January 16, 2024 - Minutes

Date:

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Place:

Council Chambers
Richmond City Hall

Present:

Councillor Alexa Loo, Chair
Councillor Andy Hobbs
Councillor Laura Gillanders (by teleconference)
Councillor Kash Heed
Councillor Bill McNulty

Also Present:

Councillor Wolfe (by teleconference)

Call to Order:

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

AGENDA ADDITIONS

It was moved and seconded

That License Plate Recognition be added to the agenda as Item No. 6A.

CARRIED

MINUTES

It was moved and seconded

That the minutes of the meeting of the Community Safety Committee held on December 12, 2023, be adopted.

CARRIED

COMMUNITY SAFETY DIVISION

1.

ANIMAL PROTECTION SERVICES MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORT – NOVEMBER 2023

(File Ref. No. 12-8375-01) (REDMS No. 7496812)

In response to queries from the Committee, staff noted (i) public education and information awareness reminders were included in the recent dog renewal notification/mailout reminding dog owners that dogs must be on a leash, dangerous dogs must have muzzles, and appropriate places for off-leash, and social media efforts will also be running in conjunction, to remind the public of their dog on-leash obligations, (ii) the reduction in enforcement reported for 2023 is primarily the result of the significant effort undertaken to reduce the number of delinquent accounts compared to outstanding accounts in previous years, (iii) under the City’s enhanced animal control service model, 3 to 4 BCSPCA uniformed officers are in the community 7 days per week, 7am to 9pm, including statutory holidays, responding to calls and proactively patrolling the City’s dikes, trails and parks, and (iv) to-date approximately 3,700 of the 7,500 dog license renewal notifications issued have renewed their dog license.

It was moved and seconded

That the staff report titled “Animal Protection Services Monthly Activity Report – November 2023”, dated December 11, 2023 from the General Manager, Community Safety, be received for information.

CARRIED

2.

PROPERTY USE AND PARKING ENFORCEMENT MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORT – NOVEMBER 2023

(File Ref. No. 12-8375-01) (REDMS No. 7486249)

In response to queries from the Committee, staff noted (i) the hotel property in question began operation recently and is operating under the terms and conditions of their Business License, (ii) the majority of reported service calls received for assistance were related to unsightly premises such as overgrowth of vegetation and debris in front/back yard, (iii) with respect to short term rental non-compliance, a variety of notices (including multiple notices to some properties) have been sent to property owners to seek compliance and, where enforcement issues are encountered, there is ticket issuance and further action required; on average there may be 2 or 3 tickets issued within a specific property, average $1,500 per ticket, and (iv) staff actively investigate complaints received regarding storage containers on driveways as they are not permitted.

A brief discussion ensued with respect to the increase in truck parking in the ALR and the need to highlight the urgent truck parking shortage by writing a letter to the Ministries of Transportation and Agriculture.

It was moved and seconded

That the staff report titled “Property Use and Parking Enforcement Monthly Activity Report – November 2023”, dated December 11, 2023 from the Director, Community Bylaws & Licencing, be received for information.

CARRIED

3.

RICHMOND FIRE-RESCUE MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORT – NOVEMBER 2023

(File Ref. No. 09-5140-01) (REDMS No. 7481298)

Fire Chief Wishlove provided the Committee with an additional map, “Richmond Fire Rescue: Overdose/Poisoning Incidents November 2023”, (copy on file).

In response to queries from the Committee, Fire Chief Wishlove noted all women and men that are assigned to the response companies, as well as fire prevention and a number of administrative staff, have medical service responder training, and an ongoing effort to continuously recertify approximately 20% annually.

It was moved and seconded

That the staff report titled “Richmond Fire-Rescue Monthly Activity Report – November 2023”, dated December 11, 2023, from the Fire Chief, be received for information.

CARRIED

4.

FIRE CHIEF BRIEFING
(Verbal Report)

A brief discussion ensued with respect to future opportunities for outdoor skating at Garry Point Park.

5.

RCMP MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORT – NOVEMBER 2023

(File Ref. No. 7465755) (REDMS No. 09-5000-01)

In response to queries from the Committee, Chief Supt. Chauhan noted (i) the Federal Serious Organized Crime Section (FSOC) have taken over the responsibility of dealing with/disposing of exhibits that are seized at the Vancouver airport, a substantial number of which are seized from inbound and outbound passengers, (ii) although the number of apprehensions under the Mental Health Act has come down, and the average wait times at Richmond General Hospital reduced from 155 minutes to 30 minutes, there are a few incident files that are 3-5 hours that skew the average reported wait time, (iii) managed by volunteers, the South Arm Community Police Station is open five days a week from 8am to 5pm for the public to attend should they require any resources or assistance, (iv) there are certain programs through the BC Highway Patrol that are funded for targeted enforcement, (v) the decriminalization legislation that came into effect in 2023 permits an individual to possess 2.5 grams of illicit drugs; a harm reduction approach to encourage those individuals to get the proper support and care needed, (vi) the reported reduction in mental health apprehensions can be attributed to the collaborative approach of the FOX80 program, in partnership with Vancouver Coastal Health, providing regular contact and communication in assisting these individuals, and (vii) through outreach efforts, especially when the temperatures have dipped below zero, if there is a need for support for any individual, best efforts are made to ensure they are connected with the proper resources to help them, including any warming centres/shelters where available beds have been identified.

It was moved and seconded

That the report titled “RCMP Monthly Activity Report – November 2023”, dated December 14, 2023, from the Officer in Charge, Richmond RCMP Detachment, be received for information.

CARRIED

6.

RCMP/OIC BRIEFING
(Verbal Report)

(i)

Special Police Incident Community Engagement (SPICE) – Homocide Deployment

Chief Supt. Chauhan spoke to the sole purpose of SPICE, to reach out and engage in person with community members or neighbourhoods where they are impacted by a violent crime or traumatic event, noting the recent SPICE deployment in Richmond.

(ii)

Rainbow Crosswalk

Chief Supt. Chauhan provided an update on the 7 mischief/vandalism incidents that occurred to the rainbow crosswalks in August 2023, noting the incidents stopped after August, with two files since concluded and the remaining outstanding, and there have been no repeat incidents.

6A.

LICENSE PLATE RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY
(Verbal Report)

In response to queries from the Committee staff provided a breakdown of the costs, features and benefits of the license plate recognition (LPR) technology, as outfitted on one City Bylaws vehicle, noting the cost to retrofit additional vehicles with the same system would be approximately $50,000 per vehicle.

7.

MANAGER’S REPORT

(i)

Richmond Homeless

In response to queries from the Committee, staff noted (i) they do not have record of any homeless refugees in Richmond, but will check with community social services and report back to the Committee with a memo, and (ii) staff are working with colleagues in public works to identify a long term solution for the care/storage of the belongings for those homeless who are in hospital or have agreed to rehab and afraid they will lose their belongings.

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting adjourn (5:17 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 16, 2024.

_________________________________

_________________________________

Councillor Alexa Loo
Chair

Lorraine Anderson
Legislative Services Associate