2003-10-27_Minutes--Procès-verbal
October 27, 2003
At a Public Committee of the Whole Meeting of Common Council, Held at the City Hall in
The City of Saint John, on Monday, the 27th day of October AD. 2003, at 5:00 O'clock
p.m.
present
Mayor McAlary,
Deputy Mayor White and Councillors Ball, Court, Desmond,
Fitzgerald, Fitzpatrick, Teed, Titus and Trites.
- and -
Messrs. 1. Totten, City Manager; J. Nugent, City Solicitor; A
Beckett, Commissioner of Finance and Corporate Services; J.
Baird, Commissioner of Planning and Development; B. Morrison,
Director of Leisure Services; P. Groody, Commissioner of
Municipal Operations; W. Edwards, Commissioner of Buildings
and Inspection Services; C. Cogswell, Chief of Police, R.
Simonds; Fire Chief; S. Galbraith, Director of Works; P. Hanlon,
Manager of Water and Sewerage Services, and P. Woods,
Common Clerk and Deputy City Manager, and Ms. E. Gormley,
Assistant Common Clerk.
Other staff members from the Fire Department, Common Clerk's
Office, Municipal Operations, and Leisure Services were present
at the meeting.
1. MeetinQ Called To Order
The Mayor called the meeting to order, and offered the opening prayer.
The Mayor made the following announcements: 1. the launch of the City's Growth
Strategy; the City's acquisition of the Lantic Sugar property; 2. there are approximately
30 Chinese citizens visiting the City with potential for establishing businesses; a new
building to be constructed at Somerset Technology Park for expansion of the Call Centre
Industry; and the addition of 200 new jobs announced for work on an expansion at the
Irving Refinery.
2. Approval of AQenda
On motion of Councillor Titus
Seconded by Councillor Fitzpatrick
RESOLVED that the agenda of this meeting be approved.
Question being taken, the motion was carried.
3. Proclamation
The Mayor proclaimed the week of October 26th, 2003 as "CBC Week in Saint John" in
The City of Saint John.
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October 27, 2003
4. Local 771 Request for a MeetinQ ReQardinQ Contract Proposals
On motion of Councillor Titus
Seconded by Deputy Mayor White
RESOLVED that the request of Local 771, IAFF Saint John Fire
Fighters' Association for a meeting to exchange contract proposals for a new collective
agreement as per article 28:01 prior to October 31, 2003 be received for information.
Question being taken, the motion was carried.
5. City ManaQer Report - Labour Relations Local 771 PendinQ NeQotiations
On motion of Councillor Titus
Seconded by Councillor Fitzgerald
RESOLVED that Common Council authorize the City Manager or
his designate to advise Local Union No. 771, of the Employer's desired additions,
deletions and alterations to the Agreement between the parties, prior to October 31st as
required under Article 28:01.
Question being taken, the motion was carried.
6. Labour Relations 10.2(4){j)
On motion of Councillor Titus
Seconded by Councillor Desmond
RESOLVED that the City Manager will meet with Council to
discuss labour relations issues regarding Locals 486 and 771 at the November 3rd
meeting of Council.
Question being taken, the motion was carried.
7. City of Saint John 2004 BudQet
The City Manager advised that after tonight's budget presentations, we will have
completed approximately 90% of the budget submissions, and that within a week he will
be able to present to Council the tax base figure and the unconditional grant. He
proceeded to outline the format for the departmental presentations as follows: Common
Clerk, Leisure Services; Fire Department; Municipal Operations and City Solicitor.
Common Clerk's BudQet - $897.411.
Mr. Woods presented the Common Clerk's budget explaining that the submission
combines the Clerk's office and the Communication Officer, and that there is a reduction
from last year's budget of approximately $6,000. He added that the Clerk's office is in
transition, having recently relocated within City Hall; hired 2 new employees; integrated
the Communications Officer into the Clerk's office; and introduced a range of new
technology, giving the example of the system in Council Chamber. He pronounced the
Clerk's goal as that of being the best in our class, whereby others will look to our office
for a standard to emulate. Mr. Woods introduced the Clerk's staff and outlined the
mandate of the Clerk's office as providing services relating to Council and Council
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Public Committee of the Whole
October 27, 2003
meetings, to the public and media, and the preservation and management of the City's
history and records, governed by the Municipalities Act, the Community Planning Act,
the Official Languages Act and the Procedural By-law. He presented the following
priorities for the Clerk's office: advanced software which will enable process efficiencies;
the addition of a records management employee to enable effective management of the
City's records using appropriate methods and technology; continued implementation of
the Official Languages Act; and the development of a new procedural by-law.
Leisure Services' (formerly Recreation and Parks) Budget - $5,491,400.
Mr. Morrison introduced the presentation of Leisure Services and staff members,
including David O'Toole and Kevin Watson who will deliver portions of the presentation,
advising that the development of the budget was a collaborative effort of employees. He
explained the name change to Leisure Services noting that it better reflects the
Department's services of health, wellness, community and social as opposed to only
sports related. He advised Council that they are moving from facility based to needs
based programming involving partnering with the community whenever possible, which
enables the Department to use resources move effectively. Mr. Morrison updated
Council on the demand for services such as Pro Kids, and the resulting strain on
resources, noting that as a result of an increase in the number of applications for Pro
Kids he proposes engaging a casual employee for a year to enable more timely
processing of these applications. He also noted his concern with the workload and
resulting stress for employees.
