Last week highlights
Council Workshop: Recreation & Parks - Corporate Grant Review: Staff reviewed the grants and grant processes that we offer at the city and they presented their findings and recommendations last week. At this workshop, Council had the opportunity to provide feedback on our go-forward approach. Right now, grants and associated processes are all over the place - some are approved by Administration, others go through a committee of Council before being approved by Council, and there is no explicit connection to grants or grant amounts to our overall strategy. My hope is that this review process will help us create a system that is easier to understand and administer, and is more responsive to community need.
Homeland Housing: My meeting with the CEO & Vice-Chair provided an update on covid in our facilities (it’s slowly improving), the status of our external audit (almost done), and confirming plans for our board orientation later this month.
CLSC Agenda Highlights
Community Satisfaction Survey Results
Every couple of years, the city conducts a satisfaction survey to gauge satisfaction with various services offered by the municipality. The 2021 results show that “nearly all respondents (96%) reported that their overall quality of life in St. Albert is either “good” or “very good.” On taxation satisfaction and strategy:
“When asked about their preference for the next five years, just over half (51%) of homeowners say they would prefer to keep their tax bill at the current level even if it results in some services being reduced. Close to a third would prefer to maintain service levels and pay more taxes (29%). Only 1 percent of homeowners prefer enhancing service levels resulting in a significant tax increase…
Those who opt for a tax freeze strategy for the next five years are willing to accept a reduction in the following services: Cultural services (56%), Indigenous Truth & Reconciliation (50%), Library services (39%)”
This year, Council’s first strategic planning session of the term is planned for the next couple weeks, so I suspect the feedback received in this survey will inform the direction we take. The top priorities suggested by residents in this survey are something to consider:
CGISC Agenda highlights
E-Scooter Update
E-scooter rentals were introduced to St. Albert last fall through a pilot program that is scheduled to wrap up at the end of 2022. The update report shows that there were about 330 e-scooters deployed and about 12,000 trips that averaged 2.5km in length. About half the feedback received was not supportive of the program, another 40% was mixed, and 10% was supportive. The most common concerns about the program relate to aesthetics/parking of the scooters and safety on trails. Normally, the committee would accept this report as information, but we also have the opportunity to recommend to Council that we modify or terminate the pilot - It’ll be an interesting discussion!
Neighbourhood Plan Approval Process
A Neighbourhood Plan is one of the documents that guide growth and development in St. Albert through a proposed two-tier Area Structure Plan (ASP) process. These plans would fit into the larger planning framework:
EMRB Growth Plan (Approved by Edmonton Metro Region Board & province)
↓
St. Albert Municipal Development Plan (Approved by EMRB & Council)
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Area Structure Plans (Approved by Council, sometimes requiring ERMB approval)
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Neighbourhood Plan (Compliments ASPs, no EMRB approval required)
“The new two-tier ASP process… better implements policies of the new Municipal Development Plan (MDP) and ensures that the ASP avoids granular detail and instead focuses on high level planning outcomes that are the true purview of Council…
In the two-tier process, the ASP captures high level land uses, transportation and servicing network. The ASP is intended to cover larger areas and to reference multiple Neighbourhood Plans (NP) that feed into it. The ASP is designed to improve network planning and to consider the impacts on the whole City, and provide direction for NP-driven land development.
NP is a technical document that further refines the elements of the ASP and captures neighbourhood levels of detail pertaining to land use designations, density, transportation and servicing network. All NP’s must conform to the corresponding ASP approved by Council. As an administrative document the NP will inform recommendations on re-districting and decisions on subdivision applications. It is proposed to be approved by the Director of Planning.”
As someone who firmly believes that Council is most effective when we stay out of the weeds, I’m intrigued by this proposal. In the past, Council has been involved in the minutia of some plans, which can cause distress for residents, delays and expenses for developers, and likely creates poorer outcomes. I look forward to this discussion. If this proposal is approved by Council, Admin will bring back the associated bylaw for approval.
Special Council meeting agenda highlights
After committee meetings Monday, we also have a Special Council Meeting that will be a bit more mundane that most special meetings. The reason for the meeting is that we’re required to wrap up some 2021 budget details before we’re able to in a normal Council meeting. On the 2021 budget:
“Based on preliminary review, Administration is reporting a municipal operating surplus of $3.9 million which is 2.3% of the 2021 approved budget”.
We’ll also receive the Q4 2021 corporate report & we’re seeing carry-forwards and completions of projects from 2021.
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.
