City Council Preview for August 19, 2013

A fairly lengthy list of items to consider will greet Prince Rupert City Council on Monday night, as they gather in their first and only  regularly scheduled council meeting of August.

With a couple of Special sessions called during their five week hiatus, Monday brings a return to the more familiar aspects of Council sessions, a full agenda to review and many presentations to take in, as things begin to ramp up again as the summer comes to an end.

However, some habits are hard to break and before we reach the public session for Monday night, Council will meet at 5 PM in a Special session of council with the first order of business to exclude the public.  The notice outlining the three parameters of discussion to take place behind the closed doors of the Council chambers was posted to the City's website over the weekend. Included on the list, the continuing discussions on events surrounding Watson Island.

With that business out of the way, Council reconvenes at 7 PM for the public portion of the night, the full agenda of which you can review here.

Once they take care of the housekeeping items of adoption of past minutes and other items of the usual routine, Council will explore a number of themes on the night, Highlights of which you can find below, reference the Agenda package by the page numbers listed.

Council will begin the evening with a presentation from Ms. Maureen Macarenko, President of the Prince Rupert Airport Authority, who will outline the nature of a request for a Loan to Repair the Terminal Building and surrounding infrastructure (you can review the particulars on the request from pages 93 to 98 of the Agenda Package)

Next up will be a Presentation from Mr. Roger Gioraud, the Assistant Commissioner of the Coast Guard, who will provide an update for Council regarding Coast Guard developments.

The RCMP's Constable Maury Tyre will then take to the centre table to outline the RCMP's approach to the Long Boarding Situation in the city, a topic that has been heavy on the mind of City Council through the summer months.

Following the presentations, Council will then review a number of Variance  Permit requests, one on Edward Avenue (page 13 of the agenda package), one for 11th Avenue East (Page 33 of the Agenda Package) and the final one for a property on 8th Avenue East (Page 44 of the Agenda Package)

Council next will receive a number of reports on a range of topics that City Staff have been working on over the summer, among them.

The City Planner with a report on the City's Antenna Systems Policy (Pages 54 to 76 of the Agenda)

The Manager of Engineering and Public Works will Update the City on Dust Control measures regarding the Waterfront and the Pinnacle Pellet Plant (Pages 77 and 78)

The Manager of Engineering and Public Works will also Provide an Update on the Ministry of Highways Intersection Paving program this year (Page 79 of the Agenda)

The topic of the Solar Powered Highway Signs will also be reviewed as the Manager of Engineering and Public Works outlines the nature of the problems the signs face in the community and what measures are being taken to remedy the situation (Pages 80 and 81 of the Agenda)

Some Civic Governance issues come up next as the Acting Chief Financial Officer outlines the nature of the Appointment of Election Officers for the City (Page 82)

Ms. Bomben also will provide details on the June Monthly Financial Report for the City (Pages 83-88 of the Agenda)

The Final report on the Night will come from the City Manager who will outline some recommendations on the prospect of the Regionalization of the Prince Rupert Airport, a process where the city hopes to share the cost of operating the Airport with the communities around the region. The background on that proposal can be found from (Pages 89 to 91 of the Agenda package)

Proclamations are next up on the night, with Council preparing to declare September 9, 2013 as a day of  FASD Awareness in the City of Prince Rupert (Page 92)

From there Council will advise if there is anything to report from their Closed meetings and address two bylaw issues on the night.

The First the Airport Authority Agreement Loan Authorization Bylaw ( Pages 93-98 of the Agenda) and the second the Zoning Amendment Bylaw (Page 99 of the Agenda)

The City Manager will provide for his report on any outstanding Council initiatives and Councillors will then have the opportunity to share any additional items they feel may require Council's attention.

And with that the August 19th session will draw to a close, Council returns to a more regular schedule of Public sessions when the September 9th session arrives.