:49] year and anticipated next year that the
[41:52] requests will continue um which will
[41:55] keep bringing the profit back to the uh
[41:58] the organization.
[42:00] Um and with this like I said we've been
[42:05] anticipating that we might get called.
[42:08] So, we've done a lot of training this
[42:09] year in making sure all of our equipment
[42:12] and personnel are meeting the standards
[42:14] that BC Wildfire has been setting and
[42:17] they keep uh increasing the requirements
[42:20] and being very detailed in the scrutiny
[42:23] that they are looking at things like the
[42:25] equipment listed for uh coveralls as an
[42:29] example to meet certain safety
[42:31] standards. So, we have a limited amount
[42:34] of that uh equipment currently in the
[42:37] hall and this reinvestment would help us
[42:39] continue with this activity. So, with
[42:41] that, I'd like to invite any questions.
[42:46] >> Thank you. Are there any questions from
[42:47] council? I see councelor Duncan and then
[42:49] councelor Bruce.
[42:51] >> Great. Thank you, your worship. Uh so
[42:53] that this will be enough equipment for
[42:55] every firefighter or do you anticipate
[42:57] that we would only send like say five or six each time or
[43:03] >> um with the deployments? So the the goal
[43:07] is to have every firefighter trained and
[43:09] able to deploy. The deployments are
[43:12] somewhat dependent on uh personal
[43:14] schedules um and whether there's people
[43:16] actually available to respond. The um
[43:21] start of the season, as an example, had
[43:23] only two or three people interested in
[43:25] the deployment. We're up to 14 or 15.
[43:28] So, it continues to increase as the
[43:31] stories come back and as the activities
[43:34] are really necessary in the province.
[43:36] People are seeing the need and wanting
[43:38] to fulfill that.
[43:42] » Councelor Duncan or sorry, Councelor
[43:44] Bruce.
[43:46] >> Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Thank you
[43:49] for what you're doing with the with the
[43:51] whole department. Thank you very much.
[43:53] Sounds like good news in there as far as
[43:56] the way everybody's thinking about the
[43:57] department and the camaraderie and
[44:00] sounds to me like things are in a a
[44:03] healthy state and and I was just
[44:05] wondering with the $22,000
[44:08] have you got other than other than uh
[44:12] what do you call it? Uh overhauls or
[44:15] what do you call it? Other than that,
[44:18] coveralls. I mean, have you got one
[44:21] specific piece of equipment that you
[44:22] think needs to be purchased to to help
[44:25] these people when they're in the
[44:27] wildfire scene?
[44:30] >> Um the so the list that you have in the
[44:33] report is um it's the uh requests from
[44:38] the people who are actually doing this
[44:40] in the field right now. So this is the
[44:41] primary items that really uh actually to
[44:45] be fair they have many requests they'd
[44:47] like to buy a whole bunch of things but
[44:49] what we've done in the report is to try
[44:51] and focus it on things that relate to
[44:54] the wildfire activity specifically and
[44:56] the things that will assist them
[44:57] specifically um as you might see there's
[45:00] things like tents and cs and uh the the
[45:03] creature comforts of camp which uh as of
[45:06] the lightning storm that came through
[45:08] over the weekend camp is now a mud pit
[45:11] So there's a there's not very nice
[45:13] conditions that they're working in uh
[45:15] and having to live in. So the focus is
[45:18] um personal protective equipment. It's
[45:20] the wildland specific clothing. Uh it's
[45:24] having changes of clothes so that they
[45:26] can survive in those camp environments.
[45:30] Um that's the the focus of what the
[45:32] request is here.
[45:36] » You councelor Newington.
[45:39] Thank you very much for this. Now, um
[45:43] CBC had a a whole thing about
[45:45] firefighters and and that sort of um do
[45:49] our lads get training before they go?
[45:52] >> Yes. Specific. So, there's something
[45:55] called the inter agency agreement
[45:56] between the BC Wildfire Service and the
[45:59] Association of Fire Chiefs of BC. It
[46:02] outlines training standards from first
[46:04] aid requirements to the levels of uh
[46:08] wildland firefighting certificates that
[46:10] are needed to deploy. So the training
[46:13] that we've been doing this spring was to
[46:16] get that certification across the entire
[46:18] department. Um, also because if a
[46:22] wildfire was to occur here and we were
[46:25] to have the assistance of BC Wildfire
[46:26] Service here, we want to be working off
[46:29] the same page, same playbook as them.
