November 18, 2013 - Minutes

Date:

Monday, November 18, 2013

Place:

Anderson Room
Richmond City Hall

Present:

Mayor Malcolm D. Brodie, Chair
Councillor Chak Au
Councillor Linda Barnes
Councillor Derek Dang
Councillor Evelina Halsey-Brandt
Councillor Ken Johnston
Councillor Bill McNulty
Councillor Harold Steves

Absent:

Councillor Linda McPhail

Call to Order:

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

AGENDA ADDITION

It was moved and seconded

That the BC Athletic Commission be added to the agenda as Item 4.

CARRIED

MINUTES

It was moved and seconded

That the minutes of the meeting of the General Purposes Committee held on Monday, November 4, 2013, be adopted as circulated.

CARRIED

COMMUNITY SERVICES DEPARTMENT

1.

2014 Age-Friendly Community Grant Submission
(File Ref. No.) (REDMS No. 4006859)

It was moved and seconded

That a letter be submitted to the Seniors Housing and Support Initiative to indicate Council’s support for the City of Richmond’s submission for a 2014 Age-Friendly Community Planning and Project Grant and the City’s willingness to provide overall grant management for the proposed project, as presented in the staff report from the General Manager, Community Services titled 2014 Age-Friendly Community Grant Submission.

CARRIED

PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT

2.

DRAFT 2014-2018 YVR NOISE MANAGEMENT PLAN – CITY OF RICHMOND COMMENTS
(File Ref. No. 01-0153-04-01) (REDMS No. 4003635 v.3)

It was moved and seconded

(1)

That the Vancouver Airport Authority (VAA) be advised that the City supports the draft 2014-2018 YVR Noise Management Plan (Plan) on the condition that the following changes be incorporated into the final Plan, prior to VAA Board approval:

(a)

indicate how the previous 2009-2013 YVR Noise Management Plan has been implemented and any outstanding initiatives;

(b)

clarify the purpose, rationale, expected benefits, priority and timing of each proposed Plan initiative over the coming five-year period;

(c)

identify the air travel growth scenario used to prepare the proposed Plan; and

(2)

That the staff report titled Draft 2014-2018 YVR Noise Management Plan – City of Richmond Comments be forwarded to the Vancouver Airport Authority for its consideration in the finalization of the 2014-2018 YVR Noise Management Plan.

The question on the motion was not called as clarification was requested regarding the newer aircraft requirements under the Noise Management Plan and whether there was any correlation with the Open Skies concept.  Victor Wei, Director, Transportation, advised that there was an indirect relationship between Open Skies and the type of aircraft arriving and departing from the Vancouver Airport.  Open Skies opens up international passenger flights arriving in Vancouver which are quieter than the older cargo aircraft. The question on the motion was then called and it was CARRIED.

FINANCE AND CORPORATE SERVICES DEPARTMENT

3.

2014 Utility Budgets and Rates
(File Ref. No. 03-0970-01) (REDMS No. 3981721 v.3)

WATER UTILITY BUDGET:

Lloyd Bie, Manager, Engineering Planning provided a brief summary of the Water Utility Budget noting that the difference between each option is the reduction in the amount drawn from the rate stabilization contribution which incrementally increased the water rates associated with each option.

With respect to advising the public that the 2014 rate reflects a significant increase in the water rate charged by Metro Vancouver, Suzanne Bycraft, Manager, Fleet & Environmental Programs, noted that an insert, explaining and identifying the increased rates from Metro Vancouver, will be mailed with the utility bill.

Robert Gonzalez, General Manager, Engineering & Public Works, advised that when a debt has been reduced, Metro Vancouver’s policy is to transfer those funds to the operating budget.   Those funds are used to offset water and sewer utilities.

SEWER UTILITY BUDGET:

In regard to the Sewer Utility Budget, Mr. Bie advised that efficiencies had been identified in materials and power purchases, which were applied directly to the operating expenditures under option 1 to maximize the value.  Option 2 applied the efficiencies to the Capital Infrastructure Replacement Program to assist in achieving the City’s long-term target for sustainable funding.  Option 3 reduced the draw from the Rate Stabilization Fund to $300,000 which in turn increased the rate.

In response to a query regarding the application of the efficiencies, Mr. Bie clarified that in option 1 the cost efficiencies were passed along to the customer and in option 2 the savings were applied to the Capital Infrastructure Replacement Program.

