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1997-04-07_Minutes 86-322 COMMON COUNCIL APRIL 7,1997 At a meeting of the Common Council, held at the City Hall in the City of Saint John, on Monday, the seventh day of April, A.D. 1997, at 4:00 o'clock p.m. present Shirley McAlary, Mayor Councillors Arthurs, Ball, Brown, Chase, Fitzpatrick, Gould, Knibb, Trites, Vincent and Waldschutz - and - Messrs. D. Wilson, Acting City Manager; J. Nugent, City Solicitor; C. Robichaud, Commissioner of Municipal Operations; P. Groody, Commissioner of Human Resources; W. Butler, Commissioner of Community Services; P. Woods, Deputy Commissioner of Finance; J. Baird, Manager of Community Planning; D. Logan, Purchasing Agent; W. Edwards, Building Inspector; D. LeBlanc, Manager of Industrial Parks; G. Tait, Fire Chief; D. Sherwood, Chief of Police; Police Csts. D. Parks, D. Oram and J. Wilcox; Mrs. M. Munford, Common Clerk; and Ms. C. Joyce, Assistant Common Clerk. 1. MeetinQ Called To Order - OpeninQ Prayer Mayor McAlary called the meeting to order, and Reverend Gordon O'Coin of Calvary Temple offered the opening prayer. 2. Approval of Minutes On motion of Councillor Knibb Seconded by Councillor Fitzpatrick RESOLVED that minutes of the meeting of Common Council, held on Tuesday, April 1 , 1997, be approved. Question being taken, the motion was carried. 3. Mayor's Remarks Mayor McAlary proclaimed April 13 to 19 to be Volunteer Week in the City of Saint John, and thanked the citizens of Saint John for, through their volunteer efforts, improving the quality of life in the City. Ms. Tracey Somers, Executive Director of the Saint John Volunteer Centre, addressed Council in this regard, and offered a challenge to the members of Common Council to pledge one hour of volunteer service during Volunteer Week. The Mayor noted, with sympathy, the death of Nancy Milligan on April 5, and extended a message of condolence to her husband, Dr. Frank Milligan and the family. * Added Item On motion of Councillor Gould Seconded by Councillor Knibb RESOLVED that the letter from the Commissioner of Municipal Operations (copies of which were forwarded to Council members as an information item), concerning the Crane Mountain landfill, be added to the agenda of this meeting for consideration as item 4A. Question being taken, the motion was carried. 86-323 COMMON COUNCIL APRIL 7,1997 Deputy Mayor Chase asked that his letter under item 8 on the agenda be considered in conjunction with item 7, his letter under item 9 on the agenda be dealt with as part of item 28, and his letter under item 10 be considered subsequent to consideration of item 11. * Added Item On motion of Councillor Vincent Seconded by Councillor Ball RESOLVED that the letter from the Town of Quispamsis (copies of which were distributed to Council members at this meeting), regarding the Fundy Region Solid Waste Commission, be added to the agenda of this meeting for consideration as item 4B. Question being taken, the motion was carried. The Mayor noted Council's receipt at this meeting of a letter from the Fundy Region Solid Waste Commission submitting, further to its resolution of March 27, three Project Management Reports to date and all the General Meeting minutes for the current year; and asked that Council receive future Project Management Reports and General Meeting minutes as an information item, rather than as a Council agenda item. On motion of Councillor Vincent Seconded by Councillor Fitzpatrick RESOLVED that the above-submitted and future Project Management Reports and General Meeting minutes of the Fundy Region Solid Waste Commission be received by Council as an information item. Question being taken, the motion was carried. 4. Fundy ReQion Solid Waste Commission The Mayor advised her intent, with the consensus of Council, in view of an anticipated lengthy Council meeting, to recess at 6:00 o'clock p.m. and reconvene the Council meeting at 6:30 o'clock p.m. Mr. Daniel Harrigan, Chairperson of the Fundy Region Solid Waste Commission, advised that the Commission's agenda for this presentation would include his opening remarks and introduction of the delegation, a presentation by Mr. Peter Klohn on last week's Council meeting, a Project Management firm report by Mr. Robert Lutes of GEMTEC Ltd., Mr. Royal MacDonald, Site Engineer with Neill and Gunter Limited, and Mr. Mitch Smith, Project Manager for Porter Dillon, closing remarks, and questions and answers; introduced the Commission members, members of the Technical Committee, the Commission's legal staff, and Department of the Environment staff, including Deputy Minister Don Dennison, who were present at the meeting; and noted the presence of original past Chairperson of the Fundy Region Solid Waste Action Team, Mr. William Artiss. Mr. Klohn of the Stewart McKelvey Stirling Scales law firm, which represented the Commission on construction-related matters and being part of a team of legal advisors, addressed Council on the following five issues identified by the Commission as being of concern for everybody involved:- (1) the structure and operation of the Commission, including the role and responsibility