Date:

Monday, June 8, 2009

Place:

Anderson Room

Richmond City Hall

Present:

Mayor Malcolm D. Brodie, Chair

Councillor Linda Barnes

Councillor Derek Dang

Councillor Evelina Halsey-Brandt

Councillor Greg Halsey-Brandt

Councillor Sue Halsey-Brandt

Councillor Ken Johnston

Councillor Bill McNulty

Councillor Harold Steves

Call to Order:

The Chair called the meeting to order at 6:18 p.m.

MINUTES

It was moved and seconded

That the minutes of the meeting of the Finance Committee held on Monday June 1, 2009 be adopted as circulated.

CARRIED

1.

2008 APPROPRIATED SURPLUS

(File Ref. No.:  03-0985-01/2009-Vol 01) (REDMS No. 2652424)

The General Manager, Business and Financial Services, Andrew Nazareth and Jeff Day, General Manager, Olympic Business & Major Projects were both available to answer questions.

The Committee addressed the requests presented in the 2008 Surplus Appropriation by priority order, commencing with the high priority requests, and a discussion ensued about:

§      

the Emergency Response ‘Gold Exercise’ 2009 – it was noted that this exercise was scheduled in preparation for the Olympics, and that it was a multi-faceted, unique exercise that was broader in scope than a regular emergency response;

§      

staffing needs associated with the implementation of the new pesticide bylaw;

§      

the feasibility of setting up a fund using surplus monies in order to fund the Oval subsidy or other Oval related costs in future years;

§      

temporary funding for staffing to offset the work loads encountered by staff currently working on various Venue City Programs and Initiatives; and what would happen to the temporary staff after the 2010 Winter Olympics;

§      

the feasibility of delaying the decision related to the Olympic Expo to a date later than June 30, 2009;

§      

the rationale for the funding request of $45,000 in support of the Seniors Games 2009; 

§      

the deterioration and replacement of parks equipment and why the replacement of such equipment was not funded through the budget process; and

§      

the funding and development of an operational plan for Tall Ships 2011.

At 6:38 p.m. Mayor Brodie announced that the Finance Committee meeting would be recessed until immediately following the Regular Council meeting.

At 8:19 p.m. Mayor Brodie reconvened the Finance Committee meeting.

The Committee addressed medium priority requests presented in the 2008 Surplus Appropriation, and discussion ensued between the Committee and staff regarding:

§      

there will be no decrease in either fire or rescue services provided by Richmond Fire Rescue (RFR) to City residents during the 2010 Olympics; BC Ambulance Services will dedicate their own vehicle/s at the Olympic Oval site;

§      

studies show that both medical-related and fire-related calls increase during Olympic games in venue cities; negotiations for additional resources for the associated increased costs are ongoing with the Province; and

§      

any revenue realized from the addition of three parking metres at Alderbridge, Alexandra and Elmbridge Way would be streamed back into the City’s parking programme.

The Committee then addressed low priority requests presented in the 2008 Surplus Appropriation, and during discussion between the Committee and staff the following was noted:

§      

signage and landscape improvements at main entrances to Richmond and the advantage of refurbishing the current signs over installing new signage; and

§      

information from the Library indicated that the auto sorter is a higher priority than upgrading the junior non-fiction book collection.

At the conclusion of the discussion the following motion was introduced:

It was moved and seconded

That Item 2 on the list of Surplus Allocation requests (Temporary Staffing to Meet Venue City Obligations) be deleted

The question on the motion was not called as a brief discussion ensued regarding the impact of the increased workload on City staff, including RFR personnel, during increased activities leading up to, and during, the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The question on the motion was then called and it was DEFEATED with Councillors S. Halsey-Brandt, Dang, Barnes, Johnston, E. Halsey-Brandt and Mayor Brodie opposed.

The following motion was then introduced:

It was moved and seconded

That Item 3 on the list of Surplus Allocation requests (Olympic Expo-Richmond 2010) be removed and that the Olympic Expo program in Richmond and the funding request of $500,00 to support it be deleted.

The question on the motion was not called as discussion ensued regarding the feasibility of the Olympic Expo program in relation to the overall approved budget for the Olympic celebrations. As a result of the discussion the following amendment was introduced:

It was moved and seconded

That funding for the Olympic Expo-Richmond 2010 be reduced from $500,000 to $300,000.

