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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSPAC 2006-03-01 Minutes.pdf) Corporation of the 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, Maple Ridge, British Columbia, on Wednesday, March 1, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT Kim Macey, Chair Councillor Judy Dueck Lyn Taylor-Scott Mirae Campbell Vicki Kipps Connie Schmid S alima J ethani Ian Brooks Paul Livingstone Steven Shearer Greg Dalman STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT Sue Wheeler Shawn Matthewson Cheryl Brewster REGRETS/ABSENT Councillor Ernie Daykin Rick Butler Valerie Spurrell Community at Large Council Liaison Ridge Meadows Association for Community Living Maple Ridge Youth Council Ridge Meadows Child, Youth & Family Network Ridge Meadows Seniors Society United Way Community at Large Community at Large Community at Large Community at Large Staff Liaison, Parks & Leisure Services Staff Liaison, Parks & Leisure Services Committee Clerk Council Liaison School District No. 42, School Trustee Fraser Health Authority Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page Social Planning Adl'isory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes Marclt 1, 2006 1. Called to Order and Introductions There being a quorum present, the Chair called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. and introductions were made. 2. Adoption of the Agenda R06-04 Motion was moved and seconded That the Agenda for March 1, 2006 be amended and adopted to include additional items and table item 6.3 to the next meeting. CARRIED 3. Minutes of the Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting R06-05 Motion was moved and seconded That the Minutes of the Social Planning Advisory Committee February 1, 2006 Regular Meeting be adopted as circulated. CARRIED 4. Delegations and Presentations -Nil 5. New Business 5.1 Work Plan Review and Budget Status Update The 2006 Work Plan was distributed and reviewed. Decisions regarding processes, timelines, and responsibility assignments were made. Kim Macey, Vicki Kipps, and Social Planning staff will form a task force to meet to prepare recommendations on SP AC membership expansion. The task force will report back at the May meeting and a recommendation regarding membership bylaw changes will be forwarded to council by June 2006. The 2006 Business Plan goal of initiating a community process regarding the need for services for the 19+ age group was discussed. It was agreed that this initiative is a priority, especially with the recent news that federal funding for youth programs offered by Bowman Employment Services may no longer be available to the community. The Child, Youth, and Family network will be approached by for discussion regarding potential strategies to meet the needs of this age group. Social Planning Adl'isory Committee Regular Minutes Page2of8 Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes March 1, 2006 R06-06 Motion was moved and seconded That Social Planning request CYFN (Child Youth and Family Network) to: a) review the challenges and needs of older youth (19-25 years) in the community b) communicate with Bowman Employment Services in regards to the status of funding and programs in the community for this age group c) report back to the Social Planning Committee with their findings and recommendations CARRIED The purpose of the Building Community Solutions document entitled Snapshot 2002: Community Profile was reviewed. The document acts as a report card for community health by reporting on 47 indicators. Working with the Child, Youth and Family Network, service providers will be asked to complete a survey to assist in determining the usefulness of the individual indicators, the appropriateness of the format, and if any additional indicators should be measured. The survey should be completed in April and a researcher will be brought on board to update the Snapshot document. This information will be utilized in the Social Sustainability Strategic Plan Workshop planned for next fall. Other items reviewed included the Support Alouette Home Start Society, the Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness, the RCMP and the GVRD Social Issues Sub-Committee. Steven Shearer volunteered to assist CYFN with its Resource Inventory/Website project. The CYFN task force will be formed next month and Vicki will forward Steven's contact information to the group. R06-0? Motion was moved and seconded That the amended Work Plan as presented at the March 1, 2006 meeting be adopted. CARRIED Sue distributed and reviewed the 2006 Budget for Proposed Budget Allocations. Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 3 of 8 Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes Marcft I, 2006 R06-08 Motion was moved and seconded That the 2006 Proposed Budget Allocations as presented at the March 1, 2006 meeting be adopted. CARRIED In response to a member request, Sue confirmed that the budget allocations can be included in the Work Plan at the next update. 