2016-08-24 Growth Committee Agenda PacketCity of Saint John
Growth Committee
AGENDA
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
12:00 pm
8th Floor Boardroom, City Hall
Pages
1. Call to Order
1.1 Election of Chair and Vice Chair
1.2 Review and recommendation for Approval of Draft Terms of Reference 1 - 4
1.3 Discussion of Priorities for next six month: Attached Staff report 5 - 9
1.4 Direction on Meeting Schedule
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City of Saint John Growth Standing Committee
Draft Terms of Reference
1. MANDATE
1) The purpose of the Growth Standing Committee is to strategically support Saint John
Common Council through recommendations on the social, economic and sustainable
growth of Saint John and to ensure the City is positioned as a community of choice.
2) The Primary responsibilities for the Growth Committee include:
a) Ensure that the City of Saint John's pursuit of growth upholds the highest level of
evidence -based decision-making and complements objectives established by long-
term strategic plans, including the City's municipal development plan (PlanSJ) and
related transportation plans, recreation plans, neighborhood plans, etc;
b) Ensure that the City of Saint John efficiently and effectively supports the community
and the development industry in the pursuit of growth opportunities through the
City's One Stop Development Shop program;
c) Establish clear objectives, deliverables and recommendations to Common Council
associated with the City of Saint John's annual operational and capital investment
into economic development; and
d) Support on ongoing identification, evaluation and implementation of new or
expanded revenue generation opportunities for the City Saint John.
2. MEMBERSHIP
1) The Growth Standing Committee shall consist of 5 members of Council;
2) The Members of the Growth Standing Committee shall be appointed by Council as
follows:
a) Five (5) members of Common Council; and the
b) Mayor sits as an ex -officio and non-voting member;
3) The Chair and the Vice Chair of the Growth Committee shall be selected by the
Committee;
4) Common Council shall make appointments to the Committee with rotating membership
every two years;
5) Where a member of the Growth Committee fails to attend three consecutive meetings of the
Committee without approval of the Committee, the member can be struck from the
Committee membership and replaced by an appointment of Council;
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6) In the event that any member ceases to be a member of the Growth Standing Committee
before the expiration of their term, Council may appoint another person to be a member for
the un -expired portion of the term;
7) In all other respects, the rules of procedure for the Committee shall be governed by the City's
Council Procedures Bylaw insofar as it may be applicable;
a) All decisions of the Committee shall be in the form of resolutions duly passed by a
majority of its members present. The Committee shall strive to reach consensus on issues,
and shall forward recommendations in the form of Growth Standing Committee
resolutions to the Council;
8) The Chairperson will act as a liaison between the Committee and Common Council;
9) The following city -sponsored agencies are expected to support the Growth Standing
Committee in fulfilling its mandate through periodic submissions and presentations:
a) Enterprise Saint John;
b) Discover SJ;
c) Saint John Industrial Parks; and
d) Saint John Development Corporation;
10) The following Committees of Council will be advisory to the Growth Standing
Committee as it relates to strategic policy or new program initiatives:
a) Planning Advisory Committee;
b) Heritage Development Board;
c) Saint John Substandard Property Appeals Committee; and
d) Trade and Convention Oversight Committee;
11) The Committees referenced in section 10 will report directly to Council on matters
pursuant to the applicable legislation in the Community Planning Act or Heritage
Conservation Act;
12) The Growth Committee may invite other agencies or special guests to provide updates
on strategic programs and activities related to growth including but not limited to:
a) Chamber;
b) Uptown Saint John;
c) Saint John Port Authority; and,
d) others as identified by the Committee.
3. MEETINGS
1) The Growth Committee shall meet monthly and/or as required at the call of the
Committee Chair;
2) Growth Committee meetings will be open to the public in accordance with the
requirements of Section 10.2 of the Municipalities Act. The public may be excluded
only in the circumstances identified therein;
3) Meetings shall be one to two hours in duration;
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4) Committee recommendations shall be presented to Common Council for consideration
and ratification;
5) Quorum for any meeting will be at least fifty (5 1) percent of the number of members of the
Committee;
6) Growth Committee meetings shall be directly supported by the Commissioner and/or Deputy
Commissioner of Growth and Community Development or their designates;
7) The City Manager or designate may attend all meetings of the Growth Committee;
8) The Committee will be provided with secretarial support by the Common Clerk's Office;
9) Any Committee Member with a conflict of interest associated with matters before the
Growth Committee shall identify the conflict to the Committee and remove themselves for
the portion of the meeting associated with the conflict.
4. ADMINISTRATIVE POWER AND DUTIES
1) The Committee shall provide leadership and oversight to growth related activities.
