General Committee
January 12, 2015
Meeting
Number 3
Finance & Administrative Issues Community Services Issues
Chair: Deputy Mayor Jack
Heath Chair: Councillor Alan Ho
Vice Chair: Councillor Colin Campbell Vice Chair: Councillor Alex Chiu
Environment
& Sustainability Issues Building,
Parks, & Construction Issues
Chair: Councillor
Valerie Burke Chair: Councillor Colin
Campbell
Vice Chair: Councillor Karen Rea Vice
Chair: Regional Councillor
Nirmala Armstrong
Alternate formats are available
upon request.
Attendance
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Andy
Taylor, Chief Administrative Officer
Jim
Baird, Commissioner of Development Services
Trinela
Cane, Commissioner of Corporate Services
Brenda
Librecz, Commissioner of Community & Fire Services
Catherine
Conrad, City Solicitor
Joel
Lustig, Treasurer
Laurie Rose, PanAm
Strategic Activation Team Lead
Alida
Tari, Council/Committee Coordinator
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The General Committee meeting convened at the hour of 9:07 AM with Councillor
Colin Campbell in the Chair and Councillor Alan Ho Chaired Community Services
related items.
Disclosure of
Interest
None disclosed.
1. GOVERNMENT FINANCE OFFICERS
ASSOCIATION AWARDS (12.2.6)
Councillor Logan Kanapathi on behalf of all
Members of Council congratulated Andy Taylor, Chief Administrative Officer,
Trinela Cane, Commissioner of Corporate Services, Joel Lustig, Treasurer,
Andrea Tang, Manager Financial Planning and all the staff involved in the
budgeting process for achieving the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award and
the Canadian Award for Financial Reporting.
2. MINUTES OF THE DECEMBER 15, 2014
GENERAL COMMITTEE (16.0)
Minutes
Moved by
Councillor Alex Chiu
Seconded by
Councillor Valerie Burke
1) That
the minutes of the December 15, 2014 General Committee meeting be confirmed.
Carried
3. MINUTES OF THE AUGUST 11, 2014,
OCTOBER 6, 2014 AND NOVEMBER 3, 2014
BOX GROVE COMMUNITY CENTRE BOARD (16.0)
August October November
Moved by
Councillor Alex Chiu
Seconded by
Councillor Valerie Burke
1) That
the minutes of the August 11, 2014, October 6, 2014 and November 3, 2014 Box
Grove Community Centre Board meeting be received for information purposes.
Carried
4. MINUTES OF THE SEPTEMBER 30, 2014
GERMAN MILLS COMMUNITY CENTRE BOARD (16.0)
Minutes
Moved by
Councillor Alex Chiu
Seconded by
Councillor Valerie Burke
1) That
the minutes of the September 30, 2014 German Mills Community Centre Board meeting
be received for information purposes.
Carried
5. MINUTES OF THE NOVEMBER 24, 2014
MARKHAM PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD (16.0)
Minutes
Moved by
Councillor Alex Chiu
Seconded by
Councillor Valerie Burke
1) That
the minutes of the November 24, 2014 Markham Public Library Board meeting be
received for information purposes.
Carried
6. APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS TO THE
MARKHAM ENTERPRISES CORPORATION (13.7)
Moved by
Councillor Alex Chiu
Seconded by
Councillor Valerie Burke
1) That
the following Members of the Markham Enterprises Corporation be adopted
for the City of Markham, for a term ending November 30, 2018, to take effect
immediately:
Chair: Mayor
Frank Scarpitti
Vice-Chair: Deputy Mayor Jack Heath
Members: All
Members of Council
Carried
7. GOVERNMENT FINANCE OFFICERS
ASSOCIATION AWARDS (12.2.6)
Report
Moved by
Councillor Alex Chiu
Seconded by Councillor Valerie Burke
1)
That the report dated January
12, 2015 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, 2014 and the Canadian Award for
Excellence in Financial Reporting for the annual financial report for the year
ended December 31, 2013 from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA)
be received.
Carried
8. CELEBRATE MARKHAM GRANTS
PROGRAM REVIEW (7.6)
Presentation Grant
Application
Brenda
Librecz, Commissioner, Community & Fire Services delivered a PowerPoint
presentation regarding a proposed process to undertake a review of the current
Celebrate Markham Grant program.
The
Committee discussed and suggested the following relative to the program review
of the Celebrate Markham Grants:
·
Investigate
what other municipalities are doing including City of Toronto
·
Provide
information on grant programs offered by the Province and York Region for
social services areas
·
Role
and cost of the external consultant
Moved by
Councillor Logan Kanapathi
Seconded by
Councillor Valerie Burke
1) That
the presentation by Ms. Brenda Librecz, Commissioner, Community & Fire
Services, entitled “Celebrate Markham Grants Program Review,” be received; and,
2) That
Council approve the process outlined in the presentation to undertake a program
review of the Celebrate Markham Grant Program for implementation in 2016; and
further,
3) That
General Committee approve that a Council workshop be held in February to
establish vision/principles/outcomes/funding
envelope formula.
Carried
9. MARKHAM PAN AM UPDATE (6.0)
Presentation
Brenda Librecz, Commissioner, Community
& Fire Services provided opening remarks with respect to the opening and
use of the Markham Pan Am Centre, as well as preparations underway to be ready
for the Pan Am/Parapan Am Games.
