March 24/04 Report
7:00 pm start time

Members of Council present:

• Mayor Larry DiIANNI (absent) (was in Sault Ste Marie regarding the Stelco steel situation)
• Ward # 1 Brian McHATTIE
• Ward # 2 Andrea HORWATH
• Ward # 3 Bernie MORELLI
• Ward # 4 Sam MERULLA
• Ward # 5 Chad COLLINS (CHAIRED meeting in Mayor DiIanni's absence)
• Ward # 6 Tom JACKSON
• Ward # 7 Bill KELLY
• Ward # 8 Terry WHITEHEAD
• Ward # 9 Phil BRUCKLER
• Ward #10 Maria PEARSON
• Ward #11 David L. MITCHELL
• Ward #12 Murray FERGUSON
• Ward #13 Russ POWERS
• Ward #14 Dave BRADEN
• Ward #15 Andrea McCARTHY

Members of the Media present:

• Chinta Puxley, Hamilton Spectator
• not sure of the others

Staff present that answered questions through the Mayor:

• Peter Crockett, General Manager of Public Works
• others

Call to Order (@7:00 pm )

Councillor Collins is Chairing the meeting this evening, in Mayor DiIanni's absence

National Anthem

Prayer

-Councillor Collins welcomed Pandit Mahadeo Panday, Hindu Priest, serving in British Guyana before coming to Canada in 1980. Pandit Panday has served in England and India,as well as a number of cities in Southern Ontario. He lectures on religious matters at a number of high schools; is an honourary life president of the Senior Pondits (sp?) council since 1991 and a life member of the Hindu Samaj temple.

- Pandit Panday thanked the Mayor for the spiritual opportunity given to him for opening the Council meeting lead the Chamber in prayer in Hindi sung by himself, as he asked those present to stand clasp their hands together. After he asked people to be seated and continued with a spoken prayer. He asked a that the creator "Bless the Mayor and his Councillors to make Hamilton a model city in Ontario and all Hamiltonians to live and work as one family. And, give them all possible health that they can go forward to build this beautiful city of ours as an example day by day, for betterment."

Moment of remembrance and expressions of sympathy for Dominic Agostino

- Councillor Collins spoke about the sad passing of friend, colleague, local representative, member of parliament Dominic Agostino, extending, on behalf of council, condolences and prayers to Dominic's family, then asking those present to stand for a moment of silence

- Councillor Collins invited members of Council to share their expressions of sympathy with those present

Morelli : expressed his condolences to Dominic's mother, siblings and nieces and nephews. "I don't think I've ever felt my heart beat so hard when we just stood there for a moment of silence." Councillor Morelli noted that he had known Dominic for over 30 years. He indicated that "there was nothing synthetic about Dominic." That he was passionate and "not only was he a leader but he listened." And, "he loved the game of politics." Morelli noted his desire to talk to the media - he went at the media and visa versa, but that Dominic "never ran away." Morelli also expressed is condolences to colleague Sam Merulla who akinned his relationship with Dominic as a brotherhood. Councillor Morelli noted that "Hamilton lost a star today, a star who fought for social justice" and also noted that Dominic was a loyal person and "more importantly on a broader scale, his legacy will always be his passion to serve his constituency, to be the advocate and to fight for social justice and to somehow arrive at a balance and find a way to communicate to accomplish the objectives that he needed to accomplish for people that he served." Councillor Morelli continued his expressions of admiration and sadness in a very touching, heartfelt manner.

Jackson : expressed his appreciation of Councillor Morelli's comments about Dominic Agostino. Councillor Jackson reminisced about himself and Dominic together on Council as new members, referring also to a picture he was showing staff and colleagues of the Council from 1988 - 91, when, as Jackson mentioned, that Dominic Agostino replaced Councillor Collin's mother in ward 5, when she went on to provincial politics. Jackson expressed his warm memories of Dominic and noted of his passing that "this is way too soon; way to premature a loss of a life in this community." Jackson shared that Dominic was one of the first to call him on (municipal) election day to congratulate him (even before the polls had closed) noting "he just congratulated me in the anticipation of victory . . . he just exuded that confidence, not only Mr. Deputy Mayor, in himself, but in others." Jackson mused as he recalled some of his colleagues warn him that Dominic's style and approach was "the antithesis of yours, you want to be careful" However, Jackson said that immediately he an Dominic hit it off well, they "became great friends. We supported so many similar causes. And, I learned from his ferocious appetite to look after his constituents." Jackson noted that he and others had elected Dominic to be the Chair of the Social Services Standing committee, "year after year after year . . . and his fight for the homeless, for the marginalized, for the injured workers. His strong fight against racial discrimination in this community was so genuine and to the fore. He was a dog with a bone when he believed in a cause and would simply not let go. He loved this City; he loved his family; and he loved serving his constituents. He was a servant to the nth degree . . .sacrificing so much on behalf of the people of Hamilton . . .we've lost a wonderful friend." Councillor Jackson also expressed his deepest sympathies to Dominic's family.

Whitehead : Began with a recollection about a year ago when a mutual friend of Dominic's and his died in a car accident, and how hard it hit Dominic both expressing at the time how young their friend was and how much more he had to do. Whitehead noted now, at the passing of Dominic: "And here I am today, hit right in the stomach, again." As Terry held back his tears, he explained to council how he hadn't know Dominic very long - just a year and a half ago noting that "If you weren't from Hamilton and you didn't know Dominic Agostino, you definitely weren't from Hamilton. . .Dominic was friendly, cordial, feisty, compassionate, caring, courage, and was a tireless working on behalf of this community." Whitehead spoke about some of the funny things that Dominic did, that received media attention "You know the only thing that got more ink than Dominic Agostino in the Spectator, was the name 'Hamilton Spectator' itself." He expressed his sadness and his love and caring and support to Dominic's family and friends.

Kelly : "I think we're all devastated by this." Kelly noted that he had known Dominic for a long time - from a media perspective before Kelly ran for council (also citing that Dominic had encouraged him to run) "Dominic's relationship with the media is legendary . . . I remember walking into the newsroom when I was working over at CHML . . .hasn't Dominic called yet, I mean don't you guys have anything to run . . . there's always a story." But, Kelly noted "the word that Councillor Jackson used I think is the word, if there's one word for Dominic: genuine - even the people in the media . . . my colleagues in the media . . .there's a sense of devastation from the people who have known Dominic for years, who worked with him in the media, too, because he was genuine - ya, he was bombastic; he certainly knew how to get people's attention, but he did it because he honestly in his heart believed this is an issue that has to be dealt with. This is something that needs to be righted. And, he would do whatever it took to do that and to bring attention to these issues. . . he was a fighter. He was a champion for this city. He was a champion for those people who usually don't have a voice in politics and quite frankly, Mr. Chairman . . . he set a standard that we all need to aspire to . . . he wanted to do what was right. . ."

Collins : Explained that unfortunately, Mayor DiIanni couldn't be at Council as he was in "Sault Ste Marie on City business dealing with the Stelco situation." Councillor Collins noted that the Mayor has sent his condolences to Dominic's family and friend Councillor Merulla. He relayed that the Mayor has asked that flags be lowered at City facilities. Collins thanked those who spoke, this evening at council, to Dominic's memory, as well.

1.  Approval of Agenda (verbal approval to the approve agenda as amended - Kelly/Braden - CARRIED )

- Additional Communications items, noted as 5.2 to 5.5

5.2 - circulated to council as a private & confidential document, as the issues are of a confidential nature (related to Item 5 of the licensing report
http://www.hamilton.ca/Clerk/agendas-minutes-reports/
council/2004/Mar24/
Licensing%20Report%20to%20Council%2004-004.pdf), before council this evening. RECOMMENDATION : is that this correspondence be received for information

5.3 - from Milgrove Garden Supplies and is requesting that the application for part lot 10 to 11, concession 4, Milgrove Road proceed to the OMB. RECOMMENDATION : that this communication item be referred to the Planning and Economic Development committee for consideration.

