Transcript: Regular Council - 22 Jun 2026

Good evening. I'd like to call our regular council meeting on Monday, June 22nd to order at 6 PM. I'm Mayor Cliff McNeel Smith. Um it's nice to see everyone in the meeting uh this evening. Uh thank you for coming. Um it's quite a nice evening out there, but hopefully it's a little cooler. We'll try to keep it the right temperature in in the chamber this evening. Um to my far left, introducing members of council. To my far left, uh councelor Richard Novik will uh be absent from tonight's this evening's meeting. Uh we have councelor Terry O'Keefe. Uh councelor Chadman Tulle is participating uh via Zoom. Uh good evening. And uh to my far right, councelor Steve Duck, councelor Sarah Duncan, and councelor Scott Grenette.

Good evening to members of staff uh in the chamber and uh also participating online. uh we do introduce all members of staff when they are when they are speaking or providing information to council and good evening again to uh to members of the public to our presenters uh that are here this evening and um I'll next turn to respectfully acknowledge that we are holding this evening's meeting in the territory of the Wenish people and um uh today known as the Seot nation the Sartip nation the Pakuchian nation the Sikum nation and the Malahhat nation and we appreciate their uh longstanding connection to these lands and waters for millennia that continues to this day in the importance of working together for the stewardship of these lands uh for the future and future generations.

In turn to approval of the agenda, there are just a couple of additions uh since the agenda was excuse me since the agenda was published last Thursday. Uh the first is that with councelor um Novc not in attendance, we'll be removing his council report uh under agenda item 11. Um and second under council reports councelor duck uh will be providing an additional verbal report uh for the um sip AGM and also regarding two community recognition events. So those will be additions. Uh and the third item is we have an additional piece of correspondence. Uh it is a letter from uh Amanda Co and that will go under correspondence for information uh number 15.7 uh which accompanies another item on the same topic. Uh, and with no changes or additions, I would seek a motion to approve the agenda. Thank you.

Second. Moved and seconded by councelor Garnett. Any further discussion? Seeing none, those in favor? I have a question. Begy, pardon, mayor. Uh, yes, councelor. Councilman Tulle, please. Could you speak uh just briefly to the rationale of a presentation from sales and sagas for special permit? There's a staff report. Uh, we've seen them before. I'm just curious uh why there would be a presentation on this item. Thank you for the question, councelor. I may turn to staff. Perhaps Mr. Edwards could uh could take that. Uh thank you, mayor. Um so sales and sagas has been before council and was approved uh for the event planned in August and uh however through their own event planning and permit um uh the acquisition of their permit uh from the liquor cannabis uh branch. it was determined that they would need a special event permit uh for the type of event that they're holding. And um in order for them to secure a special event permit, they need a council resolution identifying that the event is of

municipal significance, which is uh outlined in the staff report. Agreed. It's all in the staff report. So my worry was really why we're having a presentation. I I'll yield, mayor. I won't support the agenda as circulated. Thank you. No, thank you. And and um I I believe the presenters are here and given that they've presented to us before, I I would anticipate their presentation would be relatively short. Not trying to cut you off, but uh but also it does give council the opportunity to ask any questions should there be uh any. So I I will look to to call the question. Those in favor? Thank you. Opposed? Councelor Inul is opposed. The motion carries.

Thank you. Uh we're next turning to sorry I would seek a motion to approve the minutes of our June 8th council meeting moved by councilors Duck and O'Keefe. Any corrections to those minutes? Seeing none, those in favor? Uh thank you. That carries unanimous. And that takes us down to public participation opportunities. So we have different sections within public participation and um there'll be uh three parts to it this evening. The first will be our general public participation period where members of the public can come up and address council for up to four minutes on any topic on the agenda uh or another matter. Um and the second is that we're presenting the town of Sydney 2025 annual report uh this evening and as per provincial legislation that does um require a special public participation uh period. So if anyone wishes to speak to the annual report this evening, we would ask that you wait until after the general public participation and and speak at that time and then we will uh we will have three presentations uh from

uh community members or organizations um that will round out the overall public participation. So I will call the uh general public participation period uh open and ask if anyone wishes to come forward. If you do, please provide your name uh in the misibility that you reside in and um there's a little button at the bottom of the microphone that will make the mic live for the meeting. Good evening. Good evening. My name is Rob Simon and I'm a Sydney resident in Ray Pair. I'm here tonight to speak to the report to council regarding the parks and amenity contribution amendment for 99723rd Street. At the advisory committee meeting on April 7th, a question was raised about the feasibility of including a playground on this highly intensive development site. Developer response in the sub subsequent financial framework before you tonight raises serious uh concerns for our community.

When asked about the playground, the developer dismissed the idea. He noted that as a parent, he happily walks 500 meters to a kilometer to a nearby daily park, claiming a small on-site playground wasn't worth the effort. Instead, he pointed out that the development's DCC contribution could easily be used to enhance nearby parks. However, there appears to be a major disconnect in messaging depending on the audience. to the advisory committee. An on-site playground wasn't necessary because of dcc contribution. But after securing notional support from the committee, developers now seeking a significantly lower, highly favorable DCC contribution requirement. Developers requested for the actual zoning for the property. Developers requesting reszoning from R6R to R seven. By my estimates, only onethird of the building will be built on land currently zoned R seven. The rest of land would be mostly parking lot. The majority of this large Elsate structure is actually sitting on land currently zoned R6R.

Staff reports suggest that a flat contribution of 2350 per square meter results in about $148,000 minus existing credits. Ever using standard DCC calculation, the SPA for the space, it should look like for RM7, the contribution should be $284,000 approximately. R6R of $510,000. If this amendment gets approved, I know not you're not approved it tonight. The Tal is looking at a shortfall of anywhere between $100,000 and $350 for for our parks and amenities depending on your reference point. High Point is actually minimizing its contribution to the community while maximizing the density of the site. As a resident neighbor, I find this deeply disturbing. Everyday citizens cannot approach the town and ask for lower property taxes. discounted utility bills and reduced fees. There should be no special treatment or discounted rates for developers who are placing massive long-term density demands on our neighborhoods. Further, I strongly suggest that revenue in DCC calculations should not be handled by the exact same town department managing zoning and development applications. To ensure objective oversight, financial assessments should be handled by the finance and revenue department.

council, we cannot afford to leave hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table for park infrastructure, especially when the developer especially argued against green space on site and pointing exactly to those DCC funds. You have to be fair to all rateayers and developers alike. I urge you to reject this amendment when it comes forward and hold this development to the standard DCC requirements. Thank you. Thank you for coming forward this evening. I'll call for a second time. Please come forward. Hi, thank you worship members of council. Um I I am the developer so I can address this right now. That's great. Um for uh oh sorry uh Eric Delarm High Street Ventures um our file um for our multif family residential development at 99723rd Street is on the agenda uh today. I'd love to touch on a few of those comments that were just made if that's okay. Um, I'd like to start with maybe some of the the heaviest hitting uh pieces of information from there, which is great and I'll keep it under four minutes, I promise. Thank you.

Um, so when we initially purchased this site, um, it was zoned RM7. Now, in working with um in working with staff and with yourselves, zone amendment was um then proceeded to downzone the site um to keep rental stock in the town of Sydney. Now, as those negotiations and conversations advanced, uh High Street V high street ventures committed to providing rental as that was the uh that was the intent that was the request and that was the need of the town. Now, as an unintended outcome, um the amenity contribution to accommodate the original RM7 density from the RM6R density increased significantly. Um and so I I do recognize that this is a very unique request. Um we in working with staff requests or sorry respectfully request that the amenity fee calculation to be based on the original zoning so the RM7 zoning to not be of a punitive nature to providing the rental tenure that the town wanted or the town intended. Um I can speak to uh some of

the advisory uh outcomes. Um so the one comment that was noted the playground on the site. Um we are providing a playground on that site. Um so that thank you for that and I apologize that um that wasn't transparently communicated um to you so we can chat after. Um the parking on site is really just to keep all of the parking on site and off of the adjacent roadways and to stay bylaw compliant. Um as for the density comment um we are proposing lower density um than our adjacent multif family specifically the uh the multif family residents to the north. Um so when we look at this in terms of community context as well as fairness um when we look at the overall root cause we purchased the land as our seven it was reszoned to provide u rental stock in the town. We have committed to rental stock. Um this request is truly a request so that the the rental provision is not punitive in nature and and that is that's that. Now uh in working with

staff they've done an excellent job in the staff report providing the background providing the context. Um I'm I'm really happy I'm here today to speak to this. Um I thank you for your time. I will be around after if there are any questions. I'm more than happy to get into it. But thank you for your time. Thank you for coming forward. I'll continue asking if there's anyone who wishes to come forward. Please come forward. Good evening. Good evening. Uh my name is Jamie Wilbourne. I live in Sydney and I'm speaking tonight in regards to the extreme weather response shelter proposal at St. Andrews Church. Uh we now have local evidence to de to demonstrate that the warming center at the public library operated safely without incident or impact to the surrounding area is appreciated by those who needed it and kept them alive on the coldest nights of winter. I think this proposal was a great idea and I strongly support uh the temporary use permit. Thank you. Thank you.