As a consequence of performing that work the Committee will provide advice and report in
writing to Council and/or provide written policy recommendations to Council with respect to:
a) Annual reporting on the City's growth performance as well as the short-term and long-
term forecasting of growth within the City of Saint John;
b) Articulation of priority areas for growth, corresponding strategies, targets, deliverables,
annual operating and capital investment into economic development and growth related
activities, and if necessary, provide specific directives to associated agencies, boards
and/or commissions;
c) Priority implementation initiatives for the City's Municipal Plan, P1anSJ, including
neighbourhood planning program, five year review and delivery of strategic plans and
programs;.
d) The identification, evaluation and implementation of new or expanded revenue
opportunities through the City's Corporate Revenue Generation Program;
e) Outcomes derived from analysis completed by the Growth Committee, including but not
limited to: task forces, studies, working groups, external reviews, investigations, audits,
public consultations, surveys; and
f) Ongoing identification of opportunities and obstacles in the pursuit of growth, and
corresponding strategies to respond.
5. REPORTING
1) The Common Clerk will ensure that as soon as practicable after each meeting, minutes of
that meeting including the names and titles of all persons present and a record of all
decisions reached, are prepared and distributed to all Members;
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2) The Committee Chair shall report to Common Council at least annually on the activities
of the Committee and a copy of the minutes of each meeting of the Committee will be
made available to members of Common Council.
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GROWTH COMMITTEE REPORT
M&C No.
# fri.tild cm sharel.roint
Report Date
August 17, 2016
Meeting Date
August 24, 2016
Service Area
Growth and Community
Development Services
Members of Growth Committee
SUBJECT. Growth Committee Procedures & Priorities
OPEN OR CLOSED SESSION
This matter is to be discussed in open session of the Growth Committee.
AUTHORIZATION
Primary Author
Commissioner/Dept. HeadL4
City Manager
Jacqueline Hamilton
Jacqueline Hamilton
m
I Jeff Trail
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the Growth Standing Committee:
1. Following discussion and further revision, recommend Common Council
approve the draft Terms of Reference for the Growth Standing Committee
(Attachment A);
2. Provide input to Growth and Community Development Services on the
priorities for the Committee's work over the next six months to guide
development of a work plan;
3. Provide input to Growth and Community Development Services on a preferred
meeting schedule.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report provides proposed actions and sequencing to support the creation, focus
and workload of the City's Growth Committee work over the course of the six month
pilot program. The focus for the inaugural meeting, is to seek critical input from the
Committee on the approach and priorities to ensure successful execution of the six
month pilot program approved by Common Council.
PREVIOUS RESOLUTION
On July 18, 2016 Council approved the formation of two Standing Committees of
Council, namely Growth & Finance Committees, as a pilot for the implementation of a
standing committee model of governance.
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STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT
These recommendations are intended to support good governance for Common
Council, enable strategic leadership in growth matters and improved relationship and
process for the ABCs which are responsible for growth.
REPORT
Background
In preparation for the inaugural meeting of the City's Growth Standing Committee, this
report highlights the proposed actions and sequencing to support the creation, focus
and workload of the Committee work over the course of the six month pilot program.
Apart from procedural matters, Committee Members are well -served to provide
feedback on the following key issues to initiate the activities of the recently created
Growth Committee:
• a draft terms of reference for the Committee (AttachmentA on this report);
• the identification of the Committee's priorities over the next six months; and
• direction on a preferred meeting schedule.
The terms of reference document is being coordinated with the Finance Standing
Committee and is recommended to receive approval of Common Council.
Discussion
Draft Terms of Reference
The draft terms of reference document included in AttachmentA of this report has been
prepared by staff to guide Committee discussions on issues related to the mandate,
structure and responsibilities of the Committee. It has been developed based on
direction established in the report approved by Council on July 18, 2016 and on a best
practice review of comparable committee structures in place in the Atlantic region
(notably the Cities of Fredericton and Halifax).
Staff are seeking input from the Committee on the draft terms of reference document,
in order for staff to make the necessary changes and ensure that the format and
structure of the Committee is consistent with the desired direction of Committee
Members. The intent is for the Committee to approve a terms of reference in order to
proceed with the regular business of the Committee.
As it relates to the terms of reference, Staff are seeking input from Committee Members
on the following questions: What do you see as the mandate, key responsibilities for
the Growth Standing Committee? Do you have suggested changes to the proposed
language in the draft terms of reference document?
1. What relationship would the Growth Committee like to establish with the
ABCs? Do you agree with the suggested approach to mandate regular reporting
to the Committee for the City -funded economic agencies? What role does the
Committee see in terms of defining outcomes and ensuring accountability with
ABCs (e.g. consideration of mandate letters)? Based on best practice, staff have
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proposed in the draft terms of reference that the following Council advisory
committees - Planning Advisory Committee, Heritage Development Board, and
Substandard Appeals Committee, should provide recommendations through the
Growth Committee to Council for new policy and program initiatives. However,
these Council advisory committees must maintain their regular reporting
directiv to Council on matters related to their legislative responsibilities.
