10th Regular Meeting of 2009 - June 10

"Warm & Woolly/Fuzzy" Ads Jostle with Pigeon Poo


ABSENT: Mayor Jim Scarrow, Councillors Fred Matheson and Shaun Williams

BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS: 273 pages

PUBLIC GALLERY: Gordon Dupre, Grant Gustafson, Ken Hunter, Pearl Doris Morin, Brian Clavier, Sandi Pitzel, Paul Van Pul, Dr. John Steel, Julie Pitzel, Angie Bear, Brent Prokopie, Barry Birkland, and 7 others.

START: 7:01 PM


La Colle Falls Archeological Work Costs Unclear

- Paul Van Pul appeared again at council, asking for support for his as-yet-uncosted proposal to conduct an archeological dig at La Colle Falls.

- THE VOTE: 4 - 0 in favour (Councillors Atkinson and Dionne abstained), to refer to Community Services for a report.


7:13 PM


Pigeon Poo Postponed

- Dr. John Steel's May 28, 2009 letter to council asked for an amendment to the Animal Control Bylaw to allow him to keep up to 25 racing pigeons on his property in the West Hill. He offered the assistance of the local pigeon racing club in "trapping and eliminating" the city's feral pigeons, as Regina's pigeon racers did in the 1980s.

- Grant Gustafson, who lives three blocks from Dr. Steel, spoke against the suggested bylaw change, citing a lack of consultation with the neighbours, the need for the bylaw to be specific about bird banding, fees for licensing and infractions, and limits on the total number of racing birds in the city.

- Brent Prokopie spoke about the bylaw's failure to protect his dog, which had been at the SPCA for more than two weeks, from coming to harm.

- THE VOTE: 6 - 0, to postpone consideration of the item until council's July 20, 2009 meeting.


7:25 Quorum lost - Councillors Swystun and Dionne simultaneously out of the room.
7:26 Councillor Dionne returns.
7:39 Four people remain in the public gallery.
7:44 Two people left in the public gallery.


Downtown Parking Bargain

- A report from the Transportation Manager recommended renewal of the annual parking contract with employees of the federal building - 16 stalls in the city's 13th Street East parking lot, at a cost of $20 per month [cheap like borscht, considering the adjacent meters in the lot cost 50 cents an hour, or $4 for an 8-hour day, and the lot is beside a federal government parking structure that was rebuilt earlier this year; no one in the city administration (or on council) ever questions this insupportable subsidy of private passenger vehicles, at taxpayers' expense].

- Councillor Atkinson said a parking strategy for downtown is needed.



Why Get it for FREE, When You Can PAY for it [?!?!]

- A lengthy series of advertising recommendations in a report from Communications Manager Kiley Bear included $42,000 to the three Rawlco radio stations in PA [CKBI -900 AM, CHQX - 101.5 FM, and CFMM - 99.1 FM], from $146,500 in total expenditures, spread among 11 types of advertising.

- Councillor Dionne moved all the recommendations, except for the $42,000 to Rawlco [the Mayor's sole employer, in one form or another, for over fifty years] for a weekly show. He said CTV gives the city 5 minutes every Thursday, at no charge, and wanted to refer the report back to Communications Manager Bear for other options for the $42,000.

- Councillor Zurakowski, adding his "42 cents," said this money was for more than just a "little chat on the radio:" these are 60- or 90-second spots, and this is the best form of "getting our message out" - a task he said the city has failed in over the last two years [though he provided no evidence of this failure].

- Councillor Swystun reminded his colleagues that the advertising review committee [himself, the mayor, Councillors Zurakowski and Matheson, and a handful of senior city staff] had looked at these proposals very carefully, and he did not want Rawlco left out. In light of the work done to get council to this point, he thought this was the "best bang for the buck."

- Councillor Dionne disagreed, referring to the Rawlco stations' proposed announcements as "warm and woolly;" asserting the radio station already supports the city's emergency announcements very well; and calling the suggested "Our City" spots "warm and fuzzy" commercials.

- Communications Manager Bear explained the types of spots intended for radio broadcast: 1) announcers with standard messages (such as Rotary trail changes, or playgrounds' hours), 2) weekly interviews on CKBI (currently, the Mayor is on every second week, for free), and 3) "announcer talk" segments, which will give an "enhanced presence" to the city. She said this was not "new money."

- Councillor Gervais pointed out there was nothing proposed for Missinipi Broadcasting, prompting City Manager Cotterill to remark that "some funding" was kept in for MBC [though no amount, or type of spot was specified].

- Councillor Dionne was glad that Gervais mentioned this gap, since every other type of media was covered.

- Councillor Atkinson noted there was no assessment of our "obligatory"media advertising [he means the ads required by The Cities Act and city bylaws]. These legal obligations are more important than "good news" stories. He said that, while "PR is wonderful," we need to foster citizen participation; for example, there have been no committee meeting announcements publicized outside City Hall in the last two years.

