It’s Committee week again!

Agendas for upcoming City Council meetings are generally released on Thursday afternoons. I like to take a look to see what Council will be discussing, and I figured I should share that here. Below you’ll find links to the meetings taking place next week, as well as links to and thoughts on some agenda items that caught my eye.

Monday, March 9, 2015

The week begins on Monday with a Community Services Committee meeting scheduled from 9:30am until 5:30pm. There are just four reports on the agenda, and one response to an inquiry from Councillor Oshry. Here’s what caught my eye:

Highway Entrance Signs (Councillor Oshry)

Councillor Oshry made an inquiry back in October about the Highway Entrance Signs that you see as you enter the city. He wanted to know what the process was for removing and replacing them, what the options were for determining the design and contents, how such a project might be funded, and what the public engagement process might look like. Here’s what the report says:

• There are currently seven such signs, which isn’t really that many when you think about it. There are some key entry points that currently lack a sign, such as Highway 28 or St. Albert Trail.
• The City says there are three basic options for designing new signs: Standard Architectural Proposal Call, Anonymous Open Design Competition, or a Closed Design Competition.
• As for funding, options include a fundraising campaign like the “Light the Bridge” effort, private funding “through sponsorship or advertising opportunities,” or a standard Capital Budget profile.
• The City says the signs are functional and not in need of replacement, so any project to replace them would “need to be assessed against other unfunded growth profiles.”
• Public engagement options run the gamut from online surveys to workshops and interviews.

I would be surprised to see this report go anywhere beyond Committee – I don’t think there’s an appetite to fund such a project.

LEED Silver Exemption for the Varscona Theatre

The Varscona Theatre is being rehabilitated at a cost of $7.5 million. The City’s contribution is $2 million and Policy C532 says that all new buildings and major renovations to City-owned buildings must achieve LEED Silver certification. Exemptions can be made however, where achieving that certification is deemed impractical.

In the case of the Varscona Theatre, which was built as a fire hall in 1957 and converted into a theatre in 1982, building to LEED Silver would increase total project costs by 11-15%. The report states that the project “is still adopting sustainable design and construction practices where feasible.”

Photo by Kurt Bauschardt

The reconstructed Capitol Theatre at Fort Edmonton Park was also granted an exemption back in 2011.

Other

Here’s what the other reports are about:

• Every six months or as directed by Council, the Edmonton Police Commission is required to submit a report of all agreements entered into for expenditures greater than $100,000. There are three such agreements in this report, totaling $660,944, for helicopter parts, 911 dispatch software, and snow removal services.
• There’s an update on the new Africa Centre and the corresponding strategy for the involvement of the African community. Council has already approved $838,000 for the schematic design for the building. The estimate for the total project budget is $39,808,100, the City’s portion of which will be considered during the 2019-2022 Capital Budget.
• There’s also an update on the activities of Aksis, Edmonton’s Aboriginal Business and Professional Association. Last year was the organization’s second year of operation.

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

On Tuesday, the next Executive Committee meeting is scheduled to take place from 9:30am until 5:30pm. There are eleven reports on the agenda, six of which deal with requests for tax cancellation, deferral, or refunds. Here’s what caught my eye:

Pictometry

Pictometry Canada Corp. provides high-resolution digital imagery of the city through aerial photography. They use fly-bys to create high resolution images of the ground that can be used for many City processes. These images are not unlike what you’d see in a tool like Google Earth, but they are more frequently updated, are higher resolution, and integrate into existing City software.

In 2013, more than 100,000 images were viewed by City staff. That number grew to over 500,000 last year. The City expects usage to grow and is looking to enter into a five-year contract with Pictometry for about $1.1 million.

“Having reviewed several options, Pictometry has proven itself to be the best tool for the City of Edmonton’s purposes. It is the only service provider that is able to integrate its technology directly with other City enterprise priority systems, allowing for seamless interface between them.”

