CITY OF VANCOUVER

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
STANDING COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL ON
CITY SERVICES AND BUDGETS

NOVEMBER 19, 1998

A Regular Meeting of the Council of the City of Vancouver was held on Thursday, November 19, 1998, at 11:25 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 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 (Civic Business) Councillor Lynne Kennedy (Leave of Absence)
CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE:	Ken Dobell, City Manager
CLERK TO THE COUNCIL:	Tarja Tuominen

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

MOVED by Cllr. Don Lee,
SECONDED by Cllr. Bellamy,

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

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Report of Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets
November 19, 1998

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

Cl.1: A.S.T.C. Science World Society -

Annual Report and Operating Grant Request

Cl.2: Allocation of Cross-Cultural Expertise Grant
Cl.3: 1999 Business License Fees and Liveaboard Fees
Cl.4: Disability Management Staffing
Cl.5: Vancouver Police Pipe Band - Grant Request

Clauses 1 and 2
MOVED by Cllr. Puil,

THAT the recommendations of the Committee, as contained in Clauses 1 and 2 of this report, be approved.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND
BY THE REQUIRED MAJORITY

Clauses 3 and 4
MOVED by Cllr. Puil,

THAT the recommendations of the Committee, as contained in Clauses 3 and 4 of this report, be approved.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

Clause 5
MOVED by Cllr. Puil,

THAT the recommendation of the Committee, as contained in Clause 5 of this report, be approved.

- CARRIED BY THE REQUIRED

MAJORITY

(Councillor Clarke opposed)

RISE FROM COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

MOVED by Cllr. Don Lee,

THAT the Committee of the Whole rise and report.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

ADOPT REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

MOVED by Cllr. Bellamy,
SECONDED by Cllr. Don Lee,

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

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

ENQUIRIES AND OTHER MATTERS

1. Leave of Absence - Mayor Owen File: 1254
MOVED by Cllr. Clarke,
SECONDED by Cllr. Bellamy,

THAT the Mayor be granted Leave of Absence for the afternoon of November 19, 1998.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

2. Leave of Absence - Councillor Bellamy File: 1254
MOVED by Cllr. Puil,
SECONDED by Cllr. Price,

THAT Councillor Bellamy be granted Leave of Absence from December 1 to 6, 1998.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

3. Leave of Absence - Councillor Puil File: 1254
MOVED by Cllr. Bellamy,
SECONDED by Cllr. Sullivan,

A. THAT Councillor Puil be granted Leave of Absence from December 2 to 6, 1998.

B. THAT Councillor Puil be given approval to stop in Toronto for the purpose of City business during the period of December 2-6, 1998.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

The Council adjourned at 11:35 a.m.

* * * * *

REPORT TO COUNCIL

STANDING COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL
ON CITY SERVICES AND BUDGETS

NOVEMBER 19, 1998

A Regular Meeting of the Standing Committee of Council on City Services and Budgets was held on Thursday, November 19, 1998, at 9:30 a.m., in Committee Room No. 1, Third Floor, City Hall.

PRESENT:	Councillor George Puil, Chair Mayor Philip Owen Councillor Don Bellamy Councillor Jennifer Clarke Councillor Alan Herbert Councillor Daniel Lee Councillor Don Lee Councillor Gordon Price Councillor Sam Sullivan
ABSENT:	Councillor Nancy A. Chiavario (Civic Business) Councillor Lynne Kennedy (Leave of Absence)
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 October 22, 1998, were adopted.

RECOMMENDATION

1. A.S.T.C. Science World Society - File: 2202

Annual Report and Operating Grant Request

The Committee had before it an Administrative Report, dated October 16, 1998 (on file), in which the Directors of Finance and the Office of Cultural Affairs recommended the approval of an operating grant of $80,000 to the A.S.T.C. Science World Society. The General Managers of Community and Corporate Services recommended approval.

Robert Tisdall, President and CEO, A.S.T.C. Science World Society, thanked the Committee members for their past support of the Society and briefly reviewed the Society's upcoming programs.

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

RECOMMENDED

That an operating grant of $80,000 be approved to the A.S.T.C. Science World Society, with the source of funds to be the 1998 `Other' Grants budget.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

2. Allocation of Cross-Cultural Expertise Grant File: 2051

The Committee had before it an Administrative Report, dated November 3, 1998 (on file), in which the Director of Community Services, Social Planning, recommended the allocation of a Cross-Cultural Expertise grant of $4,000 to Westcoast Child Care Resource Centre: Multicultural & Diversity Services, working in partnership with the Native Education Centre. The General Manager of Community Services submitted the grant allocation for consideration.

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

RECOMMENDED

THAT Council approve a Cross-Cultural Expertise Grant of $4,000 to Westcoast Child Care Resource Centre: Multicultural & Diversity Services, working in partnership with the Native Education Centre.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

3. 1999 Business License Fees and Liveaboard Fees File: 1755

The Committee had before it an Administrative Report, dated October 13, 1998 (on file), in which the General Manager of community Services, in consultation with the Director of Finance, sought approval for an increase of 1999 business license fees by 1.25%, the 1999 live-aboard license fees by 2%, and a further .75% increase in business license fees to fund the creation of a new full-time license policy analyst position. The General Manager also sought approval for an additional increase of $480 in the business license fees for the pawnbroker and second-hand dealer categories to reflect the costs associated with administration and enforcement of these categories.

