The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind, especially with new restrictions added by the province relating to the pandemic. Updates to St. Albert’s response can be found on our website.
Last weeks
Annual Council Meeting with Policing Committee
It was interesting meeting with our volunteer Policing Committee - We will likely make this an annual event. This group was great with their cooperation in moving this meeting virtual to comply with recommendations from the province to keep meetings virtual if possible. Of note, please check out the new online crime reporting tool: https://stalbert.ca/city/eps/rcmp/online-crime-reporting/
New York Botanical Gardens Webinar
This was a fascinating webinar, titled FIRST NATIONS: ETHICAL LANDSCAPES, SACRED PLANTS, and touched on the relationship we have with food and natural medicines. It included two speakers/researchers with roots in Alberta.
Agenda Planning Committee
As the new chair of our Community Living Standing Committee, I’ll be attending this meeting every week prior to a Council or Committee meeting. Administration has their hands full scheduling our packed Budget and Council meetings over the next few weeks.
Budget Public Participation - World Cafe Discussions
I attended one of two discussions facilitated by an external consultant to hear the thoughts of residents about City priorities and our upcoming budget. It’s always valuable attending and reading the consultant reports from these closed sessions because they provide a snapshot into the thoughts of a diverse group of residents who we don’t typically hear from.
Council MDP Workshop
Council had the opportunity to touch-base with Administration about our new Municipal Development Plan, which will guide St. Albert’s development for the next couple decades.
Civic Agencies Interviews
Every year, Council interviews residents who have volunteered to sit on one of our many advisory committees and boards. This year was a bit strange because I chose to attend virtually, as did many of the residents. Even through a virtual platform, it was wonderful spending the day speaking with residents who are passionate about serving their community.
Agenda highlights
Rapid Housing Initiative Grant (min $1M)
There is an opportunity to apply for federal funding that could support our proposed Youth Transitional Housing proposal. Council will likely direct administration to pursue a partnership with another organization so that we can apply before the year-end deadline . “This program is targeted towards the creation of 3,000 new permanent affordable housing units, specifically for vulnerable people experiencing severe housing needs, at risk of or experiencing homelessness, or living in temporary shelters because of the COVID -19 pandemic.”
Youth Ride Free Transit Program ($4,200)
“The Students Ride Free [pilot] Program aims to encourage youth to ride transit and become lifelong customers.” With 84,000 trips between March 2019 and October 2020, it has been a success. Administration is recommending that we transition the pilot program for youth riding local transit for free to a permanent service level. This is expected to reduce our revenue by about $4,200 in 2021 and twice that in subsequent years if ridership increases to pre-pandemic levels.
(I’m so supportive of this recommendation that I made a budget motion to do the same before I knew Admin was making this proposal! I would be surprised if this didn’t pass unanimously.)
Transit Replacement Budget (+$754,000)
Council is being asked to increase the budget for this previously approved project. “The Transit Replacement budget of $4,040,000 includes the replacement of five 60 foot diesel busses. During the competitive procurement process the cost to acquire the five busses exceeded the budget by $754,000.”
SAIF Funding ($75,000)
This is a Council motion to provide an additional $75,000 in funding in 2021 for the Stop Abuse in Families (SAIF) Organization.
The Community Services Advisory Committee, supported by the Community Living Standing Committee, has also recommended that SAIF receive $41,000 from our FCSS grant program and $42,800 from our Outside Agency Operating Grant program - These recommendations will be heard by Council later in the month.
Natural Burials ($20,000?)
I’ve been hearing for many years that residents want a burial option that doesn’t have the high environmental impact of modern internment or cremation.
Right now, the only option that I’m familiar with that doesn’t have a significant environmental impact is heading to Lethbridge where natural burials are permitted. Edmonton is in the planning stages of offering this option at Northern Lights and South Haven cemeteries. When I inquired about the option of natural burials in St. Albert a while ago, Admin advised that they would present a revised cemetery bylaw in Q3 2020. With Q3 come and gone, I added this to our schedule through Council motion to hopefully get it moving.
Administration has proposed three options for how permitting natural burials can be achieved locally, with my preferred option being to “Proceed with green burial option, including bylaw revision, including naturalization of NW corner at cost of $20,000 but do not seek designation as a provider from Green Burial Society of Canada [and] Provide communal marker [for] $20,000.” The first $20,000 would be spent in 2021, and the second in 2024 when we’re ready to offer this service. The whole backgrounder is very well-done for anyone interested in knowing more.
This is a brief and incomplete 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.