[46:32] Uh, and then we're trying to create some
[46:35] depth in the next levels. Uh, there's
[46:37] something called an engine boss, sort of
[46:38] a leader of the crew. Uh, we only
[46:41] currently have four people trained at
[46:43] that level. So, we'd like to in future
[46:45] invest in that, but that's for our
[46:47] future planning, not related to this
[46:49] particular report.
[46:52] >> Anyone else?
[46:55] No. Okay. Uh, and just I'll do the
[47:00] motion first and then I just would like
[47:01] to just um
[47:04] just say something. Uh, that the fire
[47:07] department be authorized to purchase
[47:08] wildfire gear and equipment up to a
[47:10] maximum of $22,040.
[47:12] very specific to be funded from net
[47:14] revenues from the 2026 BC Wildfire
[47:17] Services deployment and that staff be
[47:19] directed to draft a financial amendment
[47:20] to include $22,40 for wildlife
[47:23] deployment gear and equipment. So mover
[47:25] and a second all those in favor motion
[47:28] carries. Thank you. And and just also I did see um so two things. One, thank
[47:36] you to um the department for supporting
[47:40] everyone to do this training and also
[47:42] for deploying supporting the deployment
[47:44] of people. There's is it four people
[47:48] that have been deployed or is it is it
[47:49] four at a time?
[47:51] >> There's uh one of our vehicles with a
[47:54] threeperson crew um and now on the third
[47:58] rotation. So, um it's it's a little bit
[48:01] complicated because we've had to move
[48:03] people not exactly with that 14-day
[48:05] schedule, but essentially nine
[48:08] firefighters and we've shared one to the
[48:10] Malahhat. So, 10 firefighters have
[48:13] deployed to this point um with a
[48:16] expectation that there's likely a next
[48:18] deployment as well. So, another three
[48:20] would go.
[48:21] >> Okay. Thank you. And thank thanks
[48:25] extended thanks to them and to everyone
[48:28] that also stays behind to you know fill
[48:31] in the back back fill while people are
[48:33] away too. And with that uh I did see you
[48:36] on Saturday. Um I think you were on
[48:40] about I don't even know how many hours
[48:41] when when I saw you and thanks to the
[48:44] department and and to our neighboring
[48:46] departments as well for all the work
[48:48] that you did. um that could not have
[48:50] been an easy situation on so many levels
[48:53] and just know that we're extremely
[48:55] grateful for the work that you do. And
[48:57] um when I went up to uh when I was up
[49:01] there, one of the things that I saw was
[49:04] just you know there's a lot of talk
[49:06] about um how no one works together and
[49:11] you know in different jurisdictions and
[49:13] we've just given two examples of how
[49:15] well we do work together you know one
[49:17] being um sending people out to
[49:19] deployment for fires also working with
[49:22] other fire departments on that on
[49:25] training Um, but also when it comes to
[49:28] um when it comes to to fires or
[49:31] situations, there was the CVRD was
[49:33] there, there was people from Couch and
[49:34] Tribes there, North Couch and Fire
[49:36] Department was there, Cow Bay Fire
[49:38] Department, um, and the school district
[49:41] and local businesses. And the list just
[49:44] goes on and on of the people who
[49:45] actually were in that room supporting
[49:48] everyone there. And it was just, you
[49:52] know, it's remarkable to see everyone in in that space and and
[49:58] how well oiled that whole system is with
[50:01] emergency response with the regional
[50:03] district. Um, but also just again the
[50:06] appreciation to all of you for the work
[50:08] that you do because it's not it's not
[50:10] easy and I there's been, you know, we've
[50:13] had two major fires in a month. I
[50:16] believe it is just just over a month and
[50:18] that's a lot on people. And so just know
[50:22] that we recognize that and um and I know
[50:25] that you make sure that everyone takes
[50:26] good care of themselves and that the
[50:28] community is here to support you in the
[50:30] ways that we can as well. So thank you
[50:34] councelor Bruce.
