Electronic Council Meeting Minutes

1. That the staff report entitled “Supplementary Report: City of Markham Comments on York Region’s Growth Forecast and Land Needs Assessment to 2051” dated October 12, 2021 be received; and, 
2. That the deputations and written communications from Claudio Brutto and Peter Miasek be received; and,
3. That this matter be referred to staff for further information and clarification of Regional implications to the City of Markham; and further;
4. That Staff be authorized and directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.

(Carried by Recorded Vote (9-4))

(See following Recorded Vote)
 

(Recorded Vote (9-4)):

YEAS:    Councillor Keith Irish, Councillor Alan Ho, Councillor Reid McAlpine, Councillor Karen Rea, Regional Councillor Jim Jones, Deputy Mayor Don Hamilton, Mayor Frank Scarpitti, Regional Councillor Jack Heath, Councillor Isa Lee (9)
 
NAYS:     Regional Councillor Joe Li, ,Councillor Andrew Keyes, Councillor Amanda Collucci, Councillor Khalid Usman (4)

Council had before it the following original recommendation for consideration:

1. That the staff report entitled “Supplementary Report: City of Markham Comments on York Region’s Growth Forecast and Land Needs Assessment to 2051” dated October 12, 2021 be received; and, 
2. That the deputations and written communications from Claudio Brutto and Peter Miasek be received; and,
3. That Markham Council recommends that Regional Council adopt the 60% intensification scenario; and,
4. That Markham staff work with the Region to confirm the location of lands to be included in an urban area expansion in Markham; and,
5. That any whitebelt lands in Markham that are not needed to accommodate 2051 growth not be designated as ‘Future Urban Area’, but rather maintain a non-urban (agriculture or similar) designation in the Regional Official Plan and Markham Official Plan; and,
6. That the Region’s proposed employment area expansion lands be reconfigured to exclude the Almira hamlet as shown in Attachment 2 to this report; and, 
7. That the Region’s Transportation Master Plan Update consider the option of maintaining the current 2-lane cross-section for 19th Avenue through the Almira hamlet; and,
8. That Markham supports the Region’s Transportation Master Plan Update and higher order transit along Major Mackenzie and expansion of the Frequent Transit Network to service the proposed expansion lands in north Markham and that the Region and area municipalities continue to advocate for funding from the Province of Ontario that delivers the transit linked to the proposed growth; and,
9. That this report and associated Council resolution be forwarded to York Region as Markham Council’s comments on the proposed 2051 forecast and land needs assessment; and further,
10. That Staff be authorized and directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.

1. That the report titled “2022 Interim Spending Authority Pending Approval of Budget”, be received; and,
2. That Council approve 50% of the City’s 2021 Operating, Waterworks, Planning & Design, Building Standards and Engineering budgets, equal to $207,882,287, as a  pre-budget approval for 2022 operating expenditures; and further,
3. That Staff be authorized and directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.

1. That the report titled “2022 Interim Spending Authority Pending Approval of Unionville and Markham Village Business Improvement Area Budgets”, be received; and,
2. That Council approve 50% of the 2021 Operating Budget equivalent to the amounts of $150,000 for the Unionville BIA (UBIA) and $132,882 for the Markham Village BIA (MBIA) as pre-budget approval for 2022 operating expenditures; and further,
3. That Staff be authorized and directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.

1. That the report titled “2022 Temporary Borrowing By-law”  be received; and,
2. That a by-law be brought forward for Council approval to authorize the temporary borrowing, if required, of amounts not to exceed $207,882,287 from January 1, 2022 to September 30, 2022 and $103,941,144 from October 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022 to meet the expenditures of the municipality until taxes are collected and other revenues are received; and,
3. That the Treasurer report to Council in advance of borrowing, if temporary borrowing is required; and further,
4. That Staff be authorized and directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.

(By-law 2021-99)

Recorded Vote (13-0)

YEAS:    Councillor Keith Irish, Councillor Alan Ho, Councillor Reid McAlpine, Councillor Karen Rea, Regional Councillor Jim Jones, Deputy Mayor Don Hamilton, Mayor Frank Scarpitti, Regional Councillor Jack Heath, Regional Councillor Joe Li, Councillor Andrew Keyes, Councillor Amanda Collucci, Councillor Khalid Usman, Councillor Isa Lee (13)
 
NAYS:    (0)

Council consented to add the following clause:

• That the Tax Relief By-law be brought forward to a future Council meeting; 

Council consented to amend clause 2 by deleting the word "should" and amended as follows:

• That Council approve the passage of a by-law authorized under subsection (1) and (2) of Bill PR37, for the cancelling of taxes for municipal purposes, other than local improvement charges, for the property located at 344 John Street; the Treasurer or his designate adjust the property tax account accordingly; and,

Council had before it the following original recommendation for consideration:

1. That the report entitled Bill PR37, Parya Trillium Foundation Act (Tax Relief) be received; and,
2. That should Council approve the passage of a by-law authorized under subsection (1) and (2) of Bill PR37, for the cancelling of taxes for municipal purposes, other than local improvement charges, for the property located at 344 John Street; the Treasurer or his designate adjust the property tax account accordingly; and,
3. That the associated interest be cancelled in proportion to the tax adjustments; and further,
4. That staff be authorized and directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.

1. That the minutes and notes of the October 1, 2021 and October 6, 2021 Budget Committee meetings be received for information purposes; and,
2. That the “2022 Capital Budget Pre-Approval Summary” be received (summary attached as Appendix “A”); and, 
3. That Council approve the 2022 Capital Budget Pre-Approval in the amount of $4,212,751.00; and further,
4. That Staff be authorized and directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.

