PERIOD REPORT
DATE: September 11, 2017 Report No. ADM-17-020
TO: Laurie Hurst, Chief Administrative Officer
FROM: Anja Nurvo, Director of Corporate Services
SUBJECT:TITLE Corporate Services - 2017 Second Period Report
Body
The following is a report on the activities pertaining to the Corporate Services Department from May 1, 2017 to August 31, 2017.
I. DIVISION ACHIEVEMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
1. Corporate Services
• Staff completed the following:
o 32 meetings: preparation of notices, newspaper notifications, agendas, and minutes for Regular, Special and In Camera meetings of Council and Committee of the Whole, including posting on website, preparation of late items, action reports and completion of all required follow up (YTD 64)
o 5 proclamations prepared and posted, including on website (YTD 13)
• Corporate Officer and Deputy Corporate Officer completed 10 electronic registrations at Land Title Office (YTD 23 ), and commissioned 32 documents for members of the public (YTD 43)
• Corporate Officer responded to 12 requests for access to records under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (YTD 22); two appeals to Office of the Information Privacy Commissioner were successfully completed and have been elevated to formal inquiry by the applicant
• Staff coordinated all arrangements for Council’s attendance at annual UBCM conference
• Administrative Assistant/Deputy Corporate Officer continued with courses towards a Diploma in Public Administration
• Continued with Records Management implementation including: work with software provider support technicians and IT staff to troubleshoot errors within software and participate in security and permissions training for software
• Preparatory meetings with Consultant for coordination and development of electronic records management system and commenced design, creation and development of electronic records filing structure
• Made all arrangements for presentation of Volunteer Spirit Awards to two recipients plus a Mayor’s Medallion award
• Coordinated Mayor’s Open Door meeting and made all arrangements for Council’s participation in 3 local parades
2. Communications
• Working with several staff members from various departments, a priority project for the period was coordination of Canada 150 activities in the Township, including the Canada 150 Interpretive Event and Signage at Fort Macaulay on May 27, and the Canada 150 Celebration at Bullen Field on August 12. Communications and logistical support included event program development, event promotion, media relations, social media and website content, Canada 150 liaison, budgeting, advertising/sponsorship coordination, contract management, on-site coordination (Bullen Field only) and final report writing.
• Final editing, writing, design and publishing of Township of Esquimalt 2016 Annual Report.
• Staff acted as coordinator and liaison for Heart and Stroke Foundation’s Big Bike Ride on June 13, 2017.
• Working with web consultant, continued with Phase 2 of website upgrade including optimizing site structure for ease of use, developing a new in-site search engine and creating a consolidated and centralized contact directory.
• Provided communications support to Township departments on a variety of program announcements and initiatives including the Official Community Plan Review, Gorge Waterway, Esquimalt Town Square, and Esquimalt Road Urban Design Guidelines.
• Continued with program of news releases and media advisories, posting 27 news releases to the website and issuing five releases using regional news media contact list. Topics of news releases included:
o Big Splash at Esquimalt Adventure Park Grand Opening
o Township Keeps Canada 150 Celebrations Alive at Bullen Field
o Public Input Shapes Esquimalt’s Official Community Plan and Housing Policies
o Update on Gorge Waterway Contamination
o Township Crews Continue with Gorge Creek Investigation
• Website management included working with departments on revising and adding web content, troubleshooting issues, and home page updates (news, events, and banners).
• Daily media monitoring using Google Alerts, media outlet websites and social media, forwarding information to staff where appropriate. Posting news links to internal website for staff information. A total of 40 news items were posted to the internal website during the period.
• Weekly updating of internal website The Bridge, posting content of interest to staff, including announcements, staff moves, news items, videos, safety information, photos and photo galleries.
• On behalf of the Township, liaised with advertising representatives from print, broadcast and electronic media on significant advertising opportunities.
