We got through a significant agenda fairly quickly this week, though we still had the time for some political performance, which is a good reminder that along with reading the agenda and reports, you can always watch the video of any Council meeting here. We started with two Opportunities to Be Heard:
Inter-Municipal Business Licence Agreement Bylaw No. 8487, 2024 and Inter-Municipal Business Licence Scheme Bylaw No. 8475, 2024
The City collaborates with other municipalities on the Metro West Inter-Municipal Business License Scheme to issue multi-city business licences to business that operate across municipal boundaries – so they can operate legally with a single licence. We are proposing to add Health Care Professionals and Services to this scheme, recognizing the nature of home Health Care as a business. Nothing controversial here, no-one sent correspondence or took the opportunity to be heard, so Council approved the Bylaw changes.
Business Licence Bylaw No. 8473, 2024
We talked last meeting about the work Staff has been doing to update our long-in-tooth Business Licence Bylaw. It is a good body of work that will streamline things, make it easier to start a business, in New West, and reduce some staff workload. No-one came to speak to the opportunity here, so Council moved to approve the Bylaw.
We then had a Temporary Use Permit to approve:
Temporary Use Permit No. TUP00033 for 28, 32, 34 Sixth Street and 606 Clarkson Street
Lookout Society has been providing supportive housing at the Cliff Block for many years. They have a space appropriate for expanded services that they can immediately open for emergency weather shelter. They have longer-term plans for the site related to a health outreach centre, so are only seeking the TUP for emergency shelter for this winter season, when the need is immediate and acute.
We did receive some correspondence on this, and it is important that we acknowledge the community concern we are hearing whenever increased services for the unhoused are raised. We hear you, we know that you don’t want to see people sleeping in alcoves, are chagrinned by human waste and other litter related to people not having homes, and that some in the community correlate this with a feeling of being unsafe. No-one is ignoring or belittling these concerns, instead, we are working on many different approaches to address these while we wait for the bigger, systemic solutions (which will require substantial senior government investment). I have talked about Crises Response, and other efforts we are undertaking, and emergency shelter is one part of this suite of approaches. Every person in an emergency shelter bed is a person not sleeping in an alcove or lighting a warming fire to stay alive during the winter season.
Council moved to approve this Temporary Use Permit.
We then had a Report for Action:
Appointment of Municipal Director to Metro Vancouver
As reported by the Record, I am finding Metro Van Board and Committee work is taking up more of my time, and I would rather spend that time back here in New Westminster working on local initiatives. The half way mark in a term (both here in the city and at Metro) is a good time for me to reflect on where my energies are best applied, especially as the new Board Chair has signaled changes in the committee structures may be upcoming, and this opens up new opportunities for some of my Council colleagues to take on some additional regional roles.
I intend to continue to serve on the Mayors Committee at Metro, and the Mayors Council at TransLink, but am happy to step back a bit from regional committee work and open up those opportunities for my Council Colleagues. Council (yes, this is a Council appointment, not an appointment I make as Mayor) appointed Nadine Nakagawa, who was serving as my alternate, to the role, and Jaime McEvoy as her Alternate. The appointment of members to Metro Committees is not done by Council or me, but by the Chair of Metro Vancouver.
There was some interesting discussion of this appointment at the Council table, but not alternate appointment was moved. I have some strong opinions about why Nadine is the right choice for this role, but that gets into politics, and I’ll save it for my Newsletter (subscribe here!)
We then approved the following items On Consent:
Amendments – Massey Theatre Working Group Terms of Reference
The City established a Massey Theatre Working Group to help communications between the Massey Theatre Society Board and the City through the work the City is doing to restore the theatre. There are changes being made to the term of reference to better reflect the way the Working Group has been operating over the last year.
New Provincial Housing Legislation: Official Community Plan Amendments – 2025 Work Plan
We are now one year in since the new provincial regulations were introduced that require us to update our Official Community Plan to include the new Transit Oriented Areas (TOA) and Small Scale Multi-Unit Housing (SSMUH). Fortunately, we received Housing Accelerator Fund money and capacity funding from the province to support us in getting this work done. The first phase of implementation work has been done, and this report outlines the work plan for staff to get the next phase of work done over the next 12 months. This will include some public consultation in early 2025 and eventual Council consideration of an updated OCP in summer 2025 to meet our Provincial deadlines.
I am really proud of how our small but mighty Housing Division staff have taken on this totally unexpected task and made it work, and have confidence that the long-term results of this will be good for the City and the region.
Temporary Use Permit: 502 Columbia Street for Emergency Shelter Use
The operator of the shelter at Army and Navy will need to renew or replace their Temporary Use Permit if they want to continue to provide this service. They have applied for a new TUP, and this report is the background and notice that the permit will be considered in a future Council meeting.
This TUP would permit 24/7 operation, though there is still some code work to make that a reality. The proposal also includes a community advisory committee to manage potential conflict with surrounding users (a model that worked well in Queensborough for a supportive housing building there). Council having supported this on Consent, we will consider this permit at our next meeting on November 18.
