Agenda Highlights
Budget 2024
We’re approving both the minutes for all the budget meetings on Tuesday, as well as the finalized budget based on several days of deliberations over the last month. To reflect on these, I went through all the budget motions to get a sense of how everyone voted and found a few trends which I found interesting - and surprising in some cases. Excluding a handful of motions that passed unanimously, several motions that were withdrawn, and the final budget motion, which Councillors Beirmanski & Hughes opposed, this is what I found:
Mayor Heron was on the winning side of votes 95% of the time. Councillor McKay was the next likely to be on the winning side at 91%, followed by Councillors Brodhead, Killick, and myself at 81%, then Councillor Beirmanski at 32% and Councillor Hughes at 21%.
Mayor Heron was most likely to vote with me (86%), followed by Councillor McKay (82%), then by Killick & Brodhead (77%), and Huges & Beirmanski (18%).
Councillor Brodhead was most likely to vote with Councillor McKay (82%), followed by Mayor Heron (77%, myself & Councillor Killick (73%), then Hughes (41%), and Beirmanski (23%).
Councillor McKay was most likely to vote with Mayor Heron, Councillor Brodhead, and myself (82%), followed by Councillor Killick (77%), then Councillor Beirmanski & Hughes (23%).
Councillor Hughes was most likely to vote with Councillor Beirmanski (73%), followed by Councillor Brodhead (41%), then me and Councillors Killick & McKay (23%), and Mayor Heron (18%).
Councillor Killick was most likely to vote with Mayor Heron & Councillor McKay (77%), followed by me & Councillor Brodhead (73%), then Hughes & Beirmanski (23%).
Councillor Beirmanski was most likely to vote with Councillor Hughes (73%), followed by McKay/Brodhead/Killick (23%), Heron (18%), and me (14%).
I was most likely to vote with Mayor Heron (86%), then Councillor McKay (82%), Councillors Brodhead & Killick (73%), Councillor Hughes (23%), and Beirmanski (14%).
(These numbers may be a bit off - I was doing math on my phone! - but give a representation of what voting looked like. I suspect AI will be able to analyze all our voting records starting sooner than later…)
‘Healthy Communities’ mural (12 Perron St.)
The Arts Advisory Committee is recommending that we remove this mural, restore the wall, and assess the mural’s condition for potential for a future display somewhere else. There is no cost associated with this motion, which is strange, but the backgrounder suggests that it’s between $8,000 and $15,000 and implies that this would be taken from the Public Art Reserve, which has a balance of $420,305. An alternative would to lease the wall for about $18,000/year to the private owner who could lease it privately in the open market as well. I’m a bit horrified at the thought of billboard advertising being permitted downtown - I’m curious about the regulations for billboards in this area.
2024 FCSS Funding
The Community Services Advisory Committee has recommended the following allocation for this grant:
$64,229 to the Boys and Girls Big Brothers Big Sisters of Edmonton and Area Society for their mentoring program.
$78,832 + $1,000 to the St. Albert Community Village and Food Bank for their Community Liaison Program and Community Income Tax Program.
$162,500 to the St. Albert Family Resource Centre for their Family Life Education Program.
$72,744 to St. Albert & District Further Education Association for their Newcomer Connections Program.
$102,574 to Outloud Foundation for Outloud Outreach Services.
$66,615 to the St. Albert Seniors Association for a Seniors Solutions Navigator.
$5,000 to the St. Albert Bereavement Fellowship for Education & Support.
$70,306 for Transitions Rehabilitation Association for Learning Sessions
$10,000 to Neutral Ground for Monthly Events & Online Hub.
2024 Outside Agencies Grant
The Community Services Advisory Committee has recommended the following allocation for this grant:
St. Albert Bereavement Fellowship $5,858
St. Albert Housing Society $50,000
St. Albert Seniors Association $230,000
St. Albert Victim Services Association $74,552
St. Albert Community Village & Food Bank$120,230
Stop Abuse in Families (SAIF) $39,000
St. Albert & District Further Education Association $40,000
St. Albert Family Resource Centre $25,000
Outloud Foundation $28,000
Visual Arts Studio Association of St. Albert (VASA) $15,760
Wildlife Rehabilitation Society of Edmonton (WildNorth) $10,000
2024 Utility Rates
This is a bylaw to update the rates/fees for Solid Waste, Water, Storm Sewer and Sanitary Sewer charges for 2024 & update the name of Arrow Utilities throughout the utility bylaws.
Fire Services Plan
This is a motion from an individual member of Council to direct Admin to develop a long-range plan for fire services. I had a similar motion about policing, but Council decided that the plan was a better fit with our Community Well Being Long-Range Strategy. Admin is also recommending that the fire services plan, which includes many aspects of emergency services, be part of the overall community well-being strategy.
“Based on the current prioritization, and previously approved Council motions related to Transit and Policing long-term plans, also part of this strategy, development of the Community Well Being Strategy would commence in 2026. This is an outcome-based approach that aligns long-term plans with MDP Goals and long-term planning for related services that contribute to, enable, and support Community Well Being… [Also, the] Emergency Services mid-range department business planning process scheduled to start in 2024, which, in addition to Fire Services will also cover Policing Services goals and strategies and will provide direction for the department prior to 2026 that will help align and optimize synergies between fire and policing services for the best, and most efficient outcome for the community.”
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.