Does anyone wish to come forward? Good evening. Your worship. Good evening, your worship, members of council. Apologies for the uh abrupt entry there of my phone falling out of my hands as I walked in. Uh my name is Nyall Palt, chair of the uh Peninsula Recreation Commission. I reside in central Sanich. And uh before anything else, I just want to acknowledge items 15.3 uh the letter from uh the PRC that I'm here to address this evening as well as 15.8 uh letter from Chief Pelky and Seout Nation on behalf uh or you know speaking to this item as well. Um, ultimately this comes down to uh the u revised scope uh request that came through the PRC has now been uh um looked at by the CRD board and then will be re-evaluated for ratification at the PRC meeting uh next Thursday. Um the the two things uh that we can't lose sight of here is really about uh trust and fairness. Um today we're reminded that this does not happen in isolation. Um

just like you your worship and members of your council uh many of us spent a day today working with the Capitol Regional District looking at future transportation models alongside other municipalities, nations and regional stakeholders. It was a reminder of the seriousness that we as a region and specifically in the town of Sydney we take in planning together, innovating and coming up with new models that work uh for the community and our shared responsibility to the region. It's something that we take seriously and equity in that regard is not just a principle we speak about but a standard that we live by when it comes to this pair down proposal by the PRC. When it comes to the feedback that we received from your council and your public and addressing the key items that were identified over the decade of needs assessment, we listened to some of the criticism and concerned and have worked in earnest to come back with a proposal that is more uh um I guess reduced to the point that really does hit on those key needs and the key areas that we know

at both Forest Park, the Panorama Rec facility in North Sanich as well as Greenlade, the Panorama Rec facility in Sydney. We know there are going to be critical challenges in offering those services that are not going to be met with things like increasing hours or uh other tweaks to our current program. Investment is needed and based on the PRC's analysis, this is the most cost effective way that thing that we found to date as an option. Um there was a business case provided by the PRC and uh I have appended that as part of the frequently asked questions within the staff report. So what's before you for consider not for consideration tonight but for information I believe and uh what will be for consideration uh is this paired down proposal. uh we're reducing the uh overall requisition request uh required from both Sydney and all three municipalities by about 30% as well as by our footprint. Um that's not to say we still don't believe in the 100%

amount but we do feel that coming in with something modest uh and something that that does reflect some of the feedback that we did receive from this table um is an earnest and I would say a laststep approach. Um, I did get asked the question at the last PRC meeting from one of the commissioners. Well, if you if this fails, are you going to come back with a 50% reduction? No, this is we're I'm doing this and coming back with this through the PRC because we genuinely believe in the options that have been explored and the the long analysis that had been done for the last decade on bricks and mortar in the south of the peninsula. This is the best and most cost-effective option. And last thing I'll say is I know concern does get raised about timing. Um there's a number of geopolitical and other challenges out there that folks have have cited as a reason to uh uh hold back in making capital investment at

this time. And I just think it's important to point out that it was 1974 when the PRC was founded when there was high inflation and high um uh capital challenges that were um facing the region at the time. It was in the 1980s, 1982 when the aquatic facility was built, which was also during 13% interest rates. We were in the.com bubble crash when Arena B was built. 2008 during the financial crisis was when we took on Greenlade uh as a facility for uh for Panorama, which was another item where we were looking at economic headwinds, but felt that recreation and quality of life was worth investing. And then during the COVID pandemic 2020 to 2022 we did the uh refrigeration project arena floor replacement and other significant projects. So I think that investing in recreation, investing in our people and ensuring that mental health, quality of life and equity um this is the time that these investments actually do make more impact because the private sector as we

know is dialing back right now. And ultimately, I think that this paired down approach is our our our sincere and last ditch effort to uh really come up with something special that will benefit the entire region on the south side of this peninsula. So, thank you for hearing me and uh between now and uh consideration of this item as a borrowing bylaw from the CRD, I will humbly be available to answer any questions or furnish you with any further information to supplement your decision-making. Thank you very much. Thank you for coming forward this evening and um uh we appreciate that you've provided the information you have to to council which is appended in the agenda uh for members of the public. Uh this is a is a revised scaledown version of the central sanage recreation facilities in central sanage. It's not for consideration by council this evening but we appreciate that PRC chair Paul Teal has provided this information and as well has provided uh what the process is going forward. So the PRC commission at its meeting later this

week will consider a revised lower borrowing bylaw. It will then go to the uh CRD board and at their July board meeting and then passing those two uh meetings uh potentially could come back to the three municipalities for consideration uh later in July or August. So just uh some information for members of the public at this time. Thank you again. Uh, I'll call for last time if anyone's wishing to come forward in public participation. I'm not seeing any. So, we'll close the general public participation period and we're going to turn to uh what will be a special public participation opportunity. Uh, we are presenting the uh 2025 uh town of city municipal uh annual report and I'll turn to uh Miss Judson, our manager of communications to introduce it, please. Good evening.

Thank you very much and thank you for considering the 2025 annual report. Uh it includes audited financial statements for the year ending in December 31st, 2025. Uh departmental updates including indicators of how seven key community plans are being have been implemented and an overview of uh 2026 initiatives and also a progress report of the town's strategic plan. While each new report um contains the accomplishments and future plans, uh you can sense some consistency in this plan as council moves into its final term. We were able to to work under a consistent strategic plan and stable council portfolio structure. So, some of those pieces you'll see um the same this year. There'll be changes next year. And also next year we're going to get updated demographic data from Statistics Canada and we'll have the uh refreshed bianial emissions estimates for climate actions. So um you may find this is uh not a lot of surprises in this annual report but there is a lot to be proud of there. Thank you.

Thank you for the introduction. I'll turn to colleagues if there are any questions the report. Looking online not seeing any questions so or councelor O'Keefe please. Uh thank you. Um kind of comments maybe some questions actually just just questions because we do have a recommendation and comments could be made at that time. Okay. Um but we're going to do we're going to do public participation special public participation after any council questions. Okay. Thanks for the um the clarity. Um so questions then. Um I just in looking at the uh the climate a action section and um yeah a lot of things I liked. We'll comment on that later but um there was something in there about um the trend toward there was waste increase by over 100% and then industrial processes and product use increase. And I'm just wondering if we have any indication of where those come from and how we might uh communicate to the public as to how we could um bring those bring those down.

I'll turn to our director of community planning, Mr. Nukem. Good evening. Thank you uh to the mayor to councelor O'Keefe. Um so the the differences between those uh two reporting periods is a difference in the way that the emissions reporting was done. Uh the capital regional district prepares uh every two years prepares an emissions inventory and they tried to keep it consistent but um they do sort of re rejig a little bit between those two periods how they calculate things. And so I believe the explanation for that is a a move from straight emissions to a per capita allocation of emissions more recently. So it appears higher. Uh it's not a true representation of our waste emissions. It's a per capita representation from a regionwide calculation.

Okay, that's good to know. And hopefully next time we get the report, it'll kind of work its work its way out. I Yeah. And unfortunately it's the uh the explanation for it is quite complex and so it doesn't quite fit into the report. Thank you. Okay, that's great. Thank you. Thank you. Uh seeing no further questions, I'll now uh open the special public participation period. Does anyone wish to come forward to uh have any does they have any questions or comments with regards to the 2025 municipal annual report? I'll call for a second time and I'll call for a third time. Seeing none, I'll close the special special participation period and I'll look to a colleague to move the staff recommendation. Councelor Duck.

I so move that the report be approved as presented. Second. Moved by councilors Duck and Garnett. Do you have first opportunities to speak, please? Well, I just want to extend uh congratulations to staff for putting this report together. As as Miss Judson said, there's it's a continuation of what's happened over the last three years. So there was no big excitement in it, but I want to thank you for the information and and the statistics in it because I think it demonstrates the work that happens behind the scenes and and often doesn't get reported that u staff grinds out on a daily basis and so it's good to see that kind of information reflected. Thank you. Thank you councelor councelor Gette.

Thank you Maria and thank you to staff. Thank you very much for the report as usual. I I think what's great for the or beneficial for the community is to see just how much gets accomplished in a year. Uh councelor Duck sort of touched on it, but I think we we just take it for granted a lot of the work that gets done, we just know it's been done, but it there there's a lot and if you look through the report, you can each department and it shows what was done in the current in the past year and it's pretty impressive given the size of our staff. So, thank you very much. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, councelor. Councelor O'Keefe.

Uh yeah, similar uh comments. I think um the annual report is a good time for the community to get a good idea of all the things that staffford staff are doing and uh some of the successes we've had. Um there one particular aspect I like with the climate action uh segment was um not only did it list you know the various things that had taken place but it also um provided information overall about how we were uh working towards reducing our targets. So identifying that greenhouse gas emissions had decreased by 5.6% 6% um that community emissions were a bit up. So I think it's useful to be including that kind of data and those trends as well as the the individual things that we're doing. So I appreciated that. Um just one thing I would be interested in seeing um in the future would be um maybe how close we are to meeting our targets for 2030 and 2050. um if there's you know next time I go through this process if there's uh

any information on that and uh yeah I'll leave it there. Thank you. Thank you counselor. Uh not seeing others uh wishing to speak. I'll I'll just add that um grateful to staff for all the accomplishments uh last year. uh council is a policy setting body and and uh uh is uh you know we offer opportunities for important engagement with the community uh to help set priorities and and uh move uh particular initiatives forward but it's really the work of staff across all departments and the entire organization uh that execute those those policy and project uh projects for our community. uh the citizen satisfaction survey done several months ago now uh reflected the community satisfaction at at 93% with the delivery of the broad range of services that that staff provide and I think uh a reading of this report indicates again as others have spoken to the breadth uh and scope of of the municipal services that are provided. I always add this comment uh at at the end

of talking about the annual report that whether you've lived in the community a long time or whether you're a newer resident or or business owner uh or with a nonprofit organization um the um the annual report is a great place to start to get familiar to get more familiar with uh with your uh local government with the things that we provide to the community. uh and I encourage everyone to take uh if not glimpses of of sections that interest you to have a a good look at the annual report. It's it's very informative. So with that, I'll look to call the question. All in favor?

That car is unanimous? Thank you. And now we're turning to uh the first of our three presentations this evening. And just I think the presenters may be aware but just uh so they are uh we're going to first have a presentation from ArtC on their annual report. We're next going to have a presentation from sales and sagas the sales and saga special event and then we'll have a presentation uh from St. Andrews and Clinton Church regarding the temporary use permit for an extreme weather response shelter. So let us begin with uh calling forward Hope Hillyard, president of ArtsC Community Arts Council to provide uh their update on their annual report.

Good evening. Welcome. Good evening and thank you for the opportunity. It was great leadin to talk about annual reports and uh this is our overview of our annual report and some highlights of what we're looking forward to next year. Are we here? Just just bringing that up for you. As you mentioned, my name is Hope Hillyard and I'm uh the newly elected president of uh Artsy, our community arts council. So, it's been quite a learning curve and uh one that I'm I'm pretty excited about. We do have There we are. [laughter] I'm lost without it. So, okay, I'm going to highlight our accomplishments over 2025 and have a look at our um 2026 vision. Which one?

Okay, next. There's a whole there's a whole Yeah, I didn't. Yeah, I didn't make it easy. So, who are we? We're the arts council that contributes to building a vibrant community, enriching the lives on the peninsula through visual arts, literary arts, cultural programming, community engagement, volunteerism, and economic development through arts and culture. We're the umbrella organization that covers a number of of different um events that happen. At a glance, we did have a remarkable year with 25,000 visitors to our gallery in Toista Park. Given that that's only open 10 months of the year, we're quite amazed at how many people come through that on a daily va basis. We had 7,500 visits in our studio tour, which is held in the fall each year. Over 2,000 people attended our lantern festival which is in August and we have more than 50 volunteers.

