MINUTES

1.

It was moved and seconded

That the minutes of the meeting of the Community Safety Committee held on Tuesday, February 13, 2007, be adopted as circulated.

CARRIED

NEXT COMMITTEE MEETING DATE

2.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007  (tentative date) at 4:00 p.m. in the Anderson Room.

CARRIED

DELEGATION

3.

Belinda Boyd, Board Member, Richmond Safe Communities Alliance (RSCA) to make a presentation on the role of the RSCA.

(File No.: 01-0060-20-RSCA1)

Ms. Boyd appeared before Committee as the designate of the RSCA’s Chair, Alex Lee, who was unable to attend. Richmond and Kamloops are the only two communities in British Columbia with an Safe Communities Alliance (RSCA). She gave an overview of the RSCA and its role in Richmond.

RSCA’s four goals are: (i) increase community and personal safety, (ii) provide a forum for safety initiatives, (iii) enhance existing programs and resources, and (iv) involve the whole community.

Discussion ensued regarding the following issues:

·      

RSCA is developing the means to capture statistics relating to their Meth Watch Program and the Seniors Falls Prevention Program;

·      

RSCA is investigating how to earn designation by the World Health Organization (WHO);

·      

current funding for RSCA is provided by the national Safe Communities Foundation, Vancouver Coastal Health, Coast Capital, G & F Financial Group, and from the City of Richmond; for sustainability, the RSCA is seeking support from the business community as well as funding from potential new sponsors and donors;

·      

RSCA employs one co-ordinator, and relies on volunteers; at present there are ten people serving on the Board and the broader membership comprises 22 individuals, many of whom represent organizations that are connected to safety and health endeavours.

Committee invited RSCA to contact the City Clerk’s Office in order to facilitate an appearance at a Council meeting to make their power point presentation.

LAW AND COMMUNITY SAFETY DEPARTMENT

4.

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PLAN

(Report:  February 26, 2007, File No.:  09-5125-03-02) (REDMS No. 2085004, 2086316, 2037437, 2086554)

Discussion ensued between the Committee and Deborah Procter, Manager, Emergency Programs and Tara Simpson, Emergency Management Coordinator regarding the following topics:

·      

other agencies, including the Richmond RCMP, Richmond Fire Rescue and Richmond’s ambulance services, were consulted and the agencies’ own emergency response plans do integrate with the City’s Emergency Management Plan;

·      

modes of communication include landlines and cellular telephones as well as Priority Access Dialing, Inter-Municipal Emergency Radio System, satellite telephones, amateur radio, and  the City’s private UHF mobile radio system, each of which increases communications capacity during emergencies;

·      

Fire, police and ambulance services in Richmond use the E-Comm Wide-Area Radio System, and these agencies and their E-Comm capacity would be integrated into the communication methods implemented during emergencies to enhance overall communications;

·      

the Disaster Response Route program is undergoing changes to identify more than just road routes; future response routes may include waterway, rail or air routes in addition to roads, that would be used for the transport of personnel and emergency supplies;

·      

the general public can learn about Richmond’s Emergency Management Plan online by visiting the City’s website;

·      

on two occasions the City’s Emergency Operations Centre was activated: for Y2K and on September 9, 2001 (9/11);

·      

the City’s Emergency Management Office coordinates an annual exercises include: (i) drills to test a focused procedure or technology, (ii) tabletop exercises to familiarize staff with their roles, test operational procedures and validate plans, (iii) functional exercises to test facilities, equipment and roles and responsibilities, and (iv) full-scale exercises to provide the most realistic scenario possible;

·      

a suggestion was made that the City’s Emergency Management Office should supply the Mayor and City Councillors with a summary of their roles and responsibilities during an emergency; the summary should outline their individual roles and responsibilities under different circumstances, as the intensity of one type of emergency (e.g. severe weather) may be slightly less than the intensity of another type of emergency (e.g. major earthquake).

It was moved and seconded

(1)

That the Emergency Management Plan, as required under the British Columbia Emergency Program Act, be approved. 

(2)

That the General Manager, Law and Community Safety:

(a)

update the Emergency Management Plan annually; and

(b)

undertake a complete review of the Emergency Management Plan every three years and present the review to Council through the appropriate Standing Committee.

CARRIED

5.

FIRE Chief Briefing

(Oral Report) 

Chief Jim Hancock reported on two fire hall openings:

·      

the Hamilton Fire Hall, 22451 Westminster Highway will have a Grand Opening on Saturday, March 31, 2007 between 11:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.;

·      

the Sea Island Fire Hall, 3911 Russ Baker Way will have a Grand Opening on Saturday, April 21, 2007 between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

6.

RCMP/OIC Briefing

(Oral Report) 

Officer in Charge Ward Clapham and Operations Support Officer Tony Mahon reported that:

·      

the Richmond RCMP fully supports the work of the Richmond Safe Communities Alliance;

·      

at present there are 25 people half way through their training to become Auxiliary Constables; after this group has completed training, the total number of Auxiliary Constables in Richmond will be approximately 50;

·      

the Richmond Detachment of the RCMP is authorized to have up to 50 percent of its police force as Auxiliary; if, in the future, the number of Auxiliary Constables rises to over 80, necessitating a coordinator, the Detachment’s strategic plan would reflect the need for the coordinator;

·      

even though the Richmond RCMP has integrated some services with other detachments, if the integrated program is not serving one community well, the model can be re-worked to benefit all communities involved; the Dog Services Program is an example of an integrated program that has required re-working;

·      

until recently, Richmond’s Dog Services program was integrated with the South Fraser Unit, but it was found that when Richmond needed dogs for tracking, Surrey was usually taking advantage of the service; Richmond is no longer integrated with the South Fraser Unit but is integrated with the West Zone whose three partners are: Richmond, the Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and the University of British Columbia (UBC).

7.

MANAGER’S REPORT

No reports were given.

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting adjourn (4:46 p.m.).

CARRIED

Certified a true and correct copy of the Minutes of the meeting of the Community Safety Committee of the Council of the City of Richmond held on Tuesday, March 13, 2007.

_________________________________

_________________________________

Councillor Evelina Halsey-Brandt
Chair

Sheila Johnston
Committee Clerk