Kathleen Palm led off the evening having requested time to make a presentation to Council, with some of her group in the gallery there to seek Council's support in a campaign of support for the public broadcaster and its work in the community.
Council heard two reports on the progress of the city's retail cannabis proposals, sending both one forward to the Province for further action, while moving the other along in the city's process.
The City's Financial Officer offered up some short notes on the Statements of Financial Information, while the City Manager was in a more expansive frame of mind, providing a lengthy overview of the City's successes in the last year and their plans for 2019.
Council also reviewed an application to rezone land on Biggar Place to shift it from residential to commercial.
Also attended to on the evening were some housekeeping items of a request for a letter of support and appointments to the Prince Rupert Airport Authority Board.
Some background on the work of Council on the evening and the Agenda elements for the June 10th Council session can be reviewed here.
Further information from our overview and placement in the video archive can be found below, with the permanent record of the minutes added as they are posted to the city website.
In attendance Monday, June 10, 2019
Mayor Lee Brain -- Present
Councillor Nick Adey -- Present
Councillor Barry Cunningham-- Present
Councillor Blair Mirau -- Absent
Councillor Reid Skelton-Morven -- Present
Councillor Wade Niesh -- Present
Councillor Gurvinder Randhawa-- Present
Video Archive for June 10, 2019
Regular Council Session
( 0:00 -- 1:00 ) Regular City Council Session for April 8, 2019 -- Mayor Brain called the Regular Council Session to order, with Council adopting the agenda and past minutes of previous minutes.
Reports and Recommendations
(1:00 -- 13:30 ) Presentation on CBC and support for public broadcasting from Kathleen Palm -- Ms. Palm an advocate for CBC Radio in the community first opened her remarks by noting that Evelyn Basso, a long time advocate for public broadcasting, was not able to join the delegation in attendance for the presentation on the evening,
She recounted some of the past history of their efforts to ensure that local CBC radio service remained available for the community, and outlined how her appearance on the night was tied into the upcoming licence renewal for the national broadcaster.
Ms. Palm outlined some of the recent times when the local station provided community service, citing a recent emergency warning test and how the station remained on the air during a recent power outage, while other stations were taken off the air by the interruption.
She reminded Council of some previous efforts to raise awareness of North Coast concerns through post cards and letter writing from the past. She also read some notes from Ms Basso, a former long serving City Councillor and long time local advocate for the local service.
"CBC is a national service that we have paid for, CBC helps promote local communities it's the cheapest form of advertising any of us have, attracting tourist dollars and raising awareness of the investment potential in many of our regions"
As part of her call for action of the community, she asked for the City of Prince Rupert to address the CRTC, CBC's Catherine Tait and its Board of Directors to endorse public support for CBC Radio One.
When it comes time for the licence renewal she asked for Prince Rupert to recommend that CBC will continue to be the most timely source of Canadian immediate information, original news and programming, predominately and distinctively Canadian and vitally the audience of CBC one to be declared Canadians in Canada.
She observed how the group has locally designed and printed post cards available, which will offer a chance to show support for CBC and can be used through social media as well.
While making note of some of the other media options that are available in the community, she asked for a letter of support from City Council towards the campaign of support for public broadcasting.
Her group also urged City Council members to speak up for CBC Radio service at such gatherings as UBCM to ensure that they provide service to other areas of the province.
Her group also has a vision of the local CBC office being used not just four hours a day but how Prince Rupert could be a leader in CBC broadcasting with an expanded service level.
Council members weighed in with their own notes of support for the CBC service, with Councillors Adey and Cunningham both sharing their observations of the importance to the community that the CBC offers.
As a follow up to their comments, Ms. Palm also noted how the CBC sees itself moving out of radio into a more digital footprint and she was willing to talk to anyone who wanted more information on that initiative.
The Mayor put the letter of support motion up for discussion at the next Council session.
