CITY OF VANCOUVER

M E M O R A N D U M

FROM: City Clerk's Office DATE: Occtober 31, 1997

FILE: 4207

TO: Mayor and Councillors

SUBJECT: APEC 1997: Police and Engineering Costs

and Legacy Project

The following civic officials will provide a Report Reference on the APEC Conference:

Judy Rogers, Deputy City Manager

Inspector Murray Day, Vancouver Police

Brent MacGregor, Deputy City Engineer

The following materials refer and are attached:

·400·Administrative Report dated October 30, 1997, entitled APEC 1997: Police and Engineering Costs;·400

·400·Administrative Report dated October 31, 1997, entitled APEC Legacy Project: Stewardship Connections [RR-2(i)].·400

CITY CLERK

NLargent:as

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: October 30, 1997

CC File No. 4207

TO: Vancouver City Council

FROM: Deputy City Manager

General Manager of Engineering Services

Chief Constable

SUBJECT: APEC 1997: Police and Engineering Costs

RECOMMENDATION

A.THAT Council endorse the proposed Police operational and traffic management plans and request staff to modify the plan as necessary to minimize the APEC event impacts on the community to the extent possible.

B.THAT the $800,000 anticipated shortfall in funding for the costs of hosting APEC be shared with between the City and Tourism Vancouver on an equal basis with the City share of $400,000 to be provided from Contingency Reserve.

C.THAT Council instruct the City Manager to meet with Tourism Vancouver to determine the source of funding for their increased contribution ($400,000) toward the APEC event.

COUNCIL POLICY

There is no Council policy directly related to this matter.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to provide Council with an overview of City services to be provided to APEC 1997, including police operational plans, details of the traffic management plan and anticipated costs.

BACKGROUND

APEC 97 is a major international event that will take place at the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre from November 19-26. Although most of the costs of staging the forum are being paid for by the federal and provincial government, standing agreements between the RCMP and the City require the City's participation in traffic management and control, crowd control, emergency response, site and security coordination, motorcycle escorts, and assisting the RCMP, if required, in site security duties.

City involvement in APEC began in 1995, when Council approved initial support for holding the conference in Vancouver and indicated a willingness to provide limited funding for the services the City would normally supply. Based on initial planning and expected conference format and participation, these costs were estimated in the range of $700,000. As the conference will provide the City and region with considerable international publicity, Council instructed staff to approach Tourism Vancouver to discuss a cost sharing arrangement around the City's hosting costs.

On March 28, 1996 Council considered a proposal from Tourism Vancouver that they would contribute 50% of the City hosting costs, up to a maximum of $350,000. However, Council approved a recommendation that the 50:50 cost sharing arrangement for APEC costs extend not only to the first $700,000 of costs but that it should "...apply to the total of the hosting costs incurred by the City for the summit and not to a more restricted subset of these costs."

On December 10, 1996, when considering the projections for the 1997 Operating Budget, Council approved deferred consideration of a report on Tourism Vancouver and APEC pending provision of more information. However, in consideration of the funding issues related to the Operating Budget, the following recommendation related to the 2% Hotel Tax and APEC costs was approved:

"THAT Council advise Tourism Vancouver that the allocation of the Hotel Tax is under review and that the City may allocate a portion of the Hotel Tax for the support of the Infocentres and APEC and reduce or withdraw its funding for these activities."

On February 18, 1997, Council heard a report reference from the Deputy City Manager on the anticipated costs of the APEC conference. At that time, Council capped City funding for hosting APEC at $700,000, with any additional costs being borne by the federal and provincial governments.

On April 10, 1997, when considering the Tourism Vancouver 1997 Business Plan, Council approved the following recommendation:

"THAT Council direct Tourism Vancouver to fund at least 50% of the additional costs associated with APEC, taken from the Hotel Tax portion of the Tourism Vancouver’s 1997 business plan."

DISCUSSION

The initial estimate of $700,000 in City costs to host APEC was provided on the assumption that the event involved economic leaders meeting in Vancouver for approximately two days and that advance planning could minimize costs. The expanded APEC forum and the attendance of a total of 72 International Protected persons, has radically changed profile and the costs of the event. This is now the largest gathering of dignitaries in North America, outside of the United Nations.

Staff from Police and Engineering have been meeting with APEC event organizers and the FEST Committee to finalize arrangements, including the extent of City participation. In addition, because City costs were expected to exceed the $700,000 approved by Council, the Deputy City Manager held further negotiations with APEC staff, Provincial and Federal governments, and Tourism Vancouver with a view to maximizing the cost sharing provided to offset City costs.

