A4
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: March 11, 1997
C.C. File: 5106
TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: General Manager of Community Services
SUBJECT: Proposed Renovations to the Second Storey, East Wing
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Council approve the renovation of the second floor, East
Wing (as per attached floor plan B) in order to optimise the
available floor space to accommodate the changes resulting
from the implementation of the new License Plus System, and to
provide better customer service and provide a more productive
work space for the Property Use Inspectors, Correspondence
Branch, Data Resource Centre, Development Information
Application Centre and Tree Review Branches, in keeping with
the Better City Government Initiatives.
B. THAT Council approve the redirection of $100,000 of the
funding already approved for the Backfile Conversion Project
in the Data Resource Centre, to offset the shortfall in
renovation costs estimated for optimising the use of the
second floor.
COUNCIL POLICY
There is no applicable Council Policy.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to obtain Council approval for the
proposed improvements to the second floor, East Wing as shown on Plan B
attached, in order to achieve improved customer service, business
efficiency and communication. It is also to confirm that there are no
new funds needed for this initiative, merely a redirection (subject to
Council approval) of a portion of the funding previously approved for
the Backfile Conversion Project, that has fortuitously received bids
that are much lower than anticipated. The funding for this project is
entirely recoverable through the fees already in place.
BACKGROUND
Since the Spring of 1996, Council has reviewed and approved several
Better City Government initiatives for the Community Services Group.
Those initiatives include,
March 28, 1996 - PHASE 1
Implementation of a Document
Management Information System
(DOMINO)
STATUS - COMPLETE
June 13, 1996 - Implementation of a Licensing Review
and Redesign (LICENSE PLUS)
STATUS - IN PROGRESS
July 11, 1996 - Expansion of the application of the
existing Private Property Tree By-law
(including the addition of four full time
employees).
STATUS - ON GOING
November 5, 1996 - PHASE 2
Document Imaging/Management System
(Backfile Conversion) (including the
addition of one full time employee)
- The Backfile Project was financed
with a loan of $500,000 from the
Capital Financing Fund (Solid Waste
Capital Reserve) to be repaid over a six
year period.
- Repayment of the loan will be by means of
a new fee instituted on requests for
information on the legal occupancy of
properties anticipated to generate
$145,000 in annual revenue. This fee was
introduced in January of 1997.
STATUS - IN PROGRESS
DISCUSSION
Floor Plan A (attached) shows the current layout of the second floor
that reflects an inefficient business environment and inadequate staff
accommodations. It also will not accommodate the new vision of the
License Office for a customer dialogue and waiting area and does not
enable good customer service. It is also worthwhile mentioning that
although this floor had already been considered to be "full", 15 regular
full time plus 4 temporary full time staff have been added in the past
year. (See Appendix C attached).
The Backfile Conversion Project (previously approved by Council on
November 5, 1996 and in progress) will release space currently used for
storage of paper files in the Data Resource Centre. The process of
preparing the files for scanning has begun in the Data Resource Centre
and the vendor is expected to start the scanning process off site in a
couple of weeks. It is expected that the paper files will be gone by
July 1st of this year.
With this in mind, the Facilities Development Division designed a more
functional floor plan (Plan B attached) to address the needs of the
various branches identified in this report.
This proposed floor plan accommodates the movement of the Property Use
Division, License Branch, Inspection Reception, Correspondence Branch
and downsized Data Resource Centre. It provides an open floor plan that
will encourage better communication and coordination of business
processes between branches.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
Council has already approved funding of $188,000 for renovations to the
License Branch, Development Information Application Centre and Tree
Review Branch. However, renovations of these selected areas only would
not achieve the overall advantages that Plan B offers.
Facilities Development Division advises that the estimated cost of the
work and furnishings outlined in Plan B will be roughly $280,000,
resulting in a shortfall in our current renovation budget of
approximately $100,000.
Backfile Tender Process:
The tendered costs for the Backfile Conversion Project are substantially
lower than anticipated providing $100,000 for use in the renovations to
the second floor.
It is therefore requested that Council approve the redirection of the
$100,000 for the Backfile Conversion Project to the Renovation Project.
CONCLUSION
The redirection of the $100,000 identified above will enable the
completion of the Better City Government Initiatives identified in this
report and will help us to achieve our common goals of improved customer
service, business efficiency and communication.
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