October 3, 2016 - Minutes

Date:

Monday, October 3, 2016

Place:

Anderson Room
Richmond City Hall

Present:

Mayor Malcolm D. Brodie, Chair
Councillor Chak Au
Councillor Derek Dang
Councillor Ken Johnston
Councillor Alexa Loo
Councillor Bill McNulty
Councillor Linda McPhail
Councillor Harold Steves

Absent:

Councillor Carol Day

Call to Order:

The Chair called the meeting to order at 4:02 p.m.

AGENDA ADDITION

It was moved and seconded

That Harvest Power Update be added to the agenda as Item No. 5.

CARRIED

MINUTES

It was moved and seconded

That the minutes of the meeting of the General Purposes Committee held on September 19, 2016, be adopted as circulated.

CARRIED

FINANCE AND CORPORATE SERVICES DIVISION

1.

Digital strategy – status update 2016

(File Ref. No. 04-1300-01) (REDMS No. 5114078 v. 17; 4735403 v. 4; 5178834; 5178835 )

With the aid of a PowerPoint presentation (attached to and forming part of these Minutes as Schedule 1), Grant Fengstad, Director, Information Technology, provided an overview summary of the details highlighted in the staff report.

Discussion ensued with regard to (i) implementing personalized accounts for each family or household in Richmond (ii) digitizing past Council meeting records and minutes and (iii) potentially updating email services for Council.

It was moved and seconded

That the staff report titled "Digital Strategy -Status Update 2016" from the Director, Information Technology, dated September 19, 2016, be received for information.

CARRIED

Staff were directed to present the PowerPoint presentation at the next Council meeting to be held on Tuesday, October 11, 2016.

COMMUNITY SERVICES DIVISION

2.

richmond canada 150 community celebration grant allocations – first intake

(File Ref. No. 11-7000-01; 11-7400-20-CANA1) (REDMS No. 5133074 v. 7; 5102249 v. 2; 5090979 v. 6)

In response to questions from Committee, Jane Fernyhough, Director, Arts, Culture and Heritage Services stated that (i) the applicants recommended to receive grant amounts would be notified after Council approval (ii) applications were recommended based on how the proposal met the criteria and (iii) staff are working with applicants for submissions to the second intake round.

As a result of the discussion, direction was given to staff to amend Attachment 3 of the staff report to include Steering Committee summary comments on the individual grant submission summary sheets to bring forward to the next Council meeting.

It was moved and seconded

That the Richmond Canada 150 Community Celebration Grants be awarded for the recommended amounts for a total of $79,500, as outlined in the report titled, “Richmond Canada 150 Community Celebration Grant Allocations - First Intake”, from the Director, Arts, Culture and Heritage Services, dated September 20, 2016.

CARRIED

3.

Council referral – Analysis of homelessness situation and needs in richmond

(File Ref. No. 08-4057-01) (REDMS No. 5170966 v. 15)

Joyce Rautenberg, Affordable Housing Coordinator and Cathryn Volkering Carlile, General Manager, Community Services provided a brief overview of the staff report.

Discussion ensued in regard to (i) involvement of senior levels of government as well as local and provincial organizations (ii) the urgent need for shelter facilities in Richmond (iii) the difference in the centralized housing database proposed in the staff report compared to the BC Housing registry and (iv) the role of the Homelessness Liaison.

De Whalen, 1361 Blundell Road, referenced speaking notes, (attached to and forming part of these minutes as Schedule 2) and offered comments regarding the response to the Council referral on homelessness in Richmond.

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

It was moved and seconded

That the following actions be implemented to address the homelessness situation and needs in Richmond:

(1)

Allocate up to a maximum of $30,000 from the Affordable Housing Reserve Fund to fund the Homelessness Liaison pilot contract to support coordinated homelessness outreach efforts in the community;

(2)

Allocate up to a maximum of $20,000 from the Affordable Housing Reserve Fund to fund the creation of a centralized housing database to be contracted to a qualified non-profit organization to manage;

(3)

Continue to advocate and work with senior levels of government to identify joint opportunities to address the homelessness situation;

(4)

That the Five-Year Financial Plan (2016-2020) Bylaw be amended to include an additional $50,000 (from the Affordable Housing Reserve Fund) for the City’s contribution towards the Homelessness Liaison pilot contract and centralized housing database program; and

(5)

That a letter be sent with copies of the staff report to the BC Premier, the BC Minister of Housing, the Richmond MLAs, Vancouver Coastal Health and the Richmond Community Services Advisory Committee (RCSAC).

The question on the motion was not called as the following amendment was introduced:

It was moved and seconded

That part 3 be amended to add the following words: “with priority to include shelter space.”

