Tuesday marks our first committee day since the pandemic response started. We’ll be meeting again through Zoom.
CLSC Agenda Highlights (9:30am)
Housing Affordability and Accessibility Implementation Plan (~$264,000/year)
At the direction of Council, Admin has created a plan to address housing affordability and accessibility. The proposed plan in its entirety can be read here. If the CLSC supports this plan, we will recommend that it be approved by Council. Admin is proposing that we invest $4/resident/year in this program. The bulk of this plan centres around an incentive/investment program that would invest based on the following divisions:
“40% - Social housing programs to assist with housing stability and affordability for vulnerable populations.
50% - Capital housing investments to assist with reducing housing development costs (community housing, affordable rental, attainable home ownership, and accessible housing initiatives), and leveraging additional funding from other sources.
10% - Affordable housing preservation funding to assist with regeneration and preservation of existing affordable housing units.”
Proposed activities in the program, proposed to be funded through property taxes, include:
“Development Incentive Programs – provides specific funding to developments that align with desired municipal objectives such as accessibility, rental housing, downtown development, energy efficiency, or affordability.
Homeownership Programs - shared equity or down payment assistance grants, or deferred land purchase measures to assist first time homebuyers.
Property tax abatements for a defined period as a development incentive,
Municipal fee rebates for projects supporting an affordability component as a development incentive.
Family friendly multi-family housing incentives.
Renewable Energy Development Incentives – district energy systems, passive solar building design, net zero ready building systems.
Energy generation incentives to reduce operational costs and provide an alternative revenue source.
Energy efficient construction incentives to reduce the carbon footprint and improve building performance.
Partnership commitments to community service spaces.”
On a related note, we will be considering proposals to develop affordable housing units on a city-owned site later this month.
CGISC agenda highlights (1:30 pm)
10-year RMR Plans (Municipal + Utility)
The plans being proposed for RMR, the “repair, maintenance, and replacement” of capital assets like roads, buildings, pipes, parks, etc. are based on current service level standards. For 2021, Admin is proposing a Municipal RMR budget of $23.4M (down $2M from last year’s plan) and $19M for Utilities. The budgets for municipal projects are paid for through Provincial/Federal grants, City reserves that we’ve set up for this purpose, and pay-as-you-go funds set up through our capital funding strategy. Utility RMR is funded through reserves.
The only project that surprised me was a recommendation to bump the start of the Sturgeon Reservoir and Pump Station replacement program from 2021 to 2022 - The most recent recommendations for this ‘50’s-to-’70’s-era reservoir seem to imply that replacement is fairly urgent. I ask admin about the reasons for this new recommendation.
Front-Back Residential Combined Units
Last year, Council directed Admin to prepare amendments to the Land Use Bylaw so that front-back residential units would be permitted. If Committee is satisfied with the proposed changes, Council will consider first reading and schedule a public hearing later in the year. This is an example of a front-to back duplex in Edmonton, with one unit’s garage in the front and the second unit’s in the back off a lane.
P3 Policy
Last year, Council directed Admin to create a policy relating to community facility partnerships. Admin is recommending that we amend the current Public Private Partnership (P3) policy to achieve that goal.
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.”
