Last week + Regular Council Meeting March 4, 2019
Last week
Ray Gibbon Drive: There was a wee bit of excitement around the province partnering with us to twin Ray Gibbon. All of Council joined Minister Mason, and MLA Renaud and Horne for the announcement at the Enjoy Centre.
Understanding the TRC: History and Mandate: I was impressed with the presentation at the Art Gallery of St. Albert “to learn and understand the history, mandate and process behind the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada”. Check out the events page of the art gallery for information about more TRC presentations.
St. Albert’s first garage suite: Council was invited to tour St. Albert’s first garage suite. I was impressed and I look forward to more of these popping up to help diversify housing choices.
Intermunicipal Affairs Committee Meeting (Sturgeon County – St. Albert): Council headed to Morinville for our regular meeting with Sturgeon County.
Offsite Levies Workshop: Council participated in an excellent workshop about levies (charges to developers to cover the cost of expanding municipal infrastructure). There have been some changes to the Municipal Government Act, so our admin helped explain the changes.
Agenda highlights
Corporate Business Plan
With the small update to the Council Strategic Plan, Admin has prepared an updated business plan to continue to move forward our priorities. This is a very important document to guide administrative activities, but as our priorities have stayed consistent, there are no big changes from last year’s plan. We’ll be accepting this plan as information.
Water Supply Agreement with EPCOR
Our 20-year agreement with Epcor to supply water expired last year; This is to renew services for another 20 years. There are no other suppliers of potable water in the region. “Cost of bulk water, currently approximately $6 million per year, is not anticipated to materially change under the new Agreement.”
Erin Ridge North development amendments
We’re hearing first readings for changes to the Municipal Development Plan, Erin Ridge North Area Structure Plan, and Land Use Bylaw. A developer is requesting that we reduce the amount of commercial land in this area by changing the depth of the commercial strip along St. Albert Trail. One of the changes include unknow-as-of-now costs to the city to maintain temporary drainage ditches. I’m not expecting a presentation for first reading, but there will be one for second reading (tentatively April 1) where we can hear from the public and ask questions about the potential impacts of these changes.
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.
