Transcript: Council - 2026-09-28

Staff are ready. Welcome everyone to. I think you can tell the last council meeting of this term on Monday, September 28th. And tonight I want to acknowledge with respect that we are within the traditional territories of the Songhees and Kusapsum nation whose traditional territory. We live, we learn, we do our work.

And I want to speak just a minute about what is happening this week. Obviously it's the national day for truth and reconciliation and this is a day where we are honoring survivors from residential schools.

And we can do that in many ways. There are many events going on on Wednesday. The powwow is one of my favorites downtown because it's honoring, recognizing, but it's celebration of culture as well.

And it's done with open arms, just as they say. And so you can also attend a talk at UVic. There are many indigenous owned businesses, so consider supporting an indigenous owned business.

And the residential school survivors, we are remembering them. We're remembering the children who never returned home. And we want to recognize the system's ongoing impacts on Indigenous peoples, families and communities.

So at the very least stop, take a moment and think about your impact on our community, Indigenous communities, and what you can do that can speak to coming together and reconciliation. Thank you.

All right, there are no late items for this agenda, so. So I'm looking for a motion to approve the agenda. So moved.

Second.

Thank you. All those in favor? Any opposed? None opposed. I will remind you that we have regrets from Councillor Boardman, but we have a strange face in the room from. We welcome ex Counselor Armour to the room.

And I will now turn this over to Mr. Horan.

Thank you, your worship. Just going to come up to the middle here and then turn my back on you. Sorry. Good evening, everyone. Before we begin tonight, I would like to take a few moments to recognize three members of council who are not running again. And we would like to take this opportunity to formally recognize them. Councillor Ken Armour, Councillor Jacob Hallowell and Mayor Barbara Desjardin. Collectively, these individuals represent decades of service to the township. Their contributions extend well beyond their elected roles as residents, volunteers, committee members and members of council. They have each invested countless hours helping shape the community that we know today.

They have given their time, energy, expertise and passion to public service, always with the goal of making Esquimault a better place to live, work and to play. On behalf of the township, I want to express our sincere appreciation for your commitment, your leadership and your dedication to the people of Esquimo. So I will first start by inviting former councillor Ken Armour up, please. Councillor armour, Thank you for your service to Esquimault and for the thoughtful leadership you have brought to council. Before joining council in 2018, Councillor Armour was already an active member of the community, serving as Chair of the Advisory Planning Commission, Vice President of the Esquimalt Chamber of Commerce and Vice President of the Esquimalt Community Arts Council.

Since first being elected to Council Council, Armour has consistently approached issues with professionalism, diligence and a strong interest in building a vibrant and sustainable community. His extensive public service and public sector experience, strategic thinking and commitment to collaboration have been valuable assets around the council table. Please join me in thanking ex Councilor Armour for the many ways he has contributed to Esquimault and to the lasting impact of his public service. So what. What we have is this wonderful piece of art here which is a an etching of the township and on the very back I'll just flip it over so you can see it just says Councillor Armour and then the the time of his time.

Okay. Councillor Jacob Hallowell, thank you for your years of service and for your deep connection to this community. With family roots in Esquimault stretching back generations, Councillor Halliwell's commitment to this township has always been evident. Prior to his election to council in 2018, he dedicated his time to several community volunteer roles including service on the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee and the Board of Variants. Throughout two terms on Council, Councillor Helliwell has brought a thoughtful and analytical perspective to municipal governance. His professionalism, commitment to responsible stewardship and focus on building a connected and engaged community has has helped shape countless important decisions.

Please join me in thanking Councillor Halliwell for his contributions and his dedication to serving the residents of Esquimo. I think I might have to call you up here, Mayor Jardin. It's Mayor Barbara Desjardin. It is impossible to talk about Esquimault and how it has changed from the early 2000s to now without acknowledging Barb Desjardins leadership and impact. After serving three. Three years. I almost said three terms. Three years as councillor.

