MOTIONS GO BEFORE COUNCIL

Two notices of motion were issued during Monday night's city council
meeting - one related to freedom of information requests and the other
aimed at combatting grow-ops.

On freedom of information requests, Coun. Brian Skakun wants council
members to be able to obtain information sought under such requests
free of charge.

The notice of motion comes after Skakun found he'll have to pay the
city $531 for 1,784 pages on the deal to build a parkade for the city
as part of constructing the Chances Good Time Community Gaming Centre
at Sixth and Quebec.

Skakun also wants the city to develop a policy on the item, something
Mayor Dan Rogers said he'll rule out of order when the item comes up
at the Oct. 19 council meeting because that's beyond the council's
authority and instead set out in provincial government
legislation.

Skakun was not at Monday's meeting.

On combatting grow-ops, Coun. Cameron Stolz and Coun. Dave Wilbur have
submitted a joint resolution calling for an team of fire fighters,
police and electrical inspectors to investigate homes with unusually
high electricity consumption, a common sign of a grow op.

If the residence was found to be a hazard, or an inspection was not
permitted in a reasonable time, power is shut down and a permit and an
inspection by the electrical inspector would be required before power
is restored.

In 2005, a 90-day pilot project in Surrey led to power being shut off
to 119 homes as a result of the increased risk of fires associated
with marijuana grow-ops.