Hundreds of artists are supported. We're developing and we do have strong community partnerships and we're most excited about the momentum we're be we're beginning to build. We've had successful artsy gallery exhibitions, our studio tour, continued growth in our lantern festival. We're expanding our community partnerships and we're increasing our volunteer engagement and strategic planning and business plan for future growth and development of new revenue. [laughter] Oh, you're you're good. It's a big thing that we are trying to develop new revenue sources. uh our new board of directors which was just elected uh we had to change our bylaws to uh add three positions because we've got some really keen uh very talented people who wanted to join our board and we have a board of highly quality qualified directors bringing governance finance marketing community development event management arts programming sponsorship development and business leadership all in uh a group of there's 10 of And our volunteers are the heart of our artsy. We're growing volunteer team contributed 3,791

hours in 2025 which represents nearly $100,000 of inind contribution. And the these volunteers support our gallery. They support the events. They support our studio tour, lantern festival administration, fundraising. And without them, we couldn't exist. And one of them I thought I'd highlight is Jen, who is our lantern festival curator. The reason I'm highlighting her is I had the opportunity to go to her studio just um couple of weeks ago and I was absolutely amazed. She has 20 years experience building lanterns. Uh she was the lead lantern artist at the Luminina Festival in Victoria those years ago. Educated in visual arts, attended a master class in largecale lantern making in the UK. Who knew there was such a thing? And she was there. She's a community arts leader.

She's an artistic mentor to key volunteers. She transformed a small children's event of about 20 kids with little lanterns into the festival that we know today. It's become such a a beloved uh celebration. Now over 2,000 participants and the it's a signature event bringing families together through creativity, imagination, and community spirit. And right now they're building a whale that is as as long as your uh uh desks up there and it'll move with five people being holding it, moving it through the lantern festival. What these uh people take on is quite remarkable. But what's next for us? Buildings, financial stability, backup. [laughter] Okay, really this is the big thing that we're working on right now. uh we need to deal with uh problems that we've had with stemming back to COVID.

Okay. We are introducing a silent auction program supporting both artists and the arts council. And with this we have donated work. The uh artists that are in our gallery every single week are uh so uh generous in donating work that we can uh hold a silent auction in the gallery which will create new revenue opportunities uh exposure for them and community engagement. So we're really hopeful that this helps uh to build some sustainability for our programs. We're introducing the art of living, which I'm very excited about. A signature fundraising event that'll be held in next March at the Mary Winspear Center. It is going to highlight fine art. It'll be a jured fine art show.

It'll have uh vignettes showcasing local businesses in an experiential and creative format. There'll be music, displays, and demonstration. It will be not a trade show, but it will have all our local businesses highlighting the artistry of their business. Think of the artistry of wine making or the artistry of of entertaining or the art of um home decor. And we're going to have all of that mixed in with our fine art show. We're hoping that it becomes a signature event for the peninsula and a signature event for Artsy. And we've had such good support from uh the co-op is our major sponsor. They've given us a very gener generous uh sponsorship to start us off.

Uh the Seaside Magazine is also a very generous sponsor and the businesses that we've approached are are we've had nobody say no so far. Not that I've asked all that many, but I'm out there right now. Um, we are looking at programs celebrating our First Nations talent, developing new opportunities to showcase local indigenous artists, share their cultural stories, create partnerships, and promote cultural understanding. And this will be a very meaningful addition to our programming. We're looking at adding a youth program. We're developing school partnerships, creating opportunities for youth exhibi exhibitions, mentorships, emerging artists, and community engagement, investing in the future of arts and culture. Our gallery, we find, is underutilized during January and February. In fact, it's closed. Uh we're underervicing the community. We could be hosting talks, demonstrations, workshops. There's space that we don't use very well both in the back corner on the on the decks. And we're looking at some simple modifications in planning that can turn our gallery into a community hub 12

months of the year. So that's on our list for 2026. Our biggest challenges of course are stable funding, replacing the two positions eliminated during COVID, two of three positions we had. Recovery from COVID has been slow. dropping important positions has resulted in programs being dropped and the programs are the ones directly related to the businesses in Sydney. The artwalk and the coast capital um show has both had to be dropped. We didn't just didn't have the resources to put that together. Our aging IT system without funds to update our software takes a lot of time to do anything. Register memberships to register shows. We have a growing demand with the limited resources. We have rising operating course costs and heavy reliance on volunteers to deliver programs and event all the same time the demand for arts and culture in the peninsula continues to grow.

But a strong arts and culture council contributes supporting to the local economy, brings thousands of visitors, increases local spending, supports tourism, supports local business. strengthens our community and we are considering that uh arts and culture is an economic and social driver and the art of living event we are hoping will uh make that even stronger that connection and artsy supports emerging artists established artists literary artists musical artists artisans cultural creators and we're developing a meaningful relationship with SPACK which is the Sanage Peninsula Arts and Crafts Society and we're partnering with a couple events with them. And a strong arts uh culture also brings people together, artists, volunteers, families, businesses, visitors, and creating a stronger, more connected community. And we recognize how important that is and why we're working so hard to build our sustainability.

Our vision is to establish the Sanage Peninsula as one of BC's leading arts and cultural destinations. We're hopeful. We're optimistic and very excited about the momentum we're generating. We're more than an arts council where we are a community building partner that contributes directly to many of the town of Sydney's strategic goals of economic vitality, community well-being, cultural enrichment, and a destination development. We'd like to thank Sydney for your $25,000 grant. With your funding, you are supporting artists, culture, community, creativity, and economic vitality. And I'll close by saying together we're building something extraordinary. And I appreciate the uh opportunity to tell you about our past year.

Thank you very much for your presentation, Miss Hillyard. I'll turn to colleagues if there are any questions or comments. This report or this presentation is for information only. There's no recommendation. Um, councelor O'Keefe. Uh, sure. Um, thank you for the presentation. Um, having having been the art liaison in the past, I know um, how much artsy had had struggled with, you know, postcoid like a lot of arts organizations had with funding and also loss of volunteers. And so I think it's really exciting to see that you've recruited 10 uh, new people with lots of skill sets. So that's cool to see. And um I know those those members who were there before, they worked really hard just to keep keep things going. So it's great to see a bunch of new people coming in and bringing fresh life and skills uh to uh to your board.

Um the art of living sounds really exciting. So I I'm understanding that to be like a major fund fundraising event. Is that Yeah. Oh, yeah. It's a a make orb break event. So, uh and I think it'll be a make event. We're very excited about the uh enthusiasm. Yeah. Okay. And in looking at your financials, I know and and I think you mentioned as well the the funds available through different grant programs and that has has declined quite a bit. Um, did you have any kind of ballpark figure on, you know, what you were looking to to net with such a a fundraiser like that? Like would it replace I have an exact figure. We are projecting a $20,000 loss this year, our budget and uh we were experiencing a $20,000 last loss last year where the hundred women who care came through with a $20,000 donation which allowed us to pay bills last year. Well, we're faced with that same $20,000 loss. So, we had to be really aggressive and say we are um diving in with all our feet into the

art of living and we're hoping to raise $50,000 51,000 I think 600 actually is our budget which will help us not only through this year it'll help us update our IT system and it'll give us a bit of a cushion to move into next year. Great. Um the other thing I noticed was in the um the membership information and I noted that 52% I believe of gallery bookings were for people in Victoria and that also 44% of members were from outside the Sanich Peninsula. So, um, the I'm wondering, do the those members outside of the peninsula, do they pay a higher amount for the use of the gallery or So, the um really the people join Artsy to rent the gallery. That's that's just a tie. There's really not a lot of other benefits. And yes, there is funding changing this year that groups can't apply for a membership as a group member. they all have to be members and uh that was our first step this year and many groups will have members in many communities. So we've said this year every single person has to have a

membership to show and then we are um our uh studio tour we've introduced a fee for non peninsula residents and next year our our plan is to introduce an additional fee for non peninsula residents for memberships as well. Okay, that's great. What it uh what it showed remind me again of that um we talk about you know this region this area of the Victoria area contributing to the arts ecosystem and I see that in your figures with so many people coming from Victoria and outside Peninsula that we seem to be doing a good job at and there seems to be a need for what you're offering.

There is. Yeah. And and we're advertising our membership or our key for communication and um our art of living event. We're hoping we will be advertising from Zuk to Sydney to Naimo. It'll be a draw for the whole island and the artist submissions will be from all over BC. Great. Okay. Great. Thank you. That's all. Thank you, councelor. I'll turn to councelor Dun, please. Yeah. Thank you. I'm now the leazison who's followed Terry and uh So, I've been there as the board has changed and and obviously gone through this uh expansion and it's been really nice to see um I know as as a council every budget we we have uh organizations that we have to talk about how we fund them and um there have been you know other our other big uh community groups like Shaw or the museum you know making sure that they're looking at other ways to raise funing uh so that they're not relant entirely on on the town is always appreciated. And one of the things the museum came with a number of years ago

was that they changed their donation collection. Uh so that as people were going through they they managed they changed it to a tab I believe and now and their donations tripled just like that. Like they did nothing else. They just it made it easier. Yeah. And so I'm just wondering if there's things that you've looked at in addition it sounds like you know you've got this great show and I'm really looking forward to it and I think I want to go. Um, but it sounds like a lot of work where it sounds like there's things you could do that are probably less work that could really increase your your funding. And I'm wondering if there's other things you've looked at like that or um evaluating your gallery fees just generally because I know the Mary Windspear when they came just a few weeks ago.

Um I I asked them about their art art rentals. They have their display cases and and it's very highly in demand. So, I'm wondering if there's a way you can kind of tear who you rent the gallery to. Maybe we could probably you could probably ask for a lot more if you have people coming from as far as Victoria or putting in the programming fees that are that are increased. All really good ideas and the the tap is quite high on our list. Uh we did a tour, my husband and I went up island all the way to Hornby stopping at all the arts councils and quite a few of them had the the tap system. It's an expensive system to operate, but uh yeah, we we're like I said, we're sinker swim right now. So, we had to prioritize the biggest bang for our buck this year.

But, uh those are all great ideas. And I think we need to do all of them. We need to do some of all of that. and as we get more volunteers, more helpers, and uh just [clears throat] the ability to introduce them. But the tiered rates are really um I think important to do. Great. I just wanted to make sure that council heard you're being economically forward thinking with this. You've got your plans and uh No, that sounds great. I'm glad. All the best. Thank you. And thank you for all your support during the year, too. Thank you, councelor Duncan. I do see a hand raised on on the screen and I'm not sureing what that might be. It's not yourself, councelor. We do have a a hand raised on the on our screen in front.

Um I do not have my hand raised. No. Okay. [laughter] Figuratively. There we go. Councelor Ganette, please. Thank you, Mayor. Uh thank you Miss Hillier for your presentation and for taking on the role of president uh in a very important organization in our community. So appreciate your time and commitment and your enthusiasm that comes through quite quite vividly through the presentation. Um my my question around is around the resource aspect and I was looking at the various breakdowns of uh and I re I watched the presentation to North Sanage Council earlier this year uh and I notic there was a request for some more funding and I'm just curious to what the end result of that might have been.

