Edmonton Notes for June 12, 2016

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• Fallen police officer Constable Daniel Woodall was honoured this week by naming the park at 7304 South Terwillegar Drive after him. “The park includes a new soccer pitch, in recognition of Constable Woodall’s love of soccer. It also features an Autumn Blaze Maple Tree planted with compost created from the flowers given to police after Constable Woodall’s death.” Read more about Constable Dan Woodall and the park here. Here’s a photo of the official sign.
• EPCOR has submitted a proposal to Council to consider transferring the City’s Drainage Services Utility to EPCOR. Council will consider the request on June 14 and if they decide to proceed with a review, a final decision could be made later this year. “EPCOR projects that its annual dividend to the City can be increased by about $20 million immediately following a transfer.”
• The Advisory Panel on Metro Edmonton’s Future released its report this week. The report includes three recommendations and “concludes that the Edmonton Metro Region can position itself to attract jobs and investment in today’s increasingly complex global marketplace – but only if it takes steps to better leverage its opportunities and build the regional systems that other competitive regions offer today.”
• A ground-breaking ceremony was held on Friday for the new Alex Decoteau Park located on the northwest corner for 105 Street and 102 Avenue. Can’t wait for this one to open next year! You can learn more about Alex Decoteau here.
• The City is looking for feedback on new River Valley Park signs that have been installed at Gold Bar Park. You can fill out the online survey until July 22.
• Small business owners have a new way to access permitting and licensing thanks to the new Small Business Open Window program that the City launched this week.
• Non-profit, social services, and learning organizations are now invited to submit expressions of interest for leasing space at the MacEwan West Universty Campus community hub. Submissions close July 29.
• The Reuse Centre has won an Emerald Award for environmental excellence in the Government Institution category. The City’s Master Naturalist Program was a finalist in another category.
• At the 2016 Prairie Design Awards, the City won two awards of excellence for the Commonwealth Community Recreation Centre and the John Fry Sports Park Pavilion. It also received awards of merit for the Borden Park Pavilion, Mill Woods Park Pavilion, and Edmonton Military Commemorative Monument.
• As part of Bike Month, the ETS Peace Officer Bike Patrol is returning. “Over approximately four months in 2015, the Transit Peace Officer Bike Patrol responded to 962 calls (or an average of eight calls per day), including 574 planned events and 388 incidents, ranging from alarms to misdemeanors to trespassing on LRT tracks.”
• Abundant Community Edmonton “is now ready to be implemented in any Edmonton neighbourhood.” There are currently 22 participating neighbourhoods in our city.
• You have until June 27 to complete this survey on the Mature Neighbourhood Overlay review. The review is action 17 on Edmonton’s Infill Roadmap.
• And if you’re still not surveyed-out, fill out this online survey on traffic safety culture by July 8.
• From Vintage Edmonton, here’s a great collection of Hotel Macdonald history.
• Congratulations to City Hall School on another very successful Citizenship Fair!
• The 29th annual Sterling Award nominations were announced this week. The awards will be given out at a gala event on June 27.
• Premier Rachel Notley issued a statement today on the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida: “Albertans join with people everywhere in offering our thoughts and prayers to the victims, their families, partners and loved ones who are suffering this moment.”
• Mayor Iveson and the City of Edmonton also tweeted their thoughts and shared that the High Level Bridge will show PRIDE colors tonight in support.
• For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.

The new Walterdale Bridge

Upcoming Events

• The Government of Alberta is hosting two workshops on Monday (AM, PM) at the Chateau Louis to discuss the proposed amendments to the Municipal Government Act.
• The next Capital Ideas Edmonton event takes place on Wednesday at the Edmonton Journal. It’ll be business not as usual!
• Improvaganza kicks off on Wednesday at the Citadel Theatre!
• The City is hosting two public events at City Hall on Thursday to discuss Breathe, the new Green Network Strategy. Check it out during the lunch hour or in the evening from 5:30pm-8pm.
• Homeward Trust is hosting its annual Stakeholder Reception on Thursday starting at 4pm.
• Also Thursday evening: Latitude 53’s Patio series returns!
• CKUA’s Party in the Park takes place on Friday afternoon. They’re hosting tours every 15 minutes.
• Head over to the Mercer Warehouse on Friday night for the Mercer Summer Super Party!
• Porkapalooza takes place Friday through Sunday at Clarke Park!
• The Saskatchewan Roughriders are in town on Saturday afternoon for a pre-season game against the Edmonton Eskimos!
• Also Saturday afternoon at Henry Martell Park is the Highlandia Festival.
• I hope you’ll join us on Saturday evening at Blatchford Tower for our next What the Truck?! event! Bring a donation for the food bank and you can go up inside the tower to get an awesome view of downtown Edmonton.
• Also taking place Saturday evening is Zoo Fest, a fundraising event in support of the Valley Zoo.
• Check out even more summer festivals & events in my annual listing!
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

On the Edge, photo by Dave Sutherland