Tuesday, July 8, 2014

WL Council Highlights - July 8th mtg

Present - Acting Mayor Ivan Bonnell and Councillors Bourdon, Rathor and Walters

Absent - Mayor Kerry Cook and Councillors Sue Zacharias/Danica Hughes

Staff: 

Darrell Garceau - City Manager
Rena Schill - Corp Services Records Mgmt Coordinator
Tom Chung - IT Mgr
Ken MacInnis - Communications Coordinator
Chris Hutton - Planner

Meeting called to order at 6:03pm
Agenda approved with 1 Late Item/June 24th WL Council Mtg Minutes approved

Delegation:

1) Walt Cobb/Dave Dickson from the WL Rotary Club appeared before Council to discuss their Boitanio Park project

A Question/Answer period ensued

Acting Mayor Bonnell, on behalf of Council, thanked the delegation for their time/information

Resolved - That Council receive the letter from the Rotary Club of Williams Lake dated June 27, 2014 regarding an update on the Boitanio Park Project and authorize Staff to proceed with the prep work for the pathway paving and Rotary emblem Garden projects as outlined in the letter from the Rotary Club of Williams Lake

Business:

1) Council received the accounts payable computer cheque listing for the period ending June 26, 2014

2) Council authorized travel, accommodation and associated expenses for Mayor Cook to attend the 41st Annual Billy Barker Days Festival in Quesnel, BC on July 18 and 19, 2014.

3) After receiving no public input - Council approved DVP's #9/10 of 2014 (SportChek Sign for Prosperity Way & 1707 Signal Point Rd)

4) Council awarded the Pavement Rehabilitation 2014 tender to Peter Bros. Construction Ltd. for a total amount of $427,390.55, excluding GST

5) Council awarded the Borland Street Reconstruction tender to Peterson Contracting Ltd. for a total amount of $726,230.50, excluding GST

6) Council received an application for DVP #12/2014 for 199 Eagle Crescent (Front Lot Line Setback Reductions, Road Grade Increase & Cul-De-Sac Length Increase). This application will be considered at Council's August 19th meeting

7) Council ratified several Central Cariboo Joint Committee recommendations as follows:

a) That pursuant to Central Cariboo / City of Williams Lake Joint Committee Report #14-2014, the report of the Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Society titled 'Review of Operations and Management of the Central Cariboo Arts Centre' dated June 2014 be received for information.

b) That pursuant to Central Cariboo / City of Williams Lake Joint Committee Report #15-2014 and the report of the Manager of Active Living dated June 9, 2014, Council authorize entering into an Agreement with Oasis Leisure Group Inc. for operation of the sports store at the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex for a three-year term, effective June 1, 2014 to May 31, 2017, with an option to renew for an additional two-year term from June 1, 2017 to May 31, 2019, providing all terms and conditions of the Agreement are adhered to

c) That pursuant to Central Cariboo / City of Williams Lake Joint Committee Report #16-2014, the agenda item summary of Darron Campbell, Manager of Community Services, Cariboo Regional District dated June 12, 2014 regarding the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex Pool Renovations and Upgrade Project - Communications Working Group Meeting Notes of June 11, 2014 be received for information


8) Council received the Central Cariboo/City of WL Joint Committee meeting minutes of June 18th

9) Council received the 'Council Information Package' as of July 8th as follows:

• June 16, 2014 - Thank You from Northern Medical Programs Trust;
• June 24, 2014 - Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development June 2014 eNewsletter;
• June 26, 2014 - Ministers Oakes & Letnick re Issues Relating to Medical Marihuana Production in BC;
• June 27, 2014 - Cariboo Regional District Board Highlights

10) Late Item - Council approved a contribution of $5,000 from the Communities in Bloom operating reserve fund for the 2014 Alley Art Mural Mentorship Project.  Council also directed Staff to investigate options for long-term sustainable funding for mural projects, in partnership with the WLCBIA, by way of a formal funding agreement and Memorandum of Understanding, and report back to a future Committee of Whole Council meeting.

11) Council received the CAO Monthly Update report which included:

* Work underway on Healthy Workplace in the City of WL and connected initiatives
* Work underway for MOU between City of WL, Cariboo RD and WL Indian Band
* Update on 2015 Budget Process

Read his report here

Members of Council reported out on their activities in the community

Meeting adjourned at 7:07pm

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

In the CAO's report to council, he said the following "we are working on the establishment of
an Employee Advisory Committee, made up of staff representation from all business units. The
committee has been established to provide a forum for staff to meet and discuss matters of common
interest, issues arising out of the work place and to work together in providing the best working environment possible for the city." One of the first things they should tackle is the final Whistle Blower Policy brought in in December 2012. There is nothing in that policy that would encourage any employee to come forward as they could be "disciplined, up to and including dismissal". The original one in a report dated September 12, 2012 and reported at the October 30, 2012 COW meeting was the type of policy that would instill confidence that telling the truth wouldn't mean losing your livelihood, like happened to one key city employee. He can form all the committees in the world but If the CAO is serious about instilling confidence in his employees, he needs to look at that excuse of a policy.
As a city employee who has continued to work through the toxic, degrading work environment, I see that a lot of us have not yet brought into the proposed changes because of being burned in the past. The effects of the strike still linger. It will take time to build trust in city management.
One more thing, Council needs to let go of their meddling in the daily operations of the city and let the CAO do his job.

Anonymous said...

I couldn't agree more.There is so little trust,many of us think this is just"window dressing"giving Council time to get through the next election.If they were serious,they would clean house,because the tension is so real with remaining mgmt.,just below the surface,and we feel we are just waiting for the next shoe to drop,or Council to yank the C.A.O.'s chain tight as soon as the upcoming election is over.