Salt Spring Island Local Trust Committee special meeting, September 9, 2025

[0:00:00] Voice 1: live streaming and recording.

[0:00:01] Voice 1: Great, I'll share the agenda.

[0:00:12] Voice 1: Okay, so yeah, is there any additions to the agenda?

[0:00:17] Voice 1: All right.

[0:00:21] Voice 1: I'm just wondering if anybody would like

[0:00:23] Voice 1: to do a territorial acknowledgement.

[0:00:27] Voice 1: Go ahead, Lisa.

[0:00:29] Voice 3: I'll always say yes to do an acknowledgement.

[0:00:33] Voice 1: Thank you.

[0:00:34] Voice 3: Thank you.

[0:00:35] Voice 3: It's an honor and a privilege

[0:00:37] Voice 3: to be meeting virtually here today

[0:00:40] Voice 3: and the shared territories of many Coast Salish First Nations.

[0:00:45] Voice 3: I'm joining you from Galliano Island, core territory of the Penelakut tribe.

[0:00:51] Voice 3: It's important to recognize the deep and ongoing history of this land

[0:00:56] Voice 3: and to reflect upon our own relationship to it.

[0:00:59] Voice 3: Land acknowledgements are about the past alone.

[0:01:04] Voice 3: Colonialism is an ongoing reality.

[0:01:09] Voice 3: recognizing this calls on us to be mindful of our place in history and to consider how we

[0:01:16] Voice 3: participate in the present and into the future thank you thank

[0:01:23] Voice 1: you lisa okay so we only have

[0:01:26] Voice 1: the one item on this special meeting and that is the local community accessibility grant

[0:01:31] Voice 1: grant. So there is the ability to apply for funding up to $25,000 for looking at improvements

[0:01:44] Voice 1: to improve accessibility in our offices. So we've been asked if we can make that application

[0:01:51] Voice 1: to support the work they're doing on Salt Spring, where in Salt Spring they're opening

[0:01:56] Voice 1: a new office in the village so they're moving from the current position up in

[0:02:02] Voice 1: the BC Hydro building right into the town or the village centre adjacent to

[0:02:09] Voice 1: the capital regional district so right in the middle of the commercial area the

[0:02:13] Voice 1: building requires some retrofitting to make it useful and several of those

[0:02:22] Voice 1: works are for accessibility reasons so what we're doing is we're making an application i think it's

[0:02:30] Voice 1: for about thirteen thousand dollars which would cover the cost of those accessibility portions

[0:02:36] Voice 1: of the renovations the the grant requires the approval of the cao like a letter of support by

[0:02:46] Voice 1: a CEO as well as a letter of support from the accessibility committee so that's why this is

[0:02:52] Voice 1: on your agenda today and there's two resolutions on the screen there but I can take you down

[0:02:58] Voice 1: to have a look at the actual document that's on page two so this is the request for decision to

[0:03:05] Voice 1: you so for those that are not used to this this is the format of any request that we come to a

[0:03:14] Voice 1: committee at the Allens Trust for a decision. We'll indicate the recommended resolutions but

[0:03:20] Voice 1: you're not required to actually adopt these. This is what staff recommend. We'll include the CAO,

[0:03:28] Voice 1: Chief Administrative Officer's comments in relation to this to help you provide the purpose

[0:03:33] Voice 1: and then some background. So I don't know if you had a chance to read this but this just kind of

[0:03:38] Voice 1: outlines the work that's being done and why we're making the request and who

[0:03:44] Voice 1: is providing the grant as well. And in section 3 here we'll just provide some

[0:03:49] Voice 1: implications of the recommendation. So really the only ones here is the

[0:03:54] Voice 1: financial is it will help to offset costs of the renovations and we'll

[0:04:01] Voice 1: follow communications policy in respect to how we communicate any decisions

[0:04:06] Voice 1: around this and at the bottom we indicate the draft attachments that

[0:04:10] Voice 1: we've provided to you so in this case we've got the letter of support draft

[0:04:16] Voice 1: for you to consider and then the actual application itself so you can see

[0:04:21] Voice 1: specifically what what we're asking for and how the dollars would be spent and

[0:04:27] Voice 1: then under response options the first one is always the two

[0:04:30] Voice 1: recommendations but there is an alternative and that is that you could

[0:04:35] Voice 1: suggest something else or you may not agree with us and you may decline to support the application

[0:04:42] Voice 1: that's up to you and then on the next page is the draft this so this is a draft letter it's really

