PUBLISHED IN PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN JAN 23, 2014Watch Full Movie Online Streaming Online and Download

A $6.2-million plan to double the amount of on-street parking downtown has been added to the city’s future spending program.

City council has directed staff to add the conversion of angle parking on Second, Fifth and Seventh Avenues to the list of unfunded capital projects.

Council was provided with three options as to how the stalls could be put in the downtown core between Vancouver Street and Queensway. The other two options ranged in price between $1 million and $8 million.

The recommended plan would include lane reallocation, angled parking, traffic signal upgrades and the building of bulb-outs.

A “bulb-out” is a round extension of a sidewalk out into an intersection that reduces the distance pedestrians have to cross and allows both pedestrians and drivers to see each other clearly on streets that feature angle parking. Third Avenue currently features numerous bulb-outs.

In addition to additional parking, the change would slow down traffic, lending to fewer and less serious accident, said the report. (more…)

PUBLISHED IN THE PG CITIZEN ON JANUARY 7, 2014

Parking scofflaws will have a little more breathing room after council directed staff to rejig their towing procedure.

Among the updated provisions in the document for on- and off-street parking offenses, staff had set out a direction for vehicles to be towed if they already have one outstanding unpaid parking ticket.

During Monday night’s meeting, members of council felt the regulation was too strict.

“The crux of the matter I have… I think after one ticket and then towing is a little excessive,” said Coun. Cameron Stolz, who presented a successful amendment to the procedure to have that limit raised to two outstanding tickets. (more…)

If the core services review process was the benchmark for 2012 at city hall, then 2013 was dominated by the fallout.

The charge was led by brand new city manager Beth James, who joined the corporation at the beginning of May to replace Derek Bates after his October 2012 departure.

James was a local government neophyte but brought years of experience as a senior executive in provincial government and private sector management consultingto her new role as the city’s chief administrative officer.

James quickly began cleaning house and among the first things to get spruced up was the final core review report from consulting firm KPMG.

Though council had already begun the process of weeding through the ‘opportunities’ laid out by the consultants, staff were tasked with essentially rewriting it to turn it into a workable document, called the core services review implementation plan.

The 120-page tome presented business cases for a plethora of actions from the entirety of the KPMG report, whether they were part of the initial 40 forwarded to the core services review committee, as well as new ideas.

Sticker shock

Following the July 8 meeting to tweak and approve the plan, Prince George residents who may not have been following the process with a fine-tooth comb were caught off guard by some of council’s decisions. (more…)

Sometimes it is required to set the record straight and speak up. I thank Ms. Serup for the good intention and praising me for holding the line on spending. Other comments got a bit distorted because she sent a fax to the paper and through the scanning and following printing process two sentences left a wrong perception.

The paper apologized, which is very much appreciated. For the record, I support a performance arts center. Financing however remains a problem and should not cause an increase in taxes. However, I believe there is a solution.

I support, and have initiated a motion, to limit any tax increase to the cost of living, which was 1.5 per cent last year. It would force administration to develop a tight budget which can be debated at budget deliberation. Balancing user fees is a tricky business and there is the danger that they may be too high for one application and too low for another. Communication with mayor and council is essential because feedback will help to point to wrong decisions.

I follow up with some general comments: we are all in this together. We all like Prince George and want to make it a better place than it is. It is not about one or two groups and it is not about the union, the employers, the businesses, organizations, churches, societies, etc. alone. It has to be a holistic approach when it comes to taxes and fees, etc. as city revenue. With the taxpayer as a shareholder of the city and city hall managing the investment, it is normal the shareholder wants the best bang for the buck. It means the shareholder, taxpayer, is expecting a lean (not mean), efficient and financially-prudent operation that can deliver services that are needed as a return of the investment.

Here it becomes difficult, finding the right equilibrium between taxes and services, as well as long-time investments, like capital projects, etc. Mayor and council, as the board of the operation, are setting the direction, approving the budget (or not) and setting the tax levy.

I believe we can budget tighter and can be even more efficient than we are. It is far too easy to go to the taxpayer, the investor, and ask, no, order, paying more taxes. Yes, everything costs more over time, but the cycle of high tax increases above the cost of living has to stop.

Albert Koehler

P.G. city councillor