Regular Council Meeting Highlights
Federal Grant - St. Albert Place Renovations ($5.7M)
This motion is to amend the budget to account for $5,704,900 we received from the Federal Green and Inclusive Community Buildings Program Grant. Thanks to City staff and the federal government for making this happen!
“To supplement planned RMR work for St. Albert Place the City was successful in obtaining a
grant under the Federal Green and Inclusive Community Buildings Program. The purpose of
this grant is to "support green and accessible retrofits, repairs or upgrades of existing public
community buildings and the construction of new publicly accessible community buildings that
serve underserved and high-needs communities across Canada."“
Off-site Levies (3rd reading)
One member of Council voted against allowing a vote on third reading at our last meeting (it requires unanimous consent), so it was broughtforward to this week’s meeting. First and second readings passed as presented by Administration. This is what I wrote about the bylaw last month:
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).
E-Scooters - Business Licence Bylaw
I think what we’re considering is a motion from an individual member of Council to:
Update the Business License Bylaw to remove the start/end dates for the e-scooter pilot, removal of licensee fleet limit regulations, clarify that e-scooter businesses are responsible for relocating incorrectly parked scooters, and additional reporting requirements. This was already in the works by Administration, so the wording seems ready to approve.
Limit the number of e-scooters approved for e-scooter businesses. Administration does not support this because “e-scooter businesses are financially motivated to deploy the most efficient and cost-effective fleet size. Allowing them to optimize their fleet to meet market demand is key to their viability. Imposing limits on the total number of e-scooters permitted or limiting fleet size of each e- scooter company, inherently comes with the requirement for staff to communicate, monitor, and enforce”.
Change the fine structure. Administration is recommending maintaining the current structure because “the current fine of $1,500.00 acts as an effective deterrence, encouraging business to be responsive to regulations, and allows Administration the opportunity to issue a warning prior to levying the fine.”
Create a fee for e-scooter businesses, in excess of their business licence fee, to pay for the administration of the e-scooter program. “Administration recommends continuing to require only that e- scooter businesses obtain a business licence, which comes with a $683 annual fee for Out of Town Businesses and is in line with the approved open market / low regulation framework.”
E-Scooters - Traffic Bylaw
The following motion was brought forward by an individual member of Council:
That Administration amend the Traffic Bylaw on April 4, 2023, in the following manner:
- To require e-scooter riders under the age of 18 to wear a safety helmet;
- To prohibit tandem riding on e-scooters, with an associated fine; and
- To require e-scooter riders to yield to pedestrians, with an associated fine.
As riders under 18 require helmets under provincial legislation, including this in a municipal bylaw would be redundant. If the intent, however, is to allow those 18+ to ride without a helmet, this would be a departure from our bylaws regarding bicycle use and a departure from our “Vision Zero [goal], where no fatalities or serious injuries occur on our City’s transportation network.”
Tandem riding wasn't prohibited in the pilot, but is aligned with best practices. And yielding to pedestrians was a part of the pilot, so the intent was already be to keep this requirement. I suspect these changes will be supported without much discussion.
I think the intent was to have the bylaw changes incorporated immediately, but that’s not how bylaws work. I’m sure Admin will let us know the timeline involved for drafting changes, providing notice, and voting on three readings of an amending bylaw to come at a later date.
COW - Millennium Park Design and Construction
On March 7, Council was presented with a motion to go back to the drawing board on Millennium Park, but the mover decided to withdraw their motion. Instead, this Committee of the Whole meeting was scheduled with the intent of providing “a formal facilitated discussion with COW to identify areas of improvement or change that would support stronger alignment between the committee’s vision for the park, and the planned work”. What has been scheduled is a walkthrough of the very thoughtful, professionally-developed plan. As extensive community consultation has already been completed and this plan was completed in collaboration with our exceptional staff and highly qualified external consultants, I’m struggling to understand why a Council-approved project is on-hold while Council involves itself in the details of the administrative plan. This is what I wrote about the March 7 agenda item that precipitated this meeting:
As part of budget deliberations, Council approved funding for next steps to develop Millennium Park. This motion, brought forward by an individual member of Council, seeks to cancel this funding and direct staff to facilitate a Council Workshop to determine a new vision/plan for the park before bringing another project charter forward as part of the 2024 budget process. As there is no funding to re-do the consultation process or designs/cost estimates that were completed over the last few years, Admin recommends that - should we wish to start over - “that up to $337,000 be funded to complete a Council Workshop and create a new concept plan for Millennium Park, including any necessary technical studies and public engagement”. (The concept plan & charter that was complete prior to funding being approved for 2023 is available in our agenda package.)
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.
