July 9, 2024 - Minutes

Date:

Tuesday, July 9, 2024

Place:

Anderson Room
Richmond City Hall

Present:

Councillor Alexa Loo, Chair
Councillor Laura Gillanders
Councillor Kash Heed
Councillor Bill McNulty

Absent:

Councillor Andy Hobbs

Also Present:

Councillor Michael 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 Richmond Poverty Reduction Coalition’s report, “Improving Pedestrian Safety with Vision Zero Strategies In Richmond” 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 June 11, 2024, be adopted.

CARRIED

COMMUNITY SAFETY DIVISION

1.

COMMUNITY BYLAWS MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORT – MAY 2024

(File Ref. No. 12-8375-02) (REDMS No. 7712615)

In reply to queries from Committee, staff advised that (i) recycling offences are down due to enforcement drive and residents support, (ii) zoning bylaw related offences can be enforced in part by ticketing, (iii) staff will research other municipality’s policies related to truck parking on agricultural land and report back with a memorandum, and (iv) the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) and the city work together on issues/investigations on farm land.

Discussion ensued with respect to signage offences noting (i) sandwich board offences tend to be seasonal, however new businesses are permitted to place sandwich boards outside their businesses for a set number of days, (ii) businesses must obtain a sign licence to display a sign, highlighting that Council guidelines encourage businesses to advertise in one official language, and (iii) staff will respond to sign offences on a complaint basis.

That the staff report titled “Community Bylaws Monthly Activity Report – May 2024”, dated June 18, 2024, from the Director, Community Bylaws & Business Licencing, be received for information.

CARRIED

2.

TOUCHSTONE FAMILY ASSOCIATION RESTORATIVE JUSTICE ANNUAL PERFORMANCE  OUTCOME EVALUATION REPORT FOR 2023

(File Ref. No. 09-5375-01) (REDMS No. 7697223)

In reply to queries from Committee, Judy Valsonis, Executive Director, Touchstone Family Association (Touchstone), advised that Touchstone will follow up with the RCMP on how to better categorize crime offences, noting that the RCMP does not send serious offences through the Restorative Justice Program (RJ Program), and in addition to the RJ Program, Touchstone offers counselling services and youth summer recreation programs as extra support measures.

A brief discussion ensued with respect to increasing City funding to support Touchstone’s restorative justice services in Richmond.

That the staff report titled “Touchstone Family Association Restorative Justice Annual  Performance Outcome Evaluation Report for 2023” dated June 4, 2024 from the General Manager, Community Safety, be received for information.

CARRIED

3.

RICHMOND FIRE-RESCUE MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORT – MAY 2024

(File Ref. No. 09-5140-01) (REDMS No. 7699243)

In reply to queries from Committee, Fire Chief Jim Wishlove noted that incidents categorized as public service can include wellness checks as well as helping citizens that have fallen. Also, Chief Wishlove noted that staff are supportive of a province wide cessation of the sale of lockable lighters in British Columbia to anyone other than for industrial/commercial usages.

A brief discussion ensued with respect to the rail bridge trestle fire acknowledging Richmond Fire Rescue’s (RFR) efforts in extinguishing the fire and saving surrounding infrastructure. It was further noted that investigation into the cause is on-going and a demolition order has been issued to the structure following an engineering assessment.

That the staff report titled “Richmond Fire-Rescue Monthly Activity Report – May 2024”, dated June 10, 2024, from the Fire Chief, be received for information.

CARRIED

4.

FIRE CHIEF BRIEFING
(Verbal Report)

None.

5.

RCMP MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORT – MAY 2024
(File Ref. No. 09-5140-01) (REDMS No. 7699243)

In reply to queries from Committee, Chief Supt. Chauhan noted that
(i) incidents of auto thefts have increased due in part to reports of vehicles that are taken without owner’s consent and overdue rental vehicles, with most vehicles recovered locally, (ii) there have been a significant number of drug seizure incidents at Vancouver International Airport and decriminalization of drug offenses has not been a significant factor in the statistics, and
(iii) commercial break and enter incidents have increased but are down for the year.

Discussion ensued with respect to crime patterns and trends in other jurisdictions, noting that Richmond can use other jurisdictions statistics for comparison data but it can be difficult to use as an accurate assessment because factors such as population, demographic, hub cities, quoting/scoring systems, policies and procedures used in compiling their statistics differ per jurisdiction.  Additionally, the RCMP are active on several committees with other jurisdictions that discuss patterns, trends, sharing intelligence, and exploring funding initiatives.

That the report titled “RCMP Monthly Activity Report – May 2024”, dated June 13, 2024, from  the Officer in Charge, Richmond RCMP Detachment, be received for information.

CARRIED

6.

RCMP/OIC BRIEFING
(Verbal Report)

(i)

Steveston Salmon Festival

Chief Supt. Chauhan spoke to the 77^th anniversary of the Steveston Salmon Festival with over 100,000 people in attendance. Chief Supt. Chauhan noted the success of the event noting the presence of the Richmond RCMP, RFR, City staff and bylaw officers providing security and safety during the celebrations and that staff responded to incidents in a timely manner.

6A.

PEDESTRIAN SAFETY

Discussion ensued with respect to Richmond Poverty Reduction Coalition’s report (copy on file, City Clerk’s Office), “Improving Pedestrian Safety with Vision Zero Strategies in Richmond”, and how the City can increase pedestrian safety in Richmond.

Staff advised that the City responds to community concerns and has several initiatives to improve pedestrian and vehicle safety that align with the Vision Zero report, including the following:

§   

identifying high incident intersections;

§   

installation of channelized right turns;

§   

reducing speed limits in neighbourhoods;

§   

ongoing social media campaigns that are available in several languages;

§   

partnering with ICBC;

§   

continuing Road Safety Unit programs;

§   

engaging with youth, seniors, and new residents; and

§   

distributing reflectors depending on the change of season.

A brief discussion ensued with respect to (i) youth utilizing crosswalks properly, (ii) lowering speed limits, (iii) distracted driver incidents, and
(iv) how the City can reduce pedestrian incidents.

As a result of the discussion, the following referral motion was introduced:

It was moved and seconded

(1)

That the recommendation “Set a Target in Richmond’s Official City Plan that Envisions Zero Pedestrian Deaths in the Future”; and

(2)

That the Recommendation “Model After (Or Expand) The Distracted Driver's Program To Enforce The Pedestrian’s Right Of Way” be referred to staff and report back.

CARRIED

7.

MANAGER’S REPORT

None.

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting adjourn (5:11 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, July 9, 2024.

_________________________________

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Councillor Alexa Loo
Chair

Andrea Mizuguchi
Legislative Services Associate