( 13:30 -- 19:29 ) Report from the Manager of Community Development restatement of the referral for a Cannabis store at Park Avenue -- Mr. Hans Seidemann provided some background to the process towards the proposed retail operation, making note of some recent correspondences from the licensing body which informed the city that there is some additional information required of council to consider, before the city's positive recommendation is in order with the provincial regulation.
He outlined how nothing has changed in relation to the application and how the contents of the report and re-statement of positive recommendation will suffice to gain acceptance of the provincial body.
Mayor Brain inquired as to what the main problem area for the province was, he was advised that the city is required to describe the reasons that it has approved each of the individual applications that it receives.
The new restatement of the approval will be considered sufficient by the province.
Councillor Cunningham asked why it wasn't caught earlier, Mr. Seidemann noted how this was the first application that had been processed and that the city had not been given any indication that their evaluation manner might be insufficient, though he noted that the city process is not insufficient but will just require more information to express council's intent.
Mayor Brain noted that it was just a hiccup for the new provincial industry.
Councillor Cunningham inquired as to whether this had cost the Park Avenue proponent any kind of delay and whether it could be fast tracked in any way, Mr. Seidemann indicated that he did not believe that this would result in any additional delays for the proponent and it will get across the line shortly.
Council then moved forward with the recommendation to support the application and refer the response back to the provincial licensing branch.
(19:29 - 24:15) Application for a Government Retail Cannabis location for 100 Second Avenue West -- Mr. Seidemann outlined that this was related to a recent application for a business licence from the liquor and licensing branch, observing that those stores do not have to follow the same licensing process as the private store.
He added that the city uses the same approach to processing and evaluating all applications. He also made note of the BC Cannabis fire and security plans which have been deemed successful. He also noted that there have been no comments whether for or against the application received by the city.
Councillor Cunningham asked for some background on the nature of the Government store as it relates to the existing liquor store location that it will be adjacent to. He also asked why the Council members were not provided with the plans and reports on fire and security prior to their review, Mr. Seidemann noted that it was not the city's policy to require council members to have to review those elements.
Mr. Brain observed how the city trusts their staff, though Mr. Cunningham noted how with the first application all elements of their application had been provided to Council members for review.
The city councillor added that he did not question the ability of staff to follow the correct process towards the applications, but wondered why they as a Council did not see them, Mr Seidemann then provided some further explanation as to how the city approaches the applications.
Council then voted to support the issuance of a business licence for he location in question.
(24:15 -- 25:15 ) Report from the Chief Financial Officer related to the April 2019 Variance report -- Ms. Corinne Bomben outlined some of the details of the report noting how revenues and expenses are on track and on budget, though she noted how Recreation revenues are down owing to the cancellation of the Carnival this year and Development services are higher after receiving un-budgeted building permit revenue from Pembina.
She also observed that the 8.1 million dollars in provincial funding from the province through the Northern BC capital grant has been received and transferred to reserves. She also advised how capital projects are now underway and costs will begin rolling in as construction season progresses.
Council received the reports for information purposes.
( 25:15-- 26:15 ) Presentation of Statement of Financial Information Reports -- Ms. Bomben provided a short synopsis of the nature of the Financial Reporting Act and what municipalities are required to disclose as part of that process.
The three reports that make up the SOFI review, included the Council and Mayor Remuneration report, the remuneration report for city employees and staff members and the report of expenses from suppliers of goods and services to the city, though the City's Financial Officer provided no information from those three reports as part of her presentation.
Council members then approved the Statements of Information without asking any questions or providing for any observations.
They are available for review from the council agenda for the evening.
( 26:15 -- 40:00 ) Presentation of the City of Prince Rupert Annual Report for 2018 -- City Manager Robert Long took Council on a fourteen minute celebration of the last years achievements, providing for the 2018 edition of the City's Annual Report. He outlined how the delivery of the report is a requirement for municipal governments to show residents what Council and staff have been working on over the last year,
The Report includes the audited financial statements, list of permissive tax exemptions, progress report on municipal services and operations from the past year and the objectives for this one.