5.2 Official Community Plan (OCP) Review: 5.2.1 Review of Social Sustainability Background Paper (Attached) Sue reported that the review of the Social Sustainability paper which was forwarded to the Official Community Plan ( attached to the agenda package) will be deferred to the next meeting. 5.2.2 Discussion regarding SPAC input to OCP Review Councillor Ernie Daykin was not available for the meeting and asked Sue and Councillor Judy Dueck to review the upcoming Municipal visioning process that will be included in the Official Community Plan. The goal is to expedite the work with estimates of a workshop taking place March 20 and Visioning Fair in late March/early April. On-line surveys will be available; hopefully with a list of publicly-accessed computers will go out to the public. The Vision Fair is similar to a workshop which will take place on a Saturday and also during an evening meeting mid-week. Everyone is encouraged to get involved in the meetings or the on-line surveys. A hand-out entitled Building Community Solutions - Neighbourhood Circles Project Summary (Visions, Strengths and Weaknesses) was also distributed. It was noted that there were 6 key themes that were common in each of the Neighbourhood Vision statements. These key themes were reviewed. Committee members asked if daycare and child minding would be available to assist community members so that they could participate. This recommendation will be forwarded to the Planning Department. R06-09 Motion was moved and seconded That the Social Planning Advisory Committee make its background materials available to the Consultant that has been hired for the visioning process. CARRIED Social Planning Adl'isory Committee Regular Minutes Page 4 <~f'8 -1 ) Socia/Planning AdPisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes March 1, 2006 6. COMMITTEE REPORTS 6.1 Snapshot 2002: Community Profile Survey for Update Copies of the Snapshot document were available for the membership and discussed in item 5.1 above. 6. 2 Substance Misuse Prevention Strategy Update 6.3 A poster and draft agenda of the Action Planning Workshop being held Thursday, March 2 at Thomas Haney was distributed. The Substance Misuse Task Force, with a membership of over 22 local agencies, has completed over a 100 interviews with residents and service providers to compile a substance prevention inventory. The workshop on March 2nd will review the findings of the inventory and focus on 4 key priority areas. The workshop will be designed to develop an action strategy on prevention of substance misuse for the entire community. Community Spirit Awards Program 6. 3.1 Business Award Update 6.3.2 Youth and Good Neighbour Award Timelines This item was tabled to the next meeting. 6. 4 Building Community Solutions Shawn Matthewson reported on the several projects including: 6. 4.1 United Way, Community In Actions Evaluation Process Salima Jethani reported that United Way is currently evaluating their Communities in Action funding project to determine future priorities. There are three new communities that will be initiating projects in their communities. On March 7, the United Way will be bringing together the 5 communities with existing projects together with the three emerging communities for information sharing. Maple Ridge was specifically invited to share its experience and contribute to the discussion on "best practices". Social Planning AdPisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 5 of 8 Social Planning Adl'isory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes March 1, 2006 6.4.2 Neighbourhood Pilots "Quality of Life" Plan Update Two very successful events were held in the two Quality of Life pilot Neighbourhoods of Laityview and Mount Crescent: Laityview hosted a movie night on February 24th with 115 adults attending and lots of children. On February 2s1\ a successful event was hosted at MRSS for the Mount Crescent area. This group has formed the Mountainview Neighbourhood Association. Both neighbourhoods are proceeding on building their plans. 6. 4. 3 Earth Day (April 22) Social Responsibility Events Many groups are coming together to host an Earth Day event in the park. The Building Community Solutions Steering Committee has committed to partnering with the organizing group to offer a number of "social responsibility" events. 6.5 Child, Youth and Family Updates 6. 