They oversee a budget of almost $500 million and are called on to make major decisions that affect the future direction of Greater Sudbury.
This year alone, they approved the $62-million biosolids project, and will have a big say on how a casino development of least that size will move forward in the city.
But city councillors are also called on to make far, far more mundane decisions. Such was the case Dec. 4, when members of the hearing committee had to decide whether to uphold a vicious dog notice issued to a canine owner on Regent Street.
Echo, a two-year-old Labrador retriever mix, has taken a particular dislike to a letter carrier who regularly served the street. In his letter, the carrier describes how, whenever he walked past the home, the dog would come at him with such ferocity, the pup’s head would snap back when he reached the end of his chain.
One day, Echo was being walked by a neighbour, who reassured the letter carrier that the pup was a sweet dog.
“As I walked by them, I noticed Echo out of the corner of my eye react to me,” he wrote.
But it was too late. The dog bit the man. The letter carrier complained to the city’s bylaw enforcement department, and the city issued a vicious dog notice to the pup’s owner. On Dec. 4, the committee heard an appeal of the notice by Echo’s owner.
In her defence, the elderly owner said she keeps him primarily for protection, so in a way, he was just doing his job when he bit the letter carrier.
While he barks at strangers, once introduced, she said he becomes docile and friendly with everyone. However, she said Echo was never properly introduced to the letter carrier.
Nonetheless, she said it was, in fact, the letter carrier’s fault for trespassing on her property when he delivered the mail.
“My dog has as much right to be on my property as he does to deliver the mail,” she said. “And my dog is not vicious.”
In fact, she said Echo likes other letter carriers, and she had neighbours in the audience to back up her assertion that the pup is friendly.
Richard Paquette, the city’s animal control officer, said he visited the home, and when he arrived, Echo was aggressive. But once introduced, he became docile.
For his part, the letter carrier said he could have cut off the mail to the house because the walk was never shovelled in winter, and the weeds and grass were uncut in summer. But he didn’t, despite those obstacles and the aggressive dog. And the reward for his efforts was a nasty bite in the leg.
In the end, councillors voted to uphold the notice, which means Echo must be muzzled whenever he’s outdoors, and he can’t go to the city’s dog park, where unleashed dogs are free to roam.
Airport taxi tender almost ready
A lengthy discussion about roads pushed a few items off the agenda at the city’s Dec. 3 operations committee.
Among them was an update on the Greater Sudbury Airport’s plan to try and improve taxi and shuttle service at the airport.
The airport, through the city, is poised to issue a request for proposal to local taxi companies interested in an exclusive contract to serve the airport.
Management at the airport has a few serious issues with current taxi service, including poorly dressed drivers, poor hygiene of some drivers, the aggressive way they compete with one another for passengers, inconsistent fares and the fact that, at times, there are no cabs available at the airport.
Airport officials hope their concerns can be addressed by tendering the work and giving one cab company exclusive rights to serve the airport. A meeting to discuss the tender is set for Dec. 7 between the airport and potential bidders.
However, to award the contract to just one company may require an amendment to the existing taxi bylaw in Sudbury, which grants cab companies rights to work in specific zones across the city. The bylaw was created after amalgamation in 2000.
Before then, cab companies had the right to operate in different communities according to whatever rules the former towns had in place.
The current bylaw allows operators in Zone 1 – the former City of Sudbury – to operate in the old city only, unless the ride ends in the former city or they’re picking up or dropping someone off at the airport.
Cab companies in Zone 2 can operate only outside of the former City of Sudbury, unless fare ends outside of the former city. They also can’t service the airport. Drivers in what’s called Zone 2 + Airport have the same rules as drivers in Zone 2, but are allowed to service the airport.
All of which means the bylaw will have to change if the airport’s plan is to move ahead. Deadline for taxi companies to bid on the contract is Jan. 18, 2013. Officials hope to pick a company by March 29.
Review of fleet of city’s vehicles
Also pushed off the agenda Dec. 3 was a report detailing the state of city vehicles.
Among the report highlights is the fact that, since 2005, the number of city-owned vehicles has declined by 80, to 548 in 2013 from 628 in 2005.
The report also lists the expected lifecycle for various city vehicles, ranging from seven years for light duty, medium duty and hybrid vehicles, to 15 for trailers. Zambonis are expected to last 12 years. The report didn’t include airport, police or fire vehicles.
The number of staff who get to use city-owned vehicles was reduced by six in 2012, with two more reductions planned in 2013. Also notable in the report is a new diesel contract signed this year, which is expected to save the city about $60,000 compared to the old one.