[50:36] >> Thank you mayor. I I was just wondering
[50:39] what what kind of how big is the income
[50:43] coming back
[50:45] with the firefighters from their job?
[50:49] Uh
[50:50] So, if I if I may, first I thank you for
[50:54] the comments. I'd like to take that um
[50:56] support and share that back with the
[50:58] fire department. Um and I also would
[51:00] echo the support across the region uh
[51:05] from our other partners like you've
[51:08] mentioned the emergency management couch
[51:09] and the RCMP BC ambulance service was
[51:13] working extremely hard at that
[51:14] particular incident. Um all our partner
[51:17] fire agencies um the there was a lot of
[51:21] hard work going into that and very much
[51:23] appreciated and did feel like we're
[51:26] really working as a team in the
[51:28] community. So, if I may [clears throat]
[51:31] specifically back to your question, if
[51:32] you're uh referring to from the wildfire
[51:36] deployment to the end of the current
[51:39] rotation, the profit expected is around
[51:42] 92,000.
[51:43] Um and it will depend on the total
[51:47] length of the deployment. So that's
[51:49] where we're anticipating presently. Uh
[51:52] but if we get extended, of course, that
[51:53] grows.
[51:55] You're welcome.
[51:57] All right. Thank you again and uh
[52:01] have a good night.
[52:04] We'll move on to permissive tax
[52:06] exemption. And we have a few people who
[52:09] need to get out of here. Can you please
[52:10] state on your mics why you need to
[52:11] leave?
[52:13] Um, I work for the hospital auxiliary
[52:16] thrift store as a assistant manager.
[52:20] >> I volunteer at the hospital auxiliary
[52:23] foot store as someone on sales.
[52:33] We don't need to got to make sure we
[52:35] keep quum.
[52:48] All right. So that council direct staff
[52:51] to draft a permissive tax exemption
[52:54] bylaw for the 2027 and 2028 tax years to
[52:57] include a two-year tax exemption for the
[52:59] couch and district hospital auxiliary
[53:01] for 56% of the property at 138 Craig
[53:04] Street as detailed in the August 24th
[53:07] report of the director of finance or the
[53:09] council deny the permissive except tax
[53:12] exemption application from the couch and
[53:15] district hospital auxiliary.
[53:17] So, do we have a mover for either of
[53:19] those motions? Councelor Caps.
[53:22] >> Uh, yeah. I would move approval of the
[53:24] exemption.
[53:25] >> Is there a seconder for that? Councelor
[53:28] Mumis, any discussion on that? Councilor
[53:31] Bruce.
[53:33] >> Yeah. I I'm just wondering if we're
[53:35] going I mean, I agree with it, too, but
[53:38] I'm just wondering if we're going down
[53:41] the rabbit trail of businesses of
[53:44] certain
[53:46] I know Imagine speaking against the
[53:48] hospital auxiliary. But nevertheless, it
[53:52] is a business uh that store is and it's
[53:55] a very successful business. they bought
[53:57] the property and um I'm just wondering
[54:01] if we as a community should be giving
[54:04] tax exemptions
[54:06] uh to that particular
[54:09] uh business and whether that would um
[54:13] bring other like-minded businesses
[54:16] looking for tax uh relief as well if
[54:20] they were parti partially sponsoring
[54:23] something or I'm just I'm just concerned
[54:26] that We're opening a door that maybe we shouldn't, as much as I hate to
[54:32] talk against the hospital auxiliary for
[54:35] crying out loud, but um should we be
[54:39] giving tax exemptions to uh an actual
[54:43] retail store in the city core is kind of
[54:49] my question.
[54:52] >> So, is there someone from staff who
[54:53] would like to speak to this? I'm happy
[54:55] to, but if there's I'm assuming it would
[54:58] be Miss Crossman or Mr. Dverai.
[55:02] It's
[55:04] I could only note that u last year
[55:06] council did not approve it. I think
[55:08] there was was some concern around um
[55:12] other thrift stores. So
[55:16] >> uh so the hospital auxiliary raises
[55:18] funds to contribute to the um care of
[55:20] patients at the couch and district
[55:22] hospital, residents of Karensmore Place
[55:23] and Hospice House and residents of the
[55:26] Couch and Valley. So it is an an active
[55:29] um it gives it the money that it makes
[55:32] it gives back to the community.
