The Scope

St. John’s city council live blog

4:31:30 PM: The St. John’s City Council liveblog: just how city council will be when Bladerunner happens.

4:34:23 PM: Andrew Harvey here to bring you the down and dirty details of council. Here’s O’Keefe to start the show.

4:35:46 PM: There is a delegation for Electromagnetic Hyper-Sensitivity awarness month.

4:37:39 PM: Someone who suffers from this is discussing the problems associated with living with this condition. Apparently wireless stuff does not help

4:39:45 PM: Delegation for Shinerama, supporting the fight against Cystic Fibrosis. Sept. 10th is Shine day.

4:41:09 PM: A delegation is here from CYN, talking about the Walking he Red Road for homelessness. Two people walked 645km’s from Conn River to town!

4:42:09 PM: Noel is here, who did the walk with his mother. A fantastic feat to raise money and awarness for an important issue.

4:42:56 PM: All of council is here for the meeting as well.

4:44:26 PM: A delegation from Canada World youth talking about the exchange 7 youth will have with youth from Ghana. They will be volunteering in Sept.

4:49:06 PM: Galgay is moving to defer the rezoning of the freshwater rd 7th day aventists property. If a new proposal comes in, there will be a meeting

4:50:37 PM: They are voting to move ahead on the rezoning of the woolworths block to allow extra height. The next step is a public meeting on the matter

4:54:33 PM: Development committee report. A 28 unit subdivision is to be approved in Kilbride, on Connolly’s lane.

4:55:35 PM: Public Works report. Hickman says that the city has dealt with the giant hogweed problem on public property.

4:56:51 PM: They are also hiring a consultant to look at the odour problem in the east end. Presumably coming from the dump.

4:58:07 PM: The City will be meeting with Vicki Kamenski about Eastern Health staff smoking on city property.

4:59:37 PM: It turns out that after banning smoking at the health sciences centre has resulted in staff standing beside the walking path by long pond.

5:01:56 PM: They are discussing ways they can improve active policing of litter in the city. Currently they only respond to complaints.

5:02:56 PM: It is probably not that likely they will hire the new staff, and I sounds like current staff are stretched too thin.

5:05:38 PM: Currently they are only asking to look at the cost, and it will go to the budget for 2011. Good luck, that is a long line.

5:06:49 PM: Colbert has some issues with some changes being made to the replacement of water pipes when there is a break.

5:08:24 PM: What happens is the city does the work, and charges the home owner $500. It often costs more than this.

5:09:27 PM: O’Leary says that litter is the #1 concern she hears about from residents, and wants to see enforcement improved.

5:14:22 PM: Danny Breen says that there are several odours in the east end, including one last Friday he says was “quite pronounced”

5:15:28 PM: O’Keefe says that re. litter, the system is complaint based, and when they notify offenders, they usually clean it up.

5:17:00 PM: O’Keefe: “I think the system we have works well” re. budgetary concerns “we have enough other concerns for 2011″

5:18:57 PM: Parks and Rec report. The city will be givign SJ minor Baseball a one time grant of $7000 to help cover a deficit, and help with planning.

5:20:34 PM: The Johnson Family Foundation wants to partner with the city and ACOA to build a park by Deadman’s pond.
5:24:50 PM: Colbert says that the $10,000 we give them is nothing compared to what we would have to pay I the city ran the ball fields.

5:26:01 PM: Colbert also wants to tip his hat to all of the volunteers who run the Amature Baseball association.

5:34:49 PM: Hann has several questions about the selection of members for the Arts Advisiory committee. He would like to see a public call for members.

5:36:49 PM: The Mayors Advisiory Committee is making a resolution to be brought to the Municipalities NL conference.

5:38:05 PM: The city will call on other municipalities to work collectively to address affordable housing.

5:42:14 PM: The flag at city hall will be lowered from Sept 13-17th for Sexual Violence Awarness Week. NL has the highest sexual violence rates in Can.

5:43:24 PM: Danny Breen says that we obviously have a deficit in infastructure, and would like to see a list of issues needed to be addressed.

5:44:36 PM: O’Keefe says yes, we have a list, and they total over $250 million! Holy snikies. They are going to look at this next meeting to plan ahead.

5:49:19 PM: O’Leary is talking about an award they have in Kingston called the Golden Broom, which rewards the cleanest street, or buisness.

5:54:03 PM: Hann says that if the cheif of the RNC wants to put CCTV’s on George st, he would support it.

5:57:05 PM: Right now, these cameras are just talk, originating from comments made by the new cheif. I am sketched out by the whole idea. Thanks Orwell

5:57:05 PM: Right now, these cameras are just talk, originating from comments made by the new cheif. I am sketched out by the whole idea. Thanks Orwell

6:03:26 PM: That’s all folks, back in two weeks for more Municipal Madness a la Andrew Harvey!

St. John’s city council live blog

4:33:10 PM: The St. John’s city council liveblog: Democracy tweeting its way into the 21st century.

4:36:24 PM: Andrew Harvey here to tweet all the goings on at City Hall into the annals of the Internet.

4:37:48 PM: All here but Duff and Hickman.

4:38:21 PM: Sorry, Hickman is here, just late.

4:40:02 PM: Hann says that there is some confusion that people have been thinking they are establishing an arts centre. We are not quite there yet.
4:41:48 PM: Hann is discussing some comments from last week where Duff said he was having “a hissy fit”. He says this is the kind of language for kids.

4:43:15 PM: There is a proposal in for an 11 house subdivision on Halliday pl (off Elizabeth ave). The lot has been empty for years, across from MUN.

4:45:06 PM: They are also reccommending approval for the Aerobatics school on Thorburn road. This is conditional on a safety approval from the province.

4:46:17 PM: Hann raised some concerns about safety regarding children. He is worried about the proximity to the busy Thorburn rd.

4:47:24 PM: Hanlon says she has been involved in this, and the school is in a contained area, and the owners are well aware of the safety issues.

4:49:48 PM: O’Keefe is reading a proclamation for the RNC. It is one of ony 6 “royal” police services in the commonwealth.

4:53:09 PM: Development fees for Stella Burry for the Carew Lodge expansion have been waived. They often do this for non-profit groups.

4:54:33 PM: Unemployment in St. John’s is down 0.8% nice one everyone!

4:55:44 PM: Thy are discussing how the president of ExxonMobile Canada is moving to St. John’s. O’Keefe says this is a good sign for the oil industry.

4:57:31 PM: O’Keefe got a letter back from ACOA about the hopeful upgrades to the landing system at the airport. They are thinking about it.

4:59:24 PM: Wally Collins says that there is “no sense to it” reffering to proposals for Blackhead rd.

5:00:09 PM: On Blackhead rd, one proposal was rejected today but others have been approved in the past.

5:01:43 PM: Tilley says he wants to find out how much it would be to clean the outside of City Hall, in response to an article in the Telegram.

5:04:12 PM: On Queens Rd in the new park, there will soon be a statue of an RNC officer.

5:06:01 PM: Gerry Colbert was investigating what was holding up the realignment of New Cove and Portugal cove rd. The city is waiting on NL power.

5:07:44 PM: Walt Mills from Engineering says NL Power will start pole work next week, and the city will get ashphalt done this year.

5:09:01 PM: Hann wants to thank the organizers of the Folk Festival. He says some of the changes they made this year really helped.

5:11:38 PM: Hickman says that all of the recent festivals have gone great, and thanks city staff for all their help in clean-up.

5:13:49 PM: O’Leary says that a cab driver friend of hers said how proud she was to be in St. John’s with all the cultures and festivals on the go.

5:16:03 PM: O’Leary also thinks that there is confusion around the city regarding public art space. Thinks we need better communicaton on this.

5:18:22 PM: Apparently O’Keefe had a bet with Randy Simms on the senior baseball game. Simms will wear a St. John’s jersey at their next meeting.

Google-eyes

I spend a large amount of time off the island, so I‘m frequently homesick for St. John’s. But recently, I’ve found a way to remedy this: Google Earth Street View tourism. I can take a fractured, low-resolution stroll through the streets of downtown, check out the harbour, and look around at all my favorite places. There’s a kind of poetic beauty to those images, warped by the inverted-fishbowl lens of the Google car camera. They’re actually somewhat analogous to my memory of the city, as reconstructed by the lens of my own mind’s eye; distorted and blurred, exaggerated and pieced together.

While it’s amazing to see the full city in a navigable 3-D model, the Google Street View experience highlights the shortcomings of the medium itself—its inability to express the richness of the architectural character of St. John’s that I know so well. I can’t help but think about all the things behind the facades along the streets, and how they are far more complex, and way less regular, than what Street View is showing me. If I had to show this to a friend who was not from the city, I wouldn’t think it to be a sufficiently descriptive tool. Which makes me wonder what it would be like to construct a Google Earth St. John’s from my memory. What would be included? What would be forgotten about? Are there vast spaces of nothingness between all the memorable buildings? Perhaps the roads are more narrow, the hills are much steeper, and Signal Hill is much higher. Maybe the stone peak of the Anglican Cathedral is sharper and the sky between the narrows is a vivid, electric purple miasma. Maybe MUN is a massive, bleak concrete terrain with a knotted circuitry of tunnels weaving through the ground like incandescent worms, and the Battery is a pixelated wall of psychedelic color sparkling in the sun. These are the definitive architectural moments of our city, as unique as the memories and imaginations of each individual citizen, yet somehow still holding a common thread for all of us.

It can be said that our emotional experiences frame our memory of space, but there are other external factors influencing our memory of space, too. Take for instance the tourism industry, and its model of our city as a quaint, quirky seaside town, buoyed by imagery of articulated Victorian row houses and bed linens in the wind. This idea has been digested by us and then regurgitated into new buildings like the Stella Burry Housing Centre at Rawlins Cross, or all around the city in the refinishing of 50’s era suburban-style housing with heritage-color vinyl siding.

Is the present wave of new heritage-style buildings a reflection of a real tradition, or a revival of only one moment in the city’s long history of architecture that includes such movements as modernism, brutalism, neo-gothic, post-modernism, critical regionalism, and art deco, amongst others? Are we generating an architectural mythology of our city? Is that bad? As there is an accelerated pace of development in the city right now, it is essential for the public to engage in the discussion of the architectural character of the city, so that we may help direct those things—meetings, agendas, and decisions—that often seem beyond the public influence. It is important to consider what shapes your idea of the architectural identity of our city.

There is an urgency in this changing city to create an alertness to the possibility and potential of design that is present here. This new column will be a venue for investigations into issues surrounding the growing design culture and practice in St. John’s.

Talk to you again soon.

The Fine Art of Smell-tography: Advice for aspiring smell-mappers

Any fool with a fleet of ships and a compass can make a regular map of an uncharted land, but what does it take to make a smell map of an un-smelled land? I suppose any fool with a nose really. That’s what I thought anyway, until recently when I set out to map St. John’s by smell for The Scope.

How, exactly, does one go about smell mapping? To begin with I had no idea. Illustrator and author Jason Logan smell-mapped Manhattan a few years back. It seems from his smell map that one just wanders around sniffing all the wonderful hot summer city smells, makes a note, makes a map, and blam! Smell map. It is more-or-less that simple, but there are also a few tricks I learned along the way that I thought worthy of sharing with any aspiring smell-tographers out there.

1. Don’t pass out: This might seem like ridiculous advice, but I’m dead serious. Sniffing requires far more inhalation than exhalation, not to mention seriously heightened brain activity while you attempt to name the variety of minute smells you are dealing with. Between the irregular breathing and the brain stress you can very light headed, and you are not going to make much of a smell-tographer lying passed out in a pile of dog shit, trash, and flowers in some downtown alley. So take your time, go slowly, really savour the experience (unless it is thick with dog shit and garbage, then get a move on.)

2. Train your nose: You don’t really notice how much the world stinks until you start smelling it for real. Then it really stinks. It is full of all sorts of stinks. Some good, some bad, some worse. So many that it can seem overwhelming at times to try and sort out what it is you are smelling. Before you go around smell-mapping like a pro you are going to need to train your nose. Before I began officially smell mapping I did some informal smelling everywhere I went. This requires no special equipment other than a nose and will prove very helpful when you begin mapping and are stuck trying to decide what that odour is: chicken offal or Ziggy Peelgoods.

3. Develop a extensive stinkabulary: There are hundreds of words to describe all the other sensations, there aren’t any for smells. Think about it: what is the word for something that tastes like lemons? Sour . What is the word for something that smells like freshly cut grass? Nothing, there isn’t one. The lack of smell-specific words makes smell-tography the most difficult tography of them all because you’ll have describe what it is you are smelling with similies, metaphors and extravagant descriptions (“like I imagine a fisherman smells like.”). Spend some time while you are training your nose to develop a stinkabulary that provides the necessary nuance beyond good, great, gross, and disgusting. Luckily for smell-tographers, smell, despite the lack of its very own descriptive words, is very strongly connected to memory. Which is why simile works so well to describe stench—we all remember instantly what cigarette butts smell like—and may also, if I may hypothesize—which is part of any good smell-tographer’s job—explain why there aren’t smell words—we don’t need words to help us remember because we’ve got the smellmories (smell+memories). But that is the topic for some Ph. D dissertation another day.

