On the agenda: Core services, 102 Avenue, and a $31M pedway

This week, there's a public hearing on Feb. 21, a city council meeting on Feb. 22 with a continuation scheduled for Feb. 24, and a private meeting of the committee that evaluates the performance of the city manager and city auditor on Feb. 23. Here are some of the key items on the agenda:

• Administration has made progress on OP12, the operating budget amendment that requests $60 million in savings over the 2023-2026 budget cycle, plus another $240 million in reallocations to council's priorities. The first recommendation is to define core services by asking three questions:
  • Is it a program or service required by legislation?
  • Is it practically necessary?
  • Is it a council priority?
• Bylaw 20345 would close the traffic lane on 102 Avenue between 99 Street and 103 Street for one year. Administration opposes the closure, highlighting constraints related to streetscape activity, design, local access, and safety, and arguing that "opening this space for vehicle traffic would contribute to vibrancy and support businesses more significantly." Paths for People said it was "miffed" by the city's suggestion and called the closure a "low-cost and high-impact" way to add more people-oriented space to the downtown.
• Bylaw 20387 would authorize the city to borrow $4.5 million for the 103A Avenue Pedway project to deal with inflation and revised cost estimates. The total project budget has increased from $26.5 million to $31 million.

Here are some of the other new agenda items:

• Bylaw 20364, which is ready for three readings, would establish $1,000 fines for excessive vehicle noise and would apply to all types of motor vehicles, including motorcycles.
• The updated Waste Services Bylaw, which includes changes to facilitate residential source separation for communal collection (such as apartments and condos), is ready for three readings.
• At public hearing, council will consider rezoning applications for infill in High Park, infill in Westwood, a mid-rise multi-unit building in Windsor Park, and multi-unit housing in Rosenthal, among others.

Several committee recommendations will be considered:

• Executive committee recommends approval of the following: changes to the Edmonton Screen Media Fund; a revised policy for the industrial infrastructure cost-sharing program; the cancellation of property taxes for 2022 in the Leduc annexation area; and the write-off of nearly $118,000 in uncollectible taxes and accrued penalties.
• Utility committee recommends approving changes to the Sanitary Servicing Strategy Fund.
• Community and public services committee recommends approval of the proposed grant funding allocations for the Anti-Racism Community Safety Fund.
• A report on residential property tax subclasses and options to phase out the "Other Residential" subclass was requisitioned to council without a committee recommendation.

Several motions are pending:

• Coun. Ashley Salvador would like to see options for a multi-year Dedicated Climate Levy including potential parameters and funding amounts in alignment with the Energy Transition Strategy.
• Coun. Jennifer Rice would like the city to develop a new promotion rate for seniors for city-owned recreation centres to encourage participation in non-peak times.
• Rice will also request a report on assisted snow programs including a jurisdictional scan of similar programs across North America.
• Coun. Andrew Knack would like to know what is required to have real-time or near real-time traffic monitoring with traffic-dependent detection to improve traffic flow across the city.
• Knack would also like a report detailing the status of arterial roads outside Anthony Henday Drive, including which infrastructure the city is responsible for.

Meetings are streamed live on YouTube on the Chamber channel and River Valley Room channel.