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Council briefs 'Classy' move to hold off vote Simon Whitehouse Northern News Services Published Friday, March 15, 2013 Council ultimately agreed to Coun. Cory Vanthuyne's request to postpone the vote after he alerted them he was too busy to attend council this week because of a prior commitment to the Long John Jamboree.
Council will now vote on the demolition of the Corner Mart and InstaLoans buildings at the April 8 regular meeting. Vanthuyne, who supports demolition was busy conducting site work at Long John Jamboree and asked for a councillor make a motion to defer the matter so that he would have the opportunity to speak to it.
Coun. Niels Konge made the motion himself even though he is opposed to demolition, and wants the properties sold as is immediately instead.
Coun. Dan Wong called the move "classy" because Konge may have had enough support to stop demolition without Vanthuyne present.
"I think that vote is going to be very close and Cory's and my opinion differ on that," admitted Konge. "There is two ways to win anything - you can win straight up or you can win by default. I don't like winning anything by default and in the name of democracy this is something that has big implications for our future budgets and our downtown. It is an important enough issue where everybody's voice should be heard."
Coun. Phil Moon Son, who also supports immediately selling the properties, agreed that postponing the vote was the right thing to do.
"It seems like there was a willingness from a majority of council to postpone it for everybody to be there due to the gravity of the repercussions," said Moon Son. "Once you vote on something like this, there is a lot of implications and there is a domino effect."
Former councillor pleads against helmet bylaw
Discussions surrounding a potential municipal helmet bylaw took another turn this week as former city councillor and mayoral candidate Paul Falvo implored council to avoid a bylaw, during Monday's municipal services committee meeting.
"I think the hazards on a bicycle are different," said Falvo during the presentation.
"I think for a skateboarder, the hazards are the ground and obstacles, but for somebody on a bicycle, the biggest hazard is other motor vehicles. From what I have read about the topic, you can find studies that say pretty much
anything."
Falvo's appeal came after a long line of presenters, including the parents of Josh Hardy, who suffered a fatal head injury during a skateboarding accident last year, asked council to create a bylaw for all "self-propelled" vehicles during the Feb. 27 council meeting.
Falvo said he supports council's direction to administration to conduct further research on a helmet bylaw but would like to see a more "holistic" approach to make biking safer.
This would include developing more bike lanes, encouraging more bike use in the city and addressing safety concerns on Franklin Avenue. If a helmet bylaw was to dissuade even some cyclists, fewer cyclists on the roads would make it more dangerous, Falvo argued.
Administration is to come forward with recommendations concerning the implications of implementing a helmet bylaw at a future committee meeting.
More sidewalks need clearing, group says
Lorraine Hewlett and Lloyd Thiessen of Ecology North's transportation issues committee brought a presentation to city council Monday asking for changes to the city's highway traffic bylaw so that there could be an expansion of the zone which requires residents and businesses to clear snow and ice from sidewalks adjacent to their properties.
Hewlett and Thiessen identified at least 10 key transit corridors between downtown and the Multiplex that Ecology North would like to see added to the list of streets requiring mandatory shovelling.
They include 50 A Avenue, 57 Street, Forrest Drive all the way down to Con Road, and Burwash Drive.
Councillors said they will look at the cost implications of expanding the zone and consider changes for next winter.
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