Edmonton Notes for September 4, 2016

Happy long weekend! Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

  • You’ve no doubt seen the horrible video of a group of men in a car yelling racial slurs at Jesse Lipscombe in downtown Edmonton. Jesse later met with the mayor and now they have teamed up on the #MakeItAwkward campaign to call out discriminatory and ignorant behavior.
  • The latest municipal census puts our city’s population at 899,447. I wrote about it here and Dave says the results “could give some indication into how provincial electoral boundaries in the city will be redrawn for the next election.”
  • Former Lt.-Gov. Norman Kwong died on Saturday at the age of 86. Here’s a statement from Premier Notley. Online condolences can be shared here.
  • The City of Edmonton and the Edmonton Police Association have “settled a retroactive collective agreement for 2014, 2015 and 2016 through binding arbitration.” Wage increases of 2.4% in 2014, 2.5% in 2015, and 2.75% in 2016 were awarded.
  • For the 5th consecutive year, Edmonton has been awarded a score of AA+, the second-highest possible, from credit agency Standard & Poor’s.
  • Jonathan Brownlee of Great Britain finished first in the Elite Men’s race at the ITU World Triathlon Edmonton today.
  • The federal government has agreed to put $143.9 million toward more than four dozen Edmonton transit project, CBC Edmonton reports. “Today’s agreement means projects that are not only shovel ready, but also shovel worthy, can proceed without delay,” Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi said at the Alberta legislature.
  • Councillor Tony Caterina’s son Rocco is planning to run in Ward 4 next year if current councillor Ed Gibbons chooses not to run again.
  • Do you love Edmonton? Then you might want to support Emil Tiedemann’s campaign to print a book called 101 Reasons Why I Heart Edmonton. He’s looking to raise $6,000.
  • NorQuest College is facing a “massive privacy breach” as well as fraud that cost the college nearly $2 million in damages.
  • Paula Simons on Rogers Place and ICE District: “The pace and scale of development is dazzling — more like something you might see in Shanghai or Dubai than Edmonton.”
  • Changes to park & ride at the Belvedere, Century Park, Clareview, and Stadium LRT stations took effect on September 1. “Across the system, ETS now offers approximately 1,700 free stalls and 2,300 reserved paid stalls at the above-mentioned LRT lots.”
  • “When Fort Mac needed you, you were there.” Check out the #WeAllResponse microsite.
  • Gretzky’s Wine & Whisky is Wayne Gretzky’s new restaurant which opened on Friday at the Edmonton International Airport.
  • Police are urging motorists to slow down on the High Level Bridge after catching multiple drivers travelling more than double the posted speed limit.
  • Three new schools opened in Edmonton this month, part of the 32 school projects that were completed this month across the province.
  • Stand Up To Cancer takes place on Friday, September 9 across Canada and the U.S. and a number of buildings are being lit up in support including Edmonton’s High Level Bridge. It will be lit red, orange, and yellow from September 7-9.
  • Here’s the first of a three-part chronicle of Edmonton’s Italian community. In it, “Adriana A. Davies highlights the people, places, and motions that were at the heart of Italian immigrants finding a foothold in Alberta and Edmonton.”
  • Major ETS bus service changes went into effect today. “This year, the changes are bigger than ever with 50,000 service hours being reallocated to improve on-time performance and to serve higher demand routes.”
  • For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.

Summer Sunset

Upcoming Events

Beautiful Morning to Build a Bridge
Beautiful Morning to Build a Bridge, photo by Dave Sutherland

Edmonton’s population rises to 899,447

The results of Edmonton’s first ever paperless municipal census were released at City Hall today, revealing that Edmonton’s population has grown by 2.5% since 2014 from 877,926 to 899,447. That is much more modest growth than we saw in the period between 2012 and 2014 when our city’s population grew by 7.4%. From today’s news release:

“The impact of the recent economic slowdown and higher unemployment in Alberta and Edmonton is evident in the stable population growth figures recorded over the past two years,” said John Rose, Chief Economist for the City of Edmonton.

The slowdown mirrors to some extent what is happening provincially and federally. Estimates put Alberta’s growth rate at 3.9% from 2014 to 2016, down from 6.5% between 2012 to 2014, and Canada’s growth rate at 2.0% from 2014 to 2016, down from 2.3% between 2012 and 2014.

IMG_1154.jpg

The update to the Capital Region Board’s Growth Plan projects that Edmonton’s population will grow to at least 1.3 million people by 2044, which we’ll achieve if we can grow at an average of 1.8% per year.