[55:35] So
[55:37] go ahead council Bruce.
[55:38] >> Thank you. I I I totally agree with you,
[55:40] but um so does the um um the the the
[55:45] other business on um Kenneth Street. I
[55:50] used to work there. What's it called? Um
[55:55] Sassy Lion. and um they're making
[56:00] contributions all through the community
[56:03] for various various activities, parks
[56:05] and and uh everything the Lions Club's
[56:09] involved with. So, um I mean I'm not
[56:11] sure where all the other the other uh uh
[56:15] stores, the thrift stores and so on u
[56:18] send all their money, but that is
[56:20] exactly my point. Should we be opening
[56:22] this up for all of those other ones to
[56:26] make application? And I know darn well
[56:29] this is very very wellreceived and so is the Sassy Lion. They do they do a
[56:34] great job as well. And um I think the
[56:37] Sassy Lion has one paid employee and I I
[56:42] don't know that the the hats has even
[56:46] one I don't think they have one paid
[56:49] employee, but nevertheless, I was just
[56:51] concerned about opening up that that uh
[56:55] that whole field. Uh and they're doing
[56:58] good work in the community for sure, but
[57:00] I just don't want to get something going
[57:02] here that we and that's why we shut it
[57:04] down. We did not approve this last year
[57:08] and and I would I would agree with what
[57:10] we came our conclusion last year. I
[57:14] would I would uh think that that should
[57:16] be the same thing that we come to this
[57:18] year. Thank you.
[57:21] >> Okay. Thank you. Any other comments or
[57:23] questions? Councelor Caps, go ahead.
[57:25] Yeah, just to I definitely understand
[57:27] the spirit of what you're saying and for
[57:28] full transparency, I was not at the
[57:30] meeting earlier today, so I'm not sure
[57:32] um which applications from other
[57:34] applicants were approved or denied for
[57:36] this round. Um but I I just think like I agree and I don't really see a
[57:42] situation in which we would start
[57:44] approving applications for forprofit
[57:47] retail spaces. You know, this is so so
[57:52] clearly quite different to that. And
[57:54] again, I I I see that you you do you you
[57:57] know, there's there's an understanding
[57:58] of that. I think that it's a very
[58:00] different thing and we're not seeing
[58:02] some influx of for-profit businesses
[58:04] applying for this. And if we did, that
[58:05] wouldn't be uh a fit under our, you
[58:09] know, general guidelines of this sort of
[58:10] thing anyway. So, I think I I obviously
[58:13] I moved it. Obviously, I I agree with
[58:15] it. I think this is a reasonable
[58:17] proposition. Um Yeah. Thank you.
[58:21] >> Go ahead.
[58:24] The motion was for how much? Like 100%,
[58:28] 75, 56%.
[58:31] It was Is it 56%? Yeah, it's the
[58:35] property is 56%.
[58:38] >> Right. So, um the request was made by
[58:41] the applicant to exempt 100% of the
[58:46] portion of the area that they occupy.
[58:48] They do have other areas of the building
[58:51] that they rent out and they're not
[58:52] asking for an exemption on those areas.
[58:55] So the the portion of the building that
[58:58] they occupy themselves comes to
[59:02] uh is it 56% that I wrote on here?
[59:04] >> 56%. So it's basically 100% exemption of
[59:09] the area that they use for their
[59:12] services.
[59:15] But the question was, what was the
[59:18] motion? Was 56% or was it
[59:22] 100%. I didn't didn't hear that. I just
[59:25] heard the 56% of the land, but I never
[59:28] heard a percentage of exemptions.
[59:31] >> Sorry. No, the I think Miss Crossman is
[59:33] referring to the recommendation that was
[59:35] on the um cover there of the agenda. And
[59:39] I will admit that I don't I didn't hear
[59:41] the the exact wording of recommendation
[59:43] myself. So or sorry of the resolution
[59:46] that was proposed by councelor Caps.
[59:48] Were you suggesting that it should be
[59:49] the 56%.
