Apr 25, 2016 - The One with the Rotary Announcement
Council Highlights – April 25, 2016
Here are the highlights from our most recent Committee of the Whole meeting! We have only one more week before Election Day on May 9. I’ve been honoured to serve on Council and provide highlights after each meeting. I think it’s important to ensure residents know what’s happening in Council meetings. Did you know the Town also does its own Council Highlights which can be found on the Town’s website?
I also want to mention that our next meeting will be Councillor Toner’s final meeting as he is not re-offering for another term. Councillor Toner has chaired the Wellness Centre committee, sat on RCMP and Codiac Transpo boards and has been a great councillor to work with. I wish him the best of luck in his future endeavours and we know there will be new ways in which he will continue to make positive contributions to our great town!
1. Presentations
2. Grants
3. Council Recommendations
4. Department Reports
5. Other
1. Presentations and Delegations
Kristal LeBlanc presented to Council on behalf of the Beausejour Family Crisis Resource Centre. She gave an overview of the Centre's mission and values.
Angela Allain delivered a presentation on behalf of Codiac Transpo to update Council on its Small Bus Review and Findings. We have the question a lot about “if ridership is so low, why not use smaller buses?” Seems to make sense right? Realistically it’s not really as cost efficient to be operating smaller buses. There isn’t that much fuel savings, if any in some cases, and the life span is significantly shorter and it’s most costly to maintain them. There are some cases where it does make sense for “community routes”, etc… The Town is currently in a position where we need to replace our two existing buses and we are also working on revamping the bus routes.
Darrell Nameth presented to Council on behalf of Moncton West and Riverview Rotary Club. The Club is scheduled to begin construction of a new pavilion in Mill Creek this summer. This is an incredibly exciting project and partnership with the Rotary Club. A new seating area on the Runneymeade entrance to Mill Creek! Thank you Rotary Club!
2. Grants
RHS Booster Basketball Club - $275
Riverview PeeWee AA Blues hockey team - $500
Atlantic Canada Water and Wastewater Association - $1000 for Annual Conference
3. Council Recommendations
Council supported a recommendation to authorize a partial street closure on Saturday, June 25 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Cleveland Avenue between Devere Road and Bradford Road in order to accommodate the Riverview High School 3-on-3 basketball tournament.
Council supported a recommendation to adopt the Town's revised 5-Year Capital Investment Plan. We are required to submit a 5 year plan to the provincial government for our Gas Tax Fund (GTF). When changes are made in the 5 year plan, we must resubmit to reflect said changes. This isn’t binding for us and we can make changes as needed.
Council supported a recommendation to accept the consultant Stantec’s report on greenhouse gas reduction targets and further support the recommended reduction targets that will be achieved through the Local Action Plan.
Conference attendance policy – Council approved a recommendation to adopt a policy for Council when attending the UMNB (Union of Municipalities) and FCM (Federation of Canadian Municipalities) conferences. UMNB is held in Fredericton, in the fall, so no stipulations were added to this conference. FCM is typically held in May/June and held across the country. It is more expensive to attend so the policy now states that the Mayor and 3 Councillors will attend the conference but not during an election year. The reason for this is that tickets and registration must be done in advance and thus by the time the election is held, Councillors registered to go may not get re-elected and new Councillors are typically not able to arrange time from work, etc… In previous election years this has cost the town some money so in an effort to ensure we don’t needlessly spend money, we will not send anyone during an election year.
These recommendations will be brought forward for adoption at the next Regular Council Meeting.
4. Department Reports
CAO Colin Smith brought forward a draft document outlining the value for services. This document clearly outlines where you tax dollars go and is a great new step in increasing transparency between the Town and residents!
Other Director’s provided highlights of their departments.
5. Other
Council reappointed Gil Meredith to the Greater Moncton International Airport Committee for a one-year term.
Our next Council meeting (and final meeting with this Council team) will be on May 2. As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!
