Full Replay
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EMERGENCY & COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE AGENDA
Full Agenda on City Website
DELEGATIONS
4.1 Matt Jelly respecting proposal of a series of reforms to the City of Hamilton’s Zero Tolerance Policy for Violence in Recreational Properties & Facilities.
CONSENT ITEMS
5.1Letter of Resignation from the Food and Shelter Advisory Committee submitted by Thayra Marting.
5.2Various Advisory Committee Minutes for Information
(a) Senior Advisory Committee Minutes, November 1, 2013.
(b) Senior Advisory Committee Minutes December 6, 2013.
(c) Hamilton Youth Advisory Committee Minutes February 19, 2013
(d) Hamilton Youth Advisory Committee Minutes March 19, 2013
(e) Hamilton Youth Advisory Committee Minutes April 16, 2013
(f) Hamilton Youth Advisory Committee Minutes May 21, 2013
(g) Hamilton Youth Advisory Committee Minutes June 18, 2013
(h) Hamilton Youth Advisory Committee Minutes September 17, 2013
(i) Hamilton Youth Advisory Committee Minutes October 15, 2013
(j) Hamilton Youth Advisory Committee Minutes November 19, 2013
(k) Hamilton Youth Advisory Committee Minutes December 17, 2013
(l) Hamilton Veterans Committee Minutes November 12, 2013
(m) Hamilton Veterans Committee Minutes December 10, 2013
(n) Hamilton Veterans Committee Minutes January 14, 2014
5.3Social Housing Reserve Fund – McGivney Community Homes Inc.
5.4Social Housing Reserve Funds for Waterdown Rotary Garden Court Inc.
5.52014 Provincial Child Care Funding Allocation for the City of Hamilton
5.6 Older Adult Plan
5.7 Renewal of Funding from Citizenship and Immigration Canada for the Immigration Strategy
5.8 Resident Petition of St. Thomas More Secondary School Artificial Turf Surface
DISCUSSION ITEMS
8.1 Expenditures from Social Housing Reserve Fund
8.2 Capital Projects’ Status Report as of December 31, 2013
8.3 Recreation Concessions at City Operated Facilities
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Public Delegations
Matt Jelly respecting proposal of a series of reforms to the City of Hamilton’s Zero Tolerance Policy for Violence in Recreational Properties & Facilities.
Matt Jelly will delegate in regards to the City’s zero tolerance for violence policy, which has recently been of discussion after the incident of physical violence by Councillor Lloyd Ferguson against a journalist (myself) at City Hall.
Consent Items
Items 5.1 & 5.2 – Volunteer Committees
A member of the Food and Shelter Advisory Committee has resigned due to other commitments.
The minutes of the Senior Advisory, Youth Advisory, and Hamilton Veteran’s Committee are being provided for information.
Item 5.3 – Emergency Social Housing Funding for McGivney Community Homes Portfolio
The City’s General Manager of Community and Emergency Services authorized an emergency payment to Kiwanis Non-Profit Homes to cover the mortgage payments for McGivney Community Homes Inc which owns 116 social housing homes across the City.
Kiwanis Non-Profit Homes took over the management of the units on December 1, 2013 under the guidance of the City of Hamilton as McGivney had been identified as distressed by the City.
On December 1st, when Kiwanis took over management, they discover that McGivney’s operating accounts were empty and mortgage payments could not be made.
That day, they contacted the City. The GM of C&ES immediately authorized an emergency loan of $100,000 to prevent any subsequent financial issues and legal consequences.
Item 5.4 – Emergency Funding for Waterdown Rotary Garden Social Housing
Staff are recommending $150,000 in emergency funding from the Social Housing Reserve Fund for repairs and upgrades to the 11 unit seniors housing building.
Item 5.5 – Provincial Funding Allocation for Child Care in Hamilton
The Province’s Ministry of Education is giving the City of Hamilton $2,802,537 in additional funding for 2014 to support Child Care. This is additional to the committed $39,377,556 the City was already receiving. The City contributes $5,593,566 as the municipal share.
Item 5.6 – Older Adult Plan
Staff are requesting authority to create a “Hamilton Seniors Strategy” to assist the City in planning for the expected doubling in proportion of the City’s population over the age of 65.
If approved, the plan will be presented in September 2014.
Item 5.7 – CIC Funds for City’s Immigration Strategy
The City of Hamilton will receive $493,636 from Citizenship and Immigration Canada during the next two years to suppor the City’s immigration strategy.
Item 5.8 – Petition Regarding St. Thomas More Secondary School Artificial Tuft Field Use
Forty-seven residents living near the newly upgraded St. Thomas More artificial turf field sent the City a petition complaining about the noise, lack of washroom facilities, and debris (litter) often left behind by users of the field.
The field is one of the most used in the City.
Staff looked into the matter, and report the field is not run by the City, but the staff did speak with the Catholic School Board in regards to the petition. A meeting is being arranged between residents, the school board, and the company that manages the field on behalf of the school board.
Debate Items
Item 8.1 – Expenditures from Social Housing Reserve Fund Account
Last March, Council voted to offer $900,000 to Hamilton’s social housing providers to renovate vacant units with 3 or more bedrooms. The goal is to address the shortage of larger social housing units for families, the waiting list for this type of unit is two years longer than the general waiting list.
Three social housing providers – Sons of Italy, Kiwanis, and CityHousing – submitted proposals for the funding. Staff reviewed the proposals – for 19 different homes in total – and are asking Councillors to provide authorizing using an additional $611,350 from the Social Housing Reserve Fund to approval all the applications for a total investment of $1,511,350.
If approved, the average spent on each unit will be approximately $80,000 and assist 19 families in need of stable social housing.
Item 8.2 – Capital Projects Status Update
The quarterly capital projects update shows many projects running behind schedule, but not many that are over-budget at the present time.
Item 8.3 – Recreation Concessions at City Operated Facilities
City staff, after being asked to investigate by Council, are recommending volunteers run concessions at six City-operated arenas from September 2014 to March 2015 to test the feasibility of turning all city-operated arena concessions over to volunteer organizations and associations.
The volunteer groups – mostly hockey associations – will get the majority of revenue from the operations to support their activities.