Agenda Index City of Vancouver

CITY OF VANCOUVER

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES

STANDING COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL ON

CITY SERVICES AND BUDGETS

JULY 30, 1998

A Regular Meeting of the Council of the City of Vancouver was held on Thursday, July 30, 1998, at 11.10 a.m., in Committee Room No. 1, Third Floor, City Hall, following the Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets meeting, to consider the recommendations of the Committee.

PRESENT:
Mayor Philip Owen
Councillor Don Bellamy
Councillor Nancy A. Chiavario
Councillor Jennifer Clarke
Councillor Alan Herbert
Councillor Lynne Kennedy
Councillor Daniel Lee
Councillor Don Lee
Councillor George Puil
Councillor Sam Sullivan
ABSENT:
Councillor Gordon Price
CITY MANAGER'S
OFFICE:

Ken Dobell, City Manager

CLERK TO THE
COUNCIL:

Tarja Tuominen

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

MOVED by Cllr. Puil,

SECONDED by Cllr. Bellamy,

THAT this Council resolve itself into Committee of the Whole, Mayor Owen in the chair.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLYCOMMITTEE REPORTS

Report of Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets

July 30, 1998

Council considered the recommendations of the Committee, as contained in the following clauses of the attached report:

Cl.1: 1998 Childcare Grants Allocation - Report 2 of 3

Cl.2: Development and Building Regulation Review -

Pilot Project Status Report

Cl.3: Information Technology for Development and Building

Review, Engineering and Related Matters

Cl.4: 1998 Capital Budget: City-owned Cultural Facilities

Cl.5: Information Technology Infrastructure (1998)

Interim Request for Funds

Cl.6: Capital Grant to Complete Construction of the New

Collingwood Neighbourhood Safety Office

Clauses 1, 4 and 6

MOVED by Cllr. Puil,

THAT the recommendations of the Committee, as contained in Clauses 1, 4 and 6 of this report, be approved.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND

BY THE REQUIRED MAJORITY

Clauses 2, 3 and 5

MOVED by Cllr. Puil,

THAT the recommendations of the Committee, as contained in Clauses 2, 3 and 5 of this report, be approved.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

RISE FROM COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

MOVED by Cllr. Puil,

THAT the Committee of the Whole rise and report.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

ADOPT REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

MOVED by Cllr. Puil,

SECONDED by Cllr. Bellamy,

THAT the report of the Committee of the Whole be adopted.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

ENQUIRIES AND OTHER MATTERS

1. Charter Amendments File: 114

The City Manager advised staff at the Ministry of Municipal Affairs has asked the City to inform the Ministry of requested Charter Amendments for the Spring session by August 14. The City Manager further advised the City will be submitting all outstanding Charter amendment requests and requested Council to advise his office of any amendments they would like to submit. A formal submission will be reported to Council in September 1998.

The Council adjourned at 11:15 a.m.

* * * * *

REPORT TO COUNCIL

STANDING COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL

ON CITY SERVICES AND BUDGETS

JULY 30, 1998

A Regular Meeting of the Standing Committee of Council on City Services and Budgets was held on Thursday, July 30, 1998 at 9:30 a.m., in Committee Room No. 1, Third Floor, City Hall.

PRESENT:
Mayor Philip Owen
Councillor Don Bellamy
Councillor Nancy A. Chiavario (Items 2 to 6)
Councillor Jennifer Clarke
Councillor Alan Herbert
Councillor Lynne Kennedy
Councillor Daniel Lee
Councillor Don Lee
Councillor George Puil
Councillor Sam Sullivan
ABSENT:
Councillor Gordon Price
CITY MANAGER'S
OFFICE:

Ken Dobell, City Manager

CLERK TO THE
COMMITTEE:

Tarja Tuominen

ADOPTION OF MINUTES

The Minutes of the Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets meeting of July 9, 1998, were adopted.

RECOMMENDATION

1. 1998 Childcare Grants Allocation - Report 2 of 3 File: 2402

The Committee had before it an Administrative Report dated July 14, 1998 (on file), in which the Director of Community Services, Social Planning, recommended 19 Childcare Program Enhancement Grants totalling $119,000 and 22 Inner-city Childcare Sustaining Grants totalling $204,800.

The General Manager of Community Services submitted the grant requests for consideration.

Penny Coates, Childcare Coordinator, advised she was present to answer questions.

The following motion by Councillor Bellamy was put and carried. The Committee, therefore,

RECOMMENDED

A.THAT 19 Childcare Program Enhancement Grants totalling $119,000 be approved, as listed in Appendix I of the Administrative Report dated July 14, 1998, with conditions as noted; source of funds: 1998 Childcare Grants Funds, 1998 Operating Budget.

