Last weeks highlights
Meeting with Ministers Nixon & Nally: The ministers invited Homeland Housing to meet at the Legislature to discuss the St. Thomas Street project. I was asked to attend as Past Chair and was joined by the Chair, Vice-Chair, and CEO. This meeting follows one that Mayor Heron attended with Minister Nixon, and was a good opportunity to reiterate the importance of growing affordable housing options in St. Albert and showcasing the partnerships that are in place to fill this need.
Chamber of Commerce Luncheon with Rachel Notley: Election season is upon us! Thank you to the Chamber for hosting this event featuring a keynote from the leader of the opposition. It’s always great to meet with leaders across the city at these events. The April luncheon follows this trend, with a keynote from the Premier.
Library Board interviews: Councillor Brodhead and I met to conduct interviews for a Library Board vacancy. It feels like these mid-term vacancies are becoming more common, which we may have to address if it becomes an ongoing issue.
Youth Advisory Committee: YAC continues to meet regularly as they prepare to provide a recommendation to Council about the future of the group. It was good to see them again at the March meeting.
Agenda highlights
Although it’s a heavy agenda, most of next week’s meeting consists of items already discussed at committee and items which are slated to be passed without debate.
Off-site levies
This is a regular update to our offsite levies bylaw, which governs the fees that are charged to developers to provide for water, roadway, sanitary, and storm sewer infrastructure that is required as the city grows. Of note is a steep increase in the road infrastructure costs, going from $397.4M to $490.1M - Admin goes into detail about the reasons for the increases in their report (starting on page 6).
Although provincial legislation allows for these levies to include costs related to the development of recreation facilities, fire hall facilities, police station facilities, and libraries, St. Albert continues to exclude these from our charges.
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. Members of the public can register to speak if they have information to present to council. Full agenda packages can be found on the stalbert.ca website.