PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT

1.

TRANSLINK GOVERNANCE REVIEW PANEL – SUBMISSION FROM CITY OF RICHMOND

(Report:  April 18/06, File No.:  01-0154-00/Vol 01) (REDMS No. 1803292)

At the request of the Chair, the Acting Director, Transportation, Victor Wei, reviewed the report with the Committee.  During his review, Mr. Wei advised that the report reflected the observations of staff on the past four years of operation since the conception of the Greater Vancouver Transit Authority (GVTA), and talked about the positive projects which had been initiated by TransLink. 

Discussion then took place among Committee members and staff on:

·            

the need for a better working relationship between all funding partners for the Canada Line project to achieve a common goal

·            

the fact that provincial oversight should be restricted to projects which had been funded by the provincial government

·            

the recommendation of staff that TransLink be provided with a greater ability to raise and collect revenue from identified funding sources without the need for provincial approval; whether the recommendation could describe the fact that the City does not want to establish additional taxation as opposed to setting up a separate administrative capacity; and the need for reliable, sustainable funding from the provincial government

·            

the current parking area tax and gas fuel tax

·            

the need for coordination of communication between the GVTA and the other regional districts

·            

the rational for recommending that provincially-appointed members be appointed to the TransLink Board of Directors

·            

whether any consideration had been given to having directly elected officials form the TransLink Board of Directors; the feasibility of giving a weighted vote to the Board members, and whether the term should be for three years or remain at one year

·            

the need for funding from the federal and provincial levels of government to initiate major transportation projects to guarantee the success of the governance model

·            

the questions to be examined by the TransLink Governance Review Panel

·            

the need for accountability.

As a result of the discussion on this matter, the following resolution was introduced:

It was moved and seconded

(1)

That the TransLink Governance Review Panel be advised that the City supports the incorporation of the following key principles into its recommendations to the Province:

(a)

ensure continued integration of regional land use and transportation planning by providing TransLink with greater independence to support the liveability of the region and economic development of the province;

(b)

increase sustainable and equitable funding to TransLink , such as fuel tax, GST, PST, Excise Tax or other sources, from both federal and provincial governments, provided they are implemented within current administrative practices;

(c)

maintain a majority of local government representation on the TransLink Board, provided that they are directly elected by the public and that they also be sitting Mayors or Councillors, to ensure accountability and a continued collaborative municipal approach to regional transportation planning; and

(d)

that the Provincial Government appoint its three members on the TransLink Board, who would either be MLAs from the region, or representatives from the business community, and that consideration be given to weighted votes for all TransLink Board members based on population.

(2)

That a copy of this report be forwarded to the TransLink Governance Review Panel for their consideration in developing recommendations to the Province, subject to the deletion of the first bullet under Section 2.3 in the staff report.

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

It was moved and seconded

That Part (1)(c) of the main motion be amended by adding the following words after the words ‘sitting Mayors or Councillors’, “and that the appointments to the TransLink Board be for three year terms.”

CARRIED

OPPOSED:  Cllr. Chen

The question on the main motion, as amended, was then called, and it was CARRIED.

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting adjourn (5:46 p.m.).

CARRIED

Certified a true and correct copy of the Minutes of the meeting of the Public Works & Transportation Committee of the Council of the City of Richmond held on Monday, April 24^th, 2006.

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Councillor Linda Barnes
Chair

Fran J. Ashton
Executive Assistant, City Clerk’s Office