With an opportunity towards what the Mayor described as a potential significant development in the community seemingly beckoning some of them for later Monday evening, City Council members made quick work of their rescheduled September 11th session.
Moved from its traditional start time of 7PM, the only public Council session for the month of September was done within thirty minutes of its 5 PM start; 20 minutes of which was that of a presentation from a representative from EcoTrust Canada.
As for the rest of what Mr. Pond observed towards what was a very light agenda for the night the night looked like this.
The Consent Agenda featured a few of items of note, in addition to the EcoTrust/City of Prince Rupert Report there was a Financial Variance Report and Fire Department report.
A list of property variance requests were addressed and Council also moved forward with their Permissive Tax Exemption Bylaw setting the course forward for the exemptions for the years ahead.
The Agenda for Regular session can be reviewed here.
The Cancellation Notice for the Committee of the Whole session is available here.
The Notice of the Closed Session which had been moved forward to 3:30 PM is available here.
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.
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In attendance: Monday, September 11, 2023
Mayor Herb Pond -- Present
Councillor Nick Adey -- Present
Councillor Barry Cunningham -- Present
Councillor Teri Forster -- Present
Councillor Reid Skelton-Morven -- Present
Councillor Wade Niesh -- Absent
Councillor Gurvinder Randhawa -- Present
Video Archive for Monday, September 11, 2023
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REGULAR SESSION OF CITY COUNCIL
( 0:00 -- 1:30 ) Prior to getting to their work, Mayor Pond sought approval of the Agenda for the night and also provided a note of acknowledgement towards the recent achievement of Metlakatla Chief Councillor Harold Leighton for his recent Order of Canada honours.
He also commented on the nature of the Council session and the light agenda that Council members would be taking on for the evening.
( 1:30 -- 21:15 ) Delegation -- Presentation from Josephine Schrott, an analyst with EcoTrust Canada -- Her presentation on Energy related themes was a companion element for the night to a report that was received by Council. That report is the work of a collaboration between the City of Prince Rupert and EcoTrust Canada's Prince Rupert Office.
Ms. Schrott touched on many of the themes from the report, focusing on the cost benefits for residents towards home improvements and how they can improve their energy efficiency in their homes and reduce emissions in the community. Much of that focus was put towards the savings possible from the use of heat pumps and improved insulation.
The presentation also included their work on a fully funded upgrade support program which would be run by EcoTrust, in collaboration with city staff which would assist to get the word out towards it.
Upon the completion of her overview, Council members had a few comments towards the report.
Councillor Nick Adey led off the council participation, noting of the opportunity that EcoTrust offers towards consultation for the public towards what would be their best fit to get their energy costs down.
Councillor Cunningham had questions related to the impact on the call for electricity that would come should a large volume of residents switch over to the electricity model that is proposed, noting how with the city's industrial base also putting a demand on electricity, there may be an unforeseen environmental impact on the province.
Ms. Schrott countered some of those concerns by noting of the impact of natural gas on the environment, how some of the savings would balance out some of that energy consumption and how BC Hydro continues to work on the supply side of delivery of electrical service.
Councillor Forrester noted of the conflicting information available related to heat pumps and how some contractors suggest that they don't work well in the climate conditions found in Prince Rupert, she followed up by asking where residents could find the best source of information towards that.
Ms. Schrott observed of the improved quality of the current options from Heat Pumps, noting of some of their installations on the Central Coast and Vancouver Island where the product works well, she also stressed that if you have the right heat pump for the conditions for the area and it's properly installed they would be a good solution.
Councillor Randhawa asked towards any future plans towards sharing information towards their energy savings programs.
Towards that, the EcoTrust analyst suggested their blog as a good resource and plans for future information rollouts to come, as well as the work that they have done with the city's director of Communications Veronika Stewart which will see some of that information relayed through the City of Prince Rupert information streams.
( 21:15 -- 21:30) Public Comments regarding Agenda items -- No members of the public came forward on the night to make comment.