[59:53] » I if I may I believe um councelor
[59:56] McKinley is speaking to is it 100%
[59:58] exemption on that 56% of the property?
[1:00:01] Is that correct? that. So that's what I
[1:00:03] took from that um first suggested
[1:00:06] recommendation and so that was what I moved 100% of that 56% which they
[1:00:11] occupy and use for that purpose.
[1:00:16] Okay. Anyone else? All those in favor?
[1:00:20] Any opposed? Councelor Bruce opposed.
[1:00:22] Motion carries. We'll just take a moment
[1:00:24] and um invite them back in.
[1:00:40] Welcome.
[1:00:43] Just give them a minute to get settled
[1:00:44] back in.
[1:01:07] All right, go ahead. Welcome. Uh, thank
[1:01:10] you. Good evening, Mayor and Council.
[1:01:12] Uh, I'm here tonight to present a zoning
[1:01:15] amendment uh, application for 521 Canada
[1:01:19] Avenue.
[1:01:23] Do I have to tell you, Jessica? Okay. Uh
[1:01:26] so the purpose of the application is a
[1:01:29] proposed sightsp specific amendment to
[1:01:31] the zoning bylaw at 521 Canada Avenue to
[1:01:35] allow for the ongoing operation of the
[1:01:37] current cannabis retail store. Uh
[1:01:40] currently cannabis retail stores are
[1:01:42] prohibited in all zones of the zoning
[1:01:44] bylaw unless permitted through a
[1:01:46] temporary use permit or a sight specific
[1:01:48] amendment. The zoning amendment would
[1:01:51] allow uh for cannibal sorry the zoning
[1:01:54] amendment to allow for cannabis retail
[1:01:57] store is limited to this property only.
[1:02:00] Uh the existing cannabis retail store is
[1:02:03] operated continuously at this location
[1:02:05] for 6 years uh authorized by two
[1:02:08] consecutive temporary use permits. Uh
[1:02:11] there's been no increased enforcement
[1:02:13] calls related to the existing store.
[1:02:16] cannabis retail stores regulated by the
[1:02:18] liquor and cannabis regulation branch.
[1:02:21] Uh this change would allow the business
[1:02:22] to continue operating without needing to
[1:02:25] apply for a new temporary use permit or
[1:02:28] a renewal every 3 years.
[1:02:34] Uh this is the subject property
[1:02:38] and a couple of site photos. So, the
[1:02:41] storefront and then just the storefront
[1:02:44] in the context of the existing building
[1:02:46] in our downtown.
[1:02:48] And these are the options before council
[1:02:52] this evening. Uh so to give three
[1:02:54] readings to and adopt the zoning
[1:02:56] amendment bylaw. Council could refuse
[1:02:59] it. Uh or amend and then give three
[1:03:02] readings to and adopt the amended bylaw.
[1:03:07] » Council Duncan
[1:03:09] >> and sorry. Oh, not quite done.
[1:03:11] >> Oh, okay. Sorry. And
[1:03:13] >> this is the staff recommendation uh that
[1:03:15] council give first three readings to and
[1:03:18] adopt zoning bylaw amendment bylaw
[1:03:20] number 3166.13
[1:03:22] 2026, a bylaw to establish and permit
[1:03:25] the sight specific use of cannabis
[1:03:27] retail store at 521 Canada Avenue.
[1:03:31] Thank you.
[1:03:32] >> Thank you, Councelor Duncan.
[1:03:35] >> I was just going to move uh the
[1:03:36] resolution to grant I see a number of
[1:03:40] hands going up for seconders. Is there
[1:03:42] any discussion or questions right now?
[1:03:45] Seeing none, all those in favor? Motion
[1:03:48] carries. Thank you very much.
[1:03:56] And we'll move on to Miss Hajins for the
[1:03:58] fees and charges amendment bylaw. Thanks
[1:03:59] for coming out.
