This post is a live blog of the Monday, May 30 committee of the whole meeting in Nelson, B.C. A live blog is a report that is updated constantly and events develop at the meeting. Hit refresh on your web browser and scroll to the bottom of the page to read the latest.
For background on tonight’s meeting, see this post.
To get the agenda yourself, click this link to download the PDF.
The live blog starts at 7 p.m.
7 p.m.
Several councillors away tonight. We’re short councillors Bob Adams, Kim Charlesworth and Robin Cherbo.
Mayor John Dooley asks if there’s anyone who wants to try out being a councillor. There are jokes of the media (who almost tie council right now for numbers) taking council’s place and them reporting.
As it’s a committee of the whole meeting, Coun. Deb Kozak takes the mayor’s chair for experience running the meeting.
No Corazon youth ensemble. Disappointing.
4b) Kootenay Integrated Road Safety Unit (IRSU) stats
Sgt. Fred Mansveld, of the Nelson Police Department, takes the podium first.
He tells council that when he thinks about vehicle accidents, he thinks about the lost relationships, the opportunities to say goodbye that are missed when loved ones are killed.
Years ago, the West Kootenay had 28 deaths on the highways in one year, says Mansveld.
Since IRSU started, there are roughly one deaths a month and last year there were six deaths.
So far this year, there have been three deaths. Unfortunately one was today in the Nakusp area, says Mansveld.
The police officer says a death on the highway is one of the biggest risks to every-day citizens.
The Kootenay IRSU was the first of its kind on the mainland. It has three RCMP members and three Nelson police officers.
Thirty-percent of the wages come from the feds and 70 per cent comes from the province.
It’s a real benefit for the residents of the region to have the six police members paid for by senior levels of government.
Mansveld has some police files to show councillors. Those six officers generated 75 files since January 2011. They include drunk driving, possession of marijuana.
Their mandate is to target agressive driving, reduce the likelihood of accidents, enforce seatbelt use and the like.
Mansveld says distracted drivers is a growing problem in the Kootenays. Drivers are using their electronic devices and not paying attention to the road.
The government has provided IRSU with in-car video systems which enhances prosecution and protects the officers and civilians, says Mansveld.
It’s an excellent tool to have in court as well, Mansveld says.
The immediate roadside suspension program has been in effect in September and the province has seen a 50 per cent decrease in fatalities on the road. That’s 22 people still alive, says Mansveld.
Now he asks for questions from council.
Mayor John Dooley asks about the impaired driving fatalities Mansveld mentioned earlier. Those are deaths of drunk drivers and sober people struck by drunks.
Mansveld says Nelson is a happening town and people are making appropriate plans to avoid drinking and driving.
“People are getting the message but statistically, if you were to drive from Nelson to Trail on a Saturday night, one of 30 vehicles has an impaired driver.”
Dooley says it took a fair bit of courage to change the threshold on drinking and driving, but the stats bear out that choice.
Mansveld says it was a great decision. The police haven’t changed their threshold but the consequences are immediate, he says, the vehicle is gone.
Chief Wayne Holland jumps in now. He says he has some good news for council. First he thanks council for supporting IRSU. “The proof is in the pudding,” he says.
A few hours ago Dooley and the police board agreed to nominate Mansveld for a life-time achievement award, he says, patting the sergeant on the back.
Coun. Donna Macdonald thanks Mansveld for explaining IRSU and asks where he operates.
They focus on the high traffic areas and deal with seasonal problems. Speeding in the winters and not driving appropriately for the conditions. In the summer they deal with motorcycles and drunk driving.
Winter time, weather. Summer time, aggressive driving.
We’re not writing tickets and collecting money for the government, says Mansveld, we’re educating people and saving lives.
7:24 p.m.
Intersection safety cameras not coming to Nelson
Coun. Kozak asks about the intersection safety program. There was some speculation about it coming to Nelson, she says. Not that he’s heard of, says Mansveld. It’s appropriate for larger centres where intersections become fatality sites. That’s not a problem in Nelson.
