Vancouver City Council |
REPORT TO COUNCIL
STANDING COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL
ON CITY SERVICES AND BUDGETSJANUARY 15, 2004
A Regular Meeting of the Standing Committee of Council on City Services and Budgets was held on Thursday, January 15, 2004, at 9:30 a.m., in Committee Room No. 1, Third Floor, City Hall.
PRESENT:
Mayor Larry Campbell, Acting Chair
Councillor Fred Bass
Councillor David Cadman
Councillor Peter Ladner
*Councillor Raymond Louie
Councillor Anne Roberts
*Councillor Tim Stevenson
*Councillor Sam SullivanABSENT:
Councillor Jim Green
Councillor Tim Louis
Councillor Ellen WoodsworthCITY MANAGER'S OFFICE:
Judy Rogers, City Manager
CITY CLERK'S OFFICE:
Denise Salmon, Meeting Coordinator
*Denotes absence for a portion of the meeting.
ADOPTION OF MINUTES
The Minutes of the Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets meetings of December 4 and 11, 2003, were adopted.
RECOMMENDATION
1. Award of Tender 2003-13 "Apartment Recycling Collection" (File 1805)
The Committee had before it an Administrative Report dated November 24, 2003, in which the General Manager of Engineering Services sought Council's authorization to award Contract 2003-13: "Collection of Recyclable Materials from Multi-Family Buildings".
Brian Davies, Assistant City Engineer, Solid Waste and Kevin van Vliet, Solid Waste Management Engineer, with the aid of presentation boards, provided a brief overview of the report and responded to questions related to the City's ability to be competitive in Area IV.
Doug McNicol, Business Agent, CUPE Local 1004, spoke in support of staff's recommendations, but suggested greater efficiencies could be created if both Areas III and IV were serviced by the City. Dave Rudberg, General Manager of Engineering Services, advised this would result in reduced net savings to the City.
MOVED by Councillor Ladner
THAT the Committee recommend to Council
A. THAT Council authorize the General Manager of Engineering Services to accept the bid for "Tender 2003-13 - Collection of Recyclable Materials from Multi Family buildings" from International Paper Industries Ltd. for servicing Areas I, II and III for a 5-year term at an estimated annual cost of $560,000.
B. THAT, based on ensuring the best value to the City, Engineering Services reject all bids for Area IV and City forces start servicing Area IV.
C. THAT the General Manager of Engineering in consultation with the Director of Legal Services be authorized to enter into a contract with International Paper Industries Ltd. for Areas I, II and III for a 5-year term.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
(Councillor Stevenson absent for vote)
2. 101 East Cordova - Lease of City-owned Capital Asset to Atira Women's Resource Society (File 5104)
The Committee had before it as Administrative Report dated December 16, 2003, in which the Director of Social Planning, in consultation with the Director of Real Estate Services, Facilities Design and Development, Legal Services and Budgets, sought Council approval for lease of 101 East Cordova, a City-owned capital Asset, to Atira Women's Resource Society. The General Managers of Corporate and Community Services recommended approval. Anne Kloppenborg, Social Planner, was present to respond to questions.
Stephanie Kellington, Inner City Women's Initiatives and Janice Abott, Executive Director, Atira Women's Resource Society, provided a history of the society, including the services provided and issues faced by women in the Downtown Eastside, and spoke in support of staff's recommendations.
MOVED by Councillor Roberts
THAT the Committee recommend to Council
THAT Council authorize the Director of Legal Services to execute, on behalf of the City, a lease/operating agreement granting to Atira Women's Resource Society a lease of a portion of the City-owned building located at 101 East Cordova Street legally known and described as Lot 22, BL 6, DL196, Plan 184, for a term of five years commencing February 1, 2004, at a nominal rent, renewable for two further five-year terms under substantially the same terms and conditions as are contained in the draft terms appended to this report, and on such further other terms and conditions as may be acceptable to the Directors of Legal Services, Real Estate Services and Social Planning, it being noted that no rights or obligations hereby arise or take effect pursuant to this resolution until the agreement has been executed by both the City and the Society.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
3. Engineering Services Department Permit Fees for 2004 (File 1758)
The Committee had before it an Administrative Report dated December 15, 2003, in which the General Manager of Engineering Services sought Council's approval of a schedule of Engineering Permit Fees and Council's approval of the allocation of a portion of this revenue together with existing revenues for the support of Engineering GIS applications.
Rowan Birch, Engineering Branch Head, Budgets and Administration, was present to respond to questions.
Langley Damonse, Vancouver Vendors Association, advised he was not opposed to the proposed permit fee increase, but sought Council's assistance to help vendors recoup this cost by extending vending hours more in line with the 4 a.m. bar closing, and also by expanding the variety of products jewelry vendors are permitted to sell, including tourist type souvenirs. Mr. Damonse also suggested the required 25% hand made jewelry component be dropped to 10%.