This report presents an overview of the City's participation in APEC in three major areas: Police Operational Plans; Traffic Management Plans; and Cost Sharing Arrangements.

(1) Police Operational Plans

Meetings between RCMP, Department of Foreign Affairs and the Vancouver Police Department to develop an operational plan for policing the APEC conference began early in 1996 and more coordinated, joint planning followed in September 1996. In developing the plan, information was obtained from the other City's that had hosted large international events, including Seattle APEC 93, Manilla APEC 96 and the 1997 Summit of Eight held in Denver, Colorado. The experience of these City's proved invaluable in preparation of security and traffic planning for APEC 1997.

At the onset, the Vancouver Police Department established priorities for it's participation. The challenge for the Department was to provide adequate police services to APEC, while maintaining a high standard of service to the citizens of Vancouver. This will be accomplished by ensuring staff are allocated to continue normal policing programs, restricting annual and overtime leave for members, and identifying areas where members could be utilized in both their present job functions and in assisting with policing APEC. In addition, an agreement was reached with the Vancouver Police Union to suspend some aspects of the labour contract dealing with shifting hours and advance notice of shifting hours. This is beneficial in controlling costs associated with change of duty penalties, as the exact timing of members duties will fluxuate depending on the timetables kept by the visiting dignitaries.

A separate policing schedule for APEC has been developed, including creation of a two-week shift deployment for those members. As a result, over 400 members have been identified for deployment from November 19-26 inclusive. All of these members will be on regular duty assignment. Members not required for APEC duties, on any of these days, will be returned to regular duty assignments. This deployment will optimize our commitment and minimize the cost of providing service.

Overall policing costs for APEC 97 include advance planning, transportation, equipment, accommodations for key personnel on site, training and staffing costs. These costs are projected at approximately $1.2 million dollars, based on APEC plans to date. A detailed breakdown of these costs is not provided to Council because of security reasons.

(ii) Traffic Management Plan

An APEC Traffic Management Plan has been prepared by Engineering Services and the Vancouver Police Department in consultation with APEC event organizers. This plan deals with the impacts on traffic due to the activities and high security requirements of the event around the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre (VTCC), the hotels in the Downtown core, and the motorcade routes. The goal of the plan is to accommodate the on-street requirements of APEC while minimizing the impacts on residents who live, work and do business in downtown Vancouver. The plan acknowledges that residents and businesses will be affected and they must be informed about the impacts and the alternative options available.

Figure 1 shows the extent of traffic measures to be implemented over the week of November 19th to 26th, 1997. These measures include limited street closures, various traffic detours, and parking and no-stopping restrictions.

The VTCC will be the location of the majority of the APEC meetings and, therefore, this area will be a restricted security zone. The streets to be closed are:

·400·Canada Place Road, ·400

·400·Howe Street and Burrard Street from Cordova to Canada Place Road, and ·400

·400·Cordova Street from Howe to Burrard.·400

These streets will be barricaded with cement barriers and fencing. The logistics to prepare this area to be barricaded may cause some disruption in the week prior to APEC. The lower Waterfront Road will also be closed. Hotel guests, employees and essential vehicles will be permitted access with accreditation through security.

Burrard Street, north of Davie Street, will be used frequently for motorcade escorts. The majority of these motorcades will utilize a "rolling closure" that closes intersections as the vehicles approach. Daytime, north/south vehicle traffic on Burrard Street between Davie Street and the VTCC will be re-routed to alternative streets. Pedestrians, cyclists and cross traffic will be permitted at all times except when a motorcade is passing. Cyclists will be asked to dismount and use the sidewalk. These measures will be controlled by Vancouver City police officers stationed at intersections. Buildings with parking and pedestrian access off Burrard Street have been contacted and alternative access arrangements are being made. However, when there are no motorcades, access to parking lots off Burrard Street will be allowed.

A plan of strategic parking and no-stopping restrictions will be implemented to facilitate traffic movement. There has been considerable effort in this plan to balance the opportunities to increase traffic flows with the minimum reduction of on-street parking. However, there will be a restriction on approximately 1240 on-street parking spaces, a figure representing about one third of the available on-street parking in the downtown. People making a downtown trip during APEC are encouraged to use off-street parking facilities.

