Councillors Michael Fougere (Ward 4, southeast Regina), Wade Murray (Ward 6, centre-northeast), Sharron Bryce (Ward 7, north) and Jerry Flegel (Ward 10, north of Regina amid the golden Prairies). Photo by Stephen Whitworth.
It was a six hour council meeting -- Whitworth and I stuck it out to the bitter, bitter end. Apologies if this is shorter than it should be....
Meeting started with four condo conversions. Two were approved (15 Barr Avenue and 125 Froom Cr.) and two were referred back to city administration (230 E Broadway Ave and 2620 5th Ave) because there was some concern that tenant hardship hadn't been completely dealt with there.
The city also approved the expansion of the Prince of Wales library branch, the extension of the contract for Paratransit service, a zone agreement for the Souls Harbour Mission and a zoning exception for an apartment building to be put up out Quance way.
Also approved the purchase of a couple low floor buses, tax exemptions for the food bank and airport authority, a boost in transit fees, and funding of $10,000 for the Folk Fest's 40th anniversary while giving $10,675 to the Science Centre for it's 20th. Don't really much care that the Science Centre got a little extra money, it's such a tiny amount in the grand scheme of things --- but why $675 dollars exactly? Such an odd number.
Oh, also, you want to keep chickens in your backyard? Sorry. It's practically illegal now.
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5 comments:
thanks for sticking it out
a few things
(1) were the votes in favour of the two conversions unanimous? who voted in favour, who against?
(2) did the councillors ask any of the speakers-against any questions about their presentations? how many? what about the pro-speakers?
(3) i find it irregular that city administration now has to work to reduce the hardship issues. why are city staff working doing the property owner's bidding instead of working for we property tax-payers?
(4) regina.ca said Cr Clipsham was going to talk about biocide-free parks. how did that proceed?
(5) was there any discussion about the backyard fireplace issue?
(6) the other news media in attendance - what media and how long did they stay?
Good questions. I will try to answer them all....
1) Barr St conversion: passed, Counc. Bryce voted against; Froom St conversion: passed, Couc. Bryce and Murray voted against (and maybe Clipsham, he sounded like he might vote against but I couldn't see him through the row of city staff heads); Broadway Ave and 5th St conversios: returned to city staff to deal with hardship, unanimous.
2) They asked a lot of questions of all the speakers. The questions they asked of the anti-conversion side were respectful but a bit leading --- you could tell they were trying to point out their usual list of defenses: do you recognize that the city has no power or mandate where affordable housing is concerned, do you realize how many hours we've spent working on this issue, what's going to happen to these renters if we deny this conversion? Those sorts of things.
3) If I had to guess, I'd bet there are some in admin asking similar questions. As for admin having to negotiate to reduce tenant hardship, it's a good thing they are, I think. The tenancy deals being offered today are so much better than they were a year ago... six months ago even. I mean, it's small comfort in terms of protecting our rental stock. But at the same time, at least a few renters are getting rent control protections and guaranteed tenancy out of this.
4) Okay... by the time the biocide parks came up I have to admit I was getting pretty dopey. I think everyone agreed it's something we should do, but several councillors (led by Fougere) were arguing that it'd be nice if this idea were put off until the 2010 budget because there's just too much on the go right now. I think it ended with an agreement to study the matter. Have to wade through my notes on that.
5) You know, there wasn't. I think they just received and filed some comments on that.
6) Not the most media I've ever seen at one of these. The Leader Post was there for sure. (And filed a pretty thorough story before midnight. Nice work, that.) And maybe ctv for a while? I saw a video camera but didn't catch where it came from. And apparently this paper called The Prairie "Dog" was out in force. Sent two of their writers and their editor-in-chief.
Hey! I seem to recall you, Observer, saying you were going to make it. What happened?
thanks for the comphrensive reply paul
where there many people in the gallery? did you get the sense that any of the councillors thought that this was an election issue?
you are right, i did say i would go. a family commitment arose.
The gallery was pretty much full.
As for whether or not this'll be an election issue... I wonder? I don't know if they would have referred those two applications back to admin if they weren't a little worried about it. I'd be willing to bet they're hoping to get through the last two or three in the queue so that the moratorium will be in effect by the time October rolls around. Much easier to hide behind an active moratorium as opposed to one that is coming at some vague point in the future.
I thought council responded very, very positively to the large turnout (maybe 60 percent full?) and that's to their credit. It's easy to say the public needs to keep an eye on what happens at council meetings but you know, I think council DESERVES a large audience. I think they liked it. Good for them--seriously.
I think I have photos of the galley, I'll add them them to Paul's post when I have a chance.
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