The Corporation of the City of St. Catharines CITY COUNCIL AGENDA Regular, Monday, March 19, 2018 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 26, 2018 and March 5, 2018
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| 3.2 | General Committee, Minutes of February 26, 2018 and March 5, 2018
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4. | Declarations of Interest |
5. | Public Meetings Pursuant to Notice By-law |
| 5.1 | Financial Management Services, Accounting 2018 Water and Wastewater Budget and Associated Rates
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6. | Delegations |
7. | Presentations |
8. | Motions |
| 8.1 | The Public Release of the Port Dalhousie Secondary Plan and Transparency of City Documents Councillor Britton will present the following motion:
WHEREAS the future of Port Dalhousie is of equal interest and importance to all residents of St. Catharines; and
WHEREAS at the recommendation of staff St Catharines City Council has spent $124,970 (excluding GST) of taxpayers’ money on outside experts Macaulay Shiomi Howson Ltd. to develop a Secondary Plan and Heritage District Guidelines Studies for the Port Dalhousie Core and Harbour Heritage District; and
WHEREAS City Council adopted a resolution at the November 27, 2017 meeting of Council, directing staff to provide a report summarizing the secondary plan process, and draft plans submitted by Macaulay Shiomi Howson Ltd.; and
WHEREAS Councillors Britton, Garcia, and Williamson filed a Freedom of Information request to obtain the Macaulay Shiomi Howson Ltd. initial draft recommendations submitted in November 2016, following the third and final originally-scheduled Public Open Houses prior to staff-requested changes and were told it would be a redacted document; and
WHEREAS legal counsel to City Council has indicated in Report LCS-064-2018 that the Mayor has access to the draft reports due to the s. 225 ‘Role of Head of Council’ provision of the Municipal Act; and
WHEREAS s. 225(c.1) of the Municipal Act requires the Head of Council “to provide information and recommendations to the council described in clauses 224(d) and (d.1)”; and
WHEREAS s. 224(d.1) of the Municipal Act identifies the role of Council “to ensure the accountability and transparency of the operations of the municipality, including the activities of the senior management of the municipality”; and
WHEREAS s. 16 of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Privacy Protection Act stipulates that exemptions to disclosure under sections 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, and 14 “does not apply if a compelling public interest in the disclosure of the record clearly outweighs the purpose of the exemption”; and
WHEREAS the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario indicated through orders P-984, PO-2556, and PO 3295 that in order to find a compelling public interest in disclosure, “the information in the record must serve the purpose of informing or enlightening the citizenry about the activities of their government or its agencies”; and
WHEREAS City Council was informed by Macaulay Shiomi Howson Ltd. at the January 15, 2018 meeting of Council that alterations have been made to their recommendations at the behest of City staff without staff providing subsequent public disclosure of the specific alterations or opportunity for the public to comment; and
WHEREAS s. 3(a) of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act indicates that in absence of a designated Head, the Municipal Council shall be the head for purposes of implementing the act;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that St. Catharines City Council repeals By-law 90-379, being a by-law to designate the Mayor as Head under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that City Council under s. 3(a) and s. 16 of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act authorizes the public release of the Draft Port Dalhousie Secondary Plan and Heritage Conservation District Plan submitted by Macaulay Shiomi Howson Ltd. in November 2016; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that subsequent to the public release of the Draft Port Dalhousie Secondary Plan and Heritage Conservation District Plan, St. Catharines City Council designates the position of City Clerk as Head for the purposes of overseeing and implementing the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
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9. | Call for Notices of Motion |
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-laws
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14. | Agencies, Boards, Committee Reports |
| 14.1 | Minutes to Receive: Heritage Advisory Committee (draft), February 8, 2018 Arts and Culture Advisory Committee, February 6, 2018
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15. | Adjournment |