- Councillor Swystun countered "we notify the public of all of our meetings." The expense for Rawlco ads, he continued, would be reviewed at budget time. The current radio time is at Rawlco's invitation - which "gives them control." By buying advertising, he claimed that "we will control the message" [as if there were some nefarious intent in what the radio stations air when they invite municipal commentators to come in . . . .] he said this was not a matter of PR, the program will be monitored [by whom was left unstated], and changes would be possible in 7 to 8 months.

- Community Services Director Chris Cvik said the radio play would drive people to the city web site.

- Councillor Zurakowski said advertising on Missinipi was considered, and this shifts advertising money to where it is more effective.

- City Manager Cotterill claimed that people are not reading [the newspaper], and most people have a radio on for a good part of the day. This expenditure is a test - one that will be reviewed in 8 months.


8:27 PM


- Councillor Gervais said that, in 8 months, Missinipi should get a portion.

- Councillor Dionne was not prepared to wait 8 months for Missinipi to get a portion of this advertising.

- Communications Manager Bear said there was $20,000 for discretionary spending in the recommendations [actually, it was $28,000, for discretionary spending by Community Services and Public Works ONLY - see item 6 on page 43 of http://www.citypa.ca/Portals/0/PDF2/Council_Meetings/2009/2009%2006%2010%20-%20City%20Council%20Meeting/Supplementary%20Agenda%20No.%201%20-%20Pages%20210%20-%20253.pdf ].

- THE VOTE: the original motion by Councillor Dionne was defeated, 3 - 2; Councillors Atkinson and Dionne in favour, Councillor Ring abstained.

- A motion to accept all the recommendations, including the $42,000 to Rawlco radio, passed 4 - 2 (Councillors Atkinson and Dionne opposed).



We ALL Need to Drive to Our Front Doors

- A request to extend the driveway in front of 160-17th St. West from 17 feet to 52.5 feet, accompanied by the owner's freehand drawing, was deemed acceptable by Public Works. The property houses a hair salon, nail care business, and offices above those two spaces.

- Councillor Swystun said the change would make a driveway of almost the entire lot frontage on 17th Street. Dionne wanted to beautify the front of the property. Atkinson was concerned that the whole block needed to be examined. Swystun replied that there were various uses of crossings and boulevards in the area. While a full report would take time, he insisted that safety had to be ensured.

- THE VOTE: 6 - 0, in favour of an additional report on the issue.


8:33 All media leave except for Shaw Cable.


Councillors Attended/Were Feted by . . . .

8:49 PM


- Councillor Atkinson attended the Pride Parade, the national conference organized by the PA Council of Women, and the Trailblazer event on the riverbank. He also received a donation to the Rotary trail.
- Councillor Dionne was at the same Trailblazer event.
- Councillor Ring was at the Ladies Northern Golf Tournament.



8:54 PM


Inquiries: Roads, Roads, and Roads . . . .

- Councillor Zurakowski asked for an update on streetsweeping. Director Innes said the West End was done, and the West Hill was completed earlier in the day.
- Councillor Ring asked about paving repair where water mains were repaired, and when the traffic lights hit by trucks at 2nd Ave. and 30th St. West would be working.
- Councillor Dionne wanted an update on the second bridge study, to which Swystun replied that a consultant was being sought to present the study (which was a regional transportation study). Although he had read it, Swystun said the technical details should be explained by a consultant [heaven forbid that a transportation study be written so that mere mortals could not understand it without another consultant to interpret it . . . .], and he is on the steering commitee to select that consultant. Atkinson said the study was over budget, and asked if the original consultant was walking away from the work. Swystun explained that extra costs were involved, and money was being sought from all the partners for the extra work requested by the committee.



Giving Notice of Motion - Boulevard Trees and "Sustainable Community Pllans"

- Councillor Swystun gave notice of his request for a report on boulevard and rights-of-way trees, with a focus on the lifespans of the existing Manitoba maples. He said there should be a policy on planting in new areas that reflects the standard in older areas. [He forgot that a report on tree pruning and survival was prepared four years ago, and is apparently unaware that "greening" new neighbourhoods would be easier if developers did not denude the land of every visible bush, tree, and shrub before starting to build new homes in this city.]
- Councillor Ring gave notice of a motion to require "sustainable community plans" for new developments, in conjunciton with the city's new industrial park [thereby indicating his failure to remember that 1. "sustainable community" needs definition first, 2. the city does not have any kind of "green plan," 3. there is no point in having PART of a city be "sustainably" planned, 4. none of the developments added to this city since the 1960s is even remotely "sustainable," and 5. a comprehensive outline for a municipal green plan for the city was presented to council by Brian Clavier from November 26, 2007 to March 24, 2008 - see the entire set of presentations in the February 7, 2009 blog post http://pacouncilnotes.blogspot.com/2009/02/off-rails-2.html ]



END: 9:08 PM