City council rejected a proposal to allow alcohol to be consumed in the general seating of CN Centre, Monday.
Currently liquor can be consumed in the Lower Concourse (Ice Lounge), private suites, meeting rooms, designated sections of the main concourse and floor area of cabaret shows. City staff estimated, based on the experience of similar-sized arenas, it would increase revenue for CN Centre by 175 per cent after the cost of additional security.
“We’ve dared to be different and not serve alcohol (in the stands) at CN Centre,” coun. Don Bassermann said. “We have lots of young people in the stands. I’ve consistently opposed alcohol in the stands.”
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For example, the suggestion to lower service levels for snow removal was vetoed unanimously by council.
Another suggestion, however, to lower the number of councillors representing the citizen’s of the city from eight to six will be discussed further.
“Council is not making decisions today,” Mayor Shari Green, who chairs the select committee on the core services review, pointed out Friday before KPMG presented its final report.
Rather, the committee members along with the rest of council who attended the meeting perused chapters five through 13 in the report, deciding which suggestions could be acted on readily and therefor would be forwarded for further discussion at the Nov. 14 committee of the whole meeting.
Whether the tax increase to fix roads was sufficient or not, I can’t say, because I don’t know exactly how the money was spent. What I can say is that the roads are not fixed!
Potholes, cracks, and crumbling shoulders/sidewalks are visible all over the city. We need to look at what other jurisdictions with similar winter conditions (eg: Edmonton, Calgary) do for their roads, what percentage of tax dollars they spend on them, what technologies they’re using. Our roads and sidewalks are unsafe, and result in injury from falls for cyclists, pedestrians, and seniors in scooters. Our roads are too rough, causing damage to vehicle suspensions, and result in tremendous costs to automobile owners in repairs. Our roads need more than just surface repaving or patching. They need to be reconsidered in terms of use, types of traffic, routing, and engineering issues (base and sub-grades).
Property taxes in the City of Prince George will be increasing by 3.98 per cent this year, following council’s approval of the city budget on Wednesday.
The total tax levy for 2010 will total $73.54 million, up from $69.87 million in 2009. For an average home, valued at $209,060, the increase will mean an additional $58.37 in property taxes.
The city’s total operational budget for 2010 will be $118.19 million. The budget excludes the city’s water, sewer and garbage collection services which are funded by user fees.
Only four service enhancements, totaling $390,937, were approved by council this year. Of the 3.98 per cent tax increase, 3.11 per cent was a result of increase operating costs and 0.31 per cent by a $215,000 to the road rehabilitation levy.
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