CITY OF VANCOUVER
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
STANDING COMMITTEE ON
PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENT
JUNE 26, 1997
A Regular Meeting of the Council of the City of Vancouver was held
on Thursday, June 26, 1997, at approximately 9:31 a.m., in Committee
Room No. 1, Third Floor, City Hall, immediately after the Standing
Committee on Planning and Environment meeting was called to order, to
consider a City Manager's Report. Council then recessed, and reconvened
at approximately 11:00 a.m. to consider the recommendations of the
Committee.
PRESENT: Mayor Philip Owen
Councillor Don Bellamy
Councillor Jennifer Clarke
Councillor Alan Herbert
Councillor Daniel Lee
Councillor Don Lee
Councillor Gordon Price
Councillor George Puil
Councillor Sam Sullivan
ABSENT: Councillor Nancy A. Chiavario (Leave of
Absence)
Councillor Lynne Kennedy (Sick Leave)
CITY MANAGER'S
OFFICE: Ken Dobell, City Manager
CLERK TO THE
COUNCIL: Nancy Largent
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
MOVED by Cllr. Bellamy,
SECONDED by Cllr. Puil,
THAT this Council resolve itself into Committee of the Whole, Mayor
Owen in the Chair.
- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
CITY MANAGER'S ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS
1. Vancouver Gala '97 for APEC File: 4207
Council had before it an Administrative Report dated June 24, 1997,
in which the City Manager recommended that City Council formally sponsor
the Vancouver Gala '97 for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
program.
Ken Dobell, City Manager, briefly reviewed the report and rationale
for his recommendation.
Philip Bartle and Maria Ko, Vancouver Economic Development
Commission, responded to questions about funding, sponsorship, and the
guest list for the event.
MOVED by Cllr. Bellamy,
THAT the recommendation of the City Manager, as set out below, be
approved:
A. That Council agree to sponsor the Vancouver Gala for
APEC to be organized by the Vancouver Economic
Development Commission.
B. That the Mayor formally request the assistance of
the federal government in making the Vancouver Gala
a successful contribution to the APEC associated
special events program.
- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
* * *
Council recessed at approximately 9:15 a.m. and reconvened at 11:00
a.m., immediately following the Standing Committee on Planning and
Environment Committee, with the same members present.
* * *
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Report of Standing Committee on Planning and Environment
June 26, 1997
Council considered the recommendations of the Committee as
contained in the following clauses of the attached report:
Cl. 1: Demolition of Nuisance/Dangerous Building
331 East 38th Avenue - Request for extension of
time
Cl. 2: Environmental Grants
Cl. 3: UBC Fire Protection Engineering Program
Clauses 1 and 2
MOVED by Cllr. Clarke,
THAT the recommendations of the Committee, as contained in Clauses
1 and 2 of the attached report, be approved.
- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
UBC Fire Protection Engineering Program
(Clause 1)
MOVED by Cllr. Clarke,
THAT the recommendation of the Committee, as contained in Clause 3
of the attached report, be approved.
- CARRIED
(Councillors Price, Puil and the Mayor opposed)
RISE FROM COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
MOVED by Cllr. Sullivan,
THAT the Committee of the Whole rise and report.
- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
ADOPT REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
MOVED by Cllr. Sullivan,
SECONDED by Cllr. Hemer,
THAT the report of the Committee of the Whole be adopted.
- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
ENQUIRIES AND OTHER MATTERS
1. Leave of Absence - Councillor Don Lee File: 1254
MOVED by Cllr. Hemer,
Seconded by Cllr. Price,
THAT Councillor Don Lee be given leave of absence for October 6-23,
1997 for his planned trip to Taiwan and China.
- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
2. Change of Alternate, GVRD Board of Directors File: 3201/1251
MOVED by Cllr. Puil,
Seconded by Cllr. Clarke,
THAT Councillor Jennifer Clarke be replaced by Councillor Don
Bellamy as Mayor Owen's alternate on the GVRD Board of Directors, for
the Board meeting of June 27, 1997.
- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
Council adjourned at 11:05 a.m.
* * * * *
REPORT TO COUNCIL
STANDING COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL
ON PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENT
JUNE 26, 1997
A Regular Meeting of the Standing Committee on Planning and
Environment was held on Thursday, June 26, 1997 at approximately 9:30
a.m. in Committee Room No. 1, Third Floor, City Hall.
PRESENT: Councillor Jennifer Clarke, Chair
Mayor Philip Owen
Councillor Don Bellamy
Councillor Alan Herbert
Councillor Daniel Lee
Councillor Don Lee
Councillor Gordon Price
Councillor George Puil
Councillor Sam Sullivan
ABSENT: Councillor Nancy A. Chiavario (Leave of
Absence)
Councillor Lynne Kennedy (Sick Leave)
CITY MANAGER'S
OFFICE: Ken Dobell, City Manager
CLERK TO THE
COMMITTEE: Nancy Largent
* * *
Before considering any items of business, the Committee agreed to
recess immediately and convene as City Council, in order to consider a
City Manager's Report. The Committee reconvened at approximately 9:15
a.m., with the same members present.
* * *
ADOPTION OF MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting of May 29, 1997 were adopted as
circulated.
RECOMMENDATION
1. Demolition of Nuisance/Dangerous Building File: 2701-1
331 East 38th Avenue - Request for extension of time
On July 9, 1996, City Council declared the building at 331 East
38th Avenue a nuisance and ordered it demolished. A building permit was
subsequently obtained to carry out repairs to the building, and Council
was asked to rescind the demolition order. On December 12, 1996, Council
declined to rescind the order, but instructed the City Building
Inspector to hold the order in abeyance for 90 days.
The Committee now had before it an Administrative Report dated June
9, 1997 (on file), in which the City Building Inspector reported on a
request for a further extension. The General Manager of Community
Services and the City Building Inspector recommended that the extension
request be denied, and that the City Building Inspector be instructed to
proceed with demolition of the building.
Peter Sweeney, Manager of Building Inspection, reviewed the history
of the City's dealings with this building, and explained the rationale
for recommending that the demolition proceed. There has been little
work carried out since the building permit was issued eight months ago.
The City had, in fact, commenced demolition work in May, but stopped
upon being informed Mr. Sedlack had obtained an injunction, which was
later found not to be the case. Copies of photographs of the building
(on file) were distributed, indicating its current condition is still
very poor.
John Nelson, Legal Services, confirmed that Ursula Sedlack, the
property owner, has given Jack Sedlack power of attorney to deal with
this matter. Mr. Nelson also confirmed no injunction had been obtained.
Jack Sedlack, on behalf of the property owner, reviewed efforts
undertaken to renovate the building. Over $30,000 have been spent, and
he has made a commitment to the neighbours that the building will be
completed by the end of the summer. Renovations have begun on the
foundation; therefore, the work carried out to date is not visible in
the photographs. With respect to the injunction, Mr. Sedlack indicated
he had instructed his attorney to obtain an injunction and believed it
had been done. Mr. Sedlack also alleged that Mr. Sweeney is carrying out
a personal vendetta against him.
The Committee expressed concern that the condition of the building
is still so poor. Although assurances have been given on several
occasions that work would be completed within a given time frame, the
work has not been completed. Council would be remiss if it were to
continue granting extensions when the building constitutes a potential
danger to public safety. Therefore, it was felt the building should be
demolished in accordance with Council's previous instruction.
The following motion by Councillor Bellamy was put and carried.
Therefore, the Committee
RECOMMENDED
THAT Council deny the extension request and instruct the City
Building Inspector to proceed with the demolition of the building
as per Council's Resolution of July 9, 1996.
- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
2. Environmental Grants File: 2252-1
The Committee had before it an Administrative Report dated May 22,
1997 (on file), in which the Special Office for the Environment
recommended approval of a $5,000 Environmental Grant to the Sierra Club
of Canada for the "Earth Fever Campaign". Submitted for consideration
was a $5,000 Environmental Grant to the Cambie Corridor Consortium for
the "Cambie/Broadway Corridor Inter-site Shuttle Pilot Project". The
City Manager recommended approval, as reflected in the recommendations
of this report.
Nick Losito, Director of Environmental Health, briefly reviewed the
status of the program, as well as the grant requests before Council.
Jordan Tan, Sierra Club, was present to support the request and
answer any questions.
Bett Lauridsen, Cambie Corridor Consortium (brief filed), explained
how the shuttle bus project is funded It has not been possible to
obtain a license which would permit fares to be charged, but the
Consortium's member hospitals pay fees for the service which cover the
cost of the buses. More hospitals are expected to join the Consortium.
Ms. Lauridsen confirmed that the grant requested would pay for a new
brochure, intend to inform unaware potential users about the service.
Committee members questioned whether the service should be fully
paid for by the member organizations, rather than rely on grant funding.
However, upon reflection, it was decided the service provided is a good
example of alternatives to car use, for which the City ought to show
support.
The following motions by Mayor Owen were put and carried.
Therefore, the Committee
RECOMMENDED
A. THAT Council approve a grant of $5,000 to the Sierra Club of
Canada for their "Earth Fever Campaign"; source of funds to be
the Environmental Grant Fund in the Solid Waste Capital
Reserve.
B. THAT Council approve a grant of $5,000 to the Cambie Corridor
Consortium Society for their "Cambie/Broadway Corridor
Inter-site Shuttle Pilot Project program; source of funds to
be the Environmental Grant Fund in the Solid Waste Capital
Reserve.
- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
3. UBC Fire Protection Engineering Program File: 3651-1
The Committee had before it an Administrative Report dated May 14,
1997 (on file), in which the General Managers of Fire and Rescue
Services and the Community Services Group recommended that Council
approve a contract to provide specialist training and technical support
in the area of fire protection engineering to the Permits and Licenses
and Fire departments. This item was referred from the June 17, 1997
Council meeting to this Committee, in order that staff might advise what
the response had been from UBCM regarding its support for the UBC Fire
Protection Engineering Program, as previously requested by Council.
Glen Maddess, General Manager of Fire and Rescue Services, Bob
Maki, City Building Inspector, and John Robertson, Manager, Building
Code Review Branch, explained the benefits of the proposed contract
service in the areas of determining fire safety equivalencies, and of
performance based codes which are expected to be introduced in 2001.
Many situations can be handled more intelligently through performance
review, but to make this possible, staff must be able to judge what
constitutes equivalencies. Statistics were provided regarding the
number of staff enrolled in programs, or who have benefitted through
workshops.
With respect to the issue of UBCM funding, staff acknowledged that
only one other municipality contributes funds to the program to date.
This may be because the program is perceived as more beneficial for
municipalities - such as Vancouver - having greater proportions of tall
or multi-family buildings, whereas many municipalities deal largely with
single-family homes, and are not staffed to the same degree of
sophistication.
Ken Dobell, City Manager, noted that the present recommendation is
not to approve a grant, but a contract for training and consultant
services. Staff believe the present contract proposal represents good
value for the City, and are recommending it on that basis.
Professor Mahaffey, UBC, responded to questions concerning
enrollment and funds to be contributed by the University.
Some Committee members objected to the City continuing to fund the
UBC program to such an extent when other municipalities are not
contributing. However, the majority felt the program is worthwhile, and
were inclined to approve the contract.
The following motion by Councillor Bellamy was put and carried.
Therefore, the Committee
RECOMMENDED
THAT Council approve awarding a contract to the University of
British Columbia to provide special training and technical support
in the area of Fire Protection Engineering to assist the Permits
and Licenses and Fire Departments. The value of the contract to be
$75,000 for the academic year 1997 - 1998. The source of the funds
to be 1997 Trade Permit Fee Revenue Accounts.
- CARRIED
The Committee adjourned at 11:00 a.m.
* * * * *