COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL

Transcription

1 Town of Wolfville COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL ATTENDING Mayor Robert Stead, Deputy Mayor David Mangle, Councillor William Zimmerman, Councillor Carl Oldham, Councillor Hugh Simpson, Councillor Jim Laceby, Chief Administrative Officer Diane Mombourquette, Town Clerk Rachel Turner, and Recording Secretary Annette Demings. ALSO ATTENDING Director of Financial Services Mike MacLean, Manager of Community Services Jen Boyd, Executive Director Kings RDA Stephen Kerr, Members of the Wolfville Historical Society John Whidden and John Vaillancourt, and other interested persons. ABSENT WITH REGRETS Councillor Keith Irving 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Stead called the meeting to order at 1:30 p.m. 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Mayor Stead noted item 5 (c) on the agenda Appointment of Returning Officer - Request for Decision No is an item that needs to be dealt with and reported on to the Provincial Election Authorities by March 15 which precedes our next Council meeting when that could normally be approved. Therefore he asked for Council s approval to hold a Special Town Council Meeting following the adjournment of this meeting today in order to deal with that one specific item. Members agreed. The agenda was approved by consensus as amended. 3. PRESENTATIONS a. WOLFVILLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY Mayor Stead introduced John Whidden and John Vaillancourt as long standing members of the Wolfville Historical Society. Mr. Vaillancourt thanked Council for its support, noting the Town of Wolfville is one of few municipalities in the Province that provide financial support. With the assistance of a power point presentation he provided a brief overview of their activities and sources of revenue. Mr. Whidden reviewed their budget noting that costs involved in maintaining the Randal House Museum make up most of their budget. He asked the Town to continue the level of support they have provided the past five years. Mayor Stead asked for questions or comments from the table. Committee of Council Minutes, March 5, 2012 Page 1

2 Councillor Simpson asked if they have a reserve for unforeseen maintenance needed on the Museum. He also asked how they are doing in regards to membership. Mr. Whidden informed him they have some investment funds they can use in case of emergency. They already used some of it when they painted the building a few years ago. He also responded they have not had much growth in membership. They actively solicit membership but people do not want to commit their time. Councillor Zimmerman suggested they should ask the Municipality of the County of Kings for funding support, especially since their Society now has linkage to the Grand Pre area. Councillor Laceby suggested they could contact the members of Katimavik for possible volunteers. They are looking for innovative ways of working with Towns in order to be sustainable. He also asked if they have had any opportunity to encourage youth interest. Mr. Vaillancourt informed him he approached the History Department at Acadia with a request for someone there to take on the project of researching the history of the Wolfville Police Department. So far he has not heard anything back. Mayor Stead thanked them for their presentation. b. KINGS RDA Mayor Stead welcomed Stephen Kerr. Mr. Kerr provided a brief overview of the Kings Regional Development Agency Business Plan document which had been previously circulated. He reviewed the following: -The Executive Summary -Their Mission -Their Goals -Summary of Activities & Projects for Regional Economic Analysis -Threats and Barriers for CED -Opportunities for Community Economic Development -Effectiveness and Efficiency Mayor Stead asked for questions or comments from the table. Deputy Mayor Mangle asked if they have come up with any ideas on how to encourage the students who attend Acadia University to stay here and work. Mr. Kerr noted the Federal Government did make a change recently so that International graduates do not have to go home and apply for readmission to Canada. Now they can apply from here. Unfortunately it is very difficult for rural areas to hang on to people as the large cities have more appeal. Councillor Laceby asked if they are doing anything to focus on helping businesses grow? Committee of Council Minutes, March 5, 2012 Page 2

