ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: January 22, 1998

Author/Local: S.Reed/7204

CC File: No. 3501

TO:	Vancouver City Council
FROM:	General Manager of Engineering Services
SUBJECT:	Keep Greater Vancouver Spectacular 1998

RECOMMENDATION

A.THAT Council officially support the Keep Vancouver Spectacular 1998 clean-up event, to be held May 1 to June 7, 1998.

B.THAT Council authorize a budget of $50,000 for the 1998 Keep Vancouver Spectacular event, the source of funds to be the Solid Waste Capital Reserve.

C.THAT Council authorize staff to produce an educational "Community Stewardship" school show for presentation to elementary school children in 1998 at a one-time cost of $30,000 funded from the Solid Waste Capital Reserve ($20,000) and the 1998 Graffiti Program/Materials account #60/30/3802/507 ($10,000).

D.THAT, after the first year, the community stewardship play be performed to half the elementary schools in Vancouver each year, at an annual cost of $17,000, to be accommodated in the 1999 budget approval process.

F.THAT Council direct staff to report back on a program to operate a graffiti-removal vehicle, including budget and sponsorship support.

G.THAT Council request staff to report back on a similar Keep Vancouver Spectacular campaign for the spring of 1999, based on this year’s experience.

COUNCIL POLICY

There is no applicable Council Policy.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to seek Council's official support for the Keep Greater Vancouver Spectacular 1998 event, to be held this spring from May 1 to June 7, at a cost of $50,000. It also describes and seeks approval for an educational play on community stewardship to be produced at an initial cost of $30,000, and an annual cost of $17,000 after that. In addition, it is recommended that staff be directed to report back on the purchase and operation of a state-of-the-art graffiti removal vehicle through sponsorship and City funding. The use of the anti-graffiti vehicle could be launched during Spectacular ‘98.

SUMMARY

The first Keep Greater Vancouver Spectacular (Spectacular 1996) community clean-up event was successfully held in the spring of 1996. A second Spectacular event was planned for the fall of 1997, but was cancelled due to the civic workers’ strike.

It is recommended that Council approve Keep Greater Vancouver Spectacular 1998 for May 1 to June 7, with a budget of $50,000 from the Solid Waste Capital Reserve.

The City will provide services similar to the 1996 event, including free residential disposal at the landfill for the month of May, large-scale neighbourhood clean-ups, graffiti-removal on public property and free collection of specially-marked residential bags of litter.

An additional component to this year’s program is an educational play aimed at kindergarten through grade five students, which will portray community stewardship in a positive and interactive way. Literature for in-class activities and a follow-up school clean-up event will accompany the play. The 1998 cost of this play is $30,000, and the ongoing annual cost of delivering it to students is expected to be $17,000.

It is also proposed that Council authorize staff to confirm sponsorship and funding for a graffiti-removal vehicle that will be used for community-based and city-run graffiti abatement projects. The use of the new vehicle could be launched during this year’s Spectacular event. Staff will report back on the sponsorship and funding details for the purchase and on-going operation of the vehicle.

BACKGROUND

On February 27, 1996 Vancouver City Council officially supported the Keep Greater Vancouver Spectacular 1996 (hereafter referred to as Spectacular 1996)event and allocated $56,000 in City funds for the event.

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. Tourism Vancouver assisted with the event planning, promotion, administration, and volunteer training and coordination. Engineering Services provided the sanitation and anti-graffiti services for the event.

Corporate donations and organizational support were also involved in making the event a success. Spectacular ’96 drew 1,500 volunteer participants who cleaned up 10% of the City’s blocks.

The Spectacular 1996 event activities were accommodated, to the extent possible, within Engineering Services’ 1996 operating budget. Council approved $56,000 in extra City funding from the Solid Waste Capital Reserve to pay for special program features and the higher level of service provided during the event. The 1996 program was completed under budget through crew efficiencies, and only $26,000 was actually spent.

On July 22nd, 1997, Council approved a similar Keep Greater Vancouver Spectacular event for the fall of 1997, to be held in October with a budget of $50,000. Increases in the scope of the event were to include a school outreach program, increased costs for promotions and the cost of staffing a registration hotline.