Oh they they uh for six years had donated $7,500 toward Artsy and this year it went up to 12,500. So, we're very happy about that. And I'm actually following next week with them um as well because I think that we have so many artists that live in North Sanich. We want to make sure that there's an equal uh share of support as well as participation. So, well, congratulations on being able to Oh, I was Thank you. I was very excited. Yeah. With regards to the um District of Central, it says there's a four-year funding agreement. When does that run out? We have one more year after this. So 2027. Okay. Um it will be up for renewal.

So you'll be having a presentation and and approaching them at some time because I'm not sure how much they $10,000. So you'll be looking for something similar. Okay. Just in terms of your overall long long game future picture. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thanks, Council Garnett. Not seeing other speakers. Thank you, Hope Hill, for the presentation this evening and uh hats off to your volunteer board of directors that's growing. Uh and to your all all your other volunteers as well. We're next turning we're turning to our second presentation. I'll uh ask Allison spokes from 41's fairy events to to come forward.

No, you're still on this point. Okay. Good evening. Okay. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Uh my name is Allison Spokes and I'm here representing Four Wands Fairy Events um and to speak about our upcoming community festival sales and sagas which council approved last October. So we're here to formally request that council grant this event a designation of municipal significance as part of our special events liquor permit application. Oh, there we go. Okay. So, to be precise, we're asking for two resolutions tonight. First, that council designates the sales and sagas festival at um event as municipal municipally significant. Second, that the town staff be directed to send an official confirmation letter to us, which we can then provide the LCRB to complete our licensing process. So, I want to emphasize that this request is purely administrative and procedural with um the provincial provincial LCB regulations. There's act absolutely zero footprint changes being requested tonight. The scale, the layout, the and all the approved elements of the

festival remain exactly as previously reviewed and permitted by town staff. Um, and all of our standard emergency and safety plans remain fully intact. Um so under a standard SCP um a for-profit event is heavily restricted. So by granting a municipal significance designation, this unlocks a critical financial pathway for us. It allows us to charge standard market rates and permits for wands to retain the festival earnings. As a local production company, retaining these funds is what allows us to cover our overhead, pay our staff, and directly reinvest in our growing operations here in the community. So to justify this designation, change it. Our event acts as a tourism driver. Our previous events have brought thousands of regional visitors to the Sanage Peninsula and we expect this event to draw significant foot traffic directly into Sydney's hotels, restaurants and shops. Second, it brings a rich cultural and educational entertainment to the community, sparking imagination through interactive history.

And third, it directly invests in our regional creative economy by providing paid opportunities for our local artisans and performers. And beyond the economic impact, this festival generates incredibly positive organic media coverage across Vancouver Island and digital platforms, shining a high-profile spotlight uh on Sydney as a vibrant event destination. I think you can go to the next slide. Yeah. Um on top of that, uh we at fors um are environmental stewards and we incorporate that as our core mandate. Um, we aren't just implementing minimal waste planning on the site. We are also committed to giving back. Um, we donate a percentage of all of our festival profits um to environmental charities, local environmental charities, and we reinvest um right here at home.

At all of our events, we strive to create a true community village. We have 60 local artisans, micro entrepreneurs, and food vendors filling Iraqua Park. And this festival represents a vital economic weekend for dozens of local makers and creative trades people. So, thank you mayor and council and town staff for your ongoing support in bringing sales and sagas to life. And I'm happy to answer any questions. Thank you for the uh for the presentation. I'll turn to colleagues if there are any any questions. Councelor Duck, please. Thank you. And thank you for presentation. So essentially, as you mentioned, this is like a bookkeeping event and there's no change to the activity in your presentation. Just the accreditation if you want to say that gives you the permission to do what you were actually going to do in the first place.

Correct. Yes. All right. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Thank you, counselor. Councelor Keefe, please. [clears throat] Thank you. Um, so when I when you first came forward with this, I I presume there was a I I can't remember if there was a budget or not. Um, but yes, there was. Okay. And so was the assumption at that time that you would be charging market rates for alcohol at the event? Yes. Yeah, that was in the budget. Um, yeah, I wasn't sure what those exactly were. We had we had an idea based on other but I've gotten more feedback from experienced caterers and event planners. So now I have um set set prices but yes we the event of course there are unexpected events expenses um our contingency has been spent. So this is crucial to helping us cover the costs.

So when you presented last time, did you not was it that you didn't realize that there were these restrictions? That's correct. Yes. Yeah. We as we were proceeding through the the special Yeah. special events permit, we discovered that this letter was necessary that we didn't know at the time we presented in October. And so if if this if you're not able to provide market rates for alcohol Yeah. Um will you have to cancel the event? We won't cancel the event. We'll move forward. Um but we wouldn't be able to hire our caterers. So then we would not have alcohol on site. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, counselor.

Not seeing any of the questions. I do have have do have just a couple. Thank you for uh for attending this evening. Um did you have alcohol sales at your event last year? No. Okay. And so in your in your slides that are in our council package and that you put up on the on the screen this evening, on one slide, I'm not seeing the number of the slide. Um it said that um without a um without this designation that you're requesting um a standard special event permit imposes extreme structural constraints uh only allowed to charge standard recovery costs for liquor sales. That I understand that. Yeah.

But a mandatory requirement to forfeit all event profits to outside charities. Yes. So I was rereading it and it's so on one one document it says the exemption grants the applicant permission so certain certain exemptions. Um an exemption grants the applicant with permission to do the following. Um one hold more than 24 events in a year. We're not interested in that. Uh extend the hours of the special event beyond 10 p.m. We're not interested in that. The two that we are interested in are charge more for drinks than the prices specified in the liquor price schedule and the second to make a profit from the events from from the event of make profit from events of municipal significance.

So we are not allowed to make a profit and if we charge more than standard price we have to forfeit not only the profits from the liquor sales but from the entire event to a charity. Okay. I I can certainly understand that if you had um profits from the sale of of liquor that you would be required to to forfeit those, but I I'm not um fully understanding and I would have to look into it further in terms of having to if you had, you know, sponsorships and other things that that created a profit from the event overall that didn't weren't directly tied to the liquor sales that you required to for those.

Sounds uh sounds a bit a bit extreme, but uh yeah, that's what I thought too. Thank [laughter] you for taking the question. Um I'll turn to to councelor Duck if I mayor through staff. Do we have other events like this that require this? This seems like a new classification of I'm thinking of like on Third Street when um Beacon Brewing gets those do they have to have a similar special event license? I'll turn try to turn to a member of staff. Thanks to the mayor to councelor Duck. Uh Mr. Demar who's also online may want to speak to this but uh I haven't encountered this before. Um it may be due the scale of the event and the uh if we have had events of this scale they may not have sold liquor so I'm not entirely certain.

Good evening. I do see Mr. Deare on on the screen. Uh good evening sir. Uh thank you Mr. there. Um, yeah, I'm not very specific on knowledge on the uh past events where we haven't had this experience where this designation is required. Um, I'm surmising it may have to do something that the establishment asked for the event already has a liquor license as part of their premises and that may be the difference in this case. Thank you, Mr. Mayors. Yes. And as a past event manager, I'm looking at this as a new and it may be because uh Airqua Park where the event's going to be held doesn't traditionally hold a liquor license and and they have special requirements outside of facilities that carry that. Um but still I'm it seems like a new part of the special event licensing. So I'm curious to see why.

Thank you. Thank you, councelor. Not seeing any other questions. Uh want to thank you uh Miss Spokes for again for the presentation and taking questions. If you'd like to uh to take a seat now, we will uh consider the matter. Uh I'll turn to councelor Duck. There are two recommendations, two parts to the recommendation. Yes. And I so move number one that sales and saga event to be held in Aqua Park on August 29 to 30th, 2026 be designated to be of sign municipal significance. and two that staff be directed to send a letter to the event organizer or advising them of this of the event designation. Second.

We have it moved and seconded by councelor Duncan. I'll turn to the movers first. Yeah, I I mean I I understand where this going with the licensing and it's being protective of of public property and I appreciate that. But this is an event that has taken place. We know it's we we know its credibility. we know it's a functional success and I think that um this is as uh the proponents indicated this is a checking the box to make sure everything's in line with going ahead and and um we approved this months ago with uh knowing there would be liquor sales. So I I don't see any reason why we wouldn't continue. Thank you.

Thank you, councelor. Councelor Duncan, please. Yeah, thank you. I'm in support of this because I I don't know why as a town counselor I would advocate to sell cheaper liquor at a public event simply because you know I know if it's on a public park and there's thousands of people there I'd probably like them to drink less and one mechanism to do that is to ensure that the pricing is uh at the very least at market levels and I know when I go to a special event I expect to pay a lot for for alcohol. You know go to the bar ballpark and you're getting yourself a $20 beer. So, I don't know why this event would be different.

Uh, I don't know. I would like the attendees to be going there and getting perhaps a rather markedup uh liquor that helps fund this event um because they're there to enjoy this event rather than going there because it was cheaper than going to the local brewery or the liquor store. So I I whether or not this is a new kind of extraneous event or we don't understand why they need a special permit because they wouldn't make a profit. It's not relevant to me. They want to charge market rents or micromarket rates. That sounds all reasonable and a good idea. So I'm in favor. Thank you councelor. I'll turn to councelor Renul and then myself uh and then councelor O'Keefe. Councelor Rul.

