Coming up at council: March 15-19, 2021

Here are some of the notable agenda items coming before city council for the week of March 15-19:

• A report on the 2019-2022 Capital Budget says that expenditures of $1.3 billion in 2020 are "in line with spending from previous years" with nearly three-quarters of the spending concentrated in LRT, road, and neighbourhood projects. Of the 69 projects with expenditures of at least $20 million, administration says all are within the acceptable tolerance for budget and 84% are within the acceptable tolerance for schedule.
• The Edmonton Exhibition Lands Planning Framework is now ready for third reading after being approved by the Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board on Feb. 4. The Northlands Area Redevelopment Plan will be repealed. Administration says the Exhibition Lands site is "the city's second largest infill redevelopment opportunity." An implementation strategy is under development for the project which has an estimated redevelopment timeline of 30 years.
• Proposed amendments to the Council Procedures Bylaw would remove the requirement to record the names of people allowed to attend items discussed by council in private, and the reasons that person was allowed to attend. Council and committee meeting agendas will now be released at least ten clear days prior to the meeting.

Recommendations from council's committees include:

• That the City of Edmonton participate with the City of St. Albert in the Alberta Community Partnership grant application.
• That the requested exception to the standard market value sale price and the sale of lands from the City of Edmonton to Homeward Trust be approved, to facilitate the development of affordable housing sites in Westmount.
• That EndPovertyEdmonton lead the Indigenous Culture and Wellness Centre project.
• An update on the Hope Mission's proposed Herb Jamieson Centre redevelopment was referred to council without a recommendation. It will be discussed alongside a report on emergency shelters that summarizes Edmonton's shelter capacity and funding sources.

Other agenda items coming up include:

• The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted progress on council's 24 initiatives last year. Administration now recommends ending three initiatives immediately (Community Hubs, Edmonton's NextGen, Public Engagement) while resuming the remaining 21 initiatives.
• The City Council Compensation Policy C626, which formalizes the recommendations made last year by the Independent Council Compensation Committee, aims to ensure that the process for setting remuneration for elected officials is as transparent as possible.
• A proposed amendment to the Marquis Neighbourhood Structure Plan (NSP) would redistribute an urban village park into three smaller pocket parks and would reduce natural area uses. The amendment would also allow for more single-family homes, slightly reducing the overall density of the neighbourhood.
• Bylaw 19601 proposes to close a portion of 100 Avenue NW south of Saskatchewan Drive NW to build a "paved plaza enlargement" adjacent to Fred A. Morie Park, which will also be going through a redesign.