of the participating municipality; in other words, where the City of Saint John fits into the process and what problems have been encountered together; (2) the reasons for requesting to be heard in closed session of Council; (3) the presentation to Council on April 1 by GeoSyntec and Mr. Neil Williams and negotiations on the design contract; (4) the compliance with laws governing tendering of contracts, including conflict of interest provisions and a desire by some to audit the affairs of the Commission; and (5) newspaper headlines in view of difficulties encountered in trying to have good public relations. In addressing the first issue, Mr. Klohn commented on the difficulty of Commission members in trying to schedule their participation and balance their responsibility to their municipalities and to the Commission, as well as on the participation of City of Saint John staff in the 86-324 COMMON COUNCIL APRIL 7,1997 process; and expressed disagreement with the City Manager's indication to Council at its last meeting that these staff members should not report to Council but rather should report in a supporting role to presentations such as this by the Commission in that, in the Commission's view, Council should hear from its staff in order to ensure that the questions Council asks are the real questions that Council wants answered and are ones that the Commission cannot not give answers to in some other format as it is not possible for people like the Chairperson, who is a volunteer as are all Commission members, to appear before every participating municipality and go through this process; thus, the Commission would appreciate Council giving City staff the opportunity to fill Council in as much as possible as the Commission has attempted not to interfere with municipalities in a way that might be considered inappropriate by circumventing the authority of their staff representatives or their chosen member; although, if Council did not like the way this was being set up and would like to have a different type of communication, that could be changed. With regard to the second issue, Mr. Klohn explained that the things the Commission wanted to talk to Council about in closed session of Council were related to potential legal and personnel matters and so on which, if discussed in an open session, could expose everybody to liability, including the participating municipality; thus, it could be determined in closed session what things were appropriate for the Commission to subsequently present in open session; therefore, the Commission, in its appearance at this meeting, would be limited in what it could say about those things it thinks might fall into that category of legal, personnel or other things that might properly be discussed in closed session. Mr. Klohn addressed the third issue on the basis that, having negotiated for a design contract with the Canadian representatives for Mr. Neil Williams of GeoSyntec Consultants, negotiations were terminated because GeoSyntec felt that the contract the Commission was asking for was unfair and the Commission felt that what GeoSyntec wanted was too restrictive and did not respect the Commission's rights as owner; and advised that the following week, after one meeting, the Commission signed the contract that GeoSyntec rejected, at considerable saving to the Commission. Mr. Klohn, in dealing with the fourth issue of compliance with laws governing tendering of contracts, including conflict of interest and the desire by some members of Common Council to audit the affairs of the Commission, made the observation that the Commission is governed, as is the City, by the provisions of the Public Purchasing Act, which the Commission has respected, and asked Council's help in dismissing the kind of criticism about a conflict because the Chairman of the Technical Committee is an employee of Saint John Shipbuilding and another Irving company may bid competitively in a public tender for a Commission contract, as this does not violate any of the conflict of interest provisions; and advised that, on the issue of an audit, the Chairperson has expressed his willingness to let it proceed, if somebody thinks an audit of Commission affairs is necessary or helpful and can figure out anything that has not been reviewed at this point by somebody else and if the cost is not to be taken from the Commission's budget, and if that is what it takes to restore Council's confidence. Mr. Klohn addressed the fifth issue of newspaper headlines in terms of the Commission's attempts, while difficult with volunteers and staff members who are not experts in public relations, to convey its message on what has been accomplished; and concluded to the effect that, while there is a win-win situation that needs to be explored and the Commission's presence at this meeting may be the first part of the process of talking through some of the issues and trying to work out some of the frustrations expressed by Council, the solid waste facility is on budget and on target but the time schedule is so tight that it must be ensured that, if the Commission and the City get hung up, they should get