Peter Simpson, Executive Vice President and CEO, Greater Vancouver Home Builders Association, spoke in support of staff's recommended building site crossing fees as the increase is not onerous and does reflect inflationary pressures. Mr. Simpson did however suggest parking fees assessed some of the trades doing work on existing streets might be tied into building permit issuance to offer some relief.
In response to questions from Council, staff advised issues raised by Mr. Damonse could be included as part of the work program related to the extended closing hours for bars, however it was noted changing the nature of goods sold would be controversial and require the involvement of business associations.
MOVED by Councillor Cadman
THAT the Committee recommend to Council
A. THAT Council approve increases in the Engineering Services Department Permit Fees totalling an estimated amount of $216,000, as set out in Appendix A of the Administrative Report dated December 15, 2003, entitled "Engineering Services Department Permit Fees for 2004".
B. THAT $28,000 of this revenue increase in the street permit area and $122,000 from existing sewer and water permit fee revenues be used to provide ongoing support to the Engineering Services Geographic Information System (GIS) applications related to infrastructure management.
C. THAT an existing temporary full-time Systems Analyst IA position in Engineering Services be changed to a regular full-time Systems Analyst IA position at an annual cost of $70,800 (part of the funding in Recommendation B), subject to classification review of the Director of Human Resources.
D. THAT the Director of Legal Services be instructed to prepare by-laws to amend the Street and Traffic By-law, Granville Mall By-law, Encroachment By-law, and Street Vending By-law, all generally in accordance with Appendix A of the Administrative Report dated December 15, 2003, entitled "Engineering Services Department Permit Fees for 2004".
E. THAT staff be requested to look at additional hours for food vendors.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
4. Liquor Licensing Fee Schedule Amendments & Work Program for Development of Comprehensive Hours of Service Policy (File 2610/1758)
The Committee had before it an Administrative Report dated December 24, 2003, in which the Chief License Inspector presented costs associated with the temporary approvals for extended Liquor Primary hours, recommended a fee schedule to recover these costs, and also recommended approval of the proposed work program and budget to develop a city-wide Comprehensive Hours of Service policy for Liquor Primary liquor licenses. The General Manager of Community Services recommended approval.
Guy Gusdal, License Co-ordinator and Karen Hoese, Policy Analyst, License Office, were present to respond to questions.
The following spoke in opposition to the revised fee schedule recommended by staff to recover costs associated with extended hours of service policy development and continued monitoring of extended operating hours for liquor establishments in the downtown:
Vance Campbell, BARWATCH
John Teti, BARWATCH
Blaine Culling, Granville Entertainment Corp.
Roger Gibson, BC Cabaret Association
Comments provided by the foregoing speakers included the following:
· BARWATCH had earlier agreed to contribute its fair share to cover additional policing resources for the additional two hours liquor establishments could remain open - not sixteen hours as presented in the report;
· additional charges will likely diminish participants in the trial by approximately one-half, resulting in more people on the street;
· total costs should be not be borne entirely by the hospitality industry;
· the reason the industry asked for 4 a.m. opening was to save our industry, we cannot afford this fee increase;
· fewer bars legally open late night will see the reintroduction of `booze cans' and also result in an increase in beer prices;
· recommend decision on this matter be postponed to allow all parties to come to an amenable arrangement;
· do we really want this many police officers in bars - the problem is on the street, not in the bars;
· the summer trial ran with four extra officers - but to suggest the need for sixteen is too high;
· perhaps costs could be spread over the next four or five years - then the amount would be affordable; and
· many of the bars have their own security forces and already pay in excess of $200,000 in license fees.
Inspector Val Harrison advised eight-hour overtime shifts were scheduled due to amount of preparation time needed to establish a presence on the street, and also noted the popularity of the later close time has brought many more patrons into the area, and they arrive earlier.
MOVED by Councillor Cadman
THAT the Committee recommend to Council
A. THAT Council approve an amendment to Schedule B "Miscellaneous Service Fees" Part 2 of the License By-Law to revise the fee schedule for municipal comments on temporary amendments to Provincial liquor licenses, based on the type of amendment requested as generally outlined in Appendix A of the Administrative Report dated December 24, 2003, entitled "Liquor Licensing Fee Schedule Amendments & Work Program for Development of Comprehensive Hours of Service Policy", to recover costs totalling $793,000, associated with policy development and monitoring by Police and License Department staff, as outlined in this report.
B. THAT Council authorize the Director of Legal Services to bring forward the appropriate by-law amendments generally as set out in the Administrative Report dated December 24, 2003, entitled "Liquor Licensing Fee Schedule Amendments & Work Program for Development of Comprehensive Hours of Service Policy" and in Appendix A.
