January 20, 2020 - Minutes

Date:

Monday, January 20, 2020

Place:

Anderson Room
Richmond City Hall

Present:

Mayor Malcolm D. Brodie, Chair
Councillor Chak Au
Councillor Kelly Greene
Councillor Alexa Loo
Councillor Bill McNulty
Councillor Linda McPhail
Councillor Harold Steves 
Councillor Michael Wolfe

Absent:

Councillor Carol Day

Call to Order:

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

MINUTES

It was moved and seconded

That the minutes of the meeting of the General Purposes Committee held on January 7, 2020, be adopted as circulated.

CARRIED

ENGINEERING AND PUBLIC WORKS DIVISION

1.

Community Energy and Emissions Plan 2020-2050 Directions  
(File Ref. No. 10-6125-07-02) (REDMS No. 6336128 v.17)

Staff reviewed the proposed Community Energy and Emissions Plan, noting the following:

§   

the proposed Plan targets a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the city by 2030;

§   

consultation on the Plan will include multiple approaches including surveys, workshops, open houses, consultation with the Advisory Committee on the Environment (ACE), and Let’s Talk Richmond;

§   

staff will be examining initiatives to reduce GHG emissions from new buildings such as implementation of passive home and modular building designs;

§   

renewable natural gas can be extracted from multiple sources including landfills;

§   

GHG emissions in Richmond have decreased over the past decade even as the population increased;

§   

staff will be reviewing adaptation of new technologies to reduce GHG emissions including electric vehicles and carbon sequestration;  and

§   

staff anticipate to report back on the Plan in the third quarter of 2020 following community consultation.

Discussion ensued with regard to:

§   

the potential to increase staffing dedicated to implementation of the Plan;

§   

the initiatives from the Blue Dot Campaign that may overlap initiatives from the Plan;

§   

the options to restrict installation of natural gas in new homes and utilize alternative renewable energy sources such as district energy or solar energy;

§   

the integration of climate change initiatives into the Official Community Plan;

§   

options to expedite implementation of the Plan to achieve targets;

§   

promoting sustainable agriculture and growing food locally; and

§   

the proposed Metro Vancouver liquid waste infrastructure projects to extract natural gas.

In reply to queries from Committee, staff noted that initiatives that were previously approved in the 2014 Community Energy and Emissions Plan can be implemented concurrently with the initiatives that would stem from the proposed 2020 Plan and that GHG emissions data from the Province and TransLink were used in the staff report.

It was moved and seconded

(1)

That the directions outlined in the report titled “Community Energy and Emissions Plan 2020-2050 Directions” from the Director, Sustainability and District Energy, dated November 29, 2019 be endorsed for the purposes of completing a draft plan and gaining final public feedback; and

(2)

That staff be directed to develop a Climate Action Strategy, as defined the report titled “Community Energy and Emissions Plan 2020-2050 Directions” from the Director, Sustainability and District Energy, dated November 29, 2019, that communicates all of the City’s climate action related plans and strategies for Council consideration.

CARRIED

2.

Ageing Facility Infrastructure – Update 
(File Ref. No. 06-2050-01) (REDMS No. 6129404 v.30)

It was moved and seconded

That the report titled “Ageing Facility Infrastructure – Update” dated December 20, 2019 from the Director, Facilities and Project Development, be received for information.

CARRIED

COMMUNITY SAFETY DIVISION

3.

Application To Amend Liquor Primary Liquor Licence #308295 For an Increase in Occupant Load - Monster L Karaoke Ltd. Doing Business As: Monster L Karaoke - 8400 Alexandra Road Unit 130  
(File Ref. No. 12-8275-30-001) (REDMS No. 6361442)

Staff spoke on the application, noting that the applicant has secured the appropriate permits and the City has not received any objections to the application.

It was moved and seconded

(1)

That the application from Monster L Karaoke Ltd., doing business as, Monster L Karaoke, for an amendment to Liquor Primary Liquor Licence #308295 to increase total person capacity from 50 occupants to 110 occupants, from premises located at 8400 Alexandra Road Unit 130, with no change to hours of liquor service, be supported; and

(2)

That a letter be sent to Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch, which includes the information attached as Appendix A, advising that Council recommends the approval of the licence application for the reasons that this amendment application for an increase in person capacity to the Liquor Primary Licence has been determined, following public consultation, to be acceptable in the area and community.

