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Corporation of Hamilton Board Meeting No. 9/2010/SJB of 7

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Corporation of Hamilton Board Meeting, City Hall, Hamilton – 1 September 2010 – 12.30pm

Present: Rt. Wor. Charles R Gosling, JP, Chairman

Alderman Glen C Smith, JP

Alderman Pamela G Ferreira, JP

Alderman John W Harvey, JP

Councillor Pamela Quarterly

Councillor Dennis G Tucker, JP

Staff: The Secretary – Ed Benevides, JP

The Treasurer – Gary Edwards

City Engineer – Patrick Cooper

Communications Manager, Aderonke Bademosi

Human Resources Manager – Sakina Darrell

Events Project Manager – Danilee Trott

Apologies: Councillor Walter F Cross, JP

Councillor Marshall E Minors

Councillor Nicholas Swan

Earl Francis – Ports Superintendant

1. Review of Corporation Minutes of 7 July 2010

The minutes were accepted as read, subject to the review of the action item listed under the

Presentation by Bermuda Ombudsman.

Proposed: Councillor Tucker Seconded: Councillor Quarterly

Unanimous

2. Matters Arising

Presentation by Bermuda Ombudsman - Alderman Ferreira referred to the action point on

page 10 of 10 which indicated that she was going to write to the Bermuda Ombudsman

outlining the concerns that the Corporation has with its inability to reform or repeal the 1923

Municipalities Act. Alderman Ferreira said she did not believe this was an action that was

attributable to her.

[Following today’s meeting, the voice recording of the 7th July meeting was reviewed and it

was agreed by The Secretary that the listing as an action item should be removed from the

minutes].

Strategic Planning – The Secretary confirmed that some of the Board had provided him with

dates and that a Strategic Planning Session had been held on 5th August 2010.

Telephone System – The Mayor said he had recently looked at the City of Hamilton website

and he was unable to find a contact number for the public to reach someone at the City of

Hamilton out of hours in an emergency.


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The Secretary said that the public should telephone the main switchboard number and the

auto attendant then guides them through a series of instructions in order to reach their

required point of contact.

3. Review of Committee Minutes

a) Property Committee – 8 July 2010

No recommendations.

Alderman Harvey said the Committee had met one evening during the hours of darkness

to view the new soffit lighting at City Hall and he said it had proved to be very

effective. The system allows for City Hall to be lit up in any colour allowing the building

to look different without actually having to make any structural changes.

b) Infrastructure Committee – 12 July 2010

Alderman Smith said the Committee has a recommendation to bring to the Board in

relation to loading zones and he asked the Secretary to explain in more detail.

The Secretary said there has been a perennial problem in the City with the abuse of

loading zones. The City of Hamilton has looked at various ways to compensate by adding

more loading zones but the challenge is that the law is specific and loading zones are for

the use of loading and unloading of goods by a goods vehicle. Unfortunately we have had

a number of problems with enforcement with both the police and traffic wardens. For

example, they do not know how long a truck has been parked in a loading zone and they

also do not know how to determine what is a goods vehicle and what is not.

The Secretary said the problem was escalating and people have been parking on

sidewalks and double parking etc. The main problem is occurring because the average

commercial truck is parking in the loading zone for extended periods of time, sometimes

all day, and the problem can be alleviated by forcing the trucks to move on. After some

discussion with the police and traffic wardens it became apparent that the solution is to

provide some sort of time line so it is obvious how long a truck has been parked in a

loading zone.

Under the ordinance, the City of Hamilton can utilise the current parking vouchers to

indicate what time a vehicle has parked in a loading zone. Along with this, loading zones

and 15 minute parking bays will be excluded from the exception list in the ordinance.

This will then mean that any vehicle that parks in a loading zone or 15 minute parking bay

will need to display a parking voucher (electronic or paper). The traffic wardens will

then be able to see how long the vehicle has been parked. A vehicle that is not

displaying the necessary parking voucher or that has been parked for longer than the

permitted time, will receive a parking ticket. This will hopefully incentivise truck

drivers to display a parking voucher and not park illegally. The Secretary said that the

City of Hamilton offers a Tradesman’s Permit at a special rate ($50 for a 6 day week)

which allows a commercial vehicle to park in a car space for a 24 hour period. This will

allow service vehicles to park and do their job but not take up a loading zone.


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The Secretary said the City of Hamilton has had extensive discussions with the police

and traffic wardens and also held two public meetings – one at City Hall and one at the

Chamber of Commerce. We have also communicated via email and verbally with a number

of service and delivery companies and have made it clear that the City of Hamilton will

be moving ahead with this proposal if the Board is mindful to support it. If the proposal

does go ahead, then an announcement will be placed in the newspaper to say that the

ordinance is going to be changed and it will happen on a certain date ie: 1st November.

This will then allow us a number of weeks to undertake public education ie: print / media

coverage and announcements on the radio.

