PERIOD REPORT
DATE: September 11, 2019 Report No. CSS-19-011
TO: Laurie Hurst, Chief Administrative Officer
FROM: Blair McDonald, Director of Community Safety Services
SUBJECT:TITLE Community Safety Services Department - 2019 Second Period Report
Body
The following is a report on the activities pertaining to the Community Safety Services Department from May 1st, 2019 to August 31st, 2019.
I. DIVISION ACHIEVEMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
1. Emergency Management
• Neighbourhood Emergency Preparedness Program (NEPP)
The NEPP and staff facilitated one scheduled monthly presentation and one workshop to residents during this period. Staff also provided emergency preparedness presentations to 2 strata complexes.
The NEPP continues to provide information to residents and answer questions at community events including the Esquimalt Block Party, a resident block party, Music in the Park, and the CFB Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum Open House Event.
The NEPP distributed 180 starter emergency preparedness kits during this period to grade 3 and 4 students at Macauley and Victor Brodeur elementary schools, along with emergency preparedness information sessions. Staff were also invited to speak to a grade 8 class at Rockheights Middle school on tsunami and earthquake risk in the Township.
• Emergency Support Services (ESS)
One new ESS volunteer was recruited in the period, and volunteers attended various courses and workshops including an ESS mini-camp in Oak Bay, a Psychological First Aid workshop, and Group Lodging.
Staff attended ESS Directors’ meetings and is working on regional ESS coordination following the apartment fire event last period.
The ESS team was called out by the Saanich ESS team on June 21 to assist residents of a significant apartment fire that resulted in 65 evacuees. Five ESS volunteers and staff responded to the Cedar Hill Recreation Centre and provided valuable leadership due to the recent experience gained in Esquimalt. The Township is fortunate to have such a skilled and dedicated group of volunteers. This was a remarkable event with almost all ESS teams in the Region responding to assist evacuees. Many lessons were learned and the Esquimalt ESS team attended a debrief session to share ideas and improve response for future events.
Staff utilized the $25,000 UBCM ESS grant to procure and deliver 3 new sea cans for the Township at various locations to build capacity to provide emergency social services in the Township. One of the three new sea cans is located at the Church of the Nazarene to allow for redundancy in the location of Reception Centre supplies. Reporting was completed with the Township receiving the full grant amount.
• Emergency Radio Communications
The team continues to meet each Wednesday and participate in the Region’s Net to ensure that we are able to communicate with the Province and other Regional Emergency Operations Centres (EOC) following a catastrophic emergency.
During this period the team coordinated with Public Works to have an antenna installed in the Public Works yard as part of the secondary EOC set up, and a successful test was conducted during this period.
All radios have been reprogrammed to reduce some recent interference on many CRD area frequencies. All batteries were charged in the portable radio set up kits, and they and planning a field exercise during the next period.
• Administration
The Local Government Emergency Program Advisory Commission (LG EPAC) met once this period. Staff worked with the City of Victoria to issue the Request for Proposal for the regional portion of the UBCM Community Emergency Preparedness Fund - Evacuation Planning grant which will be issued next week. Esquimalt is partnering with the City of Victoria in completion of updates to our respective local evacuation plans as we share a common police force and work has commenced on selecting a contractor. The results of the Esquimalt/ Victoria plans will filter into the Regional Framework.
The LGEPAC also discussed the outcomes of both the Esquimalt and Saanich fires and the implications for residents after the 72 hours of follow up that ESS provides. A meeting was organized with local governments, EMBC, the Red Cross, BC Housing, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Social Development to gain a better understanding of services available to those impacted by emergencies. Another meeting is scheduled for the next period with the intent of ensuring residents have sufficient support following an emergency.
The Township has also partnered with the City of Victoria and Victoria Police Department for a UBCM EOC Training and Exercises grant for a joint $50,000 application. The project will involve conducting a series of joint exercises to assist in testing our evacuation plans, as well as general response planning and communication when both municipalities are impacted by an event. Work is underway to select a contractor for this project.