Paul Teichroeb, Chief Licence Inspector, briefly reviewed the report and explained the requested increase in fees. The licence fee for the pawnbrokers and second-hand dealers categories is currently $108 per year and the additional $480 increase would help address the significant costs of police and by-law enforcement for those categories. The requested increase is similar to that for cabarets and pubs, which also involve significant enforcement. The fee increase would only apply to those establishments which are fully classified as second-hand or pawnshop.

The following spoke in opposition to the proposed increase to the pawnbroker and second-hand dealers categories:

· Rob Frith, Neptoon Records
· Dave Bayat, Golden Music Shop
· John Baker
· Grant McDonagh, Zulu Records

The foregoing speakers opposed the increase based on one or more of the following reasons:

· the proposed raise in fees is prohibitive;
· the shop is a collectible store; the police do not monitor the store, and have advised the owner not to submit daily forms but to submit a form only when purchases of items are made;
· the store sells records, tapes, posters, music memorabilia, and used CD's - more collectibles than anything else; should be classified under another category rather than "second-hand dealer";
· customers come in with "blown-up" equipment; shop keeps parts; shop does not fall into the pawnbroker and second-hand dealer categories;
· sells predominantly new records, but also sell used, second-hand items which are 20% of business;
· try to work with the police and look out for stolen goods;
Clause No. 3 (cont'd)

· many other stores, such as bookstores, clothing/thrift shops, also take in used CD's but do not have a similar increase in fees;
· the classification for stores which mainly deal with collectibles should be changed.

Mr. Teichroeb explained the difficulty with exempting record stores from the increase. There is a large market for stolen CD's and tapes which are often fenced through record stores. The City has to set a fee which is applicable to all stores in a specific category.

Ken Dobell, City Manager, advised the City cannot distinguish between definitions of types of business and has to identify by class.

During discussion, Committee members agreed the proposed additional increase of $480 for the pawnbroker and second-hand licence categories is a significant one. The Committee also requested the new analyst position look into the definition of the categories, e.g. how to define types of record stores, how to distinguish stores which deal with collectibles and records over those which primarily deal in CD's, how to define musical instruments, vinyl records; and to determine the appropriate licence fee.

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

RECOMMENDED

A. THAT, with the exception of those charitable or non-profit categories detailed in Appendix B of the Administrative Report dated October 13, 1998, Council approve an across the board, 1.25% increase in business licence fees (rounded up to the nearest dollar) for 1999, reflecting a 1.0% inflationary adjustment based on the growth in City costs and a 0.25% increase to extend a credit card payment option to business licence fees.

B. THAT Council approve a further 0.75% increase in business licence fees to fund the creation of a new full-time licence policy analyst position in the Licence Branch at a cost of approximately $65,000 annually.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

Clause No. 3 (cont'd)

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

RECOMMENDED

C. THAT Council approve an increase to $200 in the business licence fees for the pawnbroker and second-hand dealer categories;

FURTHER THAT the new licence policy analyst report back on an appropriate fee increase for 2000 and a proposed method for determining license fees for these categories to reflect the costs associated with administration and enforcement.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

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

RECOMMENDED

D. THAT the fees for live-aboard boat owners be increased in 1999 by 2.0%, reflecting the increase in residential property taxes in 1998.

E. THAT the Director of Legal Services be instructed to prepare the necessary By-law to implement the revised fee schedule for January 4, 1999.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

4. Disability Management Staffing File: 1379

The Committee had before it an Administrative Report, dated October 13, 1998 (on file), in which the Director of Human Resources, in consultation with the General Managers of Engineering Services and Park Board, sought approval to eliminate one senior practitioner position, use the funding for that position to create two administrative positions, and to create an additional Disability Case Coordinator position.

The report had been scheduled for City Council's meeting of November 13, 1998. As a delegation request was received, the report was referred to a Standing Committee meeting on November 19, 1998.

Clause No. 4 (cont'd)

Ken Davidson, President, CUPE 1004, advised the union has concerns with the current system. Any cost savings should be plowed into solving the current problems rather than hiring more people. The rehabilitation section used to have 3 employees; now there are 11. Members now wait 6 to 10 weeks for benefits. There are problems with the communication between members' personal doctors and the insurance provider. Any extra money should go into buying equipment to allow employees to return into transitional work.

John Beckett, Manager, Occupational Safety & Rehabilitation, advised he has the same concern with the process and the problems are being addressed. The new position is needed to continue the on-going savings. The City will not create new light-duty positions. The City's focus used to be managing long-term disability. The current focus on short-term has had better success.

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

RECOMMENDED

A. THAT Council approve the creation of two support staff to assist in the City's rehabilitation program at no additional cost to the City;

B. THAT Council approve the creation of one Disability Case Coordinator to manage the Short and Long-Term Disability Plans covering CUPE 1004 employees. Funding is available through savings created by reductions in expenditures from the Short Term/Long-term disability benefit account.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

5. Vancouver Police Pipe Band - Grant Request File: 2004

The Committee had before it a letter, dated October 5, 1998 (on file) in which the Chairman of the Vancouver Police Pipe Band requested a grant of $30,000 to cover the air travel costs for the Band to attend the Edinburgh Tattoo in August 1999.

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

Clause No. 5 (cont'd)

RECOMMENDED

THAT the Vancouver Police Pipe Band be granted $15,000 to assist the Band to participate in the Edinburgh Tattoo in August, 1999.

- CARRIED

(Councillor Clarke opposed)

The meeting adjourned at 11:15 a.m. to re-convene in an In-Camera Council meeting.

* * * * *

(c) 1998 City of Vancouver