5.4 - from Hazel Nelson (Hamilton association of BIAs [Business Improvement Association]) respecting a request for parking exemption. RECOMMENDATION: that this correspondence be referred to the General Manager of Planning for consideration and the zoning bylaw reviewed.

5.5 - from John Ariens respecting Elizabeth Gardens draft plan of subdivision, noted at Item # 14 of the Planning and Economic Development Committee Report
(http://www.hamilton.ca/Clerk/
agendas-minutes-reports/Planning-Economic-Development/
2004/Mar16/REPORT%2004-006.pdf) RECOMMENDATION: this correspondence be received

- in addition, under presentations - presentation to the Community Garden Sponsors has been withdrawn and added another presentation respecting the Contact Centre Employer of Choice Award

- correction to note in the Public Works report - page 10 - recorded vote has Councillor Mitchell as opposed. This should be corrected to read Councillor Merulla
(http://www.hamilton.ca/Clerk/agendas-minutes-reports/
Public-Works/2004/Mar15/Rep04-008.pdf)

- 3 additional motions tonight as well (7.2 - 7.4)

7.2 (Whitehead) respecting the removal of a stop sign

7.3 (Jackson) respecting a Senior's web portal

7.4 (Braden) respecting appointment to the Niagara Hamilton waste plan working group

2.  Declaration of Interest

- by Councillor Horwath respecting smoking by-lay and restaurants inspections

3. Ceremonial Activities

3.1 Presentations - Community Garden Sponsors and Glanbrook Landfill Committee

1st presentation - to members of the Glanbrook Landfill Committee : Sheila May, Ron McMahon, Hugh Brown (and Councillor Mitchell to the front to help with the presentation) Councillor Mitchell asked Councillor Collins to have Allan Freeman to come down to the front as well, as he is Chairman of the Committee.

Collins spoke to council to congratulate these four very dedicated individuals, who have been members of this committee for many years. Sheila May spent 30 years on this committee.

Collins : "First and foremost, let us commend and offer our thanks to Ms Sheila May for her 30 years of hand work and dedicated service to this community. Sheila was Chair of the Glanbrook Landfill Coordinating committee from 1985 - 2000 . In 2000, Sheila accepted a position as advisor to the committee and she fulfilled this role from 2000 -2003. Sheila was also present every time a new set was opened and in her 15 years on this current committee and three years as advisor never missed a single meeting. Sheila was also a member of the Glanbrook Council from 1985 - 2000. Secondly, please that Mr. Ron McMahon - for 10 years of service and - all the the hard work he has done for this city as a member of the Glanbrook Landfill committee. Ron served on the Glanbrook Landfill Coordinating Committee from 1994 to 2003 inclusive. Ron is a retired school teacher who brought with him, his warm personality and wealth of knowledge. And, lastly, let us also offer out thanks to Mr. Hugh Brown - former Chair of the Glanbrook landfill committee for his many years of service to our community and as a member of the Glanbrook landfill committee. He was a member of council for both the former township of Binbrook and Glanbrook for 12 years. Hugh served as a member of the Glanbrook Landfill coordinating committee from 1981 - 1985. And, again from 2000, to 2003. he resigned his position in 2003 when he was appointed Justice of the peace."

Collins presented the plaques to each of the people as he read off their names. "Volunteers are one of our greatest resources and vital influence in building a healthy vibrant community. Your contributions to our community should be commended and may your enjoy and happy and healthy retirement."

Collins : "I'd now like to call upon Councillor Ferguson as Chair of the Corporate Administration Committee, Jane Lee, Angela Story, and Verna Radford to the podium for a second presentation. And, I'm pleased to announce this time that the Contact Centre Employer of Choice Organization announced that the City of Hamilton Customer Contact Centre has achieved the prestigious first level designation of Contact Centre Employer of Choice. The Contact Centre Employer of Choice Award Program enables call centres to enhance public perception, provides exceptional work environments and attract, retain and engage high performing culturally aligned employees. And, he's a quote from Jeff Dorn the President of the Contact Centre Employer of Choice,' Employees can feel proud of this designation and the contribution they make every day to providing outstanding service on behalf of the City of Hamilton. This award differentiates the City of Hamilton as one of the best contact centres to work for in Canada.' And, I would ask that Councillor Ferguson if you could read out the award and present it to those here at the front. Thank you."

Ferguson : "Thank you Deputy Mayor, Collins, I had the pleasure at noon today to go down and participate in the presentation of certificate. And, I thought what a great event, we should share it with Council. Hence, we're here. (Reading from plaque) 'The Contact Centre Employer of Choice Organization has announced the City of Hamilton Customer Contact Centre has achieved the highest prestigious level designation of a contact centre employer of choice' [Ferguson interjects] I believe it's one of 3 in North America - 'the Contact Centre undertook the Assessment review process towards becoming the contact centre employer of choice in 2003. The award was presented earlier today, but Mr. Jeff Dorn, President to the staff and management of the Contact Centre' [Ferguson interjects again] When I was there, the only negative I could see that they were having far, far too much fun (laughter from people present) It's a great team environment. It's a - if you ever want a laugh they have - you go dressed in your pajamas one day. And, they have potluck lunches. And, it's just a great team environment. I'm glad they're with us and they do a great job. I'm pleased, on behalf of Council, keep it up. (applause) Now, I'd ask Deputy Mayor Collins to present this to (?)"(I didn't hear what name Councillor Ferguson said.) (more applause)

4. Approval of Minutes ( McHattie / Morelli - CARRIED )

4.1 March 10, 2004 ( regular meeting)

(http://www.hamilton.ca/Clerk/agendas-minutes-
reports/council/2004/Mar24/Minutes.pdf)

Collins : "Thank you Councillor Ferguson. Members of Council may I have a verbal motion to approve the Minutes of City Council meeting held on March 10, 2004."

5. Communications ( Ferguson / Horwath - CARRIED)

5.1 Correspondence from Mr. Mahadi Kazzam respecting Licensing Committee Report 04-004, Item 2

(http://www.hamilton.ca/Clerk/agendas-minutes-
reports/council/2004/Mar24/Item%205.1.pdf)

Recommendation: For Council's consideration

5.2 (added) from Donald McKasky (private / confidential - so not handed out)
be received

Item (b) 5.3 (added) for the Milgrove Garden Supplies Ltd. - be referred to the Planning and Economic Development committee

Item (c) 5.4 (added) Hamilton Business Improvement Association (BIA) be referred to General Manager for Planning for consideration in the zoning by-law review

5.5 (added) Communication from John Ariens respecting Elizabeth Gardens draft plan subdivision be received

(move into Committee of the Whole for consideration of Committee reports - Ferguson / Horwath - CARRIED)

6. Committee Reports

1) PUBLIC WORKS (Mitchell / Pearson - CARRIED )

6.1 Public Works, Infrastructure and Environment Committee, Report 04-008, March 15, 2004

(http://www.hamilton.ca/Clerk/agendas-minutes-reports/
Public-Works/2004/Mar15/Rep04-008.pdf)

Discussion on . . .

