It’s back. Tuesday will see the return of Halifax Regional Council after the last meeting saw a lengthy debate that resulted in council voting to revisit a smoking ban.
This edition of council doesn’t look to be as jam-packed as the last one but there’s still plenty for those interested in municipal politics.
Here is what’s heading to regional council on August 14.
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Halifax Forum renovation
The Halifax Forum may receive a much-needed facelift.
Council is set to vote on a municipal staff report directing staff to prepare preliminary plans for the renovation of the entire forum complex.
As the facility, which was first constructed in 1926, is considered a heritage property, the report says that the renovations pose unique challenges to the municipality.
“As expected for a building constructed in 1927, requires substantial work to bring it up to current Building Code and meet standards for accessibility, functionality and energy efficiency,” the report reads.
If the motion is passed by council, the renovation of the arena is budget for approximately $60 million, with construction scheduled to last until the end of the 2022 fiscal year.
WATCH: Halifax Green Network
Councillors to debate Green Network Plan
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Councillors are set to debate the municipality’s long-awaited Green Network Plan — a document that would amend the municipality’s regional plan, and help map out where property development should and shouldn’t happen in order to preserve open spaces throughout the municipality.
The massive document spans more than 100 pages and recommends a total of 79 actions needed to “effectively support” the plan’s vision, goals and objectives.
If passed, municipal planning staff and councillors would be able to refer to the Green Network Plan when making decisions on re-zoning applications.
The Green Network Plan dates back to a 2014 decision by regional council, which sought to create a plan to “protect and preserve connectivity between natural areas and open space lands.”
This topic may provoke interesting debate as the adoption of the document could have long-reaching effects on future actions taken by council.
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University homecoming noise exemptions
Halifax Regional Council is set to host a trio of public hearings on Tuesday, two of which pertain to noise exemption requests for orientation events at Dalhousie University and University of King’s College.
These normally pass without incident but this year could be different.
Last year saw a backlash against Dalhousie University after 22 people were arrested during Dalhousie homecoming parties.
While the parties were not official events, Dalhousie was forced to do damage control, hosting a public meeting with police, municipal authorities and neighbours to discuss the drunken parties that saw hundreds of students fill residential streets in the city’s north end.
Although the hearings apply to a series of official events hosted by each university’s student union, the debate could turn lively due to the fallout from last year.
The first public hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m.
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Gottingen Street bus corridor
The hotly contested Gottingen Street bus corridor is headed to regional council.
Last month, the transportation standing committee voted to move the report to council and it lands on councillors’ desks for debate this Tuesday.
With the heavy transit volume and parked cars on the narrow street, Gottingen was identified as a choke point for transit in the integrated mobility plan.
The Gottingen Street Transit Priority Corridor plan was created to address the issue.
The plan is to transform Gottingen Street into three lanes, one of which will be a dedicated bus lane.
Parking will be removed on the west side of the street although concerns have been raised over how this will impact business in the area.
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