1. That the presentation entitled “2022 Water/Wastewater Rate Public Consultation Meeting” be received and approved for presentation at the November 18th Public Consultation meeting; and,
2. That the report entitled “2022 Water/Wastewater Rate” be received; and,
3. That Staff be authorized to hold an electronic public meeting on November 18th, 2021 at 6:30 p.m. to gather resident feedback on the principle of, increasing the 2022 water/wastewater rate by 3.7% or $0.1667 from $4.4680 to $4.6347; and,
4. That feedback received at the public meeting along with the proposed 2022 water/wastewater rate be put forward for Council’s consideration on December 7th, 2021; and further,
5. That Staff be authorized and directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.

Whereas the City of Markham maintains teams of Provincial Offences Officers to enforce municipal bylaws; and, 

Whereas a new Manager of Bylaw and Regulatory Services will join the City on November 15, 2021; and,

Whereas other City Divisions, including Animal Care Services and Tree Preservation also employ Provincial Offences Officers; and,

Whereas bylaw enforcement is one of the most high-profile services maintained by the City; and,

Whereas bylaws are typically enforced on a complaint/reactive basis, rather than pro-actively, such that enforcement is uneven across the City; and,

Where property standards and sign bylaws in the City’s Heritage Conservation Districts are honoured more in the breach than in the observance; and,

Whereas observance of property standards regulations across the City is perceived by many residents to have been declining for many years; and, 

Whereas there were hundreds of open bylaw cases prior to the COVID19 pandemic; and, 

Whereas the COVID19 pandemic has increased the backlog of open bylaw cases; and, 

Whereas many bylaw infractions occur outside of the regular  working hours for some City staff such as Tree Preservation staff ; and,

Whereas the Bylaw and Regulatory Services Division and other City in-field staff do not have access to a centralized dispatch system; and,

Whereas it is appropriate to conduct periodic reviews of municipal services to ensure effective, efficient and responsive service delivery;

Now therefore be it resolved that Markham City Council directs staff to commission an independent, third-party review of Bylaw and Regulatory Services; and,

That this review include, but not be limited to, the following:

• Best practices among other bylaw enforcement operations in Ontario and elsewhere;
•  Optimal organizational structure;
• Per capita staffing levels;
• Case backlogs;
• Weekly hours of service;
• Dispatch systems;
• Proactive vs reactive enforcement;
• The roles of other City and Regional field staff in identifying and reporting bylaw contraventions;
• Options for the employment of private security contractors;
• Implications for union contracts and relations;
• Costs for various increased service levels; and, 

That staff, including the new Manager and Assistant Manager of Bylaw and Regulatory Services, be requested to review the above-noted areas, to identify items that they can address internally in the short term and to determine if there are any additional items that should be included in the review; and,

That staff explore the opportunity to apply to the Province’s Audit and Accountability Fund (Intake 3), to fund the review, and that staff report back to Development Services Committee on October 25, 2021 on the Fund application; and,

That should the City not be successful in obtaining funds from the Province’s Audit and Accountability Fund, that the City allocate funds as part of the 2022 Capital Budget, for the Bylaw and Regulatory Services Review; and, 

That the final report on the Review of Bylaw and Regulatory Services include recommendations for improvements and the implementation costs associated with same; and,

That the final report be presented to Council in the second quarter of 2022 at the latest if funded from the 2022 Capital Budget or the third quarter of 2022 if funded through the Province’s Audit and Accountability Fund; and further,

That staff be directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution. 

Council had before it the following original resolution for consideration:

Whereas the City of Markham maintains teams of Provincial Offences Officers to enforce City Bylaws;

Whereas a new City  Manager of Bylaw and Regulatory Services will join the City on November 15, 2021;

Whereas other departments, including Animal Care and Tree Protection also employ Provincial Offences Officers;

Whereas bylaw enforcement is one of the most high-profile services maintained by the City;

Whereas bylaws are typically enforced on a complaints-only re-active basis, rather than pro-actively, such that enforcement is uneven across the City;

Where property standards and sign bylaws in the Heritage Conservation Districts are honoured more in the breach than in the observance;

Whereas observance of property standards bylaws across the city is perceived by many residents to have been declining for many years.
Whereas there were hundreds of open bylaw enforcement cases prior to the pandemic;

Whereas the pandemic has almost certainly served only to increase the backlog of open cases;

Whereas bylaw enforcement service is limited on weekends and evenings, even as those breaking bylaws do not necessarily keep business hours;

Whereas the bylaw enforcement team does not have a centralized dispatch system;

Therefore, be it resolved, that Council directs City staff to commission an independent third-party report and recommendations for improved bylaw enforcement services, addressing but not limited to the following topics:

•    Best practices among other bylaw enforcement operations in Ontario and elsewhere,
•    Optimal organisational structure,
•    Per capita staffing levels,
•    Case backlogs,
•    Weekly hours of service,
•    Dispatch systems,
•    Proactive vs reactive enforcement,
•    The roles of other City and Regional field staff in identifying and reporting bylaw offences,
•    Options for the employment of private security contractors,
•    Implications for union contracts and relations,
•    Costs for various increased service levels;

And that the final report be presented to council no later than April 30, 2022; and,

That staff including the new Manager By-Law and Regulatory Services, and the Assistant Manager, Parking Administration and the By-Law Services Supervisor, be asked to review and evaluate the above areas and provide input regarding any additional external consultant review; and further,

That staff determine the opportunity to apply to the Province’s Audit and Accountability Fund, Intake 3, to assist in the evaluation of these areas and that staff report back to Development Services Committee on this matter.