What Odds at City Hall 13 February 2023

Cllr Maggie Burton was the only councillor absent at today’s regular council meeting.

Up first, Mayor Breen joined other municipalities in supporting Town of Paradise Cllr Elizabeth Laurie, who has an aggressive form of cancer.

Mark your calendars, on February 20 councill will debate the Councillor Code of Conduct By-Law, as required by the Municipal Conduct Act.

For some background, in September the province brought the Municipal Conduct Act into force, requiring Council and all municipal officials – including employees – to abide by a code of ethics dealing with conflict of interest and general conduct. The Act also has penalties for current and former Council Members for conflict-of-interest breaches or conduct breaches.

All municipalities have to have a code by early March.

You can read the particulars in the agenda, starting on page 14.

Moving on, Council voted to give permission for an accessory building’s extension within the floodplain buffer and a 0.83% Variance to allow a reduced setback from the lot line at 36 Smithville Crescent. 

This is to rebuild an accessory building, which was destroyed by a fire. The previous building was 74.13 m2 and located at the rear of the property in the floodplain buffer, with a small portion of the building being in the floodplain, said Cllr Jamie Korab.

Plans are abuzz for an apiary

Council then signed off on a proposed Crown Land Lease for 11.3 hectares of land on Fowler’s Road for an apiary!

The land is zoned Agriculture and the proposed Agricultural Use for an apiary – aka a bee farm – for honey production, bee forage, and bee hives, which you’ll be happy to hear is a permitted use in the zone.

It will be subject to the submission of a Development Application should the Crown Land Lease be approved by the Provincial Department of Fisheries and Land Resources, said Cllr Korab.

All-For-Juan Garage Inc. at 255 Bay Bulls Road has gotten the okay from council to bring on a body workshop with a paint booth.

“The proposed application is for an expansion of the non-conforming use for a commercial garage within the existing building. The garage will expand to occupy the floor area previously occupied by retail use,” said Cllr Korab.

“The new portion of the garage will contain a bodywork shop with a paint booth. Hours of operation will be the same as the existing garage; seven days a week, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. On-site parking is provided. The proposed application sits in the Commercial Neighbourhood Zone.”

SpaJuvenation just got approval to open a home-based esthetics apa at 33 Trinity Street.

The spa room is within the home and its hours of operation are Monday 12 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.; and Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday 3 p.m. – 5 p.m. The business will have one employee and parking is provided onsite. The proposed application site is zoned Residential 1, said Cllr Korab.

OpenCorporates doesn’t have a business under SpaJuvenation but there is a Facebook page for the business, based at the same address. The page was started in late January.

There were two letters sent in against this business, one citing concerns about increased traffic and another person was concerned about possible signage going up.

While Cllr Korab said he can see where residents are coming from, this also adds to the walkability of a neighbourhood. Rather than hop in a car, people can just walk to a spa.

Cllr Cllr Froude announced that at the next regular meeting of the St. John’s Municipal Council he will move a motion to amend sub-section 10(3) of the St. John’s Heritage By-Law so as to provide Council with the discretion to exempt registered charities from the Heritage Design Standards.

Cllr Hanlon gets ready to pack her bags!

Council voted to approve the travel of Cllr Debbie Hanlon to attend the 2023 Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador Conference in Gander, taking place February 28 to March 2.

And Cllr Hanlon has a packed schedule, because she’s also attending the Seatrade Cruise Global Conference in Fort Lauderdale Florida from March 27 to March 31.

The City, the St. John’s Port Authority, and Cruise NL have partnered to share an appointment schedule and booth space at the conference.

Battered Parks Getting Security

In recent months, park go-ers might have noticed that Bannerman and Bowring Park washrooms, as well as other amenities have been subject to a lot of damage. There have been fires, graffiti, flooding from the damage, and other acts of vandalism. 

Cllr Sandy Hickman said these regular expenditures from vandalism have become annual.

In fact, the washrooms at Bannerman are currently closed after the workday, though they would like to expand the hours but they can only do that by hiring a security provider.

The costs have been wracking up and Council is considering hiring security. 

