Corporation of Hamilton Board Meeting, City Hall, Hamilton 5 December 2012

Transcription

1 Corporation of Hamilton Board Meeting, City Hall, Hamilton 5 December 2012 Page Present: Staff: Apologies: Rt. Wor. Graeme Outerbridge, JP, Chairman Alderman Donal Smith, JP Alderman Carlton Simmons, JP Alderman Gwyneth Rawlins, JP Councillor Keith Davis Councillor RoseAnn Edwards Councillor George Scott, JP Councillor Troy Symonds The Treasurer Gary Edwards City Engineer Patrick Cooper The Secretary Ed Benevides, JP Communications Manager Aderonke Bademosi Wilson Assistant Treasurer Tanya Iris Events Project Manager Danilee Trott Councillor Lawrence Scott Human Resources Manager Lindell Foster 1. Public Presentation There were no presentations from the public gallery. 2. Review of Corporation Minutes of 7 November 2012 The minutes were accepted as read. 3. Matters Arising Review of Venue Rental Application Forms ACTION: The motion to amend one policy to make it two policies and an action item to reflect the current policies. A discussion was to have taken place at the Governance Committee meeting which did not take place and has been deferred to the next Governance Committee meeting of 18 December The Mayor asked if there is an update on the requested meeting with the Ministries relevant to ongoing problems with homeless in the city of Hamilton. The Secretary said that all four Permanent Secretaries had agreed to meet but have not agreed when to meet and a discussion was had to set a date early in January and ascertain how many can attend. Corporation of Hamilton Board Meeting No. 12/2012/LCS Page 1 of 6

2 Page Review of Committee Minutes (a) Infrastructure, Development & Future 21 November 2012 The Secretary said that there is a recommendation from the management team to move ahead with a review to do a structural survey of the cracks on the Cavendish Car Park to determine a report on the extent of any work that has to be done. RECOMMENDATION: To approve the proposed fee of $ to do that survey. The Secretary said this could be a very serious health and safety issue and the team has observed several structural cracks in the retaining wall at the car park mostly caused by the vegetation in the area, they have pruned back the area to better observe the problems and now require this survey to determine a proper evaluation of the problems. The quote is from a reputable firm who will conduct the survey and the committee is seeking approval to proceed. This is an urgent proposal and could possibly end up having to close the car park if not addressed shortly. The Mayor said that this came about after multiple observations and cognizant of what happened at the Bermuda College, it would be smart of the City to look into it. Councillor Davis said with this analysis, will this include the Cavendish Heights Road at the same time or will the City s mediation impact the stone wall that fronts the Cavendish Road in any way. The City Engineer said that the boundary is the back eastern and northern boundary of the car park. Proposed: Alderman Smith Seconded: Councillor G. Scott RECOMMENDATION: To approve the new pricing structure for the light pole banners and the additional pricing structure for the City Hall banners in the front and the fence banners. RECOMMENDATION: To add the damage deposit to the application for the rental of city premises. Corporation of Hamilton Board Meeting No. 12/2012/LCS Page 2 of 6

3 Page RECOMMENDATION: To approve the amended Hamilton Streets and Sidewalks Ordinance so that it can move forward with publishing it with the changes that were implemented. The Secretary said that this Ordinance was approved already and was going to be published but Infrastructure and other Committees had certain things they wanted to amend before it went to be published so now that version has to be approved. Infrastructure has received all of the copies of the Ordinance and they are recommending that approval be sought to move forward to make it legal. RECOMMENDATION: To approve the plans of the property on Corner of Dundonald / Court Street at Board level and incorporate as much of the other plan that had been submitted from the Property Committee as possible. Alderman Rawlins requested further clarification about the plans. The Secretary said there were plans put forward designed by Lindberg & Simmons that were sent out and there was another plan done internally that the Property Committee looked at. The recommendation is to take the Lindberg & Simmons application and approve in principal and incorporate as much of the other plan as much as possible. Alderman Rawlins asked that the particular paragraph in the minutes be amended to appropriately reflect what was actually discussed and recommended a preamble before the actual recommendation. Alderman Simmons further clarified that the City purchased a lot of property on the corner of Court/Dundonald Street some time ago and a Resolution was previously approved to allocate some funds to get some exploratory drawings done. Lindberg & Simmons did one of the concepts and another in-house drawing was created. This recommendation is coming from the Committee whereby the members have had a chance to look at and vet along with consultation with the Corporation s technical officers. It is a structure that will provide parking in the area as well as outdoor space; the concept that was done in-house allowed for some additional outdoor spaces including chess parks, etc. The Committee has agreed to mesh the two together as much as possible to come up with an end result to create a nice public space. PROPOSED AMENDED RECOMMENDATION: That the Board approves the Lindberg & Simmons plan for the Court/Dundonald Street property incorporating as much of the internal Property Committee plans as is possible. Proposed: Alderman Simmons Seconded: Corporation of Hamilton Board Meeting No. 12/2012/LCS Page 3 of 6