4. Damn your eyes: A smell-tographer’s eyes are a smell-tographer’s enemy. If you see something that you think should smell like one thing, even if it actually smells like something else, chances are you’ll end up smelling what you think it should smell like base upon how it looks rather than how it actually smells. This is not good. You aren’t sight-mapping, you are smell-mapping, leave the pictures and photos to Google Maps. That suburban neighbourhood may look like all the others, which smell like freshly cut grass, flowers, and hot asphalt, but it actually smells like bacon grease. A smell-tographer’s is not to question why. Don’t let your eyes fool your nose, you’re a smell-tographer, your nose is king. Trust your well-trained nose.

5. Manage your own stink carefully: One of the trickiest bits of smell mapping, I found, was deciding what smells were the city’s and what smells were my own. I mapped the downtown on foot on a hotter-than-hell Saturday afternoon. I made the mistake of slathering on a thick layer of sunscreen before heading out which meant that for the first half of the excursion everything I smelled was punctuated by a slightly citrusy-floral sunscreen smell. For the outer reaches of the city I used some advanced smell-tography equipment known in the trade as a smell-tographic mobile (a slow moving car with the window rolled down). This once again proved a challenge, trying to discern between the city’s stink and the car’s air freshener stink. Once again, some smell training will come in handy to help you figure out which stinks are yours and which are the city’s, but do your best to keep your own stinks to a minimum if at all possible. (And no, the lingering farts smell by the Stavanger Walmart was not one of my stinks, it was legit. I triple checked).

6. Get the right tools for the job: There is nothing more pathetic than some amateur smell-tographer scribbling smells on the back of receipts with a crayon. If you want to be a professional smell-tographer you are going to need to gear up. For excursions on foot you are going to need some good walking shoes, some unscented whatever you might slather on yourself to keep you from stinking to high heaven or burning to a crisp in the sun, a notepad, a sight-map (one of them more traditional maps like the explorers used to make), and a pen or pencil with sufficient ink or lead. This allows you to take your time, chart the smells carefully, and record your route and attach smells to their location to help you with drawing your map later. If you are going out in a smell-tograpic mobile then you are going to need an assistant to either drive or record and help verify tricky smells while on the road. Smell-tographing while driving can be very dangerous, but if you cannot find anyone without a day job to join you, get a little hand-held digital recording device, put it in your shirt pocket, and narrate the smells of the city as you safely sniff your way through rush hour traffic in far flung suburbs and transcribe the “tape” (microchip doesn’t have the same ring to it) back at your smell-tography laboratory (Click here to listen to a real-life smell-tographer in action).

7. Have fun: Smell-tography is a very under-appreciated and far ahead of its time pursuit. There aren’t, to my knowledge, any fancy institutes, highfalutin professional societies, elitist post-doctoral training programs, or anything like that associated with smell-tography. And, like the complete lack of smell-words, there is no real way to represent a space olfactorially without having to revert to the tired old normal map with a list of associated smell similes. Which stinks! Perhaps one day smell taxonomists will create an actual stinkabulary of actual smell words and the iPhone will come with a scratch and sniff app and us smell-tographer’s art will finally be given the treatment it deserves. But, in the meantime, you’ll be doing this for fun and for free so you best enjoy it.

St. John’s city council live blog

4:26:38 PM: The St. John’s city council liveblog: council in easy-to-swallow 140 character increments.

4:28:59 PM: The agenda today is an inch thick! This could be a long one. Council is also littered with massive fake cigarette butts, gross.

4:34:55 PM: For whatever reason, there is a bunch of people here today, 22 people! The most I have seen yet.

4:39:21 PM: When people come it is usually either because they want to see how a proposal turns out.

4:47:18 PM: The crowd is growing here, and council is finally filing in.

4:48:11 PM: I am joined in the gallery by two other former candidates, Bernard Davis and Mark Wilson.

4:52:55 PM: Dennis O’Keefe has arrived, and the meeting has begun. 3 delegations!

4:54:18 PM: First off, a group from the “Go bare butt” campaign. They are encouraging people to properly dispose of butts.

4:55:54 PM: Right now they are downtown, but clean and beautiful would like to see it go city wide.

4:58:38 PM: Now we have a delegation from Run The Rock, a charity run put on by the HMCS St. John’s. They will run from Port-Aux-Basques to St. John’s!

5:00:22 PM: They are raising money for the childrens wish foundation. It is great to see the ship with our cities name contributing to local charities.

5:01:58 PM: Now a delegation from the Jessica Campaign. The 2010 safety week is hosted by them.

5:06:46 PM: Debbie Hanlon is moving to recind a motion to reject an application for an areonatics school on Thorburn Rd.

5:08:14 PM: O’Keefe is asking why they could not just reapply. There is some confusion here.

5:09:50 PM: It turns out that they could simply reapply, without recinding the motion. Apparently they were operating, but have stopped.

5:11:29 PM: The former Seventh Day Aventist church on Freshwater rd will be rezoned to allow a subdivision to go in. There will be a public meeting too.

5:12:45 PM: They are now again discussing a proposed lounge on Topsail rd, in the New Moon resturant.

5:14:01 PM: The area for the proposed lounge is small, and council was concerned it may only be to put in VLT’s.

5:15:25 PM: The applicant says that they do not intend to. Motion carried, they get their lounge, no matter the use.

5:16:59 PM: They are reccommending to approve a proposal to allow a house on Bonaventure st to be turned into 3 seperate units. Carried

5:18:56 PM: They are voting to rezone some property on Bay Bulls rd to allow a 3-story apartment building.

5:21:05 PM: O’Leary says that the company has gone “above and beyond” to address local residents concerns.

5:22:13 PM: There was a public meeting for a proposed 4-story apartment building on New Cove Rd. Duff says she cannot support it.

4:52:55 PM: Dennis O’Keefe has arrived, and the meeting has begun. 3 delegations!

4:54:18 PM: First off, a group from the “Go bare butt” campaign. They are encouraging people to properly dispose of butts.

4:55:54 PM: Right now they are downtown, but clean and beautiful would like to see it go city wide.

4:58:38 PM: Now we have a delegation from Run The Rock, a charity run put on by the HMCS St. John’s. They will run from Port-Aux-Basques to St. John’s!

5:00:22 PM: They are raising money for the childrens wish foundation. It is great to see the ship with our cities name contributing to local charities.

5:01:58 PM: Now a delegation from the Jessica Campaign. The 2010 safety week is hosted by them.

5:06:46 PM: Debbie Hanlon is moving to recind a motion to reject an application for an areonatics school on Thorburn Rd.

5:08:14 PM: O’Keefe is asking why they could not just reapply. There is some confusion here.

5:09:50 PM: It turns out that they could simply reapply, without recinding the motion. Apparently they were operating, but have stopped.

5:11:29 PM: The former Seventh Day Aventist church on Freshwater rd will be rezoned to allow a subdivision to go in. There will be a public meeting too.

5:12:45 PM: They are now again discussing a proposed lounge on Topsail rd, in the New Moon resturant.

5:14:01 PM: The area for the proposed lounge is small, and council was concerned it may only be to put in VLT’s.

5:15:25 PM: The applicant says that they do not intend to. Motion carried, they get their lounge, no matter the use.

5:16:59 PM: They are reccommending to approve a proposal to allow a house on Bonaventure st to be turned into 3 seperate units. Carried

5:18:56 PM: They are voting to rezone some property on Bay Bulls rd to allow a 3-story apartment building.

5:21:05 PM: O’Leary says that the company has gone “above and beyond” to address local residents concerns.

5:22:13 PM: There was a public meeting for a proposed 4-story apartment building on New Cove Rd. Duff says she cannot support it.

5:23:39 PM: Duff says that it would be a good development elsewhere, but not in the proposed place. Traffic is the main concern coming from the 24 units

5:25:26 PM: Duff: “I think this is an over-develoment of the site.”

5:26:38 PM: O’Keefe agrees that parking is already a major issue there. It sounds like it is a blind part of the road, and could be quite dangerous.

5:27:56 PM: The proposal is for near where New Cove Rd becomes Portugal Cove Rd. Apparenty this intersection will have lights soon.

5:29:53 PM: Hann says he is getting mixed messages from staff and citizens. He wants to see if the new lights will help any potential traffic issues.

5:33:51 PM: Colbert says that he will not support the application, and wants to see a traffic assessment of the area btw Torbay and Portugal Cove rd.

5:36:51 PM: Colbert wants this study because he says the area is “ripe for development”, and we want to make an informed decision in the future.

5:37:55 PM: Colbert wants to make it clear that they are voting against the rezoning of the land, not the particular proposal.

5:39:54 PM: Hann and Tilley voted for the rezoning, but it was rejected.

5:41:23 PM: Most of the crowd is leaving now, apparently they were here to see which way the proposal for New Cove rd would go.

5:45:35 PM: They are discussing a public meetig regarding a new long-term care facility which will replace Hoyles Escasoni.

5:49:04 PM: The Heritage Committee is disussing a proposed LED sign for the side of the CLB armoury.

5:50:53 PM: Duff suggests that they allow a smaller sign on the front, not the side.

5:52:38 PM: Hann says that he can’t see why they would reject it considering the neghibourhood, Timmies, Stoggers, and the big R.

5:54:33 PM: Hickman says it is akin to the type of sign they allowed for King George the fifth soccer pitch.

5:56:44 PM: Galgay says that the sign wouldn’t be out of place considering the advertising in the area.

6:00:50 PM: Duff says that the current signage guidelines for the heritage conservation area. Maybe it should not be in this area she says.

6:01:34 PM: Duff is mostly concerned abouthe consistent application of the laws she says.

6:02:50 PM: There is a proposal for the demolition of the Star of the Sea hall. They want to replace it with a 48 unit condo development.

6:04:26 PM: The Heritage Advisiory committee reccommends to reject the application, based on the historical significance of the site.

6:05:55 PM: The committee does not feel there has not been enough work done to find an adaptive use for the existing building.

6:09:39 PM: Galgay says that if there is no opportunity for adaptive reuse, then it would only be boarded up and eventually come down anyways.

6:11:44 PM: Hann says that the site does have historical significance, but the extremely high cost of renovating is prohibitive.

6:16:43 PM: O’Leary says that we really need artist production and rehersal space. She says that this would be an excellent space for such an art use.

6:20:54 PM: Colbert says that several years ago there was another motion to demolish and they then said they would give a few years to find another use.

6:23:05 PM: Tilley says that the proposed development for the site would bring the city $430k/year in tax.

6:24:26 PM: Hickman says that in 4 years on the arts advisiory committee this is the first time he has heard this building could potentially be used.

6:26:07 PM: Hanlon says that she knows this building well because she sold it to a developer 15 years ago! She says it is too expensive to upgrade.

6:31:26 PM: Duff: to Hann “I’m saying every time you are interrupted you have a hissy-fit”

6:32:52 PM: Motion to demolish approved, goodbye Star of the Sea Hall.

6:34:31 PM: There is a proposal for the Arcade site for an office/retail building.

6:36:28 PM: They are reccommending that this proposal have a land use assessment review, as it would require additional “bonus” height.

6:38:12 PM: This proposal would require ammendments to the municipal plan and development regulations.

6:42:11 PM: They are moving forward with removing the Arcade and Woolworths building area from the heritage area which would not allow extra height.

6:43:25 PM: This is a big step towards allowig the 2 developments for this area which both require the extra height.

6:48:08 PM: Galgay is reading a petition from residents of Old Topsail Rd who would lose parking due to the cycling plan.

6:49:32 PM: Collins says it is time to move forward with phase 2 of the cycling plan.

6:50:51 PM: Hanlon says that people may get used to parking, but the city owns the street, and must be used for all.

6:52:10 PM: Hanlon: “To vote against this [the cycling plan] would be a very selfish thing”

6:53:12 PM: This meeting has been so long my phone may die, excuse me if it does, but I will power through until it does.

6:54:11 PM: Tilley says that he has recieved 2 petitions against the plan with 340 signatures.

6:55:03 PM: There is a petition in support of the plan with at least 1000 I believe.

6:57:16 PM: As Hanlon said, it seems very selfish to me to value parking over a cycling system. Cars always win, let’s give bikes one for a change.

6:59:16 PM: Tilley says he will say no to the cycling plan on behalf of his constituients.

7:12:30 PM: O’Leary says that it is embarrasing that we do not have a functional cycling system. We must move forward with this.

7:15:28 PM: Hickman: “We need the plan to make it safe”

7:18:43 PM: Breen says he has some concerns about the Virginia river trail.

7:19:57 PM: He says citizens are concerned about bikes and walkers using the same trail.

7:22:23 PM: Colbert says that the education component is vital to ensure the system is safe.

7:24:03 PM: Apparently they will first widen the farther out section of the Virginia River trail, and use it as a test case.

