With Mayor Lee Brain participating remotely on the night, Councillor Reid Skelton-Morven was once again in the Chair as host of the April 25th Council Session
Setting the course of the city's financial plan and taxation requirements for 2022 made for much focus for Council at their April 25th Council session.
The evening began with one final City Council presentation towards the 2022 Civic budget, a short review from the City's Financial Officer that covered many of the items of note from previous sessions and provided for the themes of discussion later in the evening by Council as the members adopted the Budget recommendations of the Budget process.
Council also received a number of reports from Planning, as well as presentation from the Director of Operations related to the Waterfront development plans, with the city awarding a contract for the work on the new Airport Ferry dock for the Waterfront park area.
Some background on the work of Council for the night can be review from the Regular Council Agenda.
Council also hosted a Closed Meeting, making for the eighth of the in camera sessions for 2022.
The details related to the reasons for the behind closed door gathering can be reviewed here.
As noted above, Monday also brought a Committee of the Whole the Agenda notes for that element can be reviewed here.
That portion of the evening provided for some feedback from the public on a range of themes, with four residents coming forward on the evening to participate in their opportunity to speak to Council.
Further information from our overview and placement in the video archives can be found below, with the permanent record of the council minutes added as they are posted to the city website.
(Note that as of yet, city staff has not posted the video archive to the City's You Tube archive. Our notes below are culled from our Audio notes of the meeting, once the City has posted their account of the session we will fill in the timeline themes below)
In attendance Monday, April 25, 2022
Mayor Lee Brain -- Present (by audio) Councillor Nick Adey -- Present (by audio) Councillor Barry Cunningham -- Present Councillor Blair Mirau -- Present Councillor Reid Skelton-Morven -- Present Councillor Wade Niesh -- Present Councillor Gurvinder Randhawa -- Present
Video Archive for Monday, April 25, 2022
(the Video record of the session has not been posted to the City's YouTube archive yet)
Update: The City added the Video of the Monday Council session to their You Tube archive late Friday afternoon.
( 0:00 - 2:30 ) Committee of the Whole Session for Monday, April 11, 2022
Councillor Skelton Morven served as Chair for the second meeting in a row, with the Mayor once again participating from out of town by audio, Councillor Adey who was also out of town also participated by audio. Mr. Morven called the session to order, adopting the Agenda for the session, along with the statement of the Chair which explained the Committee process.
( 2:30 - 4:30 ) Ms. Corinne Bomben, the City's Chief Financial Officer and Deputy City Manager Presentation of the 2022 Budget process.
Ms. Bomben provided one final review of budget information, introducing her report on public consultation, which Council members could review from the Agenda Package, As for the budget the CFO is holding to the recommended increase of 3.63 percent to the mill rate, estimated for the average homeowner as an increase of 67 dollars.
Ms. Bomben also noted of one additional expense that has been added to the Budget for 2022, that related to costs associated with the new landfill cell.
Towards that project, an additional 850,000 dollars is required owing to weather delays and required design changes that were necessary to complete the cell. That money will be accessed through existing grant funding out of the Northern Capital and Planning Grant reserve, Ms. Bomben noted that there will be with no impact to users.
No members of the public came forward to provide for questions related to the Budget Process.
(4:30 - 34:00 )However, there were four participants in the Gallery who did have comments for the General public comment portion of the Committee session.
The first, Chris Gamble is a property owner in the city who was seeking clarification of the city's bylaws related to modular homes. City Manager Rob Buchan provided some guidance for the resident to move his application process ahead.
A second resident, Larry Golden, was seeking guidance of staff towards finding elements of Civic Bylaw items through the city website. Corporate Administrator Rosa Miller noted she would investigate the status and confirm the online information on Tuesday.
A third participant, who did not state her name, raised concerns about weeds, grass and other unsightly elements of the civic curb and sidewalk and rock wall infrastructure in side street areas outside of the city's downtown core area. Director of Operations Richard Pucci observed that there is money in the budget for condition assessments to prioritize any kind of work that is required ahead.
In a follow up comment the resident asked if any thought had been given to a tax break for residents to take action towards cleaning up areas of their own neighbourhood.
