Board of Parks and Recreation
Regular Board Meeting
Monday, June 27, 2011 at 7:00 pm
AGENDa -Revised
A recording of the Agenda is available at 604-257-8507.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
- Minutes of the regular meeting of the Board held on Monday, May 30, 2011
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CHAIR'S REPORT
COMMITTEE REPORT
STAFF REPORTS
- McCleery Golf Course - Golf Professional Services Contract
Staff report dated June 1, 2011 recommending that the Board approve a two year increase to the additional seven (7) year extension for the Golf Professional Services Contract at McCleery Golf Course, on terms satisfactory to the General Manager of the Park Board and Director of Legal Services for the City of Vancouver.
MOTIONS
The following motion was put forward by Commissioner Blyth:
Whereas Vancouver adopted the Park Board Arts Policy in 2003;Whereas the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation confirms its mandate in the arts and recognizes the arts as an essential element in a vital, creative and balanced city and seeks to actively facilitate participation in and access to the arts for all;
Whereas the Park Board holds a vision of a city where the arts are an integral part of everyday life; where community cultural development processes strengthen civil society;
Whereas parks and community centres reflect the cultural vitality of the community and where people are able to learn and express creativity in ways that build healthy communities;
Whereas the Vancouver Park Board is always looking for opportunities to expand our arts programs throughout the city;
Be it resolved that staff explore the potential use of any surplus facilities and space including closed field houses for re-use as arts spaces.
The following two motions were put forward by Commissioner Barnes:
The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation as a key stakeholder in the provision of Early learning and Child Care, endorses the following two motions passed by Vancouver City Council on May 31 2011 which read:
Whereas accessible, affordable and quality childcare is essential to the health and well-being of the city of Vancouver’s children and families;And whereas child development and childcare play a crucial role in the economic stability of our city;
And whereas it is critical that all levels of government, including those at the local level, and the private sector take an active partnership in ensuring successful child development opportunities;
And whereas for these reasons the City of Vancouver has a long history of leadership and success in creating new childcare spaces with limited resources at the municipal level of government;
And whereas the establishment of a Joint Childcare Council between the Council, School Board and Park Board led to the creation of more than 600 new childcare spaces between 2002 and 2005, exceeding the original goal of a 5% increase; and through the re-establishment of the Joint Childcare Council in 2009 there will be a further 8.6% increase in child care spaces in Vancouver by the end of 2011;
And whereas the Joint Childcare Council will be presenting on these successes at the 2011 Lower Mainland Local Government Association Annual General Meeting;
And whereas the Joint Childcare Council also has a mandate and strong role to play in advocating for investment in Early Care and Learning by the provincial and federal levels of government.
Therefore be it resolved that the following motion be forwarded to the Lower Mainland Local Government Association and Union of BC Municipalities for consideration at their respective 2011 Annual General Meetings.
Provincial and Federal Investment in Early Care and Learning
Whereas although Access to Early Child Care and Learning is used globally as a key measure of the economic and social health of society, the current supply of child care in British Columbia serves only about 14% of children age 0 to 12, on the low end in Canada which in turn is lower than any other OECD country, and directly related to a lack of adequate investment by the provincial and federal government in early care and learning; and
Whereas the 29% of children arriving to kindergarten in BC are developmentally vulnerable – the majority of which now come from the middle class - are estimated by UBC’s Human Early Learning project, in their report 15 by 15, A Comprehensive Policy Framework for Early Human Capital Investment in BC (funded by the BC Business Council) to have negative and long term economic consequences estimated to be in the range of 20 per cent of foregone GDP growth.
Therefore be it resolved that municipalities take a leadership role in requesting that senior governments make early care and learning a top priority by:
- creating strong legislative frameworks;
- significant new public investments to support the legislative frameworks;
- consolidating Early Care and Learning into the provincial Ministry of Education;
- establishing an accountability framework that includes developmentally appropriate play-based learning in the early years and ensures positive outcomes for children.
The following motion was put forward by Commissioner Mackinnon:
Whereas there is a need within the City of Vancouver for citizens to fully enjoy public lands;
Be it resolved that the Park Board work with the City and its unions to identify underutilized public verges, boulevards and other spaces not already used as parkland, to partner with neighbourhood groups to use this land for neighbourhood gardens. And be it further resolved that the Park Board assist neighbourhood groups in the clearing of this land in preparation of the gardens.
And whereas there are public spaces within the City that are not being used for useful purposes including verges, boulevards and empty lots;
And whereas the Park Board budget for maintaining these spaces has been reduced and a policy of naturalization of these spaces been adopted;
ENQUIRIES, OTHER MATTERS AND NEW BUSINESS
IN-CAMERA MEETING
THAT the Board later this evening go into a meeting which is closed to the public, pursuant to Section 165.2 (1) of the Vancouver Charter, to discuss matters related to paragraph:
(g) litigation or potential litigation affecting the city.
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