What Odds at City Hall: 12 December 2022

Yesterday was a busy day at City Hall, Council voted to approve the 2023 budget—you can read The Independent’s coverage here—and then got on with the usual Monday afternoon regular council meeting.

As will be the case for the next few months, Cllr Maggie Burton is off on maternity leave, and Cllrs Jamie Korab and Debbie Hanlon were also absent.

First up, Red Pepper Restaurant is set to expand after Council approved a lounge license for its 40 Hamlyn Road location.

Council then signed off on continuing using BlindSquare technology as a wayfinding and navigation tool at the Downtown Pedestrian Mall—that is, pending the anticipated release of an Android version.

You can check out the What We Heard document in the agenda, starting on page 32.

Gridlock Over Traffic Calming

Buckle in because this point on an updated traffic calming policy got tangly and after much back and forth, it was kicked back to Committee of the Whole.

Initially, Council was looking at approving changes to the traffic calming policy process presented in a decision note for the Updated Traffic Calming Policy.

“The proposed changes are based on previous traffic calming policy review and council recommendations, feedback from public engagement including stakeholder consultation, review of traffic calming policies from municipalities across Canada and recent follow-up discussion with the Council,” said Cllr Jill Bruce.

She said she wanted to propose a small change to staff’s recommendation and it’s around the final survey in the process. She said they’ve already established part of this would be a petition up front so it would engage some of the neighbours in the process. But by the time they get to the analysis and deem that the street is eligible for street calming or needs it, they’ve done temporary measures.

She said that they also hear from people who don’t like the measures because they are loud or affect their drive home in the evening. By then the City has already invested time, money and energy into the process—only to have neighbours who don’t want it for some reason potentially strike it down. Which wastes a lot of resources.

So she proposed they remove the survey and discuss it in Council.

Mayor Danny Breen said they’d need a motion to amend the policy as proposed, which Cllr Bruce said yes to. She then proposed they take out the survey in its entirety. So instead the City will have an up front petition for traffic calming and if a study deems it’s required in that area, they do it. Currently a petition must get 25 percent of residents to support temporary traffic calming measures.

Cllr Sandy Hickman pointed out that all that does is put it on a list of hundreds of projects. “That could take a lot of time before it’s done,” he argued. “Things could change. People’s feelings could change. People could move in and move out.”

Cllr Bruce clarified her suggestion that it would follow after the area has the temporary measures in place and the survey would be done then, before the permanent installation.

Mayor Breen asked Deputy City Manager of Planning, Engineering & Regulatory Services

Jason Sinyard why the section was put in; he said the model they put forward is similar to what’s used across the country. He added the traffic calming policy isn’t a way to determine if a street is inherently unsafe but a way to rank all the requests they get for traffic calming. So even if a street qualifies it doesn’t mean it’s an unsafe street.

Sinyard added if there was a really unsafe street—say, because of street geometry or accident reports—they would deal with the street on a technical level and it wouldn’t come through the traffic calming policy and they wouldn’t seek the public’s input.

These traffic calming policies are resident-driven on perceived safety issues, so he said staff feel it’s important to get resident input after they’ve experienced the temporary measures.

Moreover, Sinyard pointed out that for the initial survey you need 25 percent support from households in the area, and people can stop as soon as they get the necessary amount and go to the City—but many of the residents might not know about the survey. So he pointed out that if we go with zero input in the future, they think it opens up the Council for a lot of complaints after the fact.

People might not want the traffic calming measures in the area once they’ve tried them out. “The devil they know is better than the devil they didn’t know, in that case,” Sinyard said. “So it’s important to get the feedback after they’ve experienced it.”

He questioned the need to put in temporary measures if you’re not going to seek input, and asked that this be brought back to Committee of the Whole if Council is considering this.

Cllr Ian Froude said he agreed with the technical recommendations from staff and appreciates Council and staff engagement with the process. He also agrees with the comment made by Cllr Bruce around the survey, which he said has been a sticking point for him. 

He feels there will be less traffic calming done on our streets if we get to a point where we need a threshold of 50 percent and 60 percent; they are high thresholds. The vote would happen after it’s been determined they have a speeding problem or traffic volume justified that improvements needed to be made more safe.

He added he doesn’t buy that staff haven’t identified a single safety issue otherwise not through this process; “I believe residents’ experiences on their streets is valuable in identifying an issue. What I have an issue with is residents don’t have an expertise in helping us decide what traffic calming measures to put in place. And that’s why I have an issue with this survey.”

He pointed to a case where traffic calming measures were installed at Pine Bud Avenue and Great Eastern Avenue and made the area safer, but went to public feedback and they were removed. He said a pickup truck blew by him on Great Eastern Avenue. “So these are unsafe situations and this policy can help to address them. But I think this particular change needs to be out in place.”

Cllr Ophelia Ravencroft said she is supportive of the amendment.