Item #5 (actually Mitchell notes he was wanting to speak to Item 2 of the "information for council section, not #5) (CARRIED)

(5. Stop Up, Close and Sell a Portion of Unopened Road Allowance Between Concessions 11 and 12 (PW04026 ) - (Ward 15) (Item 7.3). (a) That the application to stop up, close and sell a portion of unopened road allowance between Concessions 11 and 12, in the former Town of Flamborough, now in the City of Hamilton, be approved; and (b) That the appropriate By-law be introduced and enacted by Council. )

Mitchell : "Thanks Mr. Chairman, just speaking with Councillor McCarthy, I had a phone call, today that there's a land-locked piece of property here that the farmer cannot get into if this was to be stopped up and sold per se. Now, there's two accesses, one from two different roads. Now, I'm not familiar with it; Councillor McCarthy may be, but a request was to have it tabled to ensure that the farmer could get into the property from one way or the other. I guess I don't have a problem with selling one side or the other, as long as it isn't blocked off by the city at the other entrance. And that's all I want to add. Maybe I'll need to hear from her (McCarthy) I guess. "

McCarthy : "Thank you Mr. Deputy Mayor. This is news to me. This issue has had full debate and council analysis and planning and development analysis. And, this would be news to me if this has come forward on the 11th hour for a stop up and closure of an issue that's been dealt with now for pretty much 5 years.

Mitchell : "There may be 2 of these, Mr. Deputy Mayor, and Councillor Ferguson's pointing out to me that it's a different one - it's Item (ii), I guess, at the back under information items.

Collins : "Mmmm, okay, well, can I move on with Item #5 then?

Mitchell : "Yes, you can."

Item #8 (Jackson) (CARRIED)

( 8. Draft Solid Waste Management By-law - (PW04034) - (City Wide) (Item 9.3) (a) That the draft Solid Waste Management By-law, attached as Appendix 1 to Report No. PW04034 be endorsed for the purpose of holding a Public Meeting; (b) That a Public Meeting be scheduled of the Public Works, Infrastructure and Environment Committee; Note: Refer to Information Section (f) for disposition of the remaining subsections to the above recommendation. )

Jackson : "Mr. deputy Mayor, can I just have clarification on the (a) part of the draft Solid Waste Management By-Law? It says here that this by-law 'attached as Appendix 1 . . . be endorsed for the purpose of holding a Public Meeting.' [Can] somebody just please tell me when we're endorsing this, we're not endorsing the by-law ahead of time. I just don't like the wording of that (a) part. Can somebody just please clarify we're not doing that tonight?"

Peter Crockett (General Manager, Public Works): "Through you, Mr. Deputy Mayor, no the approval is just for the draft by-law to go out for public consultation. Everything will be coming back to council for a full debate on the by-law itself. Once we've had that public consultation we'll bring a report back."

Jackson : "Okay, Peter. Thank you. Thanks Mr. Deputy Mayor."

Mitchell : "Yes, Mr. Deputy Mayor, could I have some advice on this. It would be (e) subsection 2 under Council information - because that's what needed to be tabled

( Page 7, Public Works, Report 04-008 - FOR THE INFORMATION OF COUNCIL: (e) The following Public Meetings were held: (ii) Stop Up, Close and Sell a Portion of Unopened Road Allowance Between Concessions 11 and 12 (PW04026) - ( Ward 15) (Item 7.3) Ms. Leanne Ryan outlined the report to Committee. Mr. Alan Mount addressed Committee and noted a health concern regarding the septic system that has been installed on the property. He advised that he was opposed to the application. Mr. Paul Wigood addressed Committee and noted his concerns regarding pollution, water quality and increased traffic. Mr. James Webb, addressed the Committee on behalf of the applicant. He explained that a new sewage system for the resort has been constructed (with a Ministry of the Environment Permit) but not yet hooked up. He noted that this will improve the existing conditions which he admitted do not currently meet Ministry of the Environment guidelines.

Councillor McCarthy questioned what safety mechanisms were in place and Mr. Webb confirmed that financial securities have been paid to the Ministry. Councillor McCarthy advised the Committee that the road closure application also deals with the issue of water quality. She questioned if the applicant could test the adjacent landowners wells to determine the quality, as there has been contamination of those wells from the resorts apparently substandard existing system. Mr. Webb advised that he would speak to the hydrologist respecting this matter. Staff also confirmed that water testing could be made a condition at the Official Plan or Zoning Amendment stage. Committee discussed the application and had additional information supplied by staff. With respect to road allowance closure requests, Councillor Braden asked staff to consider the possibility of future bike and hiking trails prior to recommending approval of a closure and sale. Committee approved the application. )

Peter Crockett : "Through you, Mr. Chairman, I'm not aware that any action on our part to close up this, would actually lock out a property. But, I don't know enough about the specific site to confirm that. So, if you'd like to table and I'll get the information out and bring it back to the next Council, that's, that's more than appropriate."

Mitchell : "Then that's what I have been requested to do."

Collins : "Well, I believe that sub-section (ii) on item (e) is actually the motion that we passed under Item #5.

Mitchell : "Well, that's what I was thinking, too . . ."

Collins : "It is . . . and that is the information section to the motion that was put at committee."

Mitchell : "Well, I guess I'd like to have that clarified because there is 2 entrances from 2 different different roads."

Collins : "On the information section, Councillor McCarthy"

McCarthy : "I think Councillor Mitchell is talking about a potential stop-up and closure request that it hasn't been debated in committee, yet. It's going to come to committee. And, we're going to have legal advice, regarding that on both sides. But, in fact it isn't before us tonight. That issue isn't before us tonight, at all. What you were dealing with is the Four Seasons. And, that is what has been approved. And, that's what's been dealt with for years, now. "

Collins : "Councillor Mitchell, on the information section."

Mitchell : "That's fine. There's been some confusion; I did bring it to Council's attention and I'll leave it at that, Mr. Deputy Mayor. I did what I was asked to comment on; bring it forward from the agricultural community. If there's some . . .well,it just came in - the phone call, this afternoon. So, there was a concern there. I said I'd speak to Councillor McCarthy. She's addressed it. That's fine."

Collins : "Okay, Councillor Kelly on the information section

Kelly : * ( Kelly / Ferguson - CARRIED )

"Thank you Mr. Deputy Mayor. Mr. Deputy Mayor, I have a Motion here, moved by myself, seconded by Councillor Ferguson, * 'that the rules of order be suspended to allow the introduction of a Motion to the Public Works, Infrastructure and Environment Committee REPORT respecting City Hall Accommodations,' which is section (h) - ((h) Private and Confidential Committee moved In-Camera to receive a report respecting the City Hall Accommodations Project. The Committee reconvened in Open Session and made a motion on the following recommendation which lost on a tie vote; LS04003 - City Hall Accommodations Project (City Wide) (Added Item 13.1) (a) That the Evaluation Team for City Project C3-03-03 be directed to complete the evaluation of Proposals under the terms and conditions of the Request for Proposals and report back to Committee and Council with their recommendation; and (b) That Proponents be advised that the City has made no commitment to the completion of the City Project C3-03-03 irrespective of the outcome of the evaluation process; and (c) That Proponents be advised that the City continues to rely upon its right to cancel the Request for Proposals, without award of any contract, irrespective of the merits of individual Proposals or of the outcome of the evaluation process; and (d) That Proponents be advised that should they chooses to withdraw their Proposals at this time, provided that they execute a Release, satisfactory in form an d contents to the City Solicitor, that the City will release their bid securities; and Public Works, Infrastructure and 10 Report 04-008 Environment Committee Council - March 24, 2004 (e) That a few members (this is the part that changes) of the Public Works, Infrastructure and Environment Committee be appointed to participate with the Evaluation Team on City Project C3-03-03. Yeas: Councillors Braden, Bruckler and Ferguson Total: 3 Nays: Councillors Collins, McCarthy and Mitchell Total: 3 The Committee requested that this item be brought forward at Council on March 24, 2004. ) in the information section - Moved by myself, seconded by Councillor Ferguson to suspend the rules."