B.THAT 22 Inner-city Childcare Sustaining Grants totalling $204,800 be approved, as listed in Appendix I of the Administrative Report dated July 14, 1998 , with conditions as noted; source of funds: 1998 Childcare Grants Funds, 1998 Operating Budget.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

Note from Clerk: Items 2 and 3 were dealt with concurrently, but have been minuted separately for ease of reference.

2. Development and Building Regulation Review - File: 1002

Pilot Project Status Report

The Committee had before it an Administrative Report dated July 10, 1998 (on file), in which the Service Improvement Manager sought authority to proceed to full implementation of the Development and Building Review process and to allocate funding for information systems development and implementation, workspace renovations, call centre development, and performance measurement.

In the report, the General Manager of Community Services advises he supports moving to full implementation at this time, having confidence this implementation will benefit the City’s external customers, the community and industry as well as the City. Pausing in mid-implementation would be highly disruptive to all parties and would destroy the momentum which has been established.

Ted Droettboom, General Manager of Community Services, described the Development and Building Regulation pilot project . The City is creating a process which is radically different and better than the legacy program it replaces and will be a more efficient and realistic process. Planning, Building and Engineering staff will avoid surprises and late hits. The accompanying report (Item 3) proposes to introduce new technology to facilitate project management, track who is assigned and resources available at any time.

The following motion by Councillor Kennedy was put and carried. The Committee, therefore,

RECOMMENDED

A.THAT the Director of Development Services be authorized to proceed to fully implement the new Development and Building Review Process at an estimated total cost of $5.2 million, through a loan of $4.45 million from the Capital Financing Fund (Solid Waste Reserve), repayable to the satisfaction of the Director of Finance. Repayments, beginning in the year 2000, will be generated through an estimated 10% increase in user fees.

B.THAT two temporary (one year) positions be established, to develop the Feedback and Education components of the new process. The classification of these positions is to be determined by Human Resource Services and required funding is included as part of Recommendation A.

cont'd

Clause No. 2 (cont'd)

C.THAT the Director of Development Services provide to Council a progress report and confirmation of the repayment plan before August, 1999.

D.THAT the Community/Industry Advisory Committee be requested to report back to Council, on a regular basis, to be determined by the Committee;

FURTHER THAT the Community/Industry Advisory Committee provide an annual report to Council.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

3. Information Technology for Development and Building File: 1186

Review, Engineering and Related Areas

The Committee had before it an Administrative Report, dated July 14, 1998 (on file), in which the Chief Information Officer and the General Managers of Community and Engineering Services sought approval to allocate funds and enter into a contract with SHL Systemhouse for delivery and enhancement of business applications to support the Development and Building Review process, Engineering infrastructure management, and to provide an increased ability for staff to access geographic information throughout the City.

Rick Scobie, Director of Development Services, advised the requested Information Technology investment is the heaviest cost component of proceeding in implementing the Development and Building Regulation Review initiative. The proposed software may not be the best software to support the new process but it is the best product for corporate diversity, and will provide benefits that stand alone applications will not provide the City.

Ken Dobell, City Manager; Ted Droettboom, General Manager of Community Services; Dave Rudberg, General Manager of Engineering Services; Larry Meek, Chief Information Officer; and Jonathan Mark, Project Manager, GIS; responded to questions on the benefits of the proposed software applications and how the City will be able to apply them to link internal processes and projects.

cont'd

Clause No. 3 (cont'd)

The following motion by Councillor Kennedy was put and carried. The Committee, therefore,

RECOMMENDED

A.THAT a proposal from SHL Systemhouse for purchase of the Municipal Application Partnership suite of applications and related third party products be accepted, subject to the completion of a contract satisfactory to the Director of Legal Services.

B.THAT funding of this purchase be approved from a combination of the Long Term Financing Strategy - Information Technology Replacement Program, increased permit fees, and fees from Engineering infrastructure, and Engineering overhead as described in Table 1 of the Administrative Report dated July 14, 1998. Acquisition and implementation costs total approximately $5,900,000.

C.THAT the creation of 13.5 temporary full-time positions be approved for up to eighteen months for the implementation of this software. These positions are located in Community Services, Information Technology, and Engineering Services and consist of:

Two technical positions;

Six business process positions;

Three support positions;

One and a half training and communications positions; and

One project manager position.

These positions are subject to job evaluation by the Director of Human Resources. Funding is included in the sources identified in Recommendation B.