Cllr Carl Ridgeley said his problem with this is the direction they gave staff to bring forward, so he’d like to see it discussed again but it should be done at a meeting or Committee of the Whole. He also pointed out that Cllr Ron Ellsworth was out of chambers doing a media scrum, and Cllr Korab was also absent. So if they do decide to discuss it, they should do it as a group, though he added they had already gone through it.

Deputy Mayor Sheilagh O’Leary pointed out there is time for reflection between the Committee of the Whole discussion and when it comes to further review, including hearing from other councillors. Change can be hard but once it’s been determined and implemented—and there was a trial to show effectiveness—she said she supported the amendment.

But Cllr Ridgeley added that if 25 percent of a street brings a petition forward to say they want traffic calming, then who’s determining the effectiveness—the temporary or permanent measures? And will people get the opportunity to have a say again? He added that the other 75 percent of people are those he’s going to hear from if they don’t get a chance to have a say.

Mayor Breen then added this is probably why this discussion needs to go back to Committee of the Whole, because they’re having a Committee discussion on it here. He said they have two choices, if there’s no motion to send it back to Committee of the Whole, then they continue with a vote on the amendment.

Cllr Hickman—echoing Cllr Ridgeley—pointed out there are four councillors missing from the meeting.

Cllr Ridgeley then said he’d make a motion that they send it back to the Committee of the Whole for further discussion.

Then they voted to defer it to the Committee of the Whole. Cllrs Bruce, Ravencroft and Froude voting against it, and Cllrs Hickman, Ridgeley, Deputy Mayor O’Leary, and Mayor Breen voted in favour.

So it passed with a very slim margin.

The City Sets Sights on Energy Efficiency

Council also voted to direct City staff to enter the implementation phase of the Energy Performance Contract Phase 1 Program, and that staff be authorized to establish the financing mechanism necessary for the City’s portion of program costs up to $6,661,630.

As well, Council directed staff to submit a Capital and Grant proposal to FCM to support the implementation phase of the Energy Performance Contract.

This is about modernizing City buildings to be more energy efficient and save money in the long run.

“Basically we’re taking out a loan that we’ll use future-energy savings to pay off that loan. And these savings are contractually guaranteed by Honeywell, our partner and subcontractor on this,” said Cllr Froude—adding it is a low risk to the City.

A quick reminder: the City has committed to several targets as part of its Corporate Climate Plan, like 40 percent reduction by 2030 and stretch target of 50 percent by 2030 from 2018 emissions, as well as reaching net-zero by 2050 at the latest.

Mobile vending is coming to Holy Heart High School as part of raising funds for a local mental health charity.

Council gave its permission to allow mobile vending on the school’s parking lot as part of a fundraiser for the Jacob Puddister Memorial Foundation, which is dedicated to providing mental health resources to youth in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The event—which is a Christmas tree chipping by donation—is set for January 7 to 8, from 10 am to 2 pm.

It’s Demo Time

Council also gave its approval for the demolition of 276 Freshwater Road.

There was a fire on the property and it is uninhabitable, as well as a potential safety concern now. While a notice was issued to the property owner, there was no compliance and there was no response received, said Cllr Bruce.

The Art of Local Government

Council is also buying some art, which is an annual event.

Based on the Art Procurement Jury’s recommendations, Council has bought a number of pieces like Chris Batten’s Spring Fog, Spring Hill ($540), Luanne Dominix’s Hook, Line, and Sinker ($300) and Lori Deely’s Grand Lake ($500).

You can also look through the full list on the agenda, at page 104.

The budget was $20,000 and their haul totalled $19,600.

The Go Round

Deputy Mayor O’Leary congratulated the art procurement successes.

She then touted the Downtown Holiday Fair that took place over the weekend, and added the activities “were fantastic” and thanked staff for carrying it off and the federal government who funded it.

She also congratulated First Voice, a community and Indigenous coalition with policy makers, where Cllrs Froude and Burton and the City manager sit. This year is the inaugural First Peoples Policy Form. She also brought greetings and sat on a panel earlier on Monday and will attend on Tuesday.

Cllr Bruce reminded people that nominations for the Clean St. John’s Golden Broom awards are still open and have even been extended to December 21.

Cllr Ravencroft also congratulated those who were involved in the Downtown Holiday Fair and thanked all involved in pulling it off. She added that using the George Street stage was a great use of infrastructure for a family-friendly event, and that the weather held out.

Chabad of Newfoundland is hosting a public menorah lighting on the first night of Hanukkah next Sunday at 4 pm at the Viking Building parking lot on Crosbie Road, she said.

Cllr Ravencroft also thanked all the performers and those engaged in a number of performances and events related to this season. In fact she just attended the 39th annual Lessons in Carols put off by Etcetera production group who operate out of Gower Street United Church.

And that does it for the regular council meeting—and remember there’s only one more regular council meeting for 2022!

Follow Elizabeth on Twitter.

Did you enjoy this article? Fund more like it, and support the future of journalism in Newfoundland and Labrador.