“Although we saw more moderate growth these past two years, Edmonton’s population has increased by 117,000 since 2009. When you add to that the growth of neighbouring municipalities, it highlights the need for us to combine our efforts to ensure effective use of land and smart infrastructure planning.” said Mayor Iveson. “We need to work together and leverage our resources as well as those of the provincial and federal governments to ensure an ongoing strong and growing region, one that continues to attract and retain people and investments.”

Regional cooperation is especially important because it looks like Edmonton is getting even more suburban. Ward 6, which includes Downtown, Oliver, and other central neighbourhoods, saw its population decrease 5.0% from 2014 with a loss of 3,769 people. In fact, the centrally-located wards (6, 7, 8, 10, 11) all saw their populations decrease by anywhere from 2.2% to 5.0% while the outer wards (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 12) all saw their populations increase by anywhere from 1.1% to 12.1%. This is a big shift from the 2014 Municipal Census in which every ward grew.

2016 census by neighbourhood

It’s disappointing to me to see “population loss in a number of core and mature neighbourhoods” while the developing neighbourhoods like Walker, Laurel, Summerside, Chappelle, Windermere, and McConachie all show strong population gains. A decrease of 1,012 people in Oliver and 380 people in Downtown is cause for concern. Inglewood, Central McDougall, and Strathcona were some of the other central neighbourhoods that saw their populations decrease. We are continuing to grow out when we really need to be growing up.

You can see a comparison of census results from 2016, 2014, 2012, and 2009 in PDF here. There are 201 datasets related to Edmonton’s municipal census in the Open Data Catalogue with more to come. You can also access the latest results in PDF here. And here’s my post about the 2014 Municipal Census.

Media Monday Edmonton: Update #218

Here’s my latest update on local media stuff:

  • Even the newspaper delivery boys are getting fired! Thirteen-year-old “Connor Piquette has been delivering the Edmonton Examiner every Wednesday after school for the past year. But this Wednesday will be his last on the job.” He was one of “approximately 600 contract carriers” who received termination letters last week. In a follow-up statement, Postmedia said they have “restructured our distribution model in Edmonton aligning our FlyerForce distribution system and Edmonton Examiner distribution system” which led to the change.
  • Trent Wilkie interviewed Ryan Jespersen on The Undad. “From the moment Wyatt is old enough to understand English, I’ll be telling him talk radio is the world’s most important public service.”
  • The City found itself in trouble last week when it “took permission away” from CTV Edmonton reporter Breanna Karstens-Smith who was going to do an interview in Kinsmen, apparently because she wasn’t “promoting” the facility.
  • The Oilers too caused a stir this week by cancelling an interview with CBC Edmonton about the community benefits agreement for Rogers Place. “An interview set up with Susan Darrington, vice president and general manager of Rogers Place, was cancelled by the organization following publication of a news story containing comments from critics of the community benefits.”
  • Congratulations to Omar Mouallem on being published in The New Yorker! Here’s his contributor page.
  • Historian Laureate and CJSR News Coordinator Chris Chang-Yen Phillips has launched a new podcast called Let’s Find Out which aims to answer questions about Edmonton history.
  • Congratulations to Global Edmonton’s Carole Anne Devaney on the birth of her second child!
  • Apps are coming to a radio near you! 91.7 The BOUNCE will feature the new local daily countdown show “The Shazam @ 7 Countdown” which is a partnership between Rogers Radio and Shazam. “Using unique, targeted data to feature different playlists in each market, the show highlights the top seven songs of the day, comprised of recently Shazam’d tracks and new and trending tracks from across the country.”
  • Believe it or not, Postmedia is looking for a part-time senior copy editor for the Edmonton newsroom. The deadline to apply is September 3.
  • Want to be the new Public Address Announcer for the Oilers? You can apply here. Auditions for selected candidates will take place early next month.
  • Sportsnet has released details of the Edmonton Oilers broadcast schedule for the 2016-2017 regular season. The schedule features 37 national games and 45 regional games and all can be streamed online as well.

SB167087
Elise Campbell, Marty Chan, Annie Dugan, and Holger Petersen, photo by Capital Ideas Edmonton

And here is some slightly less local media stuff:

  • You can always count on The Onion: Media Intern Looking Forward To Moving Up At Company That Won’t Exist In 8 Months.
  • Fox News will soon celebrate its 20th birthday and is currently the most-watched cable network “with a larger audience than its nominal rivals, CNN and MSNBC, combined.” But its secret sauce is demography and that may not last.
  • Is John Oliver a journalist or not? He continues to state that his show is comedy, not news. “If you make jokes about animals, that does not make you a zoologist. We certainly hold ourselves to a high standard and fact-check everything, but the correct term for what we do is ‘comedy.’” He’s clearly committing acts of journalism, however!
  • I did not realize that some college papers in the United States are actually owned by for-profit companies. And now they’re feeling the effects, “of course, student publications haven’t been immune to the business challenges facing the news industry as a whole.”

