The city's Environmental Advisory Committee will continue to focus on key environmental initiatives in 2017.
Council approved the committee's 2016 report and stated priorities for 2017 after committee chair Tanya Doran made a brief presentation to council on the topic at the Jan. 9 meeting.
Accomplishments in 2016 include reviewing applications for Environmental Initiatives Grants and recommending eight projects totalling $33,450, providing advice on the city's Sustainable Building Policy, and providing advice on the Stormwater Rate Model.
The focus in 2017 will continue to be reviewing grant applications, updating targets in the city's Environmental Master Plan, updating the implementation plan for the city's energy conservation plan, and providing advice on environmental policies within the Municipal Development Plan.
Council approved a motion giving the mayor the authority to request an additional three RCMP members for the community, bringing the total to 69.
The motion was included as part of the consent agenda, meaning there was no debate on it, but an administrative backgrounder explained that although 63 members are approved in the 2017 budget, the over ask is a strategy to try to get closer to the actual number requested.
The report notes that while it is unlikely the RCMP will provide more than the 63 full-time equivalent positions approved in the budget, there is $880,000 in the RCMP Contract Expense Reserve to cover any potential additional expenses.
There has been a slight increase in complaints about surface drainage issues in the city, engineer Kate Polkovsky said.
Historically, drainage complaints have averaged around 50 to 75 per year, while in 2016 there were 80 complaints, including about water flowing from one neighbour's property to another, a property to city land, or city land onto a property.
The city's role is to review and respond to complaints, making recommendations to address potential problems.
"It can take anywhere between four to 16 hours to manage each complaint," she said. "Some did take up to 30 hours to manage."
In some cases consultants are used to respond to complaints more quickly when there's a higher volume than city staff can accommodate.
Council has simplified the way the city will fund its branding initiative.
The city's Botanical Arts City brand will now be overseen by the city manager with a $10,000 annual budget, rather than through one-per-cent surcharges on most capital projects.
"I think this is a real common sense approach that's been brought forward," Coun. Cam MacKay said. "Get away from spending percentages, because that causes a lot of ups and downs."
Mayor Nolan Crouse voted against the change, noting he would have liked to see engineering standards and service standards related to branding change before the policy changed.