Kozak asks about how often the members are in Nelson. Mansveld says four are based in Nelson and other communities. The shifts are varied throughout the day.
“We create a perception that we can be anywhere. We can’t be, but we could be.”
4c) Early childhood education
7:30 p.m.
Up from the advisory council are Val Mayes and Dorothy Kaytor.
“We’re not here to ask you for money,” says Mayes. Council laughs appreciatively. They’re here to remind council about their objectives and answer questions.
The advisory council is a networking mechanism for people who work in the early childhood sector.
A big issue is the shortage of childcare spaces, says Mayes. It’s not going away and is a municipal, provincial and federal problem. It’s a problem that affects employers and the community, she says.
Mayes asks if they have any questions.
Macdonald asks they’re improved by Premiere Christy Clark and the language she’s using.
Mayes says anytime they hear politicians using language about the importance about families they’re encouraged.
Kaytor says regionally, there are many challenges and she hopes this is the year they’ll see improvements in terms of addressing early childhood education.
7:42 p.m.
Dooley asks about the wages for early childcare workers. Mayes says it’s still low. You have to get into the profession because you love it, not because you want to get rich.
Dooley asks about how government can help. He says he knows the federal government’s $100 a month isn’t enough. Kaytor notes it costs $45 a day for childcare in Nelson.
Dooley asks if Mayes and Kaytor know of any private partners they could work with to create more childcare spaces.
Mayes notes they worked with the Nelson and District Chamber of Commerce to host an event and they’re working to build those relationships.
4d) Habondia Women’s Lending Society
Hannah Hadikin says the society has been enjoying tremendous success with their micro-loan program.
She has a few examples: One woman who was homeless is now employed as an esthetician after attending Selkirk College. Another woman is off income assistance and is now being helped by her family.
One aspect of this project was giving women financial literacy. Teaching banking, credit, budgeting and savings.
To help raise money, they’re organizing an art auction. They’re using art from women artists. It’s going to be a gala, says Hadikin, with prizes and entertainment.
Thursday, June 30 at SelfDesign High.
Questions? Stacey asks what “habondia” means. It means abundance, says Hadikin.
4e) Idle free policy
8 p.m.
Fiona Galbraith, the city’s Corporate Climate Action coordinator, steps up.
The idle free policy will apply to all of the City of Nelson’s vehicles.
The policy can be read about here.
Stacey says idling is a fact of live in Canada. She says she knows of some northern communities that have to idle all night to be able to run their vehicle the next day.
“Do we idle a lot?” she asks.
Galbraith says she doesn’t have any hard numbers, though she has heard anecdotes about people unhappy with the transit buses idling.
Stacey asks if there’s an anti-idling policy for the community. Galbraith says that’s outside her responsibility but it is something she’d consider were it her job.
Coun. Donna Macdonald says she’s surprised warm-up time for vehicles was five minutes. She understood if people drove their vehicles at a moderate rate for the first while was a good enough warm up.
Macdonald then asks how this will be enforced. Galbraith says it will start as an awareness campaign among staff. Without having onboard computers it is difficult to enforce it.
Macdonald says that once this policy is adopted and made public, there will be public complaints to help enforce it.
Dooley says the policy is a good one but it has to be part of a culture of change that includes everything from turning off computers to turning off lights.
He expects there will be savings in terms of fuel.
While the policy is a good one, Dooley notes the city also has an anti-pesticide bylaw but it isn’t really enforced.
“It’s good to get things out but it’s important that they not just be ‘feel good’ policies.”
4f) Greenhouse gas reduction plan
Galbraith stays up and is joined by Alex Love, general manager of Nelson Hydro.
Love says he plans to come to council annually, around this time, to tell council about progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Nelson produced roughly 1,300 tonnes of CO2 in 2010. The goal is to get it down to 800 tonnes by 2025.