Barb Desjardin was elected mayor in 2008 and went on to be re elected five times, becoming Esquimo's longest consecutively serving mayor for nearly two decades. Mayor Desjardin has been a tireless advocate for this community. Her leadership has guided Esquimo through significant growth, renewal and transformation. Mayor Desjardin is known for her accessibility, collaborative approach, strong regional advocacy and an unwavering commitment to the residents of this community on behalf of staff and the broader organization. Thank you for your leadership Your vision and the countless hours you have dedicated to making Esquimo stronger, more connected, and better prepared for the future. Your contribution to this community will be felt for many years to come.

Please join me in thanking Mayor Desjardin for her service. I think so.

Are you done with your microphone?

I think so, yeah.

Wow. Okay, now down to business. Council, we have the minutes of the special council meeting held on September 14th. Motion to adopt, please.

Second.

Thank you. Any errors, omissions or changes required? Seeing None. All those in favor? Any opposed? None opposed. Motions carried. We have bylaws for adoption or first. Second reading that are subject to a public hearing. So we have the adoption of the building regulation bylaw. I will look for someone to put the recommendation.

I'll move that council adopt building regulation bylaw 2017, number 2899amendment. Bylaw 2026, number 3195.

Seconder, please.

Second.

Thank you. All those in favor? Any opposed? None opposed. Motions carried. We're down to public input. And this is on agenda item 8, which are the staff reports, the remembrance banner policy update, the municipal facilities, final financial analysis. Are there any members of the public that wish to speak? Are there any members of the public that wish to speak? Are there any members of the public that wish to speak? All right, I've called three times. And so we move on. And we are now down to staff reports, remembrance banner policy update. Ms. Zajak, welcome.

Hello. You folks have. The mayor and council have the report in front of you. It gives a bit of a synopsis of how the remembrance program has done since it came into being in 2021. And what we're really looking for right now is to move it to a more streamlined process. It's currently a council policy, so happy to answer any questions about that or discuss any changes in detail that you'd like.

Okay. Are there any questions first? Staff. All right, you know what to do. Council.

I'll move the staff recommendation to rescind the bylaw. No, rescind the policy. Sorry.

All right. Is there a seconder for that?

Second.

Thank you. Any discussion? All right. I just want to say that the push this year was phenomenal, and I think it's going to show significant results. And having had a banner myself, it's a really great way to go through the remembrance period. So I encourage everyone to. You don't have to. They don't have to be an Esquimault resident, but thank you.

And operationalizing this will allow you to continue that great push. All those in favor? Any opposed? None opposed. Motions carried. We now move down to municipal facilities options analysis. And I will go to Ms. Kitts.

Not long ago my colleague Mr. Cleary was here with the facility facilities assets management plan. And in that plan there was a motion approved by council including one to look at temporary uses, other uses for the temporary fire hall. So I'm here this evening with the options analysis project management for an options analysis of the fire hall and municipal hall.

Questions for staff, Councillor Cabins.

I just have one question about what puts we're expecting from this process. What are we expecting to get from

the consultant through the chair?

So there's a few things that will come from this first phase. So we do have it organized in three phases. The first phase will have an options analysis provided by the consultant that will look at multiple ways. We may consider the future use of the temporary fire hall as well as downstairs, the right sizing perhaps of municipal hall. They'll also work to retain and coordinate with architects so that they can prepare a class D level cost estimates for each of those options analysis. And so in the report that will be presented to council they'll also include a comparative cost schedule and risk summaries of those. And then in phase two, it's the design development phase and phase three is construction.

And the deliverables are obviously further extensive as we proceed down the line.

Other questions. Council, there is a recommendation in front of you.

I'll move the staff recommendation that council award contract SI 2601 Project Management Services for the municipal facilities Options Analysis to M3 Development Management Limited for Phase 1 of the Project in the amount of 61,200 excluding GST and allocate a Phase 1 total project budget in the amount of 150,000 to come from the contingency account.

Thank you. And is there a seconder? Thank you. Do you wish to speak to it?

I think it's really good for us to be thoughtful in what we use these spaces for. And sometimes we need somebody outside the scope to actually see what the possibilities are for those properties, if they're worthy

of doing that too.

What are the possibilities? Because we all get a little tunnel vision. So it's nice to. It'll be nice to get somebody else's clear headed perspective for it.

