2022 has already been a whirlwind. On a personal note, I lost my grandmother in the last days of 2021, then we lost our loyal dog of 13.5 years in the first days of the new year. We then welcomed a new puppy to the family from a wonderful rescue organization. We’ve been challenged by the new year, but I’m excited about what’s to come.
Last weeks
Emergency Management Advisory Committee Meeting: The EMAC met to discuss the covid situation. Admin shared plans regarding ensuring services are maintained through pressures due to staff absences, and we heard from Dr. Sikora at AHS about response, challenges, and opportunities. His answers to all my questions were excellent and his answer about mask effectiveness was the best I’ve heard,.
CAO search: Each member of Council met with our recruiter to discuss the search for St. Albert’s next Chief Administrative Officer/City Manager. The posting is now released, and I look forward to this exciting opportunity to recruit a CAO that will help St. Albert thrive in the years to come.
Homeland Housing: Homeland met for our regular board meeting, and I continue to meet with the CEO weekly. Our most pressing challenges right now relate to ensuring staffing levels through the challenges of covid outbreaks.
Policing Committee Meeting with Council: It was great to “meet” with member of our Policing Committee to discuss policing priorities and concerns. I’m particularly impressed with the impact of having a Public Complaints Director to assist with resident concerns about policing. Other areas of discussion included the high level of satisfaction for policing in St. Albert based on satisfaction surveys, and concerns about services and costs should the province move ahead with a plan for a provincial police service.
Alberta Municipalities (AM): AM, the organization representing municipalities in Alberta, hosted a session on the provincial plan to move away from RCMP services towards a provincial force. I’ve never seen so many municipalities aligned in their concerns about a provincial proposal. Although AM does not have a public document outlining our engagement strategy with the province (as far as I know), the Rural Municipalities Association released a guide that is very closely aligned with AM.
Autism CanTech: I met with an old colleague who now works for Norquest helping train and place students who have autism in employment opportunities. If you know any youth 18-30 or businesses who might benefit from this program, please reach out:
Agenda highlights
Environmental Initiatives Grant
Both the resident volunteer Environmental Advisory Committee and the Community Living Standing Committee have recommended that the following grants be awarded:
BLESS -Big Lake Environment Support Society ($2,250) - For an animal pocket-sized guide.
Braeside Neighbourhood Garden ($5,000)
Lacombe Park Garden ($5,000)
Friends of Leo Nickerson ($5,000) - To purchase trees in the LN park.
Riverlot 56 ($2,662) - Naturalization project in partnership with William Cuts School.
Indigenous Relations Committee
The Community Living Standing Committee has recommended that Council direct Admin to create a bylaw to create this committee, in line with recommendations with a previous report. This was not a unanimous recommendation, so I’m curious to understand reasons for objections to following this recommendation from Indigenous partners.
Pilot Waste to Energy Project
Admin is recommending that we rescind our plans to explore a pilot waste-to-energy system. In 2019, Council approved $1M for this project pending results of partnership explorations, grant funding, etc. The results of initial exploration indicate that there is insufficient support provincially and federally for this kind of project, and that the scale required to make a facility financially viable is not possible without larger partners. If this passes, the budget less expenses ($56,000) will be unallocated and made available to other projects.
MDP Update - Annexed Lands (1st reading)
This amendment to our Municipal Development Plan (MDP) will bring in annexed lands to our MDP map. The public hearing for this change will be scheduled for May 16, 2022. To align with provincial legislation, this change must be approved by the Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board prior to finalization.
Cherot ASP (2nd & 3rd readings)
This is to finalize the approvals for lands west of Ray Gibbon Drive and north of the old McKenney Ave to allow for residential development. This will be an exciting neighbourhood, particularly once the city is able to develop recreation facilities nearby.
Active Communities Funding Request ($?)
This is a motion brought forward by a member of Council to consider funding a covered outdoor skating rink & summer recreation surface in the park behind Paul Kane School. The proposed private facility would be on land leased from St. Albert Public Schools for 35 years and the land would be returned to district after that time. The current proposal would allow the school to use the facility during set hours at no cost. I’m unsure what the cost to members of the public and community groups would be to access this proposed facility. The motion requests that Admin consider a request from AC only after an independent financial review is completed and $3M in funding is committed from other sources. The City is also finishing a recreation needs assessment that will be presented to Council in a few months - I’m unsure where refrigerated ice will fall on our prioritization list. I may propose an amendment to the motion to require public engagement prior to any City review of the request.
(Of note, Council decided not to move forward with a project to convert one of our existing rinks to a covered refrigerated surface, like what is being proposed here, in 2020. That decision was based on “site assessment and feasibility was evaluated… using 20+ criteria including parking, safety, available utilities, other park amenities, etc.” and resident feedback. The feedback from residents at that time was resoundingly opposed to the project due to concerns about need, increased congestion, etc.)
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. Residents can register to speak if they have information to present to council. Full agenda packages can be found on the stalbert.ca website.