Thank you mayor. Um yeah, and and thank you um for the uh opportunity uh to comment. I I've got concerns and I was certainly concerned when this originally came forward. I think just given the the scale of the event on public property um and I think like my colleagues and and staff not having seen a request of this nature um in past, uh I feel like there's maybe some components to this that we just don't quite understand fully. um you know and and why would I want um liquor to be sold at a at a cheaper price? I don't know that I want it sold at all, frankly. I mean, it's again build as a family event. It's a very large scale event. Um this event didn't u have alcohol service and pass. We just heard from the uh presenter. Um and again, it's on public property. So I I wish the uh event and the event organizers every success but I don't know that this fits the criteria at

least in my mind that it should be designated as a event of municipal significance. So I'm inclined not to support the motion that's before us. Thank you mayor. Uh thank you councelor Renul. Um I'll turn next to councelor Keefe. Uh thank you. Um, similarly to councelor Renul, I have concerns about designating this a municipally municipal significant event. Um, I think there's reasons why the LCB um has these rules in place. I think when I think of a municipal significant event, this is not what I I'm thinking of. um maybe if it was uh some sort of non nonprofit uh organization. Um but this is this is a a for-profit organization looking to do this to make money and and and good for them. We're allowing our public space to be used for an uh a profit event like this. And um I'm just not I'm not comfortable um making it municipally significant. I just don't think it is. It's it's like any other event that we have. I don't see a distinction between that makes it more distinct than others. And I guess

what I'm one concern I have is um if this is municipally significant then pretty well everything else that would come forward would also be have to be deemed municipally uh significant. Um and I'm also generally not comfortable opening up our parks and family events for for liquor sales anyway. So um currently I leaning towards not uh supporting the motion. Thank you. Thank you, counselor. Yeah. Um, so I'm going to begin with a with a question through to staff and that is um having been involved with with community events sometime in the past holding community events sometime in the past on on public property uh there was a requirement at the time that um if if there were going to be liquor sales that apart from the LCRB um application process that um our local RCMP detachment would be reviewing the event as well and uh perhaps uh um making requirements for for certain constraints. I know there are seating limits um but I can remember one event for example there were a particular fencing requirements uh that there was

you know only one access and egress point allowed uh I'm sorry for just thinking of this question at this at the moment but uh could staff comment on whether this uh an event of this sort with with liquor sales would be going for review by uh by our local detachment? Uh, thank you, Mayor. I'd like to turn to uh Bruce Deir if he uh is able to respond to this. Thank you, Mr. Deair. Yes. Uh, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, this we we've actually met u with event organizer and our emergency services including the RCMP. The RCMP have indicated that once the application is made through the liquor control branch by the organizer that it will be referred to their office to review and there are certain criteria as well as part of the liquor control uh licensing will put restrictions could be fencing whatever they deem uh suitable or necessary for the event. So we're not quite at that stage but yes it would go

through our local detachment for review as well. Uh thank you. So I would like to uh propose an amendment uh to the uh first part of the motion. So as the first part of the motion reads now, it says that uh the sales in SA's event be held in Irqua Park on August 29th 30th, 2026 to be designated to be of municipal significance. I would like to add the amendment for its LCB license application. And if there's a second, I'll speak to the amendment. Second. Thank you. So I won't be speaking to the main motion now. I'll come back to that if this amendment depending on whether this amendment passes or fails. Uh but I think um council is finding that this is a unique application or a unique requirement for a community event uh to to designate it as a as an event of of sign municipal significance. And I think while the staff report clearly or the the the presentation information clearly provides the rationale and reason for it, uh I think the motion itself uh that

we're passing should indicate the intent uh of the intention of the u of of this request and and the motion that we are considering passing. So I'll turn to the secondary. Yeah, I agree, mayor. I think it the term municipal sign municipal significance has been um brought forward to us by the LCB and I think that's the point we we it isn't we're defining as municipal significance it is the LCB and I think that your amendment uh is valuable in defining why they're coming forward because again we approved this event months ago and this is just a a bookkeeping activity. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, any others speaking to the amendment? Not seeing any, I'll call the question on the amendment. Those in favor? Opposed?

Councelor O'Keefe and councelor Winul are opposed. The motion carries. Um, so we're now back to speaking to the main motion. I'll turn to councelor Guanette. Thank you, Mayor. I have question if I could through to staff. If staff could remind me clarification around the Torque Masters event. I believe there's a a beer gardens that takes place on Third Street. Does that expand beyond their property onto the public domain? Uh, Mr. Mayor, I can take that question. Yes, for Torque Masters, uh, the, uh, application for their beer guard does go out onto the roadway directly in front of the premises. Great. Thank you. Uh, given that, I I have no problem supporting the motion. I think that it's profit, not for profofit.

The municipal distinction, significance, semantics. Um, we're allowing event that has far more people that attend, I think it's anywhere from 10 to 20,000 for Torque Masters. And if they're, you know, they're able to have a beer gardens on public property, then I see a comparison there. So, I'm happy to support it. Thank you, mayor. Thank you, councelor. Uh, so seeing no other speakers, I I'll support the uh the application request uh and and with the amendment. Um, I was pleased to hear that it's still a requirement that uh further to the uh the LCRB application, it would be reviewed by our emergency and and um and first responder services um to have it appropriate um uh in events. We have had community events with with beer gardens in the past.

There are probably fewer events with with such presently, but uh this is we're approving this for this year and we will perhaps gain some feedback from uh participants in the festival or the community at large uh if it's uh requested again in the future. I'll leave my remarks there and uh did you want to speak for a second time, councelor? Uh seeing no further speakers, I'll call the question on the amended motion. Those in favor? Opposed? Uh, councelor Keefe and councelor Tuler opposed. The motion carries. Thank you. Returning to our third presentation now this evening. I'd like to welcome Reverend Kelly Duncan from St. Andrews Anglican Church uh regarding temporary use permit application number uh TEM0000003.

I hope I got the right number zeros there. Uh at 96 9691 Fourth Street of St. Andrew Anglican Church. I just want to note that while the previous presentations we did consider the matter in past motions, we won't be doing that immediately after this presentation because we actually have another bylaw matter to to address before we come to the application itself on the agenda. So, I'll turn the floor to you. Thank you. Mr. Mayor and Council, I stand here today uh asking for the uh making application for a temporary use permit for St. Andrews Anglican Church uh for an extreme weather response shelter here in Sydney. I am here on behalf of St.

Andrews and also Beacon Community Services. Representatives of Beacon Community Services are here tonight and are happy to answer questions at the end of the presentation. Ready? Thank you. So, some background, what brings us here? Uh, so January 2025, you'll recall that council directed staff to find a place for an extreme weather shelter. Uh, and then September 2025, there was a public hearing for Wakefield Manor and the bylaw changes were not approved. January 12th, 2026 brought the warming center located at Sydney Library brought approval for that. And February 12th, 2026, the warming center opened and operated for a total of seven nights. Thank you. So, what did we learn from the warming center of 2026? And these come directly from the Beacon Community Services report to you. uh safe operation across seven activation nights, 15 unique guests with no incidents, high utilization by older adults and indigenous community members, and success was due to strong inter agency collaboration between municipal services, nonprofit partners, and community organizations. So things went well last winter. So why not do exactly the same thing this coming winter?

Here's why. In a warming center, guests cannot lie down. Um, the library is quite a distance from the main street. There are no there is no access to kitchen facilities, so guests could be given snacks, but they were not given warm meals. And we have the opportunity to involve BC housing in funding. So, what is an extreme weather response shelter? It is a temporary emergency facility that is activated during severe weather conditions. It is safe, warm, and a low barrier place to sleep. Floor mat floor mats, blankets, washroom are provided. Washroom access is available. Hot drinks, small snacks, and then we'd also have the opportunity to provide warm meals. Train staff are present at all times.

And so the location proposed is 96914th Street. Um the area outlined in red there, which is the location of our church hall. Some building features include from left to right a large wide open space that can be blocked off from the rest of the the uh site. Uh the existence of sprinklers as you can see and proximity of washrooms in the area. We also have a separate entrance which are the double doors to your left on the left hand side there access to a commercial kitchen as you can see on the top and a location for portable storage in our inner parking lot. So a temporary use permit would allow an emergency weather response shelter to open for the winter of 2026 2027 and it would provide up to three years to test the need and use in Sydney.

Next steps pending approval of town council include a le letter letter of agreement between the facility and the operator. Application for funding to BC housing. We'd need to do a few things with the facility including putting locks on some doors and moving the storage container. And we'd need to communicate to potential guests the change in venue. We appreciate the time and effort that everyone in this room has put forward to get us here today. On these warm summer days, may we come together as a community to aid the most marginalized in our in Sydney on the coldest nights of the year. Thank you. I'd like to invite Jennifer Mortmore to come forward as the director of homelessness prevention and shelter services from Beacon Community Services in case you have questions for either of us. Thank you.

Thank you very much uh for the presentation. Uh I'll turn to colleagues if there are questions. I'll begin with councelor Duck, please. Thank you, Mayor, and thank you for the presentation, Pastor Duncan. And um yes, accolades to you and your volunteers for your continued uh service to the community and especially on Wednesdays for lunches. I I that I see a very varied audience there having visited there and um those people are very appreciative. I wonder if you can share any anecdotally any stories from the uh cold weather cold weather shelter this past winter just in stories. I know we have statistics but maybe there's a story or two that you have that reflects uh the value.

I've never done this before. [laughter] It's a little intimidating. Um um I have run shelters for about 20 years for Beacon Community Services. So, I run the out of the rain youth shelter. Um, I would say running the extreme weather response was a true gift in Sydney. Um, having um 15 of your community members come in between the ages of 38 and 82 um needing safe space to be. Um, they were unbelievably grateful for, you know, sandwiches that came in plastic wraps and um were kind and compassionate. They left behind no garbage. There was very little for us to do in managing the space. And um I they were truly a blessing to meet. So um thank you for the opportunity the last year. Anyways, no, I I think thank you. Um because in talking to some of those people u post shelter, uh they reflected the care that was given to them and I think that's important to recognize them as members of the community as you said and I think that's community serving community and I

I think it's remarkable and and want to again thank you for those services and for the services of the church. Thank you. Thank you mayor. Thank you councelor Duck. I'll turn to councelor O'Keefe next please. Uh thank you uh thank you for the presentation and again for all the your advocacy for this over I think three years. Um uh just a question um some people may not realize but is my understanding correct that the persons who would come and use the shelter at St. Andrews are people who are currently coming there for other purposes already like for as councelor Duckman the the lunch program on Wednesdays. I know you have the the shed there that where people can come to get clothing and sleeping bags and that sort of thing. I think there's brunch on Friday and other activities. So just if you comment on that.

Yes, that is our understanding. Um mo most if not all of the patrons of the warming center were members of the friends um the the f the underhoused folks that we serve uh four days a week. Okay. Yeah. Great. Thank you. That's all for me. Yes. Thank you, councelor. Councelor Duncan, please. Yeah. Thank you. Um yeah, thank you for continuing with this warming center. I live adjacent to the library and so every time the signs went up and I was going home, I, you know, took a peek around and I'd try to listen to see if I'd hear people complain at the bus stop or if anybody was not nothing. I don't think most people even understood that those signs meant that there were going to be unhoused people and that I think they thought it was just a general public could go in and nobody I never saw anybody even coming in and out like it was people move the way they move most of the time which is they keep very very stealthy and um so definitely given

the visibility of the rhetoric around what this would bring to Sydney and the risk it posed I think this I could see with my own eyes in my own neighborhood. Um that of course that had always been overblown. So um I'm just wondering if given you have people in there um who frequently have a lot of disabilities and underlying medical conditions necess their elders, elderly. Um, is there opportunity to provide any extra support or, you know, some sort of medical attention or or something while people are in there or or people would be like that would be too invasive or is this something you can kind of check in with people and and see because I know our place frequently, you know, is able to check in with people about foot care and things like that at this time and is that something that can be offered at this with the support that's available or There we go Um, I think the the benefit with our place is that they're actually open when they're running their warming centers 24 hours. So, having those support services

available during the day is probably the most significant component in attaching those. Um, I feel like there could be some opportunity, but we would have to find the resources to manage that. Um, it also a warming center or the extreme weather response is only open when the weather is extreme. Um, and it's not predictable, so you can't couldn't predict when that would happen. And it opens at 7 or 8:00 p.m. at night. So, actually accessing those resources would be quite challenging. Um, is it something that could be explored further perhaps with St. Andrews and in the future and and how what that might look like during your four days of operation?

