SIDNEY ISSUES
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FOLLOWING THE DECISIVE DEFEAT OF THE 'DARK FORCES' REPRESENTED BY STEVE PRICE AND HIS COHORTS, I WILL BE RE-DIRECTING THE MESSAGE OF THE WEBSITE TO CONSIDER THE CURRENT ACTIONS OF COUNCIL IN MEASURING UP TO THEIR CAMPAIGN PROMISES (ACTUAL AND IMPLIED).
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FROM THOSE TO WHICH MUCH HAS BEEN GIVEN, MUCH IS EXPECTED!!
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The OCP and Rampant Development
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OCP Ignored !
The provisions of the OCP, particularly with respect to building height, provision of off-street parking and setbacks, which were established to 'MAINTAIN THE SMALL TOWN CHARACTER OF SIDNEY', appear to have consistently been ignored by the current Mayor and Council.
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Too Much Density !
The current Mayor and Council appear to be CONSUMED by their desire to 'increase density', particularly in the town core, but not limited to there. WHY?
If the upshot was 'more affordable housing', 'more medical clinics', 'more parking', 'more successful small businesses', 'better transportation options', etc., maybe it would be worth it. But I don't see that happening!
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Too Many Variances !
Developers are overpaying for properties based on an expectation that they will get all the variances that they ask for! Time to go back to the 'intent' of the OCP.
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Free Parking!
A very specific 'variance' issue. And an important one. The developers are literally getting away with murder! The 'in-lieu' fee has DECREASED rather than increased over the past 4 years.
For years, Sidney has collected fees 'in lieu' of providing required off-street parking spaces. What has happened to the money? I would hazard a guess that it has disappeared into the 'great CSB financial black hole'! My understanding was that that money was supposed to pay for the building a municipal PARKADE (on the old Black Press site; you know, the one next to the current Firehall, that we are now selling to pay off our burgeoning debts).
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Sidney is STILL granting variances willy-nilly with respect to required parking spaces, and when all the buildings that they have approved actually get built, we are going to find we really DO have a parking problem, and not just 'downtown'. Workers and customers will grab whatever they can in reasonable proximity to the core, and long-term residents living 'close in' will inevitably be impacted.
Third Street, where I live, will be a Zoo! Already impacted by the 'excess parking needs' of Port Sidney Marina and other businesses on the waterfront, the situation will only get worse. If the 'rules' were properly applied to that area, there should be something like 300+ parking spaces available, but previous Councils over the past 20 years have been just as lax as the current bunch, and they just don't exist.
DOCTOR SHORTAGE
What has SIDNEY (Mayor & Council) done to alleviate the recognised Doctor Shortage? NOT MUCH by the look of it!
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About the most significant action that comes to light is a LOAN of $192,000 from the Town to the Saanich Peninsula Primary Health Care Society which opened and operates the Peninsula Medical Clinic (Bevan Ave).
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Price was 'on the record' 4 years ago as saying that “the town will form a committee to work with the Saanich Peninsula Hospital Foundation and South Island family doctors to see what might be done", and he suggested that "the town build a clinic for new medical graduates, with 10 residential units above where they can live while they pay off their student loans". I can't find any record of either taking place!
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Having basically sat on their hands for 4 years, the current unseemly rush to be seen to be 'actually doing something' in the dying days of of their mandate results in a picture (in the Sept 11 PNR) of Price, McLennan and Lougher-Goody, with MLA Olsen and Minister Dix, standing around, doing nothing, as usual.
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Municipal Cooperation
(SEE the 'Cooperation?' page for details)
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Tricameral Consultation
Non-existent, or ineffective
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Referendum on Cooperation, Integration and Amalgamation
NADA !
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Gateway/Sandown 'Studies'
Opportunity for joint submission to DoT on Hwy17 overpass was squandered!
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REPRESENTATION
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Failure to represent the clearly voiced WILL OF THE ELECTORATE !
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Gateway rezoning (Shoal Centre meeting)
CSB - Assent Vote, Location decisions, escalating COSTS!
