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1993-01-11_Minutes 83-893 COMMON COUNCIL JANUARY 11, 1993 At a meeting of the Common Council, held at the City Hall in the City of Saint John, on the eleventh day of January AD., 1993, at 4:00 o'clock p.m. present Elsie E. Wayne, Mayor Councillors Chase, Coughlan, Gould, Knibb, Landers, McAlary, Rogers, Trites, A Vincent and M. Vincent - and - Messrs. J. Brown, City Manager; F. Rodgers, City Solicitor; D. Wilson, Commissioner of Finance; C. Robichaud, Assistant City Manager - Operations; J. C. MacKinnon, Commissioner of Environment and Infrastructure Services; S. Bedford, Commissioner of Development Services; S. Armstrong, Director of Engineering; W. D. Todd, Director of Housing and Property Management; B. Morrison, Director of Parks; J. Baird, Manager- Development Division; D. Sherwood, Chief of Police; G. Tait, Deputy Fire Chief; Mrs. M. Munford, Common Clerk; and Ms. C. Joyce, Assistant Common Clerk. Reverend Michael Trites of Edith Avenue Baptist Church offered the opening prayer. On motion of Councillor Knibb Seconded by Councillor M. Vincent RESOLVED that minutes of the meeting of Common Council, held on January 4, 1993, be approved. Question being taken, the motion was carried. The Mayor called for a motion to express appreciation to Mayor Jim Watt and the Council of the Village of Gondola Point for taking the leadership role among the other area municipalities by agreeing to contribute to the operating cost of the Saint John Regional Exhibition Centre. On motion of Councillor Chase Seconded by Councillor Landers RESOLVED that the Common Council of the City of Saint John express appreciation to Mayor Jim Watt and the Council of the Village of Gondola Point for agreeing to contribute to the operating cost of the Saint John Regional Exhibition Centre. Question being taken, the motion was carried. Councillor Coughlan, Chairman of the Rockwood Park Advisory Board, commented on the Winterfest '93 activities scheduled for January 15 and 16; and Councillor M. Vincent expressed concern about the closure, be it of a permanent or temporary nature, of the Exhibition Park Raceway in view of the number of persons who are employed at the Raceway who will not be working during its closure, and expressed the hope that the parties involved can address in a responsible fashion whatever difficulties there are and find a resolve to the problem so that the persons concerned can return to work. The Mayor advised that she met last week with the President of the Exhibition Association and has been in contact with Mr. John Davidson of the Horsemen's Association and will update Council in this regard; and suggested that, if there is a resolution of Council, it should be forwarded to the Premier of New Brunswick who set up the New Brunswick Commission which, apparently, would not allow the race dates, asking him to intercede in an attempt to get those concerned back to work. On motion of Councillor Knibb Seconded by Councillor M. Vincent RESOLVED that the Premier of New Brunswick be asked to intercede in the matter of the Exhibition Park Raceway. 83-894 COMMON COUNCIL JANUARY 11, 1993 Question being taken, the motion was carried. Read a letter from Mayor Wayne submitting correspondence from Mr. William D. Farren, President of Local 362, Brewery & Soft Drink Workers Union, requesting that Council consider adopting a motion in support of refillable beverage container legislation for the Province of New Brunswick. The Mayor advised that the City Manager has indicated that he would like an opportunity to review the above matter. On motion of Councillor Rogers Seconded by Councillor Chase RESOLVED that the above matter be referred to the City Manager for review. During discussion it was suggested that the breweries and soft drink industry should be asked for an opinion about the proposed legislation. Question being taken, the motion was carried. Consideration was given to a letter from Councillor A. Vincent asking, as it has been brought to his attention by many East Saint John citizens that it is the intention of the City to close the Simonds Arena, the City Manager to confirm or deny this, as this has never been passed by Council; advising that he would not support the closing of the Simonds Arena under any circumstances; and also asking the City Manager to confirm that senior staff in Recreation is making plans to move equipment from the Simonds Arena to the Lancaster Arena at the close of this season. The Mayor made the observation that Council, not staff, would make any decision to close an arena; and advised that staff, as indicated in Committee of the Whole, will be submitting a report to Council on defects that need to be addressed with respect to the Simonds Arena and funding needed to do so. Mr. Brown explained that the Simonds Arena is already programmed for the 1992-1993 season to the end of March 1993, and that, as the building was constructed in 1967, Property Management has completely assessed the building and a program will