Date:

Monday, April 21, 2008

Place:

Anderson Room
Richmond City Hall

Present:

Councillor Derek Dang
Councillor Evelina Halsey-Brandt
Councillor Sue Halsey-Brandt
Councillor Rob Howard
Councillor Bill McNulty, Acting Chair
Councillor Harold Steves

Absent:

Mayor Malcolm D. Brodie
Councillor Linda Barnes
Councillor Cynthia Chen

Call to Order:

The Acting Chair called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.

MINUTES

1.

It was moved and seconded

That the minutes of the meeting of the General Purposes Committee held on Monday, April 7, 2008, be adopted as circulated.

CARRIED

CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE

2.

CLIMATE CHANGE ACTION CHARTER

(Report:  March 24, 2008, File No.:  01-0340-03-01) (REDMS No. 2353246)

It was moved and seconded

That:

(1)

the City of Richmond sign the British Columbia Climate Action Charter (Attachment 1); and,

(2)

an addendum to the Charter be submitted stating the City’s Climate Change Response Agenda and Action Initiatives (Attachment 2); and,

(3)

Council send a letter to UBCM requesting that the UBCM support the development of a local government climate neutral program which:

(a)

maintains local government flexibility in developing corporate neutral plans and specifically with respect to determining where local offset investments are made;

(b)

is developed as part of comprehensive climate change action, inclusive of both corporate and community-wide initiatives in the areas of emission reduction and adaptation;

(c)

establishes ongoing funding mechanisms; and

(d)

ensures that a reasonable timeline for implementation is provided; and

(4)

Council send a letter to the Premier, with a copy to Richmond’s MLAs and to the Provincial Climate Change Secretariat, Minister of Community Services and Minister of Environment advising that City of Richmond has signed the BC Climate Action Charter and conveying Richmond’s interests pertaining to local government flexibility, comprehensive climate change approaches, funding and timelines for implementation.

The question on the motion was not called as a brief discussion took place among Committee, Margot Daykin, Manager, Sustainability and Robert Gonzalez, General Manager, Engineering and Public Works and the following was noted:

·  

a full financial impact scenario has identified an estimated budgetary impact to the City of approximately $400,000 per year to meet the carbon neutral commitment;

·  

the non-legally binding aspect of the Charter gives Council flexibility in reviewing and re-assessing commitments to carbon neutrality;

·  

the full financial impact scenario is based solely on calculations of greenhouse gas emissions and does not incorporate considerations of carbon sinks (e.g. green space, trees, etc.) or offsets (e.g. community-wide greenhouse gas emission reductions, etc.);

·  

the City is committed to a comprehensive climate change response strategy which directs concurrent action in three areas: (i) education and outreach, (ii) greenhouse gas emissions reduction, and (iii) adaptation planning;

·  

for sometime the City taken action to reduce greenhouse gases and made a commitment to do so before the Province instituted similar initiatives;

·  

examples of the City’s initiatives include: (i) the City’s High Performance Building policy, (ii) Energy Management Program, (iii) GreenFleet policy, and (iv) Car-Pool programs;

·  

the City is currently completing an inventory of its corporate greenhouse gas emissions which will provide trend data to enable the City to assess reduction achievements;

·  

staff is exploring the idea of expanding the City’s curb side recycling program;

·  

the City is participating with Metro Vancouver (MV) as it examines regional solid waste plans; when MV’s planning sessions conclude, City staff will submit further information to Committee.

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

OLYMPIC BUSINESS AND MAJOR PROJECTS

3.

AMENDMENT TO GAMES VENUE AGREEMENT, RICHMOND SPEED SKATING OVAL – EXHIBIT F

(Report:  March 7, 2008, File No.:  06-2052-50-01) (REDMS No. 2344678)

In response to queries Greg Scott, Director, Major Projects advised that:

·  

the City will underwrite the cost of maintaining one of the two ice resurfacers at the Oval and VANOC will underwrite the cost of maintaining the other ice resurfacer;

·  

of the furniture, fittings and equipment items identified as ‘temporary’, the City will negotiate to keep some, but other items will be disposed of;

·  

the ice resurfacers are as environmentally friendly as possible.