NO ACTION on massive 'YES' to the Local Governance referendum
Unprecedented 'development' with multiple variances
Old Firehall site sale decision
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Council 'attitude' toward residents
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Dis-respectful ("to show or express disrespect or contempt for ..")
Bullying ("habitually .. insulting, or threatening to others")
Ignorant ("lacking knowledge or comprehension")
Arrogant ("to exaggerate one's own worth or importance")
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FINANCIAL MIS-MANAGEMENT
CSB COSTS SKYROCKETING!
Project LATE!! Completion date"?
Budget Status?
See the CSB page!
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BEACON AVE
Benches, sidewalks replaced unnecessarily
EV charging stations (not only 'free', but seldom used)
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TAXES
See TAXES page.
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Unnecessary Expenditures?
Are Council & Staff making the best choices for spending OUR money?
The picture below shows our FIRE CHIEF's new truck. TRUCK?
I'ts a personal sports car, paid for by US, with the emblem
'Sidney Fire' very low on the underside of the doors, very understated, in ' dark gold'!
When arriving at a disaster site it would hardly be recognised as an official 'FIRE COMMAND VEHICLE', and probably not at all without the 'FIRE CHIEF' label (small, on the front fenders). Although it certainly LOOKS like it can get wherever it is going in a hurry! Barely able hold 2 big fire fighters, with 2 midgets in the back? How much FIRE, SAFETY or RESCUE equipment can it carry?
When the next Fire Chief takes over, I'll bet it will be 'junked' as a frivolous 'toy'. And then they will have to spend MORE of our money on a REAL Fire Chief's TRUCK; but I don't hold out much hope for a big 'trade-in' for the old one, because it will need a total re-paint.
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Municipal Mis-Information
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Mayor Price and his cronies are very fond of making outrageous allegations about 'misinformation', propaganda', 'certain groups' and 'opposition', to the point of paranoia. What they don't seem to worry too much about is REAL MISINFORMATION publicly posted on the Town of Sidney website AND their own utterings, which are frequently 'gems of misinformation' themselves.
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GATEWAY (Sidney Crossing)
Town website posting 'whoppers' (= mis-information)
Many others have taken issue with GATEWAY/SIDNEY CROSSING on their concerns about 'traffic', 'business impacts', West Sidney 'access to shops', Costs, Assent Votes, ....
MY concerns have focused on the SAFETY IMPLICATIONS of a shopping complex (with planned 'daycare facilities') being located unbelievably close to the threshold of a major YYJ runway!
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The 'OEI Report' refers to a report commissioned by Town of Sidney, which was SUPPOSED to be a RISK ASSESSMENT, but did not turn out that way. (See 'The CSB' page)
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Some examples of Mis-Information : 'One-sided Extracts' from the OEI Report which were posted on the Town of Sidney website!!!
The (OEI) report stated “most airports in Canada support multiple activities including storage, and commercial developments”
This was posted without noting that these 'activities' are generally accepted ‘airport related’ businesses, mostly found INSIDE the security perimeters (eg: UPS, Fedex, Agents, Suppliers.)
The statement is sort of 'out of context' if you are talking about the CSB, which the OEI Report purported to be doing, but, 'SURPRISE', it is very supportive of the shaky VAA case for the Omicron GATEWAY development.
The (OEI) report listed infrastructures "on or adjacent to (Vancouver) YVR’s main runways, such as a City of Richmond Fire Hall, the BCIT Aerospace Campus, and a shopping mall",
This WAS posted on the website, but it is NOT what the report ACTUALLY said, but again, very supportive of the GATEWAY development case.!! In addition, the areas in question are all more than 1500M away from the main YVR runway, rather than 'adjacent to', which implies a proximity that does not exist, and renders the comment irrelevant!
The proposed SIDNEY GATEWAY buildings will be ONLY 165M from the edge of the main runway, & just barely outside the MINIMUM LEGAL flightpath clearance limits, never mind 'BEST PRACTICES'!
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The same OEI report also highlighted "development of a shopping mall at Edmonton International, adjacent to the main runway", when the reality is that the Shopping Centre is located1.7 Km away.