The estimated cost for additional annual security would be $61,872, he said. This is also an unbudgeted expense, so Council has to decide to cover it.

Deputy Mayor Sheilagh O’Leary said this is money that would be well spent, as they’re seeing an increase in the number of people in the parks, including families and seniors, who need to use the washrooms. But there’s a continuous squeeze on its availability. So the money for security would help.

Cllr Korab also said he’s “100% supportive of this” and he’s gotten a number of calls over this issue in the past few years.

“And to the people that are beating up our washrooms, knock it off. Get a hobby. Stop beating up City infrastructure.”

Cllr Froude also said he supported allocating the funds to keep the washrooms open and his colleague, Cllr Burton also told him she had been approached over it.

He added that considering the cost to repair the washrooms, security could help them save on that. He added that as someone who has a seven-year-old who gives him 30 seconds notice when he needs a washroom, access to facilities is also important.

Council also voted to agree to consider rezoning 20 Janeway Place from the Open Space Zone to the Apartment 1 Zone to allow apartment buildings with a total of 32 units.

The application will also be advertised and referred to a public meeting chaired by an independent facilitator.

Guaranteed Basic Income Is Back

Deputy Mayor O’Leary also gave an update on the issue surrounding Guaranteed Basic Income. In October Council passed a resolution to write a letter to various levels of government on this idea.

She said the Prime Minister has written them back and while she didn’t read out the letter, gave the gist. Trudeau’s response pointed to the various actions the federal government has taken to tackle affordability; eliminating interest on student loans and doubling the goods and services tax credit for six months, for instance.

O’Leary commended these actions but said it’s important to continue to have dialogue on this issue and they’re hearing it from a number of different sectors, like First Voice’s recent report. It’s also an issue being discussed across Canada.

She also stressed the growing disparity between the rich and the poor, and more people are living in poverty. A basic income would help lift people out of poverty.

The Go Round

Mayor Breen said the economic review for 2022 is out, the population has grown, household income is up, and unemployment is down. And he said the outlook for 2023 is positive.

You can read the details here.

Cllr Carl Ridgeley reminded people that since tomorrow is likely to be a snow day, kids will be home and so they need to be kept away from the roads and sidewalks, as they could get hurt during snow clearing.

Cllr Korab congratulated St. Matthew’s school for winning the Inclusion Canada Newfoundland and Labrador award.

Cllr Bruce said the Gonzaga High School is hosting the 41st Ocean Ranger Prayer Service, which will be on February 15 at 10:30 a.m. at the Basilica. 

Cllr Debbie Hanlon reminded us that the Applause Award is open for nomination and the deadline is February 23.

Cllr Hickman said with Tuesday’s storm they’re putting in a 24-hour parking ban as of 7:30 a.m. tomorrow, which will last for at least a day. This is for snow clearing purposes.

He added that Tuesday’s garbage collection is cancelled and Wednesday will be a double collection day instead.

Deputy Mayor O’Leary congratulated First Voice and the individuals involved in crafting its new First Voice Community Action Plan, which includes 42 calls to action for decolonization and reconciliation.

She also said anyone who wants to comment on the proposed Rogers telecommunication tower on 42 Sugarloaf Place has until tomorrow to send in concerns. It will be discussed at next Monday’s meeting.

She then wished everyone a happy Valentines/Palentines Day, and to stay safe in the storm.

Cllr Ravencroft also congratulated and thanked First Voice for their work on this document, which is available on the website. She said she read it over as soon as it was released and reached out to Justin Campbell to request a meeting to discuss ways they could collaborate and make sure their goals are met.

“Decolonization is extraordinarily important and something that I think should be at the forefront of all of our City processes. So really happy to see that come forward,” she said.

As well, Cllr Ravencroft and Cllr Froude were recently at the Sustainable Communities  Conference in Ottawa, which also had a decolonization and reconciliation lens, she said. Some of the other delegates mentioned to her that St. John’s was on their list of places to visit, and she added, now they have no excuse and she’ll be seeing them in the coming months.

And finally, Cllr Ravencroft also wished everyone a Happy Valentines.