The City Manager observed how some municipalities have passed bylaws to have property owners maintain their own boulevard areas and noted he believes that the city has that element in its own bylaw, adding he would confirm if that option is in place for Council to consider.
In a concluding comment, the resident noted that many long time residents who have left town have observed as to how sad it is to see the direction that Prince Rupert is going in its repair of infrastructure and how she would like to see it get better.
The fourth and final resident to speak on the evening was Jennifer Nelson who provided for an extensive review of her concerns over air pollution in the region and what she believes is an ongoing aerial spraying program taking place in the area, a program taking place without any information provided to residents of the City.
Her presentation to Council was one of a follow up of a correspondence she had forwarded to Council members, which expanded on her notes and provided photos of some of the elements of note from her observations.
As a natural harvester she highlighted how that impacts on the ability to harvest from local vegetation.
She spoke expansively on the impact of what appears to be increased air traffic in the skies over Prince Rupert and the damage provided by any kind of aerial spraying program, she also noted of her frustrations in having her concerns addressed by local RCMP officials along with the MLA's office, as well as the challenges found navigating a number of other government offices.
Council thanked her for her presentation, though none of the members offered any advice as to a course she may wish to follow towards her concerns.
With no other members of the public coming forward and no items of note from the Council members, Councillor Skelton-Morven moved the evening on to the Regular Council Session.
( 34:00 -- 36:00) Regular Council Session for Monday, April 25, 2022
Councillor Skelton-Morven called the session to order, adopting the past minutes and Agenda for the evening's session, with the addition of one item for the night, that related to the Moosehide campaign awareness program.
Reports and Resolutions
( 36:00 - 39:00) Report from Planning Re: Temporary Use Permit for 511 Cotton Street -- Council received a report from the Planning Office related to a request for a Temporary use permit for the use of a container for temporary storage while renovations are taken on the primary residence. Councillor Cunningham asked for some background on the request and noted that it was somewhat far from the primary residence. It was noted by Councillor Niesh that the lot in question is that of another owner who is lending the space to assist in the renovation project. Council then approved the motion. (see page 10 of the Agenda package)
( 39:00 - 42:00) Report from Planning re: Development Variance Permit -- Council received a recommendation from planning related towards a Development Variance Permit for a property at 1107 -- 11th Avenue East, Councillor Cunningham noted of a friendly amendment that had been added to the permit request at the last council session. Council then voted to approve the development variance permit.(see page 16 of the Agenda package)
( 42:00 - 42:30) Report from Planning -- Council received a report from planning related towards a Development Variance Permit for a property at 1130 -- 11th Avenue East. Council had no discussion and approved the motion. (see page 25 of the Agenda package)
( 42:30 - 44:00) Report from Director of Operations -- Mr. Richard Pucci provided for some short observations on the proposed development for a new ferry berth for the city's Airport Ferry, a project which was first announced as part of the 2030 Vision plan event. As part of his review he noted of the partnership between the City, Gitxaala Nation, the Province and CN and how it has been a priority project for staff ever since.
He advised Council that staff is confident that they are now ready and in a position to proceed with the work.
Also to take place will be the construction of a new breakwater by the Kitkatla Nation for their new ferry and eco tourism opportuinities and other economic opportunities. Mr. Pucci further observed that the project has no impact on the city budget as it is fully supported by grant funding.
Following the presentation, City Manager Rob Buchan noted that the Council was now being asked to award the contract for the work to Coast Tsimshian Northern Contractors. Following that clarification Council then voted to award the contract with no further discussion. (see page 33 of the Agenda package)
( 44:00 - 1:11:00) Resolutions from the Committee of the Whole Meeting -- Corporate Administrator Rosa Miller introduced the process for Budget adoption following the presentation from Ms. Bomben earlier in the evening.
Council members then provided their feedback on the recommendations from the City's Financial Officer, with Councillor Mirau leading off the discussion, with one follow up question on the additional cost of the landfill cell expansion, asking what would remain from the fund following that $850,000 allocation .
In response, Ms. Bomben advised that 1.16 million dollars would remain in the fund in question.
Councillor Cuningham had questions related to the financial projections for the Cow Bay Marina, in reply the CFO Observed that the facility had found some success in pivoting from yacht traffic to charter moorage in the COVID years, and now that the travel restrictions are off it will revert to its use as a facility of itinerant yacht traffic, with indications that the 2022 season will be completely subscribed for the summer season ahead and will be a contributor to the civic treasury and the local economy.
