City council meets on May 24, with a continuation on May 27. There is also a city council public hearing on May 25. Here are some of the key items on the agenda:
- Transit safety and security will be discussed as council receives an interim update on the Transit Safety Plan that was approved in February, including hiring a director of transit safety and additional Community Outreach Transit Team members; plans to improve washroom safety; and a review of peace officer and security guard deployment.
- Council will be asked to decide how to spend the $8.4 million remaining from the money reallocated last year from a police budget increase under the new Community Safety and Well-Being Strategy after the community and public services committee came to no decisions on the matter.
- Council will debate Coun. Erin Rutherford's motion to replace the police funding formula with base operating funding of $385 million per year, plus funding from traffic safety and photo radar revenues, with additional funding made possible through the same budget process other departments follow.
- A rezoning application for a proposed mid-rise, mixed-use building in Westmount at the southwest corner of 111 Avenue and 124 Street will be considered at public hearing. If approved, the building could have a three-storey podium base with an overall height of 10-12 storeys.
Here are some of the other notable agenda items:
- A bylaw authorizing the city to borrow $8.65 million to undertake, construct, and finance the Blatchford Renewable Utility Project's distribution piping system is ready for first reading.
- A bylaw to designate Hangar 11 as a municipal historic resource is ready for three readings after approval from executive committee. Upon passage of the bylaw, the city would pay the owner up to $5 million over 10 years towards the rehabilitation of the building, which exceeds the typical program limits.
- There's a resolution to hold a tax public auction on Oct. 20 to sell parcels of land remaining in arrears of taxes. As of April 14, there were 685 properties representing $7.5 million in outstanding property taxes on the sale list, though that is expected to be lower once the sale date is set.
- Council is required to approve the expropriation of land needed to convert Yellowhead Trail into a freeway.
- A bylaw authorizing the city to increase the guarantee line of credit for the Edmonton Metropolitan Transit Services Commission to $4.6 million, up from $3.3 million, is ready for second and third readings.
There is also a city manager and city auditor performance evaluation committee meeting with a private consultant update on May 25, an audit selection committee meeting to provide a private recruitment report on May 26, and a non-regular city council meeting on May 27 where several committees will deliver 2021 annual reports and 2022 work plans.
Meetings are streamed live on city council's YouTube channel.
Photo: An interim update on the Transit Safety Plan includes a section on improving washroom safety. Mack Male/Flickr