As a member of the LGEPAC Public Education Working group, staff contributed in the update the regional PrepareYourself website to be completed in the third quarter. This is directly related to the REMP Measuring Regional Emergency Preparedness project that resulted in a completed regional survey with a recommendation to update the website. This working group has also organized a Shake Cottage tour which will be in Esquimalt at the Canex parking lot September 18 from 08:30 to 11:30 am. DND partnered with the emergency program to supply the location for the event which will allow residents to experience a free “ride” that simulates an 7.8 earthquake. Staff will be on site to deliver emergency preparedness information.
Staff continued to participate in other working groups for the REMP including regional concept of operations and exercise, the regional exercise working group, and as a member of the project advisory team for disaster disk reduction strategies.
The Voyent Alert system was selected and purchased as part of a UBCM grant. Voyent Alert staff have provided training and assisted in set up of templates and other tools with a scheduled launch date at the end of September. The system is called Esquimalt Alert and will allow residents to sign up to receive both emergency alerts and information on community topics like events and road closures. The system will be used on a trial basis dependent on community uptake with a review in 2020.
Staff continued to participate in the regional working group for a National Disaster Mitigation Program Grant submission for Capital Region Coastal Flood Inundation Mapping that includes tsunami modelling in conjunction with representatives of the Climate Action program of the Capital Regional District and other local government emergency program managers. The project involves undertaking two comprehensive coastal inundation modelling and mapping activities related to future sea level rise due to climate change and tsunamis. The project was successful in receiving $751,750 of federal and provincial funding and work is underway with a completion date of March 2020.
The Emergency Public Notification System (Connect Rocket) has been tested successfully each month and the Desalination Unit was also tested successfully during the period.
2. Bylaw Enforcement
• Bylaw Offence Notice [BON] Disputes
15 BONs were forwarded to the Screening Officer level in this period. Of those, 10 were cancelled by the Screening Officer and 5 were upheld with fines being levied to the offender and no matters were advanced for adjudication during this period.
• Unsightly Properties
Unsightly properties continue to be an area of enhanced enforcement. In this period, 34 complaints of unsightly properties were reported to Bylaw Enforcement. Of those, 22 were dealt with using the authorities within the Maintenance of Property and Nuisance Regulation Bylaw. 12 files remain active.
• Special Enforcement Activities
• Civil Injunction process related to use of property - 800 block Esquimalt Road
• Phase one relating to private moorage on the Gorge Waterway initiated. Phase two relating to private use of Township land will begin in the next period.
• Enforcement of new parking restrictions in the Recreation Centre and Park Place lots has resulted in positive feedback regarding the availability of parking in those areas.
• Attachments
o Bylaw Contraventions and Complaints, Municipal Tickets and Bylaw Notices, Animal Management Report [attachment # 1]
o Unsightly Properties Chart [attachment # 2]
3. Building Inspections/Permits
• The Second Period in 2019 showed and increasing demand for building permits related to ongoing construction in Esquimalt. Overall thus far in 2019, the Building Department issued permits for a total value of construction of nearly $31 million with total permit fees of approximately $290,000. These values represent a modest increase over 2018 second period numbers.
• See Attachment - Building Permits Chart [attachment # 3]
4. Policing
• Staff continued to liaise with Victoria Police Department regarding local and regional policing and public safety concerns.
• The Director represents the Township at the public portion of Victoria and Esquimalt Police Board meetings.
5. Business Licensing
• The Intercommunity Business Licence Bylaw came into force in January of 2019. The Township has issued 4 intercommunity licences. Vancouver Island communities continue to sign on
• The Township currently has 738 active business licences (739 in 2018) which are posted on the website and updated every three months
• In this period, 36 new applications were received
• In this period, 17 accounts were closed
II. COMMITTEES
• No Community Safety Services Staff currently sit on any Council appointed committees; however, the Director and the Emergency Program Manager represent the Township on the Capital Regional District Local Government Emergency Program Advisory Commission and the Regional Emergency Planning Advisory Commission, as well as on several regional and provincial working groups.
• The Director sits on a Provincial Local Government Bylaw Notice Enforcement Act Working Group
• The Director chairs the Community Safety - Staff Working Group.
• The Director chairs the Esquimalt Emergency Planning Committee