Councillor Niesh observed of the change this year from previous years of zero increases and decreases t the tax rates, noting of the challenges the city has faced and tackled over the last seven years. He paid tribute to the work of the CFO and her staff in being able to hold the tax increase to the 3.63 percent level that has been recommended.
Councillor Mirau also spoke to the large volume of projects that the city has taken on combined with increased impact of inflation on price escalation for that work. He also took note of the online consultancy that the city took on with the public, which provided some interesting data for him to review.
Of note for Mr. Mirau was the comments and input related to Community grants, policing and fire services and how those elements make for the balance that council has to address.
Councillor Randhawa noted of the challenges of COVID on residents and the past increases of utility and recreation fees, suggesting that the would prefer not to increase the city's tax towards balancing the budget and that the city make use of Legacy fund or other revenue options to provide a break to taxpayers.
Mayor Brain spoke to the topic noting that by borrowing from one fund to pay into Operations you are essentially delaying the increase of taxes at another time. He observed that for him the more preferable path would be to have smaller consistent tax increases to address the challenges. Adding that otherwise, it pushes the decision on to another council to make the hard decisions required.
Councillor Cunningham echoed many of the Mayor's thoughts, noting how you can't keep borrowing from Legacy as soon there will be nothing left in that fund. He also applauded the work of the financial office and noted how the situation has improved in Prince Rupert over the last number of years and that the community is now in pretty good shape. He noted of the ongoing challenges of infrastructure that the city has address and how if the city doesn't have money in the bank that it can't apply for the grants they need to rebuild the infrastructure required.
Councillor Niesh also picked up the theme of the Legacy Fund and how the city uses it build the community and how he doesn't believe it would be best used to keep taxes low. He observed on the success of Watson Island and noted that there is still money to be invested into the facility to make it a better future.
He also recounted how things evolved in the eighties and how the city now has to take care of such assets as the Civic Centre, Swimming pool and Lester Centre, all of which had no asset fund to call on. The Councillor also hailed the work of Council to hold the line on taxes, challenging anyone to find another community in the province that has held the line as the city has.
Mr. Niesh also made note of the additional cost of the new RCMP policing contract and asked the CFO how much that was costing the city, in reply Ms. Bomben noted that this years contract has resulted in an additional expense of 380,000 dollars this year which is about a two percent tax increase.
Councillor Adey also hailed the value of the online participation project related to this years budget engagement, noting how the issue of RCMP and Fire protection is something that would require a larger discussion than just the one month budget process. He also agreed with the Mayor that the city needs to change the tax level in order to make gradual changes rather than drastic changes later.
He also had a question for the CFO asking about the city's debt portion of the budget and the impact of interest rates, she advised that any loans currently in place are locked in.
From that he also advised that this is not the time for the city to be dipping into reserves in order to face any challenges that may come in the future.
Councillor Skelton Morven, paid his tribute to the CFO for her work on the budget and highlighted the many moving parts of Legacy Inc, CityWest, Watson Island that all make for considerations at budget time.
He also praised the use of Legacy Inc and observed how the city is teaching other communities on how to bounce back from financial challenges.
Once the conversation was exahausted Council voted to approve the recommendations of Ms. Bomben with the exception of Councillor Randhawa who voted against the motion based on the tax break.
Bylaws
( 1:11:00 - 1:11:30) Report from Director of Operations -- Road Closure Bylaw -- Council will be asked to provide Third Reading of the Closure Bylaw and to send the Bylaw to the Ministry of Transportation for approval (see page 35 of the Agenda package)
( 1:11:30 - 1:12:30) Report from Corporate Administrator request on Moosehide campaign -- Councillor Skelton-Morven had to back track somewhat, to bring forward an item he had missed from the Agenda, with Corporate Administrator Rosa Miller outlining the nature of a request for the City to declare May 12th, 2022 Moosehide campaign day. As Ms. Miller explained it the day is one where all Canadians are called to join together to take a stand against violence towards women and children. Following the Corporate Administrators presentation, Council then voted to move forward with the request. The City will provide further information through their social media account.