Kelly : * ( Kelly / Ferguson - CARRIED )

"Thank you Mr. Chairman, Moved by myself, seconded by Councillor Ferguson - and I believe Members of Council have this in front of them - * that the following be added as Item # 9: to the Public Works, Infrastructure and Environment Committee Report. And it states City Hall Accommodations Project City Wide added Item # 13.1" (Kelly goes on to read the motion with is as stated above from Section h) of the information section of the Public Works committee report 04-008-March 15, 2004. The only difference comes in section (e) which I will pick up his quotation as follows:)

"and part '(e) that a maximum of three members of the Public Works Infrastructure and Environment Committee be appointed to participate with the evaluation team on City Project C3-03-03.' Mr. Chairman, if I could very briefly just address this. This is an issue that I know you, as a committee chair of this particular committee have wrestled with over the last couple of meetings and frankly have become dead-locked because of the problems that have incurred - information / lack of information, depending on perspective, etc. And, what this motion actually does is ask staff to continue with this - this is based on some legal advice that I know you, Mr. Chairman, received at the committee level a couple of weeks ago - And, as the motion indicates, it in no way ties us to actually move forward with this project, but simply to continue with trying to find as much information as we can, with giving us the option to try to find a solution which may, in fact, solve some of the accommodation problems. Mr. Chairman, as you know, because I know you've been heavily into the debate - it's your committee - over the last little while, this is not a simple issue. We've been dealing with this at this council for some 5 years, I guess, now, really. And, what we're looking for here is as much information as we can to try to accommodate staff; to try to do something as far as staff accommodation are concerned without having an impact to the tax-payers. Or, at least to mitigate any impact to the tax-payers. We've had a number of different proposals. Staff have come back and looked at those and we want to try to continue that process right now. Notwithstanding the fact that there are certain costs involved in this, one of the outstanding costs is the fact that we're paying a considerable amount of money - about $7 million a year in leases in different properties around the city right now and that's something that has to be factored in to this as well. We may, at the end of the day, Mr. Chairman, decide, 'No, we're going to simply stick with what we've got.' But, I think we need to go that little further down this road and get some more information before we try to actually make a decision on this. And, that's the intent of this motion. It's not to commit us to anything, yet. It's simply to commit us to continue the investigation to try to find the best possible solution. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman."

Collins : "Thank you. Further speakers on item #9. Councillor Horwath."

Horwath : "Well, Mr. Chairman, I wasn't, unfortunately, able to attend the committee meeting. I'm not going to support this motion. I quite frankly need to know where the money's coming from. We heard in the Capital Budget debate, the other day, that we have no money. The City is pretty much broke. We have [a] huge capital wish list and an not enough money to go around to pay for it. So, if we want to cancel some of our major projects, like Solid Waste ( Solid Waste Management Master Plan - SWMMP -
http://www.hamilton.ca/public-works/Waste-Management/SWMMP/)
or like the Expressway (Red Hill Creek Expressway - a.k.a the Red Hill Valley Project -
http://www.hamilton.ca/public-works/
capital-planning/Red-Hill-Valley-Program/default.asp)
then I'm all for this motion. But, quite frankly, it's time to be a little bit realistic and put on hold some of our Christmas Wish list, because there's no Santa Claus, Mr. Chairman; there's no money; and, the tax-payers of this community are tapped out. So, we need to do what we can to make sure our staff have decent working environment for the time being, and put off the wish list for a couple of years, at least. I don't think it's appropriate for the proponents, or for the people in this community, or for the Councillors, or the staff to get their hopes up that somehow we're going to get some big gift to be able to afford the construction of a new City Hall anytime within the next year or two. If it's going to take us 3, 4, 5 years to be able to find some room in our Capital Budgets, to be able to afford this project, then we re-open it at that point. There's just no money, Mr. Chairman, and I don't see what the point is of dragging this on unnecessarily. Thank you."

Collins : "Thank you. Councillor Bruckler."

Bruckler : "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Mayor. I don't think anyone wants to build a City Hall - even at the best of times. But, I think one of my priorities, at this point in time, is making sure whatever funds that we have are spent wisely. And, again, the reason that I support this recommendation, is because I guess Council, previously were moving in a direction which was going to look at the major renovation of this particular building, which was option 2 within the staff report. The staff report we had before us ( City Hall Accommodations Project - C3-03-03 Evaluation Status Report -
http://www.hamilton.ca/Clerk/agendas-minutes-reports/
public-works/2004/Feb02/PW03010a.pdf) gave us three options. One of those options was to deal with emergency and some renovations within this building and then within about a 10-year period do a major renovation - 'cause we recognize that this building's failing badly. Given - and then, the other scenario was to do the renovations here. And, the third is the one that we're looking at right now. The staff report - if you look at those three options, in the long term that even standing pat and dealing strictly with emergency procedures, not factoring in the need to move people out, in the event of an emergency situation and lease other areas, that the recommendation before us was the one that gave us the best, the biggest bang for our buck. And, it was the cheapest of all of the scenarios that we were looking before us. And, for that particular reason, I wanted to take it one more step down the road so that we could at least review that, because it was, in fact, according to [the] staff report, the most economical of the three options we were looking at. So, for that particular reason, I would at least want to continue on with the process, so that we could make a more informed determination."

Collins : "Thank you Councillor. Councillor Pearson."

Pearson : "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Chairman. I will support this motion. As a newcomer on Council, I'm not familiar with all the background. And, I would like to have it before me again, so that we can make a, I can make an informed decision on this. I think in all fairness to the tax-payers that I represent - I have discussed it with them. The majority that I have spoken to do concur that we have to make an educated decision; we have to understand what's happening here. City Hall is breaking down around us and it's very unfortunate. We had a couple of water main breaks through the Christmas season and staff brought to our attention that we were very, very fortunate, Mr. Chairman, that if the IT (Information Technology) the technical area had not just been recently moved over to the library offices that we would have had a serious catastrophe at City Hall with all of our computer systems being damaged. We've also have - and Councillor Bruckler and I sat here this afternoon, and as it was raining, there is water that does leak down right here in our own Council Chambers. So, it's very unfortunate. We've also heard of the elevators that are in dire need of being maintained and difficulty in getting parts. So, we have to look at it as a whole. And, as was mentioned by Councillor Kelly, I think about the leases. We're looking at moving into approximately 2008, we will be at $10 million plus in leasing space for staff throughout this municipality. It is not efficient and we have to address the concerns here and get the best bang for our buck."

Collins : "Thank you Councillor. Councillor Mitchell."

Mitchell : "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Mayor. There's been a lot of work done on this project. And, some of the Councillors and staff here have lived through having to build a new township hall or new city halls in the past. And, those plans didn't always work out, appropriately. And, they had to be sent back to committee and talked about some more. I'm going to support this motion because that's what I think needs to have happen here. The first time, in Glanbrook, when the proposals came in, the price was too high, and we couldn't afford it. So, we sent it back and we talked about it. And, we got it to a point and we could afford it. As a past-Chairman of the Accommodation Sub-Committee in trying to utilize our different facilities throughout the City, I made commitments, the Committee made commitments to the constituents all across this city, that if there was going to be a tax increase to build a new city hall, we wouldn't do it. And, my community wouldn't allow me to support it. However, I want to believe that there's still potential through talks to get that figure down to a figure that we can afford to build it and not have a tax increase. All the lease payments we make throughout this city, they're going up continually. The interest rate is low. I want to believe that those talks have to go forward before that final decision is made. There's been too much work done to this point in time to throw that away. But, I want my Council colleagues to know that if it comes back after this process, tax increase - I cannot support it; my community could not support it. But, we need to have the rest of the information and negotiate further with the players that have done the work up to this point in time. So, I will be supporting it."

Collins : "Thank you. Councillor Whitehead."

Whitehead : "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Mayor. I haven't been here in the last years in respect to the debate. And, there certainly is a sentimentality in respect to the building. Having said that, I have to put my pragmatic, practical hat on and look at the needs of the workers at City Hall and the Corporation's best interest. I don't think it's worth putting $50 million dollars into a facility that has out-lived in its current status, put that kind of dollars into the facility. I believe that we need to be taking a look and keeping open minded the best deal that we can get. If we can't get it, then we're back to renovating City Hall. But, I think we need to - actually, the question I'm going to put to staff, quite frankly, is 'what's it going to cost us to go through with this recommendation?' - Can I ask that through the Chair, Deputy Mayor?"

