Council Minutes for July 31, 2000
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MINUTES OF THE 2000-JUL-31 MEETING OF THE TWENTY-FIRST COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NANAIMO, HELD IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER, CITY HALL, COMMENCING AT 7:00 P.M. PRESENT: His Worship Mayor G. Korpan, Chair Members: Councillor R. A. Cantelon Councillor W. J. Holdom Councillor S. A. Lance Councillor L. D. McNabb Councillor D. E. Rispin Councillor L. J. Sherry Absent: Councillor T. J. Beech Councillor T. K. Krall Staff: G. D. Berry B. N. Mehaffey A. C. Kenning S. E. Fletcher T. M. Hickey J. T. Bowden D. L. King L. Mitchell 1. ADOPTION OF MINUTES: (a) Minutes of the 2000-JUL-10 Meeting of the Twenty-First Council of the City of Nanaimo held in the Council Chamber, City Hall at 7:00 p.m. Moved by Councillor Sherry, seconded by Councillor McNabb that the Minutes be adopted as circulated. The motion carried. 2. INTRODUCTION OF LATE ITEMS: (a) Councillor Sherry advised that Mr. Jonathan Berry was in attendance and wished to address Council as a late delegation regarding the removal of a rock bluff and damage to a tree at Milton and Hecate Streets. Moved by Councillor Sherry, seconded by Councillor McNabb that Mr. Berry be permitted to address Council as a late delegation with a five-minute time limitation. The motion carried. (b) Mayor Korpan advised that Ms. Pauline O'Carroll was in attendance and wished to address Council as a late delegation regarding the rezoning of property at 202 and 206 Haliburton Street. Moved by Councillor Sherry, seconded by Councillor Holdom that Ms. O'Carroll be permitted to address Council as a late delegation with a five-minute time limitation. The motion carried. COUNCIL 2000-JUL-31 PAGE 2 (c) Councillor McNabb advised that Ms. Alison Donaghey, was in attendance and wished to address Council to request the waiving of the $1,000. fine for her dog that was impounded by the Nanaimo Animal Shelter. Moved by Councillor McNabb, seconded by Councillor Cantelon that Ms. Donaghey be permitted to address Council as a late delegation with a five-minute time limitation. The motion carried. (d) Mayor Korpan advised that the following items had been distributed prior to the meeting: • City Manager's Supplemental Report • Supplemental Information Only Report 3. RECEIVING OF DELEGATIONS: Moved by Councillor Sherry, seconded by Councillor McNabb that the Delegations be permitted to address Council. The motion carried. (a) Ms. Marianne Erb, Oliver Rutherford Community Association, requesting that Ms. Judy Bledsoe and Mr. Allen Coleman each be permitted 10 minutes to make presentations to Council regarding the proposed North End Recreation Centre and High School. Ms. Bledsoe and Mr. Coleman were previously authorized to address Council. Mr. Coleman stated that: - he resides at 5183 Sam's Way in Nanaimo. - at the last Council meeting he was told that the proposed Oliver Road high school/recreation centre "is going to happen". - he enquired if there were any Councillors that oppose this project. - they are receiving mixed information and requested clarification as to how this arrangement came about - whether the School Board approached the City or vice versa. Moved by Councillor Sherry, seconded by Councillor McNabb that the presentation be received. The motion carried. Ms. Bledsoe stated that: - she is a member of the Oliver Rutherford Community Association and has lived in Nanaimo for 27 years. - for the last three years she has lived in the Longwood Development at 5650 Edgewater Lane. - at no time during this period has she heard anyone from the Insight team try to lead owners or potential buyers to believe that the proposed recreation centre for Oliver Road was at all exclusive for the use of Longwood residents, as has been quoted in the paper recently. COUNCIL 2000-JUL-31 PAGE 3 - she strongly objects to being told that they as taxpayers have elected Council and School Trustees to make decisions for them. - she also objects to being told that the Oliver Road project is a "done deal" when they can't get any information from anyone and there is no consultation with the taxpayers in that area. - she believes that they, as taxpayers, elected each of the Council members and the School Trustees to ensure that our Official Community Plan is followed, and this includes the consultation process. - her whole issue is the process. - she knows that she speaks for many of the homeowners that live in this neighbourhood. - last week the Parks, Recreation and Culture Commission listened to what they had to say and were impressed at the homework that had been done. - they were going to recommend that the signing of the Joint Use Agreement for this project be delayed for 90 days so information can be shared openly with the