be developed for the building, including the refrigeration system, in terms of what needs to be done to bring it back up to standards; however, also during 1993 it is the intention of the Recreation Department to undertake a comprehensive review of all the arena programs in the City and that the conclusions of this review, along with the recommendations with respect to actions which have 0 be taken to upgrade the Simonds Arena, will be submitted to Council. Mr. Brown confirmed that, at the staff level, no recommendations have been made to Council, which is the authority which would make any decision with respect to arenas, to close any arena in the City; and, in terms of transferring equipment, he is aware, although it may have been discussed operationally, of no discussion in this regard and no staff decision has been made to transfer any equipment from Simonds Arena to any other arena. During discussion the Mayor suggested that staff should attempt to determine how the rumour started about the closure of the Simonds Arena in view of petitions which were circulated in this regard; Mr. Brown expressed the understanding that the Simonds Arena is very safe for people to use, and Mr. Todd commented on the study carried out last year of the Simonds Centennial Arena to deal specifically with the structural integrity of the building and, particularly, of the slab on which the ice surface is placed and its use during the Exhibition in view of the weight that would be placed upon it, which satisfied staff that it was safe and, indeed, the Exhibition Association was allowed use of the facility and explained that, while there is work required to the facility to bring it up to current standards, that work is not necessary at this point to ensure its safety. Mr. Robichaud advised his intent to follow-up and report to Council on Councillor A. Vincent's query with respect to telephone service to the Simonds Arena, and Mr. Morrison advised that the telephones at the arenas are basically for the office of the person who maintains the ice and services the building and that, in order to obtain information on programming at the arenas, it is necessary to telephone the Recreation Department, and that his has been the practice since before his tenure with the City. 83-895 COMMON COUNCIL JANUARY 11, 1993 On motion of Councillor Knibb Seconded by Councillor McAlary RESOLVED that as recommended by the City Manager, authority be granted for the following construction progress certificate, namely:- 1. Contract PC8050 - Electrical Renovations, West Works GaraQe Keith R. Beyea, Electrical Contractor Ltd. Original contract amount Total work done, Estimate Number 2 Retention Payments previously approved Sum recommended for payment, Progress Estimate Number 2, dated December 31, 1992 Holdback release. $15,000.00 15,000.00 Nil 12,750.00 $ 2,250.00 Question being taken, the motion was carried. On motion of Councillor Knibb Seconded by Councillor McAlary RESOLVED that as recommended by the City Manager, authority be granted for payment of the following construction certificate, namely:- 1. Contract 92-24, Manchester Avenue Storm Sewer Construction Nautilus Construction & Rentals Ltd. Original estimated value of work Total work done, Estimate Number 32 Payments previously approved Sub-Total G.ST Component Sum recommended for payment, Progress Estimate Number 2, dated January 6, 1993 Final holdback release. $105,223,20 101,592.40 85,144.93 16,447.47 1,076.00 $ 16,447.47 Question being taken, the motion was carried. Read a letter from the City Manager submitting information on a request to the City Solicitor's Office from Mr. Ralph D. Poley, solicitor for the owner of 58-62 Victoria Street, for an easement to permit the encroachment of the dwelling on Victoria Street; and recommending adoption of the submitted resolution in this regard. On motion of Councillor Knibb Seconded by Councillor Landers RESOLVED that the Mayor and Common Clerk be authorized, in consideration of the payment of one dollar ($1.00), to execute a grant of easement in favour of Francis D. Haggarty and Gemma O. Haggarty, to permit the encroachment of their building upon Victoria Street, such easement to terminate with the destruction or removal of such encroachment. Question being taken, the motion was carried. Consideration was given to a report from the City Manager regarding the tender for the demolition of a three-storey wood frame structure located at 51-53 St. James Street (NBGIC Number 2824), which is to be demolished at the request of the Housing and Property Management Department. On motion of Councillor Knibb Seconded by Councillor Landers RESOLVED that as recommended by the City Manager, the tender of Paul's Trucking & Demolition Ltd., in the amount of $7,062, 83-896 COMMON COUNCIL JANUARY 11, 1993 be accepted for the demolition of the three-storey wood frame structure located at 51-53 St. James Street (NBGIC Number 2824). Question being taken, the motion was carried. Read a report from the City Manager, prepared as a result of the submitted letter received on January 8, 1993 from Mr. William Borland, concerning Irving Paper Ltd. 