Galbraith says there were some reductions in 2010, but that was a mild winter and so power use was lower than usual. It’s hard to tease out weather impacts from initiatives from the city, she says.
The city saw big reductions at the fire hall and parkade. Both reduced power use by 156 gigajoules. What’s that mean? Six tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.
The parkade had its lighting upgraded and the fire hall had some improvements made to various things such as a trip switch that turns off the heaters in the parking bays when the garage doors are open.
In 2011 there are 15 projects underway. There are building retrofits for city hall, the police/library building and public works buildings.
In the fleet, biodisel, a five per cent blend, is being tested this year. They’ll track fuel efficiency and maintenance costs with this new fuel.
To meet the goals, the city will have to buy some carbon offsets in 2013 and Galbraith is researching the options the city could use.
The Going Green! logo.
Galbraith shows council a logo they’ll start putting on buildings and vehicles. The logo is a green circle around a mountain silhouette. The silhouette is also a line graph suggesting the city’s greenhouse gas emissions dropping.
Stacey asks if the logo could be given out to businesses that take greenhouse gas emission reducing steps. It could, says Galbraith.
Macdonald asks about the fleet emissions and how Galbraith gets that. They look at the amount of fuel used and have a formula that converts that to greenhouse gas emissions.
Macdonald notes emissions from diesel vehicles went down but not the gas-using vehicles.
That’s because 2010 was a low-snow year and the large diesel vehicles used to move snow weren’t being used.
So the city’s fleet isn’t making much headway, says Macdonald. Not yet, says Galbraith. We’ve been focussing on buildings to date, Galbraith explains.
Dooley says what he’s seeing is good common sense about reducing consumption. He says it’s interesting to note we’re trying to reduce global warming yet warmer weather allows us to use less fuel.
There’s a certain irony to that, agrees Galbraith.
Dooley asks if we get any credit for planting plants or trees. Galbraith says no, that falls into a bigger picture. Right now they’re focussing on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Kozak has some questions about carbon offsets. It’s still a mystery to me, she says.
Galbraith says the goal is to become carbon neutral and after 2012, when the City of Nelson is supposed to be carbon neutral by, they can buy credits to cover up the shortfall.
Kozak says her understanding was they would start with the low-hanging fruit to make easy greenhouse gas reductions. Next they go to the harder projects and buying offset credits.
Galbraith says that’s more or less correct.
8:46 p.m.
Kozak notes they’re missing three council members but they’re still able to draw out the council meetings.
I neglected to fully charge my computer before tonight’s meeting. Battery life is in the red: 54 minutes left.
4g) Council priorities
Kevin Cormack, city manager, takes up the presentation.
There are a host of priorities here and I think it’s worth a separate story at a later date. Maybe. Cormack is running through an extensive list of the projects city staff are working on. I might just upload the list he’s reading from.
Any requests from readers? Story? Upload the list?
9 p.m.
The security alarm went just went off, a 9 p.m. tradition, it seems. Cormack asks if we’re still awake. There’s the media and two or three members of the public here at 310 Ward St.
I turned my computer screen’s brightness down, saving some power.
9:33 p.m.
Downtown power upgrade
Representatives from Nelson Hydro step up to talk about the downtown power grid update now underway, chewing up the streets and sidewalks.
Alex Love, general manager, says it’s a complicated task but once it’s done they’ll be able to tackle many other projects because of the new capacity of the grid.
The project is going well, says Love.
Mike Amos says the challenge was doing the job without offending a lot of people and doing it within a reasonable cost. We’ve attempted to do that.
The downtown power grid is failing and it needs to be replaced, he says.
They’re on track to meet the budget for this project, says Amos. It’ll be done by late summer, early September. The old infrastructure will still need to be removed, but customers will be on the new system.
The new power islands will take up 12 parking spots in downtown Nelson.
Just got the final notice my battery is just about dead. About to go old school and take notes by hand. Do I have a pen?
