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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSPAC 2011-03-02 minutes.pdf Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 1 of 4 District of Maple Ridge SOCIAL PLANNING ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING The Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Social Planning Advisory Committee, held in the Blaney Room at Maple Ridge Municipal Hall, 11995 Haney Place, Road, Maple Ridge, British Columbia, on Wednesday, March 2, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. ____________________________________________________________________________________ COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT Councillor Cheryl Ashlie Council Liaison Councillor Linda King Council Liaison Candace Gordon Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows-Katzie Community Network Ineke Boekhorst Business Improvement Association Ken MacDonald Fraser Health Authority (Alternate) Staff Sgt. Andrew Martin Ridge-Meadows RCMP Treena Innes Community at Large Andrea Walker Community at Large Linda Morgan Community at Large Eleanor Palis School Trustee (alternate), School District No. 42 STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT Sue Wheeler Director of Community Services Shawn Matthewson Recreation Coordinator Tracy Camire Committee Clerk REGRETS/ABSENTS Inspector Derren Lench Ridge-Meadows RCMP Grover Telford Ridge Meadows Seniors Society Valerie Spurrell Fraser Health Authority Lyn Taylor-Scott Ridge Meadows Association for Community Living Mike Huber School Trustee, School District No. 42 Alanna Robson Community at Large Please note this meeting was chaired by Councillor Ashlie 1. Call to Order and Introductions The meeting was called to order 7:03 p.m. 2. Agenda Approval R11-007 Motion was moved and seconded That the Agenda for March 2, 2011 be adopted. CARRIED Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes March 2, 2011 Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 2 of 4 3. Minutes of February 2, 2011 Meeting R11-008 Motion was moved and seconded That the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of February 2, 2011 be adopted as circulated. CARRIED 4. Delegations & Presentations 4.1 RCMP – Ridge Meadows Detachment – 2011 Strategic Priorities – Staff Sgt. Martin Staff Sgt. Andrew Martin reviewed the 2011 Ridge Meadows RCMP Strategic Priorities which include; Drugs, Youth, Social Issues, Serious Crimes, and Traffic. Staff Sgt. Martin advised the Committee that the Community Safety Officers pilot project is now in its third year and that the program hasn’t been annualized as of yet. R11-009 Motion was moved and seconded That Staff send a recommendation to Council to write a letter of support recognizing the importance of the Community Safety Officer program with a recommendation that this program be annualized. CARRIED 5. Roundtable Shawn Matthewson Shawn noted that Parks and Leisure Services have submitted an application for the Service Canada Summer Employment grant program. Randy Kamp, MP has provided a letter of support to accompany the application and if the grant is received will attend a Staff Training Session. Councillor King Councillor King noted that she received Calgary’s 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness after attending a workshop in 2008 where representatives from Calgary who are engaged in the 10 year plan presented. Eleanor Palis Eleanor noted that there was a power outage at the schools today and also noted that kindergarten enrolment and the environmental school registration took place last month. Ms. Palis noted that there are 60 people on the waitlist for the environmental school and all French Immersion requests were approved. Linda Morgan Linda asked for information on the process to approve the new Community Gaming Centre. The Committee discussed the link between the recession and increase in homelessness along with the impacts of the Community Gaming Centre. ACTION ITEM: Staff to provide the Committee with the information on the new Community Gaming Centre. Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes March 2, 2011 Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 3 of 4 Treena Innes Treena thanked Staff Sgt. Martin for his presentation and noted it provided good clarity. Ms. Innes shared the “Invest in Maple Ridge” ad that was seen in the “Business in Vancouver” paper. It was confirmed that this ad campaign was created by the Maple Ridge Economic Development Department. Andrea Walker Andrea noted that she waited in line for Albion Elementary Kindergarten registration overnight and asked about the pressure for kindergarten places. An update was provided by Eleanor Palis, School Trustee. Andrea attended the Festival of Light at Haney Place Mall and shared how wonderful the event was for families. Ineke Boekhorst Ineke provided an update on the Business Improvement Association and the events they have been involved in. Ineke also provided an update on the success of the BIA’s Facade Improvement Program that is offered as a grant program to businesses in the downtown core to encourage enhancement of the street appearance of the local businesses. Candace Gordon Candace noted that a good portion of the funding for the agencies in our community supporting individuals and families that are homeless or at-risk of becoming homeless comes from the Federal “Homelessness Partnership Initiative” (HPI) fund. The Federal government has committed funds to this program for the next three years through to March, 2014 and