[0:04:49] Voice 1: a very simple letter of support the wording is very similar to the wording that will come from

[0:04:56] Voice 1: the CAO and then finally the actual grant application itself and I'll just take you

[0:05:05] Voice 1: down here on the screen to the dollars because I think that's more what's important and what's

[0:05:11] Voice 1: going to be happening so this is the timeline that you can see there we expect to be completed

[0:05:16] Voice 1: by October the grantors are aware that this is underway but as long as the application is in

[0:05:23] Voice 1: before we complete the work they said they would accept it that's one reason

[0:05:29] Voice 1: why we wanted this special meeting so here are the dollars so looking at

[0:05:34] Voice 1: universal accessible washroom so you can see the labor materials for that doors

[0:05:40] Voice 1: and fixtures front desk workstation and an accessible front counter and then the

[0:05:46] Voice 1: foyer front door wheelchair waiting area and then this project management cost

[0:05:51] Voice 1: us which the grant said it would cover in relation to this so that brings us to a total of 13,212

[0:05:59] Voice 1: which is well under the maximum that they will issue under this grant which is 25,000 so the

[0:06:06] Voice 1: ask is for 13,215 in grant money okay so any questions about the grant before we go to the

[0:06:16] Voice 1: actual letter okay and then the letter itself um now we haven't officially uh the committee hasn't

[0:06:28] Voice 1: officially um elected or determined a chair but i would just suggest that one of the two trustees

[0:06:35] Voice 1: be asked to sign this on behalf of the committee simply because um we work closely with them so

[0:06:41] Voice 1: it'd be easier to get the signature but it could be any one of you the resolutions that are in here

[0:06:49] Voice 1: I'll just go up to it for you.

[0:06:52] Voice 1: The first one is that you approve the draft letter

[0:06:55] Voice 1: so that you're agreeing to that.

[0:06:56] Voice 1: The second one is authorizing somebody

[0:06:59] Voice 1: to sign the letter on behalf of the Accessibility Committee.

[0:07:04] Voice 1: And we're just suggesting a trustee,

[0:07:06] Voice 1: but again, it could be any one of you.

[0:07:08] Voice 1: And then just going back down to the letter,

[0:07:12] Voice 1: is there any questions about the wording of the letter?

[0:07:15] Voice 1: Any concerns?

[0:07:18] Voice 1: Yeah, go ahead, Teresa.

[0:07:21] Voice 2: Yeah, my question, I guess, I don't know, I guess it's about the grant or it's about,

[0:07:24] Voice 2: it's kind of about the whole project a little bit.

[0:07:27] Voice 4: Yeah.

[0:07:27] Voice 4: If

[0:07:27] Voice 2: I may just, you're kind of at this point, I was looking at the timeline.

[0:07:31] Voice 2: So is it correct that the office design is already done?

[0:07:37] Voice 2: There's work that's already been happening.

[0:07:38] Voice 2: So I'm curious about the accessibility features that have been designed, have been informed

[0:07:43] Voice 2: by what guidance?

[0:07:46] Voice 2: Is it Rick Hansen?

[0:07:47] Voice 2: It looks like it's physical accessibility for the most part, which is one aspect.

[0:07:54] Voice 2: But I'm curious, just is there still a chance to give input on those accessibility features that are being designed from the physical aspect?

[0:08:04] Voice 2: And a two-part question, if we can ask for up to $25,000, my math says there's another $11.8 thousand that we could ask for to do accessibility training,

[0:08:15] Voice 2: look at wayfinding signage or I don't know what all the accessibility features mean in terms of the design itself.

[0:08:22] Voice 2: So I know that's a whole big mouthful, but that's sort of, I guess, my big general question.

[0:08:26] Voice 1: Yeah. So what they did here is they kept the ask for the accessibility features within the scope of what we'd asked the contractor to do,

[0:08:37] Voice 1: which is to make these modifications to the building code.

[0:08:43] Voice 1: and i don't think signage or any of the other was included in that that would be on top

[0:08:50] Voice 1: so yeah that could be an ask but at this stage um we would have to go back and have a look at the

[0:08:59] Voice 1: additional cost for that and see if we can include it so it hasn't been included here

[0:09:04] Voice 1: this was to keep it to that partly because of where we're at in the process ideally this

[0:09:10] Voice 1: this application probably should have been made before we started but this became known I guess

[0:09:17] Voice 1: that it was something that we could apply for to offset the cost so it's purely the physical

[0:09:24] Voice 1: right now as you see on the screen there.

