General Committee Minutes

Meeting #:	Meeting Number: 2
Date:	Monday, January 21, 2019 at 9:30 A.m. - 3:00 P.m.
Location:	Council Chamber

Roll Call

• Mayor Frank Scarpitti
• Deputy Mayor Don Hamilton
• Regional Councillor Jack Heath
• Regional Councillor Joe Li
• Regional Councillor Jim Jones
• Councillor Keith Irish
• Councillor Alan Ho
• Councillor Reid McAlpine
• Councillor Karen Rea
• Councillor Andrew Keyes
• Councillor Amanda Collucci
• Councillor Khalid Usman
• Councillor Isa Lee

Staff

• Andy Taylor, Chief Administrative Officer
• Trinela Cane, Commissioner of Corporate Services
• Brenda Librecz, Commissioner of Community & Fire Services
• Arvin Prasad, Commissioner Development Services
• Catherine Conrad, City Solicitor and Acting Director of Human Resources
• Bryan Frois, Chief of Staff
• Brian Lee, Acting Commissioner of Development Services
• Kimberley Kitteringham, City Clerk
• Martha Pettit, Deputy City Clerk
• Joel Lustig, Treasurer
• Phoebe Fu, Director, Environmental Services
• Mary Creighton, Director of Recreation Services
• Alex Moore, Manager of Purchasing & Accounts Payable
• Josh Machesney, Elections & Council/Committee Coordinator

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1.

CALL TO ORDER

General Committee was called to order at 9:33 AM with Regional Jack Heath presiding as Chair.

General Committee recessed at 11:26 AM and reconvened at 11:40 AM.

General Committee recessed at 12:42 PM for lunch, and reconvened at 1:41 PM.

​

2.

DISCLOSURE OF PECUNIARY INTEREST

None disclosed.

3.

APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MINUTES

3.1

MINUTES OF THE DECEMBER 10, 2018 GENERAL COMMITTEE (16.0)

Deputy Mayor Don Hamilton asked Staff for an update regarding items 24, 25 and 15 from the December 10, 2018 General Committee Minutes.

With respect to item 24, Box Grove Community Impact Fund, Joel Lustig, Treasurer, advised that Brian Lee, Director, Engineering, is currently working on a response to the resident.

With respect to item 25, AirBnB, Trinela Cane, Commissioner, Corporate Services, advised that Staff is currently working on a briefing note for Members of Council to provide them with an update on the City's AirBnB By-law.

With respect to item 15, Victoria Square Community Centre Board minutes, Brenda Librecz, Commissioner, Corporate Services, advised that each year the City gives the Board an operating grant, and that Staff would follow up with Deputy Mayor Don Hamilton and let him know what the Board plans to do with their grant. 

Mary Creighton, Director of Recreation Services joined the meeting at 9:44 AM.

• ​​

  Moved By Councillor Keith Irish
  Seconded By Councillor Alan Ho

  ​1) That the minutes of the December 10, 2018 General Committee meeting be confirmed.

  
  Carried

4.

DEPUTATIONS

There were no deputations.

5.

PETITIONS

There were no petitions.

Martha Pettit, Deputy City Clerk joined the meeting at 10:55 AM.

6.

CONSENT REPORTS - FINANCE & ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES

6.1

MINUTES OF THE NOVEMBER 26, 2018 MARKHAM PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD (16.0)

• ​​

  Moved By Councillor Khalid Usman
  Seconded By Regional Councillor Joe Li

  ​1) That the minutes of the November 26, 2018 Markham Public Library Board meeting be received for information purposes.

   

  
  Carried

  ​

  
  

6.2

MINUTES OF THE NOVEMBER 13, 2018 SENIORS ADVISORY COMMITTEE (16.0)

• Moved By Councillor Khalid Usman
  Seconded By Regional Councillor Joe Li

  ​1) That the minutes of the November 13, 2018 Seniors Advisory Committee meeting be received for information purposes.​

   

  
  Carried

  ​

  
  

6.3

STAFF AWARDED CONTRACTS FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER 2018 (7.12)

• Moved By Councillor Karen Rea
  Seconded By Deputy Mayor Don Hamilton

  1) That the report entitled “Staff Awarded Contracts for the Months of November and December 2018” be received; and,

  2) That Staff be authorized and directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.