Uptown Business Association and Downtown New Westminster BIA – 2025 Business Promotion Scheme Budget Approvals
The City’s two Business Improvement Areas collect a small tax from their members (the commercial property owners in the BIA area) and use that to do “business improvement”. As this is a program regulated by the Local Government Act through the City, the BIAs are required to submit to the city what they plan to do with the money they collect every year. These are their reports.
Zoning Amendment Bylaw: Electric Vehicle Ready Requirements for New, Non-Residential Buildings
The City already requires that all off-street parking spaces for residential buildings must be “ev ready” – not necessarily have a charger, but must be wired and energized so a resident can plug in their charger (which may be proprietary to their vehicle type) if they want without re-wiring the building. This zoning bylaw would bring a similar requirement to new non-residential buildings (commercial and office), but only require ev-readiness in 50% of spots, recognizing that home charging is likely to be the default form of charging in the post-carbon economy.
This was approved on Consent, though the subsequent three readings of the Bylaw raised some questions about the public outreach that took place. Questions answered in detail in appendix 3 of the report.
The following item was Removed from Consent for discussion:
Crises Response Team Pilot Project: Grant Funding Application under the new Emergency Treatment Fund
There is a federal grant available to which we think the Crises Response Team work we are doing in the city applies. So we are applying for said grant, hoping to reduce impact of the CRT on our property taxes while strengthening the work our CRT can do by expanding the scope and reach.
We then had two Motions from Council
Guide Dog Access Awareness
Councillor Campbell
WHEREAS September is Guide Dog Access Awareness Month and is about educating people on proper guide dog etiquette, the rights of guide dog handlers and the legislation that protects them, and championing equal access for guide dog handlers.
WHEREAS Canada’s provinces and territories, human rights legislation prohibits discriminating against a person with a disability who is working with a guide dog and despite the legislation, people partnered with guide dogs continue to encounter discrimination when they’re denied access to public places and services, such as stores, restaurants, hotels, and taxis.
WHEREAS many of the barriers guide dog handlers face stem from a lack of awareness and refusing access to a guide dog team.
BE IT RESOLVED THAT The City of New Westminster place Guide Dog Welcome decals the entrance of all any municipal buildings to raise awareness that guide dogs are legally allowed anywhere the public has access and provide City Staff with Guide Dog Etiquette information from the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB)
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED That the City promote placement of Guide Dog Welcome decals at the entrance to New Westminster businesses/organizations and, in the promotion, provide information from Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) on where to obtain decals.
This is a motion arising from direct advocacy from the community, and though the request for us to designate Guide Dog awareness Month came too late for us to get it on our Proclamation schedule, the follow-up conversation by Councillor Campbell was centered on what tangible actions we can take a City. Happy that Council supported this.
Providing Equity in the Delivery of Energy Saving Programs for New West Electrical Customers
Councillor Fontaine
WHEREAS New Westminster Electric Utility customers are not being treated in the same manner as BC Hydro customers when it comes to accessing a variety of program offerings; and
WHEREAS New Westminster Electrical Utility customers are not currently eligible for the BC Hydro Solar Panel and Battery Storage program; and
WHEREAS BC Hydro currently offers rebates up to $5,000 on eligible grid-connected solar panels and up to an additional $5,000 for battery storage systems to qualifying residential customers; and
WHEREAS New Westminster Electrical Utility customers are not eligible to participate in BC Hydro’s demand response and peak saver programs
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT staff be directed to report back as to how the City could systematically provide better alignment regarding program offerings between BC Hydro and New Westminster Electrical Utility; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT staff be directed to report back on the cost and feasibility of establishing our own hydro solar panel and battery storage program and/or partner with BC Hydro to offer their program to New Westminster Electrical Utility customers
There is a bit to unpack here, but the end result of the discussion at Council is that this is an item to be referred to the Electrical Utility Commission, and was discussed at length at the last EUC meeting. Staff in Climate action are already actively engaged in this work, but have not yet reported the results of that work to Council.
There are some details in here that are worth talking about. New West Electric customers have been able to receive the benefits of BC Hydro incentive programs such as air conditioner and heat pump rebates, and at times have had access to additional incentive programs funded by Energy Save New West. The Solar/Battery program mentioned in the motion is not a BC Hydro program, but a Provincial government program that they tasked BC Hydro with delivering. The difference between a program funded by “ratepayers” and those by “taxpayers” may seem a bit arcane, but is actually fundamental to whether New West customers (and those in Fortis-served areas and other municipal power utilities like Nelson and Summerland) can apply. The Demand Response and Peak Saver programs mentioned above also cannot be implemented until our AMI rollout is completed, because it requires modern metering technology. It seems funny to me that the guy who tried to defund the AMI meter program is interested in something only the MAI program can deliver, but nothing shocks anymore.
This is an ongoing body of work for the Electrical Utility commission, as they have the mandate and ability to evaluate what programs like this the City should support, and can make recommendations to Council on fundamental questions about whether a program should be supported by ratepayers or taxpayers.