Wed, March 16, 2022
Did you miss Monday's Council Meeting? We've got you covered! See below for a summary of meeting highlights - including information on key items from the 2022 Budget Presentation.
- At the Committee of the Whole, the Chief Financial Officer presented the Proposed 5 Year Financial Plan for the 2022-2026 period. The proposed budget for 2022 includes a 3.63% increase to the mill rate. As in past years, we continue to make historic investments in infrastructure renewal, while doing our best not to pass costs on to residents by seeking alternate sources of revenue.
Highlights/Cost Drivers of the 2022 budget include:
- Completion of the Woodworth dam
- Initiation of the RCMP Detachment replacement design
- Funds from Legacy Inc towards Downtown Revitalization Planning
- Costs associated with the 2022 Municipal Election
- Increase to the costs of our policing contract due to a negotiated increase in pay from the RCMP Union
- Additional maintenance costs associated with the downtown public washroom
- The addition of four relief Firefighers, to ensure that the Department has an adequate number of on-duty staff to make entry into structure fires
- Renovations to the old MacCarthy dealership building to accommodate City Public Works office and warehousing - paid for by a dividend from Legacy Inc. All current facilities are leaking and/or have been determined to be unsafe.
- Additional environmental monitoring and repair costs not originally anticipated for the opening of the new landfill cell
- An allocation to City capital reserves for emergency water utility repairs - which are frequent and represent an uncertain cost each year
- For additional information on the City’s budget, and to provide direct feedback on budget priorities through our Budget Simulation tool, go to: https://engage.princerupert.ca/budget-2022
- In the Regular Meeting, Council approved Development Variance Permits for the CBC Building and 1531 Atlin Avenue, and moved that three DVP’s for 1444 2nd Ave West, 221 11th Street, and 337 McBride Street move to public notification.
- The Director of Operations provided a monthly update on Major Projects – noting that the Eat Street project is now complete.
- Council voted to award a Master Service Agreement to Coast Tsimshian Northern Contractors Alliance Limited Partnership to act as an on-call contractor on retainer to enable the completion of the City’s aggressive community project build schedule. CTNCA is a local consortium of contractors that includes Metlakatla and Lax Kw'alaams. The MSA will help to keep work in the local economy, while ensuring the City can obtain contracting services in competition with multi-billion dollar projects.
- Council voted for an application for an OCP and Zoning Amendment Bylaw to be sent to Public Hearing. The applicant proposes to change the designation of the property located at 1220 Portage Road from residential to industrial use, and rezone it from P1: Public Facilities to M1: Light Industrial.
- Council voted to amend the proposed Business Regulations and Licensing Bylaw No. 3476, 2021 – which would provide a regulation and licensing framework for rental units in Prince Rupert, with final consideration to occur at the next meeting of Council.