Monday’s city council meeting opened with a town hall discussion on the city’s proposed budget.
Residents asked questions about crime, the RCMP budget, Community Safety Officers, the proposed seven per cent increase to property taxes, prioritizing needs and wants, property tax exemptions for churches and non-profit organizations, the number of city staff and the cost of the fire department responding to medical calls.
One resident asked how much funding the city received from the Global Covenant of Mayors.
“I can safely say a big fat zero,” Mayor Leonard Krog replied, confirming that with city staff.
After the budget town hall finished, council went about its usual business with housekeeping changes on an outdated Development Cost Charge Instalment Payments Bylaw and abandoning two zoning bylaws that are no longer valid.
Council approved changes to the city’s water rates, which will increase by five per cent or $26 for the average single family home next year. It also increased sewer rates by four per cent or $6.86 a year. Solid waste collection charges increased to $253 a year. A user-fee subsidy for low-income households of 50 per cent was also approved.
Jeremy Holm, director of planning and development for the City of Nanaimo, provided an overview of Bill M216 (Professional Reliance Act) and the reviews of the bill by the Union of BC Municipalities, the Lidstone and Company law firm and the Planning Institute of British Columbia.
If enacted, the bill would require local governments to accept reports by certified professionals without peer review.
A motion by Coun. Tyler Brown that responses outlining the seven points raised in the staff report be sent to the government passed unanimously.
Council also agreed to send letters of support for a Nurse Practitioner pilot program in Long-Term Care and for the redevelopment of a rental housing site by Pacifica Housing.
Council also voted down a motion by Coun. Ian Thorpe to send a letter the the province asking it to reexamine its approach to “the ongoing addiction crisis.”
To read more about that debate, click on the below link.
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