's application for a Municipal Plan amendment for property at 800 Bayside Drive and Midwood Avenue, the public presentation of which was made on October 13, 1992, with Council on November 16, 1992, having tabled further consideration of it pending review of environmental information; and explaining that, while environmental information was submitted to the Provincial Department of the Environment and has been reviewed by various agencies, including the City, there are many specific items which require further investigation and additional information has been requested by the Technical Review Committee (which includes the City) for the Provincial Department of the Environment, and the Department does not anticipate that it will be in a position to provide comments to the City on the proposal before early March, and the applicant, in the submitted letter, requests that the application proceed to public hearing at this time to maintain a schedule which would permit, given proper Provincial approvals, work proceeding in the 1993 construction season. The report advises that, should Council at its January 11, 1993 meeting refer the application to the Planning Advisory Committee, a public hearing date of February 15, 1993 would be possible; however, the Department of the Environment has indicated that complete and detailed comments would not be available prior to a February 1, 1993 public hearing; and recommending that the application for a Municipal Plan amendment remain tabled at this time. Councillor Rogers proposed a motion, which was seconded by Councillor Landers, that the above recommendation be adopted and, upon the Mayor's observation that there is no discussion on a tabling motion, Councillor Knibb suggested that the recommendation for the matter to remain tabled involves a policy decision and Council should be provided with an opportunity to discuss it. The Mayor asked the mover and seconder to withhold the tabling motion, and Mr. Rodgers made the observation that a tabling motion should have a reason, with Councillor Rogers' response being that the reason is that the information from the Province will not be available for the anticipated public hearing date. The Mayor asked if, because of the time factor in this regard in view of the Federal Government deadline of December 1995 and the property does not require re-zoning, it would be possible to proceed through the Municipal Plan amendment process and, if enacted, there could be an indication that a building permit would not be given until all environmental reviews are completed and finalized, rather than delaying the process a this time resulting in the possibility of the applicant not meeting the deadline. Councillor Rogers, on a point of order, suggested that, as the application was tabled at a previous meeting, the matter is not properly before Council at this time, and there should be a motion to take the matter from the table. Mr. Rodgers made the observation that, while Council normally would have set a public hearing date for the Municipal Plan amendment following the public presentation process, the matter was tabled for further information through a study that was to take place by another government agency, and that staff is now confirming that this tabling process should continue for a while longer; and expressed the opinion that Council is free to continue in that vein should it so wish, or to start the process; and also that, while staff is recommending that the tabling continue, Council, if it so wishes, can take the matter from the table, discuss it, and table it again. On motion of Councillor Trites Seconded by Councillor A. Vincent RESOLVED that the above matter be taken from the table for discussion. Question being taken, the motion was carried. Mr. Rodgers, in response to the Mayor's question about proceeding to bring the Municipal Plan and Zoning By-Law in line and withholding a building permit until all of the studies are completed, expressed the opinion that, once the zoning and Municipal Plan are synchronized and in place and the applicant meets the requirements, the applicant would be permitted to proceed and, if there is some other government 83-897 COMMON COUNCIL JANUARY 11, 1993 agency that has a regulation that is prohibiting the applicant from proceeding, that would be something outside of Council's control; and that Council could not proceed in getting the Municipal Plan and Zoning By-Law in place and then have a condition attached to that which would further prevent the applicant from proceeding. A motion was proposed by Councillor Knibb and seconded by Councillor A. Vincent that the application of Irving Paper Ltd. for a Municipal Plan amendment to redesignate property at 800 Bayside Drive and Midwood Avenue be referred to the Planning Advisory Committee for a report and recommendation and that the necessary advertising be authorized for the public hearing. Councillor