February 1, 2021 - Minutes

Date:

Monday, February 1, 2021

Place:

Council Chambers
Richmond City Hall

Present:

Mayor Malcolm D. Brodie, Chair
Councillor Chak Au (entered the meeting at 5:28 p.m.)
Councillor Carol Day (by teleconference)
Councillor Alexa Loo (by teleconference)
Councillor Bill McNulty (by teleconference)
Councillor Linda McPhail (by teleconference)
Councillor Harold Steves (by teleconference)
Councillor Michael Wolfe (by teleconference)

Call to Order:

The Chair called the meeting to order at 5:27 p.m.

MINUTES

It was moved and seconded

That the minutes the Special Finance Committee held on January 18, 2021, be adopted as circulated.

CARRIED

FINANCE AND CORPORATE SERVICES DIVISION

1.

2021 Proposed Capital Budget 
(File Ref. No. 03-0970-25-2021-01) (REDMS No. 6466387)

Councillor Au entered the meeting (5:28 p.m.).

In reply to queries from Committee, staff noted the following:

§   

discussions are underway with regard to the cycling and pedestrian paths in Minoru Park;

§   

in order to advance many actions in Affordable Housing, funding is required to hire consultants, cover administration costs and the Affordable Housing Planner salary is paid out of the reserve;

§   

additional information regarding projects that are contracted and those undertaken by City staff can be provided;

§   

Hamilton Community Centre HVAC Replacement was not recommended due to insufficient funding;

§   

additional funding could be obtained from the Rate Stabilization Account or other reserves;

§   

due to large projects anticipated in 2022, reduced funding for projects was provided this year;

§   

if available, green and electric vehicles are a priority when replacing city vehicles;

§   

the City has a facilities management budget where funding for repairs is drawn from;

§   

requests for works come through a variety of sources such as, the dispatch system at the Works Yard, observations by staff in the field, or calls to Mayor and Councillors;

§   

when calls for service are received, a staff member will assess the problem and determine whether it’s a private matter or a city matter and work will be funded through the operating budget or minor capital budget;

§   

if there is insufficient funding, minor repairs may be done to mitigate hazards until funding is obtained for a more permanent solution;

§   

Council has made investments in Police and Fire-Rescue and the Police Chief and Fire Chief have discussed and noted that the Inter-Agency Command Vehicle can be deferred until the following year; and

§   

the Garden City Lands project is separate from the Community Gardens.

Discussion took place on the recommended items that did not receive funding, and as a result the following referral motion was introduced:

It was moved and seconded

That the staff report titled “2021 Proposed Capital Budget” be referred back to staff:

(a)

for further analysis and identification of alternate funding sources of the capital projects that are recommended but have insufficient funding, as noted in Appendix 4;

(b)

to compile a list and provide more information on capital projects undertaken by external vendors and those that are undertaken by City staff; and

(c)

to review and provide more information on the projects as part of the Information Technology Equipment Program from pages FIN 118-123;

and report back.

The question on the referral motion was not called, as discussion took place on (i) reviewing the cost of the Equipment Program, (ii) funding sources for the recommended items that did not receive funding, and (iii) projects that are contracted to outside vendors.

The question on the referral motion was then called and it was CARRIED.

2.

2021 One-Time Expenditures 
(File Ref. No. 03-0970-25-2021-01) (REDMS No. 6468494)

It was moved and seconded

That the one-time expenditures totalling $1,081,269 as outlined in Attachment 1 of the 2021 One-Time Expenditures staff report, be approved with funding from the Rate Stabilization Account and included in the Consolidated 5 Year Financial Plan (2021-2025).

The question on the motion was not called as discussion took place on decreasing the One-Time Expenditure request for the 2021 By-Election.

In reply to a query from Committee, staff noted that due to Covid-19, processes and procedures changed and therefore require additional staff to maintain.

Discussion took place on further analysis on funding options and fuller descriptions of the one-time expenditure requests that are recommended.  

As a result of the discussion, the following referral motion was introduced:

It was moved and seconded

That the staff report titled “ 2021 One-Time Expenditures” be referred back to staff for further analysis of funding options and more detailed descriptions of the recommended one-time expenditures, and report back.

The question on the referral motion was not called as discussion ensued regarding Council’s role in By-Elections and legislated requirements carried out by the Chief Election Officer.

The question on the referral motion was then called and it was CARRIED.

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting adjourn (6:20 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, February 1, 2021.

_________________________________

_________________________________

Mayor Malcolm D. Brodie
Chair

Sarah Goddard
Legislative Services Associate