D.THAT the creation of two technical and 1.5 support regular full-time positions be approved in Information Technology and Engineering Services to support the implementation. The positions are subject to job evaluation by the Director of Human Resources. Funding for these positions and other operating costs, totaling $294,130 annually, is detailed in Table 1 of the Administrative

cont'd

Clause No. 3 (cont'd)

Report dated July 14, 1998 and is from a 3.5% increase in Engineering fees on sewer, water, and street infrastructure, offsets, MAP user fees and data sales, and development fee increases in the Development and Building Review.

E.THAT staff report back on a strategic plan to develop the information base for the applications.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

4. 1998 Capital Budget: City-owned Cultural Facilities File: 6001

The Committee had before it an Administrative Report, dated July 21, 1998 (on file) in which the Director, Office of Cultural Affairs, in consultation with the Manager of Building Management, sought approval of funding of $325,000 for upgrades to the Firehall Arts Centre, Vancouver East Cultural Centre and Pacific Cinecentre, as well as a series of additional steps to being to bring the three buildings to a better standard of repair.

The General Managers of Community and Corporate Services recommend approval.

Sue Harvey, Cultural Planner, advised she was present to answer questions.

Donna Spencer, representing the Firehall Arts Centre, advised she was present to speak in support of the recommendations.

The following motion by the Mayor was put and carried. The Committee, therefore,

RECOMMENDED

A.THAT capital funds of $325,000 be approved for upgrades to three City-owned cultural facilities as outlined in the Administrative Report, dated July 21, 1998; source of funds to be the 1997 and 1998 Capital Budget.

B.THAT staff be directed to review and report back on a basic maintenance program for City-owned facilities leased to non-profit social service and cultural organizations; and

cont'd

Clause No. 4 (cont'd)

C.THAT staff be directed to review and report back on lease amendments for City-owned facilities leased to non-profit social service and cultural organizations, which will reflect the responsibilities for maintenance and repairs as determined through the review referenced in Recommendation B.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

5. Information Technology Infrastructure (1998) File: 1151

Interim Request for Funds

The Committee had before it an Administrative Report, dated July 13, 1998 (on file), in which the Director, Information Technology, sought approval for specific information technology investments to continue the build-out and replacement of the City’s information technology, communications and systems infrastructure.

Estelle Lo, General Manager of Corporate Services; and Larry Meek, Chief Information Officer; provided a rationale for the requested funding and replacement of the current information technology.

The following motion by Councillor Clarke was put and carried. The Committee, therefore,

RECOMMENDED

A.THAT the Information Technology Infrastructure (1998) Interim Request for Funds be approved consisting of:

1.Installation of Electrical Power Backup in the Computer Operations Centre, at a cost of $40,000;

2.Acquisition of Enterprise Tape Backup, at a cost of $80,000;

with funding for the total estimated capital cost of $120,000 to be provided from the Technology Infrastructure Replacement financing plan.

Additional annual costs will be covered through existing operating budgets.

cont'd

Clause No. 5 (cont'd)

B.THAT negotiation of a 3-year acquisition, service and support contract with IBM be approved, the projected capital cost of $332,000 to be financed over 3 years from the Capital Financing Fund, to replace the City’s mainframe computer with a new model. Costs will be offset by other savings so that there will be no impact on the operating budget.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

6. Capital Grant to Complete Construction of the New File: 2005

Collingwood Neighbourhood Safety Office

The Committee had before it an Administrative Report dated July 22, 1998 (on file), in which the Director of Community Services, Social Planning, sought approval of a Capital Grant of $38,177 to the Joyce State Area Planning Association to be used to complete the construction of a new office space for the Collingwood Neighbourhood Safety Office, with conditions.

The General Manager of Community Services submitted the grant request for consideration.

Chris Taulu, Joyce Station Area Planning Association, advised she was present to answer questions. The Association is prepared to pay down the amount of the requested grant with casino revenues owed to the Association. However, it is her understanding the revenues may be in next year’s provincial budget.

The following motion by Councillor Clarke was put and carried. The Committee, therefore,

RECOMMENDED

THAT a Capital Grant of $38,177 to the Joyce Station Area Planning Association be approved to be used to complete the construction of a new office space for the Collingwood Neighbourhood Safety Office, on the condition that budgeted casino revenues owed to this organization, to a maximum of $15,000, will be used to pay down the grant, if and when these funds are released by the Province; source of funds is the City-owned Social and Cultural Facilities account in the 1998 Capital Budget.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

The meeting adjourned at 11:10 a.m.

* * * * *


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