January 15, 2018 - Minutes (Special)

Date:

Monday, January 15, 2018

Place:

Anderson Room
Richmond City Hall

Present:

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

Call to Order:

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

AGENDA ADDITION

It was moved and seconded

That Consultation on Lane Standards be added to the agenda as Item No. 2.

CARRIED

COMMUNITY SERVICES DIVISION

1.

Proposed Plan for Major Events in 2018
(File Ref. No. 11-7400-01) (REDMS No. 5689731 v. 7)

The Chair noted that this item had been deferred from the previous meeting and that an additional staff report has been provided for further background information.

In response to questions from Committee, Jane Fernyhough, Director, Arts, Culture and Heritage Services and Bryan Tasaka, Manager, Major Events and Film noted the following:

§   

the $75,000 budget for the 2018 Children’s Arts Festival includes expanded programming, similar to last year’s event, to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the Festival;

§   

if the Children’s Arts Festival’s budget is reduced by $5000 as recommended by the Canada 150 Steering Committee (Steering Committee), staff would need to find alternative resources to make up for the reduction;

§   

staff estimate that approximately 100,000 people attended the Canada Day festivities in 2017 over all sites over the three days of the event;

§   

the 2016 budget for the Canada Day event was $180,000 plus sponsorship of approximately $20-30,000 and the scope of the event in 2017 shifted to become more of a street festival with more focus on landside activities;

§   

the proposed 2018 street festival portion of the Canada Day event would require a high level of security and traffic management, which would require a base level of funding, and therefore any budget reduction would have to come from programming and activities;

§   

production costs for the proposed events listed in the staff report would include production requirements such as power, toilet facilities, fencing, waste management, audio and staging requirements, and required festival crew; and

§   

the Steering Committee’s recommended reduction in budget to $200,000 would revert the scale of the Maritime Festival to the same level as 2016 and the staff proposed budget of $400,000 would allow for an expansion in venue to Imperial Landing and make the event more significant.

Discussion took place on the Harvest Festival event including (i) the possibility of reducing the budget and scale of the event, (ii) not running the event in 2018 and the possibility of holding it in 2019 for Richmond’s 140^th anniversary since incorporation, (iii) making the event a community organized initiative, and (iv) combining the event with the World Festival.

Discussion further ensued on the recommendation of the Steering Committee to fund the Cherry Blossom Festival in 2018 and Committee noted interest in exploring other events such as a Chinese New Year event and continuing the High School Concert Series.

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

It was moved and seconded

(1)

That the 2018 Major Events Plan, including the Cherry Blossom Festival, as recommended by staff be approved; and

(2)

That the Harvest Festival be referred back to staff to work with the Major Events Advisory Group on a plan and also to consider other events such as a Chinese New Year event and the High School Concert Series.

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

It was moved and seconded

That Part (1) be amended to read as follows:

That the 2018 Major Events Plan, including the Cherry Blossom Festival, as recommended by the Canada 150 Steering Committee be approved.

The question on the amendment was not called as discussion took place on providing the additional funding for the Children’s Arts Festival as originally recommended by staff.

The question on the amendment was then called and it was CARRIED with Mayor Brodie and Cllr. Loo opposed.

Following further discussion, the main motion, as amended, was WITHDRAWN and the following motions were introduced:

It was moved and seconded

That the 2018 Major Events Plan, including the Cherry Blossom Festival, be approved for a total of $1,095,000, as recommended by the Canada 150 Steering Committee

CARRIED

It was moved and seconded

That the Harvest Festival be referred back to staff to work with the Major Events Advisory Group on a plan and for further discussion of the possibilities for a Chinese New Year event and a High School Concert Series.

CARRIED

It was moved and seconded

That an additional $5000 be allotted to the 2018 Children’s Arts Festival from the Rate Stabilization Account.

CARRIED

2.

Consultation on Lane Standards

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

Discussion ensued with regards to the current public consultation on lane standards and proposed greenway options for the lane dedication between Richmond Street and Broadway Street, from No. 1 Road to 2^nd Avenue.

The Chair remarked that any further discussion should be discussed in a closed session. As a result, the meeting was recessed at 5:17 p.m. to reconvene the Regular (Closed) Council meeting to continue discussion on the matter.

The meeting reconvened at 5:34 p.m., following the Regular (Closed) Council meeting with all members of Committee present.

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting adjourn (5:35 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, January 15, 2018.

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Mayor Malcolm D. Brodie
Chair

Amanda Welby
Legislative Services Coordinator