Halifax regional council will tackle a number of controversial issues at today's council meeting before holding a public hearing on changes to the city's garbage system.

The other issues before council this week: relocating the Africville Park dog park, extending voting rights, and bike licences.

Dog parks

Staff with the Halifax Regional Municipality say a fenced, off-leash dog park on the Halifax Mainland Common should be created by the end of this month.

At the same time, the current off-leash area at Africville Park will be closed.

New voting rights

In August, Mayor Mike Savage proposed giving municipal voting rights to all permanent residents who have lived in Halifax for at least three months. No Canadian city currently permits non-citizens to vote, although several municipalities are discussing the idea.

Savage asked city staff to investigate the possibility and prepare a report.

Now, that proposal needs council support before it can get approval from the province.

Bike licences

Coun. Gloria McCluskey wants staff to investigate the idea of licensing all cyclists who are 18 and older. She has said both Halifax and Dartmouth used to issue licences and it could help enforce the rules of the road.

The idea has been panned by many avid cyclists in the city.

Garbage overhaul

The first round of proposed changes to the Halifax Regional Municipality's garbage rules will be part of a public hearing Tuesday evening.

The recommendations include:

Eliminating boxboard from the compost bin and recycling it with paper products.

Reducing the maximum number of garbage bags allowed at the curb every two weeks from six to four.

Requiring three out of four garbage bags to be clear. Only one black privacy bag would be allowed.

No longer picking up leaves if they are in orange plastic bags. They must be in the compost bins or in large, paper bags.

If Halifax regional council approves the changes, the new rules will take effect in early April.

Several other controversial proposals for the Otter Lake Landfill are not yet ready for a public hearing. Staff and a community monitoring committee have been discussing the ideas for several months.

A report was originally supposed to be ready in October but an extension was granted. The results are expected to go to regional council on Dec. 9.