Councillor Cavant, just want to say how great it is that we're looking at different options for the temporary fire hall, which obviously was designed for a very specific purpose. But now that we know that it can last up to 15 more years, it's great that we're spending this Investing now. So we use that facility for as long as we can in a productive way.

Thank you.

Any further discussion? All right. Seeing none, I will call the question. All those in favor? Any opposed? None opposed. Motions carried. We are down to item three, which is financial analysis. Mr. Irvin.

Thank you, your worship. So, typically this report is presented later on in the year, but due to the election, we've moved it forward. So what you're seeing this evening are results from the beginning of the year, January 1st to July 31st. Tried to capture for the supplemental operating, as well as the capital projects, status as to whether they're complete, in progress or not yet started, and where we can try to provide some comments, ETAs, etc. I've also tried to, where possible, try and update some of the status even though July 31, if there is some progress being done in August or the time of the report.

I've tried to capture that in the report as well. So wanted to give council kind of an update of where we were in regards to the operating and capital projects, as well as an overall status update from the financials from an overall basis to the date of July 31st.

Thank you, council. Are there questions? This is a report for information only. Councillor Hallowell, Councillor Gavin.

Just to clarify, when there's a lot of projects that are showing a zero, but have end of year expected, finishing, and this is just simply when they're being done, as also when the invoices are being received as well. Right. So it's not that they're not being started or being completed, they're just in

progress through the chair. That is one of the conflicts with the way that we do the reporting is that there may be projects that are in the planning stage, initial discussions, or there's RFPs that have been created and been sent out, but there haven't been any costs that have been attributed to those projects yet. And where possible, I try to capture that information in this report.

Thank you.

All right, any further questions? All right, thank you very much. We move down and we're at public comment period again. And this is on any topic that impacts Esquimalt, excluding agenda items and matters that are or have been the subject of a public hearing. Are there any members of the public that wish to speak? You will have two minutes and name and address for the record.

Marie Boyce, 1157 Greenwood Avenue. We're doing Cops for Cancer on Thursday at 10 minutes to 3, so we'd like to have everybody out to support them. They'll be there for about 25 minutes. And we have Stephanie Greaves coming in to help us celebrate it all. So hopefully we can see as many people as possible.

And where is that, Murray?

That's at the town square.

Thank you.

Okay, thanks.

Let's pack the square. Are there any other members of the public that wish to speak? I will call a second time and I will call a third time, and seeing none, I will look for a resolution to close the meeting pursuant to section 90 of the Community charter.

So moved.

Seconder, please.

Second.

Thank you. All those in favor?

I'd like to motivate on this one. Oh, because we adjourning.

Okay. No.

So to close the meeting. He wants to motivate, but I'm going to. All those in favor of closing the meeting Eventually. Okay. And none opposed? Now I'm looking for a motion to adjourn.

I move to adjourn.

Is there a second or second? Okay. And I hear you'd like to motivate.

I would like to motivate. And it's three and a half minutes, so apologies to everybody. I just wanted to say before we conclude, a few thank yous to many, many people in this room, but first and foremost, to my wonderful wife, Maria. Oh, I gotta hold this together. Eight years ago, she literally knocked on thousands of doors for me and endured far more conversations about municipal issues than anybody other than those of us who do it willingly should ever reasonably have to endure. And to be entirely truthful, I've lost track of the number of people that told me that she is the main and perhaps only reason I was actually elected, including a few around this table.

And over the years, she has never once made me feel guilty about the evenings, weekends, family, time to come to council meetings, community events, random, unexpected conversations around town. And public service can ask a lot, but it's equally hard on the families. I couldn't have done it without her. Love, her support, patience, and thank you. So eight years ago, the community took a chance on a 29 year old kid who thought he had a few ideas and was willing to put his name on a ballot. I'm still not entirely sure if that was courage or a lapse in judgment, but either way, I'm incredibly grateful for the trust the community placed in me over the past eight years.

And I want to thank the residents of the community for their support, for their feedback, their patience, and occasionally the reminder that council meetings are both live streamed and retained for long periods of time. That's a true statement. I also want to thank our staff, past and present. They've Spent eight years patiently explaining some complicated issues to me, sometimes more than once, but always with professionalism and grace. Council often gets the public attention, but really it's staff that do all of the work day in and day out to keep the municipality moving forward every day. So to all of your expertise, your dedication and your commitment to this community, thank you very much to my council colleagues also past and present. Thank you.