7:25:15 PM: Tye cycling plan implementation of phase 1 and 2 is approved, only Tilley voted nay.

7:26:37 PM: Yeah! Actual movement forward on reducing the collective shame of our city for not having a bike system.

7:39:32 PM: Recycling will go ahead in Oct! They had two companies, and chose Scotia Recycling. Today is a big day folks, bike lanes and recycling.

7:42:37 PM: Duff says this is the longest meeting she has seen in her time on council. It has been very productive though, and worth it.

7:45:03 PM: Breen wants the city to meet with NL housing officials to discuss issues related to garbage on their properties.

7:54:59 PM: Thank goodness, the meeting is finally over. Andrew Harvey out, tweet you all in 2 weeks.

St. John’s city council live blog

4:22:29 PM: The St. John’s city council liveblog: keeping you up to date on municipal affairs one tweet at a time since 2009.

4:25:34 PM: Andrew Harvey here to bring you all the shenanigans council gets up to.

4:34:51 PM: Council is filing in now, and they are all happy and refreshed after te first week off for the summer schedule (meeting every other week).
4:37:46 PM: We have a full slate of council here also.

4:39:04 PM: Drowning is the 3rd most common cause of accidential death for people under 60. Be careful on the water people, be safe and wear PDF’s.

4:40:52 PM: PFD’s that is. They are also celebrating lifeguard appreciation week. Thanks to all the people who work to keep our water safe.

4:42:44 PM: There is some land being rezoned in the southlands. They are also including a piece of land for a community centre.

4:44:17 PM: There is a proposal for 34 Bonaventure ave, to convert a home into 3 units. It has been deffered to allow staff to look at traffic.

4:45:34 PM: After havin this come back and forth to council, they just approved an application for a Domino’s pizza on Freshwater rd.

4:46:44 PM: This will be a take-out only resturant, and some residents were concerned about traffic. It is currently Browne’s Auto.

4:47:45 PM: They are rejecting an application for a store on Signal Hill rd.

4:49:52 PM: The Heritage committee is reccommending defferal of a proposal for a Patio for Yellowbelly. They want more structural information.

4:51:54 PM: The are also considering a proposed demolition for the Star of the Sea Hall. They are also deffering this decision for more information.

4:53:15 PM: Tom Hann is concerned about the possible cost of renovating such a structure. Galgay wants to see if there are any other uses possible.

4:54:10 PM: O’Leary wants to see if there is a possibility for the building to be converted to a public arts space.

4:55:11 PM: O’Keefe: “That’s a few million” he said to O’Leary suggestion.

4:56:21 PM: Tilley: “What about the star ofthe sea?” after a 10 min discussion. He thought we were still talking about Yellowbelly.

4:58:26 PM: Duff is making a notice of motion to recind a previous motion to remove the battery hotel from the Battery Development area.

4:59:48 PM: This would put the hotel back in the Battery Development area, and is more of a preemptive move for future development on the site.

5:01:13 PM: O’Keefe wants to thank all involved in the excellent response to the crash on the southern shore hwy on June 30th.

5:02:43 PM: Hann wants them to take a look at the rails in place. O’Keefe says testing is happening, and will continue.

5:03:33 PM: Colbert is especially impressed with the excellent job staff did of communicating throughout the process.

5:05:11 PM: Costco wants to put in a gas bar on Stavanger dr. Staff want a traffic impact study.

5:07:17 PM: The Economic Update shows that development permits are up 78% from last year! Maybe we will make up that projected deficit for next year.

5:09:50 PM: Bruce Tilley is impressed with the number of technology companies here in St. John’s.

5:11:03 PM: Duff wants to draw attention to the 1.1% spring vacancy rate, and the impact of this on those living on a fixed income.

5:13:27 PM: Duff is still wondering when the public hearings on the Public Transit study.

5:14:46 PM: Hann says that they have hired consultants who have started work, and held one public meeting so far. He is unsure when the meeting will be.

5:15:42 PM: This is somewhat of an issue between Duff and Hann, she has asked for this date multiple times in the past.

5:18:06 PM: O’Leary wants to see more dialouge with Eastern Health regarding staff from the hospital smoking around long pond.

5:21:16 PM: O’Keefe: “There’s nothing as bad as butt’s all over the place… Cigarette butts that is, I saw you laughing councillor Tilley”

5:24:46 PM: O’Keefe really wants to see a ILS landing system at the airport. Last year 1000 flights were affected by the weather.

5:27:14 PM: Hann is discussing council’s decision to wait for the completion of the NE Avalon regional plan to review the Municipal Plan.

5:28:23 PM: Hann: “I don’t know what the rush is, we have started the process” Staff will be looking at what other municipalities are doing.

5:29:56 PM: Colbert points out that other municipalities in the area have started reviewing their own municipal plans.

5:31:35 PM: Breen says that he doesn’t mind who has started their plans as long as we do it properly.

5:32:51 PM: There is a public meeting re. a public meeting for a long-term care facility in Plesantville next Wed at 7pm in the Foran Room.

5:35:46 PM: Galgay says that it is “scurvalous (?)” what people have done with grafitti on monuments in our city.

5:37:39 PM: Galgay: “It is important that these people be apprehended and brought to justice” (those responsible for the grafitti on monuments)

5:38:46 PM: Council is razzing Tilley over his Star of the Sea comment he made.

5:40:28 PM: Tilley says that it people have issues with outdoor raised fires should call 311.

5:43:46 PM: O’Keefe: “We have a city plan, and it is a good one.”

5:45:45 PM: O’Keefe says we have the full support of Municipal Affairs on waiting for the regional plan to review our own Municipal plan.

5:46:35 PM: That’s all folks, back in 2 weeks for more municipal madness!

5:46:35 PM: That’s all folks, back in 2 weeks for more municipal madness!

Your City

Development is all around us in St. John’s. It can be everything from replacing a deck to building a skyscraper. There are many systems, rules, and processes which are in place to control, evaluate, and ultimately decide on the types of development which will be approved within St. John’s.

Here’s what goes down before the shovel hits the dirt…

Before a proper application is submitted, any potential developer (including you!) has the right to discuss a proposal with the Planning and Development Department of the city.

The official ball starts rolling once an application is formally submitted. Once submitted, it will be reviewed by city staff, and passed along to the Development committee with recommendations. These include a specific recommendation whether to approve or deny the application. They will often make other recommendations including asking the developer for additional information or details. Any changes which would be required to either the Municipal Plan or development regulations are also noted. Some common requests for additional information include environmental assessments, land use assessment reports, view plane analysis, and traffic impact studies.

At the committee level, the application is discussed, and further recommendations are made. These usually, but not always, follow those of city staff.

The recommendations of the Development Committee are then heard by council, and voted on at regular council meetings. Depending on the type of application, there may be a need for a public meeting, or to notify residents of the area.

After any public hearings, or additional information is submitted, the application will come back to the Development Committee. Then they’ll read any letters of support, or opposition to the development, and the comments of those who spoke at the public hearing.

This opportunity for input on developments is often under-used by the public. Although the city has yet to progress to the point of making information on applications available online, they will make the application, including any maps submitted or prepared by city staff, which you can ask for.

Okay, so yeah, it’s boring, but important. I’ll go through an example. Country Ribbon Inc. to develop a “Protein Conversion Plant” on Incinerator Road (near the intersection of Pitts Memorial Dr and the TCH). The plant will use offal material from an existing poultry plant on East While Hills Road to convert usable meal and fat for animal feed. …Mmmm!

Anyway, here’s what has gone down so far…

March 30th, 2010—The Development Committee makes a recommendation (probably on the recommendation of City staff) for council to instruct city staff to write the provincial department of the environment and conservation and ask Country Ribbon for additional information on “methods that would be employed to control any potential odours” and “waste water disposal”.

April 5th 2010—Council votes to accept the recommendations of the Development Committee Report.

May 4th 2010—After receiving a letter from city staff, the minister of the environment and conservation put out an environmental assessment bulletin stating that Country Ribbon Inc. must prepare an Environmental Preview Report (EPR) for the proposed plant.

Now—We are currently waiting for this report to be completed. The minister also stated that the public will be invited to provide comments on the EPR when it is submitted.

I hope this is helpful for people to try and understand what I am only barely starting to after nine months of going to council meetings.

Any questions? Ask ‘em below.

St. John’s city council live blog

4:32:59 PM: The St. John’s city council liveblog: filling the expanse of the Internet with municipal matters since 2009.

4:34:30 PM: Andrew Harvey here to bring you the down and dirty details of council, straight from the bunker on New Gower St.

4:36:32 PM: Here’s Tom Hann, the first member of council to make it out.

4:43:34 PM: Council will be revisiting the application which was rejected several weeks ago for the Ryan Mansion. They will vote to recind this decision

4:44:27 PM: O’Keefe is here to start the meeting with a full deck of council.

4:45:41 PM: There is a delegation from the lifesaving society.

4:47:44 PM: St. John’s recieved an award for highest increase in lifesaving course enrollment.

4:48:45 PM: Delegation from Metrobus. O’Keefe and Hann are wearing hardhats for some reason.

4:50:01 PM: Turns out construction has started on their new depot! That is exciting, it should be something when it is finished.

4:51:04 PM: The new depot will be ready for he end of 2011, and will meet LEED building standards.

4:52:57 PM: There is an absurd Celebrate Canada mascot with a delegation for Canada Day. He has glasses and looks like a red Bart Simpson.

4:56:48 PM: The city has recieved a final study on Phase 2 of the George St redevelopment. They reccommending “approval in principle” very preliminary.

4:58:25 PM: Galgay says that he hopes we get outside funding for the reccommendations. He also says this is not something which will happen overnight.

4:59:51 PM: Duff says that George street is a part of our tourism draw, and is starting to “look shabby”

5:02:30 PM: Hickman thinks that we need the province to support this for it to go ahead. Tourism is provincial jurisdiction.

5:03:56 PM: Collins says he cannot support spending money down on George street with all of the other things needed in this city.

5:06:06 PM: The report they are talking about, and approving it in principle seems just like a first step. They are not committing any money right now.

5:09:43 PM: The proposal for George Street includes infastructure upgrades, revamping the stage, and a potential site for a farmers market.

5:15:03 PM: Galgay says that this is a “visonary plan”, and that the city will “agressively seek partners” for funding.

5:17:06 PM: Hann is reporting on Metrobus’s budget report. Ridership down slightly this year, but profits up slightly from fare increase.

5:18:17 PM: Metrobus has many challanges, including huge upcoming capital costs to replace busses, as well as their new depot.

5:19:38 PM: Hanlon wants to know what we are doing to try and increase ridership.

5:20:58 PM: O’Keefe: “We’ve got to amalgamate b’y” reffering to challanges due to sprawling growth.

5:22:50 PM: Duff wants to know when there will be an opportunity for public input on Metrobus. Hann says there is no date yet for this yet.

5:25:22 PM: Colbert says we have a major challenge to get riders because people are used to having 1 or 2 or 3 cars in the driveway.

5:27:14 PM: Here comes the discussion on the application for the Ryan Mansion. The issue seems to be about the use of a proposed spa on the premisis.

5:29:19 PM: Several councillors have gone to see the location, which has apparently alleviated their concerns. Mai ly over parking and traffic.

5:31:07 PM: Galgay says that he told the proponent that if they had of had all the information they did now at the start, it may have been approved then

5:34:00 PM: Passed unamiously. The spa and b&b expansion will go ahead.

5:37:50 PM: They are discussing the public meeting held for the old woolworths building. Galgay calls it a “significant development” in his ward.

5:39:00 PM: Someones phone has been ringing for a few minutes, and it was O’Keefe. He gave up the chair to Duff to answer it.

5:40:08 PM: In this development will be included a partnership from the city to add 260 public parking spaces.

5:43:03 PM: Tilley: “What this building will give us is ‘Class A’ space” Bruce must not have the sweet comic on this topic in the last scope.

5:44:28 PM: They are discussing the ammendments which would be neccissary for this proposal. They may remove the area from the heritage area it is in.

5:45:38 PM: O’Keefe is back, and Hann wants to know the effect of the reccommendations of the heritage committee.

5:47:02 PM: Duff says that the main concerns of the heritage advisiory committee were in removing the area from the heritage area.

5:50:04 PM: This almost started a huge debate, but O’Keefe says it is a debate for another day.

5:53:25 PM: They are voting to rezone the old seventh day aventist school on Freshwater Rd to build homes on the property.

5:56:05 PM: There is a report from a public hearing on phase 2 of the cycling plan

5:58:17 PM: There are some concerns regarding the use of the Virginia River trail. They are worried that it will ruin the trail for walkers.

5:59:39 PM: There will be a public meeting tonight for Ward 3, and one later on for the on-street system in the city centre.

6:01:51 PM: Breen: “These trails are the jewel of the city” He wants to be sure people will still be able to safely enjoy the trails.

6:05:20 PM: Duff says that the physical design of the system is just one piece of the cycling plan. They are also developing a public awarness plan.

