Regular Board Meeting - Monday, October 21, 2024 — October 21, 2024 — Transcript
← Regular Board Meeting - Monday, October 21, 2024 October 21, 2024
Welcome back. We will now convene the regular park board meeting. May we have the roll call, please? Commissioner Bastiabansky is in the chair. Commissioner Christensen? Present. Commissioner Digby? Present. Commissioner Heyer? Not in the room or online. Commissioner Howard? Present. Commissioner Jensen? Present. Commissioner Beardy? Present. You have quorum, Chair Bastiabansky. Thank you. This meeting is taking place on the traditional ancestral unceded territories of the Musqueamamamam, Squamish and TTTTsleil-Waututh First Nations. We meet on this land respectfully and with knowledge that there must be a continued acknowledgement of the history of injustice towards Indigenous peoples. The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation is committed to supporting truth and reconciliation and to use this opportunity to amplify local First Nations voices and culture through our work in community. For our first order of business this evening, we need a motion for the board to go into meetings prior to the next regular board meeting, which are closed to the public. Is there a mover? I see Commissioner Jensen and the seconder, Commissioner Digby. I'm going to call a vote by a show of hands. All in favour?
Carries unanimously. Thank you very much.
Questions or comments on the minutes as distributed? No. Seeing none, we need a motion to approve the minutes. Is there a mover? Commissioner Jensen. Is there a seconder? Commissioner Digby. And I'll call vote by a show of hands. All in favour? Carries unanimously. Thank you.
Commissioner Digby has a point of order. What is your point of order, Commissioner? My point of order is a question of whether in view of the minutes that we just passed and the absence of current commissioners from the current table, are the missing commissioners away with leave tonight or are they simply not attending?
I see Commissioner Online. Yes, I see six commissioners at the table. I believe there's seven commissioners. I'll put the question to staff. Has any commissioners that are not here today applied for a leave of absence as is required?
There have been no leaves or requests for leaves of absence. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Next is approval of the... Did we just do that? No. Matters adopted on consent. Next one. Staff... We already did. We were on communications. Yeah, thank you. Actually...
One moment, Commissioner.
Hold on, I'll give you the... Commissioner Beardy has a point of order. Commissioner Beardy, what is your point of order? Is it customary to announce if someone's here or not? Is this political? I'm trying to understand what's going on here. Thank you for the question, Commissioner. So just as a matter of procedure, normally councillors and commissioners, if they're not going to attend, they would either request a leave of absence at the earlier meeting. That's not my question. My question is, is it procedure to have this announcement as we are doing now? Well, the commissioner had a point of order, which was a question to clarify whether or not a leave of absence had been requested. So my question is, is it procedure to announce this? Well, it wasn't an announcement. It was a question. It sounded like an announcement. I know, but there was a question mark at the end of the sentence, which made it a question. And so to answer your question... So it's political is what you're saying? Those are your words. What I'm trying to explain, Commissioner, is that if someone is unable to attend, they apply for leave of absence. If they're not able to do that, then they may perhaps request sick leave. Okay. So the protocol is to announce it afterwards, right? Is that what you're saying? Well, it's just that I think that we can take this offline. I don't really understand what your point of order is. Yeah, the question could have been offline as well. Well, no, I think the question was a fair one. A politically motivated one, yes. Anyway, okay, thank you for your point of order. Thank you. Does anybody else have any points of order? I saw a few people jumping. Okay, wonderful. Let's move on, shall we? All right. But we do have something where we can all agree on and get along, which is the staff report number one, proposed 2025 park board meeting schedule is an item that may be adopted on consent. So would commissioners like to adopt this item on consent? All right. Is there a mover? Yes. Looks like we've got Commissioner Jensen as the mover. Seconder?
Commissioner Verity? I'll now call a vote by a show of hands. All in favour? Adopting on consent. Carries unanimously. Wonderful.
Now for the fun part, the Chair's Report. This Chair's Report covers events attended by park work commissioners since the last meeting.
Whoa. Hang on a second. That's not the chair's report.
All right, here we go. Commissioner Digby attended the Stanley Park Ecological Society staff and board retreat on October 5th, which focused on steps towards reconciliation with First Nations. He also attended the Dunbar Community Centre Association meeting on October 9th. Commissioner Digby, very active in the community. As seen here again, Commissioner Digby attended the new Brighton Park Biodiversity Enhancement Volunteer Appreciation event on October 5th.
Pictured with organizer Nigel Peck, who has led over 110 invasive species removal expeditions at the park since 2022. They anticipate receiving over 1,100 climate-adapted plants and shrubs from the park board to continue their regenerative work. Wonderful. Did you get your hands dirty? No. No, you wore gloves. No? You ate. Right? Next, we have commissioners join members of the Vancouver Skateboard Coalition to celebrate the reopening of the historic China Creek South Park skate park. The upgraded skate park enhances rider experience by preserving and improving the existing Heritage Bowl features, while also providing additional seating opportunities for visitors. It was actually an amazing location. The community was incredibly happy about it, and they had a real vibe. So, music going. Yeah, they had barbecue. Yeah, it was, what was that? And the skaters were incredible. Yeah, they're fantastic, very talented.
Yay! All right, go ahead. Commissioners attended the launch of the Halloween Ghost Train in Stanley Park. The Ghost Train is operating from October 10 to October 31. Riders journey through the transformed wood featuring a haunted cemetery and engaging characters along with performances by the Mortal Coil Performance Society. You know what? I was a giant child in there, and I absolutely loved it. It was really wonderful. The actors and stuff, they did a great job. There was a jump scare in there. They like spiders.
