POLICY REPORT
ENVIRONMENT
Date: July 8, 1997
Dept. File No.2122-18
CC File No.: 3500/4200
TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: General Manager of Engineering Services
SUBJECT: Keep Vancouver Spectacular 1997
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Vancouver City Council officially support the Keep
Vancouver Spectacular 1997 clean-up event, to precede and
culminate with the Asia Pacific Economic Conference this Fall.
B. THAT Vancouver City Council request staff to report back on a
similar Keep Vancouver Spectacular campaign for the spring of
1998, based on this year s experience.
IF COUNCIL SUPPORTS A, THE GENERAL MANAGER RECOMMENDS:
C. THAT the General Manager of Engineering Services be authorized
to spend $50,000 for the 1997 Keep Vancouver Spectacular
event, source of funds to be the Solid Waste Capital Reserve.
COUNCIL POLICY
There is no applicable Council Policy.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to seek Council's official support for the
Keep Vancouver Spectacular 1997 event, to be timed to precede and
culminate with the Asia Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) this Fall, at
a cost of $50,000.
BACKGROUND
On February 27, 1996 Vancouver City Council officially supported the
Keep Vancouver Spectacular 1996 event and allocated $56,000 in City
funds for the event.
Keep Vancouver Spectacular 1996 was a community-based clean-up event
undertaken in partnership with Tourism Vancouver and was held from April
1 to May 10, 1996. The purpose of the event was to acknowledge the
ongoing efforts of the City and residents in keeping Vancouver
spectacular while promoting an increased community stewardship for all
public spaces in the City.
The 1996 event involved volunteers from business and residential
communities in the clean-up of their streets, sidewalks, lanes,
boulevards, parks and shorelines. Engineering Services used its
Neighbourhood Integrated Service Team (NIST) reps as Area Captains to
identify and work with community leaders. Other Departments were
involved at the NIST level, particularly the Park Board. The Burrard
Inlet Environmental Action Program (BIEAP) coordinated shoreline
clean-ups.
Tourism Vancouver assisted with the event planning, promotion,
administration, and volunteer training and coordination. Engineering
Services provided the services for the event including no-charge
disposal at the Vancouver Landfill for residents during the month of
April, collection of bagged litter by regular residential garbage crews,
recycling via the mini-depots and main depot, large-scale residential
clean-ups using roll-off bins, graffiti-removal on public property and
follow-through with graffiti on private property, special lane and
street cleanings and litter pick-ups.
The Waste Management Association of British Columbia (WMABC) provided
assistance with event planning. Two WMABC member companies, Supersave
(Maple Leaf) Disposal and North Shore Disposal, contributed directly to
the event by providing big bins and collection services for large-scale
commercial clean-ups in Gastown and Chinatown at no charge. BC Hydro
donated the litter collection bags for the volunteers.
The event also focused on the education of the public with respect to
reducing, reusing and recycling waste, and how to fight litter,
abandoned waste, posted bills, graffiti, and vandalism. This was
accomplished through the How-To Guide, promotional material, the
Provincial Recycling Hotline, the City Recycling Hotline, the City's
Anti-Graffiti and Recycling Hotlines, and through training sessions for
Area and Block Captains.
Highlights of the 1996 event are summarized below:
- over 400 commercial and residential blocks participated
- roughly 10% of all City blocks were involved
- highest participation rate was 45% in Downtown core
- City services included:
- 5 special lane litter pick-ups with crews
- 5 special street sweepings
- 6 special lane flushings
- 23 large-scale community clean-ups with bins
- 200 smaller-scale community clean-ups
- 1,000 bags of litter were collected by regular residential
garbage crews
- 364 banners were installed on 2 bridges and 6 blocks of street
- 90 tonnes of litter and garbage were collected in total
- over 100 maintenance and safety concerns were identified by
volunteers for action by the City, and subsequently fixed
Some other activities from 1996 worth noting are:
- the first area to participate was Mt. Pleasant, where residents
collected 10 cubic yards of litter
- students from Britannia High School painted a mural on the Reach
Health Clinic on Commercial Drive to combat graffiti at that
location
- the Coast Foundation Society, which offers services for the
mentally ill, painted over 300 square feet of graffiti-covered
walls
- a contest for the best before and after photo was held, and was won
by the group that cleaned up the Broadway Police Station Office
- an eco-trivia contest was held, and the three winners won meals and
accommodations at the Pan Pacific, Sutton Place, or the Wall Centre
Garden Hotel
The Keep Vancouver Spectacular 1996 event activities were accommodated,
to the extent possible, within Engineering Services 1996 operating
budget.
However, the event reflected a higher level of service and Council
approved additional City funds from the Solid Waste Capital Reserve for
the 1996 program totalling $56,000 for event services, banner
installations, and grants to Tourism Vancouver to cover a portion of
Tourism Vancouver s banner production costs and to pay the Tourism
Vancouver program participation fees on behalf of residents, as detailed
in Appendix "A".