3 Mr. Kerr informed him what they look for when deciding who to help, are businesses that have some real growth prospect. The focus seems to be on the start ups because they seem to be the ones that ultimately grow the jobs. Mayor Stead thanked Mr. Kerr for his presentation. There was a short break at this time. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. REGULAR MEETING OF FEBRUARY 6, 2012 It was agreed by consensus to approve the February 6, 2012 minutes as circulated. 5. REPORTS ADMINISTRATION a. PROPOSED NEW VALLEY REGION SOLID WASTE-RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY BYLAW The Chief Administrative Officer noted the bylaw amendments were initiated by Valley Waste Authority and they have been checking with us as they have been refining some of the terms. This is the final document from Valley Waste, and they are ready for us to begin our process of repealing the old and approving the new. Councillor Simpson asked the difference between the words directive and order. The Chief Administrative Officer informed him they are changing the word policy to directive and order is the next step. ACTION: Move the Proposed new Valley Region Solid Waste-Resource Management Authority Bylaw forward to the March 19 Council meeting for first reading. b. ELECTRONIC VOTING REQUEST FOR DECISION NO Town Clerk Rachel Turner referred to the Request for Decision noting staff is considering using electronic voting for the Municipal Election in October. She noted we have to provide two methods of placing a vote, electronic is one, through the Internet, and telephone voting can be the other option. It does not have to be a paper ballot although it can be if that is what Council prefers. To do any form of electronic voting requires a bylaw to be established which can be done very easily. She has looked at a couple of firms who offer Internet voting, and her recommendation would be to use the Halifax based company Intelivote, rather than the company based out of Spain which HRM uses. Staff is recommending a full electronic ballot in place of the paper ballots. Councillor Zimmerman noted he is uncomfortable with people voting with absolutely no engagement. If people had to come to the polling station to vote electronically he would have no problem with electronic voting. Town Clerk Turner informed members the cost of electronic voting should not be much more than the cost of the paper ballots for the last election. She also informed members each voter will receive instructions and a personal identification number in the mail. The modules on the computer and on the telephone are very clear, as well there is a help line people can call for assistance or they can come to the poll and get assistance there. Committee of Council Minutes, March 5, 2012 Page 3

4 There was a general consensus to move the Request for Decision forward to be voted on. ACTION: Move the Request for Decision forward to the March 19 Council meeting for approval. c. APPOINTMENT OF RETURNING OFFICER REQUEST FOR DECISION NO This will be discussed at the Special Council Meeting to be held following this meeting. d. SPRING DEBENTURE ISSUE REQUEST FOR DECISION NO ACTION: Move the Request for Decision No forward to the March 19 Council meeting for approval. e. OPERATING PLAN & BUDGET, SECOND DRAFT The Chief Administrative Officer noted Director MacLean had prepared two memos. The first one outlined the changes from the previous draft to this draft. The second memo is a summary of some of the key points that relate to the preparation of this year s budget. Staff is proposing the Operating Plan and Budget are ready to move forward to the March 19 Council meeting with the resolutions attached for Council s approval. The Chief Administrative Officer recommended on a longer term basis if Council wishes to entertain funding requests from third party organizations, that we establish a process for that and we allow all organizations to know what the process is. She also noted one of the changes in the memo from Director MacLean is to establish a small fund of money that is not allocated to grants for organizations so that we could possibly do a second wave of funding later in the year as we are establishing a process for this. The Chief Administrative Officer recommended with regards to the request from the Tennis Club for funding for resurfacing, that we acknowledge their request in writing advising them we have referred their request to staff for follow up. ACTION: Move the second draft of the Operating Plan and Budget forward to the March 19 Town Council meeting for approval. f. CORRESPONDENCE i. Ron Mullins, General Manager, Kings Transit - Update This correspondence was received for information. ii. Erma Stultz, Secretary, Wickwire Cooperative Limited This correspondence was received for information. Committee of Council Minutes, March 5, 2012 Page 4

5 6. QUESTION PERIOD David Daniels inquired about the status of any negotiations with Acadia University with regards to University Avenue and the Subway parking lot. The Chief Administrative Officer informed him she does not have any information on negotiations about University Avenue. With regards to the Subway Parking lot they have held preliminary discussions and are in the process of putting together a letter to Acadia making a proposal for how we might move forward on that issue. 7. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 4:00 p.m. MAYOR RECORDING SECRETARY Committee of Council Minutes, March 5, 2012 Page 5