City Council

THAT Council APPROVE the minutes of the March 19, 2024 meeting as presented.

THAT Council direct staff to assist in sourcing an appropriate venue for the Saturday, October 26, 2024 event - Rotary District Conference for approximately 300-400 people.

THAT Council approve the request to extend the invitation to attend the Niagara Fiesta Extravaganza to all City Council members and to provide support by promoting the festival through the City's social media channels and the City's website; furthermore, THAT Council approve the request for an exemption to the City's Noise-By-law to all for the playing of music until 10:30 PM at Firemen's Park on Saturday, August 3rd, 2024 and Sunday, August 4, 2024.

THAT Council approved the request for an exemption to the City's Noise-By-law for the playing of music until 1:00 AM at the Niagara Falls Convention Centre (indoor event) on Saturday, May 18, 2024.

THAT Council declare Saturday, June 8, 2024 as Mountainview LemonAID Day to be held on Saturday, June 8, 2024; AND to request that MYAC (Mayor's Youth Advisory Committee) take a lead and investigate certain city locations to host a LemonAID stand and; THAT Council direct staff to promote the event through our social media channels and FURTHERMORE, THAT Council request the Niagara Falls Illumination Board to change the colour of the Falls to yellow to draw awareness to the event.

THAT Council direct staff to come back with a fullsome report outlining responses and solutions to the outstanding safety issues from our partners; and to arrange a meeting with all partners (Regional Councillors, Public Health respresentatives, Niagara Regional Police, City by-law enforcement) and to include a spokesperson from the neighbourhood to look for solutions to address the problems collectively.

THAT Staff direct staff to waive the procedural by-law to receive the petition submitted from the residents.

THAT Council enter into an In-Camera session at 6:09 PM.

THAT Council RECEIVE this report and its companion report L-2024-03 for information, which provides that Staff has statutory authority to: exclude any correspondence or any delegation request where Staff determine that the correspondence or requested delegation has one or more of the following characteristics: The correspondence or proposed delegation is vexatious and will cause the City to incur additional costs; The correspondence or proposed delegation is without factual or legal merit or misrepresents the process and purpose of Council; or The correspondence or proposed delegation harasses or is abusive towards Council or Staff; exclude any correspondence or proposed delegation from anyone that has one or more of the three listed characteristics above; and amend, where necessary, the City’s policies and procedures on delegations and correspondence to refer to these three listed criteria for exclusion.

THAT Report MW-2024-16 BE RECEIVED for information; and further, THAT Council AUTHORIZE a single source procurement with Access Labs for audio trail wayfinding Millennium trail as a pilot project in the amount of $13,479.00 plus applicable taxes in accordance with Section 18 of the City's Procurement Bylaw 2021-04; and further, THAT Council AUTHORIZE Staff to enter into a contract with Access Labs to establish an Audio Trails Wayfinding system along the Millennium trail as a pilot project; and further, THAT Council APPROVE a 2024 Capital Budget Amendment in the amount of $13,479 funded from Capital Special Purpose Reserves, for the implementation related costs; and further, THAT the annual operating budget impact of $2,950 be

THAT Council RECEIVE PBD-2024-11 for information.

THAT Council RECEIVE this report for information purposes.

THAT Council allow members of public (John Potts, Board Director of Niagara Falls Non-Profit Housing (NFNP) to speak to this item (Item #7.5).

1.THAT Council APPROVE the Planning fee waivers totaling $35,700.00, subject to Niagara Falls Not for Profit entering into an agreement with Niagara Regional Housing to provide rental subsidy for 25 units in a 9 storey building or 28 units in a 10 storey building that will be between 65-70% of the CHMC MMR; 2. THAT Council APPROVE a grant equivalent to the Building Permit Fees of $165,311.91 for a 9 storey building or $183,679.90 for a 10 storey building subject to Niagara Falls Not for Profit entering into an agreement with Niagara Regional Housing to provide rental subsidy for 25 units in a 9 storey building or 28 units in a 10 storey building that will be between 65-70% of the CHMC MMR; and 3. THAT Council APPROVE a discretionary exemption to Community Benefit totaling $160,000.00, subject to Niagara Falls Not for Profit entering into an agreement with Niagara Regional Housing to provide rental subsidy for 25 units in a 9 storey building or 28 units in a 10 storey building that will be between 65-70% of the CHMC MMR.

THAT Council APPROVE adding Johnathan Frazier to the Anti-Racism Committee.