That might be something we could have further conversations about. Thank you. Thank you for the questions. I'm not seeing any other questions. So thank you again for the presentation this evening. We'll be coming to the matter after two two by two two bylaws. So we are ne now turning to bylaws and the first item uh 8A is bylaw number 2318 uh amendment number five to our streets and traffic uh bylaw. We have considered this. Oh, sorry. Is to establish roads with maximum speed of 20 uh k per hour and 30k per hour lanes uh with maximum speed of 20k and authorize the municipal engineer to establish school and playground zones.

We have considered this at previous meetings and uh provided first three readings uh to the bylaw. We do have a recommendation. Councelor Duck, please. And I so move the recommendation of the bylaw be adopted. Second. Move in second or turn in members. Is there any discussion? I think we've had a good discussion on this and I think staff has done an excellent job in identifying those streets. So I see it moving forward. Thank you. Thank you council. Any other discussion? Uh seeing none, I'll call the question. Those in favor that carries unanimous. Thank you. Uh and the next is uh bylaw number 2319 amendment number seven to our land use procedures bylaw to expand temporary use permit procedures and remove application form to allow administrative updates.

Again, we have considered this at more than one meeting previous. Uh we we did give three readings at a previous meeting. I'll turn to councelor Duck, please. Yes. And I so move the recommendation that the bylaw be adopted. Second and seconded by councelor Gett. Any discussion? No, not seeing any discussion. Uh thank you. I'll call the question. Those in favor that carries unanimous. Thank you. And so we are now turning back to the matter that came up during the presentation under development permits. Uh and this is under 9A temporary use permit application number TEM 403 at 96914th Street St. Andrew uh Andrews Anakin Church uh to allow the operation of extreme weather response shelter. We do have a report from our director of development services. I'll turn to Mr.

Mr. Hagen, if you if you wish to introduce or Good evening, Chief Mickelson. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Um, yes, Mr. Hagen and myself. We uh collaborated on this report and it provides background information pertaining to an application from St. Andrew's Angleton Church for a temporary use permit to utilize a portion of their facility as an extreme cold weather response shelter. And Mr. Hagen and myself would be happy to answer any questions. Thank you, Mayor uh for the introduction. I'll first turn to councelor Grant, please. Thank you, Mayor. Uh through you to staff, just looking at the building, it's hard from pictures. You tell me the the approximate capacity through the mayor to councelor Garnett.

I believe the um office of the fire commissioner, the town of city occupancy load uh for that portion of the building is a 145 people. Again, that would be during a seated configuration, not sleeping. Uh but ne nevertheless that is the uh the stated uh occupancy load. So there's there's more than enough room to accommodate 20 people sleeping. That is correct. Yes. Just wanted to clarify. Thank you. Yeah. Sorry for scaring anybody with that question. Um and I'll further uh if I may to staff so the temporary use permit would be for three years and can be renewed for three years but at that point that would be the end of it. So, I know this is all hypothetical, but if it does work out for 6 years, are we back to square one or are we having to try and find another alternative?

I'll turn to CEO Edwards. Uh, thank you, Mayor. Um, Chancellor Garnett, we haven't done a lot of uh temporary use permits in Sydney. Um but in my uh previous experience, we like to uh use this renewal period as the period in which the applicant would be pursuing a a a full and proper resoning. Entirely possible that uh an applicant could uh have the renewal for that particular operation, but then those operations change in some fashion and so then it would could be considered a new application thereafter. Thank you. I think that's important clarification for the community on top of everything else. So, thank you very much. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, thank you for the question. Councelor O'Keefe, please.

I was ready to rate make the recommendation if uh I'll look to see if there's any other questions first. Uh, I do have a couple of questions. My first is u with the warming center that operated earlier this year, the funding is different than the than an emergency weather response shelter. The funding was uh through emergency management BC. Uh and we uh you have to apply to that to uh recover costs is my understanding. If could staff speak to were we the ones to recover that? Was the operator the ones to to uh to do that application or are we aware of of whether the costs were reimbursed as as we would uh we would desire or expect?

Yes. Um to the mayor, the emer the emer the warming center at the library was from um funded by emergency management and climate readiness. Um and those funds were reimbured to the town for those costs as well um to uh be community services for the overhead and staff costs. So those have been dealt with. Okay. Thank you. Uh and the second question is the uh the temporary use permit is is for three years uh but the recommendation uh from staff is to um is to permit the use for two years. What what happens to the third year? Uh I'll turn to Mr. Hagen perhaps. Sure. Thank you. Um to address the question there. Yeah, the recommendation gives a timeline for the permit to be effective from midocctober to midappril through the winter of 2026 to 2027 and the following two years for the same periods, meaning that it's meant to be a winter shelter through the cold months and not active during the summer months.

So, it is for the winter for three winters. Thank you for the clarification. You're welcome. Not seeing any further questions, I'll turn to Uh, councelor Key, please. Uh, thank you. I will move the recommendation that owners and tenants in occupation of property within 75 m, 246 ft of 9686 Third Street be notified regarding temporary use permit number TEM00003 to allow an extreme weather response shelter as permitted use on the property for a maximum of three years. and that staff be directed to advertise consideration of temporary use permit number TEM0000003 and two consecutive issues of the pin and Shilla news review and that any written correspondence received be forwarded to council at the time of consideration of approval of the permit.

Number two, that the following conditions of approval be applied to temporary use permit number TEM 00003. A the permit be effective from October 15, 2026 to April 15, 2027 and the following two years for the same operational periods. And the location of the extreme weather response shelter is within the meeting hall at 96 914 Street. The civic address within St. Andrews Anglican Church on the property at 96863rd Street. Second. Moved and seconded. I'll turn to the movers, please. Um, I'd just like to, I guess, say, uh, thank you again to St. Andrews folks for for bringing this forward. I think it's, I don't know, three years, three years ago now. And also to our staff for wrangling all the various pieces that are required to put something like this together and Beacon Community Services as well. So, as was mentioned in the presentation, it's really something that is uh requires a collaborative approach and so I'm very appreciative of everybody who's uh had had a part in that and I think it's um a good thing for our community. Thank you.

Thank you, Councelor Duck, please. Yes, it's been a long haul and uh to the folks from St. Andrews, bless you for your perseverance. Um, and I'm I'm glad to see this coming to fruition and and going forward for at least the next six years. And hopefully you'll give some consideration about how you can uh adapt the the facility to make it a permanent fixture in our community. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, mayor. Thank you, counselor. Not seeing other uh any further speakers. Uh I'll be supportive of this. I think it's important to hear from the community on this initiative and this next stage will be about uh will be engagement uh to come back to uh to come back to council. Uh want to thank uh St.

Andrew's Church, want to thank Beacon Community Services. Um uh for all that you've done. Uh and I think the rationale in terms of the difference between a warming center and emergency weather response shelter are significant for those who are homeless. Uh in terms of uh uh I I don't personally understand the the province's rationale for an emergency weather center not allowing people to lie down. Uh but they're not we're not permitted to have mats. Um it's a circumstance of of the room adjacent to the library. I want I just want to clarify. Well, we've made reference to it being in the library. It wasn't in the library. It was in the in the nailorth room adjacent. But we all I think all everyone in the room knows that in the community at large. Um but there was no there was no access to kitchen facilities and that does make a difference uh for the homeless uh people who will u who will be using the

facility. Uh and um I'm in favor of also of of I think a stronger funding commitment from BC Housing for an initiative like this rather than having to apply um to the other uh other provincial uh other provincial department. Not seeing any further discussion. I'll look to call a question. Those in favor uh that carries unanimous. Thank you. Thank you very much. So, we're next turning to item 9B on our agenda, which is development variance permit application number DV1000390 at 9522 Lockside Drive. Uh the development on the former, sorry, the former Cedarwood uh site. Sorry for the pause there. uh to allow a longer extension to the preliminary letter of approval uh for the subdivision application and defer off-site improvements for proposed lot 2 until the time of development on lot two. Uh we have considered this had presentations from the applicant at previous meetings. Uh we have out sent out the required notice uh to neighboring property owners. Uh we've re received no uh written submissions uh as

of this meeting. Uh and we do have a recommendation. I'll turn to councelor Duck please. And I so move the recommendation that DVP be approved subject to the conditions as per council resolution number 2026.16.239 289. Second. Moved and seconded. Any discussion? No, I think uh the outlined by the proponent and and I think this is the best move we can do because of just the changing conditions and I think this will give more flexibility to both the proponent and the better use of the property. Thank you. Thank you, councelor Garnet. Thank you, Mayor. No, I just wanted to um just add that I think staff has given solid rationale for approving this, so I'm happy to approve it. Thank you.

Thank you, councelor. Seeing no further discussion, I'll call the question. Those in favor, uh that carries unanimous. Thank you. Uh and we're now turning to uh to counselor's reports. And this evening we have I'm just wondering before we go if we take a small break. I would like to call a recess uh until 9 7:40 please. Thank you.

Okay, we'll look to reconvene our meeting. Uh just confirm councelor Winul you're you're still with us. Thank you. Uh and we're next turning under number 11 uh council reports to to councelor duck who has a number of updates. Please go ahead. Thank you mayor. And I'll start with the climate um inter action intermunicipal task force. We just held our quarterly meeting and got updates from uh CRD staff on what uh actions were taking place. And there's a new climate a well I shouldn't say a new climate action strategy but a renewal of the climate action strategy which will be coming forward to the CRD environmental committee in July and then actioning that uh following that. Um they gave us updates on the different programs that are going on uh such as you know installations of level two chargers which happened in our partner sister community um central Sanage. Um and there were a number of other activities but moving ahead continually. I'm impressed with the work that the staff are doing at the CRD on climate action and um it's it's encouraging to see the number of activities that are happening in our

communities throughout the CRD as well and uh representation from the different communities there and just updates on what's going on. Um there is they're looking for a climate committee gathering in November just to bring forward some of the u successes of the uh climate action task force and within the community and they'll be doing um benchmarking on most of the buildings throughout Victoria and Sanich. uh they've got 70% of those identified and that's where they're identifying just what uh the green the gas um release uh green greenhouse gases release and they did over 107 school workshops this year uh of which Sydney was one of the recipients of that and that's uh encouraging too and I don't know if you follow but on uh Czech news now they have the the weather workshop where u the schools are visited by the weather repres representatives from Czech TV and they're recently in Sydney as well to provide that. So, it's encouraging to see this kind of information being um delivered to the community. That's all I have on that particular one.