C. THAT Council endorse the Comprehensive Hours of Service policy development work program and budget as described in this report and the Terms of Reference attached as Appendix B of the Administrative Report dated December 24, 2003, entitled "Liquor Licensing Fee Schedule Amendments & Work Program for Development of Comprehensive Hours of Service Policy".
D. THAT staff be requested to enter into negotiations with bar owners and the Police to see if there is a solution more acceptable to all parties involved to cover the costs, for report back within one month.
carried
AMENDMENT MOVED by Councillor Ladner
THAT the words "to recover costs totaling $793,000," be deleted from Recommendation A, and the following words be added at the end: "based on regular time police shifts".
LOST
(Councillors Bass, Cadman, Louie, Roberts, Stevenson and the Mayor opposed)
The amendment having lost, Councillor Cadman's motion was put and CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY (Councillor Louie absent for the vote).
5. Parking Meter Equipment Purchase, Parking Meter Rate Review, and Associated Community Improvements (File 5654)
The Committee had before it an Administrative Report dated December 7, 2003, in which the General Manager of Engineering Services reviewed the City's parking meter operations and recommended meter replacement, the purchase of additional equipment and selected parking meter rate changes to better reflect market conditions. Associated community improvements were also recommended.
Bob Macdonald, Parking Engineer, and Ian Adam, Assistant City Engineer, Transportation, were present to respond to questions.
Kathi Thompson, President, Downtown Vancouver BIA, and Stephanie Clark, Executive Director, Yaletown BIA, spoke in opposition to the proposed parking meter rate changes. Points raised included the following:
· opposed to any increase that sees motorists pay more - this will drive people away from the downtown and impact our economy;
· on-street parking is a commodity and does have a role to play - reinvest revenue for downtown improvements;
· would like to see lower hourly rate to encourage people to come downtown;
· consultation mechanism, as requested by Council last May, still has not been set up to allow for a comprehensive process with BIAs;
· efforts should be made to encourage downtown retail, not discourage it;
· concerned with negative public perception of accessibility and affordability of parking downtown; and
· other models, i.e. Seattle's, should be explored.
MOVED by Councillor Cadman
THAT the Committee recommend to Council
A. THAT Council approve the parking meter rate changes as detailed in Appendix A of the Administrative Report dated December 7, 2003, entitled "Parking Meter Equipment Purchase, Parking Meter Rate Review, and Associated Community Improvements"; and
FURTHER THAT the Director of Legal Services bring forward the necessary By-laws to enact these changes.
B. THAT Council approve the purchase of replacement parking meter housings at an estimated cost of $475,000; source of funding to be $225,000 from the parking meter replacement fund and $250,000 from on-street parking revenue.
C. THAT Council approve an increase in parking meter maintenance auxiliary staff costs of $60,000 ($25,000 in 2004) and an increase in parking meter depreciation costs of $12,000 ($9,000 in 2004); source of funding to be increased parking meter revenue.
D. THAT Council approve $200,000 in capital expenditures for the Kerrisdale community parkade as noted in the Administrative Report dated December 7, 2003, entitled "Parking Meter Equipment Purchase, Parking Meter Rate Review, and Associated Community Improvements", with funds provided from the Parking Sites Reserve.
E. THAT Council approve an estimated $50,000 for a 50% share of a traffic signal at Hamilton and Nelson Streets, with funding provided from the Parking Sites Reserve and with the timing to coincide with the development of completion of the City Park and parking at this location.
F. THAT Council approve $30,000 for a study of pedestrian access improvements to Granville Street from the Pacific Centre parkade, source of funds to be the Parking Sites Reserve.
G. THAT staff be requested to bring forward a report on consultation with BIAs, including the implementation of a free downtown shuttle or service area.
carried
AMENDMENT MOVED by Councillor Bass
THAT the words "including signage maps and orientation for those who park" be added to Recommendation G.
LOST
(Councillors Cadman, Ladner, Roberts, Stevenson, and the Mayor opposed)
(Councillors Louie and Sullivan absent for the vote)
The amendment having lost, Councillor Cadman's motion was put and CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY (Councillors Louie and Sullivan absent for the vote).
The Committee adjourned at 12:20 p.m.
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CITY OF VANCOUVER REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY 15, 2004 |
A Regular Meeting of the Council of the City of Vancouver was held on Thursday, January 15, 2004, at 2:00 p.m., the Council Chamber, Third Floor, City Hall, following the Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets meeting, to consider the recommendations of the Committee.
PRESENT: |
Mayor Larry Campbell
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ABSENT: |
Councillor Tim Louis
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CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE: |
Judy Rogers, City Manager |
CITY CLERK'S OFFICE: |
Laura Kazakoff, Meeting Coordinator |
*Denotes absence for a portion of the meeting.