AND, that “there is a large secondary school located adjacent to Langley Regional Airport", which is 'sort of true', BUT, LANGLEY is not even a ‘small comparable airport’ and definitely NOT a ‘comparable National Airport’! It is used by VERY SMALL, mostly private aircraft, and has hangars at 90m from the runway. There are actually 3 schools close to the 'Langley Airport', NONE of which are ‘ADJACENT to the (only) runway’!
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COMPARABLE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT RUNWAYS GENERALLY DO NOT HAVE ANY BUILDINGS CLOSER THAN 250m. MOST ARE more than 300m away.
-GATEWAY at YYJ : 165M !!! UNBELIEVABLE!
-WORST PRACTICES : 200m at YYJ – VICTORIA
-ACCEPTABLE PRACTICES : 300m +
-BEST PRACTICES : 400m +
STRUCTURES CLOSEST TO RUNWAYS ARE NORMALLY ALL ‘AIRPORT RELATED’ BUSINESSES, NOT A PUBLIC ACCESS SHOPPING MALL AND OFFICE COMPLEX LIKE GATEWAY, which IS very much ‘adjacent to OUR YYJ runway’ !!
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What these erroneous website postings indicate to me is that the Sidney Staff responsible for these 'nuggets of website wisdom' MAY have read the OEI report, BUT DID NOT UNDERSTAND IT, yet continued on to publish statements which were, in fact, INCORRECT and MISLEADING, almost certainly influencing the general public (that read them) to accept that 'there was no legitimate risk or safety concern' with respect to the Gateway location! AND THEY THEN REFUSED TO ACCEPT THAT THEY HAD 'MADE A MISTAKE'! And Council 'took no notice' when advised. An even BIGGER mistake!
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CSB (Community Safety Building)
Escalating costs not reported in a timely or transparent manner.
REASONS for escalating costs seem to be mostly excuses for people not having done their job properly?
THE COSTS KEEP GROWING, AND THE BUILDING DOESN'T!
When WILL it be finished? HOW MUCH will it have cost?
See the CSB page for 'Exerpts from the SIDNEY TOWN website' and more commentary.
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Town Website : Newsroom Posting 2018/10/10
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Mayor Price Attends Barrier Buster Lunch
November 7, 2017
Mayor Price spoke to a crowd of about 300 people today and congratulated the SHOAL Centre on the great work they do in the community. Most recently, the SHOAL Centre (Beacon Community Services) received a grant from the Rick Hansen Foundations' special Canada 150 grant program "Access4All Barrier Buster".
The grant has enabled the SHOAL Centre to make improvements including:
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4 automatic washrooms: auto-flush toilets, auto faucets, auto soap and paper towel dispensers
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Audio loops at reception and two portable units to use in community centre
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Extra handrails in centre
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Braille signage (soon to be installed) throughout the community centre
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November 7, 2017? THIS IS "NEWS"? It's a year ago!
This is a blatant abuse of the Town website (and the staff and computer resources utilised) to UNFAIRLY PROMOTE the image of Price during the ELECTION PERIOD! First, it SHOULD BE ILLEGAL! Second, Town STAFF should know better! Third, I doubt that Staff came up with this idea on their own!
Worse, the article, as posted, seems to imply that Price had something to do with the Shoal Center actually receiving the award and the consequent benefits, other than having been invited to attend the Lunch!
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Town of Sidney Connected For Safety
October 1, 2018
Sidney, B.C.; Slated for occupancy in the spring of 2019, Sidney’s new Community Safety Building (CSB) will be a central facility for emergency preparedness on the Saanich Peninsula. Home for the Sidney Fire Department, B.C. Ambulance Services, and the Peninsula Emergency Measures Organization, the CSB will also serve as an important training facility and emergency operations centre. The strategic integration of these public safety emergency services under one roof will be further strengthened by the pending technology upgrade that will see a Capital Region Emergency Service Telecommunications Inc (CREST) transmission site co-located in the building to enhance emergency communications in the area.