St. Albert, Calgary, Wood Buffalo, and Fort Saskatchewan are some of the other municipalities that use Pictometry.

Impact of the Alberta Wetlands Policy on City Wetlands

The Government of Alberta will be implementing the Alberta Wetland Policy in June 2015, and this report attempts to provide some insight on the impact it will have on City wetlands. About 1,100 hectares of wetlands remain with in Edmonton’s corporate limits, which is 1.6% of the City’s land base. As you might expect, most of those wetlands are in the undeveloped parts of the city.

If an organization wants to do something with wetlands in Edmonton, they currently need to pay a compensation rate of $19,000/hectare. The report notes this isn’t very much:

“When working within a large urban context where property values are higher (in many cases over $300,000/ hectares), it is financially more attractive for most applicants to pay compensation at a rate of $19,000 hectares to fill in a wetland than to protect it.”

The impact of the new policy isn’t fully understood yet. It will increase the area of regulated wetlands in Edmonton from about 600 hectares to 1000 hectares, but the financial impacts “cannot be evaluated until implementation details are released later in 2015.” The City has started a Wetland Task Force to work to understand the potential impacts of the policy.

Delegation of Authoring – Semi Annual Report

Bylaw 12005 requires that the City Manager provide Council with a semi-annual report summarizing all contracts, agreements, settlments, etc. which involved a revenue or expenditure of $100,000 or greater. Tendered agreements of less than $20 million and un-tendered agreements of less than $500,000 can be approved by Administration, otherwise they must be approved by Council.

“For the period of July 1 to December 31, 2014, Administration approved 150 tendered agreements with a total value of $128,865,510 and 1 9 un-tendered agreements with a total value of $3,310,610.”

The report attachment outlines the agreements greater than $100,000 for the reporting period.

Tax Stuff

Four organizations (Edmonton Chevra Kadisha, South Shore Country Club Inc., Habitat for Humanity, and CASA Child Adolescent and Family Mental Health) requested special Council consideration for their taxes to be cancelled, but all four are recommended to be denied. Wellspring Edmonton, which was granted a tax deferral last year, is requesting a further deferral. The recommendation is to approve that, and to bring a new report to Executive Committee in 2016.

Finally, there’s a recommendation to approve tax refunds totalling $74,061.48 as well as any associated penalties. These refunds are for non-profit organizations for the period of time during which their facilities were under construction and not in use.

Other

There’s a report pending on the pedway to the Galleria and Royal Alberta Museum, but it’s not ready yet. It’ll provide an update on the Sole Source Agreement (which basically means there’s one vendor in particular that the City has solicited and negotiated with).

There’s a status update on the Cornerstones Inclusionary Affordable Housing program. “The City has paid, on average, $200,000 per unit using Cornerstones I funds for a total investment of $4.2 million. The market value of this portfolio at the time it was acquired was $4.9 million.” Administration is planning to bring an official policy forward for consideration in the second quarter of 2015.

A bunch of reports have been delayed until March 24, including at least three that deal with the zoning bylaw. An update on the Open City Initiative has also been delayed until March 24.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

The next Transportation Committee meeting takes place on Wednesday from 9:30am until 5:30pm. There is one report on the agenda as well as two responses to Councillor inquiries.

ETS Fare Policy Draft Revision – U-Pass

The ETS Fare Policy was last updated in 2013 to increase the U-Pass fare by $7.50 per year for the next four years (ending in 2016). Since then, Council has also adopted a new Multi-year Budgeting Policy (in September 2014). As a result, Administration is bringing forward a revised policy that brings it in line with that new process. But don’t worry, the public will still get a say: “Citizens will be able to provide feedback on a proposed multi-year fare policy as part of the submitted Transit Branch Business Plan.”

Potholes in Back Alleys (Councillor Knack)

Councillor Knack inquired back in October about the process for repairing potholes in back alleys, about the general condition of back alleys, and if there were any plan to address the long-term sustainability of those alleys.