( 21:30 -- 23:00 ) Consent Agenda
Report from the Fire Chief: Monthly Fire/Rescue Report August 2023 (see pages 9-10 of Agenda)
Report from Chief Financial Office: July 2023 Financial Variance Report (see pages 11-16 of Agenda)
Report from Planning Re Development Activity Report (see pages 17-19 of Agenda)
EcoTrust Canada / City of Prince Rupert Home Energy Upgrade program feasibility study (see pages 20-170 of Agenda)
Correspondences
North Coast Regional District Solid Waste Management Plan Update (see page 171 of Agenda)
Email from Ron Robinson, Nelson BC, Re: UBCM Motion re: Public Transit Funding (see page 172 of Agenda)
Mayor Pond called attention for the public to the EcoTrust report and some of the savings that the report points out for the community.
Mr. Pond also noted the Financial Variance Report and planning reports for the public to take a look at.
Council members had no questions, or observations related to any items that were part of the Consent Agenda.
Recommendation
Council Council the accepted and filed all items of the Consent Agenda. Councillor
( 23:00 -- 26:30 ) Staff Reports
Report from Planning: Development Variance Permit #23-14 -- Council received a report with recommendation to proceed to approval for the permit request for a property on Rudderham Place. Council followed up with approval (see pages 173-177 of Agenda)
Mayor Pond asked if any questions from the public were received related to the request, Corporate Administrator Rosa Miller advised that one question had been received, with the concern resolved by staff.
Report from Planning: Development Variance Permit #23-15 -- Council received a report with recommendation to proceed to approval for the permit request for a property on 8th Avenue East. The approval was granted (see pages 178-184 of Agenda)
Councillor Adey asked if any questions were received related to any of the remaining variance requests, Corporate Administrator Rosa Miller advised that no other questions had been received by staff for any of the remaining items up for review.
Report from Planning: Development Variance Permit #23-16 -- Council received a report with recommendation to proceed to approval for the permit request for a property on Ritchie Street. Mayor Pond provided some background related to all of the variance up for review on the night. Council provided approval. (see pages 185-188 of Agenda)
Report from Planning: Development Variance Permit #23-17 -- Council received a report with recommendation to proceed to approval for the permit request for a property on Overlook Street. Council then provided approval. (see pages 185-193 of Agenda)
Report from the Chief Financial Officer Re: Service Provider Agreement - Prince Rupert Golf Club. -- Council received a report with the recommendation to approve the Service Provider Agreement for the purpose of insurance coverage for the Golf Course. Mayor Pond observed how the agreement provided for some savings for the Golf club. Council then approved the agreement with no questions or observations. (see pages 194 - 197 of Agenda)
Report from the Chief Financial Officer Re: External Auditor Services. -- Council received a report with the recommendation to appoint Vohora LLP CPAs and Business Advisors as the City's external auditor for fiscal year ends 2023 to 2028. Council approved the choice. Mayor Pond noting that of the three bids the Vohora bid was the lowest and that they had offices in Prince Rupert (see pages 198 - 199 of Agenda)
( 26:30 --28:00 ) Bylaws
Permissive Property Tax Exemption Bylaw Nos. 3521, 2023 -- Council repeaedl the previous bylaw and introduce and gave first, second and third readings to the new Permissive Tax Exemption Bylaw. The Council members offered up no questions or comments towards the Bylaw process.
Mayor Pond observed of the list available online for review, noting of a property owned by Canfisco that now serves as recreation space for the community. Towards their adoption of first, second and third reading the Mayor noted how the city's approach was more efficient than that of Regional District.
Final consideration of the Bylaw will come at a future session. (see pages 200 - 208 of Agenda)
( 28:00 -- 29:30 ) Business Arising
Council Round Table and Public Question Period --
The Mayor then brought the session to a close by noting as to why they had met at 5 o'clock as opposed to the usual start time of 7PM.
Mr. Pond noted that there was an opportunity for some of the Council members and staff to participate in an event that could potentially lead to some development in Prince Rupert that would be significant and how there was no other way to time it other than on Monday evening.
While sharing no further details on the nature of that session ahead, he thanked the council members on hand and the public for their accommodation to the schedule change. He also observed how he hopes that there may be some success from that session later in the evening.
Adjournment -- With no other council members speaking to the round table the Mayor then brought the Council session to a close.
You can access our Council Archive for September 11th here, from that page a number of items regarding the Council Session, including links to any 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.
Council members and senior staff will now make their way to Vancouver for next week's UBCM Convention, that one week program gets underway from the Vancouver Convention Centre on September 18th.
Council next meets for their Regularly scheduled session, set to take place on Monday, October 10. 2023
That session starts at 7PM.
Cross posted from the North Coast Review.
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