6:08:38 PM: Planning and Housing committee report. They are discussing a municipal plan review! Even after voting against doing so recently.

6:09:38 PM: I guess some sense has finally gotten into them, and they realized that this is something we need to start doing.

6:11:22 PM: There is also a reccommendation to put the Battery Hotel back into the battery deelopment area. It was removed in 2006 ( for some reason).

6:12:52 PM: Breen says we need a way to ensure everyone has an opportunity to be involved and have their input heard.

6:14:28 PM: Hann says that he had a conversation today about the NE Avalon plan, and is not sure where it stands.

6:17:22 PM: The municipal plan review will take 1-2 years, and the planning committee will request money in 2011 to start this process.

6:22:13 PM: The city will waive tipping fees for Battery residents affected by storm damage. I wonder if they will wave the massive engineering fees.

6:24:37 PM: Council is advising the public not to use synthetic pesticides.

6:25:21 PM: O’Leary would like to look at municipal election signs at a later date.

6:26:52 PM: Me too Sheilagh! During the election the vast majority of candidates signs were illegally placed, and they refused to remove them when told

6:27:57 PM: It sends a terrible message that our council passes these laws, but don’t always follow them.

6:32:25 PM: Hanlon wants to thank Eastern Health for removing the parking meters from the Health Sciences Ctr.

6:34:33 PM: They got 12 truckloads of garbage from a cleanup in Ward 1 on the weekend.

6:38:28 PM: That’s all folks. The summer schedule is meetings every other week. Back in mid-July. Till then get all the buzz at www.thescope.ca

St. John’s city council live blog

4:27:32 PM: The St. John’s city council liveblog: Democracy, 140 characters at a time.

4:29:30 PM: Danny Breen is the first councillor out of the gates, chomping at the bit as usual.

4:31:05 PM: Andrew Harvey here to bring you the call of the most exciting game going (at 4:30 on a Monday).

4:32:25 PM: Council will vote on the proposal for Temperance Street tonight! Excited yet?

4:33:53 PM: None other than Andy Wells himself just emerged from “backstage”. What’s he doing back there then?

4:35:08 PM: Go time, here’s O’Keefe. It appears Wally Collins is the only one missing.

4:36:21 PM: O’Keefe: “We have a real treat today” reffering to a delegation Wells is a part of.

4:37:29 PM: He is a part of a delegation for the Cruise Vision Award given in NL. He won the award!

4:38:36 PM: They are recognizing Wells for his work in developing the cruise industry here in St. John’s since the early 90’s.

4:39:39 PM: Wally Collins is also here, he was just late.

4:40:59 PM: O’Keefe is talking about the millons and millions which have come into this city since the widening of the narrows.

4:41:45 PM: Andy: “Take a snap b’y” recieving his award.

4:42:47 PM: Wells wants to make it clear that the building of this industry has been a group effort of all involved.

4:43:38 PM: Andy Wells: “You guys are too quiet, too peaceful.”

4:44:48 PM: Proclamation for Hire a Youth week. O’Keefe encourages local buisnesses to “give youth an opportunity”.

4:47:07 PM: Hanlon is making a notice of motion regarding replacement of property laterals. This will be voted on next week.

4:49:50 PM: Hanlon says that service laterals are the homeowners responsibility under provincial law. This motion will uphold plumbing codes.

4:54:15 PM: Colbert is against this because he sees inequality in the application of this bylaw.

4:56:46 PM: Collins does not think that this will affect regular people like Colbert is worried about.

4:58:36 PM: Galgay is thinking about the older residents of mostly Downtown who are looking to repair their home. He does not want to overburden them.

5:00:41 PM: This policy applies to privately-owned homes where renovations of over 50% of the value of the home.

5:01:54 PM: Duff says that this will not be affecting the seniors, as they are probably not sinking in the $100k plus neccisary.

5:03:29 PM: O’Keefe agrees win Colbert and thinks that we are setting up a double standard here.

5:08:26 PM: The motion they are voting to recind was only in place for 12 months, and this all came about because of a staff reccommendation.

5:09:10 PM: Moion carried, Colbert, Galgay and O’Keefe voted against.

5:11:28 PM: Colbert is readin a motion about revisions to Parking Regulations. Passed, no contest here.

5:12:42 PM: Colbert is talking about a quote from Hickman which said the city has had a “lack of planning” in the city.

5:13:37 PM: They were looking for a response from him last week on this but Hickman was gone.

5:15:33 PM: Hann brought this up last week, and also took exception to the statements.

5:20:05 PM: Hickman says he stands by what he said. He says his comments were directed at decisions made in the last 25 years, not any specific council

5:21:09 PM: Hickman also mentioned such decisions as Atlantic place and the Memorial stadium.

5:23:44 PM: O’Keefe was “a bit taken aback” when he saw the comments. These comments were in reference to Stavanger Drive.

5:25:20 PM: O’Leary: “Our purpose here is to question, and to debate” and that council has a responsibility to address important issues.

5:25:20 PM: O’Leary: “Our purpose here is to question, and to debate” and that council has a responsibility to address important issues.

5:27:07 PM: Duff says that the way she would have chosen to proceeded would have been to talk to councillor Hickman privately first.

5:28:15 PM: Hann: “Sometimes we put our mouth in bear before we put our brain in gear.”

5:31:07 PM: Hanlon has stated that on the proposal for Temperance street she has a conflict of interest on this proposal, and must abstain.

5:32:05 PM: They are discussing the proposal and public meeting for condos on Temperance street to be built.

5:33:21 PM: This proposal was revised to add an extra floor, but still meets development regulations.

5:36:15 PM: They had to do an extra viewplane analysis for different parts of the Battery which will be affected. It seems like people support this.

5:36:15 PM: They had to do an extra viewplane analysis for different parts of the Battery which will be affected. It seems like people support this.

5:37:38 PM: Hickman wants to thank the developer for working within the development regulations, and thinks they did a good job.

5:39:39 PM: O’Keefe wants to thank Breen for all of the work he did on this project to make sure all the information was there.

5:40:43 PM: Breen wants to note peoples concerns about traffic in the area, and wants us to keep an eye on it.

5:41:20 PM: Proposal approved unamiously.

5:43:43 PM: There is a special events report. There is going to be a movie night by the Fortis building. I don’t know exactly what this is, outdoors?

5:47:08 PM: Colbert is making a motion to recind a rejection of a proposal for the Ryan mansion (last week). It is for a spa.

5:48:53 PM: The Mural Committee will be doing a mural on Duckworth and Prescott, as well as repairing 2 others.

5:50:32 PM: With this talk of murals, there is no other talk of public art space, which there is a shocking lack of here.

5:51:44 PM: Duff wants eveyone to take part in the extensive public consultation for he bike plan. Meeting tomorrow in Plesantville

5:53:54 PM: If anyone is interested in the proposal for the old Woolworths building, go to http://www.happycity.ca for information about the public meeting.

5:57:57 PM: O’Leary would like to see the city become involved in planning for harbour development.

5:59:10 PM: There was a charrette held in 2007 the city had nothing to do with, but apparently generated many great ideas and perspectives.

6:09:00 PM: More info on the St. John’s harbour charrette from 2007: http://thescope.ca/city/the-harbour-front

6:10:36 PM: FYI a design charrette is a collaborative session in which a group of designers drafts a solution to a design problem.

6:00:26 PM: Hann says that the province will be chipping in on hybrid devices to be installed on 6 busses as a pilot project, through the green fund.

6:05:27 PM: Colbert says 4 Habitat for Humanity homes have broken ground in Plesantville and “please god those families will be in their home in July”

6:06:32 PM: Breen wants to see if we can work closer with the school board in the future.

6:12:18 PM: Hanlon says that a lot of people were looking for O’Keefe at the NOIA (Newfoundland and Labrador Oil and Gas Industries Association)

6:13:44 PM: Hanlon says that something has got to be done about atv and motorbike use on the grand concourse trail, especially in Airport heigts.

6:18:32 PM: Collins: “Out in the goulds the atv’s are rampant”

6:21:02 PM: O’Keefe wants to launch a program called “pick a spot”, an anti-litter campaign. To encourage people to find a spot and keep it clean.

6:21:58 PM: That’s it folks, tweet you next week.

St. John’s city council live blog

4:27:59 PM: The St. John’s city council liveblog: Informing the public of municipal affairs 140 characters at a time since 2009.

4:29:29 PM: Andrew Harvey here to bring you the down and dirty of Municipal shenannigans from the bunker on New Gower st.

4:36:34 PM: There are people here who are opposed to a proposal for an expansion to a B&B / Spa on Rennies Mill rd.

4:38:43 PM: 4:36, and no sign of council. Good thing I showed up on time.

4:45:03 PM: Danny Breen is the first councillor in, the meeting should start soon.

4:46:49 PM: Shannie Duff will be sitting in for O’Keefe apparently. Should be exciting.

4:51:32 PM: Finally, go time, Shannie gets the meeting going. Everyone is here but O’Keefe.

4:53:05 PM: There is a delegation here from the Salvation Army. They are here to talk about a big event they are having this weekend at Mile One.

4:54:21 PM: The Salvation Army has been going for 145 years! It will be a national conference with guests from around the world.

4:57:23 PM: A group from the cities Tourism dept promoting St. John’s day weekend coming up.

4:59:33 PM: The Anna Tempelton Centre will be printing money! People van come down to the centre on Duckworth street and make their own money!

5:00:48 PM: Schedule of events is available through the cities website http://www.stjohns.ca

5:02:36 PM: Proclamation for Ride to Work day, encouraging people to ride motorcycles and scooters.

5:03:45 PM: Shannie says you can use a bike too, and that will use even less gas.

5:06:53 PM: They are talking about a proposal for a Domino’s pizza on Freshwater rd.

5:08:45 PM: It seems that most residents in the immediate area are in favour. I would say so, fresh pizza next door.

5:09:52 PM: Council appears ready to approve this, but they must have a public meeting before it may be approved.

5:12:03 PM: They also approved a rezoning for several parcels of land in the Southlands, from this will require an ammendment to the Municipal plan.

5:14:50 PM: There is a proposal to develop a 4 BR B&B into a 16 bedroom B&B and spa. O’Leary has made a motion to reject.

5:17:10 PM: The new spa would become open to the public, and people are concerned about an increase in traffic. There are letters in support and against

5:19:15 PM: The proposal meets all parking requirements, and city staff reccommend approval. Tilley says he will vote against it.

5:20:13 PM: Hanlon and Colbert say they support the proposal. They say that there will be no change to the exterior of the building.

5:21:42 PM: This is the Ryan Mansion on Rennies Mill Rd. This is going to be a close vote, councillors on both sides now.

5:22:56 PM: Hickman says that he will support the proposal. He says that if the next door neghibour doesn’t mind that should be noted.

5:24:06 PM: Danny Breen says he is not in favour of the commercial spa aspect of it. He does not mind the B&B part, but will vote to reject.

5:25:17 PM: Hann also does not mind the B&B part, but thinks that the commercial spa changes it. He will also vote to reject.

5:26:44 PM: Duff says that she thinks this will be a low key buisness, and will support it.

5:27:47 PM: 6-4 vote to reject the proposal. The main concern seems to be the commercial aspect of the spa.

5:29:18 PM: There is another contentious proposal for a house to be built on an empty lot on Tessier Place.

5:30:26 PM: Galgay says that once upon a time there was a house there. He says it will help growth in the downtown.

5:31:59 PM: It apparently is a small lot, and there are concerns about snow clearing. 2 years ago a proposal was approved, but never built on.

5:32:36 PM: It passed with Collins and Hickman voting against.

5:35:53 PM: Hann is moving rejection for a proposed lounge in the New Moon Resturant. It is a very small lounge and he expects it will be used for VLT’s

5:38:03 PM: Hann thinks that there is enough VLT’s in the area, and would like to see them gone. He does not want to see any more VLT’s going there.

5:39:32 PM: Hann wants to see a survey of how many VLT’s are in the area. Breen wants to know why they want a 15×15 space with a liquor liscense.

5:41:04 PM: VLT’s are not Municipal concern, but the ability to approve something as a lounge is. It has to be a lounge to get VLT’s I assume.

5:42:39 PM: Colbert says that if the only reason to put it in is to have VLT’s, then he will be against it. He is concerned about how to be fair in this

5:43:45 PM: Hickman: “There are a lot of lounges in the city that have VLT’s”

5:45:23 PM: This is a tricky line they are walking, as they are talking about using municipal regulations to try to control provincial concerns.

5:47:26 PM: They have voted to defer this and are asking city staff to find out how many VLT’s are in the area.

5:49:21 PM: To me this is a questionable use of city resources. I would also love to see VLT’s gone, but this is not the cities job.

5:54:13 PM: Police and Traffic committee report. They are moving forward with developing a Traffic Calming Policy.

5:57:33 PM: Colbert is concerned about when the signs will be changed on E Whitehills Road. They are waiting on the Dept of Transportaton signs.

6:00:44 PM: It turns out 4 motorcycles are allowed to use one parking spot.