Mr. O'Toole presented the Department's vision statement and organizational values and
Mr. Carson identified and enlarged upon the 5 main service areas of the Department:
Parks and Open Space Services; Facilitated Wellness (Health and Social); Recreation
and Leisure Services; Recreation and Leisure Programming; and Community
Development for youth through to seniors with emphasis on community involvement. He
presented the Department's challenges as: demographics, wellness; inclusion; socio-
economic; and resources, adding statistics referring to such data as high rates of
individual's inactivity in Saint John and that Saint John is the third fattest City in Canada,
facts that impact the workload and challenges of the Department.
Mr. Watson spoke about the Department's goals which include the Community as
partners: parks and open space that meet the leisure needs of an interactive, inclusive
community; healthy community through participation in educational and leisure
opportunities; quality, inclusive facilities utilized to their maximum potential; a diverse
inclusive leisure service within the community through direct programming facilitation
and partnership delivery, and an enabled community providing for its needs. He added
that the priorities to achieve these goals are: planning, programming,
education/communication, and training, and presented their action plan associated with
these priorities.
Fire Department Budget - $14,999,995.
The City Manager introduced the Fire Department's presentation advising that he has
met recently with the Fire Chief and some members of the Department where concerns
were expressed as to whether Council was aware of the depth of change and service
issues inherent in the Fire Service. He added that it is important in terms of labour
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October 27, 2003
relations that by the end of this meeting the budget be finalized and that these issues are
understood.
Chief Simonds introduced members of the Fire Department present as well as Divisional
Chief Mark Gillan who will deliver part of the presentation. Chief Simonds presented the
Departmental profile as being a 7 days per week, 24 hours per day para-military,
emergency, $15 million operation, delivering fire suppression and emergency
operations, with 8 fire stations. He advised Council that his Department is guided by the
Fire Prevention Act, National Fire Code, National Fire Protection Association and the
Occupational Health and Safety Act. He noted that there has been a progressive growth
in calls for service from 1993 to 2002, and presented statistics from a recent study
indicating that response times meet the standard in many instances, however,
depending on the expanse of the responsibility area, response times compared to a
standard could be improved
Mr. Gillan outlined inspection service responsibilities, code violations and their
corrections. He referred to a graph indicating that by the end of the year there will be
approximately 4,900 code violations. He presented slides depicting a ratio of inspectors
to properties in Moncton, Fredericton and Saint John indicating a lower ratio for Saint
John. He explained the Department's public education program giving the example of
the Fire Safety House program for children. Mr. Gillan also provided information on the
Training Division emphasizing the complexity and depth of training, noting some
concerns such as the negative effects resulting from the elimination of an inspector in
2003, demonstrated by the increase in the number of code violations as well as lost
opportunities in terms of possible partnerships, and narrowing of the public education
program.
Mr. Simonds concluded the presentation by explaining that the reason the budget was
higher than previously submitted is that they based the first numbers on the assumption
that the attrition rates would be higher, and that it was linked to the 2003 deployment
model. He asked Council for the adoption of the budget, and while referring to
Departmental responsibilities: response standards, safety, training, inspections, and
technical rescues, he voiced the following concerns: staffing, morale, depth of response,
and response times.
Office of the City Solicitor's Budget - $486,180.
Mr. Nugent presented his office's budget explaining the services offered as follows: legal
advice to Council and to the civic administration; legal representation for the City, its
officers and certain committees and boards before courts and other adjudicative bodies,
and legal support services which are necessary in order to implement decisions taken by
Council and by the civic administration. He advised Council that the submitted budget
reflects a reduction from the 2003 budget of $20,300.
Municipal Operations Budget - $17,441,454.
Mr. Groody introduced his staff and noted that they were involved in the budget and
presentation preparation. He continued by explaining the various services provided by
Municipal Services noting that they have high expectations with limited resources, an
emphasis on team, and a focus on excellence. He listed the services as: emergency
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October 27, 2003
management, municipal operations administration, service and program management,
infrastructure development, municipal engineering, traffic engineering and systems,
winter services for transportation and pedestrians, storm drainage/flood control, street
cleaning and green space, residential solid waste management and street services. Mr.
Groody advised that they will be presenting a 3 year strategic directional plan for
Emergency Management identifying three priorities being emergency planning, resource
development and education/information. He added that the issues currently in progress
in his Department are: transportation strategy; storm drainage awareness, training and
development and constructive relationship (labour-management). He updated Council
on technology pointing out the advantages of a Geographic Positioning System (GPS),
using the example of being able to locate a catch basin and build it into the mapping
system, noting the efficiencies realized with this technology. He referred to Mr. Baird's
proposal for the introduction of orthophotography emphasizing his support for this
technology which would add to the efficiencies of both Planning and Development and
Municipal Operations.
(Councillor Titus withdrew from the meeting).
Mr. Groody elaborated on streets, presenting a 5-year resurfacing plan; winter services,
and the challenges presented in that area; and noted a particular concern with storm
drainage, an area, which is seriously under-funded, and one, which could lead to
liabilities. Referring to his report, Mr. Groody presented the 2004 Capital Program for
environment, storm and transportation amounting to a total for all categories of
$9,730,000.
The meeting adjourned at 10:30 o'clock p.m.
Common Clerk