Laurie Rose, Pan Am Strategic Activation
Team Lead, outlined some of TO2015 Organizing Committee’s recent actions along
with the overarching strategy and actions of the Markham Pan Am Host Advisory
Committee for community activation.
The Committee discussed the importance of
engaging Markham residents and business community including the City’s Business
Improvement Areas (BIA's), as well as multicultural media, into this
international event to embrace sport and cultures.
Moved by
Councillor Don Hamilton
Seconded by
Councillor Alex Chiu
1) That
the presentation by Ms. Brenda Librecz, Commissioner, Community & Fire
Services, and Ms. Laurie Rose, Pan Am Strategic Activation Team Lead, entitled
“Markham Pan Am Update,” be received.
Carried
10. MARKHAM SPORTS,
ENTERTAINMENT AND
CULTURAL CENTRE CONFIDENTIAL
REPORTS (6.0)
Councillor
Karen Rea addressed the Committee requesting permission to access all past confidential
reports related to the Markham Sports, Entertainment and Cultural Centre.
Moved by Councillor Don Hamilton
Seconded by Councillor Valerie Burke
That
Council approve access to the confidential consultants’ report relative to the
Markham Sports, Entertainment and Cultural Centre, through the Legal
Department, under controlled circumstances with the City Solicitor, for the new
Members of Council, Regional Councillor Nirmala Armstrong, Councillor Karen Rea
and Councillor Amanda Collucci.
Carried
12. CANADA POST SERVICE CHANGES (13.0)
There was brief discussion regarding Canada
Post's announcement with respect to transitioning door-to-door mail delivery to
community mailboxes.
It was suggested that a similar motion to
the one that the Town of Richmond Hill passed be considered.
Moved by Councillor Alex Chiu
Seconded by Councillor Karen Rea
Whereas Canada
Post requested a key staff person to assist Canada Post in their efforts to
replace door to door mail delivery with community mailboxes (C.M.B.) in affected
wards; and,
Whereas moving
to C.M.B. delivery would be especially hard on seniors and
people living
with mobility and health challenges and could undermine their ability
to live
independently and will be compounded during inclement weather; and,
Whereas the
proposed change would entail the downloading of responsibilities,
costs, and
liabilities to local governments, such as paving, lighting, snow
removal, and
policing related to vandalism and mail theft; and,
Whereas this
proposed change would have an adverse economic effect on our
communities with
regards to the loss of jobs; and,
Whereas this
proposed change to Canada's postal system is unprecedented in other G7
countries;
Therefore be it
resolved that:
Prior to any
service adjustments being implemented by Canada Post and prior to any
assistance by City of Markham Staff, the City of Markham as part of our service
responsibilities to our residents requires:
1) That Canada Post
conduct Town Hall meetings or open communication (in addition to the Canada
Post mailed surveys with the residents being affected by the service change)
for all concerned residents; and,
2) That the Town Hall
meetings be hosted by the local member of Parliament (M.P.) and/or other
elected representatives of the community, with Canada Post representatives and all other local councillors to discuss
what kind of postal services City of Markham residents need; and,
3) That the City of
Markham not endorse Canada Post actions prior to the consultation process being
satisfactorily completed; and,
4) That the City of
Markham send a letter to Deepak Chopra, Chief Executive Officer, Canada Post,
to inform Canada Post that the City of Markham supports the existing delivery
system and wishes to retain this valuable service for our communities; and
further,
5) That the City of
Markham send a copy of this motion to the Honourable Lisa Raitt, Minister of
Transport, York Regional Council and all other municipalities in the York
Region and the G.T.A. for endorsement and to the Association of Municipalities
of Ontario, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, all York Region M.P.'s
and M.P.P.'s.
Carried
13. IN-CAMERA MATTERS (16.0, 16.0, 8.0 &
8.6)
Moved by Councillor Alex Chiu
Seconded by Councillor Valerie Burke
That, in accordance with Section 239 (2) of the Municipal Act, General Committee resolve into an
in-camera session to discuss the following confidential matters (10:59 AM):
(1) GENERAL COMMITTEE
IN-CAMERA MINUTES
– DECEMBER 15, 2015 (16.0)
[Section 239 (2) (b) (c) (e)]
(2) GERMAN
MILLS COMMUNITY CENTRE BOARD
- SEPTEMBER 30, 2014 (16.0)
[Section 239 (2) (b)]
(3) A PROPOSED OR PENDING ACQUISITION OR
DISPOSITION OF LAND BY THE MUNICIPALITY OR LOCAL BOARD (WARD 2) (8.0)
[Section 239 (2) (c)]
(4) A PROPOSED OR PENDING ACQUISITION OR
DISPOSITION OF LAND BY THE MUNICIPALITY OR LOCAL BOARD (WARD 8) (8.6)
[Section 239 (2) (c)]
Carried
Moved by Councillor Alan Ho
Seconded by Councillor Alex Chiu
That the General Committee rise from the in-camera session 12:24 PM.
Carried
Adjournment
Moved by Councillor Alex Chiu
Seconded by Councillor Valerie
Burke
That the General Committee meeting adjourn at 12:25 PM.
Carried