Calgary city council meeting: 3 things to watch

City council has been gearing up for a few weeks for the items on Monday'sagenda.

It has a kind of "get things done" feel to it.Expect council to approve higher fines for negligent vehicle owners who ignore spring cleaning signs on their streets.

Council will also discuss a motion to paint a rainbow crosswalk in front of city hall at Macleod Trail and Eighth Avenue for September's pride week celebrations. There are plenty of other items on the list as well.

1. Secondary suites, again

Council has already given first reading to a proposal to allow secondary suites anywhere in wards 7, 8, 9 and 11, but now itwill discuss giving second and third reading approval. Doing so means secondary suites will be a permitted use in those wards provided applicants meet all rules for the units.

But wait, there's more.

Council will also discuss whether the secondary suites issue should be the subject of a plebiscite. Adding that question to the ballot in the 2017municipal election could cost just under $400,000. There are fears about how to get a clear question for a proper read of Calgarians' wishes. At committee, the administration recommendation to avoid this quagmire was rejected so we'll see what council as a whole wants a plebiscite.

2. E-cigarettes

Councillors voted at committee to add vaping or e-cigarette use to the city's smoking bylaw. This means essentially if you can't smoke tobacco there, you shouldn't be able to vape either.

A sampling of public opinion done by a firm for the city found Calgarians do not support vaping indoors and fear that it could entice young people to try it. A number of municipalities have already gone down this road but it will be up to council to decide if Calgary will follow that path.

3.A new schedule?

According to Coun.PeterDemong's motion, "whereas efficient use of council and administration time is of utmost importance,"he wants to change the time of council meetings. Why yes, there have been some rather lengthy meetings of late.

Currently, meetings run from9:30 a.m. to potentially9:30 p.m., unless council wants to continue even later to finish agenda items. If the agenda isn't completed, then council gathers again the next day at1 p.m. and goes again until9:30 p.m.

Demong's proposal is to go9:30 a.m.to 6 p.m. on the first day and then resume at9:30 a.m.the following day until6 p.m.avoiding the evening sittings. He feels this will save overtime costs and increase efficiency.