hung up on the real differences. Mr. Lutes reviewed a Status Report (copies of which were distributed to Council members at this time) on the various waste management components, the current project schedule and Project Managers' reports to date; and noted the concern with respect to scheduling in that, if the project were not up and running by October 1, the consequence of a delay of even one or two months would ultimately lead to probably ten to twelve months and the project being delayed for the winter months. Mr. Harrigan apprised Council of the Commission's present ongoing aspects of the projects, including design, diversion, visibility, leachate, management plan, well water, ground water, highway design and recreation; and advised that there were but two obstacles between now and the October 1 opening, one being the weather, the other being the 2/3 - 2/3 spending which was the subject of the Commission's letter to Council and a resolution of Common Council on October 21, 86-325 COMMON COUNCIL APRIL 7,1997 1996 and accepted by the Commission on October 24, 1996. Mr. Harrigan re-iterated the Commission's request for the latter matter to be dealt with in closed session of Council; and commented on two interpretations which could be taken in this regard, one that would take to and include the 1997 capital and operating budget which was passed, along with monthly progress reports as submitted at this meeting, or one that would take the issue to the extreme by saying that Council, along with all the other councils, are responsible for the purchase of, for example, pencils the Commission buys on its $20 million budget. Mr. Harrigan expressed agreement with the former interpretation; and notified Council that, if the interpretation were the latter, the opening of the landfill would not take place this year and, in fact, would be delayed a full twelve months. Members of the delegation responded to questions in the above regard. Following a recess at 6:00 o'clock p.m., the Council meeting reconvened at 6:30 o'clock p.m., when there were present Mayor McAlary and Councillors Arthurs, Ball, Brown, Chase, Fitzpatrick, Gould, Knibb, Vincent and Waldschutz. Further questions were asked of and responded to by members of the delegation during which time Councillor Ball advised his intent to bring back to the floor, with revision, the motion which was tabled at the last meeting with regard to the Commission, and the Mayor thanked the members of the delegation for meeting with Council. (Deputy Mayor Chase withdrew from the meeting.) On motion of Councillor Ball Seconded by Councillor Vincent RESOLVED that the motion tabled at the last meeting with regard to the Fundy Region Solid Waste Commission be taken from the table and, with a slight modification, considered at this time. Question being taken, the motion was carried with Councillors Brown, Knibb and Waldschutz voting "nay". (Deputy Mayor Chase re-entered the meeting.) Councillor Ball proposed a motion, which was seconded by Councillor Vincent, that the Mayor and members of Common Council, in the interest of standards and proper communication, request that Mr. Vaughn Blaney, Minister of the Environment, initiate an indepth review of the inner workings, financial operations, construction procedures and decision-making powers involving the Fundy Region Solid Waste Commission. Councillor Ball noted the addition to the motion as tabled on April 1 of the words "and proper communication". Councillor Knibb, speaking in opposition to the proposed motion, commended the Commission and members of the delegation for the excellent manner in which they responded to the questions asked at this meeting; and suggested that, rather than adopt the above motion which would delay the project and result in an additional cost to the City and the taxpayers, Council should express confidence in the Fundy Region Solid Waste Commission. Mayor McAlary advised that she could not support the motion in that Council members, at this meeting, were provided the opportunity to ask whatever questions they wanted of the Commission and the Commission has obliged by being present at this meeting and responding to questions, and there should be no question in any Council member's mind that has not been asked to the Commission; and suggested that, if Council members did not agree with the Commission, Council could discuss this later in that there would have to be more direct questions and grave concerns before going to the Minister. Councillor Fitzpatrick advised that, before he could support the motion, he would have to hear more concerns expressed by Council. On motion of Councillor Fitzpatrick Seconded by Councillor Vincent 86-326 COMMON COUNCIL APRIL 7,1997 RESOLVED that the above motion be laid on the table. Question being taken, the tabling motion was lost with the Mayor and Councillors Arthurs, Brown, Chase, Knibb and Waldschutz voting "nay". Deputy Mayor Chase called for the question on the original motion, which was subsequently withdrawn. 