Knibb made the observation that this is not the first time that the Municipal Plan is not in line with the zoning and Planning staff has indicated that the situation should be tidied up and the Plan and zoning be put together, therefore, there is nothing abnormal about proceeding at this time; and suggested that, should the process result in the Plan and zoning put in line, the City would have to hold, until the Provincial Government has completed its environmental review, on the situation through the building permit. Councillor Landers advised her intention to oppose the above motion on the basis on the indication in the above report that it is Council's practice to have a full and complete staff report as well as a Planning Advisory recommendation at the public hearing and, as the proposal is a significant development and Council and the community should have the benefit of all information and comments, including the Provincial Department of the Environment during the public hearing process; therefore, it would be perceived to be favouring one side should Council do anything else at this time. Councillor Trites asked if time could be saved by proceeding now with the public advertising to which Mr. Rodgers replied that the only consideration of a date with respect to having to start the process over again is six months from the date of the first public advertisement during which the by-law would have to be enacted. Discussion was with regard to the normal procedure for proposed Municipal Plan amendments from the point of view of staff's involvement following the public presentation and prior to Council's referral of the subject application to the Planning Advisory Committee, with Mr. Bedford's explanation for staff's involvement being that staff, in this project as in many others, has been working both with the applicant and the Ministry of the Environment all the way through the process, all of whom understood what was involved in the process and the requirement for the environmental impact assessment; and explained that, in this case, the Province has not been s expeditious as it would like in facilitating the process and developing the information from the environmental impact assessment and this is what has caused the delay, and that staff if informing Council of this delay. Mr. Rodgers explained that normally, when the process is started and reaches the stage of Council's referral of the application to the Planning Advisory Committee and setting of the date for the public hearing, Council is completely unaware, as it should be, with respect to anticipating what will arise at a public hearing in the future; however, in this particular case, the experts have a good understanding that there is some information that is not yet available but will be available at some point that is relevant to a public hearing and, as there is no provision in the Community Planning Act to adjourn a public hearing from the set date, staff is recommending that the date not be set at this time; therefore, although Council in a strict legal sense can proceed on, Council must decide how much relevant information it wants for a public hearing. In response to Deputy Mayor McAlary, Mr. Bedford clarified that the public hearing set by Council is a legislative requirement, while the Planning Advisory Committee's hearing is not a legislative requirement of the Community Planning Act but rather a requirement that the Committee has had in place to help it become aware of the issues of an application; and explained that, while Planning staff normally anticipates being able to provide a full report to the Committee for consideration working with the applicant when necessary on the availability of information in order to set a public hearing date and while the Committee can make its decision based on the information it has regardless of whether or not Planning staff thinks it has enough information, in this case neither the applicant nor the Department of the Environment thinks that the environmental information will be available by February 15. With regard to the next step if, should Council set the public hearing date for February 15, the Planning Advisory Committee advises Council on February 15 that it does not have all of the required information, Mr. Rodgers advised that, normally, what has happened in the past is that Council has not proceeded with the enactment in order to give the Committee time to submit its views; however, there would be no further public hearing as such when the Committee's views were submitted and that that is the problem with the legislation should Council set the public hearing date knowing that there is relevant 83-898 COMMON COUNCIL JANUARY 11, 1993 information that might not be available at the public hearing date. Mr. Rodgers also advised that, should it be possible for Council to choose a date on which it is quite certain that the relevant information would be available, it could set the public hearing date accordingly at this meeting; and suggested that, upon