Last week + Committee agenda highlights April 11, 2022
Last week
Arts & Heritage Foundation annual meeting with Council: It was wonderful meeting with the AHF board on the second floor of the art gallery. I’m looking forward to many of the events - food trucks at the grain elevators, Children’s Festival, etc. - that we can expect over the next few months.
Council DARP/Lakeview Workshop: This almost full-day workshop was to familiarize Council with the Downtown & Lakeview Business District plan/history. This was a good refresher for those of us who were re-elected in the fall, and provided an opportunity for everyone on Council to think about the vision for these areas.
Youth Advisory Committee: Although we didn’t have quorum for our start-time, the group still decided they were happy to meet informally to hear about the potential for a Youth Mental Health Hub in St. Albert. It will be interesting to see the development of this idea as skakeholders meet to determine needs and opportunities to provide this service.
Mayor's Celebration of the Arts: Thank you to all the nominees for the first Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts since shut-downs started, and to all the staff & volunteers who make these events possible! I was only able to stay a little while, but I’m so glad I was able to connect with many of St. Albert’s cultural champions, including Carol Watamaniuk, our most recent Lifetime Achievement in the Arts recipient! (The walls were filled with paintings and photographs for sale: If you missed out, please check out the work at VASA St. Albert & the Art Gallery of St. Albert!)
CLSC agenda highlights
This agenda is so full the meeting start time was bumped to 8am. I don’t typically attend this meeting, but I’ll likely jump in for the last two agenda items.
8 Burnham Ave - Municipal Historic Resource ($6,000)
The owner of 8 Burham Ave, which was originally the Lorne and Marguerite Akins Residence, is applying to have this home designated as a historical resource. If supported by Council, we can approve up to $6,000 from our Heritage Reserve Fund to support the application. If approved, this means the character of the house must be protected.
Parks Bylaw & Liquor Consumption in St. Albert Parks
Admin has been working on the first major update to our Parks bylaw in decades. Proposed updates address:
-More flexibility for establishment of rules that are site specific…
-Removal of provisions covered in other Bylaws (e.g. firearms)…
-Adding provisions for events and businesses.
-Adding provisions around encroachments…
-Adding a section on environmental protections.
-Addressing previous Council direction regarding alcohol in parks.
Without seeing the full Admin presentation on this change, the stand-out policies seem to be:
Permanently allowing liquor at designated sites (the pilot last year was generally well-received),
Prohibiting rockets/fireworks/golf/archery/drones without authorization of the City,
Prohibiting the building of permanent structures,
Prohibiting camping,
Specifically disallowing people from the water/ice on Stormwater Management Facilities,
Prohibitting feeding/harassing animals,
Apart from travel via trails, parks are closed from 11pm-5am.
One of the suggestions that hasn’t been included in. the proposed bylaw is doubling the fine for cutting down a tree from $500 to $1000 - I’ll likely ask if this could be higher for mature trees that exceed the proposed fine.
Sturgeon River Valley & Natural Areas Protection Bylaw
Last term, “Council approved a motion directing Administration to develop recommendations for a bylaw that protects the river valley area, natural areas, and parklands. This motion was made prior to the development and approval of Flourish, the City’s new Municipal Development Plan (MDP)…” As the new MDP reflects the intent of this motion and as as upcoming changes to the Land Use Bylaw will also reflect these values, Admin is recommending we rescind the previous motion.
Committee of the Whole
All of Council will meet at 11:30am, after the CLSC meeting, “to review its Advisory Committees functions and structures”. Right now, there are five advisory committees that provide advice to Council (Arts, Community Services, Environmental, Seniors, and Youth), and two other committees that serve different non-statutory functions (Policing, Internal Audit). We’ve added 5/7 of these committees since I was elected in 2017 - This has added considerably to the workload of administration and members of Council, but the expectations for deliverables of some of the new committees remains unclear. This will be an interesting discussion.
CGISC agenda highlights
This meeting starts at 1:30, after the COW.
Ray Gibbon Drive (+$2M) & North St. Albert Trail (+$5.5M)
Additional funds are required for the Ray Gibbon Drive (RGD) twinning & North St. Albert Trail projects. For RGD, Admin is proposing that $500,000 be recovered from City of Edmonton and the remaining $1.5M be funded through debt. For St. Albert Trail, Admin is recommending that $500,000 be recovered from the developer and the remaining $5M from debt.
10-year Growth Plan Update
Our 10-year Growth Plan sets out the projects that we envision to be completed within the next decade to support community needs. Administration is recommending that we remove five of the projects, add two, and that Council provides recommendations for additional removals as we do not have sufficient funds to complete many projects contemplated by this plan.
Recommended removals include:
Servus Place cogeneration ($1.06M): This was tied to the pool expansion, which is no longer being contemplated.
Smart Facility Monitoring ($180,000): This is already funded.
Water & Energy Audits ($50,000): This was unfunded in 2021 & a new charter will be proposed for 2023.
LeClair Way West Extension ($28M): There is no immediate need for this project.
Police Building ($218,000): Renovations are no longer required as they are addressed through a project approved last year.
Recommended additions include:
Meadowview Lane & Rail Crossing ($7.3M): This is to connect Rankin Drive to Mission Avenue.
North St. Albert Trail Corridor ($27.6M): “This project will follow through on the implementation of identified roadway improvements and urbanization of the north section of St. Albert Trail”. I don’t fully understand the rationale behind this project, but Admin will be able to expand on the charter rationale at our meeting.
Charters that I have questions about include:
Servus Place Fitness Centre expansion ($5.5M): Are we trying to compete with local gym businesses?
Youth Transitional Housing ($2M): Do we have any indication that the province will support this project through capital or operational funding?
Transport Master Plan (TMP) Update ($800,000 in each of 2023 & 2029): Is this completely redone every 6 years?
(I’ll ask for the most recent charters to be provided)
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.
