Last week + Committee Meeting October 11, 2022
Last week highlights
Youth Advisory Committee meeting: It was great seeing the YAC members in person again last week. It was a light agenda this week, but we did get the heads-up that Admin will be recommending that Council have them review the YAC structure and provide recommendations about the future of the committee by mid-2023.
Snow Clearing Workshop: I attended the first part of this workshop about how snow clearing - and snow clearing budgets - is managed. It was an excellent reminder of how decisions about how, where, and when to remove snow is thoughtfully considered - Our staff are considering safety, expected weather events, impact to traffic and infrastructure, environmental impact, and cost in all their decisions. This workshop was also a reminder that climate change - and the expected increase in extreme weather events - will have an impact on the city’s operations and infrastructure.
Fire Prevention Week Open House: It was great seeing this event back up & running after a multi-year break. This year’s open house welcomed residents to the new Fire Hall 1 behind Village Landing at the old transit station location.
Agenda highlights
Advisory Committees Review
To ensure that we our advisory committees are providing the best possible value, Administration is recommending that:
Economic Sustainability (ESAB) is disbanded and replaced with a business forum. “The format proposed for the Business Forum would be a bi-annual, 2-to-3-hour World Café style meeting... For each Forum, Administration would seek to attract and solicit participation from 25-to-50 businesspeople, from different businesses, different industries, and different roles with the relevant experience, expertise, passion and/or connection to the identified topics… A public report, summarizing feedback and insights received, would be produced and made public after the Forum.”
That we stop recruitment for the Seniors Advisory Committee (SAC) and Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) while Admin works with the committees to find a structure that works by Spring 2023. (Of note: The general preference at YAC was that we recruit as usual and have new members participate in the conversation. They also want to ensure that for members with terms expiring this year, terms are extended.)
St. Albert West Area Structure Plan Update
This is an update about the new ASP being planned in the NW. I encourage residents to take part in the related open house on October 19 and stay up-to-date with the project on the city’s Cultivate the Conversation page: https://conversation.stalbert.ca/west-asp
This is a brief and incomplete overview of my activities as a councillor and Council 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.
