It's a committee week at city hall. Community and public services committee meets on Feb. 14, urban planning committee is on Feb. 15, and executive committee will meet on Feb. 16. Here are some of the key items scheduled to be considered:
- The community and public services committee will review the proposed Anti-Racism Strategy and vote on whether to recommend it to city council for approval. The strategy, which originated from a motion by Mayor Amarjeet Sohi, will aim to support "the equity of racialized communities in Edmonton, structural changes within the City of Edmonton administration, as well as the development of an implementation and financing plan to activate the strategy."
- Urban planning committee will hear about mass transit planning for a city population of 1.25 million, and how that will be implemented. The recommendations include a change to future LRT expansion that would prioritize expansion of the Metro Line LRT to the south rather than the north.
- Executive committee is asked to approve $16.8 million in Affordable Housing Investment Program grants. The funding aims to incentivize affordable housing development to hit the goal of 2,500 units across the city between 2019 and 2022.
Here's what else is on the agenda:
- The urban planning committee will receive a report on the Bike Plan Implementation Guide for 2021 to 2026, including the economic benefits of bike facilities.
- It will also review a strategy that'll be up for approval at council about the long-term need to guide the renewal and development of Edmonton Transit Service fleet storage and maintenance facilities. The strategy also recommends building two new operations and maintenance garages in Edmonton's southeast and northwest.
- City administration has "developed a prioritization framework for mobility infrastructure improvements" that will help identify potential transportation network investments. This report will be received by urban planning committee.
- Executive committee will review the current tax exemption status of affordable housing providers as well as the options available to "pursue other exemption approaches."
- It will also hear about the impact of eliminating the Other Residences property tax subclass and the possibility of creating a density-based residential subclass; plus options to distinguish between municipal and provincial taxes on city tax notices; and about the considerations to forgive taxes and penalties relating to properties annexed from Leduc County.
- Executive committee will be asked to approve the below-market sale of surplus city-owned road right-of-way in Paisley for residential development.
- A recommendation is on the table for executive committee to direct city council to write off $79,307.42 in uncollectible taxes relating to 226 inactive accounts.
Meetings are streamed live on city council's YouTube channel.
Photo: Coun. Keren Tang, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi, and Coun. Sarah Hamilton in council chambers for the inaugural meeting in October 2021. (Mack Male/Flickr)