Last week + Regular Council Meeting June 17, 2019
Last week highlights
Douglas Cardinal lecture at the Art Gallery of Alberta
Douglas Cardinal (the architect responsible for the St. Albert Place design) gave an inspiring presentation last week. He spoke of the importance of urban design, how we should be working with nature and as part of nature, how respect for people and nature is a cornerstone of good planning, how we should slow down to listen and observe... His comments on how we should be making our decisions today based on the best interests of generations to come struck an especially strong chord with me.
For anyone interested, Douglas Cardinal Architects Inc. is featured in the Cul-de-Sac exhibition in the Poole Centre of Design at the AGA through August 18. I haven't seen this yet, but I look forward to checking it out.
Opening of the St. Albert Farmer’s Market
Most of Council came out to celebrate the official start to market season - It was great seeing a packed market Saturday morning!
Arbor Day 2019
This year marks my second year addressing grade-1 students at our annual Arbor Day celebration, and it was especially special for me this year because my youngest daughter was taking part. Thanks to the staff, volunteers, and schools who make this celebration of our urban forests possible!
Agenda highlights
Everything is on consent so far (so we won’t debate/ask questions unless a member of Council pulls an item from Consent), which will make for a quick public portion of the meeting:
Community Capital Grant Recommendations ($250,000 + $90,789)
The Community Services Advisory Committee has recommended that the following organization be awarded a grant for capital projects under the budgeted $250,000:
Friends of Leo Nickerson School Enhancement Society for the playground replacement project. ($60,000)
Friends of Neil M Ross School Society for the playground replacement project. ($60,000)
Lo-Se-Ca Foundation for the expansion and renovation of their facility. ($85,000)
Society of Friends for the St. Albert Botanic Park for irrigation and fencing. ($6,000)
St. Albert and District Community League for replacement of HVAC system and insulation upgrades. ($38,000)
St. Albert Tennis Club for the keypad entry system. ($1,000)
Council will also consider a 1-time grant of $90,789 above the budgeted funds to support upgrades to the ammonia system. If this item doesn’t stay on consent, I would guess that it’s for questions about this item. (Facilities across the country have been upgrading their ammonia systems since the deaths of ice rink workers in Fernie a couple of years ago.)
Athlete and Artist Development Grant
These grants are for amateur athletes and artists participating in big events to help cover costs of travel, etc.:
“Total funds for the St. Albert Athlete and Artist Development Grant for 2019 are $38,600. If the recommendations contained within this report are supported and $14,879 is awarded, then $23,721 will be left for disbursement for the fall intake in 2019.”
Approval of 10 Year Municipal ($39,571,700) & Utility RMR ($11,622,500) Plans
We’ve already discussed the repair-maintain-replace plans at our Governance Priorities and Finance Committee meeting, and the only change was to bump up replacement of some light at the Arden a year earlier, so I’m not expecting this to be contentious.
Ray Gibbon Drive Borrowing Bylaw (1st Reading) ($36.6M)
We’ll advertise a public hearing for 2nd/3rd reading of this bylaw - that’s when questions/debate will occur. If it passes 3rd reading, the city will borrow to get the Ray Gibbon project started.
This is a brief high-level overview of our meetings, 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.