Amazing. Commissioner Christensen attended the Canyon Lights event with baby Maddie, seen here dressed as an adorable raccoon.
I attended the Kitsilano Community Centre Association monthly meeting in my role as liaison.
Commissioner Jensen volunteered with the Union Gospel Mission, serving Thanksgiving lunch with Councillor Fry, Trustee Young and Patricia Wu.
And Commissioner Jensen and I attended the sustenance festival alongside the manager of decolonization arts and culture, park board staff, and city staff.
And then seen here, certain commissioners attended a board briefing on October 15th.
Wonderful. Thank you, commissioners, for all the time you spend in the community.
Does the clerk have any correspondence of note?
There are no items of note for the board agenda item this evening. Thank you. Thank you.
Our next item is the report of the Park Board Committee from earlier this evening. We need a motion to adopt the committee's recommendations. We have a mover, Mr. Jensen, and a seconder, Mr. Digby. We'll now call a vote by a show of hands. All in favour?
Commissioner Howard, yep, carries unanimously. Thank you.
We have one staff report this evening. Oh yeah, we did that. I will now ask the general manager report presented by General Manager Jackson.
Good evening, Commissioners, and thank you for the time this evening. On Monday, October 7th, the China Creek Skate Park Upgrades Project was completed and reopened for public use to the delight of local skateboarders and other small wheel users. Later in the week, Commissioners Basiovansky, Christensen, and Jensen were joined by numerous skaters of all ages to officially celebrate the completion of the improvements to this iconic facility. Built in 1979, China Creek Skate Park was one of the first skate parks to open in North America and quickly became synonymous with the rapid growth of skateboarding in Vancouver during the 80s and early 90s. In 2022, City Skate, the park board's 20-year roadmap for improving the city's skate amenities, identified the skate park as a priority for upgrades following nearly half a century of heavy use. The upgrades include preserving and enhancing the existing heritage bowl features, replacing dated asphalt with cast-in-place concrete, adding innovative features and detailing to complement the existing bowls, and thoughtful landscape integration. These improvements enhance rider experience, cater to a broader range of abilities, and better serve the city's growing and diverse skate and small wheel communities. And I extend my thanks to commissioners for attending that opening.
A few items on Council's agenda this week. Council will receive a report on October 22nd titled Villages Planning Program Scope of Work, which would approve the scope of work for the Villages Planning Program, including identifying opportunities for public space improvements and amenities. Also on October 22nd, a report titled Municipal Grants, Jurisdictional Review, and Arts, Culture, and Social Grant Program Refinement. will be presented, which directs staff to engage council in setting annual priorities for the social and cultural grants, as well as establishing a grant stream to respond to emerging priorities beyond those addressed as part of the ongoing grant program. And on October 23rd, a report titled Protecting and Enhancing Green Spaces for East and Chinatown and Hogan's Alley and Strathcona. Oh, sorry, a motion will be presented, which would direct staff to report back with recommendations of park designation of the city-owned sites, inclusive of 722 Gore, and adjoining right-of-way to Kiefer Street.
And finally, two memos were shared with the board since our last meeting.
On October 9th, the sport fields update memo was shared, and on October 11th, the venue-specific training sites for FIFA World Cup 26 Vancouver update was also shared, and those memos are available online. Thank you.
Wonderful, thank you GM Jackson. Are there any clarifying questions? I see Commissioner Digby. Yes, I did have a question for the general manager about the FIFA work being done at South Memorial Park. I've heard, to my surprise, a number of dead trees need to come down in order to make room, but a number of live trees also need to come down. Has this been carefully reviewed by the park board?
I'd be happy to take that question away, but I do trust that staff always put a very hard line on the decision around removing trees. So I do put a lot of faith in that staff that those trees are only being removed due to the site complexities and fee for requirements. But I'd be happy to get some more information and share that with the board via a memo or email. Okay. Will they be replanting additional trees as part? Is that a necessary part of this process? Can confirm again the sort of specifics around the agreement with FIFA but regardless of whether FIFA would replant them We would certainly look to replant them. All right. Thank you And just on that topic are there any other amenity upgrades happening to South Memorial You
So no additional amenity upgrades other than what's been confirmed via memos and reporting to the board. The most substantial upgrade is, of course, the field itself and lighting components, and the track would experience a resurfacing. Within the same park, is there anything associated with a playground or splash pad? There may be, but I would have to take that one away from and ask staff. I'm not familiar with every in and out of that one. Okay, thank you.
Commissioner Jensen has a question. Thank you. Just in line of the question brought forth by Commissioner Digby and Chair Baciowanski, are you aware of a petition that's been started by an individual in regards to the FIFA Memorial Park South activation? Yes, we are aware of some community concerns being raised as a result of the Memorial South training site. We are working collaboratively with the FIFA office in addressing those as best we can with the other amenities and parks nearby. In light of the statement of trees being removed that was a concern by the residents, would you be able to look at the petition and be able to just be fulsome in that memo back to the commissioners in regards to kind of the statements made by this petition that may or may not be articulated in our actual engagement?
If you're able to share the specific petition, we'd be happy to get staff to take a look at that and address if there's any misinformation contained in that. Thank you very much. Yeah, they have been on TKNW Mike Smith's show, and I think it's important that we engage to share our communication. Wonderful.
Thank you. Do any members have notices of motion?
Seeing none. Do any members have other business? Or do any members have inquiries?
Seeing none, there seems to be no further business. This meeting is now adjourned.