City of Powell River Council has adopted its draft annual report.
At the June 22 city council meeting, director of properties, development and communications Scott Randolph said that the draft had been presented to council previously and staff members were directed to bring it to the June 22 council meeting for approval.
Randolph said the public was given a three-week period to review the draft and provide input.
“We did receive a lot of input but it all came internally, from council members and staff,” added Randolph.
In his report to council, Randolph listed seven corrections made to the draft. He said there were also some changes to be made in layout and graphic design.
Councillor George Doubt said the report used the strategic plan from 2018 and it is still using last term’s documents. He said the new strategic plan has not been completed. He added that many councils develop their strategic plans within a couple of months of election time, which, in this case, was October 2022.
Doubt said there were old and new issues to be addressed. Housing was one of the big ones. He said there was a building and zoning rewrite, and that there might be grant money available for such a purpose.
Doubt said building more housing faster was important and there was a $4 billion opportunity that the city could take advantage of if it worked at it.
“We have a housing needs study,” he added. “All we need is to create a plan and make an application. We need to have that as a priority for the city.”
Doubt said council has looked at Barnet Street affordable housing and asked for partners from the community that might be interested in doing something. He added that during the election period, he talked about the creation of a housing authority.
A possible name change for the city was referred to strategic planning, said Doubt.
“We simply haven’t dealt with that yet,” said Doubt.
He said a citizen advisory committee was promised for the north harbour and that hasn’t been done yet. He added that a referendum was held and passed for a new fire hall and no action has been taken. There are potential grant monies available, according to Doubt.
Doubt raised permissive tax exemptions, saying council had a plan to consult with the public on what is going to be done with permissive tax exemptions.
Councillor Trina Isakson raised a point of order, indicating that the discussion at the council table was around the annual report.
“I agree with councillor Doubt that these are all issues, but it isn’t germane to the conversation on approving the annual report,” said Isakson.
Mayor Ron Woznow said he agreed with Isakson on the point of order.
“It would be nice for the public to know what we are not doing but it is not the subject of the motion that is before us,” added Woznow.
Doubt then brought up an exclusion of the word “portfolios” in the outline provided on the mayor and each councillor in the annual report.
Isakson proposed an amendment to the motion to add portfolios to Doubt’s outline, and that there be an asterisk placed on the page outlining strategic plan and priorities, that it represents the previous council and that the new council is currently working toward its strategic priorities. The amendment carried.
Corporate officer Chris Jackson said the main motion would now be that the revised draft City of Powell River 2922 annual report be adopted with two additional amendments, adding the word “portfolios” prior to Doubt’s portfolio list, and adding reference that the strategic plan in effect for the annual report was from 2019 to 2022.
The motion carried, with Doubt opposed.
The annual report is available on the city’s homepage at powellriver.ca.