While we haven't always agreed, I've always appreciated your thoughtful preparation, your genuine engagement, respectful debate and willingness to find consensus wherever possible. Those qualities make for better decisions, a better community and a rather enjoyable journey along the way. And of course, I would be remiss if I did not especially thank the mayor. And how informal of me, Barb, as you conclude, more than two decades of service to the community. When I arrived as a young first year counselor, you were welcoming, you were generous with your time and you never forgot that council wasn't my only responsibility. You were always mindful of my family commitments and my professional life when arranging meetings and appointments. And I've always appreciated that kindness more than you probably realized.

You've given an extraordinary amount of yourself to the community and you've done so with dedication, integrity and good humor. You're also, in my opinion, one of the best meeting chairs around. A meeting when we all agree is relatively easy. But keeping a controversial meeting respectful, productive and moving forward is a much rarer skill. So to everyone who's been part of the journey, thank you. Thank you for giving me a few moments to reflect. It was a privilege to serve and an honor that I will always cherish.

Before I speak as the seconder. Did you wish to add anything?

I was going to, but I think we'll let you guys do it.

I think

first I want to respond to that because Jacob Councelor Helloell, you have been such a value to our community and to this council. Table. I hear that after every meeting and every time somebody has listened to or engaged with us, that and I know from the rest of us around the table that when Jacob speaks, we all listen.

And it's been often that we have reconsidered and it's an amazing process and TABLE. When you have the group that we have, where we have somebody can speak and where we thought we came in with what we thought we were going to go out with, we change our mind and we set a different direction.

And so it's an extremely valuable skill to your family. We know how much, you know, that you have given to us and that's taken away from them. So thank them and we know we'll see you in the community and watch your boys grow. And they will benefit from Esquimalt as well and the work that you've done. I just want to add similar words to what Jacob has said. You, you can't do this without family. And 21 years ago my family thought I was a little crazy to do this. But they, they said you got to do it. If that's what you want to do, you got to do.

Is interesting how they have always been in my corner and yet it's funny because this term there have been several people that didn't even know my husband existed and finally met him. So we must have done a really good job. And so the thanks to family is so important and we went through a lot of challenge through our time and I lost a daughter and so family always comes first.

But this community is also like family to us. Right. I want to thank council. You guys have been extraordinary and I mentioned it earlier, but you're an amazing group of people and I'm really excited to see how things go forward and I look forward to getting past all these elections.

But

you are valuable people in the community. You each bring skill sets. I talked the last two elections, I tried to put forward the idea of skills matrix. Check out the skills of your people who are running for council.

And I think we landed on a great group. So I really want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart and all those before you as well. Mayors don't do it by themselves. It's a group of seven people. Thank you to staff. You are incredible at helping make us look good. You have done so much work in the background and we appreciate it. And there have been many staff over the years and every one has done something that has helped to move us forward and so I'm incredibly grateful for that. It, as I said, makes us look good and helps us do our job. I want to say thank you to the community. What a community. What a special community. It just warms my heart.

When I started, as I started to unpack some of the issues, there were so many discussions of such a rough edged community. People would mention the fights between the Navy and the army and they'd meet in the middle, which was Archie Browning and chaos would occur every weekend and there were just rough diamond and that diamond is shining now.

And so the community has grown in so many ways. I just can't even express how beautiful it is. But they're still feisty. And the other two ingredients for this community is the sense of community is palpable.

And the sense of belonging, everyone has it. And so if I can just offer a couple of words to community, to council, the next council, future councils, whatever you do, try and hang on to those things.

The sense of community, the sense of a caring community, the sense of belonging and a little bit of feistiness. That's our secret sauce. I've talked about that over the years. I look forward to what esquimo will be in the coming years. This is the place to be, and I'm incredibly honored, and I've been incredibly privileged to be mayor for this time, and I just can't say thank you enough. So we have a motion to adjourn on the floor.

Are you ready for the question?

And you have to stay.

All those in favor, thank you. Thank you, everyone.

It.