In April of 2021, Council passed motion MN21-3 – Clean Communities. Administration was asked to “Increase financial and service support for community clean-up initiatives in high-need areas”. Administration has completed this work and is recommending the implementation of a Community Association Clean-up Program in 2022.
Policy Impacts
The proposed Community Association Clean-up Program aligns with information gathered through the Community Association Review in 2019.
Financial Impact
Annual funding of $97,000 was approved by Council through the 2021 budget process for in-kind services in the community, including support to Community Association (CA) clean-ups. Based on internal research, Administration believes the highest need for in-kind services is equipment and volunteers to assist with community clean-ups. In addition, a community clean-up program supports Council priorities and Council’s recent motion regarding clean communities.
Based on the proposed clean-up program described in this report, if all twelve Phase One and Two CA’s fully accessed the program the total cost would be $92,000 per annum. This leaves $5,000 in the budget line for a contingency to address any unforeseen needs that may arise.
Although initial discussions on the in-kind services with Council included a broader scope of opportunities, including no-cost services for traffic control staging for groups organizing events on City streets, the available funding of $97,000 is not sufficient to fund both the clean ups and traffic services for events.
Therefore, at this time, Administration recommends that more information be gathered on the scope of the financial implications of providing these services at no cost to event organizers. The pandemic temporarily decreased the number of events and Administration can further assess the impacts once events return to normal levels in the pandemic recovery stage, including developing a reporting mechanism to track the City services and associated costs organizations are seeking to deliver those events to the community. Administration can then bring forward information to Council for consideration.
In addition to in-kind services provided by the City, non-profit organizations hosting events were also required to fund special constables from the Regina Police Services (RPS). These additional costs required, to deliver grassroots events to the community were becoming a burden to the organizations. It is Administrations understanding that with the increase in funding provided to RPS through the 2021 budget for community policing, organizations will no longer be responsible for these costs.
Environmental Impacts
Community clean-ups lead to a healthier environment for all neighbourhood residents. In addition, the proposed clean-up pilot program will provide waste diversion bins to ensure, items are not sent to the landfill as well as manage the appropriate disposal of any hazardous waste.
Option 2: Staff Involvement in Clean Ups
Council could choose to have City staff deliver community clean-up services to all 12 Phase One and Two organizations, rather than work with CA’s to deliver the service. This would be a higher cost to the City and is estimated to be $105,000.
On September 1 Administration met with Phase One and Two CAs to share the proposed clean-up program and gather feedback. Community Associations were very supportive of the program and the proposed process.
Background
Currently CA’s are divided into three categories based on eight socio-economic indicators such as demographics, employment, income and poverty. These categories are referred to as Phase One (highest needs), Two and Three (lowest needs). Currently Phase One and Two organizations receive the majority of grant funding. This is due to the fact that based on the socio-economic indicators Phase One and Two communities are considered to be the highest need areas and require additional funding as they typically provide low or no cost programming for residents.
When conducting a recent review of CA’s and the supports provided to them by the City, the topic of community-clean-ups was discussed. Feedback shared with Administration included the following:
• Community clean-ups are an important service to the community and increase community pride.
• Support from the City seems inconsistent from one neighbourhood to another.
• In areas with lower socio-economic indicators, access to equipment such as trucks can be a barrier.
• Illegal dumping can be an issue in some areas with lower socio-economic indicators.
In response to this feedback, staff were in the process of developing a new approach to community clean-ups when Council passed a motion (MN21-3) that included direction to Administration to increase financial and service support for community clean-up initiatives in high-need areas.
Proposed Community Association Clean-up Program
In response to the motion by Council, at this time Administration is recommending the Community Association Clean-up Program be focused on Phase One and Two CA’s, as those are in the highest need of these services. Currently there are 27 CA’s in total. Twelve of which are Phase One and Two organizations.
Based on discussions with CA’s, Administration is recommending that the clean-up provide CA’s with access to:
· Manual garbage collection trucks (with associated operations staff);
· Half-ton fleet trucks and trailers (with associated operations staff);
· Woodchippers (with associated operations staff);
· Waste diversion bins; and
· Safety vests and trash pickers
Process
To simplify the process for CA’s, Administration is proposing to add a menu of the equipment listed above to the applications CA’s are already filling out to access funding from the Community Investment Grants Program. In addition, the group will also indicate when they are planning to implement their clean-up. This information will then be considered as part of the current grant adjudication process. At this time organizations will be eligible to apply for one clean-up per year. Community Consultants, who already work closely with the CA’s, will then act as the liaison between staff in the Water, Waste and Environment Department and the CA’s to confirm the clean-up details and logistics.
In addition to the menu of items, when discussing the proposed program CA’s also suggested three additional areas that they would appreciate support from the City:
1. Managing collection of needles when several are found in the clean-up area.
2. Additional education on waste diversion.
3. Assistance with volunteerism challenges.
Administration is confident that support can be provided to the CA’s in both of the first two areas through the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department and the Water, Waste and Environment Department.
With respect to volunteerism challenges, Administration is recommending that in addition to the menu of equipment available, CA’s be provided a $1,000 grant. This grant can be used by CA’s to support honorariums for students or other volunteers to assist with the clean-up.
Reporting
As Administration and CA’s work through the first year of the CA Clean-up Program there may be items that are brought to light that were not contemplated through program development. The clean-up in 2022 will provide an opportunity to work collaboratively with CA’s to address any issues and make potential updates to the program.
For this reasons Administration is proposing that a report be provided to Council at the end of 2022 that will share successes of the program, how many CA’s accessed the program, actual costs and any suggested changes to the program moving forward. In addition, Administration could share information on expansion of the program if directed by Council.
Additional items included in the Clean Communities Motion (MN21-3) will be addressed through a separate report scheduled to be shared with Council prior to the end of 2021.
· At its meeting on July 29, 2020, Council approved item CR20-69 -Events Conventions and Tradeshows. As part of that report, it was suggested that $100,000 will be directed to a new funding envelope under the umbrella of the City’s Community Investment Grants Program (CIGP) which will be designated to support the cost of City services for non-profit organizations experiencing financial need. Through the 2021 budget process, $97,000 was set aside for this purpose.
· At its meeting on April 29, 2021, Council passed motion MN21-3 – Clean Communities, which directed Administration to bring back a report to the Operations and Community Services Committee in Q3 of 2021, providing recommendations on increasing financial and service support for community clean-up initiatives in high-need areas.
Respectfully Submitted, Respectfully Submitted,
{Signature}
Prepared by: Janine Daradich, Manager Planning & Partnerships