CARRIED

4.

Application For a New Liquor Primary Liquor Licence - 1148209 BC Ltd. Doing Business As: 17 Karaoke, 4351 No. 3 Road Unit 230  
(File Ref. No. 12-8275-30-001) (REDMS No. 6360936)

Staff spoke on the application, noting that the City has not received any objections to the application.

It was moved and seconded

1.

That the application from 1148209 BC Ltd., doing business as, 17 Karaoke, for a new Liquor Primary Liquor Licence to operate a new Karaoke Box Room, at premises located at 4351 No. 3 Road Unit 230, with liquor service, be supported for:

(a)

A new Liquor Primary Liquor Licence with total person capacity of 60 persons; and

(b)

Proposed hours of liquor sales from Monday to Sunday, from 4:00 PM to 2:00 AM; and

2.

That a letter be sent to Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch, which includes the information attached as Appendix A, advising that Council recommends the approval of the licence application for the reasons that this new application for a Liquor Primary Licence has been determined, following public consultation, to be acceptable in the area and community.

CARRIED

5.

Non-Farm Use Fill Application for the Property Located at 21700 River Road (Gosal)  
(File Ref. No. 12-8080-12-01) (REDMS No. 6213188 v. 12)

Discussion ensued with regard to (i) utilizing soil fill sourced from Richmond or Delta sites, (ii) options to reduce ground water levels on the subject site, and (iii) encouraging farmers in the city to diversify crops to include vegetables.

In reply to queries from Committee, staff noted that ground water levels on the subject site are partly influenced by Fraser River water levels and that pumping the water from the site may not be economically feasible.

Discussion then ensued with regard to the Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) classification of the site, and staff noted that a memorandum on the ESA classification of “Old Fields” and “Shrublands” will be provided.

It was moved and seconded

That the Non-Farm Use Fill Application submitted by Inderjit Gosal for the property located at 21700 River Road proposing to deposit soil for the purpose of improving the land for crop production be endorsed and referred to the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) for their review and approval, provided that the potential fill be sourced from Richmond and/or Delta.

CARRIED 
Opposed: Cllr. Wolfe

PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DIVISION

6.

UBCM 2020 Community Child Care Planning Program Grant Submission  
(File Ref. No. 07-3070-01) (REDMS No. 6360711 v.4)

It was moved and seconded

(1)

That the application to the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) 2020  Community Child Care Planning Program Grant for $25,000 be endorsed; and

(2)

That should the funding application be successful, that the Chief Administrative Officer and the General Manager, Planning and Development be authorized on behalf of the City to enter into an agreement with UBCM for the above mentioned project and that the Consolidated 5-Year Financial Plan (2020–2024) be amended accordingly.

CARRIED

ENGINEERING AND PUBLIC WORKS DIVISION

7.

Comments on the BC Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV) Act Regulations Intentions Paper  
(File Ref. No. 10-6125-07-02) (REDMS No. 6388366 v. 5)

Staff briefed Committee on proposed Provincial regulations on zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) and staff expressed concern with regard to the proposed categorization of ZEVs within the proposed regulations.

It was moved and seconded

That a letter be sent to the BC Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources stating the City’s concerns and suggested improvements to support achievement of zero emission vehicle targets, as identified in Attachment 2 within the report titled “Comments on the BC Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV) Act Regulations Intentions Paper”, dated January 10, 2020, from Director, Sustainability and District Energy.

The question on the motion was not called as discussion ensued with regard to the proposed credit and categorization system for ZEVs.

Cllr. Steves left the meeting (5:07 p.m.) and did not return.

In reply to queries from Committee, staff noted that additional information on the table to classify ZEVs and the proposal to include credits for used ZEV sales can be provided to Committee in a memorandum.

The question on the motion was then called and it was CARRIED with Cllr. Steves absent.

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting adjourn (5:09 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 20, 2020.

_________________________________

_________________________________

Mayor Malcolm D. Brodie
Chair

Evangel Biason
Legislative Services Coordinator