conclusion of this debate Council should consider tabling the matter as opposed to defeating the proposed motion in that the latter would probably necessitate starting the whole process over again back to the public presentation. Councillor A. Vincent suggested that the Minister of Environment, The Honourable Jane Barry, should be asked to expedite the environmental impact study; and the proposed motion was withdrawn with the consent of the mover and seconder. On motion of Councillor Rogers Seconded by Councillor Landers RESOLVED that the above matter be laid on the table. Question being taken, the motion was carried. (Councillor Gould withdrew from the meeting, as he was not present for the January 4 public hearings of the proposed By-Law amendments with regard to property on Pokiok Road and at 358 Charlotte Street West.) On motion of Councillor Knibb Seconded by Councillor McAlary RESOLVED that the by-law entitled, "A Law To Amend The Municipal Plan By-Law" by redesignating on Schedule 2-A, the Future Land Use Plan, an approximately 2.7 acre portion of a larger parcel of land located at 2 Pokiok Road (NBGIC Number 40287), from Open Space to Low Density Residential classification, be read a third time and enacted and the Common Corporate Seal be affixed thereto. The by-law entitled, "A Law To Amend The Municipal Plan By-Law", was read in its entirety. Question being taken, the motion was carried. On motion of Councillor Knibb Seconded by Councillor Chase RESOLVED that the by-law entitled, "By- Law Number C.P. 100-300 A Law To Amend The Zoning By-Law Of The City Of Saint John", insofar as it concerns re-zoning an approximately 2.7 acre portion of a larger parcel of land located at 2 Pokiok Road (NBGIC Number 40287), from "1-1" Light Industrial to "RM-1" Three-Storey Multiple Residential classification, be read a third time and enacted and the Common Corporate Seal be affixed thereto. The by-law entitled, "By-Law Number C.P. 100-300 A Law To Amend The Zoning By-Law Of The City Of Saint John", was read in its entirety. Question being taken, the motion was carried. On motion of Councillor Knibb Seconded by Councillor McAlary RESOLVED that the by-law entitled, "By- Law Number C.P. 100-301 A Law To Amend The Zoning By-Law Of The City Of Saint John", insofar as it concerns re-zoning a portion of the property at 358 Charlotte Street West (NBGIC Number 55061360 and part of NBGIC Number 55061352), from "IL-1" Neighbourhood Institutional to "R-2" One- and Two-Family Residential classification, be read a third time and enacted and the Common Corporate Seal be affixed thereto: AND FURTHER that pursuant to Section 39 of the Community Planning Act the said re-zoning be subject to the following conditions:- (a) the use of the parking lot at the rear of the property be discontinued; (b) a 1.5 metre (5 foot) wide strip along the institutional parcel adjacent to the area proposed for re-zoning be landscaped as 83-899 COMMON COUNCIL JANUARY 11, 1993 illustrated on a site plan to be approved by the Development Officer; (c) the landscaping to be completed by June 30, 11993; and (d) the developer be responsible for installing water and sewer services to the property line and reinstating the asphalt street, concrete curb and sidewalk and landscaping to same or better condition. The by-law entitled, "By-Law Number C.P. 100-301 A Law To Amend The Zoning By-Law Of The City Of Saint John", was read in its entirety. Question being taken, the motion was carried. (Councillor Gould re-entered the meeting.) On motion of Councillor M. Vincent Seconded by Councillor Coughlan RESOLVED that the memorandum from the Cities of New Brunswick Association, Inc., advising that the deadline to submit resolutions to the Association's Winter General meeting in Moncton is Friday, January 29 -- be referred to the City Manager. Question being taken, the motion was carried. On motion of Councillor M. Vincent Seconded by Councillor Landers RESOLVED that the letter from Grace O'Brien, Chairlady of TOPS '93 PRD, requesting grant assistance with respect to the TOPS Provincial Recognition Day Convention to be held in Saint John May 14 and 15, 1993 -- be referred to the City Manager for a report and recommendation. Question being taken, the motion was carried. On motion of Councillor Rogers Seconded by Councillor McAlary RESOLVED that the application of Diesel Power Services Ltd. for a Zoning By-Law text amendment with respect to 660 Brown Street be referred to the Planning Advisory Committee for a report and recommendation and that the necessary advertising be authorized in this regard, with the public hearing to be held on February 15, 1993. Mr. Baird confirmed that the applicant is requesting the above amendment as well as the amendment to Section 39 conditions of re-zoning as referred by Council at the last meeting. Question being taken, the motion was carried. On motion of Councillor Trites Seconded by Councillor Knibb RESOLVED that this meeting be adjourned. Question being taken, the motion was carried. Common Clerk