[1:04:21] Okay. Uh thank you, Mayor Staples. Um
[1:04:23] this bylaw is uh council saw it
[1:04:25] previously. It's coming back uh for
[1:04:27] adoption. Fees and charges amendment
[1:04:29] bylaw. Um, one of the primary changes
[1:04:31] within it is to um, adjust the fire
[1:04:34] hydrant flow testing report fees uh, so
[1:04:36] that the fees that we charge covers the
[1:04:38] cost of staff doing the work. Um, and
[1:04:40] there are some other uh, small
[1:04:42] corrections in there as well that have
[1:04:43] been included in the bylaw. Thank you.
[1:04:48] All right. Are there any questions?
[1:04:50] Uh, that council adopt fees and charges
[1:04:52] bylaw amendment number 3212 decimal 13
[1:04:56] 2026. Mover and a seconder. Any
[1:04:59] discussion? All those in favor? Motion
[1:05:01] carries. Thank you very much. That was
[1:05:03] so quick. Uh 9.2 financial plan
[1:05:06] amendment bylaw, Miss Crossman, that we
[1:05:09] adopt the financial uh plan amendment
[1:05:11] bylaw number 326201.
[1:05:16] Uh is there anything you'd like to say?
[1:05:20] Only that I should have waited a little
[1:05:21] bit longer because now we have a fire
[1:05:23] department amendment to bring back to
[1:05:25] you to a future meeting. But this one
[1:05:28] has come to council at the last meeting
[1:05:30] for three readings and is here for
[1:05:33] adoption. And uh there's nothing on here
[1:05:36] that affects taxes.
[1:05:38] Um so council has already seen all these
[1:05:41] items previously.
[1:05:45] Thank you very much. Uh so uh mover and
[1:05:48] a second there for that. Any discussion?
[1:05:50] All those in favor? Motion carries.
[1:05:52] Thank you. A proclamation that council
[1:05:55] proclaim September 20th to 26 as
[1:05:57] national forest week in the city of
[1:05:59] Duncan for our growing urban forest. A
[1:06:02] mover and a seconder. All those in
[1:06:05] favor? Motion carries. Are there reports
[1:06:07] from counselors this evening? Any
[1:06:10] councilors that would like to make I see
[1:06:11] councelor Newington, councelor Duncan.
[1:06:13] Anyone else? Going once, going twice.
[1:06:17] All right, the two of you are up. Do you
[1:06:19] want to draw straws to see who wants to
[1:06:21] go first?
[1:06:22] I pushed the button first. There we go.
[1:06:24] >> Over to you.
[1:06:27] >> Okay. I attended the board meeting um at
[1:06:30] the couch and independent living and um
[1:06:33] they're really coming along well after
[1:06:36] their um problems that they had earlier
[1:06:38] on or two years ago and they've managed
[1:06:41] to recover from that. And um the
[1:06:45] executive director Michelle Barrett is
[1:06:48] really doing a grand job and working
[1:06:50] hard at um getting grants and helping
[1:06:54] them fund what their programs that they
[1:06:56] have there. Um I attended the river
[1:07:00] cleanup startup. Unfortunately, my knee
[1:07:02] is in the shape that I cannot go up and
[1:07:05] down the banks anymore um until I get it
[1:07:08] fixed. But um it was nice to see a lot
[1:07:11] of the diversity of people. There were
[1:07:14] people my age who I was informed just
[1:07:17] recently that I was elderly. I don't
[1:07:19] understand that part but anyway um and
[1:07:23] uh a lot of young people and so that was
[1:07:26] really good to see another generation
[1:07:28] coming along um interested in the satlo
[1:07:33] and on two occasions one just after our
[1:07:37] committee of the whole meeting and one
[1:07:39] on Saturday
[1:07:41] I came across people kind of looking
[1:07:43] around town like this and I went up to
[1:07:46] them and said are you from out of town?
[1:07:48] Yes. And so, um, they both both groups
[1:07:51] of people, and councelor, uh, Duncan can
[1:07:54] attest to this, both groups of people
[1:07:56] were just blown away at how beautiful
[1:07:59] the city was looking. So, pass that on.
[1:08:03] Thank you,
[1:08:06] » Councelor Duncan. Thank you, Councelor
[1:08:08] Nton.
