January 25, 2023 - Minutes

Date:

Monday, January 25, 2023

Place:

Council Chambers
Richmond City Hall

Present:

Councillor Carol Day, Chair
Councillor Michael Wolfe

Councillor Chak Au
Councillor Kash Heed
Councillor Alexa Loo

Also Present:

Councillor Laura Gillanders

Councillor Andy Hobbs

Councillor Bill McNulty

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 Public Works and Transportation Committee held on December 21, 2022, be adopted as circulated.

CARRIED

PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DIVISION

1.

APPLICATION TO THE BLOOMBERG INITIATIVE FOR CYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE GRANT

(File Ref. No. 03-1080-01) (REDMS No. 7102388)

It was moved and seconded

(1)

That the submission for cost-sharing to the Bloomberg Initiative for Cycling Infrastructure Grant Program as described in the staff report titled “Application to The Bloomberg Initiative for Cycling Infrastructure Grant”, dated January 9, 2023, from the Director, Transportation be endorsed;

(2)

A letter of support from the City be included in the grant application;

(3)

That, should the above application be successful, the Chief Administrative Officer and the General Manager, Planning and Development, be authorized on behalf of the City to execute the funding agreement; and

(4)

That the Consolidated 5 Year Financial Plan (2023-2027) be amended accordingly.

CARRIED

2.

PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO TRAFFIC BYLAW NO. 5870 TO REMOVE 60 KM/H SPEED ZONES

(File Ref. No. 02-0775-50-7237) (REDMS No. 7065443)

In response to queries from Committee staff advised that (i) they would review and investigate speed limits at the No. 2 Road Bridge and take appropriate action to align the speed limit with the other roads in the City, (ii) radar camera enforcement is under Provincial government jurisdiction, (iii) the City of Richmond’s traffic camera program is related to collecting data and video detection for traffic operations and data analytics purposes, (iv). one of the staff recommendations is to ask the Provincial government for additional automated enforcement on city roadways, (v) the reduction in engine brake bylaw violations may be due to technological improvements to engine brakes that reduce the amount of noise emitted, (vi) signage is posted at all intersections that have cameras, (vii) recommendations of the staff report are to have a 50 k/hr maximum speed limit throughout Richmond, and (viii) staff will work with RCMP to coordinate enforcement of the speed limit.

It was moved and seconded

(1)

That Traffic Bylaw No. 5870, Amendment Bylaw No. 10434, as described in the staff report titled “Proposed Amendments to Traffic Bylaw No. 5870 to Remove 60 km/h Speed Zones”, be given first, second and third readings; and

(2)

A letter be sent to the Province of British Columbia to implement additional automated speed enforcement programs in Richmond.

CARRIED

ENGINEERING AND PUBLIC WORKS DIVISION

3.

AMENDMENTS TO THE RECYCLING REGULATION AND RECYCLE BC PROGRAM

(File Ref. No. 10-6370-01) (REDMS No. 7088640)

In response to queries from Committee staff advised that (i) the majority of digital assets have been updated, and staff are working on updating the recycling depot signage, (ii) they will communicate changes to the Recycle BC Program to the school district, (iii) they are undertaking a commercial services review and will be addressing issues such as recycling of coffee cups at fast food restaurants, (iv) Federal government regulations restrict food serviceware that contains black carbon, (v) flexible plastic is sent to a local facility for recycling, staff will provide Council with a memorandum on what the flexible plastic is recycled as, (vi) staff will follow up in a year with businesses regarding the new reusable plastic bags currently being used, and (vii) staff will investigate if plastic plant pots can be reused by nurseries.

It was moved and seconded

That the expanded scope of items to be accepted in the City’s recycling programs, as outlined in Attachment 1 of the staff report dated December 19, 2022, titled “Amendments to the Recycling Regulation and Recycle BC Program, from the Director Public Works Operations, be endorsed.

CARRIED

4.

SINGLE-USE PLASTIC AND OTHER ITEMS BYLAW 10000 – IMPLEMENTATION UPDATE

(File Ref. No. 10-6370-01) (REDMS No. 7088633)

Staff noted that as of January 25, 2023, non compliance bylaw complaints have been received against 19 businesses and that enforcement is being led through education for businesses.

It was moved and seconded

That the staff report dated December 21, 2022, titled “Single-Use Plastic and Other Items Bylaw 10000 – Implementation Update”, from the Director, Public Works Operations, be received for information.

CARRIED

5.

PROGRESS UPDATE ON BUILDING BENCHMARK BC PROGRAM

(File Ref. No. 10-6125-07-02) (REDMS No. 7087345)

Staff highlighted that Building Benchmark BC is a program that started in 2019 and to date has 20 local governments as participants. Benchmarking is a process of reporting annual energy and emissions in buildings and reporting that on a common platform used by others and having the option to disclose publically those results.    

In response to queries from Committee staff advised that (i) staff hope to have the two new temporary full time staff positions posted in the first half of 2023, (ii) 33 civic City buildings were benchmarking and reporting their results through the Building Benchmark BC program in 2022, (iii) findings show a 7-14 percent improvement in  reduction of energy use and emissions over a two- four year period depending on the study, and (v) this program through it’s tracking system is an important tool in improving energy efficiency and decarbonizing buildings and analyzing year to year trends to plan accordingly.

Discussion ensued regarding how to promote greater awareness of the program in the private sector and writing a letter to the Provincial government to request assistance to promote the Building Benchmark BC program. As a result of the discussion the following referral motion was introduced:

It was moved and seconded

(1)

That a letter be sent to the Provincial government to request  assistance to promote the Building Benchmark BC Program; and

(2)

That staff examine options to increase awareness of the Building Benchmark BC Program to appropriate building owners and occupiers and report back.

CARRIED

It was moved and seconded

That the report titled "Progress Update on Building Benchmark BC Program" from the Director Sustainability and District Energy, dated December 20, 2022 be received for information.

CARRIED

6.

MANAGER’S REPORT

(i)

Intersection Traffic Camera Program

Staff advised that new cameras have been installed at the intersection of No. 5 Road and Westminster Hwy, which brings the total of intersections with cameras to 138.

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting adjourn (4:59 p.m.).

CARRIED

Certified a true and correct copy of the Minutes of the meeting of the Public Works and Transportation Committee of the Council of the City of Richmond held on Monday, January 25, 2023.

_________________________________

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Councillor Carol Day
Chair

Raman Grewal
Legislative Services Associate