WL Council Meeting Highlights - January 12th, 2010

Present: Mayor Cook and Councillors’ Zacharias, Bourdon, Walters, Barr, Montoya and Rathor

Staff Present:

B. Carruthers – CAO
D. Lazzarin – GM of Corporate Services
G. Goodall – GM of Planning & Operations
C. Bouchard – Acting Corporate Officer
T. Chung – Manager of IT

Meeting called to order at 7:30pm

Minutes of December 15th, 2009 Council Meeting approved

1 Late Item added to the Agenda (Mayor Cook’s Council Appointments for 2010)

Delegations:

1) Staff-Sgt Warren Brown (Detachment Commander – WL RCMP) presented Crime Stats for period ending December 31st, 2009. All Crime Stats show year-over-year decrease (December 31st, 2009 vs December 31st, 2008) and various initiatives of WL RCMP Detachment with regard to Crime Prevention

2) Mayor Cook presented “Community Spirit Awards” to Columneetza & WL Secondary Students with regard to their participation in the December 4th, 2009 “Challenge Day” event. A video of “Challenge Day 2009” was presented to Council and a “Certificate of Appreciation” was presented to Mayor Cook for Council helping to sponsor “Challenge Day 2009”.

Business:

1) Council confirmed renewal of the Police Based Victim Service Program Agreement for the fiscal year April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011 and staff were authorized to complete the necessary funding application for submission to the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General

2) Council approved a Staff Recommendation to deny a request from Yang Zhang and Yan Meng to waive a $37.94 penalty for paying their Utility Invoice late

3) Council approved waiving Transit fees on January 28, 2010 from 3:00 pm to 9:30 pm to facilitate the transportation of residents to the Olympic Torch Relay Celebration at the Stampede Grounds on Thursday, January 28th, 2009.

4) At the request of WL Elks Lodge, Council approved installation of two handicap parking stalls adjacent to the Elks Lodge at 98 South First Avenue in the Spring of 2010

5) Council authorized entering into the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund Contribution Agreement between the Province and the City of Williams Lake for the Mackenzie Avenue Rehabilitation Project.

6) Council approved the following with respect to the alternative approval process for Loan Authorization Bylaw No. 2108 for the Mackenzie Avenue Rehabilitation Project:

a) for purposes of the alternative approval process, the determination of City electors be established at 7,922;
b) elector response forms for this process be in the form of Attachment "A" to this report;
c) the deadline for the receipt of elector response forms at City Hall be Monday, February 22, 2010, at 4 p.m

Alternate Approval Process forms to be available on Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

7) The report of the Accessibility Advisory Committee dated January 5, 2010 regarding lack of transportation options for disabled persons was received and referred to the Development Services & Public Works Portfolio for a recommendation back to Council.

8) Council made the following declarations, with regard to use of Emergency Powers at 238 Crosina Crescent:

a) That the failure of the retaining wall located at 238 Crosina Crescent created an emergency as under Section 20(2) of the Community Charter;

b) That Council ratifies all actions taken by City staff, employees, agents or contractors to alleviate the emergency and assess the safety of the site and,

c) That the City is empowered to recover all its costs from the owner of 238 Crosina Crescent, including the costs of retaining the services of Golder Associates and Evergreen Geotechnical Inc

Item approved on the following vote:

Yeas – Mayor Cook and Councillors Montoya, Barr, Walters, Bourdon and Zacharias
Nays – Councillor Rathor

9) Council approved the City of Williams Lake Accessibility Award of Merit guidelines and criteria and that the program is to be included on the City website and other promotions as appropriate.

10) Council authorized the Mayor and Acting Corporate Officer to sign the lease agreement with the Canadian Mental Health Association for use of Heritage House.

11) Council approved the Street Naming application and added the name "HOLTOM" to the list of approved names for consideration in future street naming processes

12) Council received for information Mayor Cook’s Council Appointments for the 2010 Term

Item approved on the following vote:

Yeas – Mayor Cook and Councillors Montoya, Barr, Walters, Bourdon and Zacharias
Nays – Councillor Rathor

Information/Announcements by Council Members:

Members of Council made announcements around events occurring in Williams Lake

Meeting adjourned at 9:32pm