It was moved and seconded

That Council authorize the Director of Major Projects to execute the proposed amendments to the Games Venue Agreement Exhibit F as outlined in the report (dated March 7, 2008 from the Director, Major Projects).  

CARRIED

BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT

4.

TAX DISTRIBUTION BETWEEN ASSESSMENT CLASSES

(Report:  March 6, 2008, File No.:  03-1240-01) (REDMS No. 2352676)

During discussion, Committee commented that business owners are seeking a solution to escalating taxes. Ivy Wong, Revenue Manager and Jerry Chong, Director, Finance advised that:

·  

the City must approve the 2008 tax distribution between classes by the Province’s deadline of May 15, 2008 and if the deadline is not achieved the City would be penalized and the action the Province could take would be to take over governance of the City;

·  

taxes for each class of property are based on assessment values, and all those in the same class have the same tax rate;

·  

there is no solution or alternative except to shift the burden to other tax classes;

·  

the Province establishes the property classes and does not allow a municipality to declare sub-classes or separate business zones in order to create different assessment classes;

It was moved and seconded

That the 2008 tax distribution between classes as presented in the staff report (dated March 6, 2008 from the Director, Finance) be approved.

DEFEATED ON A TIE VOTE

Opposed: Cllrs. D. Dang

B. McNulty

H. Steeves

Committee directed staff to research whether the Provincial government has ever taken over and provided governance of a municipality, and requested staff to submit a memorandum with their findings before the April 28, 2008 Council meeting.

5.

2008 ANNUAL PROPERTY TAX RATES BYLAW 8356

(Report:  April 9, 2008, File No.:  ) (REDMS No. 2436073)

It was moved and seconded

That the 2008 Annual Property Tax Rates Bylaw 8356 be introduced and given first, second, and third readings.

CARRIED

Opposed: Cllrs. Bill McNulty

E. Halsey-Brandt

6.

RICHMOND AIRPORT NOISE CITIZENS ADVISORY TASK FORCE – PROPOSED TERMS OF REFERENCE

(Report:  March 3, 2008, File No.:  01-0100-01) (REDMS No. 2322884)

It was moved and seconded

That:

(1)

the Richmond Airport Noise Citizens Advisory Task Force be established with a dialogue-based approach to provide a forum for open discussions and sharing of community concerns on airport-related noise pertaining to Richmond as outlined in the proposed Terms of Reference (Attachment 3 and Attachment 4 of the report dated April 18, 2008, from the Director, Transportation); and

(2)

staff report back on the recommended Richmond Airport Noise Citizens Advisory Task Force appointees for Council’s consideration and approval.

Discussion took place between Committee and Victor Wei, Director, Transportation on the following topics:

·  

the role that an aeronautical noise consultant would serve and the costs associated with that resource;

·  

whether the proposed timeline is realistic for the Task Force to conclude its mandate and whether Council should extend the mandate of the Task Force so that it would become an on-going Advisory Committee;

·  

whether the Task Force would act as a voice for residents with regard to aircraft and ground-related noise and whether it would create meaningful dialogue between the City and the Vancouver Airport Authority (VAA);

·  

that all those who were consulted – Transport Canada, Metro Vancouver, Abbotsford International Airport, Boundary Bay Airport – support the development of a regional airport strategy and that the consensus is that VAA should take the lead role in its development;

·  

that the Task Force should hold a minimum of two public meetings and that the summer months of 2008 should be avoided when scheduling the meetings;

·  

that the VAA could provide technical information to the Task Force, but that VAA would not be a formal Task Force member;

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

It was moved and seconded

That the City request the Vancouver Airport Authority (VAA) to take the lead in initiating a regional Air Traffic Strategy.

