June 12, 2018 - Minutes

Date:

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Place:

Anderson Room
Richmond City Hall

Present:

Councillor Bill McNulty, Chair
Councillor Ken Johnston
Councillor Alexa Loo
Councillor Linda McPhail

Absent:

Councillor Derek Dang, Vice-Chair

Also Present:

Councillor Carol Day

Call to Order:

The Chair called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.

MINUTES

It was moved and seconded

That the minutes of the meeting of the Community Safety Committee held on May 15, 2018, be adopted as circulated.

CARRIED

NEXT COMMITTEE MEETING DATE

July 10, 2018, (tentative date) at 4:00 p.m. in the Anderson Room

COMMUNITY SAFETY DIVISION

1.

Community Bylaws Monthly Activity Report - April 2018
(File Ref. No. 12-8060-01) (REDMS No. 5835232 v. 3)

In response to questions from Committee, Carli Edwards, Manager, Community Bylaws and Licencing, advised that the nine short-term rental violations noted in the staff report were from a range of properties including a house operating as a bed and breakfast without a licence to strata condo units being rented out short-term. Ms. Edwards further remarked that staff have not found Airbnb to be the most frequent offender.

Lloyd Bie, Acting Director, Engineering, in reply to queries from Committee regarding grease management and public education, advised that the City does not send any direct mail outs other than what is included with residents utilities bill.

In response to a query regarding stop-work-orders issued by the Soil Officer in April 2018, Ms. Edwards advised Committee that they did not include the Garden City Lands site. 

Ms. Edwards, in further response to questions from Committee, commented that (i) proposals for the Public Bike Share Pilot Program are being evaluated by staff, (ii) business licence fees are set to ensure recovery of costs associated with granting a licence, (iii) staff are assessing options for granting short-term licences for businesses that operate in the City on a short-term basis, such as food trucks, and (iv) staff work with business operators, such as bike rentals and other newer business concepts, when they apply for a business licence to complete necessary plans and put forward any required bylaw amendments to Council.

In response to queries regarding dog licencing, Ms. Edwards remarked that (i) staff are reviewing amendments to the categories and pricing structure of dog licences to address the excess of categories currently in place, (ii) the Regional Animal Protection Society (RAPS) has an agreement to sell dog licences on behalf of the City, and RAPS receives a portion of the proceeds, and (iii) information regarding obtaining a dog licence through RAPS is available on the City’s website.

It was moved and seconded

That the staff report titled “Community Bylaws Monthly Activity Report - April 2018”, dated June 5, 2018, from the General Manager, Community Safety, be received for information.

CARRIED

2.

Richmond Fire-Rescue Monthly Activity Report – April 2018
(File Ref. No. 09-5000-01) (REDMS No. 5844207 v. 2)

In response to a query from Committee, Time Wilkinson, Fire Chief, noted that the new When to Make a Call brochure, would be distributed to Committee.

Mr. Wilkinson provided clarification in response to Committee inquiries regarding incident response time and remarked that the report details the time between when a call is received to when Richmond Fire-Rescue (RFR) arrive on scene. He also noted that response times may vary based on personal protective equipment (PPE) requirements and that more time is allotted for those events that require PPE. Mr. Wilkinson further remarked that the average time is not the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) standard which is to the 90^th percentile and clarified that RFR follows NFPA standards.

In further response to queries from Committee, Mr. Wilkinson noted that generally the location of a fire station does not impact response times, including those districts that may require a further travel distance for response. Mr. Wilkinson commented further that staff are working on automatic aid opportunities with Delta, Vancouver, and New Westminster to coordinate responses and a report will be brought forward to Committee regarding the matter.

In response to queries from Committee regarding a report on RFR implementation and evaluation, staff advised Committee that the report is forthcoming in the fall in time for operating budget considerations. Discussion took place on the need for Committee review prior to the budget review, and there was agreement among Committee to discuss the matter at the next meeting.

It was moved and seconded

That the staff report titled “Richmond Fire-Rescue Monthly Activity Report – April 2018”, dated May 22, 2018 from the Fire Chief, Richmond Fire-Rescue, be received for information.

CARRIED

3.

FIRE CHIEF BRIEFING
(Verbal Report)

(i)

Introduction of New Staff

Mr. Wilkinson introduced Alan McGrath And Jim Wishlove as the two new Deputy Fire Chiefs.