  
  Carried

7.

PRESENTATIONS - FINANCE & ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES

7.1

GOVERNMENT FINANCE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION AWARDS (12.2.6)

Andrea Tang, Senior Manager, Financial Planning, was in attendance to announce to Members of Council the City's receipt of the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for the annual budget for the fiscal year beginning January 1, 2018 and the Canadian Aware for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the annual report for the year ended December 31, 2017 from the Government Finances Officers Association.

Members of Committee extended their congratulations to the Finance Department.

Andy Taylor, Chief Administrative Officer joined the meeting at 9:52 AM.

• Moved By Mayor Frank Scarpitti
  Seconded By Deputy Mayor Don Hamilton

  1) That the report dated January 8, 2019 entitled “Government Finance Officers Association Awards” be received and;

  2) That the formal presentation on the receipt of the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for the annual budget for the fiscal year beginning January 1, 2018 and the Canadian Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the annual financial report for the year ended December 31, 2017 from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) be received.

   

  
  Carried

7.2

2019 REASSESSMENT MARKET UPDATE (YEAR 3 OF 4) & RELATIVE PROPERTY TAX IMPACT REPORT (7.0)

Shane Manson, Senior Manager, Revenue & Property Taxation, showed a short video clip explaining how Markham's property taxation system work.

Amanda Knegje, Manager, Tax & Assessment Policy, was in attendance to deliver a PowerPoint presentation regarding the Reassessment Market Update Impact.

• Moved By Deputy Mayor Don Hamilton
  Seconded By Councillor Karen Rea

  1) That the presentation by Mr. Shane Manson, Senior Manager, Revenue ＆ Property Taxation , entitled “2019 Reassessment Market Update (Year 3 of 4) & Relative Property Tax Impact Report” be received; and,

  2) That the report entitled “2019 Reassessment Market Update (Year 3 of 4) & Relative Property Tax Impact Report” along with the detailed attachment “2019 Reassessment Market Update & Relative Property Tax Impact – Ward by Ward Analysis” be received for information; and further,

  3) That staff be authorized and directed to do all the things necessary to give effect to this resolution.

   

  
  Carried

7.3

2019 WATER/WASTEWATER RATE (5.3)

Phoebe Fu, Director, Environmental Services, and Veronica Siu, Senior Business Analyst, were in attendance to deliver a PowerPoint presentation regarding the 2019 Water/Wastewater Rates.

Ms. Fu advised Members of Committee that the City is undertaking a joint review of water/wastewater rates with the Region of York to ensure that water/wastewater services continue to be delivered efficiently and to highlight any areas of improvement.

Councillor Amanda Collucci requested that Staff provide more information to residents regarding their water/wastewater bills to help residents understand their waster/wastewater costs and its breakdown.

Bryan Frois, Chief of Staff joined the meeting at 10:21 AM.

Kimberley Kitteringham, City Clerk joined the meeting at 10:49 AM.

• Moved By Councillor Karen Rea
  Seconded By Deputy Mayor Don Hamilton

  1) That the presentation by Ms. Phoebe Fu, Director, Environmental Services and Ms. Veronica Siu, Senior Business Analyst entitled “2019 Water/Wastewater Rate” be received; and,

  2) That the report entitled “2019 Water/Wastewater Rate” be received; and,

  3) That Staff be authorized to hold a public meeting on February 19, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber at the Civic Centre to gather resident feedback on the proposed 2019 water/wastewater rate increase of $0.3238/m³ from $4.1442/m³ to $4.4680/m³; and,

  4) That feedback received at the public meeting along with the proposed 2019 water/wastewater rate be put forward for consideration by Council at the February 26th Council meeting; and further,

  5) That Staff be authorized and directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.

  
  Carried

7.4

CITY OF MARKHAM 2018 MUNICIPAL ELECTION SURVEY RESULTS (14.0)

Kimberley Kitteringham, City Clerk & Director of Legislative Services, was in attendance to introduce Dr. Nicole Goodman, Director, Centre for e-Democracy and Assistant Professor, Brock University.

