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Nanaimo-Info-blog: Nanaimo Council Highlights Nov. 23/15

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Nanaimo Council Highlights Nov. 23/15


Nov. 23 COW/eTownHall/Special Open Council Meeting Highlights

Council debated for 10 minutes to decide whether to accept a late delegation.

Corporate sponsorship as a means to generate revenues other than taxes and user fees. Presentation made by Mr. Brent Barootes.

Harewood Centennial Youth Park delegation seeking support for youth park development including a skateboard park. Council supported funding for the project.

Mayor McKay welcomed Ms Samra as the interim City Manager. He also read a statement with regards to Syrian refugees.

eTown Hall Meeting – 2016 Budget Discussion

At 6:00 pm Council began the eTown Hall portion of the meeting. Mr. Philip Cooper, city communications manager was the lead for the city for this eTown Hall Meeting. Questions from the public were received in person, and online or via telephone.

Audience attendance was minimal as the event was not heavily promoted in the local media.

Few questions actually discussed the current budget and what should be added or deleted, but rather was a general town hall meeting dealing with issues such as bike lanes, dog parks, social housing and the like.

These could be good exercises for general communication between the community and council, as a forum for meaningful budget discussions, it misses the mark.

Special Open City Council meeting 7:30 pm

After the eTown hall portion of the meeting, council recessed for 3 minutes to accommodate SHAW with some technical issues. They then convened the Special City Council Meeting to deal with business left over from the previous council meeting. Some of the issues were related to bylaws that were going to the public over the next few days and needed dealing with urgently.

Automated garbage pick up will be rolled out in the fall of 2016 to 1/3 of the city residences. After much debate council finally left it to staff to determine which of 3 potential areas would be the first to have the automated pick up.

COW Meeting reconvened 8:20 pm

Councillor Kipp moved to have a staff report regards injury rates etc. among city staff.

Mr. Les Barclay gave a presentation about communication, community engagement and the community committee system. His presentation was met by an aggressive, defensive response from the Mayor.

Mr. O’Donnell addressed council as a late delegate on the subject of medical cannabis dispensaries.

Video of the the meeting can be seen on the City website HERE.

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