Brandon City Council Briefs - October 1

Highlights of the October 01, 2012 Regular Meeting of Council

• City Council received a presentation from Lili Jardine and members of Brandon’s Youth Revolution (YR) group. Since its formation in October of 2010, the youth empowerment group has headed up more than 230 projects. The YR group is hosting a free Parents and Guardians Forum on Wed, October 17th, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Central United Church. The evening’s keynote speaker will be Dr. Matt Bellace, a clinical psychologist and comedian.

   

• City Council received a verbal presentation from Pat Kowalchuk and Anne English with relation to the sale of the former Brandon Police Service building at 1340-10 th Street. The pair represented residents in the area surrounding the former police station building with concerns about the City’s recent Request For Proposals (RFP) for development on the land (see below). Their primary concerns focused on property values, neighbourhood density, the height of any new residential development buildings, neighbourhood aesthetics and street safety on the nearby Richmond Avenue. The presenters urged council to consider all those factors when reviewing proposals.

   

  Council subsequently received an update from General Manager of Development Services Ted Snure regarding the evaluation process currently underway for the three proposals received for the purchase and development of the aforementioned property at 1340-10th Street. Snure’s full report can be found here. An administrative recommendation on the proposals will be debated at the November 19th meeting of Brandon City Council.

   

• A public hearing was conducted relating to the proposed local improvement plan for construction of 14th Street East, south of Richmond Avenue, in the amount of $385,000. No one came forward to speak for or against the local improvement plan. A by-law for the purpose of authorizing the expenditure and the borrowing of money for the construction costs of 14th Street East, south of Richmond Avenue, in the amount of $385,000, was later given first reading by City Council. The proposed local improvement plan would be levied against the owner of the property at 1550 Richmond Avenue East, for already-completed infrastructure upgrades in the area.

   

•  A public hearing was also conducted relating to a proposed by-law to close and convey the portion of the public lane in the area south of McTavish Avenue and East of 35 th Street to the affected property owner at 620-34 th Street, Calvary Temple, at their expense. A representative from Calvary Temple spoke in favour of the proposed by-law, which would move the laneway from the middle of their property to the end of the property, adjacent to the church building. The by-law was subsequently given second and third (final) reading by City Council.

   

• Assiniboine Ward Councillor Jeff Fawcett provided a verbal update on behalf of the Brandon Urban Aboriginal Peoples’ Council, which will hopefully have recommendations relating to an Aboriginal employment strategy to present to council before the end of 2012.

   

• Riverview Ward Councillor Len Isleifson provided a verbal update on behalf of the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium Board of Directors. Isleifson reported that the building continues to see lots of activity from local performance groups and local business rentals/presentations and is in good financial shape. He added it is anticipated the current provincial appointees on the board will be re-appointed shortly and funding for the replacement of the doors to the main entrance has been approved and will be undertaken shortly.

   

• Linden Lanes Councillor Shawn Berry provided a verbal report from the Keystone Centre Board of Directors, which recently adopted its 2012-2013 budget. Councillor Berry noted the Centre’s re-launch of its own Food Services this past summer has been met with good feedback so far and noted that roof repairs remains their top priority for government capital funding. As another member of the Board of Directors, South Centre Ward Councillor Garth Rice also noted that work has begun on the 43-unit campground on the northeast corner of the Keystone property.

   

• City Council undertook extensive debate relating to the proposed 5-year phase out of refuse and recycling collection to multi-family properties with 7 or more units, beginning in 2014, including a cost-sharing plan with property owners for private collection. Many aspects of the proposal, presented by City of Brandon General Manager of Operations Rod Sage and Director of Public Works Ian Broome, were debated by councillors. Discussion centered on: the cost to tenants of such multi-family properties; quality assurance with private collection; equity between different types of multi-family units; and administration’s projected improvement to both aesthetics and bin contamination across the City. Council ultimately voted in favour of moving forward with the proposal and for City administration to issue a request for proposals for private companies interested in providing such a service.

   

• Council approved a motion to allow the sole proposal for purchase of the former Fire Hall No.1 building at 637 Princess Avenue a period of six additional months to submit a full business plan for such a development. The one proposal received centred on the purchase of the building for $1 and the development of a poutine restaurant/brewery business. As such, after review by the City of Brandon Evaluation Committee, a subsequent report will be back in front of City Council in May of 2013 for a final decision. In the interim, the property will remain in the City’s possession and will not be available for sale.

   

• City Council gave final approval to amend the Zoning By-law No. 6642 and the Temporary Signs By-law No. 6854 to regulate electronic signage. Up until this point, applications for electronic sign applications had been processed on a case-by-case basis. With the new amendments, the Planning and Building Safety Department can now ensure such signage will not have a negative impact on neighbouring properties and street character.

   

• City Council gave second reading to a by-law to rezone 1660 - 34th Street from DR Development Reserve Zone to OS Open Space and RLD Residential Low Density Multiple Family Zone to accommodate a 24 unit detached and semi-detached bare land condominium development. Third and final reading was held in abeyance pending objectors to the by-law being given notice pursuant of their right to file a further objection, and pending the execution of a development agreement between the City of Brandon and the property owner/successor.

   

• A giving of notice was presented by South Centre Ward Councillor Garth Rice for Council to discuss at the next regular meeting of Council a motion that a contribution towards capital upgrades at the Keystone Centre be included in the City of Brandon’s 2013 budget, conditional on matching contributions from the Federal and Provincial governments.

   

Archived video from the meeting