The Corporation of the City of St. Catharines CITY COUNCIL AGENDA Regular, Monday, January 30, 2023 Council Chambers and Electronic Participation, 6:00 PM
This Meeting will be held both in person at Council Chambers and electronically. Individuals who are feeling unwell are asked to watch the Meeting online at www.stcatharines.ca/youtube rather than attend in-person.
Delegations to Council can be made in-person in Council Chambers or electronically through Zoom. Requests to delegate must be submitted using the City’s Electronic Delegation Form by Monday, January 30, 2023, before 9:00 a.m. Those wishing to delegate through Zoom must attend a test session on Monday, January 30, 2023, at 10:00 a.m.
Public Comments: The public may submit comments regarding agenda matters to the Office of the City Clerk by contacting [email protected] by Monday, January 30, 2023, before Noon.
His Worship Mayor Mat Siscoe takes the Chair and opens the meeting with a Land Acknowledgement |
1. | Mayor's Report |
2. | Adoption of the Agenda |
3. | Adoption of the Minutes |
| 3.1 | Special Council, minutes of January 9, 2023
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[Addenda]
| 3.2 | Regular Council, minutes of January 16, 2023
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[Addenda]
4. | Declarations of Interest |
5. | Motion to Move Consent Reports Consent Reports are approved in one motion which approves all of the recommendations contained in each report. Prior to this motion, a councillor may request that one or more of the reports listed under Item 6 be moved to the list of Discussion Reports. |
6. | Consent Reports |
| 6.1 | Planning and Building Services, Planning Services Demolition Permit for a Designated Heritage Property in the Port Dalhousie Heritage Conservation District: 31 Brock Street
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| 6.2 | Legal and Clerks Services, Office of the City Clerk Council Correspondence 1. Correspondence from Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative re. $1 billion booster for freshwater health campaign 2. AMO Watchfile - January 12, 2023 3. AMO Watchfile - January 19, 2023
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7. | Public Meetings |
8. | Presentations |
9. | Discussion Reports |
| 9.1 | Malcolmson Eco-Park northernmost part of the park (Correspondence pulled for discussion and deferred from the meeting of January 16, 2023)
Correspondence from Greg Eckhardt re. naming of Malcolmson Eco-Park northernmost part of the park
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| 9.2 | Community Recreation and Culture Services, Business Planning and Strategic Services Merritton Ward Splashpad, Washroom, and Sun Shelter
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10. | Motions |
| 10.1 | Securing Canada’s $1 Billion Investment in a Strengthened Freshwater Action Plan Councillor Phillips will present the following motion: WHEREAS the City of St. Catharines, as a member of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, supports protecting source water, planning for climate change impacts and shoreline resilience, ensuring safe and affordable water services for all our residents, and building up a sustainable blue economy in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin; and
WHEREAS ensuring healthy communities and a strong economy for Canadians depend on securing Canada’s source water, which includes addressing water quality issues, contaminants, and pollution, supporting biodiversity, and reversing wetland and fish and wildlife habitat loss and improving community knowledge to empower citizens to safeguard this essential resource; and
WHEREAS a Freshwater Action Plan and the Great Lakes Protection Initiative it supported were first announced in the 2017 Canadian federal budget with a $44.84 million investment over five years; and WHEREAS the Freshwater Action Plan has combined science and action to address priorities in the Great Lakes such as preventing toxic and nuisance algae, enhancing the resilience of coastal wetlands in the Great Lakes, restoring Great Lakes Areas of Concern, and supporting Canada’s commitments under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, among other priorities; and
WHEREAS a commitment was made by the Liberal Party of Canada in the 2021 federal election to strengthen the Freshwater Action Plan with an historic investment of $1 billion over ten years to restore and protect large lakes and river systems starting with the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin; and
WHEREAS the federal government only committed $19.6 million in funding in the 2022 Budget for the Freshwater Action Plan, falling short of the aforementioned commitment; and
WHEREAS the United States has invested $1.8 billion in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) since 2017 and will see accelerated funding with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act; and
WHEREAS a 2018 University of Michigan study shows that for every dollar of federal spending on GLRI projects between 2010 and 2016, yielded $3.35 in additional economic activity; and
WHEREAS nearly half of Canada’s population lives in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin, a region that will continue to see accelerated growth, resulting in greater land and resource use pressures that will further contribute to water availability and quality issues; and
WHEREAS the Stockholm Resilience Centre recently identified the importance of wetlands as carbon sinks and fresh water’s role in climate mitigation; and
WHEREAS the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Collaborative outlined 30 recommendations to Environment and Climate Change Canada as part of a ten-year, $2.2 billion Action Plan 2020-2030 to protect the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence (Action Plan 2020-2030), addressing shoreline erosion, outdated infrastructure, invasive species, exposure to toxins and beach contamination, following an 18-month consultation with First Nations, NGOs, academics, and other experts; and
WHEREAS the recommendations outlined in Action Plan 2020-2030 should serve as the basis of programming for strengthened federal action in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin through its strengthened Freshwater Action Plan; and
WHEREAS the newly established Canada Water Agency should play a role in accelerating the rollout of funding made available through a strengthened Freshwater Action Plan; and
WHEREAS Freshwater Action Plan funding should largely be directed to community groups, local governments, and First Nations to ensure that investments made will have the biggest local impact and empower action at the local level, rather than being held back for federal administration and operations; and
WHEREAS it is critical to implement a strengthened Freshwater Action Plan, including accelerating a $1 billion over five years, and to creating a Canada Water Agency to consolidate and coordinate federal water efforts and support provinces and territories in addressing systemic issues impacting the viability of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin and the communities dependent upon the region’s source water.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City of St. Catharines calls on the federal government to commit $1 billion in funding over five years for a strengthened Freshwater Action Plan in Budget 2023; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City of St. Catharines calls on the federal government to guide its Freshwater Action Plan funding to implement recommendations in the Action Plan 2020-2030; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City of St. Catharines calls on the federal government to direct priority funding under the strengthened Freshwater Action Plan to projects in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City of St. Catharines calls on the federal government to make municipalities eligible for future funding in programs announced under the strengthened Freshwater Action Plan; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City of St. Catharines directs its staff to submit this resolution to the federal Deputy Prime-Minister and Minister of Finance; the Minister of Environment and Climate Change; the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change (responsible for the Canada Water Agency), and local Member of Parliament.
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11. | Call for Notices of Motion |
12. | Report Requests |
13. | Committee and Task Force Minutes |
| 13.1 | Minutes to Receive: Heritage Permit Advisory Committee, meeting of December 22, 2022 (Draft)
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14. | Closed Session Council will meet in Closed Session for the following purpose(s): |
| 14.1 | Chief Administrative Officer Property Matter – Disposal (Closed Session Pursuant to Municipal Act, 2001, S.O. 2001, c. 25, Section 239 (2)(c) a proposed or Pending Disposition of Land by the Municipality of Local Board), 320 Geneva Street, Realty File No. 20.046
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| 14.2 | Chief Administrative Officer Property Matter – Acquisition (Closed session report pursuant to Municipal Act, 2001, S.O. 2001, c. 25, Section 239 (c) a proposed or Pending Acquisition of Land by the Municipality of Local Board), Port Weller East Access Options
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[Addenda]
15. | Motion Arising from Closed Session |
16. | By-laws |
| 16.1 | Reading of By-Laws
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[Addenda]
17. | Adjournment |