( 1:12:30 - 1:28:30) Report from City Manager/Planner -- Business Regulations and Licensing Bylaw -- Council members once again spoke to the topic extensively, with Councillor Cunningham reinforcing his previous concerns related to the number set as a threshold for the exemption on housing unit regulations to come into effect, noting that how he reads the proposed bylaw the city has gone backwards and the wording was somewhat deceiving and deceptive wording. Mr Cunningham called attention to the need to offer protection to those residents in the unites in question.
Councillor Niesh offered up his interpretation of what the city is trying to achieve through the bylaw and observed of other changes that are included later in the evening for discussion.
The discussion required a few clarifications from the City Manager, who outlined how the exemption protections that the Councillors were looking for are part of the document, noting of the level to be set of a practical benchmark of four units as was outlined in a follow up bylaw to be voted on later in the evening.
Mr. Buchan also observed how the council could follow the progress of the bylaw and to add or take away any regulations that may be required, observing how the bylaw is a step forward and that council if they desired could also add an amendment to review the progress of the bylaw in one year.
Councillor Cunningham had one final concern to share, noting that some landlords could add units to the existing building without the city's knowledge; in reply the City Manager noted that if that circumstance did happen it would be a violation of the zoning bylaw and would be subject to bylaw enforcement by the City and an issue that could be managed.
Councillor Mirau noted that he believes they had reached a good compromise in their previous work on the bylaw and he would be supportive of the amendment for further review after twelve months and council could then address any issues at that time.
Council then provided Fourth and Final Reading of the Bylaw, following up on the amendment option that the situation will be reviewed in one years time. (see page 38 of the Agenda package)
( 1:28:30 - 1:47:00) Report from Planning Re Zoning Amendment Bylaw -- Council will be asked to provide first and second reading of the Bylaw to permit for a number of changes of a housekeeping nature and to clarify some language. Of note from the list of items, the elements include allowing secondary suites in duplexes, animal hospitals in all commercial zones, and temporary use of shipping containers for storage for up to 60 days.
The Councillor's dedicated twelve minutes towards themes related to the amendment proposals.
Towards those topics, Councillors Niesh, Cunningham and Mirau all had questions related to the proposed bylaw changes, with many of their concerns or observations bringing a response or clarification from the City Manager to provide guidance on the elements of the bylaw proposal.
Council provided first and second reading to the Bylaw proposals. The City will be offering further
Mr. Buchan, the City manager also noted that the amendments would also be the subject of a public hearing in the future. (see page 55 of the Agenda package)
Questions, Comments, Reports or Inquiries from Council
( 1:47:00 - 1:52:00 ) Mayor Brain called attention to the upcoming session of the Electoral Districts Commission in Prince Rupert which takes place on Wednesday morning. Observing as to how potential changes to the electoral boundaries make for one theme of their work, calling on the public to participate to ensure that the region does not lose the level of representation that it currently has.
Councillor Barry Cunningham paid tribute to the three recipients of Awards from the Prince Rupert Arts Council, he hailed the work of Rudy Kelly, Joan Mostad and Treen Decker for their accomplishments in the arts in the region.
Councillor Adey brought up the theme of Parks and Recreation space development in the community, seeking out some information from the City Manager as to how the city is moving forward on those initiatives.
In response, Mr. Buchan made note of the city's current call for Bids for a consultants study into future park and green space development in the community. That call for bids, will provide for a Master Plan for the City to address the issue into the future.
Council Skelton-Morven outlined the scope of the weekend opening for the Seal Cove Salt Marsh, with the Councillor thanking the Port for their partnership in the project.
He also thanked those residents who took part in the Committee of the Whole portion of the evening earlier, paying tribute to their engagement with the community.
With no other comments from the council membership the April 25th Council Session came to an end.
You can access our Council Archive for the April 25th session here, where a number of items regarding the Council Session, including links to local media coverage can be found.
As always, our Council Timeline is only a reflection of our observations from the Council Session of the night. Be sure to consult with the official minutes from the City, when posted to their website for further review.
Official minutes of the Regular Council Session from April 25th, 2022 (not available yet)
The Next Session for Prince Rupert City Council is set for Monday, May 9, 2022.
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