Tuesday, December 1, 2009

WL Council Meeting Highlights - December 1st, 2009

Present: Mayor K. Cook and Councillors SPS Rathor, T. Barr, and L. Walters

Absent: Councillors G. Bourdon, S. Zacharias and N. Montoya

Staff Present:

Brian Carruthers – CAO
Cindy Bouchard – Corporate Services Records Coordinator
Geoff Goodall - General Manager of Planning & Operations
Tom Chung – IT Manager

Meeting called to order at 7:30pm

Minutes of the November 17th, 2009 Council meeting approved

Delegations/Presentations:

Representatives from the Royal Canadian Legion described to Council some of the services that they provide to the City and area

Mayor Cook then presented representatives of the Royal Canadian Legion with a “Community Spirit Certificate”

Business:

1) Council approved the following Council Meeting schedule for 2010:

January 12 & 26
February 9 & 23
March 9 & 23
April 6 & 20
May 11 & 25
June 8 & 22
July 6 & 20
August 10 & 24
September 7 & 21
October 5 & 19
November 9 & 23
December 7 & 21

2) Council approved the following “Acting Mayor” List for 2010:

January - Councillor Tom Barr
February - Councillor Geoff Bourdon
March - Councillor Natalie Montoya
April - Councillor Surinderpal Rathor
May - Councillor Laurie Walters
June - Councillor Sue Zacharias
July - Councillor Tom Barr
August - Councillor Geoff Bourdon
September - Councillor Natalie Montoya
October - Councillor Surinderpal Rathor
November - Councillor Laurie Walters
December - Councillor Sue Zacharias

3) Council set Friday , January 2, 2010 as Wrestling Day in the City of Williams Lake, in accordance with Council Policy #115

4) Council agreed to recommend to the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch that Signal Point Gaming be allowed to operate until the following dates/times over the holiday season:

To 1:00am - December 27-30, 2009
To 2:00am - December 31st, 2009

5) Council approved the lease for the Ministry of Forests Tanker Base at the Williams Lake Regional Airport with an annual rent of $40,905.00, and the Mayor and Corporate Officer was authorized to sign on behalf of the City.

6) Council approved an increase of hangar lease rates at the Williams Lake Regional Airport to a standard $1.86/m2 to be implemented upon renewal of each individual lease

7) Council approved the ICBC Contribution Agreement which provides $5,000 of funding towards the 8th Avenue / Oliver Street traffic signal upgrades that were completed in August of 2009.

8) Council gave 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Reading to Mackenzie Avenue Rehabilitation Loan Authorization Bylaw No. 2108, 2009, and Staff were directed to obtain the approval of the Inspector of Municipalities to permit the borrowing of up to $3,500,000 to undertake the project, subject to obtaining the approval of the Electors through an Alternative Approval Process (AAP), as outlined in Section 86 of the Community Charter. The CAO noted that this process will take about 80 days to complete, starting tonight and the public will kept informed during the Mackenzie Avenue Rehabilitation project

9) Council adopted Bylaw #2106, 2009 (2010 Borrowing in Anticipation of Revenue Bylaw)

10) Council adopted a number of recommendations from the last Committee of the Whole meeting including:

• Request from WLCBIA to re-consider its’ request for a Grant in Aid in 2010 for the Annual Street Party be referred to the next Central Cariboo Joint Committee meeting and that Council support the request of the WLCBIA to reconsider its’ Grant in Aid application in 2010 for the Annual Street Party
Refer a request to consider the establishment of a City/CRD Fee for Service arrangement to be funded 70/30 (City/CRD) to the next Central Cariboo Joint Committee meeting
• Council authorized Staff to retain TRUE Consulting Group for engineering services to develop road network improvement options necessary to provide a sufficient level of service to the Prosperity Ridge development at a cost of $25,000 from the 2010 budget
• The Public submissions regarding the prohibition of boulevard parking in the new Traffic Control Bylaw No. 2093 on Tuesday, November 24th were received and Staff were asked to investigate and report back to Council through the Development Services and Public Works Portfolio.
• Staff asked to bring forward a Policy on Public Consultation with regard to Proposed Regulatory Bylaws for Council’s consideration
• Council approved in principle the request of the Cariboo Regional District to explore options of extending municipal water and sewer services to the Dog Creek Road area; and further, Staff be authorized to work in conjunction with the Cariboo Regional District to explore infrastructure extension possibilities

11) Council received a letter from the District of Mackenzie regarding the Regional Geologist position based at the PG Mining & Minerals’ division office and agreed to send a letter of support to the Energy, Mines and Petroleum Products Minister (Hon. Blair Lekstrom) supporting the position of the District of Mackenzie on this subject and that the letter, from the District of Mackenzie, be forwarded to the MLA’s for Cariboo-North and Cariboo-Chilcotin for their information

12) LATE ITEM - Council endorsed the application for a Community / Institutional Free Crown Grant for land adjacent to the Williams Lake Regional Airport

Information/Announcements by Council Members:

Councillor Walters:

• Trip to China with Councillor Bourdon & Alan Madrigga (Economic Development Manager) – Council Report to come forward soon regarding this trip
• Attended the Cariboo Hospital Trust Foundation Gala this past Saturday. $30,000 was raised at the Gala
• Reminder to use Operation: Red Nose service during the holiday season

Councillor Barr:

• Request to ensure advertising regarding next Tuesday’s 2010 Budget meeting with the public takes place

Councillor Rathor:

• Crime Stats, year to date. Thanked everyone who worked together to reduce the crime stats this year
• Thanks to MP Dick Harris for his assistance for infrastructure project applications
• Mackenzie Avenue – request to community to support this project and will work to ensure that the public is kept informed throughout this process
• Expressed satisfaction that next Tuesday’s meeting with the public on the 2010 Budget will be taking place. Requested that the public come out and tell your elected members of Council what your Budget priorities are
• Wished everyone a happy holiday season and reminded everyone not to drink & drive. If you plan on drinking at an event, please make alternate arrangements (ie - use the Operation: Red Nose service, take a taxi or use a designated driver)

Mayor Cook:

• Attended the Wal-Mart Grand Opening on Wednesday, November 25th. Wal-Mart gave out several cheques to non-profit groups in the community
• Thanked members of the local Winter Lights Committee for their hard work, with regard to the event last Friday
• Will be a reader at the “Christmas Carol” reading at the Anglican Church on Sunday

Meeting adjourned at 8:50pm

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