(ii)

Brighouse Fire Hall No. 1 Opening

Mr. Wilkinson informed Committee that the grand opening of the new Brighouse Fire Hall No. 1 will be held on June 23, 2018 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. He advised that the formal ceremony will commence at 11:30 a.m. and that self-guided tours and demonstrations will be available.

(iii)

Steveston Salmon Festival

Mr. Wilkinson noted that RFR will be involved with the parade and a variety of other community engagement activities at the festival.

(iv)

Community Outreach and Public Education Plan (COPEP) Update

Mr. Wilkinson advised that staff are working on community outreach programs and highlighted the following:

§   

fire safety education for students will be provided in conjunction with the school district to provide information to grades 2, 8 and 12;

§   

the school program would include basic information provided to grade 2 classes, assemblies and presentations that focus on home safety including cooking for grade 8 classes, and adult fire safety for grade 12 classes;

§   

staff are working with Kwantlen Polytechnic University on the design of different brochures;

§   

the initiation of a “Butt-out Campaign” which will distribute signs throughout various locations around the City in English and Mandarin to denote where preventable fires have been located throughout the city;

§   

the Justice Institute assisted RFR staff with the Doors Open Richmond event which welcomed over 1800 visitors to the No. 3 fire hall during the two day event; and

§   

requests for new staff for the community outreach area will be included in the operational budget submissions for 2019.

(v)

New BC Emergency Health Services Dispatch System

Mr. Wilkinson advised that there is little information regarding the new process at this time. He further noted that the updated system, the Manchester Triage Scoring System, was launched on May 30, 2018 and that it incorporates a new model using a new colour-coding system.  

4.

RCMP Monthly Activity Report – April 2018
(File Ref. No. 09-5000-01) (REDMS No. 5806458 v. 4)

Will Ng, Superintendent, Officer in Charge, offered additional comments regarding the crime statistics and noted that April 2018’s statistics for assaults, serious assaults, and sexual assaults were slightly above threshold; however there were no noted patterns or trends.

In response to questions from Committee, Supt. Ng advised that (i) Richmond RCMP are currently working with Vancouver Coastal Health on the mobile mental health response program (Car 67 Program) and are awaiting security clearances for the two nurses selected for the program prior to its initiation expected for September 2018, (ii) of the two murders in April 2018, one was drug related and the other is currently under investigation, (iii) Richmond has traditionally had a low homicide rate and six out of the eight homicides in 2017 were attributed to organized crime, (iv) crime rates in Richmond are traditionally low and officers have been working to be more visible in the community, and (v) the decrease in auxiliary constables hours for April 2018 was due to changes in federal regulations that no longer allow auxiliary constables to attend ride-alongs. 

It was moved and seconded

That the report titled “RCMP Monthly Activity Report – April 2018”, dated May 17, 2018, from the Officer in Charge, Richmond RCMP Detachment, be received for information.

CARRIED

5.

2017–2018 Richmond RCMP Detachment Annual Performance Plan Fourth Quarter Results (January 1 to March 31, 2018)
(File Ref. No. 09-5000-01) (REDMS No. 5784884 v. 4)

Supt. Ng highlighted that the 16 officers approved by Council have now been approved by Ottawa. He further noted that Richmond RCMP are working to staff offices.

It was moved and seconded

That the report titled “2017–2018 Richmond RCMP Detachment Annual Performance Plan Fourth Quarter Results (January 1 to March 31, 2018)”, dated May 17, 2018 from the Officer in Charge, Richmond RCMP Detachment, be received for information.

CARRIED

6.

RCMP/OIC BRIEFING
(Verbal Report)

(i)

Doors Open event at Richmond RCMP

Supt. Ng remarked that this was the first year Richmond RCMP had participated and noted that there were only enough resources to attend to one day, where approximately 850 visitors were welcomed.

(ii)

Coffee with a Cop at Aberdeen Centre and Ironwood McDonalds

Supt. Ng noted that there was a large turnout for both events.

7.

Committee Standing Item

E-Comm

The Chair advised that the Strategic Planning sessions will continue until September 7, 2018 and that the results would be brought forward to Committee.  

8.

MANAGER’S REPORT

Illegal Taxi Enforcement

Ms. Edwards provided an update to Committee regarding another round of enforcement of illegal taxis and advised that staff will resume enforcement at the end of this month.

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting adjourn (4:39 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, June 12, 2018.

_________________________________

_________________________________

Councillor Bill McNulty
Chair

Amanda Welby
Legislative Services Coordinator