ABSENTEES: none
BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS: 419 pages
PUBLIC GALLERY: Brian Clavier, Darwin Zurakowski, Jim Kereluk, and four others.
START: 7:02 PM
Public Hearing: To Permit an 88-foot Telecommunications Tower at 597-28 St. West [council denied the permit at its July 20, 2009 meeting, and voted at its August 18, 2009 meeting to give the proponent another try]
- Brian Clavier was opposed to the tower's construction. His comments were:
I'm speaking in opposition to this 88-foot tower - again, like I did on July 20th.
I believe in the rule of law. When the rule of law is ignored, the rules of favouritism and caprice apply.
According to the rule of law, this development permit should not be granted, because the proponent’s license of approval from Industry Canada (more about that in a minute) and Aeronautical Clearance Certificate are nowhere to be seen - at least not by my eyes, or anyone else in the public. If you read the relevant material (on pages 57 to 71, 371, and 372) you will see that this proposal has not changed since July 20th. What has changed is that council decided, on August 18th, to give Mr. Zurakowski one more kick at the cat. The September 2nd letter from him makes the business case for the tower; but does not address the legal requirements that must be met for you to approve the development permit.
I’m now going to repeat the arguments against approving this tower.
The Industry Canada requirements for approving telecommunications towers up to 140 feet tall are detailed in the city planner’s reference to them on page 166 of the background documents for the March 9 council meeting [in the original version of this document (not the one you can see online as of September 15, 2009, where page 166 contains tower specifications), which is reproduced at left . . . .] where they are lumped into one phrase, a phrase that’s repeated in the middle of page 57 in the documents for today’s meeting. Item 1 on that page says, the applicant shall “provide the city with a license of approval from Industry Canada.” So if you approve this development permit, you are legally obliged to insist that Mr. Zurakowski adhere to the following Industry Canada requirements:1. there must evidence of public consultation [need I say that written evidence carries more weight than a simple verbal assertion to this effect? And in this case, notification of 'registered property owners' ignores the tenants of Molstad Place] 2. the applicant must comply with Health Canada’s Safety Code 6 guideline for the protection of the general public [that means they have to find that guideline, read it, and provide written evidence that they are in compliance with it - no evidence of having done this has been provided]
3. the applicant must comply with radio frequency immunity criteria [no evidence of having done this has been provided]
the applicant must 4. notify nearby broadcasting stations [the Rawlco stations, plus CTV, CBC, Missinipi, and the new Christian Radio station as well: no evidence of having done this has been provided]
5. the applicant must give evidence of having taken environmental considerations into account [that means more than flower beds - it means that they sought out other alternatives, and are mitigating the possibility of collisions with birds: no evidence of having done this has been provided], and
6. the applicant must obtain an Aeronautical Clearance Certificate from Transport Canada [and this Clearance Certificate has not been provided].
None of the six Industry Canada criteria has been met in the documents given to the city so far.
If you understand the rule of law, you will ensure that every application - and there's another one coming up on September 21 [sic - October 5: from one Don Zurakowski, whose quest for a tower at 267-27th St. West started in May 2005 . . . .] - for a telecommunications tower higher than 50 feet meets all of the Industry Canada requirements. Your insistence on applying the “discretion” to overlook the Industry Canada legal requirements is inexplicable - as is taking a second look at the same proposal you had before you in July.
- Darwin Zurakowski said that he has the documents from the federal government, having received them "on Tuesday." [If this means the previous Tuesday, September 1, he should have submitted them to the City Clerk for inclusion in the meeting documents for this Tuesday, September 8 meeting.] He also has five signed documents [again, none were provided to the City Clerk or council] from people that support him, including the residents at 698 Buchanan Drive [which is outside the 75-meter-radius area where residents are notified about such development permit requests; and none from Molstad Place or the church across the street] and 588 Laurier Drive. [The 75-meter notification zone is interesting - mainly because it's such a short distance. For example, stand at the bottom of the wheelchair ramp on the west side of City Hall, walk west (taking care not to bump into John Diefenbaker's accusing finger), and 75 meters gets you across most of Central Avenue - but still a few steps shy of meter #26 on the west side of Central . . . .]
- Economic Development Director Corneil interjected "We don't ask developers" to obtain the federal government documents or the $2 million liability insurance until the project has been approved [by council, apparently]; they have to meet these conditions before construction is approved [by the Department of Economic Development & Planning . . . apparently. Note that Advantage Credit Union supplied an Aeronautical Clearance Certificate and an insurance certificate before their tower on 16th Street West came up for approval at City Council - see pdf file pages 180 and 182 of the meeting documents for March 9, 2009, at http://www.citypa.ca/Portals/0/PDF2/Council_Meetings/2009/2009%2003%2009%20-%20City%20Council%20Meeting/Agenda.pdf Obviously, there is flexibility in what the Department requires of tower applicants - and what Council sees - that is liberal for Mr. Zurakowski and restrained for Advantage Credit Union.]
- THE VOTE (to approve the permit for the 88-foot tower): 5 - 2 in favour, Councillors Williams and Dionne opposed, Mayor Scarrow and Councillor Atkinson abstaining.
7:11 PM Darwin Zurakowski leaves.
Public Hearing: To Sell Lanes Adjacent to the Former Prince Charles School Property to the Owner (Amigo Developments) and Two Property Owners on the East and West Side of the North-South Lane
- Brian Clavier spoke in opposition to the sale of these lanes, noting that there was no detailed site plan for the school property, so the lanes may be needed as lanes. He reminded council that a golden opporunity to create a green showcase was missed when the property was sold to a developer to create single-family homes.