the local Regional Steering Committee has forwarded recommendations for funding for the first fiscal year (April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012) of the grant program. Ken MacDonald Ken noted that Fraser Health is renewing its Strategic Planning with a focus on quality and fiscal responsibility. He explained that programs will now be managed regionally. Ken also noted that services are taxed as need continues to grow, so the challenge is to balance quality with need, especially when there is a shortage of staffing resources in specialized roles such as surgical nurses. Mental health and addiction services will be piloting a substance intervention project at Ridge Meadows and Chilliwack General hospitals targeted at the general population that do not have mental health issues but are affected by substances like tobacco, alcohol, stimulants, cocaine, cannabis, etc.” 6. New Business 6.1 Overview of SPAC Chair and Co-Chair Roles Shawn Matthewson reviewed the Chair and Vice-Chair roles, and noted that generally the position has been held by a Community-at-Large member. Community-at-large members have typically been elected chair. The goal is to have the election at a meeting in the near future, so community members were asked to give some thought as to whether this is a role that they would like to consider. 6.2 Big Brothers and Big Sisters in the Fraser Valley: News Release on Restructuring The Committee discussed the organizational restructuring that has taken place within the Fraser Valley Big Brothers and Big Sisters organization, including the suspension of services in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes March 2, 2011 Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 4 of 4 Candace Gordon advised the Committee that she (along with representatives from the Community Network) met with the Big Brothers and Big Sisters (BBBS) staff to clarify the Board’s decisions that resulted in the closure of the local office. It was explained by BBBS staff that the board made the decision due to lack of funding resulting primarily from the impacts of the gaming funding changes. Candace Gordon shared that the Community Network had discussed with the BBBS staff the perception of lack of community consultation regarding the cancellation of this program. She noted that the network is in process of sending a letter to the BBBS Board stating the Network’s concern regarding the lack of consultation and requesting verification on what would be needed to reinstate the local program. R11-010 Motion was moved and seconded That council on SPAC’s advice write the provincial government on the negative impacts on non-profit social services agencies of the recently adopted procedures for accessing gaming funding. And that a letter describing the specific social impacts in Maple Ridge be attached including impacts on sports and arts organizations. And that the local MLA’s be sent copies of these letters CARRIED 6.3 Hunger Count 2010 – Overview Shawn Matthewson provided an overview of the Hunger Count 2010 reviewing statistic on food bank use, including a comparison of the local numbers to national averages. She also reviewed the recommendations for reducing hunger noting that one key recommendation for reducing hunger is to focus on reducing poverty. 6.4 Federal Poverty Reduction Plan: Working in Partnership Towards Reducing Poverty in Canada – Overview – deferred Please note that Eleanor Palis left the meeting at 8:44 p.m. 6.5 Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness – Homeless Count 2011 Sue Wheeler advised that the Homeless Count 2011 will take place for one full day beginning at midnight March 15 and ending midnight March 16, 2011. This count is commissioned by the Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness and takes place across the Lower Mainland every three years, with the last count occurring in 2008. The count takes place at local shelters and transition houses during the night and then a street count is done during the day. This year the count has been expanded to treatment centres and facilities where people are staying that have no known home. This community is also including a special team of volunteers that will focus on counting the local youth that are homeless. A record number of volunteers have signed up to assist with the count this year. Ms. Wheeler noted that the count numbers are a snapshot of the situation at a specific point in time and that it is important to note that the count numbers indicate the minimum number of homeless in the community. Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes March 2, 2011 Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 5 of 4 7. Unfinished Business 7.1 Work Plan update and 2011 Proposed Committee Budget Sue Wheeler reviewed the 2011 Work Plan and proposed Committee Budget. R11-011 Motion was moved and seconded That the District of Maple Ridge Social Planning Advisory Committee 2011 Budget is approved as presented and that the work plan be reviewed at the next meeting for further discussion. CARRIED 7.2 Spirit of Community Awards – New Category Recommendation - deferred 8. Committee Reports 8.1 Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows-Katzie Community Network Update: Candace Gordon 9. CORRESPONDENCE. 9.1 City of Victoria – Secondary Suites Award 10. Next Meeting: Wednesday, April 6, 2011 – 7:00 p.m. Agenda Deadline: Monday, March 21, 2011 Location: Blaney Room, Maple Ridge Municipal Hall 11. Adjournment - 8:58 p.m. ______________________________________ Chairperson /tc