Edmonton Notes for March 10, 2019

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• The City is facing a $2.4 million deficit for 2018 that Administration says is “largely due to external factors beyond the City’s control.” Read more in the latest Council Roundup.
• The Province announced $90 million in funding for Edmonton through the Alberta Community Transit fund. The money will be used for upgrades at Stadium LRT Station, a new transit garage, new electric buses, and upgrading Terwillegar Drive to an expressway. One of these things is not like the others.
• Council this week decided to keep the 500-metre separation distance between liquor stores. For an in-depth discussion on this topic, check out Episode 28 of Speaking Municipally.
• Roughly 8,000 homes across 13 neighbourhoods have been selected to take part in the Edmonton Cart Rollout – “a small-scale program designed to test a new way of setting out and collecting waste.”
• The City has submitted its final proposal for the $50 million Smart Cities Challenge. “With the theme ‘Healthy City,’ Edmonton’s proposal uses an innovative, partnership-based approach, to help Edmonton become a healthier, more connected city while improving residents’ quality of life and well-being.”
• According to the 2019 Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives study of the best and worst places to be a woman in Canada, Edmonton has one of the largest gender gaps in the country, ranking second last out of the 26 biggest cities in Canada.
• The weather this weekend was great, but Friday saw a dump of snow that led to at least 190 collisions during the work day.
• ProCura is selling The Mayfair on Jasper. “It’s a pleasure to own, but everything has its time,” ProCura CEO and president George Schluessel told RENX. “If the deal’s right, we’ll sell it.”
• The Muttart Conservatory is closing in July for upgrades and will not reopen until early 2021.
• The City is collecting input on a 20-year vision for Gallagher Park via an online survey that is available until March 20.
• A new report says it could cost the City about $800,000 per year to enforce animal protection laws after the Edmonton Humane Society stopped performing the duties in January.
• Marti Hiniuk was honoured at Rogers Place this week for her 40 years of service – she started working at the Coliseum in March 1979 and estimates she has only missed about 10 Oilers games in that time.
• The Telus World of Science will host the Canadian debut of Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes starting October 19.
• Get the latest on Media, Tech, Food, Health Innovation, Music, and Council with Taproot Edmonton’s latest roundups.

Smart Cities Challenge Final Proposal Launch

Upcoming Events

• Downtown Dining Week kicked off on Friday and runs until Sunday.
• A full-day crash course in Growth Marketing for startups and scale-ups is taking place at Startup Edmonton on Monday.
• The Oilers host the Rangers on Monday and the Devils on Wednesday at Rogers Place. Just 14 games left in the regular season!
• Lynyrd Skynyrd performs at Rogers Place on Tuesday evening.
• The 7th annual Corporate Growth Summit takes place Wednesday and Thursday at the Edmonton Convention Centre.
• A potluck dinner and AGM for the ChefGail Fund will take place on Wednesday evening at McKay Avenue School.
• The Edmonton Boat & Sportsmen’s Show runs Thursday to Sunday at the Edmonton EXPO Centre.
• Homeward Trust presents the 2019 ROOPH Awards Luncheon takes place on Thursday at the Edmonton Convention Centre.
• Learn about the proposed rezoning for the development of two mixed-use towers on the Edmonton Motors site (Jasper Avenue and 115 Street) on Thursday evening at Oliver School. The towers would be 56 and 46 storeys tall.
• EFCL is hosting a workshop on Developing Community League Sustainability on Thursday evening at the Belgravia Community Hall.
• The Edmonton Indigenous Entrepreneurs Summit takes place Friday at Concordia University.
• WWE LIVE: Road to Wrestlemania takes place on Friday evening at Rogers Place.
• The Edmonton Community Arts Network (a fledgling collection of community-engaged artists looking to broaden the discussion about community arts, engagement, and development in the Edmonton area) is hosting a two day conference on Friday and Saturday at The Orange Hub.

Investing in 33 new transit projects, photo by Government of Alberta

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