Nanaimo City Council Meeting Notes

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Nanaimo City Council Meeting Notes April 11, 2011

While there were many items on the council's agenda for this meeting there was nothing of a contentious nature and while some topics did result in considerable discussion with few exceptions all items received unanimous support of council.

Ms.Melissa Noel of the Coastal Invasive Plant Committee gave council an extensive presentation regards the activities of CIPC in their work to control and in some cases eradicate invasive species of plants which can have devastating effects on native plant species, and in some cases cause serious problems in streams and rivers and other fish habitat. Ms. Noel was basically attempting to establish a dialogue between her organization and different levels of government in order to put together a co-operative approach in controlling invasive plants. A common example most people are aware of would be the 'Broom' you see lining the highways and byways all over the island.

Proclamations:There was a total of 13 proclamations highlighting a wide range of special activities ranging from 'Safe Digging Week' to Drinking Water Week, Elizabeth Fry Week and Public Art week to name a few.

Empire Days Society: received an operating grant of $6,000 to help fund this years Empire Days Celebrations. The event costs the society approximately $30,000 a year to put the popular event on during the long weekend in May.

Terminal Ave. Development: after some discussion surrounding possible safety issues, and concerns about the possibility of creating parking problems, council voted in favour of a variance permit which would allow this rental project to reduce the number of available on site parking spaces by 56.

IT Dept. Savings: the IT Dept. will see a savings of several thousands of dollars per year by accepting a proposal for the SAP and Technical Support Services tendered by Group:Basis.

Housekeeping: The balance of the 2 hour council meeting was taken up with mostly housekeeping business, which while not very interesting is all necessary for the orderly running of the city's business.

Meeting was adjourned shortly after 9:00 pm meaning that Councilor Greves first council meeting as a Councilor was about as easy as they get. No contentious zoning issues, no discussion of wet housing, no discussion of the financial plan, which could have been disappointing if the new councilor wanted to jump in and save taxes by reducing the new financial plan.