The Rocky Point Park performance stage will be named after Pacific Coast Terminals in exchange for funding to support local musicians.
The 10-year partnership will see PCT provide annual funding of $3,500 for the naming rights to the stage. That money will be in addition to the $5,000 PCT has contributed annually for sponsoring the Summer Sunday Concert Series, which has been an entertainment mainstay since 2007.
In a letter to the city, PCT vice president Ken Catton suggested the money be used to expand performances at the Rocky Point stage, including on Saturdays and evenings, and to help groups with the costs of stage and equipment rental.
In other Port Moody news:
FOOD CARTS TO RETURN
Food carts will be back at Rocky Point Park this summer.
A staff report presented at Tuesday's council meeting showed the food cart vendors and existing businesses (Boathouse Restaurant, Pajo's Fish & Chips and Rocky Point Ice Cream) were happy with last summer's pilot project.
Council agreed to have staff prepare a plan for food carts to operate through July and August on Sundays, during the Summer Sunday Concert Series, and that the merchants be required to provide a financial contribution to the concert series.
Mayor Mike Clay suggested two amendments, including limiting the food carts to two instead of four to reduce crowding and to allow vendors to apply to serve in the park for special events outside the Sunday concert series, both of which were carried.
An amendment from Coun. Rick Glumac to include options for compostable waste diversion was also carried.
CLARKE CYCLING PATH A POSSIBILITY
Port Moody staff will look into the possibility of creating a pedestrian/cycling pathway on the north side of Clarke Street, running parallel to the Evergreen Line.
The pathway would run from Moody to Queens streets, after which it could connect on Vintner Street to connect to the existing Trans Canada Trail on Douglas Street and the commuter path to the Barnet Highway.
Leon Lebrun, vice-president of Trails BC, said such a pathway would significantly increase safety for cyclists along a challenging stretch of road suitable only for skilled cyclists.
Potential challenges, however, include incorporating the path into plans for the Evergreen Line, limited space and possible encroachments onto private property.
Council members supported the idea of a multi-use pathway but agreed they need to know more information about potential costs.
STAFF DEVELOP ACTION PLAN
Port Moody staff will be guided by a new Team Action Plan designed to bring their goals in line with council's strategic priorities and to improve city services.
City manager Kevin Ramsay presented the plan at Tuesday's council meeting, along with 52-page colour brochure detailing various aspects of the plan.
Based on council's 2012 strategic goals, the Team Action Plan promises to streamline processes, improve communications, establish long-term priorities, manage finances strategically and make staff accountable.
By 2015 staff are aiming to improve service excellence, organizational effectiveness, create an extraordinary workplace and become an employer of choice, use sustainable planning and create a nurturing community.
The plan also identifies several strategies to achieve each of those five goals.
Staff will also see some changes in their chain of command. Department directors will now be known as general managers, while managers reporting to them have also been shuffled.
Accountability will come in the form of tracking deliverables for monthly reports on everything from building permits to pipes replaced, garbage diverted and agendas prepared.
CONTRACT AWARDED
Port Moody has awarded the contract for replacing two watermains to Targa Contracting Ltd. at a cost of $293,460.
The Fenwick Place/Wynd and the Eildon Street watermains, both in Glenayre, were built in 1962 and have exceeded their lifespan, according to a staff report.
The projects will include replacing 523 metres of cast-iron watermain, 41 water service connections and two fire hydrants. Area residents will be notified one month and one week before construction begins; the work may require temporary access restrictions to driveways, which would be co-ordinated with owners.
Targa proposed the lowest of nine bids, with the highest coming in at just over $400,000.
Port Moody had allocated $575,000 for the project and will return the unused portion to the water reserve.
WATER PROJECT SCRAPPED
A study to determine whether the city's water system technology could be used to sell electricity back to BC Hydro has been abandoned after the costs to install the necessary equipment outweighed the potential benefits.
The study project was approved in 2011 to determine whether pressure reducing valves (PRVs), which maintain consistent water pressure at lower elevations of the distribution system, could be modified with turbines that would maintain the energy dissipation function while also generating electricity that would be sold back to the grid.
Last February Associated Engineering was contracted to do a preliminary assessment of the city's PRV stations at a cost of about $10,000. Of the top three sites - Guildford, Heritage Mountain and Forest Park Way - Guildford was found to have the greatest energy generation potential.
But a cost/benefit analysis showed the cost of installing the turbine would be just under $350,000; with annual electrical savings amounting to about $2,600 it would take 134 years just to recoup the capital costs.
The remaining project funds of about $328,000 will be returned to the water reserve.