Unfortunately, the eight week civic worker strike led to uncertainty about the ability to execute the event on schedule. Therefore, the 1997 Keep Greater Vancouver Spectacular cleanup was cancelled.

DISCUSSION

It is proposed that the Spectacular event return to its spring clean-up timing, May 1 to June 7, to take advantage of better weather and anticipated increased community participation.

It is recommended that the 1998 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

-free collection of specially-tagged bagged litter by residential garbage crews

-recycling via the mini-depots and main depot

-large-scale neighbourhood clean-ups using roll-off bins

-graffiti-removal from public property

-follow-through with graffiti removal on private property

-special lane and street cleaning and litter pick-ups

Further, the private waste haulers will be approached for their continued involvement in the commercial big-bin clean-ups.

A new graffiti-removal service may be offered in 1998 to assist community and City graffiti-removal, as described later in this report.

Tourism Vancouver will play a much reduced role in this year’s event, while the Oceans Blue Foundation (OBF) will provide some promotional and fundraising support for the program. OBF is a recently-formed organization dedicated to promoting environmentally-sustainable tourism practices and public education around environmental stewardship. A recent grant from the Special Office of the Environment has allowed the OBF to put the Spectacular "How to Do It" booklet onto the internet using their website, with links to the City website. The City is also working with the OBF on an APEC’97 legacy project to create a community environmental stewardship website, as reported to Council in November, 1997.

The Deputy City Engineer and the Director of OBF will co-chair a Program Committee for the event, that will include representatives from various Business Improvements Associations, the Port Corporation, Tourism Vancouver, BC Transit, the Park Board, NIST, community volunteers and the BC 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. We will build on our recent partnership with Rogers Cable to produce short community announcements about Keep Greater Vancouver Spectacular leading up to the event.

Staff will be reallocated within the department to plan and coordinate the event. Tourism Vancouver staffed a registration hotline for volunteers in 1996, but due to their reduced role in 1998 the City will perform this task, at an estimated cost of $20,000 for temporary help, phone lines and office/storage space.

There are enough remaining supplies, donated through OBF in 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 1998.

School Outreach and Community Stewardship Play

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 that integrate school ground clean-ups with in-class curricula. The estimated cost of this pilot program is $2,000 (included in the Spectacular ‘98 budget, detailed in Appendix A).

It is also recommended that staff develop a play about community stewardship for elementary school students. Similar to the highly successful "The A2Z of H2O" and "3Rs" plays that continue to tour Vancouver elementary schools, this show would reach a captive audience of kindergarten to grade 5 for approximately 1/2 hour, while the desired messages are delivered in an entertaining and informative way. The theme of the show would focus on keeping our neighbourhoods clean and graffiti-free because our city is our environment. The play will educate students about stewardship values and shape their attitudes about their community for future generations.

This play would become part of an overall educational strategy for the anti-graffiti/anti-vandalism program. To truly affect changes in attitudes for future generations, a continuum of educational programs is needed for various school age groups. The overall anti-graffiti strategy is summarized in Appendix B. This coordinated package of educational products and programs needs to act together to effectively change young people’s behaviour.

The total cost of the show in 1998 is expected to be $30,000 (including development and first-year performance costs).

After 1998, the ongoing cost to deliver the play to half of the city’s 100 elementary schools each year, coinciding with the Keep Greater Vancouver Spectacular event, is estimated at $17,000 annually. It is proposed to do only half the schools each year so that students will be exposed to the play every other year, and yet keep the momentum going for school-based community clean-ups during the annual Spectacular event.

The other two plays already in production are recovering some of their costs through marketing to neighbouring municipalities, and it is expected that costs for this play will be offset similarly.

Graffiti-Removal Vehicle

It is proposed that a specially equipped graffiti-removal vehicle be acquired through private sponsorship, and its use be launched during this spring’s Keep Greater Vancouver Spectacular event.

Cities with successful, up-to-date graffiti abatement programs (e.g. Phoenix, Los Angeles, Albuquerque, etc.) are now using similar specialized vehicles that are equipped with spray-painter (complete with laser colour-matcher and computerized paint-mixer), power-washer, sand and soda blaster, and chemical graffiti removers.

This equipment is strongly endorsed by staff and Vancouver’s Anti-Graffiti Committee. The vehicle would provide the capability for much faster response to graffiti problems, and a more uniform, more professional appearance to surfaces from which graffiti has been removed.

