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The Corporation of the City of St. Catharines

CITY COUNCIL AGENDA

Regular, Monday, March 6, 2017 

Council Chambers, City Hall, 6:30 PM

 

His Worship Mayor Walter Sendzik takes the Chair and opens the meeting

 

 

 

1.

Mayor's Report

 

 

 

2.

Adoption of the Agendas

 

 

 

3.

Adoption of the Minutes (Council and General Committee)

 

 

 

3.1

Regular Meeting of Council, Minutes of February 13, 2017, and

Special Meeting of Council, Minutes of February 22, 2017

 

 

 

 

3.2

General Committee Minutes of February 13, 2017

 

 

 

 

3.3

Budget Standing Committee Minutes of January 23, 2017, January 25, 2017, February 1, 2017, February 6, 2017, February 8, 2017, and February 13, 2017

 

 

 

 

4.

Declarations of Interest

 

 

 

5.

Public Meetings Pursuant to Planning Act

 

 

 

6.

Delegations

 

 

 

6.1

Public Meeting (Pursuant to Notice By-law)

2017 Capital Budget and Four Year Forecast

(see General Committee Agenda, March 6, 2017, Item 3.2)

 

 

 

 

7.

Presentations

 

 

 

8.

Call for Notices of Motion

 

 

 

9.

Motions

 

 

 

9.1

Support of Motion - NPCA Third Party Audit

(Deferred by Council at the meeting of February 13, 2017)

Councillor Williamson will present the following motion:

 

WHEREAS at its January 18, 2017 meeting, the Board of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) agreed to requests by this Council and those of the majority of Niagara municipalities to hold an independent 3rd party audit of all its operations; and

 

WHEREAS the majority of NPCA board members are Niagara Regional Councillors; and

 

WHEREAS at its February 6, 2017 meeting, Pelham Council passed a motion calling for NPCA board members to be selected directly by area municipal councils from their citizenry after an application process that favours expertise in environmental and conservation issues and, requesting support from the municipalities represented by the NPCA;

 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Council endorses and supports the intent of Pelham's motion and the need to appoint members to the NPCA board who have the skills and experience in environmental and conservation fields to effectively fulfill the authority's mandate; and

 

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NPCA, all Niagara Municipalities and MPPs, the City of Hamilton and Haldimand County, the Minister, Premier, Auditor General and Ombudsman be notified. FORTHWITH

 

 

 

 

9.2

Compliance Alternatives for Heritage Buildings in St. Catharines

Councillor Garcia will present the following motion:

 

WHEREAS a number of buildings in the City that are designated under the Ontario Heritage Act, either individually or as part of a district, sit empty or underutilized and are in desperate need of restoration and adaptive re-use and, restoration and re-use of these buildings will bring significant economic benefits to the City; and

 

WHEREAS Section 11.1.1(1)(a) and (b) of the Ontario Building Code (OBC) allows a municipality's Chief Building Official (CBO) to substitute Compliance Alternatives for certain OBC requirements where the CBO is satisfied that compliance with the requirement is impractical because "of structural or construction difficulties or, it is detrimental to the preservation of a heritage building"; and

 

WHEREAS although we currently offer some limited assistance downtown, our property owners typically find restoration to be prohibitively expensive and time-consuming yet, other municipalities have successfully introduced programs such as: restoration incentives financed by various levels of government (e.g. Thorold) or a Heritage Property Tax Relief Program (e.g. Peterborough), that have significantly increased restoration and re-use of heritage buildings;

 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Council directs staff to review all alternative strategies or programs that could significantly increase and speed up the restoration and adaptive re-use of heritage buildings in the City, and provide recommendations for the consideration of the CBO and Council; and

 

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the review include, but not be limited to, the Compliance Alternatives available to the CBO and the programs used by Thorold and Peterborough and, that the report and recommendations be available by the April 24, 2017 Council meeting. FORTHWITH

 

 

 

10.

Resolve into General Committee

 

 

 

11.

Motion Arising from In-Camera Session

 

 

 

12.

Motion to Ratify Forthwith Recommendations

 

 

 

13.

By-laws

 

 

 

13.1

Reading of By-law List

By-law List

 

 

 

 

14.

Agencies, Boards, Committee Reports

 

 

 

14.1

Minutes to Receive:

     Clean City Advisory Committee, September 20, 2016, October 18, 2016, November 15, 2016, and January 17, 2017

     Accessibility Advisory Committee, November 23, 2016

     St. Catharines Heritage Permit Advisory Committee, November 24, 2016

     Recreation Master Plan Advisory Committee, December 13, 2016

     Canada's 150th Anniversary Task Force, January 5, 2017

     Public Art Advisory Committee, January 24, 2017

     Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial Task Force, January 31, 2017 draft

     Outdoor Aquatic Facilities Task Force, February 7, 2017

     Master Fire Planning Committee, February 16, 2017

 

 

 

 

15.

Adjournment