Item - 2013.AU10.6

City Council on April 3 and 4, 2013, adopted the following:

1.         City Council request the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards to:

             a.        review and, where appropriate, amend individual and organizational performance objectives particularly those pertaining to emergency complaints;

             b.        develop a quality assurance program to ensure that there is an ongoing review of staff’s performance against objectives; and

             c.        ensure that appropriate action is taken to address performance which does not meet the established standard.

2.         City Council request the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards to:

             a.        develop and document organizational expectations for recording the progress and closure of investigations;

             b.        develop a management oversight process to ensure that policies and procedures and expectations are complied with.  Particular emphasis be placed on the review of all emergency related complaints.  The oversight process include appropriate levels of documentation and evidence of supervisory approval; and

             c.        develop a process to ensure that investigations are assigned to appropriate staff with particular emphasis on reallocating files from staff who are absent for significant periods of time.

3.         City Council request the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards to:

             a.        develop and implement a formal training plan for all Municipal Standards Officers;

             b.        maintain documentation relating to training received for all Municipal Standards Officers; and

             c.        training records be reviewed by management on a regular basis to confirm that all Municipal Standards Officers have received an appropriate level of training.

4.         City Council request the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards to:

             a.        review the ongoing allocation of workload of Municipal Standards Officers with a view to ensuring there is an equal distribution of work load;

             b.        consider changing the current hours of work to correspond better with the times when most owners of properties are available; and

             c.        re-evaluate the requirement for Municipal Standards Officers to physically attend the office at the beginning and end of every shift.

5.         City Council request the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards, in consultation with the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation to determine if tree complaints can be addressed more efficiently.

6.         City Council request the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards to review opportunities to increase the use of standard checklists on remote devices used by Municipal Standards Officers.

7.         City Council request the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards to resolve the current network connectivity problems pertaining to the remote telecommunication devices.

8.         City Council request the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards to report back to Council, as outlined in the 2013 budget request, on the results of the pilot project providing corporate vehicles to Municipal Standards Officers.

9.         City Council request the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards and the Chief Information Officer to enhance the Municipal Licensing and Standards Division billing process for enforcement activities in a manner that ensures such information is readily available to enforcement staff.  Such enhancements to ensure:

a.         billings are done on a timely basis;

b.         billings are complete and accurate;

c.         billing information is readily available in IBMS; and

d.         the process is automated to increase efficiencies.

10.       City Council request the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards, in consultation with the City Solicitor, to make the necessary changes to the Municipal Code to allow for the waiving of fees where appropriate.

11.       City Council request the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards to ensure that re-inspection fees are billed to property owners as required by the Municipal Code.

12.       City Council request the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards to establish adequate policies, procedures to ensure recovery of remedial costs incurred by the City.

13.       City Council request the Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer to clarify with divisional staff the requirement to report all account write-offs to City Council.