WL Council Highlights - Sept 13th Meeting

Present: 

Mayor Cook and Councillors’ Barr, Bourdon, Rathor, Walters and Zacharias

Staff Present:

Brian Carruthers – CAO
Geoff Goodall - GM of Planning and Operations
Cindy Bouchard – Manager of Legislative Services
Ken MacInnis – Communications Coordinator
Tom Chung – IT Manager

Meeting called to order at 6:00pm
Minutes of August 30th WL Council meeting adopted

Delegations:

1) Irene Willsie, from the Woman’s Contact Society, appeared before Council asking permission to permit the annual “Take Back the Event” event.  See more on this here
2) Anita Noble appeared before Council to discuss Community Living Month.  See more on this here
3) Kane Fraser appeared before Council to discuss the Baja 1000 event
4) Patrick Newsome & Abbi Taylor appeared before Council to discuss Junior Council activities

Business:

1) Council considered a report from Mayor Kerry Cook to support the resolution that will be presented at UBCM Annual General Meeting to eliminate MSP premiums for all seniors in British Columbia.  After discussion - the request of Mayor Kerry Cook was defeated on a tie vote, as follows:


Yeas - Mayor Cook and Councillors Walters/Rathor - 3
Nays - Councillors Barr, Bourdon and Zacharias - 3

2) Council awarded the contract for the supply of dried bulk highway salt to McTar Petroleum, Division of Lafarge Canada Inc., for the tendered price of $129.02 per metric tonne.
3) Council approved the Green Fleet Strategy and authorize staff to use it as a guiding document for the operation and management of the City's fleet
4) After receiving no public input and receiving a “go-ahead” from the City’s Advisory Planning Commission – Council approved both Development Variance #7-2011 and Development Permit #5-2011 (Jeffmor Holdings Ltd for Dog and Suds Restaurant)
5) Council gave three readings to Bylaw #2146, 2011 (Bylaw to authorize fluoride referendum on Nov 19th) and scheduled a Special Council Meeting on Sept 20th to reconsider/adopt the bylaw
6) Council approved the annual Halloween Fireworks Show & Bonfire on Monday, October 31, 2011 at the Williams Lake Stampede Grounds.
7) Council approved the Terry Fox 5 km and 10 km Walk Run or Bike on Sunday, September 18. Mayor Cook or Acting Mayor (Deputy Mayor) Surinderpal Rathor will welcome the participants and officially start the event.
8) Council adopted Bylaw #2145, 2011 (Accommodation of Parapets/Parapet Walls)
9) After a mandatory public hearing where no one came forward – Council adopted Bylaw #2133 (Regulating Shipping Containers)
10) Council adopted 3 Recommendations from Committee of the Whole, as follows:

a) Council approved the establishment of a Business Expansion and Attraction Task Force to assist Council and staff with implementation of the Williams Lake Assessment and Business Expansion and Attraction Strategy. City Staff were directed to bring forward recommendations for membership to the Striking Committee of Council (Mayor Cook and Councillors Barr and Rathor) for consideration.
b) Council will advise the provincial government that they are in support of open & transparent accountable government, but need to have the gaps clearly defined before any decision on support can be made for a Municipal Auditor General. Council also authorized City Staff to write a letter outlining Council’s concerns regarding the Municipal Auditor-General
c) Council approved the commencement of engineering design by TRUE Consulting Group for all phases of the River Valley Sanitary Trunk upgrades and complete construction of a single bridge crossing with the funds allocated in the 2011 Capital Plan.

11) Council proclaimed the week of October 17-23, 2011 as "National Waste Reduction Week"
12) Council received the “Council Information Package” as follows:

a) August 11, 2011 - Letter from UBCM re 2011 Resolutions - see here
b) August 17, 2011 - Letter from Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union re Smart Meters - see here
c) August 19, 2011 - Letter from International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Union Local 118 - see here
d) September 2, 2011 - Press Release from Williams Lake Indian Band re expansion of Mount Polley - see here
e) September 7, 2011 - Letter from Canadian Wood Council re: Recognition of local governments in BC who have passed Wood First Resolutions - see here