Photo by Bill Burris

The report responds as follows:

• Repairing potholes in alleys is similar to repairing potholes on other roads, except that it takes longer. As opposed to two working days for arterials and five working days for collector roadways, potholes in alleys are given the lowest priority and are “generally completed in that same construction season” but could be carried over to the following year.
• “The general condition of the back alley network is poor (Condition D).” The report says that 30% of the total pothole repair budget is spent in back alleys, yet alleys represent just 9% of the total road inventory.
• The current Neighbourhood Renewal Program “does not include any funding for alleys”.

Streetlight Pole Maintenance & Replacement Program (Councillor Anderson)

Back in September Councillor Anderson made an inquiry about the streetlight pole maintenance and replacement program. Here are the highlights from the response:

• The City assumed responsibility for the street light system from EPCOR in 1997.
• Prior to 2004 the City painted street poles, but that practice was discontinued because replacement was more cost effective over the life of the pole.
• The City currently has approximately 75,000 street light poles, 10% of which are recommended for replacement. The rest are in fair to good condition.
• The City replaces approximately 1,500 poles per year.

Other

• Three reports were delayed. Both the report on Scona Road Traffic Safety & Speed Mitigation Strategies and a report on Bike Lanes on Utility Corridors have a revised due date of April 22. The Enhanced Coliseum LRT Station and Pedway to Northlands Expo Centre report has “to be determined” as its due date, presumably to allow the Northlands Arena Strategy Committee recommendation to be considered by the Northlands board first.
• There’s also a private report: Civic Agencies Recruitment Interviews & Short Listing.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Executive Committee is meeting again on Thursday afternoon. There’s just one item on the agenda, and it’s a private report: Civic Agencies Recruitment Interviews & Short Listing.

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.

Agendas for upcoming City Council meetings are generally released on Thursday afternoons. I like to take a look to see what Council will be discussing, and I figured I should share that here. Below you’ll find links to the meetings taking place next week, as well as links to and thoughts on some agenda items that caught my eye.

Monday, March 2, 2015

The week begins on Monday with a Public Hearing scheduled to last all day. There are 9 bylaws on the agenda:

• Bylaw 17098 – To allow for business, service, and light industrial uses, Wilson Industrial
• Bylaw 17152 – To allow for the development of business employment uses, Ambleside
• Bylaws 17085, 17086, 17087 – Amendments to The Orchards NSP and Ellerslie ASP to allow for more housing
• Bylaws 17093, 17094 – Amendment to the Oliver ARP to allow for a 14 storey building on Jasper Avenue west of 123 Street
• Bylaws 17096, 17097 – Amendment to the Strathcona ARP to restrict the size of select uses in Strathcona, Queen Alexandra, and Strathcona Junction

The one I’m most interested in is 17094, which is to rezone the property at 12302 and 12308 Jasper Avenue from CB1 to CB3. The proposed opportunity is a mixed-use development up to 14 storeys in height. Currently at that location you’ll find the Peter Robertson, Agnes Bugera, and Front art galleries.

Also on March 2 is the City Manager and City Auditor Performance Evaluation Committee meeting. There are two private items on the agenda – 2014 Evaluation Results and 2015 Evaluation Process Update. The meeting is scheduled to take place over the lunch break.

There’s also an LRT Governance Board meeting taking place on Monday in the River Valley Room. The board will be receiving a verbal update on the Valley Line LRT Project, and the board’s Semi Annual Report will be discussed (it’ll need Council approval). There’s also a report outlining the results of the Public Input on Request for Proposals for Stage 1 of the Valley Line LRT.

Tuesday & Wednesday, March 3/4, 2015

Next up for Council is a regular City Council Meeting that starts Tuesday and may run into Wednesday. There are 19 reports on the agenda, 13 of which are committee reports. There are also 18 bylaws on the agenda for consideration.

