1. parks and recreation advisory committee – 2005 annual
report and 2006 work plan comitÉ consultatif sur les parcs et les loisirs – rapport annuel de
2005 et plan de travail 2006 |
That Council:
a. receive
the 2005 Annual Report of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee as
detailed in Document 1; and
b. approve the objectives contained in the 2006 workplan, as detailed in Document 2.
RECOMMANDATION
DU COMITÉ
Que le Conseil :
a. reçoive
le Rapport annuel de 2005 du Comité consultatif sur les parcs et les loisirs,
tel que décrit à la pièce jointe no 1;
b. approuve les objectifs qui sont
présentés dans le plan de travail 2006, tel que décrit à la pièce jointe no 2.
DOCUMENTATION
1. Chair, Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee report dated 6 April 2006 (ACS2006-CCV-PRA-0001).
Report to/Rapport au :
Health, Recreation and Social Services Committee
Comité de la santé, des loisirs et
des services sociaux
and Council / et au Conseil
6 April 2006 / le 6 avril 2006
Submitted by/Soumis par :Parks and Recreation
Advisory Committee/Comité consultatif sur les parcs et les loisirs
Contact Person/Personne ressource : Stephanie
Brown Bellefeuille, Advisory Committee Coordinator/Coordonnatrice du comite
consultatif
Clerk's Branch
(613) 580-2424 x16760, stephanie.brown@ottawa.ca
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SUBJECT: |
PARKS AND
RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE 2005 ANNUAL REPORT AND 2006 WORKPLAN |
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OBJET : |
COMITE CONSULTATIF SUR LES PARCS ET LES LOISIRS RAPPORT ANNUEL DE 2005 ET
PLAN DE TRAVAIL 2006 |
REPORT RECOMMENDATION
That
the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee recommend that Health, Recreation
and Social Services Committee recommend that Council:
a. receive
the 2005 Annual Report of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee as
detailed in Document 1; and
b. approve
the objectives contained in the 2006 workplan, as detailed in Document 2.
RECOMMANDATION DU RAPPORT
Que le Comité consultatif sur les parcs et les
loisirs recommande au Comité de la santé, des loisirs et des services sociaux
de préconiser au Conseil de :
a. reçoive le Rapport
annuel de 2005 du Comité consultatif sur les parcs et les loisirs, tel que
décrit à la pièce jointe no 1;
b. approuve les objectifs qui sont
présentés dans le plan de travail 2006, tel que décrit à la pièce jointe no 2.
BACKGROUND
City Council, at its meeting on 3 December 2003, reconfirmed its governance structure. This included the advisory committees, and the requirement for each to complete a workplan outlining proposed projects and activities for the upcoming year. The workplan is to identify each and every activity the Committee plans to undertake in the upcoming year, whether they have a budgetary impact or not. The item should be identified, a brief description of the project or activity should be noted, and the anticipated timing of the item should be provided. The Committee Coordinator, Lead Department Representative and Financial Services will assist in determining the estimated budget associated with each activity.
In addition, the Lead Department Representatives are to provide the Committee with information on the departmental workplan and priorities, where the workplans of the Committees tie into that workplan, and where the Committee can assist the Department. The Lead Department Representative will also advise on what staff and/or financial resources are available as part of departmental priorities.
City Council, during the 2006 budget deliberations, approved no workplan funding for the advisory committees.
DISCUSSION
At its meeting of 21 March 2006, the Parks
and Recreation Advisory Committee (PRAC) approved its 2005 Annual Report and
2006 proposed workplan.
The mandate of the Parks and Recreation
Advisory Committee is to advise on all aspects
of the provision of leisure and recreation services in the City of Ottawa,
including development of recreation policy, and promoting and maintaining
communication with the public on parks and recreation needs. The complete Terms of Reference can be found at Document 3 of this
report.
CONSULTATION
The Community and Protective Services Department
acknowledges the advice and assistance received from the Parks and Recreation
Advisory Committee in 2005 and appreciates that the Committee has experienced
an improved flow and more timely receipt of information over the course of the
past year.
The Department is supportive of PRAC's 2006
workplan, as outlined in Document 2, including both the AC's general objectives
and specific items of interest laid out in Objectives 6 and 7. The Department looks forward to working with
PRAC in 2006.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
There are no financial impacts from this report.
SUPPORTING
DOCUMENTATION
Document 1 - Parks and Recreation 2005 Annual Report
Document 2 - Parks and Recreation 2006 proposed workplan
Document 3 - Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee Terms of Reference (held on file with the City Clerk)
DISPOSITION
City Clerk’s Branch staff will forward the recommendations approved by the Health, Recreation, and Social Services Committee to City Council for ratification.
Document 1
2005 Annual Report
PARKS AND RECREATION Advisory
Committee
Firstly members of PRAC would like to take this opportunity to thank, our staff liaison, Dan Chenier, and our committee coordinator, Stephanie Brown Bellefeuille, who have continued to work with us and give us direction and advice. We were also fortunate to have had the Director of the Parks and Recreation Department, Aaron Burry, attend our meetings on a number of occasions and his input and comments were both productive and beneficial to our committee. Our appreciation is as well extended to Councillor Rob Jellett who has continued to provide us with his opinions in his jovial yet realistic manner. All have proven to be supportive of the work we have undertaken.
Once again our membership reflects the views of
a very diverse community with expertise drawn from very knowledgeable and
dedicated citizens from ever corner of our city. We have all contributed
through the sharing of own experiences and have provided valuable input to
staff in their preparation of reports and proposals for various city Standing
Committees.
