This week was our semi-annual (Biannual? Two times a year?) migration to Queensborough Community Centre for a Council meeting that crosses the gap. We had a fairly short Agenda that started (after a half dozen public delegations) with a Presentation:
təməsew̓txʷ Aquatic and Community Centre Project Close-Out Report
This report ends the Capital project phase of the construction of təməsew̓txʷ, the largest single capital project in the City’s history. The community centre has been open for two years now, but the capital project didn’t end at opening as there was significant fitting out, working with the project delivery team to button up deficiencies and training on operational details. It also allowed a full year of operational evaluation after the initial launch and buffer time when operations and public use patterns were being established. We now are into standard operations for the next 50+ years, so a good time to provide a full reporting out.
The big headline news is that the building was very close to being completed on time (a few months late due to extra time needed for geotechnical work one the excavation started), and actually came home slightly under budget (We budgeted $114M, spent just under $113M). These are remarkable feats considering the context of the procurement occurring during the early days of COVID, and construction occurring through challenging geotechnical conditions, a regional concrete strike, supply chain disruptions and massive construction inflation related to COVID and the realignment of global trade. There is also some significant comfort in knowing that waiting out COVID uncertainties and starting the project a year later would have near doubled project costs, as we are seeing in other similar-scaled recreation projects across the Lower Mainland right now.
The project has won numerous awards, provincially, nationally, and internationally, and though the global architecture prize got the most media, it is the dozens of awards for design, function, accessibility and environmental performance that are most exciting – the building is being noted regionally and across the country for how it delivers service, how the vision of a “community meeting place” worked out, how accessible the various functions of the building are, and how being the first Zero Carbon certified aquatic centre in Canada not only saves the City a tonne of operational money and reduces GHG emissions over the long term, but how this building helped develop the guidelines for Zero Carobn community centres across the country moving forward – New Westminster lifted the bar for environmental performance nationally with this building.
Meanwhile, the centre is serving three times the number of people as the combined facilities it replaced, with more than 1 million visits in the last year, and surveys of the visiting public are overwhelmingly positive. The operational capacity of the pools are much higher than the single pool they replaced, and community space more than double that of the Centennial Community Centre. Looking back at the feasibility of the pool that was developed in 2017, təməsew̓txʷ meets and exceeds every expectation. There were some challenges and learnings along the way, and the massive popularity of the facility means we are still dealing with some issues mostly related to unanticipated usage levels (partly related to Burnaby projects being delayed!) but “too many people” is the best problem to have when you open something new.
The following items were approved On Consent:
Application to Federation of Canadian Municipalities Green Municipal Fund: Urban Forestry Plans and Studies
We had a delegate come to speak about how they appreciated the investment the City is making in new trees and biodiversity, and I tend to agree, but want to note that we have been really successful at getting Federal Government grants for much of this work – well over $2 Million already. This is a report outlining an application we are making to Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ (FCM) Green Municipal Fund to support further work in this area.
Appointment of Interim Corporate Officer
The Corporate Officer is one of those jobs that has legislative responsibilities, and must be appointed by Council, there are some staff changes going on and we are appointing the Assistant Corporate Officer serve in an Interim role.
Community Advisory Assembly Updates and Recommendations on the Future Role of Libraries
This is a reporting back from the Community Advisory assembly on how the community views the roles of libraries in the present and future. After deliberating, they reported out to the Library Board, and are now reporting to Council.
This was an interesting discussion, as we all acknowledge Libraries are more than just book repositories, and serve a variety of functions in the community. However, the question for the Assembly is how the community (as opposed to the Library Staff, Board, or City) see that evolving role. This is especially timely as the Library is undergoing a Facilities Master Plan right now (see details and survey results here, and there has been increasing discussion of how to make new public spaces available in the Downtown along with realignment of the existing downtown community spaces, and a Downtown Library Branch is part of that discussion.
There are recommendations here worth reading if you are interested in Libraries! And who isn’t?
Issuance of Development Variance Permit for 430 Ninth Street
There is a 29-unit apartment building near Moody Park that is undergoing significant renovation from the envelope in. They propose to replace some redundant parking spaces with a couple more apartments, and as this would mean their parking is short of zoning requirements, they are willing to enter a Housing Agreement with the City to secure rental tenure for all 31 apartments. The requirement is for 19 spaces, and they will have 16 – variance of three parking spaces means 2 more homes, and secure housing for 31 families, which seems like a pretty good balance.
Retail Strategy Implementation: Active Streets Initiative – Bylaw for First, Second and Third Readings
There has been some work over the last year around The Dentist Issue. That’s a bit of a tongue-in-cheek reference to public concern that every new retail space is seeming to host a dentist office. There are a bunch of microeconomic reason for this, and cities always have to be cautious when wading into restricting specific business types, but recognizing that business supports business and vibrant streets mean a mix of business types that make streets interesting, and that there are lots of opportunities on second stories and above for medical and services, staff have put together some policies to encourage more active space use at grade in business areas. This is codified in the City through zoning bylaws, which can limit the types of activities that take place within retail spaces. It also allows business owners to apply for rezoning to allow a different use, but it definitely discourages dentists in every spot.
The following items were Removed from Consent for discussion:
Development Permit Area Guidelines Update: Official Community Plan Amendment Consultation Requirements
The City is working on some Development Permit Guidelines to include in our Official Community Plan after the updates we undertook to comply with Provincial Housing Legislation. When we update the OCP, we have a legislative requirement to consult with many organizations outside of the city. This report reviews the organizations that we plan to consult with to meet the requirements of the Local Government Act. This follows up on the previous reports we have had at Council on these guidelines.
Development Variance Permit for 800 Queens Avenue (Simcoe Elementary): Update Report (DVP00745)
We are working with the School District to get approvals in place for the as-yet-unnamed new school at Simcoe Park, required to meet the need for elementary school spaces in the Downtown and Brow of the Hill. A Development Variance Permit is required because the height and density of the new school exceeds the zoning for the site. That might sound a bit bureaucratic, but the City is a regulator of land use, and needs to assure that the construction won’t too-negatively impact neighboring properties, that we can manage the sewer, water, electrical, and roadway needs of the project (which all increase with increased size), and the DVP is the tool we use to assure that the design is workable.
In recognizing that the construction phase will directly impact City-owned lands (they will be staging on City lands) and the planned land use will impact various aspects of how Simcoe Park works, Council also has a fiduciary duty to put constraints around that use of public lands and assets, and assure that impacts on City-owned lands is understood, and that agreements are in place around conditions of use and how property will be returned to the City after use. We are working with the School District to develop Letters of Commitment and are framing a Joint Use Agreement to more formally recognize City lands used by the school, and opportunities for City/Community use of School spaces. This is perhaps more complicated than it needs to be because there are multiple governments involved (City Engineering and Parks, School District, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Infrastructure), but all are agreed that the goal here is to get the DVP approved and ground broken on the School Site in June!
We then wrapped up the evening with the following Bylaws for Adoption:
Housing Agreement Bylaw (430 Ninth Street) No. 8532, 2026
This Bylaw that secures rental tenure for 60 years for the building at 430 Ninth Street was adopted by Council.
Sign Bylaw No. 7867, 2017, Amendment Bylaw No. 8577, 2026
This Bylaw that shifts the language in the Sign Bylaw to align the start of when election signs can go up with the start of the Campaign Period as designated by Elections BC was adopted by Council.
Elections Procedures Bylaw No. 7985, 2018, Amendment Bylaw No. 8579, 2026
This Bylaw that outlines the rest of the election procedures for the Local Government election on October 17 was adopted by Council. We are off to the races!