14. Tender For Asphaltic Concrete Mixes On motion of Councillor Knibb Seconded by Deputy Mayor Chase RESOLVED that as recommended by the City Manager, the tender of LaFarge Canada Inc. be accepted for the supply of asphaltic concrete mixes for the 1997 construction season, as recommended in the submitted summary of bids. Question being taken, the motion was carried. 16. Tender For Fire Pumper On motion of Councillor Vincent Seconded by Councillor Fitzpatrick RESOLVED that as recommended by the City Manager, the tender of Superior Emergency Vehicles Ltd., in the amount of $319,931 (plus tax), be accepted for the manufacture and supply of one new fire pumper unit. Councillor Waldschutz expressed the view that the above purchase should be delayed pending what might happen on the amalgamation issue, and Chief Tait expressed the view that the purchase should proceed in that, having identified the above purchase during the 1997 Capital Budget consideration at which time he did a presentation on why the 26-year old truck should be replaced with a new unit, the purchase should proceed he did not have faith in the current equipment be as dependable as it should be and also, as it would take 180 days to build the truck in question, it would be almost a year before it would be received. Councillor Brown asked about the performance history of the current pumper, and why the years of use as opposed to the actual use of the vehicle were so critical, to which Chief Tait advised that the City shops would have the performance information, and expressed the opinion that, in going back basically to the business of providing fire protection and life and property safety and to believe that a 26-year old truck could still be a first line truck to respond to those types of situations, the truck has gone past its life. Question being taken, the motion was carried with Councillors Brown and Waldschutz voting "nay". (Councillor Vincent withdrew from the meeting.) 5. Saint John Police Force Implementation Team Update Consideration was given to a report from the Chief of Police expressing the opinion that the weekly presentations to Council of the Saint John Police Force Implementation Team's update reports on its activities of the past week have not contained very much detail or have they been of a great deal of value to Council; advising that, while the Team members feel that Council must be informed of issues in an appropriate and timely fashion, they feel that weekly reporting is not achieving the desired results and believe that a monthly report to Council would meet Council's objectives; and recommending that the Chief of Police report to Council on a monthly basis on the last Monday of the month on the process being carried out by the Implementation Team. Chief Sherwood and Cst. Parks addressed the above report, and noted 86-327 COMMON COUNCIL APRIL 7,1997 the presence at the meeting of the Team facilitator Mr. Keith Taylor, and the new Team member Cst. John Wilcox, as well as civilian member Anne Marie Mullin. On motion of Councillor Knibb Seconded by Councillor Brown RESOLVED that the Chief of Police report to Council on a monthly basis on the last Monday of the month on the process being carried out by the Implementation Team. (Councillor Vincent re-entered the meeting.) In response to Councillor Waldschutz, Chief Sherwood apprised Council of action being undertaken by the Team's sub-committees and ad hoc committees on the recommendations in the Perivale + Taylor report; and Councillor Waldschutz suggested that, as he has found the Chief's reporting to Council unsatisfying to the extent that there is nothing of consequence, rather than asking the Chief to report to Council on a weekly basis, the members of the Team's sub-committees and ad hoc committees could report to Council, and perhaps the Chief could report monthly, thereby removing the burden of weekly reporting from the Chief so that he could go about his real job but still ensuring that Council would be getting a sense of the Team's activities in that, for example, he had no idea that the Team was addressing fifteen or more recommendations of the Perivale + Taylor report as indicated by the Chief at this meeting. Chief Sherwood suggested that Council might not find it very meaningful, in and of itself, to have the ad hoc committees reporting on a weekly basis; and Cst. Parks advised that the sub-committees report to the Team and the Team has already made the agreement that nothing would be reported to Council until the Team endorses it. Councillor Fitzpatrick suggested that the Team should continue to report weekly to Council, even if it were a verbal report. Mayor McAlary expressed the view that, as communication was referenced in the Perivale + Taylor report as one of the biggest problems in the Police Force and it is very important for the Chief to develop a good relationship with Council, there would be no better way for the Chief to develop this relationship than to communicate with Council on a weekly basis. Question being taken, the motion was lost with the Mayor and Councillors Arthurs, Ball, Chase, Fitzpatrick, Gould, Trites, Vincent and Waldschutz voting "nay". On motion of Councillor Fitzpatrick Seconded by Councillor Waldschutz RESOLVED that the above report from the Saint John Police Force Implementation Team be received and filed. Question being taken, the motion was carried. 