[1:08:09] >> Thank you. your worship. I attended uh
[1:08:11] with some other staff members uh the
[1:08:13] lawn bowling uh I guess it would be the
[1:08:16] rematch perhaps. Uh and also uh I guess
[1:08:19] to show us that really it's not the same
[1:08:22] as curling. They're not yelling sweep sweep when you throw the ball.
[1:08:26] It's pretty quiet. So I don't anticipate
[1:08:28] that we're going to have any problems
[1:08:29] with the liquor license if it's granted.
[1:08:32] Uh I also attended the Burma Star
[1:08:35] ceremony. Uh that is the ceremony that
[1:08:38] actually celebrates uh Charles Hoey. Uh
[1:08:40] he was uh uh killed uh in action uh
[1:08:44] while he was uh taking out a machine gun
[1:08:46] nest and that's the reason we have the
[1:08:49] Charles Hoey Park. So it was great to
[1:08:51] see we had some of the Sheamanus group
[1:08:54] down and some from uh Duncan still. So
[1:08:58] and again also there was a report from
[1:09:00] Dave saying that he's really pleased to
[1:09:03] get Senate uh fixed up.
[1:09:06] Thank you.
[1:09:08] Uh so I was at the lawn bowling also and
[1:09:11] I have to just uh commend councelor
[1:09:13] Bruce on his exceptional uh last and
[1:09:16] final throw at the lawn bowling and he
[1:09:20] beat us all. It was it was great and
[1:09:23] they've done a lot of work. It looked
[1:09:24] really good. I mean it looked good last
[1:09:26] year but they've definitely done a lot
[1:09:27] of extra work. So it was great. And it's
[1:09:29] nice for us to be able to do those types
[1:09:31] of things. Um, which we don't get to do
[1:09:34] terribly often together. So, I
[1:09:35] appreciate that. And I was also at the
[1:09:38] river cleanup. Um, I saw Council
[1:09:40] Newington there. And yeah, many people
[1:09:42] were there and they everyone said for
[1:09:45] the day after that that crazy lightning
[1:09:47] storm that we had where a lot of people
[1:09:49] did not get a lot of sleep, um, they
[1:09:51] were really pleased with the turnout
[1:09:54] uh, of of people being there. And I
[1:09:56] don't even know how many years it's been
[1:09:57] going on. 16 years now
[1:10:01] and so yeah and good to see a new
[1:10:03] generation coming up and taking the
[1:10:05] reigns and um speaking. They did an
[1:10:07] excellent job. Uh also went to the some
[1:10:11] of the 39 days of July as some of the
[1:10:15] final kind of nights that were there and
[1:10:17] I did get to see the song that was
[1:10:18] created for them. Uh I was at the Zumba
[1:10:21] class on the Saturday and they did they
[1:10:23] made a song for Long John and the 39
[1:10:25] days and it was it was very emotional.
[1:10:28] It was really lovely and uh yeah it was
[1:10:32] incredibly wonderful and also at the I
[1:10:36] think it was the art in the avenue as
[1:10:38] well that happened around that time.
[1:10:40] There seems to be just a lot of things
[1:10:42] happening uh all all together. And I've
[1:10:45] been to the market a number of times and
[1:10:46] it has been busy here on on the weekends
[1:10:48] and even during the week. Um I'm
[1:10:50] downtown a lot and there's been a lot of
[1:10:52] people and a lot of people Yeah. from
[1:10:53] other places and so many people
[1:10:56] commenting on uh on how much they love
[1:10:58] the city. Uh also it was amazing to have
[1:11:04] uh Mark Lakeman stop by. So for most of
[1:11:08] our council will remember Mark and staff
[1:11:10] that are here just before the pandemic.
[1:11:12] He came in and he did a a communitywide
[1:11:16] um like design shred, I guess we would
[1:11:18] call it. It's he he runs something
[1:11:20] called city repair. And who was all
[1:11:23] involved in that from here? Councelor
[1:11:25] Duncan, you would have been there. You
[1:11:27] were there, too. Councelor Caps, and you
[1:11:28] were there. And and so we we came
[1:11:31] together. There's about 60 of us and and
[1:11:34] uh people from all ages and
[1:11:35] demographics. And we created a design
[1:11:37] for the park downtown. And then and we
[1:11:40] also created a second design for
[1:11:41] Whistler Street area. And then the
[1:11:44] pandemic hit. And so um after years of
[1:11:48] staff repeatedly applying for funding,
[1:11:50] we got funding. The park is open. And it
[1:11:52] was his very first time uh in Duncan
[1:11:55] since then. And so he I found out very
[1:11:59] last minute that he was coming through.