The question on the amendment was then called and it was DEFEATED with Councillors E. Halsey-Brandt, Steves, Johnston, G. Halsey-Brandt and McNulty opposed.

The question on the main motion was then called and it was CARRIED with Councillors S. Halsey-Brandt, Dang, Barnes and Mayor Brodie opposed.

The following referral motion was then introduced:

It was moved and seconded

That Item 13 on the list of Surplus Allocation requests (City Olympic Hosting and Protocol program) be referred back to staff with the funding amount for: (i) further description of the concept, (ii) funding; and (iii) the types of groups to be hosted.

CARRIED

The following motion was then introduced:

It was moved and seconded

That Item 14 on the list of Surplus Allocation requests (City facilities additional maintenance) be accepted.

CARRIED

The following referral motion was introduced:

It was moved and seconded

That Item 23 on the list of Surplus Allocation requests (Additional temporary fire services resources) be referred back to staff with the funding for further analysis and update.

CARRIED

The following referral motion was introduced:

It was moved and seconded

That Item 28 on the list of Surplus Allocation requests (Enhance look of the City) be referred back with the funding for further elaboration on: (i) the number of signs involved, (ii) identification of the potential locations of the signs, (iii) the updating of the signs, (iv) the refurbishment and cleaning of the signs, (v) the landscaping around the signs, and (vii) to investigate the possibility of eliminating the references to the sister cities on the signs.

CARRIED

The following motion was then introduced:

It was moved and seconded

That Item 10 on the list of Surplus Allocation requests (New Pesticide Bylaw related costs) be deleted.

DEFEATED

OPPOSED: Councillors McNulty

S. Halsey-Brandt

Johnston

Steves

Mayor Brodie

The following motion was then introduced:

It was moved and seconded

That $100,000 for Item 27 on the list of Surplus Allocation requests  (Junior non-fiction book collection upgrade) be added.

The question on the motion was not called as a brief discussion ensued regarding whether priority should be given to the auto sorting equipment for the library or to the junior non-fiction book collection upgrade. As a result of the discussion the following amendment was introduced.

It was moved and seconded

That funding for the Junior non-fiction book collection upgrade be reduced from $100,000 to $50,000.

The question on the amendment was then called and it was DEFEATED with Councillors McNulty, Johnston, Dang, E. Halsey-Brandt, G. Halsey-Brandt, Steves and Mayor Brodie opposed.

The question on the main motion was then called and it was DEFEATED with Councillors S. Halsey-Brandt, Dang, Barnes, Johnston, Steves and Mayor Brodie opposed.

The following referral motion was introduced:

It was moved and seconded

That item 25 on the list of Surplus Allocation requests (Installation of Automatic External Defibrillators) be referred back to staff with the funding.

CARRIED

At the request of Councillor Evelina Halsey-Brandt, Council Liaison for the Richmond Family and Youth Court Committee, the following motion was introduced:

It was moved and seconded

That an item be added, in the amount of $1,000, for the Richmond Family and Youth Court Committee (RFYCC) to purchase 150 bags made from City of Richmond banners for the delegates to the October 16-17, 2009 Family Violence 2009 Conference hosted by the RFYCC Committee in Richmond.

CARRIED

The following motion was then introduced:

It was moved and seconded

That all other surplus allocation requests be approved in the amount recommended by TAG.

CARRIED

The following referral motion was introduced:

It was moved and seconded

That:

(1)

the balance of the surplus funds, not otherwise allocated, in the amount of $369,000, be referred back to staff to report on recommendations for use; and

(2)

that staff bring recommendations forward relating to the surplus gaming funds.

CARRIED

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting adjourn (9:59 p.m.).

CARRIED

Certified a true and correct copy of the Minutes of the meeting of the Finance Committee of the Council of the City of Richmond held on Monday, June 8, 2009.

_________________________________

_________________________________

Mayor Malcolm D. Brodie

Chair

Shanan Dhaliwal

Executive Assistant, City Clerk’s Office

(6:18 p.m. to 6:39 p.m. - before the meeting was recessed)

_________________________________

Sheila Johnston

Committee Clerk

(8:19 p.m. to 9:59 p.m. – after the meeting was reconvened )