Collins : "Are you just asking for the consultants or is this consultants and staff time you're asking for, Councillor?"

Whitehead : "As a result of passing this resolution tonight, how much is it going to cost, is the question, for the pursuit of this?"

Peter Crockett (General Manager, Public Works): "Through you, Mr. Chairman, I'm not really sure how much the dollar value for the remaining amount of work. I will tell you that we think it's in the neighbourhood of 3 or 4 days of comprehensive work by about a dozen people - by the time your go through the evaluation and so on. But, the other side of that is, much of the work that needs to be done to go to the next phase, has already been done, because of, the first phase of the evaluation, the way that we did the first phase of the evaluation, much of the pre-work to go into the next phase has been done. So, it's not additional work that needs to be done to move forward."

Whitehead : "Right, well we're talking [a] marginal amount of money being spent to bring this process to like some kind of conclusion. I would support doing that, because I believe that we owe it to the tax-payer. Because, I believe, quite frankly, that [if] we stick with what we have, it's going to cost the tax-payer a lot more money on the long haul. We've talked about the leases. What we don't talk about is the amount of time for staff to travel back and forth between City Hall. That's unproductive time, because that's spent in travel. And I think we did a rough figure - just one staff person, and we're talking thousands of dollars for one staff person in a year, one staff person. We got thousands. So, I'm concerned about whether or not we're getting value under the current model. And, that's why I love to pursue at least the process. And, at the end of the day, the process comes back and says it's going to cost 'X' amount of dollars, it's going to be tapped (record taker heard 'tapped', but think speaker meant 'added' to the levy) onto the levy, or it's going to mean something has to be given up on the current capital, then at that point, at that point, I'm prepared to make the tough decision. But, at least let us get there. Let's get to that point where a tough decision has to be made. But, I think we owe it to the tax-payers of this community to exhaust every opportunity to save them money on the long run. Thank you."

Collins : "Thank you Councillor. I have Councillor McHattie."

McHattie : "Thanks, Mr. Deputy Mayor. I'm going to be supporting this motion as well, for the reasons articulated, that it's important for us to have all of the information we can possibly have to make this decision. However, I want to make it clear that we will be considering, as I understand it, retaining this building and possibly building a second one. There's a number of options that we look at, we can look at. I'm a member of the Hamilton Heritage Committee - the LACAC Committee
(http://www.hamilton.ca/Planning-and-Development/
long-range/heritage-urban/municipal-heritage-committee.asp - Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee - LACAC, a.k.a. the Municipal Heritage Committee) and that Committee is very interested in maintaining this building here for historical purposes. It is a very important architectural building, an excellent - perhaps one of the best examples in Canada - of a particular style of architecture. We think of 100-year old buildings when we think of . . . historical buildings, designated buildings. But, this is not a hundred years old, but it's a very important building for us here in the City of Hamilton. So, I want to make it very clear to the folks out there who are thinking about the historical and architectural aspects of this building, that the discussions that we continue to have, will very much include maintaining this building as one of the options. And, that's an option that's very important to me and I'll make sure that it stays on the table. Thanks, Mr. Deputy Mayor."

Collins : "Thank you Councillor McHattie. Councillor Jackson."

Jackson : "Mr. Deputy Mayor, I'm going to support Councillor Kelly's motion as well. I concur with a lot of the sentiments that Councillor Whitehead expressed. And, a couple of years ago, I was supporting the original getting on with just doing some renovations, get the basics done. But, talking to friends in the construction industry, they say that once you start digging in with the renovation, usually, the costs escalate. And, that's a concern for me because we've talked about $40 to $50 million, potentially, for renovation and we would only house the current 400 to 450 employees that we have here and still have about a thousand of our employees scattered across the City. So, Mr. Deputy Mayor, unlike the water contract, which again I thought, we wanted to gather more information before we made a final decision, I want more information this time (can here laughter in the background). I'm delighted to hear a lot of my colleagues want more information this time. I want to start as broad as possible with all the options on the table. One thing I'm delighted about, is that I think we have crystallized as a Council around whatever we do, it will be on the current City Hall Plaza site. And, I'm pleased to hear and see that, where before we kind of meandered on other locations, potentially downtown, harbour - we were kind of all over the map looking at various locations. But, this is the focal point of our new city government, and this is identifiable for most of our citizens and for visitors and so whatever we do, we'll end up doing it here on City Hall Plaza site. Thanks Mr. Deputy Mayor."

Collins : "Thank you. Councillor Braden."

Braden : "Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let me digress for a minute and tell you what I'd really like to do. I'd like to see us, somewhere along the line, build a building - wherever, I'm not, I'm not wedded to this site, but I'm a democrat, so I'd live wherever the site is - but I think along the line of the sustainability lecture we got - I think it was yesterday (referring to Vision 2020 presentation by Linda Harvey at the Committee of the Whole Meeting, Tues. March 23, 2004 - ) - but it was a really good one. We could actually build a building for fractionally more than the minimum price - let's say the minimum price is $50 million, just some round number. My numbers tell me that for about 5 per cent more - and 5 per cent is real dollars - you could build a building that would simply be an outstanding structure, that would probably have twice the life span of a normal building - so it may be 80 years or a 100 instead of 40 - and would able to be developed without any air-conditioning system, without any heating system and which you would have that independence. And, we know what's going to happen to energy - either we're going to pay it or we're going to be wearing woolies to work - right? You know, I'm mean it's one way of the other; you've got to pay one way or the other. And, frankly, whatever you think of staff - and hopefully you respect them - you want them to come to an environment that is comfortable, not the stale air like we've got in this building; not the over-heating . . . in front of the glass. And not the cold - if you sit over here where I sit, it's really uncomfortable. I wish I could blame my sore back on the air, it isn't that . . . But, what I'm trying to tell you is, that if we set our targets to do something that is simply outstanding - I had a conversation with Larry (DiIanni) about this - every planning student and every engineer from around North America - I'm exaggerating, but only slightly - would come here to look at this. It's very doable. I've given Larry a book on it. I'm happy to give you guys books on it or if you want to think about it, or if you want to go and visit these things. And it would be the start of a sustainable program. It would cost a hair more. We're always a little sceptical about spending a hair more. But, when you spend a hair more, you get good stuff. That's where I would like to get to. Now, that was my deviation. I'm going to get back to this and be a bit facetious . . . to get through it. I agree with Councillor Horwath immediately, right? If we've only got money for garbage, and for police, and for the poor, but for some reason, for the Expressway - I don't understand the priorities here - if we're spending all that money on those things - some of which are not necessary, Joe's told us, you don't have money to build a City Hall. The reason I want to look at it is because there's a chance that building it, we will save money. Now, I don't want to sound too right wing, but if we really can save money, I don't think you can afford not to look, okay? If building a new City - and I tell ya, absolute political suicide for a person from Flamborough to look at a City Hall, right? (laughter) It's not even funny, right? I just get assassinated by tomorrow morning. But, if we don't have the courage to look at saving money - and I agree we're wasting it on the Expressway, right? I mean, I agree there. But, that doesn't mean you stop looking. There's got to be some sort of solid ground somewhere. So, I want to go through the exercise. My figures say this is going to cost internally, $20 thousand. And, that's not taking in telephones. But, it's taking a little bit of rent and it's taking a quarter of a person's year and assuming they're getting paid $80 thousand times 12 people. That's what my numbers tell me. If that'll help us move this along a little bit - and it's in-house time - I'm willing to spend it. I tell you where I want to go - where I'm not willing to go is to do what we normally do, in the old way . . . which is build minimum standard stuff, which is obsolete by the time it's finished, right? That gets us no where, except brownie points for a few and suicide for me - it's not a great deal. So, I want to pursue this, only because I think we might learn something. And, I want to get to the point, but please understand, what I want to do is do something special, or not do it at all."