4 Page (b) Property & Safety 16 November 2012 Barr s Bay Park - the old police facility has been successfully leased and looking to have a new entity move in and making a reasonable investment to get that property up to standard. The City Market has commenced and the City has become more involved in it, working closely with the vendors. A committee has been created and there are some plans to further develop this project. The City Market has the largest number of vendors to date (approximately 32) and still is looking to have additional vendors support this initiative. Mayor s Reception will be held on 18 December 2012 and the Council will receive invitations in that regard. Hamilton Rotary Group have asked permission to place their clock somewhere on the City Hall/ Park premises. This group is an avid supporter of business and this is something that international groups have done in other places. It shows their continued commitment to business and their strong relationship with City Hall and other management. They are looking for an acceptance to do this. Alderman Smith asked about the size of the clock and whether it is an interior or exterior clock. The Secretary advised that it is a four-faced exterior clock that can be seen from every direction and it would be an upscale version of the one on Reid Street. Alderman Simmons asked if there has been any discussion with the technical officers to determine a possible location for the clock. The Secretary said that there has been some discussion at Property but a suitable location had not determined and was recommending that the Board approve that we can confirm to them that there is an agreement to place it somewhere in the City, exactly where we have not determined. They do not want to move forward with fund raising until we can agree to place the clock somewhere on City property. Alderman Smith asked if it was normal for persons to submit ideas for clocks, etc. on these properties and it is done or do they pay a fee to have it done. The Secretary said that they do not pay a fee; normally it is just an offer to provide it and that is the reason why it went to committee. Councillor Symonds said that it is basically symbolic of Rotary s relationship with the City of Hamilton and their ongoing involvement with business. He referred to one that he saw placed by the Rotary in Greensboro, North Carolina, just a gesture of good relationships. Councillor Davis said for the full Council to make an in principal approval, should they not have some indication as to scope/scale of the clock as opposed to giving consent and they start their fund raising only to find a dominant presence of the clock instead of a subtle type of representation would the Corporation require more information in terms of detail. Corporation of Hamilton Board Meeting No. 12/2012/LCS Page 4 of 6

5 Page Alderman Simmons said that this initiative should be supported as this would be a clock from an esteemed organization to show a gesture. The City has many spaces that a clock can be placed. Notwithstanding all of the details it can be placed in a Resolution to work out all of the details subject to a full understanding. Councillor Symonds said that he believed the measurements were shown to the engineers who felt was suitable and not seen to be overpowering. He requested that the Board accept the proposal from the Rotary Group and respond positively that we will locate their clock on the City s premises. Proposed: Councillor Symonds Online Tendering Process the process is on target to actually start in the New Year and the first person commenced training yesterday and is moving in the right direction. This means the Corporation will get to see some of the initial contracts that they manage now placed broadly to tender where all can bid and be a part of the seamless process. The Corporation placed a tender out to paint the roof of the City Hall. There actually were 22 bid packages received with prices ranging from $33K to approx. $80K. Contractor C was chosen as the most appropriate contractor for the reasons given. The Secretary said that the lowest three bids were A, B, & C and as part of due diligence reviewed experience and ability to complete the job in an appropriate manner, insurance plans, etc. Contractors A & B did not make that grade for various reasons which are outlined in the report. Contractor C was the lowest bid that met the grades, showed the experience and has the ability to do the job in a timely manner. Alderman Smith asked for clarification for the necessity for online tendering for the City. Councillor Symonds said that there are a number of things that are placed out to contract annually and there are some that are done impromptu; wants to ensure that everything that is placed out to contract is done in a most broad manner so that those that have skills and qualifications can have the ability to bid. The Corporation then has the best options to choose from those bidders. Those that register who want to get business from the Corporation of Hamilton will receive these RFPs in an and be able to tender in the timeframe it is an open tendering process, will get better quality and a broader reach into the community. Alderman Smith asked if other Governments do this process. Councillor Symonds said that he knows that it is done internationally; the software that has been adopted really takes best practice in a number of places in the U.S. There is no online process that he is aware of being done with our Government at the moment. Corporation of Hamilton Board Meeting No. 12/2012/LCS Page 5 of 6

6 Page Proposed: Councillor Symonds (c) Staff, Legislative & Governance 20 November 2012 In the absence of the Chairman, Councillor L. Scott, the Secretary said that there were no recommendations from that Committee meeting. (d) Finance 21 November Budget RECOMMENDATION to approve the 2013 Budget as presented to the Finance Committee at the last meeting which was presented to the Board in their package. The Mayor said in view of some questions from Members, will defer that from a vote at this time but will do in short order once Members get fully up to speed of scope of details of the various nature of expenses. (e) Business Advisory No meeting in November. 5. Any Other Business Expansion of the City Boundary there has been no discussion on this matter and has been deferred to the agenda of the 18 December Governance Committee meeting. The public part of the meeting closed at 1:00 pm. Date Mayor Secretary Corporation of Hamilton Board Meeting No. 12/2012/LCS Page 6 of 6