taxpayers and those people who are concerned about this project. - she is not an expert when it comes to site selection for community recreation centres, schools or parks, but she does have expertise on the value of inclusion in the decision-making process. - she understands that inclusion creates win-win outcomes for all participants. - her expertise comes from many years of community involvement, starting with her children - she was an active member in the Parent Advisory Committees, and has lived beside two schools and knows what impact schools have on neighbourhoods. - she was a member of the Parks, Recreation and Culture Commission many years ago; she chairs the Strata Council at Longwood; she has been President of the Community Living Association; and she teaches a program at Malaspina University- College in which they spend half of their time in the community. - this process of consultation is very important when you are working with students and other people in the community. - she believes that since ORCA has been unable to obtain any documentation that supports the Oliver Rutherford location as the best site for a school, she asked Council to support the recommendation from the Parks, Recreation and Culture Commission that the signing of the Joint Use Agreement for this project be tabled until the October 2000 meeting. - this 90-day period will allow them to be part of some consultative process and an opportunity to openly share the information that is so hard for the members of ORCA to get their hands on. - they need to know that this site is the best location for a school, not an appropriate location as was reported in the local paper. Moved by Councillor Sherry, seconded by Councillor McNabb that the presentation be received. The motion carried. (b) Mr. Tom Harris, St. John Ambulance Building Committee, regarding a proposal to the City of Nanaimo to grant St. John Ambulance a long-term lease at a nominal price on a parcel of City-owned land located at 2250 Labieux Road. Mr. Harris was previously authorized to address Council. COUNCIL 2000-JUL-31 PAGE 4 Mr. Harris stated that: - he hopes that his presentation will be neither contentious or controversial, but a win-win situation for everybody. - in attendance with him were Mr. Charles Whisker, Chairman of the Board of St. John Ambulance in Nanaimo; Mr. Jack Patton, Supt. of the Brigade; and Mr. Will Melville, an Architect that has been retained by their Building Committee. Mr. Patton stated that: - there is a lot of mist in regards to St. John, you only see one or two uniforms every now and again, but of course they are multiplied by the amount of activities that are taking place each weekend. - the first contact in Nanaimo of the St. John movement was brought over by the early coal miners, as a matter of self-interest to the safety and well-being of the miners and their families. - the mine owners encouraged them as it was health care "on the cheap". - the Priory of St. John in Canada is headed by Her Majesty the Queen, through the Governor General and the local Prior of British Columbia who is Garde Gardom, Lieutenant Governor. - the local St. John is administered and financed by the Board or Branch Committee which organizes the training classes of non-members and raises money to supply the uniform brigade and cadets with uniforms, equipment, training quarters and first aid supplies. - the branch is completely self-sufficient and controls these local units entirely on a volunteer basis and is financed completely by charitable contributions with no help from the public purse. - some training classes realize some revenue, but the bulk of the training is entirely volunteer. - the branch is grateful to the United Way and other charitable donations which help it to conduct itself for the betterment of this community. - the Uniform Brigade, which is his, is the most visible part of St. John. - their Brigade members are seen all over the community as emergency first-aid volunteers maintaining a presence at a wide variety of events for the public good of the City and its citizens. - last year over 8,000 hours of volunteer time were put in by his Brigade for absolutely no financial return, other than the donations by those groups that can afford to. - they do not differentiate amongst the different groups on a basis of donation and he will not bore Council with the list of the dozens of events that their members attend. - if you put a dollar value on those hours, you are reasonably looking at $100,000. per year, at $10.00 per hour, which is free medical service to this City for the last 100 years at least. - members also attend two training nights per month to maintain and upgrade their first aid skills, and they must also re-qualify once a year and attend training seminars for national emergency procedures.