A number of sponsors have indicated an interest in helping the City to acquire this graffiti removal vehicle, which is estimated to cost $120,000 to buy and customize. Donations of $35,000 from Glidden Paint and $45,000 from The Courier have been confirmed, subject to Council’s approval. Negotiations are underway with a third sponsor to cover the remaining $40,000 capital cost. Staff recommend that we pursue and confirm these offers and acquire the equipment this spring. Staff would report back with final details of the sponsorship and any City costs prior to its purchase.

City funding will also be needed for the first year’s operation of the new vehicle. At least two new staff will have to be hired to operate the equipment, storage space must be found, and paint and materials purchased, etc. It is expected that a substantial portion of theoperating costs will be recovered by selling the graffiti-removal service to Parks Board, the utility companies, various owners of street furniture, private property owners, etc. Staff will report back on these costs when an operating plan has been finalized and further sponsorship is confirmed.

Research indicates that this new graffiti-removal service will result in a reduction in graffiti. The faster response time will help to discourage new graffiti, which should result in City cost savings in the future.

It is recommended that Council authorize the General Manager of Engineering Services to pursue the acquisition of this vehicle, as outlined above, and to report back on the associated capital and operating costs, along with details of private sponsorship, prior to purchase. If the vehicle is approved, it could be launched during the Spectacular ‘98 event.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

The General Manager is seeking Council authority to spend $50,000 for the Keep Greater Vancouver Spectacular 1998 event. The activities will be accommodated, to the extent possible, within the approved Engineering Services operating budget, with the remainder to be funded from the Solid Waste Capital Reserve, as detailed in Appendix A.

It is also recommended that an educational play on community stewardship be funded at an initial cost of $30,000. $20,000 of this budget would be funded from the Solid Waste Capital Reserve and $10,000 would be funded from the 1998 Graffiti Program/Materials account #60/30/3802/507.

After the first year, the cost of producing this play would be $17,000 annually, to be accommodated through the 1999 budget approval process.

* * * *

APPENDIX A

Keep Greater Vancouver Spectacular Budget Summary

Spectacular ‘96 and ‘98 Clean-up Comparison:

	1996 BUDGET	1996 ACTUAL COSTS	1998 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
1998 Registration Costs	--	--	$20,000
1998 BUDGET TOTAL (Solid Waste Capital Reserve)			$50,000

Elementary School "Community Stewardship" Play:

	BUDGET	FUNDING SOURCE
1998 Development & Delivery	$30,000	- Solid Waste Capital Reserve ($20,000) - 1998 Anti-Graffiti Program/Materials ($10,000)
Annual Production Cost (Beginning in 1999)	$17,000	Operating Budget

Anti-Graffiti Vehicle:

	BUDGET	FUNDING SOURCE
Vehicle & Equipment Purchase	$120,000	Sponsorships (to be Confirmed & Reported)
Annual Operation Costs	(To Be	Confirmed & Reported)

APPENDIX B

Anti-Graffiti/Anti-Vandalism In-School Awareness Program

Goal:Create Awareness within the school-system environment of graffiti-related issues.

Target Audiences and Delivery Format:

Pre-school through Grade 2-Puppet show; prepared presentation with leave-behinds; teacher/parent/student activity guide.

Kindergarten to Grade 5- Educational play with audience participation. Themes include the "3Es" of graffiti abatement (eradication, education, enforcement), positive self-expression outlets, community and environmental stewardship...."think globally, act locally".

Follow-up with poster/logo creation projects, community clean-up project and leave-behind literature.

Grades 9 through 12 -Support of Police School Liaison Officers and the municipal/provincial/federal Vandalism Restitution Program for high school students.

Parent/Teacher Associations

School Liaison (police) Officers

In-school Maintenance and Support Staff

In-school Social/Multicultural Workers

Core Messages of Program:

*The city is the environment

*The environment has to be cared for

*The city (environment) belongs to all of us

* When we harm the environment we harm everyone,

ourselves included

*This "harm" costs us dearly, i.e. there are consequences

*Each one of us can prevent the harm

*How each of us behaves can directly affect the city and our neighbourhood

(c) 1997 City of Vancouver