[0:09:30] Voice 2: And I guess yeah my other part of the question like who

[0:09:32] Voice 2: or what guidance was so you're this far along down in the project I'm curious if I'm gonna

[0:09:38] Voice 2: if we want to sign off on this

[0:09:39] Voice 2: I'd like to know that at least whatever physical

[0:09:41] Voice 2: physical modifications are being made, we're informed, like, you know, building code can

[0:09:46] Voice 2: sometimes be a very low bar. We looked at the Rick Hansen checklist and a lot of other things,

[0:09:51] Voice 2: you know, but I understand that funding is a challenge and maybe that there's just a way to

[0:09:59] Voice 2: word our support in the letter that as designed, you know, we give our support. In the future,

[0:10:03] Voice 2: we would like to see other projects take a more consultative phase earlier on. If you're designing

[0:10:08] Voice 2: something to have accessibility stuff, it would have been good to bring this committee in a lot

[0:10:11] Voice 2: sooner um just to help with that design as well too as a tool that we're here yeah that's fair

[0:10:18] Voice 1: enough okay any other comments or questions okay are there any suggested edits or changes to the

[0:10:27] Voice 1: letter i'll just take you up to that yeah one

[0:10:32] Voice 2: different language on bathrooms um i would you

[0:10:35] Voice 2: have unisex in one part and then accessible i would just get consistent and accessible all

[0:10:40] Voice 2: gender bathroom would be current terminology i wouldn't use unisex it's not in so

[0:10:45] Voice 1: where do we

[0:10:46] Voice 1: use it at unisex is that okay one

[0:10:49] Voice 2: of the descriptions yeah it's uh in please describe

[0:10:52] Voice 2: the please describe the needs or barriers in the last sentence it talks about accessible unisex

[0:10:56] Voice 2: washroom and then later on it talks about the accessible ah

[0:10:59] Voice 1: okay yeah

[0:11:00] Voice 2: so it might just be good

[0:11:02] Voice 2: to mention that it's just an all gender accessible washroom for clarity yeah and

[0:11:07] Voice 1: just do you know

[0:11:08] Voice 1: which page that was then?

[0:11:09] Voice 2: It's page six.

[0:11:10] Voice 1: Page six. And yeah, right there.

[0:11:14] Voice 1: All right. So which which

[0:11:16] Voice 1: box? Oh, the first box.

[0:11:17] Voice 2: The first box. Yeah. Yeah.

[0:11:19] Voice 1: Can you make a note of that? We can change that

[0:11:22] Voice 1: to what was your language?

[0:11:25] Voice 2: Accessible all gender. You capture

[0:11:28] Voice 1: that, Robert? Okay, Robert, I can't

[0:11:35] Voice 1: hear you. Okay,

[0:11:36] Voice 3: thank you. Yeah.

[0:11:37] Voice 1: Yes. Thanks. Okay. So does committee agree with that suggestion?

[0:11:41] Voice 1: suggestion okay all right thanks we'll make that change before we send it in appreciate that is

[0:11:47] Voice 1: there any other language in here that you suggest we change or any other comments before we go back

[0:11:52] Voice 1: to the letter okay just take you back to the letter all right yeah so again this is oh sorry

[0:12:04] Voice 1: about that that's annoying isn't it okay so is there any uh suggested edits to the letter or

[0:12:14] Voice 1: for modifications, otherwise I'll ask if you want to endorse the letter and then authorize

[0:12:23] Voice 1: somebody to sign it on behalf of the Accessibility Committee.

[0:12:29] Voice 2: Yeah, I think it's fine as is, and maybe just to my previous comment, I don't think it has

[0:12:34] Voice 2: to be in this letter, but just noted for future projects about consultation around accessibility

[0:12:38] Voice 2: at an earlier date would be, give you more of a chance just to, you know, not have to

[0:12:44] Voice 2: make change things later and just get ahead of it as much as possible

[0:12:47] Voice 1: absolutely and as we get used

[0:12:50] Voice 1: to having an accessibility committee it will get used to having how we use it better so yes

[0:12:56] Voice 1: absolutely yeah

[0:12:57] Voice 4: i just want to second that too because it would be nice to you know be able to

[0:13:00] Voice 4: pull in other parts of accessibility rather than just the physical aspects of it whether it be

