General Meeting Minutes
March 18, 2009, 12 noon
Parksville Community & Conference Centre
In Attendance: Bruce Cownden, Chair Linda Rann
Shirley Wright Stephen Henderson
Marjorie Picard Denise Sakai
Helen Sims Guy Fletcher
Egon Kuhn Todd Venier
Bob Dean Marlies Venier
Maureen Pilcher Joel McDaniel
Jim Pilcher Duane Round
Shawn Bennett Dave Scott
Kim Burden Bon Thorburn
George Hanson Suzanne Hale
Jeff Hale Nigel Cavanagh
Murray Lamottte
Marilyn Hayden, Recording Secretary
Invited Guests: Councillor Mary Brouilette, Town of Qualicum Beach
Councillor Al Greir, City of Parksville
Guest Speaker: Mayor Ed Mayne, City of Parksville
Bruce Cownden called the meeting to order at 12:00 noon and turned the meeting over to Mayor Ed Mayne as guest speaker.
Mayor Ed Mayne
Municipal Budget
· First time dealing with a municipal budget and the objective is a 0% increase across the board.
Strategic Planning Session
· A cross section of 72 participants chosen for their input.
· The results from the session will go to staff for a report, then back to the original 72 invited participants and then 2 open houses will be held to present the report.
· 1 Strategic Plan will be the final product with the timeline target set for the end of May, 2009.
Question: The City doubled DCC’s last year, what is going to happen in the budget?
· He was not Mayor at that time, nor part of the Council who made that decision. DCC’s adjust to escalating growth, now the City is not growing as fast.
Question: Are you going to make cuts in Engineering?
· There is no Engineer at the present time. We may be able to make cuts internally.
Question: What are the sub headings for the Strategic Plan? Will the OCP be included?
· I cannot answer that until all the information from the Strategic Planning Session are in.
Question: As one third of all revenue reported to Revenue Canada for Parksville came from the construction industry, who were the 72 people invited to take part in the Strategic Planning Session and why was the ODCA not invited to take part?
· I handpicked them myself from a cross section of the community. There was no staff or Council participation so there was no other Agenda. ODCA members Kim Burden and Garry Bentham were invited and took part. No organizations were invited as he specifically wanted a massive cross section of the community. Everyone will have the opportunity to have their input at the 2 open houses planned. Parksville demographics:
25% workforce
50% over 25 years
25% under 25 years
Issue: How to attract young technical businesses to the City?
· Young technical businesses take into consideration, minimal affordable housing, lack of doctors, lack of a local hospital and they have to go out of the area shopping for kids shoes etc. other than women’s clothing and groceries. Example: I had to buy an overcoat and had to go to Nanaimo to purchase one. My wife and I went to Nanaimo to shop for an overcoat, which we were able to purchase at Moore’s for $65.00. Then we made stops at several other stores not available in Parksville, went for lunch and spent approximately $300.00 in Nanaimo that afternoon.
· We have got to get out of the attitude of no changes. We need to have some big box stores because it is killing downtown without them. We need to create a 1st buy opportunity and change the attitude.
· We are getting much closer to an Urgent Care Facility and there is a proposal for 5 additional doctors coming to Parksville. We hope to bring this to fruition in 12 – 18 months. Ron Cantelon, MLA has worked hard on this issue.
· If we address these issues then Parksville will attract young businesses.
Question: You say there is no room for further development. Last year Council voted to allow single family residences as an allowable use in commercial zones, C1 – C2 zone. This removes a small incentive to get rid of the single family homes in the downtown and replace them with commercial. If we are to get serious about downtown revitalization, we need to create a vibrant retail sector. Also Council extended the moratorium on boundary expansion sending out a closed for business message.
· Not the best decision and we are looking at changes.
Question: Presently Parksville does not have an Engineer in place, will the city farm out projects to local Engineers?
· 7 projects are on the books to date that the city has applied for grants from the Federal Government. The tendering process should be open and public, but legally we have to adhere to process. I cannot comment at the moment, but will look into.
Question: A Fire Hall consultant was hired from the mainland, while local consultants with experience were available. Why?
· I understand your concern, but the city is legally bound to put out to tender.
Question: I have been building single family homes in Parksville for 33 years. A large part of the industry is mom & pop operations that mainly subsist on single family home construction, what would you say to them of your plans to eliminate single family lots? Also the build out for current zoning is 25,000 people, how does doubling this to 50,000 people create better sustainability and reduce the infrastructure costs when so much more infrastructure will have to be done? How does densification bring sustainability costs down?
· When I speak of sustainability, I refer to financial sustainability. It costs more to maintain the infrastructure in single family lot subdivisions.
Question: Have you considered smaller lots?
· Yes, that is part of it.
Question: Have you considered a policy regarding secondary suites?
· Yes, that is in place.
Question: I have had an application in to the city since April 2008 to renovate a motel into affordable housing units. The city has not responded. How long will it take to receive feed back from the city?
· Call him to discuss personally.
Question: It is my understanding that 500 units for affordable housing are needed in Parksville.
· Does not know what the number for affordable housing units are needed today. It does not make sense for the City to be responsible alone for providing affordable housing. He would never vote for affordable housing to be located all in one development and would prefer to see several affordable housing units provided in developments scattered around the city. Duane Round reported that it has been done well and is successful in Lion’s Club developments in the city.
Question: What have you learned from being in office as Mayor of Parksville?
· Bureaucracy is cumbersome and much slower than need be, it has rekindled his negotiating experience and he is thoroughly enjoying the Mayor of Parksville experience. There are not as many problems as people are talking about. Changes are in order.
Question: In a Qualicum Beach project the developer would not designate one unit for affordable housing and opted instead to paying in lieu of.
· Councillor Mary Brouilette responded that the town made the option available to take the dollars until the town decides on how to address affordable housing.
· Affordable housing means something different to everyone.
· Kim Burden reported that at the last ODCA meeting the guest speaker from the TD Bank reported on the closeness between the prices in today’s market for new and used housing.
Bruce Cownden thanked Mayor Ed Mayne for his presentation and responses to questions.