Thank you for the update. Any questions from colleagues? Not seeing any. Please continue. Uh last week was the South Island Prosperity Partnerships annual general meeting. Uh this is the ninth year I believe ninth or 10th year. um just demonstrating their success in moving forward. They provided a a tremendous annual report uh which you can see online and and happy to provide that as well as uh printed copies of it. U by the numbers was really interesting and one of the ones that really caught me uh as value is that for every dollar provided to them by the municipalities they uh leverage that to 1.63. I think that's an important uh message to see what the this this economic driver does for our region. And some time sometime people forget that two of their developed organizations that are essentially subsidiaries of of SIP are Coast and uh IPC the indigenous prosperity center. Both these are again equally successful but you see their success outside of SIP and don't recognize that SIP is delivering these.

For example, um the coast has uh resulted in bringing $83 million worth of investment to the BC coast of which 3.7 million of that has come into this region. So that's that's a remarkable amount of information and and value to this community and they've just recently opened um 15,000 square feet over in our adjacent community in the district of North Sanage um in a unutilized building that was repurposing that building. So it's good to see that kind of thing with obviously access to the water. Um so it's just I think it's the value of this organization and regional economic development can't be um u disregarded for just the value they have brought. They are a facilitator in bringing economic development to our region and I'm proud to be involved with them. Thank you. Uh thank you for the update council.

I'll look to colleagues if there are any questions. I have one and u they did make their request um you know last year to the 13 municipalities for ongoing funding. Um can you comment uh on whether all municipalities have continued to support or is that still a work in progress? No, there are uh 10 municipalities that participate the three that don't um district of central Sanich um Cwood and Langford. Langford is giving consideration to it and the arrangement there may be coming to Langford is they'll do be doing project work with in conjunction with Langford which will actually contribute more to uh SIP's revenues than being a member. Uh District of Central Sanage uh decided in the last year to uh remove itself from the partnership u but that may be up for reconsideration with a new council and Cwood has not all all the remaining municipalities are um and the funding agreements are being renewed and they're looking at uh fiveyear funding renewal agreements to give some stability to the organization moving forward.

Thank you for that update. Um and we'll turn back to you to for your two other updates. Um councelor Novc and I attended the provincial emergency management organizations uh peninsula dinner uh last week uh where members were recognized there and it's uh encouraging to see um when you go to these dinners as um I should also mention CO Edwards is there too um there's you know these are volunteers that are giving thousands of hours to the safety and and and survival of people in our in our community and um these are dedicated individuals and they recognize some that have been there for 20 years and some that have been there one year um so I think it's a remarkable organization and the work they do as volunteers is to be um recognized.

Thank you. And then the second one I went to was the Sydney Fire Department's volunteer appreciation dinner um which was hosted by Chief Mickelson. Terry uh Councelor O'Keefe and Councelor Novc and I all three of us attended that. Um again a great event in recognition of the volunteers there. A special kudos out to the chief and to um the deputy chief because they've recruited nine new volunteers from the catchment area. That means that's North Sanage and Sydney. And these are nine people that are now going through training uh to work with the fire department and and to get nine new recruits in a community of 12 13 14,000 if you add a few thousand from North Sanage. It's it's um a remarkable accomplishment by the chief and his staff.

Thank you very much for for both those community recognition events updates. Returning next to uh staff reports, we have seven this evening. Uh the first under 13A is the parks and amenity contributions for zoning amendment application number RZ1000110 uh at 99723rd Street to construct a four story residential building. Uh we have a report from our director of development services. I'll turn to Mr. Hagen for an introduction, please. Good evening. Thank you. Yeah, as you mentioned, this is a report looking for direction from council on park contributions and amenity contributions related to the resoning application proposed for this property. And so these contributions would be stated out in the draft bylaw um which has been drafted already and is attached to this report just for for consideration and discussion here. Just to be clear, we're not looking for any bylaw readings of this bylaw tonight.

Um, one thing that's important to note is that the, as we've talked about before with this development application, the property has split zoning. Part of it is zoned RM7, part of it is zoned RM6R. They have different base density calculations. Um the RM6R zone doesn't allow any bonus density and the RM7 zone does allow a base and a bonus density where a property owner can build more floor area in exchange for the contribution of amenities. So this zoning amendment bylaw is would be increasing the density benefit as as is called in the legislation. Um, since the last time council looked at a zoning amendment like this, where somebody was looking to reszone a property so they could increase the density, um, the legislation has changed. The local government act now requires that when a municipality intends to assess an amenity fee through the resoning process. We have to, we being the municipality has to conduct a financial feasibility analysis of the project to ensure the amenity fee being charged is financially viable for the project. So this is the first time that we've had to

go through this exercise for a development application. You'll recall council made the resolution that's put in the background section of the this report back in April. So it's taken some time to get this analysis done. Um so we did contract with a consultant to do the report completed the fe the feasibility analysis. Um as it shows here the project viability under current marketing conditions is considered marginal. So based on those results, um staff are recommending applying the lower amenity fee being calculating from the base of the RM7 zone to the RM7 bonus density instead of the RM6R zone to the bonus. More information in the report. Um the report also talks about the parks contribution and recommends a contribution the same as what council made required from other recent residential development applications in Sydney. Um this is the same rate that council resolved for the development at 2180 Beacon West, 2114 Beacon West, and 9522 Lockside Drive. Um, just to correct some comments or comment on some comments that were made earlier about development cost charges and development cost charge bylaw. If you look on page

four of the staff report, there is some information there about the parks DCC rates. It's important to note that while this is a 75 unit development that's being proposed, development cost charges would be based on the net increase of 54 new units on the site. The way DCC's are calculated, the property owner gets credit for the number of units that were on the site, which was 21. So, we'd be using the net net increase of 54 units. And it's also important to note that we can't charge development cost charges in a bylaw that hasn't been adopted yet. Council gave our DCC bylaw three readings back in April, I believe. Uh, it's been sent to the ministry for review. It's not yet adopted. Also, BC legislation gives protection for instream applications like this one that are under in the process of being reviewed haven't been approved and they are protected from paying those new fees for one year after the DCC bylaw is adopted. So even if the DCC bylaw was

adopted today, this development wouldn't be paying those fees if they got a building permit within one year of that DCC bot being adopted. So it's important to keep those in mind as you consider these numbers. be happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Thank you very much for the introduction. I'll turn to colleagues if there are questions. Councelor Duncan, please. Yeah, thank you. Um, and just to clarify that the financial viability assessment, uh, and it applied to the amenity fee for the bonus density, when they looked at that, did they include that there'd be this parks DCC as well or did they only look at the amount for the bonus density?

Yes, they did factor into the parks contribution as well. Thank you. Thank you, Councelor O'Keefe, please. Uh, thank you. [clears throat] I should have asked this earlier, but I just thought of it now. Um when I was scanning through the old report um um from I can't remember when it was but staff had said that um we might want to consider reestablishing an affordable housing reserve fund and put these amenities into that. If council wanted to do that, would we need to provide direction on that tonight or would that come sometime later? uh when the development actually uh goes through. Mr. Braden. Sure. Thank you. Through the mayor to councelor O'Keefe. I would defer to Mr.

Edwards on this or Mr. Hik. Um but I think council could make a resolution on that at any point if somebody has a different response. Please say it. Thank you, Mr. Edwards. Uh that's correct. Yeah, council does not need to provide that direction tonight and and it's entirely possible uh for council to provide that this evening if they wished, but it's it's not necessary to do this evening. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, counselor. Seeing no further questions, I'll look for someone to move the staff recommendations. Councelor Duck, please. I so move the recommendation that one that having considered the appropriate persons, public authorities, and organizations that will be affected by the proposed zoning bylaw, staff be directed to prepare and send a letter inviting comment from the applicant and that any feedback be provided council at the time of consideration of the bylaw.

two that in addition to the resolution 2026.18.197 made by council on April 13, 2026 as a condition of approval of zoning amendment application number RZ1000110 to amend the zoning designation of the property at 99723rd Street in order to allow for the development of a four-story multi-unit residential development. Property shall prior to the issuance of a building permit a pay a parkland acquisition contribution of $23.50 per square meter of gross floor area of the building less any floor area exemptions permitted in section 5.1.11 of the zoning bylaw and less the required parks DCC amount payable. B pay an amenity contribution many contribution based on the increase in floor ratio calculated from the base density permitted by the RM7 zone.

We have that moved by councelor D. Second and seconded by councelor Duncan. I'll turn to the movers. Um I I think that this is a step forward and and this doesn't mean we're passing the zoning bylaw. is just part of that bylaw that's going to come forward and it will give structure to that bylaw. Um I think that the as staff vindicated that the consultant was brought forward to look at this because that's now a requirement under provincial authority has given the due diligence to identify this uh the DCB CCB set at this amount. Um I'm not seeing any information that says the challenges the viability of the project uh if this is more or less so I'm open to comments from my colleagues as to that. Thank you. Thank you councelor Dun. Uh I have nothing to add at this time.

Thank you. Any further councelor O'Keefe? Uh thank you. Um [clears throat] I have reluctance with this. I think it's a difficult situation that we're in that uh we're because of the new legislation uh not able to you know charge the full amount. Um so it would be nice would have been a nice chunk to be able to put into an affordable development fund. Um however it doesn't seem like we have much choice. I guess we could propose in another another amount, but I don't know enough about all this to know what would be an appropriate amount. Uh staff have uh talked to a consultant about this. So I think um I'm I'm feeling that we don't have much of a choice um in in this. So I it's it seems like uh I will reluctantly have to support that. Thanks. Thank you, councelor. Councelor Gernette, please.