Committee was advised that there was debate at Metro Vancouver over future charges for the Island and Lulu Island wastewater treatment plants.  Vancouver and the North Shore proposed changes to the funding formulas that would see regional Municipalities pay a larger share of the cost for rebuilding Vancouver’s treatment plant.  Further increases will be coming but not as significant as Vancouver was seeking. 

DRAINAGE AND DIKING UTILITY BUDGET:

Mr. Bie advised that the Drainage and Diking Utility options are reflective of incremental increases of zero, $5.00 or $10.00 for the collection of reserve funds for drainage infrastructure replacement costs.  Option 3 is recommended as a mechanism to reach the long-term annual sustainable funding target level of $10.4 million within two-years.

Mr. Bie was requested to provide dike replacement information including yearly dike replacement and remaining upgrades needed.  Mr. Bie noted that approximately 0.5 to 0.75 kilometre of dike work is completed each year.

John Irving, Director, Engineering, noted that over the past few years the majority of the Capital Infrastructure Replacement funding has been directed to the reconstruction of the City’s wastewater pumping stations, and reconstruction of the dike around the pumping station is undertaken at the same time.

Committee requested that staff provide information on (i) the status of future obligations for dike replacement, (ii) whether the schedule for the upgrades needs to be accelerated, (iii) the current balance of the reserve fund, and (iv) dikes being raised due to climate control and those being raised to control flooding along the Fraser River.

In reply to concerns expressed by Committee regarding the work to raise the dike by a meter, Mr. Bie noted that the dike exceeds Provincial standards for development around the Richmond Olympic Oval with a height of 4.0 to 4.7 metres and through the development process a dike width upwards of 300 metres was constructed, well exceeding the standard of ten-metres.

Mr. Gonzalez advised that areas of the west dike have been raised around the pumping stations meeting elevation obligations to the year 2100 based on the information available.  New waterfront development has been designed to meet these standards.

SOLID WASTE AND RECYCLING UTILITY BUDGET:

Suzanne Bycraft advised that option 1 of the Solid Waste and Recycling budget includes the full year implementation for the Green Cart program, the large item pickup program, and the multi-family pilot organics project.  Option 2 includes all of the programs from option 1 plus funding for the six-month pilot program for cart-based weekly versus bi-weekly garbage collection.  Option 3 provides for the multi-family pilot organics project to be funded from the rates.

In reply to a query regarding the increase to townhouse rates and the bi-weekly collection pilot, Ms. Bycraft noted that the increase to the rates was due to the implementation of the green cart program to townhouse residents.  The funding for bi-weekly collection for 2014 is only for the pilot project which is scheduled to be implemented in February.  The pilot will operate for six-months to 800-900 units in each collection method.  The pilot applies to garbage collection only as organic and recycling collection would continue to be picked up weekly.  At the conclusion of the pilot project various collection options, including proposals for Condominium complexes, will be presented to Council.

Committee inquired whether revenues from Multi Material British Columbia (MMBC) are factored into the budget.  Ms. Bycraft noted that revenues from MMBC are not reflected in the budget and that any monies received would be directed toward the 2014 reserve fund.

It was moved and seconded

That the 2014 Utility Expenditure Budgets, as outlined under Option 1 for Water and Sewer, Option 3 for Drainage and Diking, and Option 2 for Solid Waste and Recycling, as contained in the staff report dated November 5, 2013 from the General Manager, Finance & Corporate Services and General Manager, Engineering & Public Works, be approved as the basis for establishing the 2014 Utility Rates and preparing the 5 Year Financial Plan (2014-2018) Bylaw.

CARRIED

4.

BC Athletic Commission
(File Ref. No.) (REDMS No.)

Councillor Steves requested that staff report to Committee on whether the Richmond Athletic Commission should be disbanded and the following referral was introduced:

It was moved and seconded

That the Athletic Commission matter be referred to staff to review the disbanding of the Richmond Athletic Commission in light of the establishment of the BC Athletic Commission. 

The question was not called on the motion as Mike Redpath, Senior Manager, Parks, advised that the Province has changed the legislation and have taken over the responsibility for Sports.  A staff report is being prepared at this time.

Committee requested that the staff report include discrepancies between the City of Richmond and Provincial philosophy concerning sports, particularly in regard to mixed martial arts, and whether there will be local representation on or input to the BC Athletic Commission.  At the conclusion of the discussion the question was then called and it was CARRIED.

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting adjourn (4:32 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, November 18, 2013.

_________________________________

_________________________________

Mayor Malcolm D. Brodie
Chair

Heather Howey
Committee Clerk