- THE VOTE (to refer to the bylaws portion of the meeting): in favour [with no discussion].
7:17 PM
Public Hearing: To Re-zone 2640-2nd Ave. West, 166 and 188-27th St. West from R5 to C4, to Allow Venice House to Re-locate from 3300-2nd Ave. West
- Councillor Dionne, stressing that "we're here to listen," wanted to give the area residents "one last chance" to comment on this.
- Councillor Zurakowski moved a tabling motion.
- Councillor Atkinson said there should be buffer zone criteria, such as for opening hours, when a business like this is moved to a residential area.
- THE VOTE (to postpone the matter): 6 - 2 in favour, Matheson and Williams opposed, Scarrow abstaining.
Request & Petition to Pave 13th Ave. West, from 14th to 15th Street
- Jim Kereluk, owner of 1301-14th St. West, explained that the avenue is dusty, cars spin their wheels here frequently, and clothes can't be left on the clothesline due to the dust.
- Public Works Director Colin Innes said street paving is paid for by the frontage owners, and the "flank" is covered by the city for corner lots [meaning that the 1200-block and 1300-block owners would have to successfully petition for pavement on 14th St. before the city would pave 13th Ave., as there are no properties fronting on this avenue].
- Councillor Dionne asked if the city oils an avenue [13th] when the street [14th] is oiled. Innes said he would have to look into this.
- THE VOTE (to receive and file): in favour.
7:38 PM
Implementing a Passenger Facility Fee at the Airport
- Councillor Atkinson wondered whether the cost of improving the airport should be borne solely by passengers - couldn't freight users also bear some of this cost?
- Councillor Ring said we are one of the last airports to implment this, and businesses in the airport know it is needed.
- THE VOTE (to request an additional report on the amount of the fee, implement the fee starting January 1, 2010, and sign the relevant agreements): in favour.
Banter over Banner for Value Village
- Value Village requested permission for an over-sized banner on their storefront, for two consecutive two-week periods, advertizing their Hallowe'en costumes.
- Mayor Scarrow asked why they had this request.
- Councillor Gervais said it was because of the size of the banner.
- Councillor Dionne intoned, "It's called 'order'."
- Director Corneil said the sign bylaw requires such requests when the banner is going to be up longer than two weeks.
- Mayor Scarrow replied that banners are up all the time at Councillor Dionne's enterprise [the Gateway Mall]. Dionne responded that this was because his engineering department could not get two poles to hold a sign up at the mall.
7:57 PM
- Councillor Matheson called "Question."
- Councillor Dionne shot back, with a smile, "On this important matter?"
- THE VOTE (to allow the banner): in favour.
8:00 PM
The Mayor & Councillors Attended/Were Feted by . . .
- Councillor Ring said the 100th anniversary celebrations at the golf course had wrapped up, golfers were impressed by the local hospitality, the health district and Raiders' golf tournaments were successful, and this was a fitting sendoff to course pro Danny Jutras. [Since the city pays a golf professional, perhaps it should also pay for a full-time hockey coach, soccer coach, figure skating instructor, swimming coach, baseball manager, waterslide expert, and skateboard pro for the other municipal facilities where "sport" is enjoyed.]
- Councillor Gervais mentioned the receipt of the Northern Lights Community Development Corporation donation, and the rapid replacement of the Parkland Community Club outdoor rink - which "looks great."
- Mayor Scarrow attended sod-turnings for PA Community Housing Society and River Bank Development Corporation projects; related the details of a visit from the Mayor of Lahr, Germany; was at the official opening of the West Hill infrastructure project (28th St., from 4th Ave. to 10th Ave. West); spent Labour Day in Kinsmen Park, with 500 people, from 4 to 7 PM; and participated in Literacy Day.
- Councilor Swystun reminded all that Mont St. Joseph's grandparents' day was coming up on September 13.
8:08 PM
Inquiries: Greedy Cities, An Illegal Sign, Excessive Whistling, and Accounting for Money Pits
- Councillor Dionne, recognizing that Martensville and Meadow Lake were about to become cities, wondered if the pool of provincial funds the exisiting 13 cities draw from would be reduced next year. City Manager Cotterill replied that the pool would not change, since it is based on the 2006 census, when the two communities were towns. Dionne then asked about the huge sign [promoting Adanac Point, a new, consumption-oriented, gated enclave on the east edge of the city] on the trailer beside the police station: is this a case where the sign owner waits for bylaw enforcement, and can we fine the trailer owner? Finally, he noted that Carlton Trail Railway has a new engineer, one who likes to "lay on the horn" as he crosses 15th St., 2nd Ave., and the bridge. This "happy whistler" is causing great annoyance. Can the city contact the railway about this?
- Councillor Atkinson asked about the replacement of lead water connections in the 200 block of 11th St. East: if the city had gotten homeowners involved, and communicated better with them, these residents might have been able to arrange for replacement of the leaded water lines inside their homes at the same time. He also asked for the 2008 financial statements from the EA Rawlinson Centre and the operating costs/revenue projections for the soccer centre.
- Councillor Zurakowski corrected Atkinson, saying there was no "public viewing" of the soccer fieldhouse. He then relayed a complaint from truckers about the quick change of the traffic lights at 15th Ave. and 15th St. East, and asked for an update on the Rotary Trail in the 28th St. West area.
END 8:23 PM
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