You can follow Edmonton media news on Twitter using the hashtag #yegmedia. For a great overview of the global media landscape, check out Mediagazer.

So, what have I missed? What’s new and interesting in the world of Edmonton media? Let me know!

You can see past Media Monday Edmonton entries here.

Edmonton Notes for August 28, 2016

I hope you had a great weekend! It certainly feels like summer is winding down with a noticeable chill in the air. Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

Churchill Square

Upcoming Events

Canadian Derby - Edmonton 2016
Canadian Derby, photo by IQRemix

Coming up at City Council: August 29 – September 2, 2016

In addition to discussing the report on Northlands’ Vision 2020, there are a number of other things coming up for Council next week.

Wading Pool Race!
Photo by Kurt Bauschardt

Here’s my look at everything else that Council will be discussing in the week ahead.

Meetings this week

You can always see the latest City Council meetings on ShareEdmonton.

Edmonton Arena District Update

The latest update on Rogers Place and the Edmonton Arena District states:

“Since the last update report, the private sector District development surrounding the Arena has continued to advance. A significant milestone occurred at the end of May when Greyhound transferred their bus operations out of the downtown. Demolition of the Greyhound building has been completed, and excavation of the site and the abutting former 103 Street is now underway.”

Rogers Place is “nearing completion and is expected to be available for occupancy by September 2, 2016, the contracted facility turnover date.” In other words, on time, at least as of August 8, 2016. The facility is also on target to achieve the LEED Silver designation.

Former Greyhound Station

Some other highlights:

  • “A robust communications plan is planned to roll out as the opening of the facility approaches.”
  • “At the time of writing this report, commissioning was underway and various areas of the building have received final inspection. Equipment and furniture is now being moved into the building.”
  • “As of the end of June, there was a daily average of 1,019 workers on-site. The on-site team continues to work in a safe manner with one lost-time-incident. To date, there have been 8,321 workers fully oriented on the site.”
  • “Through the beginning of May, 87 percent (7,045 tons) of all waste material had been diverted from the landfill.”
  • “The building will officially open September 8, 2016, with the first major event being an Open House planned for September 10, 2016, to give the public the opportunity to explore and enjoy the building.”
  • “The City will host a separate community-focused grand opening event for the Downtown Community Arena on September 25, 2016.”

On the financial state of the project:

“The total approved capital budget for the Downtown Arena project (capital profile #1117-0099 as amended) is $611,859,000. The total capital expenditure as at June 30, 2016, is approximately $542,044,192.”

The report mentions an “unresolved legal claim” that could mean additional interim funding is required.

Edmonton Filmed Entertainment Fund

Council had previously asked for an update on the Edmonton Filmed Entertainment Fund, which was established in 2012 by EEDC with Kilkburn Media LLC and with $5 million in grant funding from the City. It was created “to support filmed entertainment projects principally shot in Edmonton using local resources.” To date, the fund has invested in three projects: Freezer (2012), Cut Bank (2013), and 40 Below (2015).

Here’s how the fund has performed so far:

  • “The Fund has invested 92% ($4.62M) of the grant funding in three projects since inception and has received 64% ($2.9M) return to date toward this investment.”
  • “In regards to the Economic Impact goal, the Fund has generated $6.47M in economic activity from three films, including $2.34M of direct employment income in the film and entertainment industry.”
  • “The Fund was created as a revolving fund. However, the investments so far have begun generating revenues 12 months after the investments or later. The lengthy payback period limits the ability to invest in multiple projects or larger projects.”

The target was to generate an economic multiplier ratio of 6:1, but instead the return on investment was -33%.

Unsurprisingly, EEDC has “concluded that the existing model used for the Fund is not proving to be successful.” They said $5 million is not enough to invest in big enough projects to see larger returns, and that “13-20 percent return on investment was optimistic, this industry involves too many risks to guarantee any profits – even with industry experts involved.”

Other interesting items

Wrap-up

You can keep track of City Council on Twitter using the #yegcc hashtag, and you can listen to or watch any Council meeting live online. You can read my previous coverage of the 2013-2017 City Council here.