It is important that residents of Vancouver are notified about the traffic management plan prior to the APEC conference so that they can make decisions about their schedules and commuting options. A Fact Sheet was distributed to downtown businesses to inform them about the upcoming event, answer any of their inquiries and to ask them to plan accordingly. Specifically, information has been distributed to BIA's, taxi companies, couriers, tour bus companies, limousines, parking lot operators tow truck companies, armoured cars, and development companies, etc. The traffic management plan will also be advertised in local and regional papers. Skytrain operation will not be affected by the conference and commuters will be encouraged to use transit. B.C. Transit has been involved in the event planning and have a route and scheduling plan prepared.

It is important to anticipate the impacts of APEC and create a traffic management plan to relieve them. However, the nature of this event means that changes will have to be made during the event and changes will have to be implemented to respond quickly to incidents as they occur.

It is estimated that the costs to be incurred by Engineering for providing services for APEC will be approximately $200,000, as follows:

·400·Traffic Operations: Traffic Operations will produce all signage, hood parking meters, and install signage for the Traffic Management Plan. A Traffic Operations crew will be on standby for the entire event. The cost for this item is $75,000.·400

·400·Emergency Operations Centre: The emergency operations centre will be activated from November 19th to 26th, 1997 from 8:00 am to midnight. The Engineering staff overtime costs are $ 5,000.·400

·400·Miscellaneous Operations: There are a number of other services that are performed for events of this nature that are usually charged to the organizers. These include manhole inspections and securing, street cleaning and street repairs. An estimated cost for these items is $10,000. ·400

·400·Parking Meter Revenue Loss: Approximately 1,240 parking meter stalls will be removed to facilitate the motorcade routes and traffic management plan. The lost revenue to the City is $ 110,000.·400

(iii) Cost Sharing Negotiations

As noted above, Council has capped the contribution to APEC in the 1997 Operating Budget at $700,000. However, anticipating that, with plans for the conference further developed, these costs would rise, Council also stipulated that any additional City costs associated with hosting APEC will be shared with Tourism Vancouver on a 50:50 basis from the 2% Hotel Tax. Council also instructed staff to meet senior governments to negotiate an increased contribution toward APEC costs.

As APEC gets closer to, it is clear that the costs associated with the event exceed the provision in the 1997 Operating Budget. Negotiations between the Federal and Provincial governments to achieve a better cost sharing arrangement have resulted in $150,000 in provincial partnership. Both senior governments have indicated they are providing "legacy" funds for environmental initiatives (see Report RR2(i)). The City costs to be assumed by APEC will be those for advertising of the Traffic Management Plan in the amount of approximately $50,000.

(iv) Cost Summary

The anticipated costs associated with the City's roll in hosting APEC have now risen to approximately $1.5 million as follows:

Expenditures:

	Policing Costs	$1,200,000
	Traffic Management Costs	90,000
	Lost Parking Meter Revenue	110,000

		$1,400,000
Contingency		100,000	$1,500,000
Funding:

	City of Vancouver	$350,000
	Tourism Vancouver	350,000	$ 700,000

Shortfall

$ 800,000

With the costs of APEC more closely defined and well above the funding provided in the 1997 Operating Budget, Council must allocate additional funding to the event. Based on Council's prior stipulation that these additional costs be shared with Tourism Vancouver, it is recommended that additional City funding of $400,000 be provided from Contingency Reserve and that the City Manger be authorized to determine with Tourism Vancouver, the basis on which an additional contribution of $400,000 will be provided by that organization.

CONCLUSION

APEC 97 will be the largest gathering of world leaders in Vancouver's history and it will have a significant impact on the City. The immediate impacts will be felt during the week of November 19 to 26 as the City plays host to the conference but also experiences the inconvenience of the necessary security and traffic management measures. However, in the longer term, the exposure this conference will provide for the City will have significant impacts on the business and tourism.

Staff from the Police Department and Engineering Department have been working for a number of months to formulate a traffic management plan that accommodates the needs of APEC and minimizes the impacts the direct and indirect impacts on businesses and residents. The security of visiting dignitaries and their movement throughout the City must be carefully handled, and both the RCMP for security and City police for movement have developed what they consider are workable plans.

The costs associated with this event have increased from the initial estimates of $700,000 to a current estimate of $1.5 million. Additional funding is recommended from the City ($400,000) and from Tourism Vancouver ($400,000) to fund the expected shortfall.

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(c) 1997 City of Vancouver