As well, the report must declare any disqualifications under Section 111 of which he noted the city does not have any.
The City Manager opened his review with a snapshot of the year in numbers, noting that the Stats Canada population count is listed at 12,222 however he also observed that by the city's count that is not a correct number; estimating that the city believes the population including a shadow population related to visiting workers or job seekers is over 13,000 residents in the city.
The opening also reviewed the city's likes on Facebook, the yacht count at the Cow Bay marina, the Hays 2.0 open house, 114 business licence issued to new business and progress on the city's water infrastructure plans.
Included in the document are letters from the mayor, city manager and profiles of the council members as well as the organizational chart for the City of Prince Rupert. Mr. Long also played a near five minute video presentation that put much of the data and observations of the document to a visual overview.
When it comes to Highlights, Mr. Long made note of the water project landfill, Pembina terminal project, supportive housing , Cow Bay Marina, the city's new mobile update app, improvements at the Earl Mah Aquatic Centre and working with the province on safety improvements for Second Avenue.
He also made note of the city's aging infrastructure, and noted that the city would be working on McBride to address a broken water main in the Sixth Avenue area.
He reviewed how the city has accessed 16 million dollars in grants for various projects.
On themes of Watson Island he noted that city has now removed pulp mill structures from the Island, attracted Pembina and re branded the industrial site at Watson Island as a Trade and Logistics park for future opportunities.
He also highlighted how the city has worked on the retention of staff and the building of a supportive work culture, as well as the pursuit of partnerships, grant and funding opportunities to support community projects.
The document is now available on line and the public can offer comments related to the report at the June 24th Council session with Council to give final consideration of the report following the public meeting.
To close the report, Mr. Long praised the work of City Council and their leadership to allow the city staff to get on with their job
He also made note of the work of city staff and how they deliver fantastic output and how the atmosphere around City Hall is one that is becoming more and more friendly and that of a meaningful place to work, one where staff really care about the community and work to help the city to succeed.
When it came to comments, the Mayor also spoke to the atmosphere at City Hall, recalling how in the time between when he took on the job in 2014 and today, there has been a 100 percent noticeable difference in the staff culture at the City . Mr Brain further observed how he now sees a city staff workforce that are smiling, feel a purpose, are engaged, move a mile a minute and are feeling a responsibility to take this community to the next place.
The Mayor praised the leadership of the City Manager and hailed his work in developing that city culture and how they handle staff performance management and how its made a big difference in their live.
Mr. Brain also added that a happy community starts with happy people working for it and how it showed in this years budget and that as they continue as a team both on Council and at staff they will take this place to the next place build a shiny gem in the North.
Councillor Skelton-Morven echoed many of the Mayor's themes with paying his own tribute to the work of the city staff and their accomplishments.
Correspondence for Action
Request from Gitga'at for a letter of support towards grant funding-- Mayor Brain outlined the nature of the request for a letter of support from the City for the Gitga'at Business Development Corporation which is seeking grant funding of 30,000 dollars for renovations to their community space on Third Avenue West.
Councillor Cunningham offered his support towards the initiative, following which Council approved the motion for the letter of support.
(42:50 -- 43:00 ) Announcements from Closed Meetings -- The City's Deputy Corporate Administrator Antonio Vera outlined three appointments to the Prince Rupert Airport Authority Board
Among those appointed following a Closed Council session of May 24th were Cody Smith, Emerald Murphy and Antonio Vera, all will be appointed to a term of two years. Council has also instructed staff to continue the search to fill the final vacant position for the board.
( 43:00 -- 43:30 ) Adoption of Revision of Bylaw 344-2019 -- Calling it a small procedural issue, Council moved to adopt the revision that was in relation to zoning changes required for the Chamberlin Avenue property that the former Neptune Inn is located on.
(43:30 -- 49:00 ) Report from the City Planner related to proposed zoning changes for a portion of property located on Biggar Avenue -- Mr. Zeno Krekic outlined the nature of the proposed change which has been applied for by Marogna Enterprises. The property in question is on Biggar Place adjacent to the Five Corners area of the city. The applicant has assembled a number of lots for commercial purposes in that area on the west side of the downtown development permit area.
