Board Meeting Highlights
June 7, 2004

The following information is intended to provide quick highlights of this scheduled Board meeting. Every attempt has been made to summarize these highlights as accurately as possible; however, the complete and official minutes will be posted on the web site on the Monday one week prior to the next scheduled Board meeting.

Meeting Agenda - June 7 , 2004

CHAIR'S REPORT

Commissioner Lyndsay Poaps has been awarded an "Action Canada Fellowship" for 2004/05. Each year, Action Canada selects up to 20 young Canadians to participate in a program focusing on leadership development and public policy projects of significance to Canada.

GENERAL MANAGER'S REPORT

The Electoral Reform Commission will release it recommendations* June 8 at Council on the City's electoral system. The commission, under former Justice Thomas Berger, held a series of public forums and received submissions from citizens on whether there should be changes from the current at-large voting system to a ward system, a mix of the two, or other alternative civic election systems. The Park Board, along with City Council and the School Board is elected at-large every three years. (*update: In its report: 'A City of Neighborhoods' made public yesterday, the Commisson recommended "that the Park Board continue to be elected at large" and "that City Councillors should be elected from wards".)

STAFF REPORTS

Centralized Ice Allocation
The Board approved that the allocation and booking functions for rink operations be centralized. They also approved a number of changes to the Park Board Organization Chart including the creation of a Recreation Services Coordinator position located in the Stanley District office, responsible for allocation and fees & charges policy, along with responsibilities for Rangers and ParkPartners. The Board asked for a report back from staff in September 2005 with an evaluation of programming efficiencies and staffing implications.

Strathcona Pond Memorandum of Understanding
The Board approved a Memorandum of Understanding with the Strathcona Community Gardens for the development of a pond within their East Vancouver gardens established in 1985. The MOU provides for water and soil testing of the site prior to Park Board considering the proposal for final decision to proceed. The Board approved spending up to $4,080 for the testing to be done, and amended the MOU accordingly.

Recreation Software Renewal
The Board received an information report on the results of the pilot implementation of the new Safari software package - for recreation program participation (at Kerrisdale and Trout Lake Community Centres) and permit processing (in the Special Events/Field Allocation office in Stanley District). After testing in the 3 pilot sites over 2 seasons, the project was assessed to be working well and meeting our needs. It is now ready to roll out to other community centres, offering internet registration to residents.

Outdoor Film Series - Summer 2004
The Board approved up to $15,000 from the Corporate Sponsorship Fund for a pilot program of free outdoor movies this summer at Ceperley Meadow in Stanley Park. Called 'Monsters in the Meadow', the series will include 3 classic horror movies - King Kong, Godzilla and Frankenstein. Dates are Friday evenings August 6, 20 and 27.

2004 Financial Statements - Operating Accounts for the period ending April 30, 2004
The Board received an information report on the operating statements for the first 4months of the year. Revenues including Golf are higher than the same period last year, and expenditures are in line. Current budget pressures include water, sewer and fuel costs. Staff will continue to closely monitor the financials and is committed to balancing the budget by year end.

Fund Raising
The Board approved a number of strategies to improve fund raising for parks and recreation. For the popular Gifts for Parks program, under which the public donates money to dedicate park benches, picnic tables, trees, and water fountains, donor fees will be raised to catch up with inflation and other cost increases; a premium will be placed on donations in waterfront and feature park locations; and the length of the donation contract will be set at 10 years for newly donated park amenities. In addition, a new one-year contract position (Fund Raising/Development Consultant) was approved to streamline the Gifts for Parks program, coordinate grant applications with our community partners, and promote new fund raising

NEXT MEETING

The next regular meeting of the Park Board will be held at Riley Park Community Centre on Monday, July 21, 2005.

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