Alderman Harvey asked what the result was of the meeting with the Chamber of

Commerce and at City Hall. The Secretary said the attendees had been very

constructive and that about 95% of the people were positive about the change. There

were some concerns on the cost factor ie: the additional cost of the parking vouchers

but that did not seem to be the majority of responses that we had and we will look at

ways to mitigate this for the delivery companies. The service companies however will

get a considerable discount if they use the Tradesman’s permit. The Secretary

mentioned that these permits are not allowed to be used in loading zones and will only be

valid in a regular parking space.

Alderman Harvey said that this proposal was presented to the Board earlier in the year

and he asked whether there are any noticeable changes from the last time. The

Secretary said that there were no real changes but that the Board had deferred it to

allow more time for consultation. The Infrastructure Committee has reviewed it again

and is now bringing it back to the Board as a recommendation.

RESOLUTION: That the Board agrees to proposed changes to the pay & display

ordinance to remove the loading and fifteen minute zones from the exception list in

order to reinforce the rules relating to loading zones.

Proposed: Alderman Smith Seconded: Councillor Tucker

Unanimous

Alderman Smith said the Infrastructure Committee had met with Mr Grundmuller (CEO

of Phoenix Stores) who was representing Convenience Stores and Gas Stations in

relation to the Easy Park devices. The Committee has referred this issue to the Finance

Committee for their review.

The Mayor asked whether the Committee had reviewed the report put forward by the

Pedestrianisation Committee and Alderman Smith said it has not been reviewed yet but

is on the agenda for October’s Committee meeting.

c) Development Committee – no meeting was held in July

Alderman Ferreira said she has heard from Sasaki in relation to the Waterfront

Development Project. The EIS Study and drawing package are now both ready.


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The application containing these documents will be submitted to the Department of

Planning.

Alderman Ferreira said she has 4 planning applications and these were put before the

Board for their review:

P287/10 – 7 Park Road – An application for the proposed art component. The proposed

public art is made up of a number of elements including wall murals, decorative paving,

structural glass railing, decorative signage, entrance canopy with arch lighting and

street furniture. This application was not progressed by the Board as the City Engineer

feels that further information should be sought from the applicant on all of the above

noted art items. The application as it currently stands does not give enough detail for a

full assessment to be made.

P277/10 – 64 Dundonald Street – An application for the demolition of existing building

and construction of a new 4 storey warehouse.

RESOLUTION: That the Board agrees planning application number P277/10 – 64

Dundonald Street.

Proposed: Alderman Ferreira Seconded: Alderman Harvey

Unanimous

P216/10 – 49 Serpentine Road – An application for the proposed removal of existing

planters and enlargement of patio with proposed storage below. The City Engineer

outlined a number of concerns including, street level setback, removal of vegetation and

narrowing of sidewalk. The CoH long term goal is to extend the sidewalk so it runs the

full length of the property as there is heavy usage of this sidewalk by pedestrian

traffic to/from Bull’s Head Car Park.

It was agreed that the application should be refused due to technical issues and the

owner of the property will be contacted to find ways to meet their objectives and City

of Hamilton objectives in relation to the sidewalk.

RESOLUTION: That the Board rejects planning application number P216/10 – 49

Serpentine Road based on a number of technical issues.

Proposed: Alderman Ferreira Seconded: Alderman Harvey

Unanimous

P280/10 – 21/23 Parliament Street – An application for an in principle approval of a

Master Plan for the development of the House of Assembly Grounds.

RESOLUTION: That the Board agrees, in principle, planning application number

P280/10 – 21/23 Parliament Street.

Proposed: Alderman Ferreira Seconded: Councillor Quarterly

Unanimous

The City Engineer said he felt that this is more of a discussion document than an

application which should go before the Department of Planning.


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The Mayor said he also felt that this type of application ie: in principle from a firm of

architects, should not really be brought before the City of Hamilton Board for

consideration with a view to it going before Planning but should instead be presented at

an alternative forum. Planning Applications take a considerable time to review and these

types of unsolicited applications should do not warrant the same amount of time and

effort which is put towards a serious planning application. The Secretary said the

Mayor’s point is valid and similar concerns have been expressed by the DAB a number of

times.

The Secretary said we would include a note with the application when it is sent on to

Planning to express the Board’s concern at the amount of time taken up with the

consideration of these types of application.

ACTION: On sending Planning Application No. P280/10 to the Department of Planning,

The City Engineer to include a note to express the Board’s concern about the

considerable amount of time taken to review unsolicited applications for an agreement in

principle.

d) Staff, Legislative & Governance Committee Minutes – 15 June 2010

No recommendations.

The Human Resources Director said that the Literacy Programme and Management

Training Programmes will recommence in September.

Councillor Tucker said it is still his intention for the Board to receive a presentation on

the Staff Satisfaction Survey and it was agreed that this will hopefully take place at

the next Board meeting.

ACTION: The Human Resources Director to arrange for the Board to receive a

presentation from Mr Cordell Riley on the Staff Satisfaction Survey at the October

Board Meeting.

e) Finance Committee – 16 June 2010 – no meeting was held in July

No recommendations.

The Board was given a copy of the Treasurer’s 2nd Quarter 2010 Report and the

auditors’ Internal Control Findings for the year ended December 31st 2009.

