Date:
Time: Immediately Following Committee of the Whole Reconvene 6:00 p.m. If Required
Location: Council Chamber
Minutes: March 7, 2017 Halifax Regional Council Minutes (PDF)
Summary of recorded votes: March 7, 2017 Halifax Regional Council Summary of Recorded Votes (PDF)
Agenda
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. SPECIAL COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – January 10 and 24, 2017
4. APPROVAL OF THE ORDER OF BUSINESS AND APPROVAL OF ADDITIONS AND DELETIONS
5. BUSINESS ARISING OUT OF THE MINUTES
6. CALL FOR DECLARATION OF CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
7. MOTIONS OF RECONSIDERATION – NONE
8. MOTIONS OF RESCISSION – NONE
9. CONSIDERATION OF DEFERRED BUSINESS – NONE
10. NOTICES OF TABLED MATTERS – NONE
11. PUBLIC HEARING – 6:00 P.M. – NONE
12. CORRESPONDENCE, PETITIONS & DELEGATIONS
12.1 Correspondence
12.1.1 Fly-Past Request – Deadman’s Island Remembrance Event [PDF]
Motion:
That Halifax Regional Council grant permission for a CH-124 Sea King or CH-148 Cyclone to perform a fly-past at levels as low as 500 feet over Deadman’s Island Park, Halifax on Monday, May 29, 2017 at 11:10 a.m. in conjunction with the Deadman’s Island Remembrance Event.
12.1.2 Fly-Past Request – 2017 Battle of the Atlantic Ceremony [PDF]
Motion:
That Halifax Regional Council grant permission for the Canadian Armed Forces to fly Sea King Helicopter(s) in formation over Point Pleasant Park as per the diagrams attached to the correspondence dated February 20, 2017 at an altitude of 500 feet above the highest obstacles on Sunday May 7, 2017 at 10:58 AM in conjunction with the 2017 Battle of the Atlantic Ceremony.
12.2 Petitions
13. INFORMATION ITEMS BROUGHT FORWARD – NONE
14. REPORTS
14.1 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER
14.1.1 First Reading Proposed By-Law L-401 – an Amendment to By-Law L-400, Respecting Lot Grading [PDF]
Motion Councillor Hendsbee:
That Halifax Regional Council give First Reading to Proposed By-law L-401, the purpose of which is to amend By-law L-400, Respecting Lot Grading, to exclude areas that are not connected to a central wastewater system.
14.1.2 Proposed Administrative Order SC-84, Respecting Closure of a Portion of Lower Water Street, Halifax [PDF]
Motion – Councillor Mason:
That Halifax Regional Council:
1. Declare Parcel WD-2 as shown on Attachment “A” of the staff report dated February 21, 2017 as no longer required for the purposes of the Municipality and surplus to municipal requirements, and categorize it as ‘Remnant’, as per Administrative Order 50;
2. Declare the portion of the Lower Water Street Right-of-Way in front of PID 00003509, Lower Water Street, as shown on Attachment “A” of the staff report dated February 21, 2017 in yellow, as no longer required for the purposes of the Municipality and surplus to municipal requirements, and categorize it as ‘Extraordinary’, as per Administrative Order 50.
3. Set a date for a public hearing to consider adopting the proposed Administrative Order SC-84, as contained in Attachment “B” of the staff report dated February 21, 2017, to close a portion of Lower Water Street.
14.2 EXECUTIVE STANDING COMMITTEE
14.2.1 Public Consultation – Campaign Finance Reform [PDF]
Motion:
That Halifax Regional Council direct staff to use the public consultation and communications strategy set out in the discussion section of the staff report dated January 25, 2017 to facilitate a public consultation process on campaign finance reform, as described in the staff report dated January 25, 2017, prior to the preparation of a Campaign Finance By-law.
14.3 COMMUNITY PLANNING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STANDING COMMITTEE
14.3.1 Creation of a Funding Program for Heritage Organizations [PDF]
Motion:
That Halifax Regional Council request a staff report to:
1. Develop an Administrative Order for an interim funding program for community museums, consistent with the request received from the ad-hoc community museum committee as outlined in attachment C of the staff report dated February 1, 2017 and return it to Council for consideration; and
2. It is further recommended that prior to the Administrative Order returning to Council for consideration, staff prepare a supplementary report outlining a funding source in order to consider $220,000 of annual funding for the interim funding program commencing in 2017/18 and that this report be provided to Audit and Finance Standing Committee prior to returning to Regional Council.
