Regular Council Meeting Monday, November 26, 2018
After tomorrow’s meeting, we’ll be full-throttle into budget! We’re meeting on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday this week.
Agenda highlights:
Railroad Safety Enhancement Grant
Because of the $500,000 grant received from the federal government for rail safety enhancements, Administration is recommending that we switch around where funding from the project is coming from. Ultimately, this means that about $95,000 of city funds will be freed up for other projects.
Public Art Committee
In a move toward increasing the profile of our Public Art Committee, I’ve moved to have this committee changed from an internally-managed advisory group to one that is a Council advisory committee. This is the group that makes decisions about public art. Right now, vacancies are not advertised, nor are meeting schedules or agendas. Council is not currently involved with this group or non-budgetary decisions about public art. Administration helped draft the original motion to capture the intent of transparency and increased profile, and they have provided further recommendations to make a potential change more straightforward.
Council Remuneration
In line with Edmonton, Leduc, Strathcona, Medicine Hat, and proposals in Lethbridge, Airdrie, and Red Deer, the GPF Committee has recommended that Council remuneration be adjusted to compensate for changes to federal taxation that had previously provided a 1/3 tax exemption for elected officials. This will result in no change to take-home pay for Council. Of note, we’ve heard from community members who have served on previous Remuneration Committees who agree with this recommendation.
Civic Agency Appointments
Last week, Council went through a marathon interview process to meet with many of the fabulous residents who put their names forward to serve on the boards and committees that serve St. Albert. (Note: We just barely had enough appointments for the Youth Committee to have enough to meet the policy requirements - If you know of any 12-24-year-olds who are interested, tell them to keep their eyes open for calls for more applications!) Thank you to everyone who put their names forward!
Environmental Initiatives Grants Recommendations
The Environmental Advisory Committee has recommended that the following grants be approved. I’m stoked that we have so many wonderful groups operating in St. Albert and helping us connect with our environment!
Residential Permit Parking
If passed, this new policy will allow residents to apply for restricted parking locations within 400m of high schools, post-secondary organizations, hospitals, sports facilities, and transit stations. Eligibility will be dependent on the number of residents who support parking restrictions - 2/3 of households would have to respond to a survey, and 80% of responses would have to be supportive of restrictions.
Public participation opportunities
Annexation questionnaire: Please provide your opinion about the proposed annexation.
MDP Questionnaire #2: Please let us know how we should build/plan for the future!
Recreation and Parks Satisfaction Survey: How are we doing, and what can we do better?
This is a brief high-level overview of highlights from our meeting agenda, 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. As always, I also encourage everyone who is able to tune in the the live-stream of the meeting (3pm here) or attend in-person (3rd floor of St. Albert Place, hang a right getting out of the elevator). You can also register to speak if you have information to present to council. Full agenda packages can be found on the stalbert.ca website.
