Last week:
Thank you everyone for your vote and comments about the smoking bylaw options that we were looking at last week - They helped inform my debate and vote! Council decided to move forward with public engagement before we make any decision about changes (or no changes) to the Smoking bylaw. I look forward to seeing the results in a few months.
All of Council had a marathon evening of meeting with many of the community organizations supported by city grants. It was wonderful hearing firsthand about the successes of the past year and what is planned for the future. Thanks to Mitchif, St. Albert Community Village, St. Albert Housing Society, St. Albert Seniors Association, Victim Services, and CIVC for joining us!
I didn’t manage photos of Council business lat week, but I did take one of my dog, possibly the only St. Albert resident happy about the cool weather.
The Emergency Management Advisory Committee met and heard from Administration about St. Albert’s emergency management plan. I’m impressed with the level of preparedness of our staff, and the commitment of the volunteers that make effective responses possible.
Agenda Highlights:
As discussed last week, we’ll be updating and/or accepting information about the following:
Policing Bylaw: Updates to keep the bylaw in line with the decision in 2017 to start a policing committee.
Games Legacy Policy: Decisions about renaming this grant and creating a funding formula will be delayed until the Community Services Advisory Committee can provide feedback. (Yes, it’s a grant! For amateur athletes and artists!)
Cannabis Consumption Bylaw: I would be surprised if we have anything more to add to this debate. With extensive public consultation and exhaustive debate completed, Council decided to ban recreational cannabis consumption in all public places last month. This is 2nd and 3rd reading of the bylaw.
SDAB Bylaw: As discussed last week, changes to provincial legislation have altered the training requirements for SDAB. This update is to clean up the language of the bylaw and add a budget to cover training expenses.
Assessment Review Board Bylaw: As discussed last week, this is to bring our bylaw in line with new provincial requirements and to add per-diems, in line with compensation for this board in comparable municipalities.
Edmonton Metropolitan Regional Growth Plan Context Statement
In preparation for updating our Municipal Development plan, Admin has prepared a high-level statement to put in context St. Albert’s contribution to regional goals. The report takes into account our regional obligations through the Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board, economic competitiveness, employment, the environment, housing, and transportation. With an expected population of between 90.000 and 118,000 by 2044, St. Albert will have to plan carefully to protect our unique, welcoming, and liveable community. Expect public consultation for MDP development to start soon.
Idle-fee Bylaw
Our current idle-free bylaw prohibits drivers from idling their vehicles between certain mild temperatures for longer than 5 minutes in a 30-minute period. To bring clarity to the bylaw, it’s being proposed that idling be prohibitted for longer than 5 minutes at any time, in any weather. This has been implemented in several Alberta municipalities. There was some concern about the proposal from councillors at our GPF meeting - the impact of having cold interiors in very cold weather, as well as the comfort of those in busses and work vehicles was discussed. I suspect that there will be amending motions proposed if this moves forward. (The motion to look into this was passes in August 2017, so it’s new to this Council.)
Renaming of Akinsdale Arena ($35,000)
We are considering requesting that the Technical Naming Review Panel consider renaming Akinsdale Arena to Jarome Iginla Arena. Jerome Iginla is already on the potential names list that the city maintains; His name is eligible as a name to be used for a municipal building. If we decide to rename the arena, the estimated cost to update signs, promotional material, and way finding is $35,000.
This is a brief high-level overview of highlights from our meeting agenda, with my personal comments sprinkled in - In no way are my opinions representative of the official direction of council or the City of St. Albert. Please let me know of any typos or errors. As always, I also encourage everyone who is able to tune in the the live-stream of the meeting (3pm here) or attend in-person (3rd floor of St. Albert Place, hang a right getting out of the elevator). You can also register to speak if you have information to present to council. Full agenda packages can be found on the stalbert.ca website.