Uh, thank you, mayor. Um, I [laughter] it the market conditions is marginal, so I it's not saying it's not. So, I mean, I think there is a bit of flexibility, but that's for later discussion. Uh, I just wanted to make a note of it because we did have a member of the public come to council chambers before the meeting and had a discussion just just and I knew this would probably happen. So that's why I'm going to address it for people who will watch the meeting or a member of the public who I see might be taking notes. Just so people know this is not to approve the zoning bylaw amendment. This is just one more additional layer in the process. Uh that there was a little bit of confusion amongst people in the public. So I just want to state publicly that this is not what we're doing tonight. So people don't have to panic. You'll still have an opportunity to come back and provide

feedback when this is this is the decision is considered by council. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, councelor Garnet. Uh I'm certainly supportive of this and I I want to thank staff for the uh for the full report as staff indicated during the introduction. There is a new process in place based on the uh provincial legislation. and it was helpful to read um how staff proceeded through that process and uh the recommendation that they've provided. Uh councelor Keefe for a second time. Yeah, thanks. and uh through you and maybe just clarification for staff and maybe it will help be helpful for the public as well is that um I I imagine the reason they're wanting the clarity in terms of the amenity benefit is that although we're not approving this necessarily going forward at this time and we don't know what that will look like is that they need to know for their uh financial reasons whether what they're looking at in terms of um their

their bottom line in terms of moving forward. So is my assumption on that accurate that's why they're coming to us now to ask about the amenity charges. Um just through the mayor just to clarify a bit it's not that the developers coming to us for this is part of what we as staff have to do as we're reviewing the zoning amendment. Um so on page three of the report there's a section on public consultation on this bylaw amendment too. So, it's more that we have to communicate with parties who council think are affected by this bylaw. So, that's why we've drafted the bylaw just for consideration and put it on the agenda with these draft numbers in here.

And we're recommending as you made a motion to do to contact the applicant being party affected the most by this. Okay. Does that answer your question? Yep. That that clears up a bit of uh that and I think that'd be useful for anybody listening as well. So, thank you for that. Thanks, Counc. Seeing no further discussion, I'll call the question. All in favor? Excuse me. That carries unanimous. Thank you. Thank you again, the staff. Uh we're next turning to item uh 13B, which is permissive tax exemption renewal request from Rust Haven Lodge. We have a report from our director of finance. I'll turn to Mr. Hy, please.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. of this um item is to consider an extension of the property tax exemption for Rest Haven Lodge operated by Broadme Care Society. Broadme was granted their initial exemption in 2018 for a 4-year period. Since then, they've been granted two additional two-year renewals and are now asking for another two-year renewal. However, given that they have now received eight years of exemption, council also has the option of extending their renewal to eight more years to match it up with the remaining set of permissive exemptions. Five different options are outlined for council's consideration in the report. And um just for clarity, the municipal taxes exempted for this year were approximately 21,000 with the total taxes including the other jurisdictions uh being a total of 41. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hick. Alternative colleagues, if there are any questions from the report, not seeing any, we do have a recommendation. Councelor D. I so move the recommendation that the property tax exemption for Rest Haven launch be renewed for eight additional years. Second. Alternative movers. Yeah, I think that staff have given good rationale as to why we should extend this for the eight years versus two at a time. Um and given the other u examples of uh those that we give a a tax exemption to, I think that Rust Haven fits the qualifications and I see it going forward. Thank you. Thank you, councelor Duncan. Not seeing councelor Thank you, mayor. I I will support the motion um because I think they've shown a benefit to the community. But when I'm looking at the financial statements, I noticed that the uh from 24 to 25 there was under expenses, employee composition of benefits increased by $1.27 million.

Now, I don't know how many employees they have or if they signed new contracts, but that jumped out to me as quite a large jump over one year. And also under revenue, the island health funding dropped by 1.78 million, which I found to be quite troubling. I'm not sure what the rationale for that would be given that they're the main funer, but um as I said, they've they've they've proven they provide a definite benefit to seniors in our community. So, I'm happy to support it. Thank you. Thank you, councelor. Seeing no further discussion, I'll call a question. Those in favor? That carries unanimous. Thank you.

And we're next turning to item 13C, which is Royal Canadian Legion Legacy Project. Uh we have a report from our manager of public works and parks. I'll turn to Mr. Robinson, please. Good evening. Good evening, Mr. Mayor and Council. Um two weeks ago, uh executive of the Legion came forward with a proposal uh for a legacy project in a prominent public area. It was referred to staff for a report. Um along with that was a contribution of funds that they were uh identified in the budget for that. Um staff looked and considered several areas. Um based on the budget that was presented, it would be hard to create a standalone project within a park. when you think of irrigation and landscape designs and a few of the little details that would have to go in based on the time frame. U but it does dovetail nicely into a project that we're got approval already with council uh at the uh uh lighting and landscape improvements at the at the library. Uh we did staff did meet with uh library staff as well as the legion executive

looked at the spot. Everybody was pretty much in in agreement that the location would work. Uh our park staff are excited to uh autograph this work with a bit of their excellence. Um and again getting a uh uh furnishing amenities and a little bit of accessibility into the area, something that we didn't consider in the rig in the original project certainly complements things uh moving forward. Uh so we have the two recommendations before you now and I'd be happy to answer any questions. Thanks for the introduction. I'll turn to first to councelor Duck and then councelor Gett um thank you for your the information on this and I I wanted to just not a question but acknowledge the fact that this is actually turning out to be a better location because it it's a location that is co- managed by Sydney and North Senate. So it's recognizing uh both areas in in one area in town. So I think that's works out well. Thank you. Okay, we'll go ahead with questions.

Counc. Thank Thank you, Mayor. Uh, thank you, Mr. Robinson, for for bringing this forward. Thank in such a timely fashion. Appreciate your your efforts put into this. Uh, my question centers around uh so and I talked to Mr. Pardmore earlier. They have a grant application in with Veterans Affairs currently and I understand they're they're contributing to $7,500. So according to the grant application that was mentioned before, they had to it had to be the me the plaque itself had to be installed by the end of July. And you're talking about work starting in mid July. Would that timeline work so that if they were approved, they could still qualify for that grant funding?

Yeah. Through the mayor, councelor Garnett, I believe it would work. Um certainly what we're trying to do is get the Legion to get the wording and the plaque ordered. uh whether or not the feature is a granite stone or it's a a custom plinth that we do build in house for many of our other dedicated uh plaques that we have within the town. I think that's that's easily done. Uh as far as the major scope of the project, the whole uh corridor where the lollipop lighting is getting changed down to uh ballard style lighting, energy efficient lighting and then a reenhancement of the whole landscaping. I think we should be able to complement that. But the plinth feature could go in easily installed and we could look at the uh the concrete base and uh the extension of that pad uh to to accommodate uh wheelchair accessibility as the construction project uh comes together. Uh again, if the plaque is ordered, there's an invoice supplied perhaps that might satisfy the requirements as well.

Uh but it is an important uh 100th anniversary and it's a good legacy project for for the town to put in in a location such as this. Thank you. Yeah, that's that that's great. I if if they are successful, it certainly is an organization that you know values their funding. It would be great if they get that grant funding that we can actually make it happen for them. So I appreciate that. Thank you, mayor. Thank you. Any other questions? Seeing none, I'll go to councelor duck a second time. Yeah. And I so move the recommendation that one that the legacy project request from the Royal Canadian Legion Sage Peninsula branch 37 for the installation of a commemorative plaque memorial bench and area landscaping along the walkway to the Sydney North Sage Library be approved. And two, that the Legion's contribution of $7,500 be accepted and these works be included within the existing capital project to improve the library's pathway, lighting, and landscaping. Second. Moved and seconded by Councelor Duncan. Go ahead. Nothing to add.

Nothing to add. Thank you. Seeing no further discussion, those in favor that carries unanimous. Thank you. Thank you very much. Congratulations, Mr. Podmar. We're next turning to item 13D, which is a lease renewal for the Vancouver Island Library, uh, regional library. no coincidence with the previous project. Um, we're not tied into that. Uh, and we have a report. Uh, we're turning back to director of finance, Mr. Please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The town's latest 10-year lease agreement with Verl is set to expire at the end of August. Uh, the latest lease was signed immediately following the renovations to the library that Verl funded between 2014 and 2016.

The parties wish to renew the lease for an additional 10-year term with an additional four months added on to take the expiry of the term to December 31st, which I like all leases to uh expire at that time. There is one five-year renewal included in the proposed lease. The changes in the document are minimal. Only the dates and the annual payment amounts are um different from what was in the last 10-year lease. All other conditions remain the same. Thank you. Are there any questions from the report? If not, we have a recommendation. Councelor Duck. I so move the recommendation that the 10-year lease between the town and the Vancouver Island Regional Library Burl be approved subject to the notice being published in the newspaper.

Second. Moved and seconded. Any discussion? Seeing none, those in favor? Thank you. Cares unanimous. Returning to uh 13E, amendments to policy TB- 005, planning procedures. I'll turn to Mr. Hagen, please. Thank you. Uh this is proposed as an update to a policy the council adopted back in 2005, so just over 20 years ago. The purpose of the update is to bring it in line with our current practice. Uh really no procedures are changing. Uh we're just adding attaching the updated guides to the policy. I'd be happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Thank you. Any questions? Not seeing any. We do have a recommendation. I'll take that one. I'll move the recommendation that policy DV-005 planning procedures be approved as amended.

Second. Move and seconded. Any discussion? Uh seeing none. Those in favor? Sorry, Council O'Keefe. I I didn't you were looking at a little lonely side. Um, no. I just I just want to say thank you to staff because I thought this was laid out really well and um it's actually a good refresher for me myself going through it and to see all the different steps for different sorts of things along not you know the the flowchart and then the uh the uh you know all the Q&A. So I thought it was really good. So, uh, and I think it will be a a good, uh, tool for the public. So, thanks for doing that.

Thank you for that. And I'll look to now to call the question those in favor. And that carries unanimous. Thank you. And, uh, we have 13F, which is our 2025 statement of financial information. I'll turn back to Mr. Hik. I'll turn to Miss Chen. Good evening. Thank you. The statement of financial information or sophie is a routine report we prepare annually. It must be approved by council and submitted to the province by June 30th each year. The sophie is prepared in accordance with the financial information act which specifies the information that must be included and how that information is to be presented. The accompanying staff report provides some description and context for the tables and schedules that form part of the Sophie report. Happy to answer questions if there are any.

Thank you. Well, turning to colleagues if there are any questions. Uh seeing none, we do have a recommendation. Councelor Duck, I move the recommendation that council approves the statement of financial information for the town of Sydney for the year ended December 31, 2025. Second. Moved and seconded. Any discussion? Just want to thank staff. We we are council is aware of how much work goes into the annual Sophie report. We appreciate that. It presents very well. Uh I'll look to call a question. Those in favor that carries unanimous. Thank you. And the last report is for information under 13G, the monthly building report, permit report for May 2026. Uh are there any questions or comments from the report?

I'm not seeing any. We do have uh we don't have any items under correspondence for council discussion. We do have uh uh several items under correspondence for information that receiving by virtue of being on the agenda. Uh that concludes our business uh for this evening on the agenda. Council, I would look for a motion to adjurnn. So moved. Second. Don't don't rush. Now those in favor, we are unanimous. Thank you everyone. Thank you.