6:01:59 PM: Hanlon just hinted at an upcoming city Facebook page, oh la la. How 21st century of them.

6:03:54 PM: In the traffic calming policy, they will look at streets which they have complaints in for.

6:05:01 PM: Duff: “It will be a criteria we will evaluate requests against”

6:09:26 PM: Public works committee report. They will be giving warning tickets for the first 3 days of the winter parking ban.

6:10:59 PM: Colbert is raising some issues about property service laterals when redeveloping residential properties.

6:12:49 PM: Colbert thinks that it could be unfair to people who are going to renovate their existing property.

6:14:35 PM: Service Laterals refers to water and sewage lines going to the house. Collins is more concerned if they are renovating a washroom.

6:18:38 PM: Breen: “They [city staff] know a hell of a lot more about snow clearing than I do”. Breen says of keeping the parking ban on until 7:30am.

6:21:13 PM: Collins says that there are still old houses with 1/2″ lines. This is why the city has this policy, to try and force these to be replaced.

6:24:48 PM: Hanlon: “It’s like putting bald tires on a new Caddilac”, saying it is for the benifit of all to bring all houses plumbing up to code.

6:30:27 PM: They will vote to adopt new Parking Regulations at the next meeting. Fines going up I bet.

6:34:28 PM: Quidi Vidi road will be closed where the construction is between 8am and 6pm June 16th-23rd. Find another way around I guess.

6:35:55 PM: Hanlon wants to highlight the St. John’s day celebrations this weekend.

6:39:01 PM: Tillys says that there is a very positive outlook for St. John’s with the many projects ongoing and coming in the city.

6:40:38 PM: As a note to all who are interested, there will ne a public meeting Wed June 16th about the proposal for 351 Water street(old woolworths).

6:41:40 PM: There will also be a meeting at the Plesantville Legion on June 30th about the Cycling Plan.

6:43:04 PM: Come on down to City Hall starting tomorrow to check out some information on the Cycling plan. Or online, http://www.stjohns.ca.

6:44:40 PM: Danny Breen says that recently the odour from the dump has gotten worse, not better as you would expect with all the work being done.

6:45:26 PM: Danny is on it, and will continue to work towards solving this problem.

6:48:06 PM: Hann is commenting on something Hickman said about “a lack of planning” on the cities part in reference to Stravanger Drive problems.

6:49:33 PM: He wants to know what councils he is reffering to. Unfortunately Hickman seems to have left, so we will not get an answer.

6:52:30 PM: Colbert: “It left an awfully bad taste in my mouth” he says of Hickmans comments. Also wants an answer from Hickman.

6:55:26 PM: O’Leary says she has recieved concerns that there have been vehicle break-in’s on Cathedral street. Be careful parking down there by’s.

6:58:41 PM: Duff wants to reinterate how important the public meetings on the cycling plan will be.

7:00:19 PM: That’s it people, tweet you next week.

St. John’s city council live blog

4:25:38 PM: The St. John’s city council liveblog. Twitter: the internet’s eye on council since 2009.

4:27:42 PM: Andrew Harvey here in the gallery of council chambers when you can’t be, twittering live around the world!

4:31:24 PM: Frank Galgay is the first councillor out of the gates, and is chatting up the traditional media seated below in the media gallery.

4:37:12 PM: Here comes the massive gold mace required to let us know O’Keefe is coming.

4:38:22 PM: There is a proclamation for National Aboriginal historic month.

4:40:09 PM: The least we could do is learn about the history of the people who were here before we killed them all (in Newfoundland at least).

4:41:47 PM: Councillors: Collins, Hanlon, O’Leary, and deputy mayor Duff are all absent.

4:43:32 PM: At the next meeting they will vote to move the covered garbage bylaw to start May 1st from Apr 1st.

4:44:29 PM: They are discussing the public meeting which was held about the proposal for houses on Signal Hill.

4:46:15 PM: Since the meeting the proponent has changed it from 9 units to 8. They will defer the decision on this now because of the change.

4:48:10 PM: Galgay says that the land is private property, and to not allow the owner to develop the land (at all) would be unethical.

4:51:41 PM: They are discussing a proposed ammendment to regulations to allow Stella Burry to construct an extension on their property at Carew st.

4:52:43 PM: It sounds like after the public meeting, peoples concerns have been addressed. People were mainly worried about the buffer.

4:53:41 PM: Sandy Hickman says it is only a 5 m extension and they are going to try and keep some existing trees and plan others for a buffer.

4:54:44 PM: Galgay is very impressed with what Stella Burry has done with Carew Lodge since taking it over.

4:56:23 PM: Hann is discussing a proposed “soft rejection” of an application for a Domino’s on Freshwater rd. Voted to be deferred.

4:57:30 PM: Tilley is discussing the parks master plan, and how the city can meet the goals of this plan.

4:58:49 PM: The Parks and recreation committee have endorsed a “strategic direction” to implement the master plan.

5:01:08 PM: The “strategic direction” seems to be 8 strategic areas, and little else. It would be nice to see a little more progress than buzz words.

5:03:01 PM: Colbert wants to know why council is going to appoint the chair of the Neghibourhood watch committee, not let the committee do so.

5:04:44 PM: The vote passed, bit Colbert and Galgay voted against. Apparenty O’Leary was also against this appointment by council at committee.

5:08:10 PM: Colbert says that another Municipality in Canada reported that by doubling the budget for outdoor entertainment, they reduced crime by 20%!

5:10:30 PM: Breen says that every time there is a forecast for heavy rain, people on the Boulevard get nervous because of flooding.

5:14:33 PM: Galgay is talking about the conference he and Colbert attended last week, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

5:15:32 PM: Galgay loves talking as much as I do.

5:16:25 PM: There is a 5 min time limit when they talk and Galgay is one of few who ever reach it.

5:18:38 PM: O’Keefe says that collectively Canadian Municipalities have when they act together.

5:19:30 PM: Collectively they have power that is.

5:21:29 PM: O’Keefe encourages people not to litter, and to pick up litter.

5:24:12 PM: O’Keefe says we have to use water wisely. He saw someone watering their lawn this morning in the pouring rain. Silly eh, be smart people.

5:26:16 PM: That’s all folks. Tweet you next week with all the municipal matters madness!

Class A office space

Jennifer Barrett • www.jbarrettart.com

If you’ve been paying attention to St. John’s politics recently, especially the Fortis and Woolworth’s property debates, you’ve probably heard the term “Class A office space” thrown around a lot, and how there is a shortage of it here in the city.

You also may have wondered,“is my office ‘Class A’?”

The bad news: Probably not. The good news: There’s nothing official stopping you from saying it is.

“Class A” is a term created and used in real estate circles to designate a category of prestigious office space. The definition from the Building Owners and Managers Association International (BOMA—a real estate industry group) defines Class A buildings as the “most prestigious buildings competing for premier office users with rents above average for the area.” These buildings have “high quality standard finishes, state of the art systems, exceptional accessibility and a definite market presence.” So, basically, it means new, classy, and with lots of cool doodads.

“I don’t know if you know, but the vacancy rate for class A office space is something like 0.2 per cent,” said mayor Dennis O’Keefe in a meeting earlier this year. Where did he get that number? I’m not sure, and for him to give such a specific amount is misleading. How can you quantify something as subjective as prestige?

BOMA themselves admit it’s difficult, and they recommend against calling a specific building Class A or B…

Say if I were to build a nice, new building next to what people called a “Class A” office building here in St. John’s, it would probably seem more “Class B”, because in comparison, it would be less prestigious.

The term is also self-applied. I could put a cardboard box in my back yard and no one could stop me from marketing it as “Class A office space.” They may also think I’m crazy, but whatever.

Of course, I don’t mind an industry using their own terms, but I wish our elected officials would stop slipping us invented statistics.

St. John’s city council live blog

4:28:23 PM: The St. John’s city council liveblog. Democracy, 21st century-style.

4:34:12 PM: Andrew Harvey here to bring you the down and dirty juicy details of the goings on here in the bunker on New Gower street.

4:35:56 PM: Meeting about to start with a full deck of councillors. Sorry for missing last week folks.

4:37:34 PM: Go time, starting off with a delegation from Quidi Vidi Association.

4:38:53 PM: The Quidi Vidi Foundation (that is), is partnering with the city and province to make a new park and office for the foundation

4:41:51 PM: They are very appreciative of the help they have recieved from Shannie Duff, Frank Galgay, Lorraine Michael, and Jack Harris.

4:42:44 PM: Shannie says that it is the sign of a strong community when they can work together to accomplish such projects.

4:43:56 PM: Tom Dawe is being pronounced the cities Poet Laureate. He was reccommended unamiously by the committee.

4:45:34 PM: Frank Galgay, a writer in his own right, says he is one of the most important poets in Newfoundland today.

4:47:11 PM: Dawe says that a city is more than it’s sidewalks and roads, it is it’s artists and writers too.

4:48:50 PM: The quote was far more eloquent than my terrible Twitter paraphrasing, excuse me Tom Dawe.

4:49:35 PM: Dawe is now also a member of the Arts Advisory committee. He is honoured by this appointment.

4:51:06 PM: Dawe says that in his tenure he would like to honour some of the past poets who have lived here is St. John’s, and “wrote in isolation”.

4:57:20 PM: Danny Breen met with local MHA’s, and was assured that the outer ring road will be cleaned up shortly. Highways are provincial jurisdiction

4:59:29 PM: There is a discretionary use application for a campground off Fowlers Rd. They want more information regarding proximity to Manuels River.

5:00:58 PM: Public Works had 2 reports on sewer systems and the Goulds Servicing.

5:02:25 PM: Some major deficiencies found in the process of the report were addressed immediately.

5:04:05 PM: The full report on the sewers at Higgins Line/Dublin rd are available on Hanlon’s website. http://www.ward4report.com

5:06:00 PM: Tom Hann wants Public works to take a look at all of the cities “crumbling infastructure”.

5:07:32 PM: The issue here is the infastructure deficit most cities are seeing. Hann says he wants to see the discussion involve the province.

5:08:37 PM: O’Keefe will bring this message to the Big Cities mayor conference next week, and make sure the Fed’s hear it.

5:09:58 PM: Galgay says that only 8 cents out of each federal tax dollar go to Municipalities.

5:11:11 PM: O’Keefe says he would have liked to see the reduction in the GST to be diverted to Municipalities.

5:13:07 PM: There are some major issues with servicing the Goulds. Sewage treatment, storm water diversion, and a pumping station.

5:15:40 PM: Wally Collins, councillor for Ward 5 says that the main thing is getting pipes down and sidewalks in front of schools.

5:17:10 PM: Collins: “The main thing is not to panic and get our knickers in a knot.” Meaning that it sounds like a lot but we have to start somewhere.

5:18:15 PM: Colbert says that the $40 million price seems like a lot, but we need to look at the potential economic benifit.

5:19:35 PM: The issue here is that there are major issues to currently be addressed now, and there is a lot of growth in the area, in the Southlands.

5:20:58 PM: Hickman says that the Committee is reccommending to move the covered garbage bylaw date from May 1st to April 1st for next year.

5:25:36 PM: Colbert is upset about a part of the report about replacement of service laterals when redeveloping properties.

5:27:08 PM: This seems to be fairly contentious, and Colbert feels it may unfairly punish those renovating their family home.

5:28:28 PM: There is some discussion on changing the Winter Parking ban. Breen wants to see it be more flexible.

5:30:05 PM: O’Keefe wants them to “do it properly, and send it back to public works and have staff input”.

5:33:00 PM: They are trying to establish Eastern Newfoundland/ St. John’s as a National Geographic Geotourism destination.

5:34:57 PM: The city will be participating in the Atlantic Canada Petroleum show.

5:40:53 PM: Bruce Tilley says that we are working globally to attract buisness investment here.

5:43:27 PM: Becoming a Geotourism destination means preserving the Nature, Culture, and History of the city.

5:45:42 PM: Colbert says that we also need to develop our knowledge-based as well as resource-based economy.

5:50:12 PM: On June 16th there will be an information session for Seniors at City Hall.

5:53:53 PM: There is a report on patrolling of Parks. Most complaints are in the evening, and additional funds will be required to increase patrols.

5:56:08 PM: The city expropriated land in 1992 from Campbells Meat Market, and never paid them until now.

5:58:34 PM: List of community grants approved. A bunch of great organizations get a piece of $1,413,000!

6:08:32 PM: Hickman is encouraging community groups to apply for grants available through the province for parks.

6:10:19 PM: There has been a delaynin the changing of speed signs on E White Hills rd.

6:12:50 PM: There will be better communication with street rehabilitation for this year. Communication with the public is included in contracts.

6:16:41 PM: O’Keefe says Air Canada are starting a direct flight to London on Thursday.

6:19:18 PM: That’s all folks. I will be gone next week also, so why not come down to City Hall next Monday at 4:30 for all the Municipal excitement.

Backpedaling

Much of the City of St. John’s Cycling Plan has been sent back to the drawing board, it seems.

