Last weeks + Regular Council Meeting May 31, 2021
Last weeks highlights
Election announcement
It has been a privilege to serve the City of St. Albert over the last four years. I'm now excited to announce that I am seeking re-election for the 2021-2025 term. St. Albert is my home, it is where I chose to raise my children, and I am committed to ensuring that our community thrives for decades to come. We have significant challenges to address over the next term, and I'm confident that St. Albert will shine as we move toward our future. I will continue to provide overviews of Council and my activities on this web page, but will be posting election-related activities and comments on an Election Information page. Please mark your calendars for October 18!
Emergency Management Advisory Committee Meeting (May 3 & upcoming)
One of the big focuses of our last EMAC meeting was the challenge of enforcement of Health Orders. Our next meeting, scheduled for next Thursday, will address the new Orders and how they impact municipal operations and an update on our currently-dormant mask bylaw.
Homeland Housing
Our regular board meeting was last week, which included an update on federal grant opportunities for affordable housing. We also heard about a small fire in one of our facilities, which was handled quickly with minimal disruption to our residents - Reminder: Ovens are not meant for storage! I am also sitting on Homeland’s Governance and Priorities Committee, which has been tasked with ensuring board policies are up-to-date and meaningful prior to new members joining after the fall election.
Planning Forward Setting the Context Public Engagement Session
“Severe provincial cuts to municipal funding are incoming, and even the most well-prepared municipality is in for a rough ride.”
-St Albert Gazette Editorial, March 10, 2021
The City is hosting a series of engagement events to solicit feedback and suggestions about how St. Albert can address the challenges that we’re facing in terms of changes to how we are supported by higher levels of government. I attended one of these events and heard many excellent recommendations from our residents about how St. Albert can remain sustainable and thrive. Please visit the City’s site about this project for more information or to provide feedback.
Arts Advisory Committee Meeting
This month’s regular meeting included a presentation from Night of Artists Phil Alain, as well as an opportunity for the committee to refine feedback regarding a Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts policy.
Agenda highlights
Our spring schedule is so heavy that we’ve added two meetings in the next couple weeks. Monday’s meeting will be another long one. We continue to exclusively meet virtually, but I suspect this will change when the Work-from-home Health Order is lifted mid-June.
Council Remuneration Policy
This set of motions is to update the salaries that became effective April 1 (based on the Edmonton CPI value at December 31, 2020, +0.7% - and based on 2019 salaries because we declined an increase last year), to clarify when a remuneration committee will be established (the last one was in 2016), and to clarify expectations regarding conflicts of interest & third-party interactions related to reimbursements. As I mentioned in a post about reimbursement and time commitment, there is a significant gap between the 2016 recommendations and today’s reality - This is particularly important for candidates to understand because the full-time commitment and flexibility required of councillors is not currently reflected in our policies.
Erin Ridge North ASP (1st reading)
This motion is to set the Public Hearing date for proposed changes to the density distribution in Erin Ridge North to June 21, 2021.
Midwifery Practice - 32 Akins Drive (1st reading)
This motion is to set the public hearing date of June 21, 2021 for a proposed redistricting of a property just across from the 7-11 from a residential use to a Direct Control use, so that Council could permit the operation of a birthing centre out of this home.
“The hours of operation would be from Monday to Friday from 9-11am and 2-5pm with 2 people at the clinic: a midwife and an office administrator. Each midwife has their own assigned day and sees one client at a time, approximately every 30 minutes. The usual client load is from 4 to 10 clients in a day. Occasional weekend operation may be scheduled but only if the client plans to use the space for a birth on the weekend. The practice expects to attend to up to 40 deliveries in a year, from 0 to 2-3 births in a month. There are not expected to be frequent births at the centre as birthing parents often choose their own homes as the place to give birth. Parking for staff will utilize the double attached garage, leaving the driveway available for clients to park. As the client load is one at a time no adverse parking affects are anticipated for the neighborhood.”
Land Use Bylaw - Downtown District (1st Reading)
This motion is to set the public hearing date of June 21, 2021 for proposed changes to the downtown district, “to provide clarity to the finite measurement of building height and calculation of parking in the Downtown”. The proposal is to “change the labelling of heights listed in the legend from storeys to metres... [and] to provide greater clarity for the type of development existing and proposed in the Downtown”.
Hen Bylaw
This proposed update to our urban hen bylaw is to increase the maximum number of hens in a backyard flock from 4 to six. This update stems from discussions related to health of urban flocks.
Sign Bylaw (2nd & 3rd reading)
This public hearing and proposed 2nd/3rd reading is to “increas[e] portable sign permit validity duration, therefore reducing the requirement to re-apply for a portable sign permit from every 90 days to every 180 days, and to… [increase] the fee for portable signs… from $161 per sign to $260 per sign”.
Map 3 - MDP Amendment
This motion is to propose changes to our Municipal Development Plan, to change an area along Meadowview Drive from a commercial area to Open Spaces. As this is privately-owned land, public engagement would be required for a change, as would approval from the Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board. This would also significantly increase servicing costs on the other side of Meadowview, which could “deter economic development”. Administration suggests that the ASP process, rather than an MDP ammendment, would provide opportunity to “address environmental considerations such as setbacks, development standards and mitigation measures. It will also outline the limits of Environmental Reserve (ER) and any Municipal Reserve (MR) that the City wishes to acquire, including lands along Carrot Creek. The ASP will also address and outline trail connections in keeping with the conceptual maps included in the Red Willow Park West Master Plan”. Admin also provided a high-level estimate of the cost purchasing these lands ($16M).
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.