Northlands’ Vision 2020 is not going to happen

The City of Edmonton released its analysis of Northlands’ Vision 2020 proposal today. Introducing the report, City Manager Linda Cochrane said, “we acknowledge that Vision 2020 is an option for what could be done with the 160 acres.” It’s clear from reading the report however that the City doesn’t support the plan.

“Northlands has proposed an ambitious plan and there are elements that are worthy of future exploration,” Mayor Iveson said. But there’s a but. “Council’s job must be to make decisions that are in the best interest of the city, not just one organization.” Suggesting that there’s more work to be done, he said “it’s critical that we aren’t rushed and that we make the right decision for our city.”

Northlands Park

Vision 2020 proposes a transformation of both Northlands as an organization and the 160 acres of land that it leases from the City and operates, which includes Rexall Place, the Edmonton EXPO Centre, Northlands Park Racetrack and Casino, and all of the parking. The plan would see Rexall Place repurposed as a recreation facility, a retrofit for Hall D in the EXPO Centre, a new agriculture strategy, the end of horse racing and a redevelopment of Northlands Park into an urban festival site, and a redevelopment plan consisting of commercial, retail, and residential uses. The key to making the plan work is debt forgiveness on the $48 million outstanding debt that Northlands owes on the Edmonton EXPO Centre, to say nothing of the capital expenditures required to build everything outlined in the plan.

Debt Forgiveness

On the debt forgiveness, Mayor Iveson was clear that is not likely to happen. “I don’t believe Edmontonians would support forgiving a debt this large.” Perhaps more importantly, there’s no upside to the City by forgiving the debt.

Northlands owes $47.4 million as of June 30, 2016 and the City has a corresponding debt obligation with the Alberta Capital Finance Authority for the same amount. Every year Northlands pays the City $4.05 million which the City in turn pays to ACFA, so there’s zero impact to the City. If the loan were forgiven, the City would have to find a way to pay the $4.05 million each year for the loan from ACFA, which expires in 2034 and does not have an option for early termination. “Funding this loan from the tax levy would require a 0.3% tax levy increase in 2017 at a total cost of $72.8 million for the remaining duration of the loan.”

Northlands is projecting negative cash flows of $7.7 million per year which means it may be at risk of defaulting on its loan payments as early as next year. If that were to happen, the City would have the ability to terminate the lease and take back possession of the EXPO Centre which provides the City with “a tangible capital asset that will limit the impact of a default on the City’s financial position.” In theory the City could use income generated from the EXPO Centre to fund the ACFA loan.

“The business case for the expansion of the Expo Centre was overly ambitious in retrospect,” Mayor Iveson said today. But we are where we are, there’s no going back now.

Debt forgiveness or not, the City is on the hook for the money. But by allowing Northlands to default on its loan, the City gains complete control of the Northlands site and EXPO Centre as well.

Repurposing Rexall Place

“There is no immediate demand for six new ice sheets in Edmonton,” the report states, “however opportunity does exist to leverage the Rexall repurpose concept in the context of closing or repurposing four single-sheet ice facilities in north and northeast Edmonton.” The Mayor sounded somewhat optimistic about the idea, and mentioned that he had even spoken with Hockey Canada recently to explore the idea of a hockey academy in the facility. Northlands estimates the cost of repurposing the facility at $85 million. While the City says it “is technically feasible” they disagree on the cost, suggesting “an estimate of $102 million within -10% to +20% would be more appropriate.”

Farewell Rexall Place
Farewell Rexall Place, photo by Jeff Wallace

The wrinkle with this part of the plan is that the City is restricted by the Master Agreement with the Edmonton Arena Corporation (EAC) on the kind of investments it can make to Rexall Place. “The City cannot not make additional capital expenditures that exceed those required to maintain Rexall Place in a safe condition and in compliance with applicable laws.” Furthermore, as soon as Rogers Place opens the City has to stop providing any financial support to Rexall Place, directly or indirectly, except as required to comply with the law and maintain public safety.

The biggest issue however is that “the City must not financially support or advocate in favour of any plan to rebuild or renovate Rexall Place, unless it is to convert the facility to something other than a sports or entertainment facility.” If the plan to repurpose Rexall Place is going to go ahead, the EAC would need to formally waive that restriction.

Hall D

The Hall D retrofit would increase seating capacity to 5,000 but “appears difficult to justify based on the anticipated market demand” for events it might serve. Vision 2020 assumes the facility could attract 50 concerts and events annually, but the consultants research indicates that “a maximum of 20 to 24 concerts annually appear to be the upper boundary for this type of building.” Last year, Hall D hosted 6 concerts.