The Treasurer said that the City of Hamilton will be at least $1 million down on revenue

by year end but we should be able to make a similar amount in savings on the expense

side. However, we will be forecasting a loss for the year. Also, overtime has been

reduced. The main area of concern is revenues. Dock storage revenue is down and

goods wharfage is very anemic in numbers which is reflective of the very flat economy.

Councillor Tucker said the City of Hamilton’s tax revenue has remained rather constant

and is about $60,000 over what was budgeted. The Treasurer said we have had a drive

on during the last month for the collection of receivables and we will continue to monitor

this and chase late payments via telephone.

The Secretary congratulated the management team on the operational expense savings

made during the first half of 2010 which are well above target.


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4. North Hamilton Development Update

The Mayor said that the only thing really to add since the Board meeting in July is that the

City of Hamilton had a town hall meeting in August which was a review of the particular issues

that the residents and businesses of North Hamilton had raised at a meeting that had

occurred earlier in the year and also additional issues raised at a meeting held at the

beginning of July. Overall the meeting was relatively successful. There is a beginning of a

realisation by the residents and business owners within that district that we do mean what we

say and we are living up to our commitments.

There are unfortunately a couple of individuals who are taking advantage of things that

happened far too long ago to continue their stance as to what the City of Hamilton represents

in that particular area but that just remains a further challenge for us to change. These

individuals are fully cognisant of the fact that we do meet with them and respond to their

particular issues in a very proactive manner.

The Mayor mentioned that we will probably be looking to do a similar meeting again in October

/ November at which time we will hopefully be able to share some of our Strategic Plans and

how we propose to move forward. We have commenced our Strategic Planning process and

each Committee will now need to discuss its specific issues.

Unfortunately we are unclear of what the situation is going to be with regards to the possible

drop in revenue from the withdrawal of wharfage fees and we will see from our discussions

with Government what can be done to replace them. Failing that, we will have to look at some

fairly draconian measures on how we can move forward as an operating entity.

5. Waterfront Development Update

This item was covered in item 3c.

6. Any Other Business

Foyer Displays – Councillor Tucker said that he had recently spoken to Gary Philips (Chairman

of Bermuda National Gallery) who had said that if we run the Foyer Displays again then the

BNG staff would be willing to assist with this. The Mayor mentioned that the Property

Committee has been in consultation with the BNG on how to better utilise the City Hall Foyer

area. Alderman Harvey said that the BNG had put forward a number of proposals including

different types of artwork on the walls and the use of different paint colours. These

discussions are ongoing.

Loan of Art Piece – The Secretary said we have received a request from the BNG to ask if

they can have on loan the art piece known as “Family Circle” which is currently on the top floor

of City Hall outside the entrance doors to the BSOA. The idea is for the art piece to be

displayed in the foyer of the new HSBC building on Front Street. The appropriate insurance

for the art piece will be put in place for the duration of the loan. The Secretary said that

the plan is then to bring that particular art piece in to City Hall foyer at the close of our 50th

anniversary celebrations.


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Municipalities Act – Alderman Smith said that taking into consideration the report given by

the Treasurer and also the Municipalities Reform Act in July, when will the City of Hamilton

be meeting with the Minister responsible for the reform of the Act to explain that in order

for the City of Hamilton to survive and continue to run on a day to day basis that we need to

continue to receive revenue from wharfage? Alderman Smith said he does realise that the

changes to the Act do not take effect until 1st April 2011 but he feels that we should not wait

until then to start discussions.

The Mayor said that a communication had been initiated on the Monday after the Bill was

assented to in the Senate. Communication was sent to the Secretary to the Cabinet asking to

whom future communication should be addressed in order for us to start an ongoing

communication process.

Discussions will hopefully establish what is going to happen in lieu of a wharfage fee being

charged to all goods coming through Hamilton docks and also a number of the other issues

which were touched upon within the amending Act but also issues that were absent from the

debate but which we feel need clarification in order for us to work to re-establish a

relationship with Government. The Mayor said that he had listened to conversations in both

Parliament and the Senate and that it was disappointing to hear how our motives had been

interpreted.

We have subsequently been told that communications should be addressed to the Secretary

of the Cabinet and we sent a letter requesting a meeting with whichever Minister is assigned

to oversee the Municipalities. We were informed fairly soon after by Government that they

had received our communication and they will make an appointment with us at an appropriate

time. We are now awaiting a follow up on that.

The Mayor said that Government were made aware in our communication of our budgetary

timeframe, which is different from that of Government, and the necessity of us being able to

properly plan for our income stream after 1st April 2011. The Mayor said he hopes that this

part of the communication was not missed otherwise we will find it a challenge moving into our

Strategic Planning process. If we do not receive information from them on this then we will

have to plan ahead with two different scenarios ie: one with wharfage revenue and one

without it. The latter will have a significant impact in terms of the functionality of the City

of Hamilton.

The Mayor went on to say that every time the City of Hamilton has been asked by Government

to attend a meeting in the past, we have attended and we are looking forward to our invitation

to meet with them again.

The public part of the meeting closed at 2.30pm.

______________________________ _______________________________

Date Mayor

_______________________________

Secretary

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