The 1996 program was completed under budget, for a total approximate
cost to the City of $26,000, leaving $30,000 unexpended in 1996. These
savings were not achieved through low community participation, but
rather through efficiencies of our Engineering sanitation and banner
installation crews, who accommodated many of the special program
services within their regular work programs where ever possible.
DISCUSSION
The Keep Vancouver Spectacular 1996 event was undertaken by the City in
partnership with Tourism Vancouver. However, in 1997, Tourism Vancouver
indicated that it would no longer have a role in this event, primarily
because of the formation of the new Oceans Blue Foundation and the
commitment of Oceans Blue to undertake the next Keep Vancouver
Spectacular event in partnership with the City. Given that Oceans Blue
has just been formed, organizing a clean-up for Spring of 1997 was not
possible.
Further, an opportunity was identified by staff to hold a 1997 clean-up
event to precede and culminate with the Asia Pacific Economic Conference
(APEC) to be held in Vancouver from November 22 to 25, 1997. Timing
Keep Vancouver Spectacular 1997 to occur in the Fall would give us the
opportunity to show-case our clean City and highlight to the world that
Vancouver is clean because of the flexibility of City services and the
support and stewardship of our public spaces by our residential and
business communities.
With the exception of the shift from a Spring to a Fall clean-up, it is
recommended that the 1997 event be very similar to the 1996 event in
terms of the City services provided, including:
- no-charge disposal at the Vancouver Landfill for residents for the
duration of the clean-up event
- collection of bagged litter by residential garbage crews
- recycling via the mini-depots and main depot
- large-scale residential clean-ups using roll-off bins
- graffiti-removal on public property
- follow-through with graffiti removal on private property
- special lane and street cleanings and litter pick-ups
Further, the private waste haulers will be approached again this year
for their potential involvement in the commercial big-bin clean-ups.
In response to teachers' requests and Council s interest last year, a
pilot program of school outreach will be conducted. Staff will consult
with the School Board and local teachers to encourage more schools to do
cleanups and to develop and test classroom support materials.
City and Oceans Blue staff are still working out their relative roles in
the context of the new partnership. It is clear that Oceans Blue will
be taking a lower profile role in 1997 than Tourism Vancouver did in
1996.
The Deputy City Engineer will co-chair a Program Committee for the
event, that will include representatives from various Business
Improvements Associations, the Port Corporation, Tourism Vancouver, B.C.
Transit, the Park Board, NIST, community volunteers and the B.C. Paint
Care Association. As in 1996, this committee will help to build an
enthusiastic and informed constituency for the cleanup event.
To keep City costs down but still run the event, we will minimize
administrative and overhead costs so that no residential or commercial
participation fees will be necessary this year. We will seek private
donations to fund specific aspects of the project, such as special
events and advertising.
Staff will be reallocated within the department to plan and coordinate
the event. Last year Tourism Vancouver staffed a registration hotline
for volunteers, but due to their reduced role in 1997 the City will
perform this task, at an estimated cost of $20,000 for temporary help.
There are enough donated supplies remaining from 1996 to equip this
year's volunteers e.g. gloves and litter bags, and training materials
are on computer files and can be modified and reproduced at nominal
cost. Further, the event banners from last year have been saved and can
be re-used, so the City need only pay for the costs of their
installation in 1997.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
The General Manager is seeking Council authority to spend $50,000 for
the Keep Vancouver Spectacular 1997 event.
The activities will be accommodated, to the extent possible, within the
approved Engineering Services operating budget and the proposed budget
as detailed in Appendix A.
* * * * *
APPENDIX "A"
KEEP VANCOUVER SPECTACULAR 1996 AND 1997 BUDGETS
1996 1997
BUDGET EXPENSES PROPOSED BUDGET
__________________________________________________________________
Sanitation Services $35,000 $ 9,000 $15,000
Banner Installation $ 6,500 $ 4,500 $ 5,000
Banner Production Grant $ 4,500 $ 4,500 -
Residential Fees Grant $ 5,000 $ 5,000 -
Promotion & Sundry $ 5,000 $ 3,000 $ 8,000
School Outreach - - $ 2,000
________________________________
Subtotal $56,000 - $26,000 = $30,000
1997 Registration - - $20,000
__________________________________________________________________
1997 Budget Total $50,000
APPENDIX "B"
KEEP VANCOUVER SPECTACULAR 1997 PRELIMINARY SCHEDULE
Council Report - Authorization July 22, 1997
Program Committee Meetings July - September
Training Sessions for Block & Zone Captains September
Registration Hotline Operation August - October
Banner Installation September 22 - 24
Kick-Off Event Late September
Keep Vancouver Spectacular Cleanups Oct. 1 - Nov.7
Free Refuse Disposal October 1 - 31
School Activities Oct. - Nov.