The focus this week will be on the proposed funding formula for the Edmonton Police Service and the controversial jurisdictional scan of police funding that argues the previous funding formula "appears to be serving the City of Edmonton, its police commission, and police service well."
City council will meet on Monday, with a council services committee meeting scheduled for Tuesday morning and a public hearing taking place the rest of the day. At a non-regular city council meeting scheduled for Friday, council will discuss two private reports related to the upcoming budget.
Key agenda items outside of police funding include the following:
- Council will discuss the plan to sell the naming rights for the Clareview Community Recreation Centre to Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities. If approved, the agreement could generate just under $500,000 in revenue each year. The sale of naming rights for four other recreation centres could follow. The discussion was postponed from the Sept. 12 meeting.
- Bylaw 20117 — also postponed from an earlier meeting — would reduce the number of single-use items used and discarded in Edmonton by banning plastic shopping bags, making customers request any single-use accessories, banning Styrofoam containers, and compelling restaurants to serve dine-in drink orders in reusable cups while also allowing customers to use their own reusable drink cups.
- As of Sept. 30, 2021, the City of Edmonton employed 1,636 people in temporary positions, down nearly 29% from the 2,294 people it employed temporarily as of Sept. 30, 2018. The Temporary and Seasonal Workforce Review project, which began in June 2021, aims to review the onboarding process for new employees and to redesign the seasonal hiring process. Already the project has resulted in 101 temporary assignments being converted into permanent positions, though administration said this change has not significantly affected the size of the workforce.
Here are some of the other new agenda items:
- Bylaw 20150 would decrease the city's borrowing authority for a project to upgrade water and sewer facilities in the Winterburn Industrial Area to reflect the actual costs and interest rates.
- Charter Bylaw 20277 and Charter Bylaw 20231 would allow for small-scale and medium-rise multi-unit infill housing in Glenora.
- Charter Bylaw 20285 and two other bylaws would allow for "innovative forms of low density housing" in Alces, which includes single, semi-detached, or multi-unit housing on shallow lots with rear garages, and single detached housing with the potential for both a secondary suite and a garage suite.
- Charter Bylaw 20284 would rezone approximately 6.15 hectares of land in Edgemont from Agricultural to Public Parks to allow for a public park and the future development of a public school. Parents in the neighbourhood are moving away due to the absence of a nearby school, according to Brianne Burritt, an Edmonton teacher and the director of communications for the Edgemont Community League. "It's almost unbelievable for some people who are new, particularly to Edmonton, that there would even be an area like this that's so built up without a school, but it's quite urgent that we need one," Burritt said.
- A large amount of undeveloped land in the Cavanagh neighbourhood could be rezoned to allow for low-, medium-, and high-density residential development along with a public park.
Council will also deal with some recommendations from committee:
- Community and public services committee recommended that the $600,000 withheld from EndPovertyEdmonton be released to the organization.
- Executive committee recommended that nearly $3.77 million be awarded to Alcyone Canada and Suburban Farms for the Cy Becker Phase III redevelopment project.
- Executive committee recommended the approval of a land sale at below market value in Ogilvie Ridge, along with funding of $1.25 million for HomeEd.
- Executive committee recommended that $474,742.78 in municipal property taxes associated with affordable housing facilities be cancelled.
Three motions are also pending:
- Coun. Andrew Knack will move that Administration provide a report on Phase 1 of the Edmonton Metropolitan Transit Service Commission plan by the fourth quarter of 2023, and that the mayor write a letter to the regional members of the commission affirming Edmonton's commitment to the plan.
- Coun. Anne Stevenson will move that Administration prepare an unfunded service package for an express bus service between downtown and the Edmonton International Airport.
- Coun. Keren Tang will move that the Punjab United Sports and Heritage Association be awarded $325,000 in one-time funding to construct water, sewer, and gas line installation at Ivor Dent Park.
At the council services committee meeting, two private reports will be discussed: one is a labour relations update, and the second deals with the attendance of councillor staff during in-camera discussions.
Meetings are streamed live on city council's YouTube channel.
Photo: The Clareview Community Recreation Centre could soon have a new name if council approves the sale of naming rights to Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities. (City of Edmonton)