City Council meets biweekly on Monday evenings at 5:30 pm and it is open to the public. Here is what happened at City Council last night according to the council briefing:

Public Acknowledgments:

  • Mayor Muench acknowledged the 5th Anniversary Celebration of the Humboldt and District Gallery held on Thursday, January 10th. It was well attended, and the staff did an outstanding job in celebrating what has become our city’s “centrepiece” in the downtown core.
  • Mayor Muench also acknowledged the Saskatoon Blades, Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Foundation and Synergy 8’s donation of $46,000 presented to the Humboldt and District Hospital Foundation for a new incubator. The presentation took place at the Bronco game on Saturday night at the EPA.

Information and Reports:

  • Council appointed Councillor Nordick as the Voting Delegate at the SUMAssure Insurance Reciprocal’s Annual General Meeting to be held on Sunday, February 3rd in Saskatoon.
  • Council approved the renewal of two land lease agreements, as recommended by the Executive Committee.
  • Council authorized Administration to disperse the donations that were sent to the City following April 6th. Donations received by the City of Humboldt to be directed to the families, victims and community members affected by the April 6th tragedy was $12,659.81 and will be forwarded to the Humboldt Strong Community Foundation. In addition, donations received by the City from corporations and individuals with specific instructions from the donor on how to use the donations are as follows:
    - SaskWater - $2500.00 to be used to support the operation of the
    facilities used as gathering places, the expenses involved with the
    vigil and memorial services and mental health resources.
    -Western Communities Foundation - $10,000.00 to help support the
    community and to assist the City of Humboldt with expenses incurred
    following the accident.
    -The Mosiac Company - $10,000 for Arena maintenance and
    programming in the names of Brody Hinz, Tyler Bieber and Jacob
    Leicht.
    - An individual donation - $500.00 to offset incidental expenses at the
    Arena following the accident.
    - An individual donation - $100.00 for the Cemetery.
  • Council approved the recommendation of the Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee (MHAC) to allow the removal and replacement of the floor slab and replace existing plumbing elements in the basement of the Humboldt
    Courthouse.
  • Council denied the MSMA’s (Mid Sask Municipal Alliance) request for additional funds to assist them in matching the money required through the Invest Canada Community Initiatives (ICCI) Program, a federal initiative that provides financial support to communities for their foreign direct investment activities. (MSMA has launched an “Attraction Strategy Project”.) The request was denied as the City must use its limited funding for economic development on initiatives that the City is already engaged in.
  • Council approved the request from the Business Center in Hangzhou, China for a contribution of $300.00 per month to assist in the operations of the China liaison office. The City will participate in this initiative for a one-year trial period and the benefits will be reevaluated at that time. We will have more from Mayor Rob Muench on this item in the days to come.

Bylaws:

  • A Bylaw to amend the Zoning Bylaw had its “first reading”. (All bylaws must pass three readings before they can become law.) A local church group has approached a representative of the City, indicating that they are exploring options of constructing a new place of worship. The existing Zoning Bylaw requires that places of worship provide a minimum of 3 parking spaces per 10 seats in the main assembly, which is significantly higher than those required in other jurisdictions. The amendment proposes that the existing Zoning Bylaw be changed to require only 1 parking space per 10 seats.
  • Administration is also proposing to amend the Application Fees in the Zoning Bylaw to change the amount for a Development Appeal Fee from $50.00 to $300.00. This fee is legislated by the Province through The Planning and Development Act, 2007 and recent changes in the legislation increased the fee to $300 to assist municipalities in offsetting the administrative fees involved in the preparation of an appeal.

Next City Council meeting will be January 28th at 5:30 pm above City Hall.