January 17, 2023 - Minutes

Date:

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Place:

Council Chambers
Richmond City Hall

Present:

Councillor Alexa Loo, Chair

Councillor Andy Hobbs

Councillor Laura Gillanders

Councillor Kash Heed

Councillor Bill McNulty

Also Present:

Councillor Chak Au

Councillor Carol Day

Councillor Michael Wolfe (by teleconference)

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 December 12, 2022, be adopted.

CARRIED

NEXT COMMITTEE MEETING DATE

February 14, 2023, (tentative date) at 4:00 p.m. in Council Chambers.

AGENDA ADDITION

It was moved and seconded

That Richmond RCMP Budget/Expenditures be added to the agenda as Item No. 6A.

CARRIED

DELEGATION

A.

Lawrence Ho, Richmond resident, referenced his submission (attached to and forming part of these minutes as Schedule 1), expressed safety concerns in the Hamilton area and requested the following items (i) a sidewalk around Choice School,  (ii) a covered bus shelter, (iii) a more prominent RCMP sign to deter criminal activity in the area, and (iv) lights in McLean Park.  

Discussion took place on improvements to the Hamilton area and as a result, the following referral motion was introduced:

It was moved and seconded

That the presentation from Lawrence Ho, dated January 17, 2023,  be referred to Parks, Transportation, Public Works and Community Safety staff to review:

(1)

lighting improvements for walkways in McLean Neighbourhood Park;

(2)

improvements to Hamilton area bus stops and bus shelters;

(3)

improvements to Hamilton area sidewalks and walkways; and

(4)

ways to increase the visibility of the RCMP in the Hamilton area.

CARRIED

COMMUNITY SAFETY DIVISION

1.

ANIMAL PROTECTION SERVICES MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORT – NOVEMBER 2022

(File Ref. No. 09-5375-09) (REDMS No. 7053965)

In reply to queries from Committee, staff advised that (i) existing licenced dog owners are contacted to follow-up on expired licences, (ii) accounting of all dogs in the City is not feasible as they are not all licenced, (iii) bylaws is liaising with strata's to canvas for dogs in strata buildings, (iv) it is required that all dogs in the City are licenced, and (v) bylaws actively canvasses dog parks and school grounds and issue violations.  

It was moved and seconded

That the staff report titled “Animal Protection Services Monthly Activity Report – November 2022”, dated December 10, 2022, from the General Manager, Community Safety, be received for information.

CARRIED

2.

PROPERTY USE AND PARKING ENFORCEMENT MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORT – NOVEMBER 2022

(File Ref. No. 12-8375-01) (REDMS No. 7081511)

In reply to queries from Committee, staff advised that (i) additional staffing is being posted, (ii) new staff have been hired in the short-term rental area, and (iii) parking revenue variance is currently less than it was during the pandemic.

It was moved and seconded

That the staff report titled “Property Use and Parking Enforcement Monthly Activity Report - November 2022”, dated December 15, 2022, from the Director, Community Bylaws & Licencing, be received for information.

CARRIED

3.

RICHMOND FIRE-RESCUE MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORT – NOVEMBER 2022

(File Ref. No. 09-5140-01) (REDMS No. 7067532)

In reply to queries from Committee, staff noted that (i) there is a dedicated team to emergency programming to educate the public, (ii) most outreach is done through the Richmond Fire-Rescue website, (iii) it is in the 2023 work plan to create resiliency hubs within the community, and (iv) once the analysis from the national inclusive resiliency program is received a more targeted approach can be determined.

It was moved and seconded

That the staff report titled “Richmond Fire-Rescue Monthly Activity Report – November 2022”, dated December 8, 2022, from the Fire Chief, be received for information.

CARRIED

4.

FIRE CHIEF BRIEFING
(Verbal Report)

Items for discussion:

None.

5.

RCMP MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORT - NOVEMBER 2022

(File Ref. No. 9-5000-01) (REDMS No. 7061219)

In reply to queries from Committee, Richmond RCMP staff advised that
(i) additional information on the Block Watch program can be provided,
(ii) large volume of mental health calls are not necessarily attributed to the same people calling multiple times, (iii) the increase in drug files is due in part to the increase of travel through YVR, (iv) it is mandated that officers wait with the client at the hospital until admitted or released, (v) the term “expected range” is defined as the average data set of the last 5-10 years, and (vi) various characteristics are noted for hate crimes, such as race gender, ethnicity, and staff can explore the possibility of sharing those statistics with Committee.

It was moved and seconded

That the staff report titled “RCMP Monthly Activity Report - November 2022”, dated December 13, 2022, from the Officer in Charge, Richmond RCMP Detachment, be received for information.

CARRIED

6.

RCMP/OIC BRIEFING
(Verbal Report)

Items for discussion:

(i)

Snow Storm Response

Richmond RCMP staff noted that due to the snow storms in November and December of 2022 some Richmond RCMP members experienced delays reporting to duty, however they were all able to attend their shifts. Furthermore, it noted that some members stayed overnight in their detachment in order to attend their shift the next day, and that the Richmond RCMP has contingencies and amenities to respond to extreme weather events.

(ii)

Warming Shelters

Richmond RCMP staff highlighted the timely notification of all warming centres openings to ensure all clients were well informed.

6A.

RICHMOND RCMP BUDGET/EXPENDITURES

(File Ref. No.)

It was moved and seconded

That staff provide a detailed report on the past 3 year’s RCMP budget/expenditures. Include all paid positions of RCMP and City of Richmond staff along with other expenditures related to the RCMP contract. Include a copy of the current contract.

CARRIED

7.

MANAGER’S REPORT

None.

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting adjourn (4:43 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, January 17, 2023.

_________________________________

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Councillor Alexa Loo
Chair

Sarah Goddard
Legislative Services Associate