Examples would include a modernization of the Heritage Bylaw or launch of a
new Neighbourhood Planning program.
2. Are there any other changes you would like to suggest to the draft terms of
reference document?
Staff welcomes the Committee's feedback on the document in particular
regarding the formality and procedure for meetings. The suggested approach is
to allow for a relatively informal approach to these meetings during the pilot
period (e.g., less formal procedures than COW or Council) and guided by the
framework of the City's Procedural Bylaw; the experience gained from the pilot
process will enable further operational procedures to be determined.
The Committee may also wish to provide advice on the role of the Mayor as a
"non-voting" member which was proposed in light of the potential number of
Committees to be implemented in the standing committee model in which the
Mayor participates as ex -officio on all committees. The Finance Committee is
recommending a revision to their terms of reference to enable the Mayor to be
a voting member of the committee. For consistency, the Growth Committee
would be well served to consider this revision.
Going forward at the conclusion of the six month pilot, upon a successful review
of the Committee's operations, it is anticipated that the terms of reference
documents for both Standing Committees could be adopted as part of the City's
Procedural Bylaw.
Priorities for the Next six months
It is critical for the successful execution of the pilot for the Growth Committee, that
there is clarity on the Committee's priority work plan over the next six months and the
measurements for success. Staff will support the Committee in developing a work plan
for the duration of the pilot program and as part of this effort, is seeking Council's input
on the following key questions:
3. Given the Committee's strategic role as a policy advisor to Council on growth
related matters, what would you identify as the top three priorities the
Committee should focus on during the next six months of the project? In order
to formulate the Committee's top priorities, Council Members are well -served
to consider the City's current challenges and opportunities as it relates to the
generation of new levels of growth.
4. What information (data or otherwise) would benefit the Committee in
achieving its priorities over the next six months? e.g., would the Committee
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like to hear from special guests / experts in the Growth and Development
field?
5. How would you define success at the end of the first six months of the pilot
project? This will be critical input to evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot
project for the Growth Standing Committee. There is also merit in facilitating
input from the Committee at the end of the pilot project phase on the
effectiveness of the Committee and opportunities for further improvements.
For the upcoming meeting, staff is requesting that Council members give consideration
to these key questions related to priorities and come prepared to share your views.
Staff will collect this information and return to the next meeting of the Committee with
a proposed schedule of discussion items for the next six months.
Meeting Scheduling
Finally, to achieve these outcomes it is recommended the Growth Committee adopt a
regular meeting schedule on a monthly basis to advance key priority files. Staff would
like input on the desired schedule, meeting duration and location. It is suggested that
for transparency, the meeting schedule be adopted and agenda packages and minutes
be made accessible on the City's website as is the case with Council.
6. What are the desired location, duration and schedule for the Committee's
meetings? The first meeting is proposed to be held in the 8t" floor Committee
Boardroom and pending input from the Committee, is an appropriate venue for
Growth Committee meetings. All meetings would be open meetings unless the
Committee decided to go in closed session for any items that meet the
requirements of the Municipalities Act.
The terms of reference propose monthly meetings of the Committee for up to
two hours in duration; further direction is needed on the schedule for these
meetings. The Committee will need to consider a schedule which avoids
conflicts with the Finance Committee, Planning Advisory Committee and
Heritage Development Board, given the cross representation of council
members on these Boards and Committees. For information, the practice in
both Fredericton and Halifax is to keep these meetings short in duration and to
hold during the daytime. Staff are seeking direction on the preferred meeting
schedule including direction on the day of the week and time (daytime or
evening) the Committee wishes to meet and any preferences in terms of
location. Staff will develop a meeting schedule for adoption at the next meeting
of the Committee.
The feedback on these key operational and strategic considerations will provide an
important foundation to enabling efficient, effective and transparent operations of
the Committee during the six month pilot program.
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SERVICE AND FINANCIAL OUTCOMES
These recommendations will enable the effective operations of the Committee over the
six month pilot and will support more strategic and effectiveness governance to drive a
growth agenda in Saint John.
INPUT FROM OTHER SERVICE AREAS AND STAKEHOLDERS
The content has also been informed by the draft terms of reference document
developed for the Finance Committee in order to ensure a consistent approach in the
formulation of the City of Saint John's Committee Structure. This report has benefitted
from the input and feedback from the City Manager, the Clerk's Office and Finance.
ATTACHMENTS
Draft Terms of Reference for the Growth Standing Committee