CARRIED

The question on the main motion, which now reads as follows:

That the following actions be implemented to address the homelessness situation and needs in Richmond:

(1)

Allocate up to a maximum of $30,000 from the Affordable Housing Reserve Fund to fund the Homelessness Liaison pilot contract to support coordinated homelessness outreach efforts in the community;

(2)

Allocate up to a maximum of $20,000 from the Affordable Housing Reserve Fund to fund the creation of a centralized housing database to be contracted to a qualified non-profit organization to manage;

(3)

Continue to advocate and work with senior levels of government to identify joint opportunities to address the homelessness situation with priority to include shelter space;

(4)

That the Five-Year Financial Plan (2016-2020) Bylaw be amended to include an additional $50,000 (from the Affordable Housing Reserve Fund) for the City’s contribution towards the Homelessness Liaison pilot contract and centralized housing database program; and

(5)

That a letter be sent with copies of the staff report to the BC Premier, the BC Minister of Housing, the Richmond MLAs, Vancouver Coastal Health and the Richmond Community Services Advisory Committee (RCSAC).

was then called and it was CARRIED.

ENGINEERING AND PUBLIC WORKS DIVISION

4.

George Massey Tunnel Replacement project – highway infrastructure features

(File Ref. No. 01-0150-20-THIG1) (REDMS No. 5173429 v. 3)

Victor Wei, Director, Transportation, presented Committee with further detailed photographs of the George Massey Tunnel Replacement Project highway infrastructure features (attached to and forming part of these Minutes as Schedule 3) and provided further highlights of the Project’s design.

Discussion ensued in regard to (i) the design of the proposed Steveston Highway interchange (ii) the addition of the Rice Mill Road on and off ramps (iii) the proposed bus exchange area (iv) concerns regarding further impact to agricultural land in the surrounding area (v) impacts to local roads and neighbouring areas and (vii) traffic surveys and Highway 99 traffic destinations.

A revised version of the staff recommendation was introduced by the Chair.

It was moved and seconded

(1)

Richmond City Council reconfirms its significant concerns regarding the proposed bridge project to replace the George Massey Tunnel and encourages the Province of British Columbia to work with the Cities of Richmond and Delta, Metro Vancouver, Translink and other interested parties to implement solutions to the urgent problem of congestion on Highway 99 that are more compatible with the regional transportation network, the enhancement of public transportation in the region, protection of the environment, protection of farmland, consistency with the Regional Growth Strategy, protection of our quality of life and other important factors;

(2)

If the Province decides to proceed with the current proposal to replace the Massey Tunnel, that the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure be strongly urged to significantly reduce the size and project scope of the Steveston Highway interchange and Highway 99, including:

(a)

measures be incorporated into the design of the Steveston Highway Interchange ramps to mitigate the noise, lighting and visual impacts of the ramps such as the installation of a green wall/vertical garden or other decorative concrete forms on the vertical walls;

(b)

principles to ensure the security of transit passengers (i.e., Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) and mitigation measures to address the noise, visual and air quality impacts be incorporated into the design of the transit exchange located within the Steveston Highway Interchange; and

(c)

the design for the widening of Highway 99 near the Steveston Highway Interchange be re-examined with a view to minimizing the extent of widening while not comprising safety and its functions;

(3)

That a follow-up letter be sent to the Provincial Agricultural Land Commission reiterating the City’s concerns regarding the Ministry’s application for Transportation, Utility and Recreational Trail Use along the Highway 99 corridor to allow for the widening of Highway 99 as part of the Project;

(4)

That the report titled “George Massey Tunnel Replacement Project – Highway Infrastructure Features” dated September 28, 2016 be forwarded to the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office for consideration as part of the City’s second round of comments further to the initial 30-day Working Group review period on the Provincial Environmental Assessment Application for the George Massey Tunnel Replacement Project; and

(5)

That a letter containing this resolution and the report entitled George Massey Tunnel Replacement Project – Highway Infrastructure Features, dated September 28, 2016 be sent to the Premier, the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, Richmond MPs and MLAs, the Mayor of Delta, Metro Vancouver and Translink.

CARRIED

Opposed: Councillor Loo

5.

Harvest Power Update

(File Ref. No.: ) (REDMS No.)

Robert Gonzalez, Deputy CAO and General Manager, Engineering and Public Works and Peter Russell, Senior Manager, Sustainability and District Energy, provided an update on the issuance of a three-year air quality permit to Harvest Power from Metro Vancouver, stating that:

§   

the newly issued air quality permit limits the size of piles allowed at the Harvest Power facility to a maximum of 6 metres (m) through to May 2017 after which it will reduce to a maximum allowable height of 3 m;

§   

new requirements to address odour will take effect in 2017 with a gradual approach to emission requirements with detection maximums set at 10 minutes in any hour at 5 kilometres (km) for four days in 2017;

§   

there is an increase in the permitted maximum emission requirements compared to the previous permit however, a phased implementation reduces this maximum over the span of the permit;

§   

measuring the overall odour emissions from the site will still be complaint driven;

§   

the City contributes approximately 8% of the volume to the Harvest Power facility; and

§   

if there are sufficient complaints, and Harvest Power is unable to meet the requirements of the permit, they must cease accepting organic material.

In response to queries from Committee, Mr. Russell stated that information about the appeal process for the permit could be provided to the public as well as Metro Vancouver’s summary of the permit.

It was moved and seconded

That the verbal update regarding the issuance of a three year air quality permit to Harvest Power be received for information.

CARRIED

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting adjourn (5:27 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, October 3, 2016.

_________________________________

_________________________________

Mayor Malcolm D. Brodie
Chair

Amanda Welby
Acting Legislative Services Coordinator