• Advertising:
o Coordinated “Experience Esquimalt” materials for the Times Colonist in May (promotion of Buccaneer Days) and August (promotion of Canada 150 at Bullen Field).
o Wrote and edited full page ad for “Day in the Life of Esquimalt” in Victoria News, August 30, 2017
• Assisted with promotion of community events and media photo opportunities, posting some 34 event announcements to the website.
• Editing, writing and design of June 2017 “Current” Newsletter. Stories included:
o Canada 150 Celebration at Bullen Field
o OCP Review: Workshop and Open House
o LED Conversion Program Continues in Township
o Good Time to Switch from Oil Tanks to Heat Pump System This Fall
o McLoughlin Point Construction Update
o User Fee at EV Charging Station in Effect
o Esquimalt Town Square Key Part of Downtown Revitalization
o Community Calendar
Communications Analytics:
• Website Google Analytics
o 240,644 page views (249,946 page views last period)
o Most page views: 1) Home page (6.90%), 2) Parks and Recreation Drop-in Schedules (6.19%), 3) Parks and Recreation Landing Page (5.90%) 4) Parks and Recreation Pool Schedule (5.14%)
• Daily monitoring of social media sites and posting of information (last period in brackets):
o 54 (45) tweets and retweets posted to Twitter
o 120 (127) new followers added during the period
o 50 (56) timeline posts to Facebook during period
o 70 (49) new Facebook likes during the period
• Legistar Analytics (last period in brackets)
o 602 (732) total page views - all pages in the Granicus system
o 386 (476) total visits - total number of times visitors came to the site
o 386 (442) total unique visitors - individual views of site
o 78 % (66%) desktop, 22% (34%) mobile
3. Archives
• There were 63 logged requests for information/assistance/support during this period, of which 27 were walk-ins. While some requests were straightforward and answered relatively quickly, others required more effort to resolve. Requests from overseas are received on a regular basis.
• Archivist wrote one historical article for the Victoria News, on the history of the municipality’s Public Works Department.
• Archivist, as a member of Esquimalt’s Canada 150 Team, worked with Communications Specialist on the planning and implementation of Canada 150 events at Fort Macaulay and Bullen Park, and, with the assistance of local military historian Jack Bates and with input from DND, in the production of permanent interpretive signage for Fort Macaulay.
o On May 27th, participated in Fort Macaulay Day, a major public event to celebrate its place in Canadian and Esquimalt’s history. A number of local military historical organizations participated including the 5th BC Regiment Royal Canadian Artillery Museum, CFB Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum, Ashton Garrison Museum and the Victoria - Esquimalt Military Re-enactors. The event attracted several hundred people.
o On August 12th, participated in the Bullen Park event, with a display tent shared with Jack Bates. A number of topics connected to Esquimalt’s history were presented. Local heritage groups and the Victoria Nikkei Cultural Society also participated.
• New acquisitions included photographs of Lampson Street School, a set of naval history reference books, photographs of Esquimalt’s early Government Liquor Store and individual pictures from a number of local residents.
• Final report to Irving K. Barber Learning Centre was completed for their grant towards “Capturing Our History Phase II: Esquimalt Archives Image Digitization Project.”
• In an ongoing effort to support and enhance heritage polices, initiatives and recognition of our heritage assets, Archives assists residents in researching the histories and stories of their houses/businesses to further the community’s interest in built heritage. Recently we have also drawn attention to the history and importance of Fort Macaulay to enhance its place in the community. We continue to draw interest in our community through our close relationships with the Hallmark Heritage Society, Victoria History Foundation and Friends of the BC Archives to name a few.