Electrical and mechanical upgrades as well as a roof replacement would all be required for Hall D in the next 2-4 years. “Without a long term tenant (e.g. minor sports franchise), enhancements to Hall D cannot be justified in the immediate term.” Again the report suggests a higher cost estimate than Northlands did, at “$38.7 million within -10% to +30%.”

Urban Festival site

Recognizing that the site “may provide a unique opportunity to the region” the report raises major concerns about the feasibility of the idea. Industry data suggests there may be market demand in the long-term, but “it is unclear if there is sufficient market demand to achieve the necessary revenue to make the site profitable.” Interviews conducted with local festival organizers suggest “there is not significant interest in relocating to the Northlands site at this time.”

K-Days

In general, the report highlights a lack of detail supporting the idea and says that further investigation would be required. “The updated cost estimate provided by Northlands of $83.6 million cannot be verified as accurate with any certainty,” the report says.

Residential Opportunities

Vision 2020 proposes 3,195 residential units in a mix of concrete high-rise buildings, wood frame low/mid-rise buildings, and townhomes. It anticipates absorption of 540 units per year, a figure the report says is unrealistic. The consultants estimated that Northlands “could reasonably capture at most 15-20% of apartment demand in the city’s mature neighbourhoods” which would mean demand for, “at most, 100-150 multi-family apartment units per year on average from 2015 to 2035.” There does appear to be “market demand for 400 beds to serve Concordia University” but the report notes that in addition to a lack of funding, “the economics of a concrete high-rise for student housing that assumes market rates for land is difficult to achieve.”

The Future of Northlands

When Vision 2020 was released earlier this year, Northlands suggested it would cost $165 million. The City puts the estimated cost at more than $230 million. Northlands deserves some credit for thinking big and putting something on the table, but Vision 2020 just isn’t realistic and will not happen. The future of Northlands will be something different.

Asked if the decision to build the new arena is the root of all of Northlands’ problems, the mayor said that was an oversimplification of a complex situation. “This has hastened a conversation that I think would have happened anyway,” he said.

mayor don iveson

Mayor Iveson indicated he will propose a merger of the EXPO Centre and Shaw Conference Centre next week when Council discusses the report. “This report provides a wake up call that the time for integration is now,” he said. “I believe that if we look at bringing the two conference centres together under a shared events authority, we will get better tourism and economic development results for our city.” He wouldn’t speculate on whether Northlands, EEDC, or a new organization should become that shared events authority.

This is an idea that is long overdue. It regularly comes up in discussions about the various facilities and organizations, and came up again earlier this month when Chris LaBossiere suggested a merger could be a way forward for Northlands. To his credit, Northlands CEO Tim Reid is open to the idea. “One of the things that has never made sense to me in our city is why we have two very large conference, convention and trade facilities that are run under different entities,” he told Metro.

Council will discuss the report at a Special City Council Meeting on August 31. You can dig into the full analysis here.

Media Monday Edmonton: Update #217

Here’s my latest update on local media stuff:

102.3 FM radio station Edmonton car
102.3 FM Now! Radio’s trucksicle, photo by jasonwoodhead23

And here is some slightly less local media stuff:

You can follow Edmonton media news on Twitter using the hashtag #yegmedia. For a great overview of the global media landscape, check out Mediagazer.

So, what have I missed? What’s new and interesting in the world of Edmonton media? Let me know!

You can see past Media Monday Edmonton entries here.

Edmonton Notes for August 21, 2016

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

Five Towers and a Pyramid [Explored]
Five Towers and a Pyramid, photo by Jeff Wallace

Upcoming Events

ICE district Edmonton
Rogers Place on August 20, photo by jasonwoodhead23

Media Monday Edmonton: Update #216

Here’s my latest update on local media stuff:

Edmonton Bulletin
Throwback to the Edmonton Bulletin, photo by Bill Burris

And here is some slightly less local media stuff:

You can follow Edmonton media news on Twitter using the hashtag #yegmedia. For a great overview of the global media landscape, check out Mediagazer.

So, what have I missed? What’s new and interesting in the world of Edmonton media? Let me know!

You can see past Media Monday Edmonton entries here.

Edmonton Notes for August 14, 2016

I am working in London, UK for the week. Nice to be here in the summer for a change! I’ll be back to Edmonton on Saturday, August 20 just in time for our next What the Truck?! event! It takes place from 4-8pm at the Edmonton Ballpark (TELUS Field) with a great lineup of trucks. Hope to see you there!

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

University of Alberta
Signs of fall already?

Upcoming Events

Edmonton Airshow2016 (3 of 10)
Edmonton Airshow, photo by Dale C