December 17, 2014 - Minutes

Date:

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Place:

Anderson Room
Richmond City Hall

Present:

Councillor Chak Au, Chair
Councillor Harold Steves
Councillor Derek Dang
Councillor Ken Johnston
Councillor Alexa Loo
Mayor Malcolm Brodie

Also Present:

Councillor Carol Day
Councillor Linda McPhail
Councillor Bill McNulty

Call to Order:

The Chair called the meeting to order at 4:04 p.m.

MINUTES

It was moved and seconded

That the minutes of the meeting of the Public Works & Transportation Committee held on Wednesday, November 19, 2014, be adopted as circulated.

CARRIED

NEXT COMMITTEE MEETING DATE

Wednesday, January 21, 2015, (tentative date) at 4:00 p.m. in the Anderson Room

ENGINEERING & PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT

1.

Multi-Family Organics Recycling
(File Ref. No. 10-6370-10-05) (REDMS No. 4334898 v. 2)

In reply to queries from Committee, Suzanne Bycraft, Manager, Fleet and Environmental Programs, provided background information and highlighted the following with regard to Option 2 as described in the staff report titled Multi-Family Organics Recycling:

§   

the City would provide weekly service to all multi-family residents by either adding the service to the existing solid waste and recycling services contract or by issuing a competitive tender to the marketplace;

§   

it is anticipated that the City permit an opt-out option for any multi-family residences (on centralized cart collection only), thereby allowing them to contract privately, provided that they are able to demonstrate a designated organics collection service contract is in place;

§   

centralized garbage collection service using carts would be an option at the discretion of the property management company / Strata Council;

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in an effort to encourage organics recycling, weekly or twice weekly collection would be offered; and

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feedback from pilot program participants indicate that those who wish to opt in for the City service would also like to be able to utilize the City’s large item pick program.

Also, Ms. Bycraft advised that the continuation of the food scraps and organics collection services for multi-family dwellings and commercial businesses would be funded from provision, for consistency with how implementation costs for other City programs have been managed.

Discussion ensued regarding the equity of funding the multi-family organics recycling program beyond the term of the pilot and Ms. Bycraft advised that the matter could be addressed in a forthcoming staff report.

In reply to further queries from Committee, Ms. Bycraft advised that, typically a multi-family building divides its cost among the number of units in the building, and billing is dependent on the billing structure in place.  Also, she spoke of the provision to opt out, stating that it is difficult to anticipate what a private provider would offer; however, it appears to be competitive.

It was moved and seconded

(1)

That staff report back in the first quarter of 2015 on Option 2 for City-provided centralized organics and optional centralized garbage collection service for those multi-family residents currently not serviced by the City, as outlined in the staff report from the Director, Public Works dated November 28, 2014, regarding:

(a)

the program implementation timeline;

(b)

the contractual amendments necessary to Contract T.2988, Residential Solid Waste and Recycling Collection Services; and

(c)

the bylaw amendments necessary to Bylaw 6803 – Solid Waste and Recycling Regulation; and

(2)

That the current pilot program for food scraps and organics collection services for multi-family dwellings and commercial businesses be continued pending a determination concerning implementation of a full-scale program.

CARRIED

2.

MANAGER’S REPORT

In reply to a query regarding the recent storms, Robert Gonzalez, General Manager, Engineering and Public Works, advised that although the City experienced higher than normal storm surges, the City’s extensive monitoring systems predicted them and as such, the City was well prepared.  He further remarked that the City’s dikes well exceed the provincial minimum flood protection level, and thus, no flooding concerns arose.  Mr. Gonzalez commented on the Britannia Heritage Shipyard, noting that this area is outside the dike and is subject to flooding depending on the water level.  In an effort to minimize damage, equipment and furniture are temporarily relocated by staff when the water level is high.

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting adjourn (4:11 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 Wednesday, December 17, 2014.

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Councillor Chak Au
Chair

Hanieh Berg
Committee Clerk