Collins : "I have no further speakers on the issue, except myself, and I'm going to ask Councillor Bruckler to - Councillor Morelli, you want to speak on this, go ahead."

Morelli : "Thank you, Mr. Chairman, my only regret is that I won't be able to support Bill Kelly's motion, obviously. I really think that I've been reading my budget book too long, I think. And, I think Andrea's right on the money. I, you know I listened to - you can put any spin you want on this, I guess, but the spin that I'm going to put on it is, is that I'm not even sure that our work habits are going to continue to be the way that we have them today. And, I'm not so sure we may even need the facility of the magnitude that we're looking. I'm very pleased, by the way, that we've agreed - I've always maintained that we were going to stay on this site. And, so that's clear in my mind. I said that day one with all the studies that we've done to date. And, I think that I listened to my good colleague across the hall here talk about priorities. And, my priorities are very simple right now, I don't think we can afford to even spend the staff's time to do this. I think . . .when I look at it, I'm saying, why don't we use the staff to do other things - and quite frankly, we're going to be forced to do that. And so, I'm going to take that approach. I think that it's very clear to me that we just need to proceed on the basis of look at our priorities, and this isn't going to be one of them for me. I think that we will be able to renovate. I heard the comment about: won't accept minimum standard. I don't think we're ever going to be building the Taj Mahal here, quite frankly. So, . . . when I hear the comments about: it's going to cost us, it cost us this much to transport people in and around this place. I was here when we put people all over the place because, I'm going to tell ya, we were trying to do it to economically revitalize certain areas . . .you know they're all going to leave there, so don't know what happens, do we de-vitalize them or is there somebody coming - we've got Stelco hanging by a thread. There maybe a, I know there's some good spots over there empty, but there maybe a whole change of complexion around this town. And, I can assure you, in my speculative comment, that, that Stelco's going to have quite a different complexion if - if they come back in business. And, it'll involve a lot less office space than they have even now, if in fact if they even stay there. So, I think there's a lot of things up in the air, given the environmental circumstance that surrounds us with respect to our budgets. Plus, the need to stretch our staff in the most efficient way - given what we're looking at to pick up from a monetary point of view. I won't support this only because I'm going to cut to the chase and make my decision right now. Thank you."

Collins : "Thank you Councillor. As I said, I have no further speakers. I'm going to hand the Chair over to Councillor Bruckler, while I speak and I did want to make a few points on the matter. And, as was mentioned. We have dealt with this issue for a number of years, now. And, I have always supported, in my time on Council, tabling of motions, referrals back to committees, giving Council - and Councillors in particular - an opportunity to gather more information and make an informed decision. I've never voted against that. And, when we talk about receiving more information, in this sense, I don't think it's a matter of going through the consultant's report that we received - which was about as thick as a dictionary - and that was about 3 years ago. We hired somebody, we paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for someone to go through this building from top to bottom. And, they gave us a list of everything that was deficient with this facility and the building that we govern in. And, from that, we decided to go to an RFP (Request for Proposal) and explore the opportunities of building a new building. And, along the line, we've received - I can't even count how many reports I have in my office and in my files. In fact, I have probably six or seven files in a filing cabinet specifically related to City Hall. So, when we start talking about looking for additional information, that causes me some concern, because I don't think we're asking for information in the sense that we don't have all the facts and figures before us - what this is, is - and I see it and I think I said this at the committee - is more of, it's becoming a more of a negotiated process with those people who, let us not forget, did not meet the specifications within the tender. And, for me, this is about process. For me this is about looking back at some of the mistakes we've made over the last several years where we haven't followed our purchasing policy - and look no further than the street-sweeper situation, to find a matter where we found ourselves in hot water because the policies that we have approved by council, were not followed. And, I see us following down that same path, here. We had our legal department at the committee, in camera, and without getting into specifics, who recommended going ahead with exactly what's being proposed here tonight. For two reasons: #1, it's not the norm. When we have an RFP and people don't meet the specifications, we don't meet with the people who bid on the contracts. If there's an appeal, it goes to the committee. And, I don't think this is an appeal in regards to process; this is an appeal because people don't like the decision that was made by our staff. And so, from that context, I can't support it. In regards to affordability, I think Councillor Horwath made a great point, earlier. I'd love to see someone try to squeeze this project into the capital budget. In fact, even if you're going with the cheaper figure of renovating this building, you will not be able to find any room in that budget - even if you were to put it over 5 to 10 years - to fix this building, alone. So, we're going to have to struggle, but, we're going to have to struggle with whether it's $30 million, $50 million or $80 million that the finance is associated with this. Again, I can see where this is going based on the discussions and advice given by our staff is that we're probably going to end up meeting - whoever's on this committee, if it passes here, tonight - probably going to end up meeting with the developers behind closed doors. And, I know that's not the the intent here tonight, but that is the direction that's going to be given. And, I think perceptually, that's not the way we've conducted our business in the past; and that's not the way I want to conduct business in the future. And so, for those reasons, members of Council, I'm not going to support this. I see this quickly becoming another Gore Park situation. It's dragged on that long. It's certainly received the amount of media attention that that situation had in the early '80s. And, I really think that it's slippery slope when Councillors start to get involved in the RFP process and giving out contracts - regardless who ends up winning this at the end of the day, if in fact we decide to go with that route. So, for those reasons, I'd like to be recorded as opposed. And, I will take the Chair back from Councillor Bruckler at this time, thank you. Any further speakers, Councillor McCarthy."

McCarthy : "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Mayor. Can I ask a question to staff? In terms of the RFP, which you just raised, what process is in place if this motion goes forward tonight, to deal with the concern that we're tampering with the Request for Proposals - just to staff if you have an answer on that?"

Peter Crockett : "Through you, Mr. Chairman, the motion the way that it's laid out, allows us to continue to evaluate the proposal submitted in compliance with the purchasing policies, get down to the point where we have one or two recommended proponents, which we would then bring back to council, get approval to then get into some sort of negotiations if it's appropriate to determine where we can move forward or where we can't move forward. So, everything that this resolution allows us to do will comply with the purchasing policies."

McCarthy : "Thank you. Thanks, Peter. I think there's been really good arguments raised for both sides. And, to be perfectly truthful, I was to the point where I thought there was enough information for me to make a decision and I was going to stay with the recommendation to stop the process. But, I think there's been some arguments raised here tonight to suggest that we could be losing all the work that's been done to date, if we don't at least keep an evaluation process going a little longer. And, quite honestly, I'm reluctant to do that. But, I will do that because there has been so much work to date for it to stop flat, right now could be doing the community a disservice. So, on those grounds, I'm going to be supporting the resolution here tonight. Thank you."

Collins : "Thank you. Councilor Kelly for a second time."

Kelly : "Just a very quick point, Mr. Chairman. I thank you for the latitude . . . And, I agree with Councillor McCarthy. I think there's been some very valid points raised on both sides of this issue - as there were at your committee during that debate, as well. And, just to reiterate what Mr. Crockett said. This motion does not preclude us from pulling the plug at this and simply saying, 'you know what this isn't going to work, the numbers just aren't working.' My concern - and it predates my time on Council, but as a citizen of this community, too - and we've seen this from staff in report, after report, after report, when we start looking at operational costs and capital costs, Mr. Chairman, is that that there have been some bad decisions made - for a variety of reasons, by past councils, dating back 15, 20, 25 years about not investing in infrastructure. That's why it's costing us more to fix our arenas; that's why it's costing us more to fix our buildings around this community because they at the time thought, well, let's take the less expensive way and we're paying for that. That's the old phrase: ' you can pay us now, or you can pay us later.' And all I think this motion is doing is saying, let's go a little bit further down the road. I want to make sure, that when we finally make a decision - and it may in fact be to just do what we've got, to stay with what we've got. But, I want to make sure that we've unturned every stone and do our due diligence in this whole situation. And, again, I reiterate the fact that - cause I don't want people to go 'way from here with the understanding that 'well, we're committing to build a new City Hall' - we're not. We just want to make absolutely sure - Mr. Chairman, the best example I can use of this was the quad pad arena situation. That was a project and a concept that we have been dealing with for some years. And, there were a couple of proposals that came forward that quite frankly didn't meet what we wanted to do. But, we didn't give up. We were diligent. We sent staff back and said go back and see if you can get a better deal. They did. Thankfully that project is moving forward to the benefit of the community, too. I'm hopeful that we can get the same kind of solution here. And, if not, then we're none the worse for wear. But, at least we've tried. I appreciate the comments and the time, Mr. Chairman. Thank you."

