Craig Walkington, Anne Perry, Alvena Cain, Owida Downey, Delaine Clyne, Bryan Darrell, Arthur Carter, Sharon Laframboise, Ted Tam, Deborah Story, Sharon Martin 

Maureen Strickland, Clark Cromwell 

Call to Order - The meeting was called to order at 6:03pm.

Review of Notes from June 29, 2004 Meeting - Moved by Sharon L seconded by Anne to accept the notes from the July 13, 2004 meeting. Carried.

Issues to Discuss With Ted Tam and Deborah Story :

a. Support from HHS Project in Preparing and Advancing Community Planning Model Proposal - Ted indicated that the draft proposal in its current format and content does not present enough information to anyone who is not familiar with the issues. He recommended that we provide more background information and follow a standard format to ensure that it will receive quick review and approval. Ted said that our process should be to circulate it via the HHS Project office through the legal and planning departments as well as the finance section within the HHS Project. Following this route will ensure that it is clear to HRM Council that all of the normal questions and areas have been reviewed and answered. Once it has cleared all of the hurdles, it should be submitted to HRM Council as an information report covered by a staff report. From there, the CLC would try to make a presentation to HRM Council during a Committee as a Whole meeting. It was also recommended that a clear recommendation be made in the report which could later form the basis for a motion to be debated/discussed and voted by HRM Council. Ted said that he would arrange to have the standard format for reports of this nature to be e-mailed to the CLC. Discussion surrounded whether the report should be submitted prior to the municipal elections in October. It was decided that despite the tight timeline, we should try to make our submission before the elections. 
 

b. Appropriateness of Using the CIF to Fund CLC Activities - Craig expressed concern that the CIF allocation was being utilized to conduct activities that in the absence of the CLC would be normally conducted and paid for by HRM. As such, it is not fair to use the CIF allocation for such areas as flyers and posters for meetings where the public is being informed about the HHS project and its progress. Ted explained that initially all expenses had been covered by the HHS Project, but the Herring Cove CLC asked for an allocation to cover expenses and other activities. As such, a proposal was submitted by the HHS Project to HRM Council and approved that would allocate $3,000 to each CLC to cover expenses for conducting meetings and other CLC activities. Ted said that this would provide flexibility to the CLC without having to go and ask for funding every time they wanted to conduct an activity. The Halifax CLC expressed concern that they were nit consulted on this submission to Council, nor are they given any sort of a financial report which shows what has been spent to date. Sharon Martin expressed concern that in the early stages of the CLC, we were told by senior HHS Project staff that CLC expenses would not be drawn from the CIF. She said she would check the notes from previous meetings to confirm this point. Ted said that at this stage nothing could be done as Council had approved it. A copy of the approved HRM Council report and motion was given to Craig. Craig asked that at an appropriate time in the future this aspect be reviewed and rescinded so that CIF money is not used for CLC activities.

c. Funding the Community Planning Model Study - As per the above item, the CLC expressed concern that a portion of the CIF would be used to conduct a study when the Dartmouth CLC's study was paid for separately and none of their CIF was used for this purpose. Craig stressed the importance of equitable treatment amongst the 3 CLCs. In addition, it was also noted that the CLC had previously been told by senior HHS staff that a study could likely be funded separately and not come out of the CIF. It was suggested that the proposal for the study be written as a needs assessment for the area. In addition, it was also proposed that funding for the study could potentially come from other HRM departments.

d. Feasibility of Dexter conducting their own Meeting to Discuss Important Issues - This item was raised to find a means by which areas of importance which are not within the CLC's mandate could be aired. One such area is employment opportunities. Ted said that a separate meeting was unlikely. He said that D&D Water Solutions, as the designer and builder of the STP, will be responsible for hiring staff; however, HRM did include within the negotiations for the contract a requirement for the successful bidder to include a race relations policy and an employment equity policy which are in line with that of HRM's hiring policy. A letter to this effect was signed by Ted Tam and passed to Craig. The CLC stressed that it was important that this area be addressed outside of the context of the CLC as it not within the CLC's terms of reference. 
 

e. HHS Project Statement Regarding the Inability to Place the CIF in a Holding Account - Craig said he is still waiting for a written statement explaining why this cannot be done.

f. Statement from the Mayor and/or HRM Council Stating that the CIF is Guaranteed . At the time of the meeting, no letter had been received. Ted said that a letter was enroute. A letter was received by Craig on 29 July 2004 from the Mayor which guarantees the CIF funding.

g. Meeting With D&D Water Solutions Architect - Ted Tam said that this is a priority item, but since the contract has only just gone into effect, D&D Water Solutions were still in the process of selecting and hiring subcontractors including the exterior design architect. As soon as they have their architect selected, the HHS Project staff will arrange a meeting.

h. Newsletter - The CLC said it was time to produce another newsletter to deal with the various issues and frequently asked questions. Deborah said that her department could format and produce the newsletter. The size and content of the newsletter will be decided at the next meeting. 
 

Matters Arising From June 29 2004 Meeting :

a. Integration of Design Concept Into HRM Capital District Plans . Craig said that he had sent an e-mail to George Rogers and Frank Palermo to ask them to produce the Design Concept in a written format suitable for submission to HRM. He said he had received a response from George about setting up a meeting.

b. Effective Date for the D&D Water Solutions Contract - Craig said that he had been advised that the Effective Date for the contract to build the Sewage Treatment Plants is 7 July 2004. 
 

c. New Contact List - A new contact list was circulated. It will also be sent electronically.

Community Planning Model Proposal - Net Steps :

a. Door-to-Door Canvassing by Clark - Status Report - Clark was not at the meeting, but it was reported that he still has approximately 10 houses to visit .

b. Delegation to CLC Members of the Request for Support Letters List - Status Report - Craig said that he has received approximately 19 letter of support to date.

c. Consulting Community Business and Organizations - We need to consult various businesses/organizations in our defined area. We will develop questions for this process and split the list at the next meeting.

Next Meeting Date - 6:00pm on Tuesday, August 10, 2004 at the George Dixon Centre. 
 

Adjournment - The meeting adjourned at 7:33pm.