5.1 CYFN Terms of Reference (Adopted Feb 14, 2006) Vicki Kipps reviewed the Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows Child, Youth and Family Network's new Terms of Reference that were adopted recently. The importance of a strong network with a focus on collaboration was stressed as necessary to ensure that services are effective and responsive. It was also noted that the work to keep the Network strong could not be done without municipal support. The Integrated Case Management Committee has been successful in receiving a grant to produce a training video which will be used as a training tool for staff and community members on this community process. The Early Childhood Development Committee consists of community organizations which meet to develop community-wide strategies to enhance early childhood development in the community, to coordinate services, and to review funding opportunities. Seed grants will be introduced to encourage individual neighbourhoods to develop projects that will contribute to early childhood development. Shawn Matthewson was recognized for her efforts in assisting the group. The Literacy Groups' sponsorship of "Books for Babies" has been very successful. This group focuses on encouraging parents to begin the journey to literacy with children from 18 months to 3 years old. Social Planning Adl'isory Committee Regular 1vfi11utes Page 6 <~l8 Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes March 1, 2006 6.6 The Child Health Collaborative is proceeding on working with community agency partners on designing the services that will be available in neighbourhoods through the mobile unit. Regional Committee on Homelessness Sue provided an update, noting that the 22 projects across the lower mainland that are currently funded have been asked to submit requests for ongoing funding. Council has submitted a letter highlighting its support of the two Alouette Home Start Society projects: the Iron Horse Youth Safehouse and the Community Outreach project. The two projects have applied for an additional one year funding, until March 31, 2007. There is no information on funding directions beyond March, 2007 at this time. 6. 7 Round Table Councillor Judy Dueck reported that she is the new Chair , of the Alouette Addictions Society. A new executive director is in place and the Society will be moving to a larger space in another part of the same building. The Society will continue to work with community partners on meeting the needs in the community. An open house for the new space will be announced soon. Salima Jehani reported that the United Way "Days of Caring" is a great way to get the private sector connected to community agencies. People from different corporations volunteer a day of their time to get involved in various projects throughout the community. This is a good opportunity for Maple Ridge to benefit. The next event happens in June, but applications are due in April. Steven Shearer, Community-at-Large member, asked if there are any outings organized for interesting features throughout the District (for example, be a tourist in your own town, targeted for those who don't have vehicles). Staff will forward these ideas to appropriate service providers. Steven also suggested that access to higher elevations for those interested in seeing an "uninterrupted" view of Maple Ridge scenery for general interest and/or photos should be considered. Staff Liaison, Shawn Matthewson reported that March is nutrition month and there will be many articles in the local paper in the upcoming weeks. There will be a focus on educating community members on the nutritional importance of local foods. Local markets that carry local produce will be identified, in addition to a number of restaurants that now identify on their menus, food items that have been sourced from within a 100-mile radius. Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 7 of 8 Social Planning Adl'isory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes March 1, 2006 7. Correspondence 7.1 Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows Community Services An additional agenda item was reviewed. A request has been received from Community Services for assistance in funding their highly successful Senior's Program for a Handyman Service. The funding is running out and applications have been made to the United Way, but funding is still short. This group will continue it's fund raising efforts and will produce a booklet for the seniors to use. It was agreed that although SP AC has always set aside a small amount of dollars for community projects that come up during the year, there has never been specific funding criteria developed. Typically SPAC has funded research projects or network projects. This request highlights the need for the development of criteria. R06-10 Motion was moved and seconded That staff research and develop a recommendation for criteria for funding for the April meeting. CARRIED 8. Next Meeting The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 5, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. in the Blaney Room, Maple Ridge Municipal Hall, with an agenda deadline of Mon., March 20, 2006. 9. Motion to Move into Closed Session R06-11 Motion was moved and seconded That the Social Planning Advisory Committee move into a Closed Meeting pursuant to 242 (a) personal information about an identifiable individual who holds or is being considered for a position as an officer, employee or agent of the municipality or another position appointed by the municipality; CARRIED The Regular Meeting adjourned at 9:10 pm. /cb Social Planning Adl'isory Committee Regular Minutes Page 8 <~[ 8