CARRIED

Doug Louth, 4140 Dallyn, addressed Committee and made the following points:

·  

the VAA does not notify the City, nor its advisory committee, when it is going to implement changes that would affect municipalities and residents;

·  

the delegation procedures for the VAA’s Aeronautical Noise Management Committee are too restrictive and onerous;

·  

unelected authorities, such as VAA and NAV Canada, created by Transport Canada, are given too much power and there is no representation by taxpayers who are the real owners of the country’s airports;

·  

a wide-ranging debate should take place regarding VAA, NAV Canada and Transport Canada, with special attention being paid to aircraft noise and flight paths, and the Task Force should remain in force to ensure that these three agencies consider major changes to their structures and improve the quality of life for Richmond residents;

·  

there should be an aeronautical noise consultant on the proposed Task Force;

·  

9 members would be more appropriate than the proposed 7 members;

·  

the proposed time-line should be extended to late spring/summer of 2009; in addition the idea of holding public meetings in the summer months should be discouraged as attendance will be low;

·  

besides economic, social and environmental benefits, VAA sustainability should include the ‘quality of life’ for Richmond residents.

Mr. Louth suggested that Councillors could sit in on and observe Task Force meetings. In conclusion he questioned whether the Task Force would be (i) open to the media, and (ii) if the progress of the meetings would be published on the City’s web site.

Howard Jampolsky, 5531 Cantrell Road, spoke in support of the proposed Task Force and noted that:

·  

Transport Canada is the body that controls all air traffic issues, and it is important that the Task Force understand how VAA and NAV Canada work together;

·  

a consultant could be brought onto the Task Force on an ‘as needed’ basis instead of a permanent basis;

·  

the Task Force’s goal should be to bring forward specific recommendations regarding (i) what issues residents have identified and (ii) solutions to these issues.

Neil Filipek, 5700 Gibbons Crescent, expressed his support for the proposed Task Force and commented that what was missing in the proposal was a liaison between the Task Force and Transport Canada, and that it was not enough for the Task Force to liaise only with VAA.

He further commented that the Task Force must talk to the end users, including airlines and the pilots who fly the airplanes. He suggested that it is the pilots who can do the most to alleviate many of the noise problems.

As a result of the discussion Committee directed staff to:

·  

delete ‘specifically and only’ on page 4 of the report, under section 3.2(1);

·  

change ‘five Richmond citizens representing the remainder of Richmond’ to: ‘seven Richmond citizens representing the remainder of Richmond’ on page 4 of the report, under section 3.3, bringing the total number of members to 9;

·  

include in the report: ‘liaise with Transport Canada and with pilots’;

·  

revisit the Anticipated Timeline of Major Work Items on page 6 of the report, and in Table 1 – work item 10, change ‘December 2008’ to ‘June 2009’

·  

further investigate on page 6 of the report, under ‘Financial Impact’ the source of funding for the consultant

·  

have more than two public meetings.

Joe Erceg, General Manager, Planning and Development advised that a consultant would help the Task Force navigate the regulatory aspect of the issue. He added that the proposed time-line, as outlined in the staff report, is an ambitious one, and that it can be modified to extend beyond December, 2008.

It was moved and seconded

That a consultant be hired to assist the Task Force.

CARRIED

At the conclusion of the question the original main motion, Parts (1) and (2) were called and it was CARRIED.

7.

RICHMOND OVAL – CONTINGENCY ADJUSTMENTS WITHIN $178M PROJECT BUDGET

(Report:  April 9, 2008, File No.:  06-2052-50-06) (REDMS No. 2439671)

It was moved and seconded

That, within the $178M Richmond Oval Project Budget, $1M from the Owner’s Allowance be allocated to the Construction Contingency.

CARRIED

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting adjourn (5:18 p.m.).

CARRIED

Certified a true and correct copy of the Minutes of the meeting of the General Purposes Committee of the Council of the City of Richmond held on Monday, April 21, 2008.

_________________________________

_________________________________

Councillor Bill McNulty
Acting Chair

Sheila Johnston

City Clerk’s Office