Agenda highlights
Federal Electoral Boundaries
There is a big change happening to St. Albert’s federal election riding, with boundaries moving out of Edmonton and into the counties further to the north. The current riding is named ‘St. Albert-Edmonton’ and the new proposed name is Administration is ‘Sturgeon River-Parkland’, but Admin is recommending we propose that the name be St. Albert-Morinville to follow typical regional naming conventions.
Solar Farm and Badger Lands
After years of delays and reports, any plans for a solar farm on the contaminated lands in St. Albert’s north will likely be put to rest Monday. Admin is recommending we no longer pursue this option. Interestingly, in the public engagement survey, there was a distinct difference between priorities of different age groups:
-Weighted importance scores for “decreased reliance on fossil fuels,” increased security/sustainability from having a local energy source,” and “reduced environmental impact from renewable energy use,” were highest in the under 25 age group.
-“Improved perception of St. Albert as a green community” generally earned higher marks from younger respondents.
-“Revenue generation for the City that offsets tax increases” was a relatively important benefit for every age category except those under 25 years old.
Non-Standard Water Meter Fees
This is an update to the Water Bylaw to ensure that cost-recovery of services related to residents retaining the old water meters is reflected in fees. The original fees were based on estimates, so a slight reduction to fees is being recommended based on actual data:
Manual meter reading $20→$25
Unsuccessful reading $20→$0
Customer submission of reading, excluding April & October $10→$7.50
Bill correction due to incorrect submission $20→$0
Replacement of standard meter with non-standard $50→replacement cost (probably increase?)
Parental Leave for Councillors
After being initially approved during the 2013-17 term, then again last year, Admin is recommending that we kick the can again on approving a parental leave bylaw and instead send it to our Remuneration Review Committee for consideration as directed prior to the 2021 decision. Municipalities across Alberta completed their equivalent bylaws years ago, so I’m baffled about why we can’t get this done. This is especially concerning during a term when all members of Council are very much done growing their families, so there is no personal impact to consider, and through multiple terms of Councils that have all seemingly supported inclusive policies to encourage diverse representation. My hope is that Council will support approving the bylaw, as supported by the 2017 & 2021 Council motions, so that we won’t have to review this again this term.
External Consultants
This motion from an individual member of Council is to direct Administration to submit “at council meeting a list of all consultants contracted in the previous calendar year, the cost for each and a brief rationale for hiring” twice per year. The estimated cost to complete this would is the equivalent of 52 hours of work. We already receive a detailed HR report annually and this kind of detail would be extremely unusual to provide to a governance board, so I’m not sure what the rationale for the request might be.
Naming Policy Project
Did you know that Council had to ignore our Naming Policy to name the Nakî Transit Centre? As we move to values-based policy rather than one-off decisions, please ensure your voice is heard by registering for an info session: https://stalbert.ca/cosa/participation/naming/
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.