• Staff and volunteers assisted with numerous research requests, including:
o Millennia Research re burial plot locations, boundary lines and the general history of God’s Acre, in connection to ongoing expansion.
o World War I war ace Charles Hickey, who had family connections to Esquimalt. He died in an air accident in 1918; he had recorded 21 kills and had been awarded the D.F.C. with bars.
o visit of battlecruiser HMS New Zealand to Esquimalt in November 1919, by the grandson, from England, of the ship’s Master-at-Arms.
o history of the Songhees First Nation in support of a major initiative to capture and present their history within the context of Esquimalt.
o A one man performance by poet and live performance artist Harold Hejazi, depicting key dates and events of Gorge Bridge and water actives in and around it over many decades. We assisted with identifying historic images and providing general background information.
o historic Esquimalt neighbourhood along Esquimalt Road (until 1892) where now the Township of Esquimalt and the City of Victoria connect.
o Victoria Heritage Foundation regarding the history of the 1st Roman Catholic Mission in Esquimalt.
o information regarding Private John Charles Banks, whose family lived on Wollaston Ave, for radio program about Seaford Army Camp produced for Seaford Museum in England.
• Research on houses, apartments and commercial buildings in Esquimalt continues to be popular with 15 requests being made.
• Volunteer Archivist attended Tourism Day at the Empress Hotel on May 10th along with the Community Development Coordinator, the God’s Acre Candlelight Service, and the Peace Keepers Memorial Service and was on a team who conducted a Ross Bay Cemetery tour honoring local men and women who contributed to the building of Canada 150 years ago.
• Photographs were taken of 3 houses prior to issuance of demolition permits.
• 150 walking tour packages were handed out by Archives to the public.
• Our team of five volunteers contributed 432 hours, working on a variety of projects from creating finding aids for various collections, developing data base for building permits, and reviewing documents of a military nature. It should ne noted that after 30 years of volunteering, Katie Kaye retired at the end of May. She will be missed.
4. Human Resources
Recruitment (Regular Positions)
There were 6 regular positions posted and filled, with 2 still in progress, as outlined below:
Fire Department:
• Firefighter (second hire from eligibility pool)
Parks and Rec:
• Facility Booking Clerk
• Lead Gardener
Engineering/Public Works:
• Engineering Technologist I
Corporate Services
• Executive Assistant
In Progress:
• Technical Supervisor (re-posted)
• IT Manager
Compensation/Job Evaluations
• Refuse Collector/Truck Driver:
o After a job evaluation request, the position was reviewed and it was determined that the pay rate be increased from Pay Band 3 to Pay Band 4. The increase was a result of a change in duties (elimination of charge hand and increase in responsibility with the monitoring and enforcement of the two-stream collection methodology). The position is now classified the same as Labourer II, which is the position that fills in when either of the two refuse collector/truck drivers are absent from work.
Labour Relations
There was one grievance filed in the period as a result of a 10 day suspension that was issued. The grievance is currently at Step II of the grievance process.
Training and Development
• Committee members from Municipal Hall and Public Works Occupational Health and Safety Committees attended a Safety Conference at the end of May, 2017.
• Respectful Workplace Sessions - A half-day course has been developed and an instructor has been secured to provide four sessions for all regular staff. Sessions are being held on October 30th and 31st and November 16th and 17th.
• Word and Excel Training - HR is organizing intermediate and advanced level Word and Excel training for regular and exempt staff for the fall.
General
• Job Position files were created for every regular position in the Municipality.
• An analysis was done on all job evaluations, with a spreadsheet created outlining the job evaluation results for every regular position.
• A New Employee Orientation Checklist has been finalized and put out to all departments for use with new employees.
• Additionally, HR is working with a consultant to build electronic modules for our New Employee Orientation E-Learning. The orientation is a series of general modules for all staff that includes information about: the Township and our Mayor and Council; information technology use; records management, freedom of information & privacy; human rights and code of conduct; and health and safety. It is in the early stages of development and will be ready in late 2017 or early 2018.
II. COMMITTEES
• Staff acted as Recording Secretary and prepared notice, agenda, minutes of one Environmental Advisory Committee meeting during this period.
• Staff coordinated the annual recruitment for Committees, Commissions and Board, including arranging for advertising vacancies, interviews, and preparing updated Committee lists and updating website following Council appointments.