Last week
St. Albert Housing Society Board Meeting: Council members were invited to a SAHS board meeting. This was an interesting glimpse into the activities of one of the groups supported through our Outside Agency grant program.
Renaming and Removal: Public Memory in Public Spaces: This was a panel discussion about “the complex issues around renaming public space in the city” , moderated by Senator Simons. I appreciated the thoughtful discussion about the impacts of names of public places, and the policies that we should consider going forward as we choose names for our parks, streets, and neighbourhoods.
Agenda highlights
Wild North Funding Request
The Community Living Standing Committee is recommending to Council that $10,000 be awarded to Wild North in recognition of the services they provide in St. Albert. A more permanent funding solution will be considered later this year through a grant review process.
Borrowing Bylaw - Range Road 260 & Lakeview Business District ($25M) - 2nd/3rd readings
This bylaw is “to secure financing to provide servicing to the land donated by Rohit which has been designated by the City as the future community amenities site”. The estimated cost for this project is just over $25M, but we have also secured a $5M grant from the province in support of this project. The extra funding is to allow for a 5% contingency for the project.
Traffic Bylaw Amendments ($230,000)
My post last week was a bit misleading - I listed the engineering recommendations, not the final recommendations for changes to speed limits, etc. Sorry! The Community Infrastructure Standing Committee has recommended changes that include:
SCHOOL & PLAYGROUND ZONES
Do not convert school zones to playground zones.
Establish a Time of Day for Playground Zones Daily 8 am – 8 pm, from April 1 to October 31
Remove the existing playground zones on Deerbourne Drive (south) & Forest Drive
Maintain the playground zone on Attwood DriveIncrease posted speed from 50 km/h to 60 km/h at the following segments:
Bellerose Dr: Evergreen Dr to N Limit
Sir Winston Churchill Ave: Levasseur Rd to Riel Dr
Dawson Rd: Giroux Rd to McKenney Ave
Sturgeon Rd: Beacon Cres (S) to Boudreau Rd
Sir Winston Churchill Ave: Poirier Ave to N Limit
Poirier Ave: Sir Winston Churchill Ave to Campbell RdIncrease posted speed from 60 km/h to 70 km/h on Meadowview Dr from RR 260 to the west limit.
SLOW ZONE (30 KM/H) REMOVAL
Recommend removal of the existing 30 km/h zones:
Cunningham Rd: South of Sycamore to Stanley Dr
Sturgeon Road: Burns St to Bishop St
Mission Ave: South of Malmo Ave to North of St Vital Ave
Meadowview Dr; west of RR tracks
Grosvenor Blvd: Gaylord Pl to south of Grenfell Ave
Grenfell Ave: Gatewood Ave to Greenwhich Cres
Residents who wish to address Council about these changes can register to speak for February 16, 2021.
Code of Conduct Complaints
Three Formal Complaints have been received alleging that three members of Council breached Sections 7(c) and 7(d) of the Council Code of Conduct Bylaw by traveling out of St. Albert, in one case to another Canadian province in July 2020, in the second case to another Alberta municipality in October 2020, and in the third case to another country over the recent holiday period. The Council members in question have confirmed that they traveled to those places at those times. They have not acknowledged that their travel constitutes a breach of the identified provisions of the Code of Conduct.
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. Members of the public can also register to speak if they have information to present to council. Full agenda packages can be found on the stalbert.ca website.