It’s a good thing cyclists are required to wear helmets, because the latest conflict in the ongoing saga of the City of St. John’s Cycling Plan is likely to have them banging their heads against a wall in frustration.

Things were looking pretty good. After an initially chilly reception from the Grand Concourse Authority, whose trails were a key component of the plan, and an excruciating wait for funding to arrive from the federally- and provincially-sponsored Newfoundland and Labrador Green Fund, phase one of the cycling plan was approved and ready to go. Phase one was to create two main corridors out of the downtown; one through the university, and out through to Cowan Heights, and one out the East End and onto the Virginia River Trail. This was to be done with painted bike lanes, and signage designating certain roads as cycling routes.

But something happened.

Because of what the city is calling safety oversights in the original plan, many of those routes had to be pared down and changed. The plans for the Virginia River Trail are also going back to the drawing board. This spells more planning, more paperwork, more public consultation sessions, and more delay for the much-beleaguered plan.

Consulting firm Hatch Mott MacDonald drew up the original document. A different firm, Halifax-based Delphi-MRC, were hired on to implement it. Before they began, Delphi-MRC did a risk assessment of the plan, focusing on traffic volume and speed. Their research showed that many of the plan’s proposed routes weren’t actually safe enough to accommodate bike lanes.

They sought a second opinion, that second opinion agreed, and then they approached the city with their findings.

“There were a lot of problems because of the traffic speed and volumes on some routes,” confirms Robin King, the city’s Transportation Engineer. “The bottom line is that we can’t use the network that [Hatch Mott MacDonald] proposed. But we’re glad that we caught the problems.”

King isn’t sure why the Hatch Mott MacDonald plan didn’t pick up on these issues. “The criteria for their risk assessment are here, on page 34 of the Cycling Master Plan, and traffic volume is there,” he says. “It could very well be that their thresholds [for safety] were different. But there are routes in here, like Torbay Road, with horrendous volumes.”

“I’ve asked them about it,” he says, “but I haven’t gotten an answer. I’ve had no official response from them.”

As for why it was approved by the city in the first place, King says it’s a matter of trust. “You have to rely on the consultant and the work they do,” he explains. “But, yeah, I have been questioning myself, maybe I should have been more diligent.”

Hatch Mott MacDonald have offices all over North America. John Leonard, Senior Project Manager at the St. John’s office, says he was entirely unaware that there were any problems with their master plan. “I don’t know anything about it,” he says. “It’s surprising to me that they would find any problems with it.”

“I do know that they got another engineering firm to do the implementation,” he continues. “We bid on that job as well, but we didn’t get it.”

So maybe these stalls and mishaps are common when one party makes the plans and another party carries them out? “No,” says King, firmly.

Delphi-MRC have since selected and assessed new routes. Many of them are residential, and stand to lose parking on one side in order to make room for the bike lanes. Residents on these streets have yet to be notified about the situation, hence the need for another round of public consultation and council scrutiny.

As for the Virginia River Trail plans, they’re back at the designing stage.

“It’s not going to change too much,” says King, “and it should stay on budget. It’s looking like we might be able to do a bit more with it, actually.”

These changes, too, will have to go back through the public consultation and council approval process. To add even more pressure, if the work on the Virginia River Trail isn’t completed by the end of the year, they’ll lose the cash set aside in the budget for the purpose.

“Public information sessions and consultation will likely happen over a three-day period in early June, where we’ll discuss the parking affected by the on road bike lanes and the Virginia River Trail. And hopefully it will all go smoothly.”

The city paid Hatch Mott MacDonald $50,000 to design the first cycling plan. King points out that there was still a good chunk of useful information in it: “The feasibility study for the Grand Concourse Authority, for example.”

Despite the setbacks, King remains confident that we’ll have an impressive system of bike routes by the end of the summer, as originally projected. It won’t be as large as he would like. But, as he points out, it’ll be a lot more than we have now.

“You just have to stay positive,” he says. “If you start getting negative, nothing will get done.”

St. John’s city council live blog

4:30:59 PM: The St. John’s city council liveblog: democracy, 140 characters at a time.

4:32:13 PM: Andrew Harvey here to bring you the down and dirty blow by blow here in the bunker on New Gower Street.

4:35:04 PM: Frank Galgay is the first one to get in here, as he often is. Meeting may only be ten minutes late today, remarkable!

4:38:35 PM: Check out the discussion on what exactly “Class A” office space is: http://thescope.ca/city/yourcity/your-city-5 in the comments.

4:40:56 PM: Here it goes, meeting started. A delegation is here from Clean and Beautiful.

4:42:22 PM: They are promoting “Take Pride, take action” to encourage a city-wide cleanup May 14th to June 15th.

4:43:39 PM: The idea is to encourage everyone, residents, businesses, everyone to get involved and clean up our city.

4:44:33 PM: Everyone is here except Gerry Colbert, missing for the second week in a row.

4:46:30 PM: They are giving away community awards to exceptional individuals and groups.

4:49:28 PM: It is inspiring to hear about all of the great things that are happening around the city. Let’s all do our part and clean up some litter!

4:51:47 PM: A protein conversion plant on Incenerator Rd will require an “environmental preview report” for the proposal to proceeded.

4:53:08 PM: Bruce Tilley wants to know where some upcoming potential proposals stand, such as the Compusult one for the Woolworths building.

4:55:00 PM: City staff informs us that they went back to Compusult to let them know how council felt. They are considering some changes.

4:56:32 PM: The Tree committee is reccommending that the dept’s of public works & parks, and Planning prepare a paper on tree buffer zones.

4:58:12 PM: The Audit Committee is making some reccommendations about traffic tickets. They are hoping to move towards electronic ticket writers.

4:59:40 PM: The Audit committee also looked at project management in the Dept of Engineering. Many areas they were doing well some could be improved.

5:00:58 PM: Cost estimation was one area Engineering could be improved the report says.

5:01:58 PM: Apparently there are $2 million of uncollected parking tickets, some over 10 years old.

5:04:18 PM: Shannie Duff wants to know more about a rejected application for a juice bar proposed for Signal Hill rd. It was in a residential zoned area

5:07:26 PM: The first cruise ship of the season had a great stop! The crew and guests had a good time.

5:08:51 PM: An economic impact study shows that the Port is a driving economic factor in the province. Good job Port Authority.

5:10:10 PM: Duff says that in the past they have met with Port Authority and Airport authority in the past and suggests a similar meeting again.

5:13:02 PM: O’Keefe is talking about the Airport trying to get a new radar landing system. This is an example of the issues a meeting helps with.

5:14:53 PM: A whole vote on special events went on with Bruce Tilleys back turned. They are very lax about people actually voting.

5:15:54 PM: O’Keefe doesn’t usually wait long enough for people to raise hands, and people almost never do. It is assumed people vote yes.

5:17:27 PM: If our elected officials don’t actually vote does that still make it democracy? I’m not sure.

5:19:03 PM: O’Leary is happy to see RONA has stopped selling artificial pesticides.

5:20:11 PM: Call 311 if you want a bulk garbage pickup. It’s free, and a great way to spring clean!

5:21:09 PM: O’Keefe: “We have a covered loads committee?”

5:23:29 PM: Frank Galgay is reading a letter from a citizen about how good our parks look.

5:25:20 PM: Bruce Tilley wants to know if there is a Corporate challange for the Take Pride, Take Action. Clean and Beautiful always encourages buisness

5:26:47 PM: Duff says that they have always tried, but all they can do is try. They have had challanges trying to involve buisness in the past.

5:28:18 PM: Hanlon wants everyone to take a bag and clean up. Also to report people who are littering.

5:32:23 PM: Bob Johnson was sworn in as RNC chief of police, Hanlon wants to see a letter sent to him.

5:34:45 PM: O’Keefe telling a story about a couple from Virginia who were in awe of the view coming over Signal Hill in a plane.

5:36:16 PM: That’s it people, I will unfortunately be gone next week, so I you want to know all the shenanigans down here, come yourself.

The lore and lure of the suburbs

Kaia Jackson-Perez, Holly Jackson, and Ritche Perez. Photo by Kevin Coffey.

“Atlantic Canada’s fastest-growing community” isn’t hyperbole.

Like a real-life SimCity, the population of the town of Paradise has increased by about 280 per cent between 1981 and 2006. Between 2001 and 2006 alone, it swelled over 30 per cent.

Paradise is the most dramatic example of a major trend—all communities around St. John’s have grown at a breakneck speed. So much so that, combined, St. John’s suburbs have a population nearly as high as the capital city.

But while surrounding municipalities have grown, St. John’s proper has about the same number of people it had back in the early 80s.

The allure of the suburbs is considerable: Bigger lots, newer homes, newer schools, ocean views, and more privacy.

Up until recently, cheaper house prices could have been on that list of perks, but these days it depends on where you look. Homes in Paradise, for example, have become more expensive on average than those in the city.

Shelter is just one expense. While it doesn’t compare to a big city commute, the drive into town really does add up. And in areas where housing costs haven’t exceeded those in St. John’s, high transportation costs are cancelling out the savings.

FROM BEAUMONT STREET TO BAULINE LINE EXTENSION
Ritche Perez and his family took the plunge. A 36-year-old dad, husband, and musician who works in St. John’s, Perez bought a 3000-square foot house on Bauline Line Extension in late 2008.

He says he sacrificed the excitement and convenience of downtown life for a bigger place to raise his daughter, Kaia, in peace.

“Our previous neighbours were stealing my pressure washer, shovels, and trying to sell us stolen meat and cheese, stolen paper towels, jeans, and Axe spray,” he says.

Overall, with the crisp well water and the half-acre of land, he likes the new digs and the different mode of living.

“It takes time to get used to hermit life,” he says. “But it’s peaceful. I can now go out in my backyard and chop wood in my ripped underwear.”

“I find I can focus on family rather than the social nightlife that I was accustomed to when I played in bands and went to bars every weekend.”

He has even had the space to build a recording studio in his basement—“and no one complains,” he says.

Remax realtor Stephen Winters says it’s often second-time homebuyers—mostly families—who are most likely to leave St. John’s for suburbia.

For the househunters he’s helped, the privacy of a nice home on a cul-de-sac or in a wooded area is important.

“Families that are moving in want the privacy and want a piece of land, a bigger piece of land than your standard city size lot,” Winters says.

But that privacy, as well as the other perks of living outside the city, comes at an increasing cost.

“Price-wise, say to build something outside St. John’s, you’re at least on par, if not slightly over,” Winters says. “In my seven years, in the beginning it was always cheaper to go outside St. John’s.”

But times are changing.

With a burgeoning housing market, overall the cost of buying a home has skyrocketed—surging more than 20 per cent in the last year alone. Combined with limited vacancy, the rental market has followed suit.

House prices are climbing in areas like Paradise more quickly than they are in St. John’s, Winters says, as the houses people are building there are larger.

“I would probably say stats for outside St. John’s would have jumped a little faster than, say, houses in St. John’s.”

In the case of Paradise, it started when government bridged the gap between suburbia and St. John’s. Housing costs rose to the occasion with a new road.

“The Outer Ring Road was certainly a big help,” Winters says. “You can get from the East End of St. John’s to the turnoff in Paradise in about six, seven minutes.”

After the first section of the Outer Ring Road, from Donovan’s Industrial Park to Allandale Road, opened in 1998, average home value in Paradise surpassed that of St. John’s for the first time, according to the 2001 census.

The 2006 census suggests the average homeowner in Paradise paid nine per cent more in shelter costs than the St. John’s average.

“The physical distance hasn’t changed but the perception in people’s minds is that it’s not that far anymore,” Winters says.

The city has sprawled too over the years, meaning that people in the suburbs can have shorter commutes than those who live in some parts of the city.

“Kenmount Road now has Kenmount Terrace, which is basically bordering on Elizabeth Park, which is Paradise,” Winters notes.

DRIVING NOT A GOOD BARGAIN
“Hate” is a word Perez uses to describe his 20-minute commute to work as an A/V and graphics guy with Professional Development and Conferencing Services, a division of Memorial University’s Faculty of Medicine.

According to the latest census, he isn’t the only one making the daily trip. Nearly all adults in Torbay, Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s, Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove and Conception Bay South, Flatrock and Paradise work in another municipality within the same region.

At 25 per cent, the highest number of people who live and work in the same municipality can be found in Mount Pearl.

Almost all of those living in neighbouring municipalities drive or are driven to work, as public transit is unavailable, except in Mount Pearl. Statistics Canada says it is more than 90 per cent—compared to more than 80 per cent in St. John’s.

The financial cost of commuting is substantial. Perez spends about $40 a week on gas, compared to $20 every two weeks when he lived downtown, when he also used to bike and walk to work.

In response, he bought a motorcycle, which burns about $5 a week in gas, though he can only ride it when the weather co-operates.

He paid under $200,000 for his three-bedroom home. He figures with the commute, his cost of living is about equal to that of when he lived in the city.

Though he appreciates the quiet, its loneliness is exacerbated by the economics of rural living, and he suspects friends don’t like to visit because of gas prices.

