Committee Recommendations Approved at Aug. 24 Burlington Council Meeting

Committee & Council Meetings
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At the Aug. 24 Burlington Council meeting, we approved numerous recommendations from this month’s cycle of committee meetings. Below are some of the highlights — click this link to go through the full post-meeting minutes for all recommendations that were approved: Post-Meeting Minutes - Regular Meeting of Council_Aug24_2020.There was also a Special Council meeting held on Aug. 13 — click this link for the minutes: Post-Meeting Minutes - Special Meeting of Council_Aug13_2020.There are also separate posts for Council approving moving forward in adjusting Downtown Urban Growth Centre designation and removing Major Transit Station Area designation; earmarking funding for Main Street Businees Support; adding condos and apartments to the temporary mask bylaw; and reducing rental rates and increasing recreation fee assistance — links to those are available at the bottom of this post.Minutes from the Environment, Infrastructure and Community Services (EICS) Committee, Community Planning, Regulation & Mobility (CPRM) Committee and Corporate Services, Strategy, Risk and Accountability (CSSRA) Committee meetings can be found under the “Related Links” header at the end of this post.HIGHLIGHTS:• OPTIONS FOR LOOSE LEAF COLLECTION — Roads, Parks and Forestry Department Report.Recommendation:Approve Option 3 of roads parks and forestry department report RPF-26-20 and that the Director of Roads, Parks & Forestry be directed to implement a four-week Loose Leaf Collection Program for 2020 and 2021 and report back to Council in Q1 of 2022 to identify successes and challenges; andDirect the Director of Roads, Parks and Forestry to manage any kind of equipment needs that are necessary to ensure one leaf pick up per zone, weather dependent.Carried unanimously by Council.

 • RED TAPE RED CARPET IMPLEMENTATION UPDATE -- Q2 2020 — Burlington Economic Development Corporation Report.Recommendation:Receive and file Burlington Economic Development report BEDC-04-20 regarding Red Tape Red Carpet (RTRC) implementation update for Q2 2020 and associated appendices; andAdopt the POST Promise for all city facilities and activities, as part of the City's commitment to keeping our community safe during reopening, and direct Health and Safety staff to complete the POST Promise form and install the appropriate signage at all city facilities; andEncourage all businesses and services operating in Burlington to adopt the POST Promise; andDirect the Direct the Director of Corporate Communications and Government Relations to support the Burlington Economic Recovery Network in executing a communications campaign to support adoption of the POST Promise city wide.Carried unanimously by Council.

MY TAKE:This really came out of a number of discussions with the Burlington Economic Recovery Network (BERN). Consumer confidence to participate in the economy is still very low, and we’ve seen it in the data. We saw around the world, businesses taking this People Outside Safely Together (POST) pledge — I’ve seen it in the U.S., in Austin, Texas. We discovered we had this in Canada — 5 minimal things businesses could be doing. So, we spoke about a POST-plus Promise in Burlington, as we’ve seen some businesses already doing these in more, and we’re doing so and more at City Hall too. We see this as a first visible step, not a last step, to encourage businesses. Once people start seeing the same logo everywhere, it’ll start creating a confidence again in participating in the economy. • SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION & DIRECTIONS REGARDING SUBDIVISION AGREEMENT EXTENSION FOR GARDEN TRAILS SUBDIVISION — Community Planning Department Report.Recommendation:

Receive community planning department report PL-48-20 regarding supplementary information with respect to a proposed extension of subdivision approval for the Garden Trails Subdivision located at 550 Genista Drive; andRefuse the request to extend Draft Plan Approval for the Garden Trails subdivision (24T099005/B) at 550 Genista Drive, as recommended in community planning department report PL-31-20.

Carried by 4-3 majority vote by Council.

MY TAKE:I did not support any kind of an extension on this file and supported the original staff report and staff's recommendation. This comes down to: should our staff be paid to do the work being asked of them to do, and our taxpayers should not be subsidizing any development application. We also heard the applicant is willing to pay extra fees -- so the additional fees from a new application should not be an issue. We certainly want this application to be assessed under the new policies as it has been decades when it was first submitted. The world has changed in 20 years and with it, there are new new regulations — what proper flood mitigation is telling us, what heathy and safety regulations are telling us. We have to be fair, have to policy base, future-focused and principled in equal applications. We can’t cut any corners. At the end of the day, this is about a fee structure and an application being assessed under new information. A new application puts a clock on every stakeholder involved to ensure it is processed in a timely manner and does not drag on. I do not think the original 3-year extension granted by the former Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) ever meant rolling it over for 20 years. • ESTABLISHMENT OF A LOBBYIST REGISTRY — Memo from Ward 2 Councillor Lisa Kearns.Recommendation:Direct the City Clerk to bring forward a staff report to implement a Lobbyist Registry for the City of Burlington, in accordance with the Municipal Act section 223.9.Carried unanimously by Council.

MY TAKE:I 100 per cent agree with the creation of a lobbyist registry for the City of Burlington. The first item of the Municipal Act is to define a lobbyist -- we have an opportunity to define it as we see appropriate here in Burlington. The Act also says the municipality creates a registry and a registrar (it’s a third party and one step removed), as well as keep a centralized database. Everyone on Council has kept a database in some form, just a little differently -- we all track it. My office goes a further step and takes minutes of our meetings with developers. To detail what was discussed isn’t a requirement right now in our resolution, but maybe that’s something we discuss moving forward with this.— Mayor Marianne Meed WardRELATED LINKS:

—*Posted by John Bkila, Mayor’s Media and Digital Communications Specialist

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