Edmonton’s Economic Forecast Update

This item is all about dealing with the price of oil. “To better understand the implications of lower oil prices on the economic prospects for the City of Edmonton and the surrounding region, a series of simulations were run in late January using the City’s economic forecasting models.” Based on those simulations, the City has updated its forecasted economic indicators as follows:

Indicator	2014	2015 (Spring 2014 Forecast)	2015 (Current Forecast)
Real GDP	3.3%	3.7%	2.8%
Inflation (CPI)	2.1%	1.5%	1.8%
Population	3.6%	2.1%	1.9%
Unemployment Rate	5.0%	4.2%	5.2%
Housing Starts	9,798	10,175	10,600

The highlight? “Economic growth will continue in Edmonton and out perform the rest of the province due to its relatively low direct dependence of the energy sector.” Longer term, Edmonton’s economic growth should recover to levels slightly above 3%, which will still be higher than most of the Province and Canada as a whole.

Another round of forecasting is being planned for mid-April to take the Provincial budget into account, among other data updates.

December 2014 Preliminary Year End Financial Results

There’s a lot of information available with this report, including a dozen attachments. A few highlights:

• Preliminary results for 2014 tax-supported operations identify a net favourable year-end variance of $9.9 million or 0.5% of the overall expenditure budget.
• Based on borrowing and repayments to December 31, 2014, the City has $2.823 billion in total debt, which is 61.1% of the MGA allowed debt limit.
• Based on that amount, the City utilized 39.5% of the maximum debt service limit for 2014 as defined by the MGA. “Debt servicing will increase significantly in 2016 and 2018 due to the repayment of $60 million of short-term borrowing in each of the years.”
• The Quarters CRL ended 2014 with a deficit of $3.6 million and a cumulative deficit balance since inception of $9 million.
• The Belvedere CRL ended 2014 with a deficit of $1.6 million and a cumulative deficit balance since inception of $5.4 million.
• The Downtown CRL has incurred $3.6 million in debt servicing costs for 2014, the first year of operation. “From 2019 onwards this program is projected to have an annual positive net position, which will be transferred to the CRL reserve.”

There’s also a recommendation for Council to approve three things:

• An increase of $3.6 million to the 2015 Operating Budget, with the funds to come from the Financial Stabilization Reserve.
• An increase of $5.1 million to the 2015 Operating Budget, offset by an equivalent transfer from amounts currently appropriated in the Financial Stabilization Reserve.
• An increase of $39.5 million to the 2015 Operating Budget, offset by an equivalent amount in revenue, to address the cash flow of expenditures for the 41st Avenue/QEII interchange.

The financial results outlined in the report are based on information available to February 23, 2015 and are unaudited and subject to change.

Capital Finance Update

Last year was the final year of the 2012-2014 Capital Budget that was approved back on December 8, 2011. “As of December 31, 2014, the three year spend was $3,151.4.4 million against the 2012 to 2014 adjusted capital budget of $4,280.4 million representing 73.6% of the total budget.” Some of the things we spent money on include:

• The Downtown Arena
• The Clareview & Meadows Recreation Centres
• The Walterdale Bridge
• The Southeast to West LRT/Valley Line
• Neighbourhood Renewal Program

The unused capital budget will be carried forward, a process that is expected to be finalized in the spring.

Implementation Plan for the Way Ahead (2015-2018)

This report, along with the associated Department and Branch 3-Year Business Plan Process report, outlines the Implementation Project for The Way Ahead. Last year Council reaffirmed the strategic plan with 12 revised corporate outcomes and 26 outcome measures. The scope of the project is to identify and prioritize actions and tactics to achieve or make substantial progress toward the outcomes by December 31, 2018.

Branches are currently developing their 2016-2018 business plans now, which will include actions that contribute to the Implementation Project. By April, the public will have been consulted through the Edmonton Insight Community, and by May the Corporate Leadership Team will have reviewed the Branch business plans and approved the Implementation Plan document. We can expect a public release of everything on November 3, in time for the 2016 budget cycle.