He says he would move back to St. John’s if the right property came along.

“[I’m] not bashing living in St. John’s. I would move back in an instant if the house was right. But my preference is privacy and size.”

FROM FLATROCK TO GOSLING STREET
Liam Kavanagh, a 24-year-old business student at Memorial, has witnessed something of a transformation of scenic Flatrock.

He had lived in the town for all of his life—until he moved to the centre of St. John’s a few years ago.

“My dad is from Flatrock, my mom’s a townie. When they got married they built a house out there because my dad had a lot of land,” he explains.

When he was younger, and living with his parents, Flatrock was more of a rural town than a suburb. There weren’t as many commuters from St. John’s who lived in the community.

“There were a handful of fishermen, no more than a hundred I’d say, who moved to Alberta a few years after fishing was really no longer an option,” he says. “Now, that kind of area is being gentrified, they’re doing up the houses and people from town are buying them. They’re building a couple of subdivisions and it looks like they’re planning on building more.”

He laughs when asked if anyone who lives in Flatrock works in the town these days.

“Just the guy who runs the corner store, I would say,” he says.

Before Memorial, he attended St. Bonaventure’s College in St. John’s. The commute to town was 25-minutes, on average.

“It can be 15 minutes in the summer, or it can be 45 minutes in winter,” Kavanagh says.

He moved to St. John’s, renting an apartment, a couple of years ago for a variety of reasons. Everyone he knows lives in St. John’s, he explains, and money definitely factored into the decision as well.

“It was just more convenient not to commute twice a day.” He says it was fine for his parents, but he wasn’t able to afford it as a student.

Living a zippy five minutes from MUN has changed a lot for him.

“When I lived at home, I’d fill up my tank, and it would last me four, maybe five days. Filling up my tank in town and driving around, probably lasted about two weeks.”

His scenic hometown has its perks as well. He was reminded of Flatrock’s rural charm while house-sitting for his parents recently.

“I noticed it’s a lot quieter at night going to sleep. Where I live now, constantly through the night and through the day I hear ambulances—I guess because it’s close to the hospital—and police sirens going on at all times.

“Out there, it’s just animal noises once in a while, which is kind of nice.”

Your City

Many people see the block on Water Street between Bishop’s Cove and Steer’s Cove as a black eye in what is supposed to be the historic area downtown. This block contains the old Woolworths building, and old Arcade site, but hopefully not for long, as council is looking to turn this shiner of a block into a shining example of a rejuvenated downtown.

On May third, council voted to send some proposed amendments of the municipal plan and development regulations to the Heritage Advisory committee for recommendations. The proposed changes would remove the entire block from heritage areas two and three, and designate them as “bonus sites” for additional height (up to ten stories.)

A proposal has been submitted for the old Woolworth’s building for eleven stories, but includes significant amounts of parking. The increased parking came at the request of council, who saw the development and location as ideal for increasing public parking in a downtown which is desperate for new parking (or fewer cars… Guess which one is more likely?)

This proposal is now awaiting the completion of a land-use assessment which would study the impact of the proposed development on the area in relation to views, wind, and light, among other things.

The old Arcade site had a proposal last summer which was rejected for several reasons, including height, a lack of parking, and a modern design which would not fit the heritage character the city is trying to promote. The company, Compusult Ltd., is now meeting with council and hopes to find a middle ground which will allow for the proposal to go ahead at the five stories. If the proposed changes to regulations go ahead, the height would be allowed, with a setback above the fourth story. The bigger issue for Compusult will be finding more space for parking, which council seems to be firm on since the adoption of the new Downtown Parking Study, and the removal of the parking exempt area.

Both of these developments would include retail space on street-level, and what would be considered “Class A” office space occupying the rest of the buildings. “Class A” office space is an invented category of perceived need, and has no official categorization from any regulatory body. It basically means really nice offices with modern amenities and features in a good location.

While amending the municipal plan and development regulations for an entire block is better than site-specific amendments like the city is infamous for, Tom Hann points out that it is a “piecemeal” way to address development regulations in St. John’s. Hann also stated that, as voted on in 2008, he wants the review of our regulations and the St. John’s Municipal Plan to wait until the completion of the province’s North-East Avalon Regional Plan, which they must comply with. The problem with this is that the provinces regional plan is probably another year from being completed (maybe two) and development in St. John’s will not wait.

Allowing what seems to be two popular developments to go ahead is probably a good idea, but still leaves us reacting to developments as they come in. What this city needs is a more proactive approach of open discussion on the future of our city between the public, developers, and council. At least they are looking two proposals into the future now, but we still have a big question mark at the other end of Water street.

St. John’s city council liveblog

4:28:05 PM: The St. John’s city council liveblog: municipal democracy, Twitter-style

4:32:53 PM: Andrew Harvey here to bring you all the happenings on New Gower street.

4:41:02 PM: Exciting meeting coming up, proposed text ammendments for building regulations for properties on Water St. The Arcade and woolworth building

4:42:35 PM: Possible ammendments will be discussed for the Municipal Plan and Development regulations. We will see if they actually vote on them.

4:46:20 PM: The meeting called to order by Shannie Duff, O’Keefe is not here.

4:47:00 PM: Delegation for Occupational Health and Safety week.

4:49:52 PM: There is a full week of activities this week, all encouraging safety, from equipment safety to the effects of sodium on your health.

4:51:16 PM: In 2009, there were 46 fatalities related to workplace accidents. Be safe people.

4:53:27 PM: Bruce Tilley says that when he has been at the depot, safety seems to be key.

4:55:00 PM: Decleration for MS month.

4:55:39 PM: 1 in 500 Canadians have MS, and there is no known cure.

4:57:24 PM: There have been exciting new developments in treating MS, and will hopefully lead to a cure.

4:59:00 PM: Delegation for the Seniors Resource Centre. Mothers Day Rose campaign

5:00:53 PM: Look for Roses for sale to support the Seniors Resource Centre. With our aging population more and more of us will be seniors soon.

5:03:22 PM: Tom Hann just gave 2 roses to 2 reporters in the media gallery. What a sweetheart.

5:05:27 PM: There was to be a public meeting regarding the rezoning of some land for Corpus Christi Parish, but the meeting was cancelled.

5:06:15 PM: It was cancelled because there were no wrItten objections.

5:07:55 PM: O’Leary is discussing the Councillors pension scheme. Supposedly it is cheaper for the councillors to not pay into a pension scheme.!?

5:09:21 PM: I have no idea how that works (currently they pay nothing for their pension). O’Leary says she is satisfied now that she has investigated it

5:12:26 PM: There is a proposal for a lounge in the basement of Compu College. Dept of Planning reccommended to approve, but they are voting to deny it.

5:13:27 PM: The issue is that this is a discretionary use, and council does not have to approve it. They say there are enough clubs in the area.

5:14:57 PM: Discussion about Pipers wanting to come in on Elizabeth Ave. On the site of the old Subaru.

5:16:46 PM: Galgay says that they have listened to the concerns of citizens, and will make sure they will work with Pipers to address their concerns.

5:18:12 PM: Breen is noting concerns over trying to get a left turn lane near there on New Cove Rd.

5:19:31 PM: Tom Hann says that Debbie Hanlon, the ward councillor for the area, asked him to state she supports this proposal, and hopes it goes ahead.

5:20:32 PM: Shannie Duff wants to know if any considerations will be made with the colour scheme of the store to make sure it fits in to the area.

5:21:45 PM: Duff: “So we’ll leave the colour scheme in her [Hanlon's] capable hands.”

5:24:58 PM: Parks and Recreation comittee report by Wally Collins. The city will sponsor a flower patch in Bowring park.

5:26:25 PM: St. John’s minor baseball association is looking for more field space. Collins says Bannerman park is fully used, but they will work to help

5:27:35 PM: They will help by using other fields for big tournaments and try to see about building a new field somewhere.

5:28:17 PM: Planning and Housing Committee Report by Bruce Tilley.

5:29:37 PM: Compusult Ltd. spoke to the committee about their property on Water street, the Arcade property.

5:31:12 PM: Duff says the proposal still does not meet new parking regulations, and that will need to be addressed before the proposal will be looked at

5:32:22 PM: Hann says that there is no need for discussion on the matter. The new regulations are very clear on the new amount of parking required.

5:33:58 PM: Hickman says that the motion they are discussing is realy about height. What he saw was 4 stories, but the issue was 15m was not enough.

5:35:00 PM: Breen says the issue was only over 1.5m, and that it is too hard to build 4 stories of class A office space in 15m.

5:36:14 PM: To clarify, there is no formal proposal here, the company was looking for an indication if they were heading in the right direction.

5:38:01 PM: A proposal for a subdivision off Pennywell rd was rejected. This type of development will not be approved until services can be provided.

5:40:12 PM: Council has moved to have a public meeting for a subdivision on Teakwood Dr. Duff says she has some concerns about technical considerations.

5:41:29 PM: Collins says they have found some property for a community centre for the Southlands. They need 5,000 people to qualify for one.

5:43:29 PM: Here it is, discussion on potential ammendments which would remove the land between Bishops Cove and Steer’s cove from the Heritage areas.

5:44:16 PM: Hickman says this piece of DT is obvious what needs to happen.

5:44:16 PM: Hickman says this piece of DT is obvious what needs to happen.

5:45:37 PM: Hann: “I don’t this this is a proper motion to be included here”. He says because council voted to defer the review of the Municipal plan.

5:46:20 PM: Hann says he doesn’t want these changes to happen piecemeal.

5:47:11 PM: Hann has risen on a point of order, asking for a ruling if they are reflecting on a previous motion.

5:48:55 PM: City Manager advises this discussion is not in conflict with the precious motion. There is now some speaking over one another over this ohhh

5:50:22 PM: Galgay says that these are important developments should not have to wait for the Provinces Regional plan.

5:51:43 PM: Duff has said that if we were going to look at development in this area, the one with the Woolworth building, it should happen as a block.

5:53:05 PM: Some lively discussion in an important matter. Council passed the motion which will send this proposed ammendment to the heritage committee.

5:54:13 PM: There will also be a public meeting before the changes to the Municipal Plan and Regulations.

5:57:00 PM: There is a proposal for Carew street from Stella Burry for 10 additional affordable housing units on their Carew Lodge.

5:58:42 PM: Apparently some of their funding for this proposal is time sensitive, Breen urges the city to move quickly on this matter.

6:00:37 PM: Tree Committe Report from O’Leary. 4 community groups are getting trees planted for Arbour day. West Heights Tenants association gets 2!

6:02:02 PM: Hickman is asking about a previous reccommendation to require one tree per lot in new developments.

6:03:13 PM: Duff will check on this and get back to him.

6:04:52 PM: A whole bunch of tenders approved. Two new street sweepers. Imagine if there were no litter, we wouldn’t need these!

6:04:52 PM: A whole bunch of tenders approved. Two new street sweepers. Imagine if there were no litter, we wouldn’t need these!

6:08:30 PM: Tilley is impressed with the recent economic development and advancement here in St. John’s.

6:14:36 PM: Tilley thinks it is unfair to have no notice for work on Water st/ Prescott st. City staff explained this is the contractors job.

6:15:47 PM: Breen says there is a public meeting this Thursday at 7pm re. a development for the bellavista.

6:17:10 PM: Breen says some residents of Ward 1 are complaining about a smell coming from the dump. He says they are looking into this.

6:18:50 PM: Breen says that in response to an article on CBC, libraries are a provincial responsibility, and we have to focus on our own jurisdiction

6:22:08 PM: Hann says that in relation to issues of off-leash dogs, the issue is a lack of staffing in parks, and animal control.

6:24:34 PM: There is a youth art show on here at City Council, come on down.

6:25:42 PM: Hickman reminds people that the covered garbage bylaw is now in effect. Cover your garbage or use containers, those damn gulls will be at it

6:27:08 PM: O’Leary says that if people see offenders of bylaws such as dogs or litter, to call 311, and take an active role in helping our city.

6:30:27 PM: O’Leary says there will be a study being done on lead levels in children’s blood living in pre-1970’s housing projects.

6:30:52 PM: Holy long meeting batman! Longest meeting in a while. That’s it for this one. Tweet you next week.

St. John’s city council live blog

4:27:24 PM: The greatest show going, the St. John’s city council liveblog!

4:28:11 PM: This is an exciting day my friends, Andrew Harvey here to bring you the call.

4:29:30 PM: Mark Wilson, former candidate for Mayor, and current organic farmer was in front of city hall speaking to VOCM about an application he has.

4:30:35 PM: The City has reccommended to reject an aplication from Wilson for an organic farm in the watershed area.

4:32:21 PM: Wilson has made the point that the property was used as a farm for over 100 years and an organic farm will have no real impact.

4:47:50 PM: Quarter to five, and still no sign of council.

4:49:39 PM: It is a shame that council doesn’t bother to start meetings on time. Some people take time off work to be here.

4:54:50 PM: Here comes council finally. O’Keefe announced by a livried security guard with gold scepter.

4:55:52 PM: Go Time! Starting with a delegation for Youth Week.