Dr. Goodman was in attendance to deliver a PowerPoint Presentation regarding City of Markham 2018 Municipal Election Survey Results. Dr. Goodman spoke to the following aspects of the survey:

• Prevalence of online voting among Ontario municipalities;
• Voter satisfaction with online voting;
• Public attitudes towards online voting;
• Online voting participation among Markham residents;
• Broader findings of the survey.

Members of General Committee discussed their concerns with the municipal Voters' List. Ms. Kitteringham, City Clerk, advised that the municipal Voters' List is provided to municipalities by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC), and that changes to the Voters' List are facilitated by MPAC.

Ms. Kitteringham, City Clerk, announced that Staff will be bringing forward a report to General Committee in April 2019 regarding Markham's 2018 Municipal Election for more information.

Councillor Isa Lee joined the meeting at 11:45 AM.

• Moved By Mayor Frank Scarpitti
  Seconded By Councillor Andrew Keyes

  1) That the presentation by Dr. Nicole Goodman, Director, Centre for e-Democracy and Assistant Professor, Brock University entitled "City of Markham 2018 Municipal Election Survey Results," be received.

  2) That the City Clerk be directed to forward a copy of Dr. Goodman’s presentation to Elections Ontario and Elections Canada.

  
  Carried

8.

REGULAR REPORTS - FINANCE & ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES

8.1

CITY OF MARKHAM COMMENTS ON THE PROVINCE’S INCREASING HOUSING SUPPLY IN ONTARIO CONSULTATION DOCUMENT (7.11)

Murray Boyce, Senior Policy Coordinator, Policy & Special Projects, and Mark Visser, Senior Manager, Financial Strategy & Investments, were in attendance to deliver a PowerPoint presentation regarding the City's comments on the Province's Increasing Housing Supply in Ontario consultation document. The following aspects of the consultation document were reviewed:

• Staff's comments on the usefulness of a Provincial Housing Supply Action Plan; and,
• Financial impacts on the City and taxpayers as a result of the Province potentially reducing development charges.

Staff advised that potential changes to the Development Charges Act, 1997, as amended are strictly speculative, though the Provincial Government has suggested that they are looking to spur development through reducing government imposed fees and charges.

• Moved By Mayor Frank Scarpitti
  Seconded By Councillor Keith Irish

  1) That the report entitled “City of Markham Comments on the Province’s Increasing Housing Supply in Ontario Consultation Document” dated January 21, 2019 be received; and,

  2) That the report entitled “City of Markham Comments on the Province’s Increasing Housing Supply in Ontario Consultation Document” dated January 21, 2019, be forwarded to the Assistant Deputy Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing in response to the request for comments and that Council express its support for the development of a Provincial Housing Supply Action Plan, subject to the comments raised in the report; and,

  3) That Staff be directed to forward the report to the Assistant Deputy Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing by January 25, 2019, prior to the meeting of Council being held on January 29, 2019; and,

  4) That Markham City Council does not endorse or support proposed changes to the Development Charges Act, 1997, as amended, to reduce the infrastructure recoverable through development charges, and that any changes should ensure that growth pays for growth and does not create a greater financial burden on existing property tax payers; and,

  5) That the City of Markham offer to work with the Province to establish creative solutions to affordable housing and home ownership, including secondary suites, and grant municipalities greater control in applying those solutions; and,

  6) That Markham City Council request that the Province extend the timeline for providing comments for an additional 30-days in order to provide meaningful proposed solutions from municipalities, the development industry and members of the public; and,

  7) That Markham City Council request that the Province immediately undertake process reviews to streamline the development process especially as it relates to three areas of importance: 1) streamlining the Ministry of Transportation permitting process; 2) revamping the environmental assessment process to be more effective and efficient; 3) examining the permitting and reporting processes at the conservation authorities to comment on applications in a more timely manner; and further,

  8) That staff be authorized and directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this report.

  
  Carried

9.

MOTIONS

There were no motions.

10.

NOTICES OF MOTION

There were no notice of motions.

11.

NEW/OTHER BUSINESS

There was no new business.

12.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

There were no announcements.

13.

ADJOURNMENT

• Moved By Councillor Khalid Usman
  Seconded By Councillor Amanda Collucci

  1) That General Committee adjourn at 3:17 PM.

  
  Carried