[0:13:05] Voice 4: signage or quiet spaces or there's a whole bunch of things that we could look at yeah

[0:13:11] Voice 1: no this is

[0:13:12] Voice 1: great and this is exactly why it's coming to you thank you okay i'll just go back up to the

[0:13:18] Voice 1: resolutions and just ask if somebody would like to move and move the first one i'll

[0:13:26] Voice 4: move the first

[0:13:26] Voice 4: motion

[0:13:27] Voice 1: okay just by reading it out if you can uh

[0:13:31] Voice 4: that accessibility committee approves the draft

[0:13:33] Voice 4: letter of support in regards to the local community accessibility grant application

[0:13:37] Voice 4: for the salt spring island office renovations i just

[0:13:41] Voice 1: need a second okay i see um trustee

[0:13:47] Voice 1: gavriel thank you so let's move in second any discussion around that okay so if you just want

[0:13:54] Voice 1: to raise your hands in favor i think i can see you all on the screen except for trustee gavriel

[0:14:00] Voice 1: for some reason there we go okay and anybody opposed okay so that's carried thank you

[0:14:10] Voice 1: you and if somebody would like to first of all i guess is um who you would like to have signed this

[0:14:18] Voice 3: who's uh most convenient um trustee mod are you would you does this need to be signed in person

[0:14:24] Voice 3: uh

[0:14:25] Voice 1: we can if we should have electronic signatures for trustees so we can use that

[0:14:30] Voice 1: and i think we probably would have trustee mod as he's a chair of an ltc

[0:14:35] Voice 4: yeah emily does have my digital digital signature yeah

[0:14:39] Voice 1: okay good is everybody okay with trustee mod

[0:14:42] Voice 1: if we put trustee mod in there

[0:14:43] Voice 2: yeah yes okay

[0:14:46] Voice 1: so with that could somebody move the second one and

[0:14:48] Voice 1: just insert mod where it says insert name here i'll

[0:14:55] Voice 3: move it go

[0:14:56] Voice 1: ahead do you want to read that

[0:14:57] Voice 1: i

[0:14:57] Voice 3: move that the accessibility committee authorized trustee mod to sign the letter of support in

[0:15:03] Voice 3: regards to the local community accessibility grant application for the salt spring island

[0:15:08] Voice 3: office renovations okay

[0:15:10] Voice 1: i need a seconder i

[0:15:11] Voice 3: can second it okay

[0:15:13] Voice 1: thanks lisa and is there any

[0:15:15] Voice 1: discussion okay you can all just raise your hands in favor all right and is there any opposed

[0:15:23] Voice 1: i don't see any opposed so that one carries thank you okay i think that's all we had on today's

[0:15:32] Voice 1: agenda and the next meeting is your regular meeting on october 7th from 6 30 to 8 30

[0:15:40] Voice 1: let's double check with everybody that's in your calendars and okay i won't be i

[0:15:46] Voice 2: sent an email i

[0:15:47] Voice 2: don't know if you saw it i have a work uh event that day i won't be able to attend on the okay

[0:15:51] Voice 1: all right sorry about that um it happens but uh we'll definitely keep you up to date with the

[0:15:58] Voice 1: minutes so you'll get to see that as well um we'll still provide you the agenda up front so

[0:16:05] Voice 1: if there's anything in there you can send us an email or you know talk to one of the other members

[0:16:10] Voice 1: about any input you'd like them to put in on your behalf that's totally fine okay all right well

[0:16:17] Voice 1: really appreciate the short meeting and apologize for having to call it unfortunately um partly

[0:16:25] Voice 1: partly because the timing we couldn't wait till October and we can't really do

[0:16:29] Voice 1: this with resolutions without meetings.

[0:16:31] Voice 1: So this is the only option we had to get this signed off and get the

[0:16:36] Voice 1: application in. So tomorrow morning,

[0:16:38] Voice 1: I will be getting this package together and sending it in and we will let you

[0:16:43] Voice 1: know the outcome as well.

[0:16:45] Voice 1: Sounds great.

[0:16:47] Voice 1: All right. So

[0:16:47] Voice 1: with that, just a motion to adjourn.

[0:16:51] Voice 2: Okay. Good night.

[0:16:52] Voice 1: All right. Thanks, Lisa. Got it.

[0:16:54] Voice 1: it take care everybody

[0:16:55] Voice 1: thank you robert and welcome thank you so much have a good evening

[0:17:00] Voice 1: thanks everybody for being here have a good evening bye