Friday, June 20, 2014

Nanaimo City Council Meeting - June 23


nanaimo-info-blog.com

  Nanaimo City Council Meeting

Monday June 23, 2014
7:00 PM Shaw Auditorium
Vancouver Island Conference Centre

This meetings agenda includes 373 pages of information, which council is expected to study, research and digest before next Monday evening and then make informed decisions that effect all of Nanaimo. They might even like some time for friends and family and other fun summertime stuff also. This does not seem like a recipe for good governance.
  • 2013 Annual Municipal Report
  • DVP 1835 Bowen Rd.
  • DVP 1820 Summerhill Place
  • DVP 2558 Nadely Crescent
  • Rezoning application - 74 Lenwood Road and 1601 Extension Rd.
  • Liquor Licence Application - New York Style Pizza and Pasta
  • Notice of Disposition - lease and licence disposition to Island Ferry Services Ltd.
  • Land exchange agreement 155 Westwood Road
  • Application for subdivision and recreational trail uses in ALR - 155 Westwood Rd. and 2088/2090 & 2092 Skaha Drive
  • Application for subdivision and recreational trail uses in ALR - 154 Westood Rd.
  • Unresolved Building Deficiencies 
  • Statement of Financial Information
  • Amendments to the General Election Bylaw
  • RCMP Quarterly Report (Jan. - Mar. 2014)
  • Nanaimo Fire Rescue Update
  • Proposed Nanaimo Boathouse and Paddling Centre
  • Travel assistance grant - John Barsby Bulldog Theatre
  • Travel assistance grant - Nanaimo track and field club - Wellington school
  • Travel assistance grant - NDSS Soccer
  • Knowles Estate Reserve Fund Request - South Side Minor Football Assoc.
  • Sport tournament Grants - Final Intake
  • Departure Bay Rd. and Park Ave. Sanitary Replacement Tender
  • Sherwood Forest Utility Upgrade Tender
  • Structure Removal - 13 Gillespie Street
  • Property Maintenance Bylaw (several properties addressed)

      Democracy Is Too Important To Leave To The Politicians
      Do Your Civic Duty By Getting Informed and Getting Involved

      If you say: " I'm too busy just trying to keep it together to get involved, consider that perhaps, if you were more involved you might not be having so much trouble keeping it together "!

      You can view this Council Meeting Agenda here - - -  Agenda .

      If you can't attend council meetings in person (preferred) you can watch regular council meetings on Shaw cable channel #4. You can also watch the meetings live on the city website using this link. 

      The regular city council meetings are the only ones broadcast live on either Shaw Cable or streaming video from the city website. The Committee of the Whole meetings, while not broadcast live are recorded and can be viewed on the city website HERE.


       Some Council Decisions You Might Want To Think About

      The city just agreed to pay an outside firm nearly $25,000 to review the city website's content and set up a navigation structure. Our IT head gets paid about $150,000 a year and IT staff are paid at least $37.00/hr. and yet they can't properly set up the city website?

      The city paid a consulting firm $75,000 for the purpose of reviewing and developing governance-related policy, structures and processes. (In other words to tell the city manager and mayor how to do their jobs). A recommendation that came out of this report was the hiring of Alison Habkirk (an associate of Jerry Berry) at a cost of $8500, again to tell city management and council how to do their jobs.
       
      Council decided to spend $120,000 to install a public toilet at Diana Krall Plaza.

      Council decided to spend at least $200,000 on the old theatre on Victoria Rd. when a $20,000 solution would have done, until it is decided what is to be done with the building long term. Two engineers have raised questions about the seismic standard of the building, but staff seem content to ignore the concern.  

      By deciding to bring downtown parking enforcement 'in-house' which was supposed to save tax dollars, we are now going to lose $140,000 in the first year.

      We are paying over $60,000/yr. for downtown parking attendants (meter maids).

      We gave a $300,000 tax exemption to the bar operating in the old train station. This exemption was originally thought to apply to the area of the train station used as a train station and not the area operating as a pub.   

      Council decided to spend $170,000 on an electric Zamboni, when a propane fueled one costs $80,000 and does the same job.

      Council decided to spend thousands of dollars to implement a policy of banning the sale of bottled water at civic facilities.

      Council decided to add another $700,000 to the $844,000,000 financial plan to pay for a communications person (spin doctor), do you think that is a good use of YOUR tax dollar??

      Two years ago they decided to spend $16,000,000.00 on a new staff office, an amount equal to YOUR tax increase for 5 years! 





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