The zoning change would see the land changed from family-residential to service-commercial, Mr. Krekic noted that the proposed change is consistent with the long term downtown plans.
As for Questions, the Mayor led off the discussion inquiring if it is the same owner as that owns the other properties that have been assembled. Mr. Krekic advised that it was and made note of the material included in the Agenda package which outlines the various lots in question.
Councillor Adey asked if the city knew what the property owner had in mind towards development, he was advised that the city did not have any indication at the moment as to what is planned and that the process at the moment is that of land assembly for future use.
Councillor Randhawa asked if there were any property tax implications from the change in zoning. Ms. Bomben noted that it would depend on how BC assessment approaches the change, adding that her sense is that it would move into Commercial. The Mayor added how there were no houses on those lots anymore.
Councillor Cunningham asked how it fits in with the Redesign Prince Rupert planning and that of designing downtown, noting how in the past council has advocated for housing in the downtown area and that this seems to be taking away that option by changing the zoning from residential land to commercial.
The Mayor observed that this is an independent application and that the city hasn't even made a plan yet for Redesign with that program just getting started with the work of that team not ready until December of this year.
He further noted how at this point it is one property owner who wants to pursue property options in that area.
Council then gave the motion first reading and set the process in motion for a community information meeting
( 49:00 -- 58:00 ) Reports Questions and Comments from Council members
Councillor Adey led off the final portion of the evening raising the topic of the Moby Dick goats and the need for a discussion on the city's plans towards animal bylaws and how the city's main focus should be on what is best for the animals. He called for some additional research on the issue, adding that the current bylaw should not be changed until Council has had a chance to explore how to improve it.
The Mayor reviewed some of the city's policies from the Sustainable Cities policy book of June 2018 and how there was some intention from that document to revisit the animal livestock issue and if it was a feasible thing for the community.
The Mayor then outlined that owing to lack of staffing capacity which was tasked to other items such as Watson Island and infrastructure they haven't been able to move in that direction as of yet. He suggested that it may be timely now to produce a report to analyze the animal livestock situation and talk to veterinarians and other animal experts to see if it's a feasible thing, adding that it will take time to develop a comprehensive overview.
Council then offered a motion to move the issue to the next Council meeting where they can expand on the topic and set the process in motion towards a report.
Councillor Cunningham had a question for the City Manager asking when the City would begin accepting larger project waste at the city's landfill site, noting of a number of large projects and vessel demolitions that are looking to move forward. He observed how there is a possibility that some of that waste could be destined for the Terrace landfill site if no space is available in Prince Rupert.
Mr. Long outlined how it is an ongoing issue and that the city is working actively as to when they will be blasting the next hole, stating that it was an on again, off again issue.
He acknowledged how they know there is a problem and are actively working on it. Though he also noted that they don't have a timeline towards development at the landfill site.
Council members went around the chamber to recount some of their remembrances of the weekends Seafest events and the importance of the event to the community.
Councillors Cunningham and Niesh paid tribute to the work of Miranda Kessler, the new head of the Special Events Society who brought the event together, while also making note of the long time dedication of Joy Sundin and some of the past members of the Society from past Seafest events.
Both also noted how there are many other events to be put on and that Special events is always looking for new members and volunteers to help out.
With no other comments from Council members, the Mayor then brought the Council session to close.
You can access the City Council Review for June 10th here, where a number of items regarding the council session, including links to local media coverage, can also be found.
To catch up on past City council sessions see our archive page here.
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 June 10th, 2019 (not available yet)
In addition to the city's official minutes, the City's Video archive provides a helpful record of the events from each public council session.
The Next session for Prince Rupert City Council is scheduled for June 24th, which will be a Committee of the Whole Night, offering up an opportunity for the public to comment on other issues of concern to Council if they wish.
Cross posted from the North Coast Review.
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