Collins : "Thank you. I've no further speakers. It's been moved and seconded. I'm going to ask for a standing recorded vote. All those in favour, please rise (Braden, Bruckler, Ferguson, Jackson, Kelly, McCarthy, McHattie, Mitchell, Pearson, Powers and Whitehead.) Those opposed, please rise (Collins, Horwath, Morelli) Motion carries. I'm going to ask, as per the motion that at this point in time, we appoint 3 members to the committee that will look at this. Can I have a recommendation, motions, to appoint people to the committee. Councillor Ferguson."

Ferguson : "Mr. Chairman, I'd be interested in serving on that committee."

Collins : "Okay, Councillor Ferguson's interested. Councillor Whitehead. I need a third representative, uh, I think it was mentioned from the committee, so Councillor Whitehead I'd, as per the motion, it's three members of public works, so Councillor Ferguson, Councillor Mitchell, Councillor Braden, on that?"

Braden : "It might make sense that if somebody that wasn't in favour of it that is also on Public Works that they get on too, so we just get some sort of a balance. So, I'm not volunteering. But, most people in there hear the story and come back and share it."

Collins : "Any takers?

Mitchell (can hear in the background): "You. Councillor Collins, you'd bring a lot of expertise to the" [committee]

Collins : "No, I'm not interested in taking part in the process, really - because of the process. So, I respectfully decline. Councillor Bruckler, third member, okay. So, we have three members: Councillors Bruckler, Ferguson and Mitchell. Can I get a motion to appoint those three people to the committee? MOVED by Kelly, SECONDED by Jackson, all those in favour - that CARRIES . Thank you. Councillor Mitchell, may I have a motion on the report as amended."

Mitchell : "Yes, you may, Mr. deputy Mayor, it's moved by myself, seconded by Councillor Pearson that the eighth report of the Public Works and Infrastructure and Environment Committee be adopted and that the information section be received."

Collins : "All those in favour. (CARRIED) Thank you."

2) PLANNING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ( Kelly / Jackson - CARRIED )

Collins: " Members of Council the Planning and Economic Development Committee presents its sixth report and respectfully recommends . . ." (Collins goes down the list of items in the report)

6.2 Planning and Economic Development Committee, Report 04-006, March 16, 2004

(http://www.hamilton.ca/Clerk/agendas-minutes-reports/
Planning-Economic-Development/2004/Mar16/REPORT%2004-006.pdf)

Item # 14 (CARRIES) ( Planning & Economic Development Report 04-006 Committee Council - March 24, 2004 - page 7 - ("14. Application for a Draft Plan of Subdivision Known as "Elizabeth Gardens", Located in the Southwest Quadrant of Binbrook Road and Regional Road No. 56, Glanbrook (PD02033(a)) (Ward 11) (Item 6.1) (a) That Item 2(a) of Hearings Sub-Committee Report 02-007, being the approval of Subdivision Application 25T-200111 for "Elizabeth Gardens", approved at the February 27, 2002 Council Meeting, be rescinded. (b) That approval be given to Subdivision Application 25T-200111, Losani Homes (1998) Ltd, owner , to establish a draft plan of subdivision known as "Elizabeth Gardens", on lands located in the southwest quadrant of Binbrook Road and Regional Road No. 56 (Glanbrook), as shown on Appendix "B" to Report PD02033(a), subject to the execution of a City standard form Subdivision Agreement, including conditions 1-17 inclusive and 19-47 inclusive, contained in Appendix "C" to Report PD02033(a) and that condition 18 be amended to read as follows; 18. That the Owner agrees that no development of the lands shall commence until such time as the downstream storm sewer outfall across the lands of Nos. 3153 and 3137 Regional Road No. 56 is constructed to convey storm water to the existing storm water management pond located on the east side of Highway No. 56, to the satisfaction of the Manager of Development Engineering. And the following; (i) Acknowledgement by the City of Hamilton that, in accordance with the City's Financial Policies for new Development, the City shall fund the following items: 1. One-half of the cost of a 1.5 metre high black vinyl chain link fence along the entire west and south sides of Park Block 182, should such a fence be required; 2. The cost of over-sizing sanitary sewers beyond a 450 mm diameter pipe; and, 3. The cost of over-sizing watermains beyond a 300 mm diameter pipe;" )

(Ferguson) : "Mr. Chairman, I would respectfully ask this item be tabled , since new information has come to light. I'd like to give staff a couple of weeks to work on a solution." (Moved by Ferguson, Seconded by Powers - CARRIED)

Horwath (in background): "Table or refer back to committee."

Ferguson : "Tabled, it's tabled."

(there's a bunch of discussion in the background as to whether or not item should be tabled or refer back to committee)

Ferguson : "Uh, I'm at the will of Council. I was only considering tabling it, if you want to go back to committee, that's fine, too."

Collins : "I'm going to need a direction one way or the other. It's either a tabling or a referral."

(more discussion in the back ground)

Collins : "Members of Council, please, if you're looking for more discussion on the item, Councillor, then I would suggest a referral would make the most sense."

Ferguson : "I would like to defer it to the Ward Councillor on this for opinion."

Collins : "Councillor Mitchell."

Mitchell : "Thank you Councillor Ferguson. Thank you, Mr.Deputy Mayor. The, I think Mr. McCabe is not here tonight, but he is working on this. We had about an hour and a half's discussion on this issue at committee. He is preparing some information to come back to Council. So, I would rather have the two week wait than to refer it to planning and wait for four weeks. Because the spring time is coming, the information that's coming forward will solve both the dilemma that's here and the drainage one. And, the drainage one is one of the most important. So, I don't want to slow the process up for a full 30 days, I would rather table it so it comes back to Council in two weeks. There's what I'm after. Thank you."

Collins : "Okay, you spoke to the issue, so I can't accept . . . (taped stopped sorry, and in fiddling with the tape, I didn't get the notes done.)

Braden : (pick up Braden on new tape, partway through his sentence): ". . . Right? We've been pretty clear and forceful and appropriate, let us say, in development charges and here's a thing that suddenly says ya, but, the city ought to pay for the fence. I'm just asking the staff to sort that out. But, I swear, on a stack of Bibles, that we said developers are paying 100% of all their fees. And, I'm not interested in throwing the fence in. So please, will the staff look into that?

Collins : "Thank you, Councillor. Councillor Ferguson, and you're tabling this motion (?) for two weeks, seconder - Councillor Powers. Moved by Councillor Ferguson, seconded by Powers on the tabling. All those in favour? Carries . Thank you, Council." (moves along with further Items from the Planning and Economic Development report.)