[1:12:01] and uh and he he didn't he was un he was
[1:12:05] supposed to come before but he had a
[1:12:07] drill in his car and he couldn't get
[1:12:09] across the border. So he wasn't sure if
[1:12:12] he would get across this time but he did
[1:12:14] and I I met him sitting in the park.
[1:12:17] He'd been there for about two hours just
[1:12:18] watching people move in the space
[1:12:20] because all his whole work is about how
[1:12:22] people um how people interact with the
[1:12:25] space around them and he absolutely
[1:12:27] loves the the interaction and the way
[1:12:30] that that park ended up being designed,
[1:12:32] but it's a good reminder that that was a
[1:12:34] that was something that we built
[1:12:35] together that has now, you know, not
[1:12:37] every single thing that everyone wanted
[1:12:38] made it into the final design and of
[1:12:41] course funding and lack of funding and
[1:12:43] increasing costs, they narrowed that
[1:12:45] some of the things down, but there's
[1:12:47] opportunities to build on it. Uh, but he
[1:12:50] was so proud of proud of um of seeing
[1:12:52] that and just of the work that the
[1:12:54] community did and that we were able to
[1:12:56] get that up. And then he also uh went we
[1:12:59] went to see the village as well. And so
[1:13:02] Mark uh was also part of doing the I
[1:13:06] think it was 27 years ago I want to say
[1:13:08] I could be wrong on that number so no
[1:13:10] quotes there but a long time ago. Um he
[1:13:13] was part of the uh first village
[1:13:15] projects that happened in Portland. And
[1:13:18] so prior to the pandemic as well, I did
[1:13:20] get to go down and visit some of the
[1:13:21] sites. And he did a number of
[1:13:23] presentations at the regional district
[1:13:24] over the years, letting people know um
[1:13:27] far long before we had the the crisis
[1:13:29] that we have now, the housing um house
[1:13:32] housing crisis and the homelessness
[1:13:34] crisis to talk about the things that
[1:13:36] they were doing in those early days of
[1:13:38] um creating villages for all sorts of
[1:13:40] different um types of people in in need.
[1:13:42] And so again, he was just just
[1:13:46] absolutely loved the site. Um he got to
[1:13:49] talk to people who work there and people
[1:13:51] who live there. And so it was just
[1:13:53] really nice to see sometimes your
[1:13:54] community, the things that you've
[1:13:56] accomplished in community that we've all
[1:13:58] accomplished together through someone
[1:14:00] else's eyes. Um and someone that was
[1:14:02] such an inspiration to the the things
[1:14:04] that um have actually happened. And so I
[1:14:07] just wanted to share that with everyone
[1:14:08] because he had nothing but amazing
[1:14:10] things to say. and uh posted it on
[1:14:13] social media and yeah it was it was
[1:14:16] great to be able to spend that time with
[1:14:17] him and uh and yeah share those things w
[1:14:21] with someone. So on that note we will
[1:14:25] move to
[1:14:28] I close the agenda council Duncan
[1:14:31] question period. Any questions?
[1:14:36] I still need it though because I've got
[1:14:37] to I've got to read it out. You're gonna
[1:14:40] have to read it out because I don't Oh,
[1:14:42] no. Yeah, you got to read it out. Go
[1:14:43] ahead.
[1:14:45] >> Uh 13.1 motion to close that the meeting
[1:14:48] be closed to the public under the
[1:14:49] following sections of the community
[1:14:51] charter to discuss matters related to
[1:14:54] employee relations. Section 90 bracket
[1:14:57] one bracket C labor relations or other
[1:15:00] employee relations.
[1:15:03] >> Excellent. So we'll take uh yeah we'll
[1:15:05] also moved all those in favor. Motion
[1:15:08] carries and we will take uh 10 minutes
[1:15:10] and come back to our little seats and go
[1:15:12] into close. Thank you.