14.4 HALIFAX AND WEST COMMUNITY COUNCIL
14.4.1 Case 20405 – Amendments to the Halifax Municipal Planning Strategy (MPS) and Halifax Peninsula Land Use By-Law (LUB) for Halifax Grammar School, 915, 921, 945, and 967 Tower Road, Halifax [PDF]
Motion:
That Halifax Regional Council give First Reading to consider the proposed amendments to the Municipal Planning Strategy for Halifax (MPS) and Land Use By-law for Halifax Peninsula (LUB), as set out in Attachments A and B of the January 3, 2017 report, to enable a proposed expansion of the Halifax Grammar School, and schedule a public hearing.
14.5 MEMBERS OF COUNCIL
14.5.1 Councillor Mason – Support for Housing Trust project [PDF]
Motion:
That Halifax Regional Council request a staff report regarding opportunities, best practices and financial implications of considering:
1. Full or partial waiver of HRM permits and fees related to construction of affordable housing projects,
2. Entering into multi-year tax relief that aligns with the life of the affordable housing component of a fully affordable or mixed market/affordable housing project subject to Section 73 of the Halifax Charter,
3. Exploring with Halifax Water alignment of their capital fee contributions with municipal and provincial housing goals to develop a full or partial reduction for affordable housing projects.
15. MOTIONS
16. IN CAMERA (IN PRIVATE)
Council may rise and go into a private In Camera session, in accordance with Section 19 of the Halifax Regional Municipality Charter, for the purpose of dealing with the following:
16.1 Personnel Matter
Citizen and Councillor appointments to boards and committees in keeping with the Public Appointment Policy adopted by Regional Council in August 2011, to be found at http://www.halifax.ca/city-hall/boards-committees-commissions/volunteer-boards-committees/public-appointment-policy
16.1.1 Ratification of Citizen Appointments to Boards and Committees – Private and Confidential Report
Motion:
That Halifax Regional Council:
1. Adopt the recommendations of the Standing Committees regarding Citizen Appointments as outlined in Attachment 1 of the private and confidential report dated February 24, 2017.
2. It is further recommended that the Citizen Appointments be released to the public following ratification and notification of successful candidates.
16.2 Legal Matter
A matter pertaining to litigation or potential litigation in regard to an identifiable person and information whose disclosure could reasonably be expected to prejudice the interests of the Municipality.
16.2.1 Settlement of Ownership of Certain Lands Respecting Lower Water Street – Private and Confidential Report
Motion:
That Halifax Regional Council approve the staff recommendation as outlined in the private & confidential staff report dated February 17, 2017 and that the report not be released to the public.
17. ADDED ITEMS
16. IN CAMERA (IN PRIVATE)
16.3 Personnel Matter
A matter pertaining to an identifiable individual or group.
16.3.1 Personnel matter – Private and Confidential Report
Motion: That Halifax Regional Council convene to in camera to discuss the matter.
17.1 Councillor Mason - Taxis, Licensing and Appeals [PDF]
Motion:
That Regional Council request a staff report by way of Transportation Standing Committee which contains options, recommendations and best practices regarding:
1. amending the means by which Council manages appeals of licensing decisions, including but not limited to considering:
a. changing in scope of responsibility of the Appeals Committee, to be clarified and possibly reduced to a strict reviews of process,
b. transferring license review responsibility to a new tribunal for license appeals composed of lawyers and those with licensing experience,
c. transferring license review responsibility to the UARB.
2. strengthening standards of conduct in the Taxi By Law and clarifying the requirement for interim and permanent suspensions of licenses if these standards are not met.
Request the Mayor write a letter to the Minister of Justice requesting clarity regarding whether the UARB could be responsible for license review.
18. NOTICES OF MOTION
19. ADJOURNMENT
INFORMATION ITEMS
March 7, 2017
1. Proclamation – Kidney Awareness Month – March 1-31, 2017 [PDF]
2. Proclamation – World Plumbing Day – March 11, 2017 [PDF]
3. Proclamation – Saint Patrick’s Day Festival – March 12-18, 2017 [PDF]
4. Proclamation – International Francophone Day – March 20, 2017 [PDF]