4:58:22 PM: They are talking about the benifit of recreation to youth, and the importance of parks and recreation to youth development.

4:59:32 PM: Youth week is May 1st to 7th. Check out http://www.stjohnsyouth.ca for events.

5:01:43 PM: Delegation from the Salvation Army for their red shield appeal. May is Salvation Army month.

5:03:15 PM: The social services offered by the Salvation Army has doubled in the last year. The focus on fighting homelesness and poverty.

5:04:46 PM: Delegation for international child and youth care week.

5:06:13 PM: They are recognizing those who work with children and youth in Newfoundland. Trying to raise the standards of care.

5:08:56 PM: They are putting an apartment in above the Duke. Discretionary use application granted. That will be the sweetest apartment in town.

5:09:58 PM: Hann is speaking of the proposal from Mark Wilson and said that he has asked for defferal.

5:11:47 PM: Walt Mills says that the reccommendation for rejection is because any development in the watershed has the potential to impact the water.

5:12:38 PM: Collins and Tilley both want to allow a second look.

5:14:01 PM: Duff wants to make sure we have a good understanding of the science behind this, and possibly look at appropriate buffers.

5:15:41 PM: O’Keefe says that “substantial evidece is not good enough, it has to be difinitive.”

5:16:47 PM: Hann wants to see if there are other locations outside the watershed area that might be appropriate.

5:18:21 PM: Special events (only 4) were approved. Must be the big ones that require traffic disruption.

5:19:45 PM: The city recieved a letter from the province about an ammendment the city is proposing regarding modification of motorcycle exhausts.

5:21:39 PM: The cruise ship season is starting, first one will be in on Thursday. Get all your stuff to sell to the tourists and get down there!

5:22:40 PM: Collins said he heard the presentation about St. John’s from one cruise ship was not very good.

5:23:39 PM: O’Keefe says there is nothing we can do about what a company is saying about our city.

5:25:18 PM: Hanlon disagrees, she thinks we can contact the company and help them improve the information they give to passengers.

5:26:22 PM: O’Keefe says the Princess was very understanding of the terrible weather we had when she was here.

5:27:26 PM: O’Leary is speaking of the issue of the city as an equal oppportunity employer. She says we need to more actively persue becoming more equal

5:28:32 PM: This is in reference to the story last week about the female firefighter who could not get an interview.

5:30:50 PM: O’Leary wants to know the status of Ft. Amherst. There will be a small park opening in the coming months, and a larger project is coming.

5:32:09 PM: Hickman says “let’s all get out and clean up our lawns, our streets… Every citizen needs to take part.”

5:34:12 PM: Hann says that overall the city has 35% of staff and 40% of managers are women.

5:35:42 PM: That doesn’t seem good enough to me. We have 50% women in this city/province, why the gap? As O’Leary said, more needs to be done.

5:36:44 PM: They are talking about several cases of off-leash dogs attacking people in parks. O’Keefe will have a report next week.

5:39:00 PM: Hanlon wants to congratulate Rhonda Skanes for winning an award for women entreprenures.

5:39:41 PM: That’s it folks. See you next week.

Projected deficit

Two words that strike fear in the hearts of city councillors: Projected deficit.

Hey look, here comes one now!

Yes, this year, the Director of Finance is warning council of a deficit of $3,200,000. Yes, it’s a lot of money, but it should not come as a surprise for anyone who paid attention to this year’s budget back in December, which was full of impending doom.

When the budget was voted on, Dennis O’Keefe himself predicted a deficit for the next two years, and said that we must look to make this money up through economic growth, as well as increased funding from the provincial and federal governments.

And to make it even worse, Gerry Colbert stated ominously, “if you think this years budget is tough, wait until next year.”

But should the city be so scared? I don’t think so. My deepest fear is that the city will allow this projected deficit to blind them from the long-term vision this city desperately needs.

The budget this year was a trying one for council and for the citizens of St. John’s, and I think council did a good job of maintaining levels of services on all fronts. While many wished to see more done, people couldn’t really complain that any vital services had been lost. In an assessment year which saw property values skyrocket in this oil-rich city of ours, council reduced the mil rate to offset what would have been a doubling of assessed value for some homes (which would have meant property tax doubling.)

The city of St. John’s budget is controlled by the province’s appropriately-named City of St. John’s Act. This act forbids the city from operating on a projected deficit. Due to this, the city uses what is called a zero-based budgeting process, which means every year, they wipe the slate clean, and work their way up, item by item, until they have accounted for all of the projected revenues for the coming year. Starting with fixed costs and financial obligations, such as debt payments, they move on up through the programs and expenditures of the city, starting with what they feel is most important, until they run out of money.

So… when projected deficits are talked about in St. John’s, they are predicting that costs will rise above present levels, and that to maintain the very same level of service will require more revenue than we actually have.

But this projected deficit is based on levels of revenue and assumes no growth. This year has looked good so far: There were increases in the number of development permits issued and growth for the current year, in taxes, is almost assured.

While $3.2 million seems like a lot of money now, new developments already in the works should make up at least some of this deficit by the end of the year.

Decisions that make us cut corners to deal with our short-term financial needs could just as easily leave us with bigger, and taller, problems.

St. John’s city council live blog

4:29:57 PM: The St. John’s city council liveblog.

4:35:37 PM: After a false start yesterday on St. George’s day, we are back in action with a jam-packed agenda.

4:38:11 PM: The Arts advisiory committee is making a reccommendation to commisson a fesability study to build a multi-tenant arts centre.

4:40:48 PM: All of the councillors got a big pile of swag from the Navy (who is here). I wonder if any of them will enlist?

4:41:44 PM: His worship the Mayor just rang a bell on a big anchor, for some reason.

4:42:21 PM: Anchors aside, the meeting has begun.

4:43:01 PM: Presentation from HMCS St. John’s.

4:44:40 PM: 2010 is the Centennial year for the Navy!

4:47:02 PM: The Navy has a namesake program to strengthen connection to communities.

4:47:42 PM: The HMCS St. John’s has supported the childrens wish foundation for 15 years.

4:50:34 PM: O’Keefe says that we here in Newfoundland appreciate the Navy more than most provinces.

4:52:18 PM: The HMCS St. John’s will be in port on the May 24th weekend.

4:55:11 PM: Proclamation on Int’l noise pollution day for April 28th.

4:57:00 PM: Para-Transit Advisiory Committee report.

4:58:58 PM: When the new Para-Transit contract takes effect in Jan 2011, all existing users will be grandfathered in.

4:59:57 PM: They will also be adding feedback modules on the website for para-transit.

5:00:58 PM: Galgay has made a motion to move an application for Condos on Temperance st to a public meeting.

5:02:27 PM: Apparently a proposal was previously approved, and both meet all regulations. There were 17 submissions of objection.

5:06:02 PM: O’Keefe says that even though this application meets all requirements, a public forum will allow for communication btw people and developers

5:07:21 PM: Development Committee report. A couple residential construction proposals approved.

5:08:14 PM: Public works committee report.

5:09:42 PM: The city will be buying two anti-icing/salt spreading machines, under a salt-reduction fund of some sort.

5:11:01 PM: There is a submission on the replacement of asphalt sidewalks. If there is a concrete one, it will be fixed eventually.

5:12:07 PM: The original motion is for $100,000 per year. O’Keefe says this is not nearly enough, he would prefer $250,000.

5:13:42 PM: These amounts are not approvals, but will go in as a submission for next years budget. Under the current plan they would not be fixed at all

5:14:25 PM: O’Keefe says he dated a girl on Calver ave in 1964 and the sidewalks were just as bad then.

5:16:34 PM: Motion passed. Hickman says he hopes we can continue to invest in roads and sidewalks.

5:17:35 PM: Oh, come on! The arts advisiory committee reccommendation was deffered again. Second time in a row.

5:19:11 PM: Mayor’s advisiory committee making reccommendation to terms of reference to limit the number of voting councillors to 2.

5:19:50 PM: Mayor’s advisory committee on Seniors that is.

5:21:58 PM: There is also a reccommendation to require a stretcher type elevator in new apartment buildings. Reffered to public works committee.

5:23:26 PM: It would require a change to building regulations is why it was reffered.

5:25:04 PM: The city is spending over $5 million on street rehabilitation. Tilley wants to see better communication around disruptions.

5:27:14 PM: There is a list of streets to be worked on. The list is not as long as I would have expected for five million.

5:28:19 PM: Galgay wants to point out that the streets are done on a needs basis, not distributed by Wards.

5:29:59 PM: Duff wants to know how much it would cost to maintain all of our streets properly. “A lot” says O’Keefe.

5:31:31 PM: Breen also wants to see better communication using new technology. Apparently this is on the website, and they are working on facebook.

5:32:29 PM: O’Keefe says we do a “good job” at using different types of media.

5:34:43 PM: Sorry Dennis, I don’t believe the city is doing a good job of this. He also grouped facebook in as “multi-media and other things”

5:36:42 PM: The Bellavista wants to get a house next to the bar rezoned as commercial to make it an office. This will go to public meeting.

5:38:00 PM: City showing $250,000 surplus on snowclearing.

5:39:33 PM: The president of CUPE wants to make sure people are aware of services the city does for free or a small fee re. Plumbing.

5:41:10 PM: O’Keefe: “The Junos were a rip-roaring success.” he says the weather did not stop people from getting out.

5:43:58 PM: O’Keefe wants to thank everyone involved. He also hopes they will be back in 5 years.

5:46:11 PM: Duff: “I felt so proud of everyone who made [the Junos] happen.”

5:47:50 PM: There will be a session on pet first aid in the Foran room on May 30th. Contact the city for info. Just $10.

5:47:50 PM: There will be a session on pet first aid in the Foran room on May 30th. Contact the city for info. Just $10.

5:49:16 PM: O’Leary – Newfoundland is the 2nd biggest user of water in Canada.

5:50:15 PM: O’Leary wants to see an Environmental coordinator for the city.

5:52:11 PM: O’Keefe pointed out that the city itself is below the national average.

5:53:59 PM: Hickman asked about the upcoming communications position for the city. They are planning on hiring for July.

5:55:52 PM: Tom Hann would urge people to start covering their garbage even though the bylaw doesn’t come into effect until May 1st.

5:57:40 PM: Breen says weather permitting, King George 5th soccer field should be good to go for May 1st.

5:58:33 PM: Galgay says the procedure is underway to choose a poet laureat for the City.

5:59:42 PM: Bruce Tilley wants to congratulate Amelia Curran.

6:00:56 PM: Debbie Hanlon wants to thank the 6th grade class at St. Andrew’s DARE students.

6:02:06 PM: Hanlon reporting on the Downtown library committee, a citizens initative.

6:02:06 PM: Hanlon reporting on the Downtown library committee, a citizens initative.

6:03:13 PM: Wally Collins “As I said before, I still got my ten fingers and my ten toes”

6:04:05 PM: Collins disagrees with O’Leary about pesticide use.

6:04:36 PM: That’s it people. See ya next week.

What should the city do with the money saved by pushing back the recycling program?

Illustration by Elling Lien

Hopeful recyclers all across St. John’s breathed a defeated, unsurprised sigh on March 25th, when the city once again postponed the city-wide curbside recycling program. The pilot project has been running successfully in Cowan Heights and parts of downtown since May 2007, and a city-wide program was originally slated to begin in the fall of 2009, but in November 2008 the program got cut during the budgetary process, and was delayed. The new start date was set for May 17th, 2010. After issuing a request for proposals to find a contractor to operate the new recycling facility out in Robin Hood Bay, the city only received a single bid. This bid was apparently unacceptably high, and the city will be “going back to the market place for [a] recycling facility operator” as they state in their press release.

Dennis O’Keefe assures us that the city “remain[s] firmly committed to introducing a residential curbside recycling program this fall.” But I would not recommend holding your breath for this. But maybe third time’s the charm, as they say?

I would prefer to think of this most recent delay as an opportunity. Usually initiatives are stalled before they get off the ground because of a lack of funding. The real beauty of delaying the curbside recycling program for at least five months is that we now have five months of funding available in the budget that hadn’t been there before. By my quick reckoning, this means that there should be over $850,000 available.

So! Why not take this money and distribute it to organizations which will start their own waste diversion programs? Communities could gather their own bottles and return them for deposit, collect tin cans and plastics to be stored until the program gets off the ground, or start a community compost and garden… The possibilities of where this money could go, and what could be done with it, are as endless as our collective imaginations.

The current waste diversion plan involves collecting recyclables, and shipping them to the mainland for sale and processing. This approach is a great way to put up numbers of tonnes of waste diverted from the landfill, but the carbon footprint from shipping recyclables off the island will not look so great.

Surely we could find more imaginative and innovative ways to deal with our waste, and what better opportunity than a spare 850,000 bucks?

What do you think the city should do with the money saved? Without pressure from the public, this money will surely be swallowed up into the rest of the budget, and then we will have squandered the greatest opportunity for city council to encourage recycling ever. Or at least since the last two times they delayed the program.