Councillor Kelly indicated he wished to speak to Item #19

Item # 19 (CARRIES) ( Planning & Economic Development Report 04-006 Committee - Council - March 24, 2004 - page 10-11 - (" 19. Motion on Industrial District Energy Co-generation (Item 10.1)

Whereas the City of Hamilton has adopted the principles and values of the revised Vision 2020;

And Whereas the City of Hamilton previously endorsed the development of a downtown district energy system given the positive environmental, social, and economic impacts, which are consistent with and supportive of the Vision 2020;

And Whereas the goal of Hamilton Community Energy is the development of a City wide district energy system utilizing waste energy from Hamilton's industrial core thereby maximizing the benefits of district energy and positioning Hamilton as an industry leader;

And Whereas the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the Provincial and Federal Governments, and Hamilton based industrial partners have committed to the development of an Industrial District Energy and Cogeneration project within Hamilton;

Therefore be it resolved that the City of Hamilton support and endorse, in principle, the initiatives of Hamilton Community Energy as it pursues funding and resource assistance through the various agencies and programs to develop the Industrial District Energy & Cogeneration Project; And, Further that the City maintain a liaison with Hamilton Community Energy through the development of the Industrial District Energy & Cogeneration Project and from time-to-time receive reports to Council as deemed appropriate on the status; And, Further that staff of the City's Planning and Development Department Long Range Planning and Design Division act as the City of Hamilton's staff contact and, wherever possible and deemed appropriate, assist Hamilton Community Energy through the various applications processes.")

Kelly : "Thank you Mr. Chairman. Very quickly, I wanted to thank the committee for their endorsement of this. This is a motion on industrial district and energy and co-generation. Members of Council that served on the last term may remember that this was actually an application that came forward at that time and the Hamilton Community Energy folks have been working on this and are in the process of developing some partnerships with industry and businesses through the City right now for co-generation of energy. And, I know, Mr. Chairman, that Councillor Braden and others have talked about the problem we're going to have with fossil fuels over the next little while and this is an exciting opportunity for us to create a project - not unlike what we've done on a much smaller scale here in the downtown area for co-generation of energy that can be shared with other buildings. And, of course, in the long-term not only be environmentally friendly, this is much in line with the Vision 2020 principles, but also be a very economical project in the next little while. The reason we're asking for approval in principle for this, at this point, is because there are some Federal dollars that are available for this study and the people at Hamilton Community Energy need the City Council endorsement for that. So, I would please ask the Members of Council to endorse this and Hamilton Community Energy will be coming back to Council - well, to Committee first and then to Council - with updates on this project as it goes forward. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Collins : "Thank you, Councillor. On item # 19. Carries. And, Councillor Braden, you noted you wanted to speak to Item # 17. You're aware it's been passed, but, you just want to speak to the item?

Item # 17 ("Hamilton's Sustainability Indicator Report (PD04044) (City Wide) (Item 7.1) ( Planning & Economic Development Report 04-006 Committee Council - March 24, 2004 - page 9-10 -)

(a) That PD04044 be received and forwarded for consideration to the following: (i) The 2004 Council Strategic Plan Review process. (ii) The Business Planning process. (iii) The Building a Strong Foundation (BASF) process and all related planning exercises.

(b) That cultural industries be included as a cluster in the Economic Development Strategies Report.

(c) That the standard report template be modified to include a pro-active prompt and heading, such that all reports include a section on compliance with Vision 2020.

(d) That Council formally endorse inclusion of a pro-active link between the Vision 2020 Indicators Report and the Budget.")

Braden : "Well, I can, and you can help me. And, I'm in your hands, literally, so you can tell me off. I really think we had a good talk on the sustainability issue. I talked to a number of councillors. I talked to Linda Harvey. I was going to make an amendment - I wasn't going to be formal. But, I was going to suggest that we include an additional item there, which is perhaps in the form of a workshop. We as Councillors, when we get this budget racket out of the way, that we can have a day or two that Linda Harvey could instruct us or organize, so that we can - we ourselves, not just staff, but we ourselves -could come together and bring together Vision 20[20] and the strategic plan so that these things aren't in limbo. So, it was more of a suggestion and I was going to include it as an amendment. I'm happy to do it under new business. I'm happy to do an amendment now. Or, I'm happy just to drop it 'cause I've sewn the seed and I hope it'll come to fruition."

Collins : "Well, Councillor, just to note the motion forwards this matter to . . . the strategic plan review process and some other processes that are listed here in the report. So, I don't know if there's an opportunity for you to meet with staff informally to incorporate your thoughts there. I don't think it changes the motion in any shape or form. But, we've already passed it. And, it would . . ."

Braden : "I'm going to bring it up under New Business 'cause I'm not making that clear enough. So, I'll try again then."

Collins : "All right. Thank you. Councillor Kelly, may I have a motion on the report.?"

Kelly : "Yes, I could, Mr. Chairman, if I could there's just one other point I wanted to bring up in the information section under Item (l)."

Information Section, Item (l) ( Planning & Economic Development Report 04-006 Committee Council - March 24, 2004 - page 16 - (" (l) General Information (Item 11) Councillor Braden requested a staff update on the recent 7000 job losses in Hamilton. Chair Kelly advised he would follow up on this with Mr. Everson. Councillor Whitehead requested information on the Committee which was directed to work with Stelco and the unions, pursuant to a previous Council direction.")

Kelly : "At the committee meeting that day - I believe it was Councillor Braden and a couple of other people - had raised some concerns about a story that appeared in the media about job loses in the community. And, I think the number that was quoted was about 7, 000. I have met with our economic development staff. And quite frankly, Mr. Chairman, there's some concern about the numbers and exactly where those break down because the numbers which were done at the national level actually include a few communities that are outside of our jurisdiction. So, I just wanted to bring the Members of Committee up to date that our Economic Development staff are preparing a report and I've asked that they distribute it to all Members of Council - not just to the Committee at that time. And, that should be forth-coming in the next couple of days. Having said that, Mr. Chairman, if I could, Moved by myself, Seconded by Councillor Tom Jackson that the sixth Report of the Planning and Economic Development Committee be adopted and the information section received ."

Collins : "All those in favour? (in the background resounding " Carried ") Thank you."

LICENSING ( Whitehead / Powers - CARRIED )

6.3 Licensing Committee Report 04-004, March 4, 2004

(http://www.hamilton.ca/Clerk/agendas-minutes-reports/
council/2004/Mar24/Licensing%20Report%20to%20
Council%2004-004.pdf)

Collins : " Members of Council, the Licensing Committee presents its fourth report and respectfully recommends items one . . ." (Collins reads through the items and Council carries all of them.) "Councillor Whitehead, may I have a motion to receive the report?"

Whitehead : "Moved by myself, seconded by Councillor Powers that the fourth Report of the Licensing Committee be adopted and the information section be received." (Carries)

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE ( Jackson / Horwath - CARRIED )

6.4 Committee of the Whole Report 04-002, March 12, 2004

(http://www.hamilton.ca/Clerk/agendas-minutes-reports/
committee-of-the-whole/2004/Mar12/Minutes.pdf)

6.5 Community Services Committee Report 04-005, March 24, 2004 (to be distributed)

(http://www.hamilton.ca/Clerk/agendas-minutes-reports/
Community-Services/2004/Mar24/Report%2004-005.pdf)

Collins : "Members of Council, the Committee of the Whole presents its second report and respectfully recommends Item #1. . ." (carries - that is the only item on the report, it was one of the COW budget sessions, but for the information section - see page 2 of the report:

"1. 2004 Tax Supported Budget Update (FCS04048) (Item 3.2)

(a) That Report 2004 Tax Supported Budget Update (FCS04048) be received.

(b) That correspondence be forwarded to the Province requesting $19.5 million in sustainable financial assistance to address the inequity in social housing and social services costs in Hamilton.") "Councillor Jackson, may I have a motion on the report?"

Jackson : "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Mayor. Moved by myself, and seconded by Ward 2 Councillor Andrea Horwath, that the second report of the Committee of the Whole be adopted and the Information Section received." (Carries)

6.6 Corporate Administration Committee - None

6.7 Strategic Planning and Budgets Committee - None

6.8 Social and Public Health Services Committee - None

See Part 2 – starting with Item #7- Motions