The flow of information to our committee has been significantly improved and our advice has been sought more often and in a more productive and timely fashion. We spent less time worrying about what our roles and responsibilities are and more time discussing issues relevant to our mandated areas of interest.
Our participation in public forums, working on various issues as members of sub-committees and making presentations to Standing Committees continued throughout the past year.
As a result our focus has been:
We have made a concerted effort in reviewing and commenting on all issues that have been brought to our committee for consideration. Where we have had strong opinions in regards to particular concerns our final reports to HRSS have reflected a consensus based position in keeping with our mandate. This is not to say that, had we had a differing opinion to that being expressed in the staff reports, we would not have responded with a contrary position before HRSS committee.
If we have failed to respond to specific reports sent to HRSS it would in all likelihood be attributed to timing issues. As in previous Annual Reports this lack of an opinion should not be construed by Councilors as our concurrence with the Final Report as written but more often then not should be viewed recognizing there was a lack sufficient time to:
As we stated in previous Annual Reports to be truly effective and to validate the role that advisory committees play in the process it is incumbent that our concerns and issues are reflected in the Final Report. Not withstanding the above we need to be able to highlight any shortcomings so that Councilors can seek clarification from staff in regards to our point of view.
We have
made great strides this past year in our committees’ evolution and our advice
is reflected more often in the reports going forward to the Standing Committees
and that staff are recognizing the experience and advice of our committee
members. Much of the progress can be attributed to the fact that we have had
significantly greater interaction with staff in the course of their preparation
of their reports either in the earlier stages or in the preparation of their
Final Reports.
Experiences in 2005 and rationale for Work Plan
In previous Annual Reports we had identified four principal functions which remain as the basis for our focus in 2006:
In our report from last year and the previous year we stated very clearly what we have accepted our role to be. Our primary role is to bring local concerns to light and address these openly with the view of receiving feedback from staff as to what policies and processes are in place to address these concerns. Our secondary role therefore is to ensure that the policies that require change are identified and that new policies are created to reflect the new requirements. While we continue to monitor the effectiveness of City processes, and to guide staff and Council in their implementation, we recognize that staffs are the professionals whose expertise is best directed in developing the process and policies that guide the parks and recreational programs. Lastly we have determined that our role should be to synthesize community views, based on our own experience and interests and provide an overview that helps to integrate and to harmonize local viewpoints.
Our 2006 Work Plan will indicate that we intend to focus on the timely study of issues of broad implication and the preparation of recommendations on these to the HRSS Committee.
Document 2
2006 WORKPLAN
PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Proposed Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee 2006 Work Plan
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Objective |
Implementation |
Cost Involved |
Departments Involved |
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1) Advising Council |
Providing Council/Standing Committee Members/Staff with considered timely advice focused on reports. |
Total: $0.00
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As brought forward by Council, Standing Committees or staff |
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2) To become informed, review, and make recommendations on current and emerging park and recreation issues and promote citizen participation and visioning in the official plan with regards to parks and recreation – public consultations |
The Committee will receive a series of
presentations from staff on relevant issues (some of which are listed below), as well as attend meetings of interest and importance, hold
workshops, and/or (where suitable), make recommendations and reports. The Committee will work closely
with the department in support of the development of recreational programs
and facilities, with particular focus on those areas experiencing sufficient
growth and demand. The Committee will work with the department to bring forward the
issues of: cash-in-lieu, developer deposits, and dedication of funds. The Committee will review and
consider (but not be limited to) the issue of the Marine Bypass Initiative. |
Total: $0.00 Total: $0.00
Total: $0.00
Total: $0.00
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Parks & Recreation Branch City departments (i.e., Parks & Recreation) City departments (i.e., Parks & Recreation) City departments (i.e., Parks & Recreation) |
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3) To inform Council Members of PRAC |
This will be accomplished through dialogue in regards to specific issues of interest and/or concern by Committee Members |
Total: $0.00
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4) To form and maintain useful Partnerships with other advisory committees and with other persons and organizations with common interests |
Liaison with other Advisory Committees where ongoing issues in common exist and ad-hoc joint ventures where appropriate Committees with specific perspectives on parks and recreational issues - e.g. seniors, disabled, environmental, forests |
Total:
$0.00 Total: $0.00 |
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6) To work with Parks & Recreation Branch in support of their 2006 Work Plan - new initiatives |
Review & provide recommendations on issues relating to: § Special Needs Policy § Corporate Asset Management Arenas-Diversion Analysis § Fee Assistance Policy § Skating School Review – Competitive Assessment Review § 2006 Ontario Summer Games § Park Permit Implementation § French Recreation Services § Community Center Partnerships- Policy § Public Skating Policy § Helmets-Policy Review § Marketing Plans for Recreation Facilities § Major Capital Partnership-review of recommended projects for funding |
Total: $0.00
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7) Work with Parks & Recreation Branch in support of their 2006 Work Plan - ongoing initiatives |
§ Maintenance § Allocations, fields, ice, pool etc. § Aquatics Facilities – review of Allocation Policy § Sports Field Strategy § Sports Field Conversion § Pricing Policies § 2007 Budget Review § Sports Field Assessment initiative § Community Infrastructure Strategy Cycling Plan § NCC Pathway Network § Hydro Corridor Plan § Greenspace Master Plan § Ottawa River Corridor Plan § Pedestrian Master Plan § Woodland Conservation Bylaw § West Carleton P3 arena initiative § Community Gardens § Community Use of Schools |
Total: $0.00
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8) Sub-Committee |
§ P & R Master Plan |
Total: $0.00 |
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