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
MOVED by Councillor Cadman
SECONDED by Councillor Bass
THAT this Council resolve itself into Committee of the Whole, Mayor Campbell in the Chair.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Report of Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets
January 15, 2004
Council considered the report containing the recommendations and actions taken by the Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets. Its items of business included:
1. Award of Tender 2003-13 "Apartment Recycling Collection"
2. 101 East Cordova - Lease of City-owned Capital Asset to Atira Women's Resource Society
3. Engineering Services Department Permit Fees for 2004
4. Liquor Licensing Fee Schedule Amendments & Work Program for Development of Comprehensive Hours of Service Policy
5. Parking Meter Equipment Purchase, Parking Meter Rate Review, and Associated Community Improvements
Clauses 1 and 3-5
MOVED by Councillor Cadman
THAT the recommendations and actions taken by the Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets at its meeting of January 15, 2004, as contained in Items 1, and 3-5, be approved.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
Clause 2
MOVED by Councillor Cadman
THAT the recommendations and actions taken by the Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets at its meeting of January 15, 2004, as contained in Item 2, be approved.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND
BY THE REQUIRED MAJORITY
RISE FROM COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
MOVED by Councillor Sullivan
THAT the Committee of the Whole rise and report.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
ADOPT REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
MOVED by Councillor Louie
SECONDED by Councillor Roberts
THAT the report of the Committee of the Whole be adopted.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
BY-LAWS
MOVED by Councillor Stevenson
SECONDED by Councillor Bass
THAT Council enact the by-laws listed on the agenda for this meeting as numbers 1 - 4, and authorize the Mayor and City Clerk to sign and seal the enacted by-laws.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
1. A By-law to amend Encroachment By-law No. 4243 (re 2004 fee increases)
(By-law No. 8776)
2. A By-law to amend Granville Mall By-law No. 4792 (re 2004 fee increases)
(By-law No. 8777)
3. A By-law to amend Street and Traffic By-law No. 2849 (re 2004 fee increases)
(By-law No. 8778)
4. A By-law to amend Street Vending By-law No. 4781 (re 2004 fee increases)
(By-law No. 8779)
MOTIONS
A. Administrative Motions
None
B. Motions on Notice
1. Changes to the Residential Tenancy Act Negatively Affecting Tenants (File 4657)
MOVED by Councillor Stevenson
SECONDED by Councillor Bass
WHEREAS the majority or 56% of Vancouver residents rent their homes;
AND WHEREAS almost half of these households currently pay more than 30% of their income on rent, and almost one-quarter pay more than 50%;
AND WHEREAS Vancouver has among the highest rents (2003 = $845) and tightest vacancy rates (2003 = 1.7%) in Canada;
AND WHEREAS the provincial government recently implemented a number of changes to the Residential Tenancy Act that will negatively impact tenants;
AND WHEREAS one of the most significant changes is to rent regulations which will now allow landlords to automatically increase rents at CPI + 2% (2004 =4.6%) without any ability by tenants to dispute the increase, whether or not the building is maintained;
AND WHEREAS this automatic rent increase will adversely affect many tenants, especially seniors, single parents, people with disabilities, recent immigrants and others living on fixed or low incomes;
AND WHEREAS Vancouver is already suffering from the consequences of other changes to provincial policy that have increased homelessness and the demand for city services and resources;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Vancouver write to the Premier and Solicitor General to register strong concern to changes to the Residential Tenancy Act that will negatively impact tenants, and in particular low income and vulnerable tenants.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
2. Reconsider the Decision of Council regarding the Development Cost Levy Adoption (File 1611/1755)
MOVED by Councillor Roberts
SECONDED by Councillor Cadman
A. THAT B15 of the Motion on the Policy Report "Financing Growth - Paying for Facilities to Serve a Growing Population: The Role of City-Wide Charges on New Development", dated April 30, 2003, be reconsidered.
B. THAT B15 be amended by inserting the words "or as directed by Council" following the words "every 3 years".
B15 AS AMENDED
Make DCL rates subject to periodic rate review (every 3 years, or as directed by Council) taking into account inflationary factors affecting construction costs and land values, and other relevant factors; review whether any changes to the City-wide DCL should apply to area-specific DCLs (e.g., reduced daycare rate); revisit allocations when new information is available affecting growth costs.
(Italics denote amendment)
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
(Councillor Green absent for the vote)
NEW BUSINESS
1. Development Cost Levy Rates (File 1611/1755)
MOVED by Councillor Roberts
SECONDED by Councillor Louie
THAT staff be directed to review economic conditions with respect to construction costs, and any significant changes such as property values, housing prices, including the phasing in of Development Cost Levy rates, which impact development and report back by February 10, 2004.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
(Councillor Green absent for the vote)
The Council adjourned at 2:09 p.m.
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