“To ensure that Sidney’s CSB allows for the optimal delivery of public safety services, CREST, the Sidney Fire Department and The Town of Sidney got together to share information that resulted in identifying a future dedicated, purpose-built space in the CSB in anticipation of increased density and growth in the area,” explained Brett Mikkelsen, Fire Chief, Town of Sidney, who has played an instrumental role in ensuring that the design of the new CSB meets the operational needs of the tenant organizations. “We appreciate CREST’s professional commitment to our first responders across the region. Public safety and public confidence is at the heart of our work. Inclusion of CREST infrastructure further demonstrates our commitment to house mission critical emergency response assets and infrastructure within a state of the art post disaster rated facility”.
“CREST applauds the Town of Sidney and the Sidney Fire Department for their foresight and collaboration as they prepare for the future,” said Gordon Horth, General Manager, CREST who is responsible for the $25-million emergency telecommunications upgrade that is rolling out in three phases over the next 18 months across the Capital Region. “Working together with the Town of Sidney and with Fire Chief Brett Mikkelsen, we were able to make proactive decisions that maximize efficiencies and strengthen public and responder safety throughout the Saanich Peninsula for the coming decades. Being included in the design of a post-disaster rated building at the time of planning and construction is operationally and fiscally advantageous for everyone.”
CREST is undergoing a technology renewal project to replace the existing 15-year old radio system that currently serves 50 emergency response agencies within the Capital Region. The new radio system is based on digital radio technology known as Project 25 (P25), which provides first responders with improved audio clarity and coverage among other operational and safety benefits. P25 represents a suite of standards for digital radio communications used by federal, provincial/state and local emergency response agencies across North America. It is considered a world standard.
The new P25 system is now built-out in the Core Area (Victoria, Esquimalt Saanich and Oak Bay). Rigorous testing, system optimization and training on the new P25 technology with emergency responders began last fall and the new radios are consistently delivering clearer audio quality and much stronger coverage as promised. Transition to the live-site in the Core Area is anticipated this fall. Phase 2 (Saanich Peninsula) is underway with installations and field testing taking place throughout the year. Migration over to the new system is planned for early 2019. Phase 3 (Westshore, Gulf Islands and Pacific Rim) is on track to be completed by the end of 2019. The existing Smartzone system will continue to provide emergency communication services while the regional roll out of P25 takes place. When fully implemented, the P25 system capacity will increase by 30%, handling over 2500 mobile and portable radios and over 50 in-vehicle repeaters from 30 transmission towers strategically located across the Capital Region.
About CREST:
CREST provides emergency radio communications for 50 emergency response agencies in B.C.’s Capital Region. This includes fire departments, police departments and ambulance services. Over 7.5 million calls per year go through the system, or one call every four seconds.
CREST was formed in 2001 and its radio communications network has been operational since 2003. Prior to CREST, public safety organizations in the CRD used more than 30 different radio communications systems. These systems were not integrated and critical public safety connectivity was not possible. In addition to improved audio clarity and building penetration coverage, the new P25 system will allow for agencies to communicate with each other seamlessly strengthening response capabilities in the case of critical incident or natural disaster.
The P25 renewal project includes a hybrid system of 700 MHz and VHF frequencies. 700 MHz penetrates buildings better and the core areas have larger and more densestructures than the region’s outlying jurisdictions. VHF frequencies tend to penetrate forests better and generally have longer reach. As the core areas (Phase 1 and Phase 2) roll out, existing VHF frequencies will be relocated to increase service to the Pacific Rim and Gulf Island areas.
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TIMELINE FOR
IMPLEMENTATION
CREST’s P25 system upgrade is underway via a phased multi-year implementation plan.
2016
Engineers design and factory test the replacement system prior to deployment.
2017
Infrastructure upgrades and added transmitters in a P25 700 MHz format in the urban core (Victoria, Oak Bay, Saanich, and Esquimalt). Start testing of new system.
2018
Westshore & Saanich Peninsula upgrades and added transmitters in a P25 700 MHz format. Cutover urban core & Saanich Peninsula agencies onto the new system.
2019
Gulf Islands, and Pacific Rim upgrades and added transmitters in a P25 VHF format. Cutover remaining agencies onto the new system.
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