19. Resignation Of S.E. Patterson Police Force Implementation Team On motion of Councillor Fitzpatrick Seconded by Councillor Knibb RESOLVED that the report from the Chief of Police advising of the resignation of Cst. S. E. Patterson from the Saint John Police Force Implementation Team and the subsequent appointment by CUPE Local No. 61 of Cst. John D. Wilcox to the Team -- be received and filed and Council thank Cst. Patterson for his service on the Team and wish Cst. Wilcox every success. Question being taken, the motion was carried. *4A. Crane Mountain Landfill On motion of Councillor Knibb Seconded by Councillor Fitzpatrick RESOLVED that the letter from the 86-328 COMMON COUNCIL APRIL 7,1997 Commissioner of Municipal Operations submitting, as a City staff member on the Technical Review Committee of the Fundy Region Solid Waste Commission, information relative to the Crane Mountain landfill project -- be received and filed. Question being taken, the motion was carried. *4B. Town Of Quispamsis Re Fundy ReQion Solid Waste Commission On motion of Councillor Knibb Seconded by Councillor Waldschutz RESOLVED that the letter from the Town of Quispamsis advising that it has gone on record supporting the Saint John Common Council's endeavours to seek clarification from the Fundy Region Solid Waste Commission on the processes and procedures it uses acting on behalf of the Fundy Region municipalities -- be received and filed. Question being taken, the motion was carried. 6. Resignation From Fundy ReQion Solid Waste Commission Consideration was given to a letter from Mayor McAlary recommending that Council accept her resignation from the Fundy Region Solid Waste Commission and refer the matter to the Nominating Committee. A motion was proposed by Councillor Knibb and seconded by Deputy Mayor Chase to thank the Mayor for her service on the Fundy Region Solid Waste Commission and that Councillor Brown be appointed to the Commission. Councillor Waldschutz suggested that the motion should be considered in two parts, and the Mayor called for a motion to take from the table of the April 1, 1997 Committee of the Whole meeting her letter of resignation from the Commission. On motion of Councillor Vincent Seconded by Councillor Fitzpatrick RESOLVED that the Mayor's letter of resignation from the Fundy Region Solid Waste Commission, which was tabled in Committee of the Whole on April 1, be taken from the table and considered at this time. Question being taken, the motion was carried. On motion of Councillor Fitzpatrick Seconded by Councillor Waldschutz RESOLVED that Council accept Mayor McAlary's resignation from the Fundy Region Solid Waste Commission with thanks, and refer the matter to the Nominating Committee for a recommendation in one week. Question being taken, the motion was carried with Deputy Mayor Chase voting "nay". 7. Drinking Establishments On Prince William Street On motion of Councillor Waldschutz Seconded by Deputy Mayor Chase RESOLVED that the letter from Councillor Waldschutz expressing concern about businesses operating on Prince William Street in such a fashion that recent brawls have resulted in arrests and damage to Police equipment, as well as about the matter of the reputation of the area -- be referred to the City Manager, the Chief of Police, the Fire Chief, the Superintendents of 86-329 COMMON COUNCIL APRIL 7,1997 School Districts #6 and #8, the Building Inspector, and the Provincial Liquor Control Inspectors for such action as they deem appropriate with a request to report back to Council. Councillor Waldschutz, in proposing the above motion, added to his recommendation a referral to the Superintendents of School Districts #6 and #8, and during his comments on the issue and with the consent of the seconder, added a referral to the Building Inspector. Question being taken, the motion was carried. 8. Multi-Department Enforcement On motion of Deputy Mayor Chase Seconded by Councillor Vincent RESOLVED that the letter from Deputy Mayor Chase suggesting that the ongoing problems on Prince William Street coupled with recent news media reporting on the South Central Citizens Group call for coordinated enforcement efforts, or cooperation by Building Inspection, Legal, Fire Department and Police and that, if there were some impediment to coordinated universal action by a joint effort of the enforcement community, Common Council should be apprised so it can take steps necessary to remove same -- be referred in conjunction with item 7 on the agenda of this meeting. Question being taken, the motion was carried. Deputy Mayor Chase proposed a motion that the meeting be adjourned until 7:00 o'clock p.m., Tuesday, April 8, whereupon the Mayor advised that, having spoken to the Acting City Manager, the remaining items on the agenda could wait until the next regularly-scheduled Council meeting. Adjournment On motion of Deputy Mayor Chase Seconded by Councillor Fitzpatrick RESOLVED that this meeting be adjourned. Question being taken, the motion was carried. Common Clerk