THAT Council after having given CONSIDERATION to the use of "area rating" or "area-specific development charges", APPROVE the use of a city-wide non-residential development charge rate as outlined in the 2024 Development Charges Background Study, in place of the Area Specific Development Charges levied under the 2019 DC By-Law. THAT Council DIRECT staff to create a policy for Council’s Approval for Industry Development Charges, to maintain the current exemption in a more flexible format outside of the DC By-Law and consider its inclusion in the scheduled Community Improvement Plan update. THAT Council DIRECT staff to create a policy for Council’s Approval for Community Improvement Plan (CIP) exemptions, to maintain the current exemptions outside of the DC By-Law, to enable them to be updated during the upcoming CIP review without requiring a DC By-Law Amendment. THAT Council DIRECT staff to report back with an analysis of additional transitional measures, in addition to legislative requirements, such as DC deferral programs and discretionary phase-in programs to ease the transition to the new DC rates for the development industry. THAT Council APPROVE an amendment remove Paragraph 2 of Section 6.5 of Policy # 700.33 “Development Charge Payment Policy regarding Sections 26.1 and 26.2 of the Development Charges Act” that currently reads “An interest rate of 0% shall be used for the purposes of 26.1 and 26.2 for development projects that align with the City strategic initiatives

THAT Council RECEIVE the Development and Housing Monitoring Report that reviews the status of development and growth management activity for the City for the year 2023.

THAT Council REVIEW the Committee's applications to fill any vacancies at an upcoming Council meeting and THAT committees no longer provide recommendations as to how to fill vacancies.

THAT Council APPROVE June 28 and September 30 as the 2024 Final Due Dates for the Residential, Pipeline, Farmland and Managed Forest Assessment Classes. THAT Council APPROVE August 30 and October 31 as the 2024 Final Due Dates for the Commercial, Industrial and Multi-residential Assessment Classes.

THAT Council APPROVE the 2024 Property Tax Rates as illustrated in attachments 1 through 3.

THAT Council RECEIVE report R&C 2024-04 for information.

THAT Council APPROVE/SUPPORT Item #9.1 through to and including Item #9.9.

THAT Council receive and file for information Item #10.1 through to and including Item #10.6.

THAT Council APPROVE the request to extend the noise by-law to 11:30 PM for the Annual SPN Slo-Pitch Tournament and Street Dance to be held on Saturday, June 29th, 2024 at the Chippawa Lions Park.

THAT Council APPROVE the request to extend the noise by-law for the following dates and times at the Serbian Picnic grounds: 1) Folklore Concert - Saturday, June 8, 2024 - until midnight. 2) Serbian Day - June 21, 22 & 23, 2024 - until midnight. 3) Knezevic, Srdjan Engagement Party - Saturday, August 31, 2024 - until midnight. 4) Bijelic Wedding - Saturday, September 7, 2024 - until midnight. 5) Bowling Tournament - October 11, 12 & 13, 2024 - until midnight.

THAT Council APPROVE the request to extend the noise by-law to allow for construction work to be completed from Silverline Group Inc. across/through McLeod Road, beginning April 15th, 2024 for 3 nights.

THAT Council DIRECT staff to prepare the necessary amendments to the City’s Noise By-law to allow for some delegated authority to allow staff to approve necessary exemptions.

THAT the matter be referred to staff and shared with Niagara Parks Commission.

THAT Council APPROVE the purchase of land at 12761 Sodom Road; AND THAT the City Solicitor and CAO, or their designate, be AUTHORIZED to execute all documentation and take whatever steps necessary to carry out and complete the transaction; AND THAT Council DIRECT staff to approach the Province to investigate the designation of the QEW corridor between Niagara Falls and Fort Erie as a Provincially Significant Employment Zone.

THAT Staff bring an update on current practices and a report to explain our options for the Municipal Accommodation Tax and its best practices.

THAT Council review the Housing Strategy Report for the education, information and discussion of Council.

THAT Staff prepare a report on Integrity Commissioner complaints from other cities in the Region, and to include the number of complaints, costs of complaints and filing fees. Not put (no seconder) 14.4. Procedural By-law - At the Council meeting of March 19, 2024, Councillor Mike Strange brought forth the following motion: Motion: THAT Staff be directed to look for efficiencies in running the Council meetings via updates to the Procedural By-law. This motion was

THAT Staff be directed to report back to Council providing parking options for Cummington Square to better serve the residents and business owners of this area.

THAT the by-laws be read a first, second and third time and passed.

THAT Council adjourn the meeting at 9:26 PM.