Last weeks
Time continues to be a whirlwind. In the last few weeks, we’ve past what should have been the Rainmaker Rodeo and the start of the Children’s Festival. Residents are taking all the cancellations in stride, though. My schedule has included:
Virtual Town Hall with Ministers Madu & Tanya Fir and Dr. Hinshaw
I attended this town hall as Deputy Mayor, as Mayor Heron had conflicting meetings. Many municipalities are facing similar challenges in managing the pandemic, and it was interesting hearing how the province intends to support municipalities.
Emergency Management Advisory Committee
We continue to meet weekly, with regular email updates throughout the week. As the province relaxes health orders and provides clarity around expectations, we are slowly opening up parts of city operations.
Legacy Park Development Workshop
There has been quite a bit of interest in the development of this park in the new part of Lacombe Park because it has been discovered that a makeshift bike skills park exists at this location. As such, Council participated in a workshop to get the background information about how decisions about this development were made. (Of note, most of the bumps for biking won’t be impacted by the planned development.)
Homeland Housing
Homeland met for our regular board meeting. The province continues to send new directives to manage the types of homes we operate, so our administrative teams are being kept busy keeping our residents and staff safe.
Environmental Advisory Committee
We met (virtually) for the first time since the health orders were put in place. It was interesting learning about air quality monitoring in the province and I look forward to continuing our engagement on the Environmental Master Plan.
Agenda highlights
Special Public Hearing Process
Earlier this spring, the province changed legislation to allow councils to use virtual public hearings so we could continue with city business while physical distancing restrictions are in place. On Monday, we will formalize our process for managing these hearings. Highlights of the process include a requirement for speakers to register prior to the hearing so that our technical support people can more easily include speakers in our meetings.
Styrofoam Recycling
Last year, we started a styrofoam recycling program at the Mike Mitchell Recycling Depot. Although this program was well-received, we were advised last week that the costs to offer this program are increasing three-fold, from $8,000/year to $39,000 for 2020 and $24,000/year thereafter. Administration is recommending that we terminate the program.
Reinstatement of Transit Fares
Transit fares were put on hold for the last couple months, and administration is now recommending that we reinstate fares starting July 1 to align with City of Edmonton reinstatement of fares. Of note, “enhanced Covid - 19 protection measures may need to be implemented to minimize impact of driver and rider interaction… [and] options are being pursued in collaboration with unions, other service providers both regionally and provincially to meet requirements”.
Riverside Stage 27 Redistricting (2nd and 3rd Reading)
After the 5pm public hearing, we can decide whether to permit certain types of housing (laneway products, duplexes, etc.) in a portion of the Riverside neighbourhood.
Erin Ridge North Public Hearing postponement
The developer has requested a second postponement of this public hearing, originally scheduled for March, then again for June 1. It’s unclear if the City bears the cost for the advertising each time we set a new date, which may play a part in whether we allow a further postponement.
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.
From the City: “While we are in a state of public health emergency as declared by the Province of Alberta, the City of St. Albert Council meetings will be conducted… through the ZOOM platform which will… stream to this page from YouTube…. Members of the public who wish to address Council on a specific item must send an email to legislative@stalbert.ca indicating your desire to speak and including the title of the item on the Agenda that you wish to address.”