Appointments to Civic Agencies for 2015-2016

Council needs to appoint members to a few different civic agencies for the 2015-2016 term. The appointments are as follows:

• Councillor Caterina to the Edmonton Northlands Board and Edmonton Northlands Executive Committee
• Councillor Oshry to the Edmonton Northlands Board
• Councillor Henderson & Councillor Walters to the River Valley Alliance Board
• Councillor Esslinger to the Trans Canada Yellowhead Highway Association Board

This item will likely be just a rubber stamping exercise.

Committee Reports

The Committee reports were all recently discussed at one of the four committees and have been referred to Council with a recommendation for approval. A few that I wanted to highlight include:

• Designation, Preservation and Restoration of McDougall United Church – A recommendation that the Mayor, on behalf of City Council, approach the relevant provincial ministers to explore partnership opportunities around heritage, arts and post-secondary uses as part of a repair and long-term operational sustainability strategy for McDougall United Church as a public building.
• Online Voting – That the Mayor, on behalf of City Council, write a letter to the Minister of Municipal Affairs requesting that consideration be given to amending the Local Authorities Election Act, to permit alternative forms of voting.
• ParkPlus Software Licensing & Maintenance Agreement – That the name “EPark” and the EPark design contained in the February 25 Transportation Services report be approved for use to distinguish parking solutions provided by the City of Edmonton.
• Funding Strategies for Future LRT Expansion – That Administration work with the Mayor, to develop a communication plan to inform citizens about the impact of other orders of government on funding the City’s future LRT Network Plan, in light of the upcoming Provincial and Federal elections, and return to City Council.

Bylaws

As mentioned, there are 18 bylaws on the agenda. Here are a few that I wanted to highlight:

• Bylaw 17003 would designate the Mountfield House, built in 1905, as a Municipal Historic Resource. This is ready for third reading.
• Bylaw 17092 will amend the Quarters CRL bylaw to increase borrowing by $44,345,000, to pay for the phase II projects. That’ll bring the total for projects in the Quarters CRL to $95,345,000. This is ready for second and third readings.
• Bylaw 17075 will increase borrowing authorization for the Great Neighbourhoods Initiative by $60 million. This is ready for second and third readings.
• Bylaw 17102 will authorize the City to borrow $304,186,000 to undertake, construct, and finance Sanitary and Stormwater Drainage projects. This is ready for first reading only.
• Bylaw 17100 will authorize the City to undertake, construct, and finance the Downtown CRL projects by increasing borrowing authorization by $78,178,839. This is ready for first reading only.
• Bylaw 17004 will amend the Public Places Bylaw to provide the necessary legislative authority to prohibit smoking in Churchill Square. This is ready for third reading.

Other

There is one notice of motion pending which is Councillor Henderson’s motion regarding the planned elimination of the use of herbicides on public land. There will also be one private verbal update, on the purchase and sale of land in The Quarters.

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.

Council is back next week with Committee meetings.

Agendas for upcoming City Council meetings are generally released on Thursday afternoons. I like to take a look to see what Council will be discussing, and I figured I should share that here. Below you’ll find links to the meetings taking place next week, as well as links to and thoughts on some agenda items that caught my eye.

Monday, February 23, 2015

Council starts the week with a Community Services Committee Meeting scheduled to take place from 9:30am until 5:30pm. There are four reports on the agenda, two of which require approval by Council. Here are some things I wanted to highlight:

CSAB 2015 Community Investment Operating Grant (CIOG) Recommendations

The Community Investment Operating Grant program is for non-profit organizations whose mandate falls under Social Services, Multicultural, or Recreation/Amateur Sport. As you can imagine, there’s a large number of eligible organizations. The maximum amount an organization can receive is $17,000 and organizations with operating expenses greater than $2 million are not eligible. Organizations can only receive one operating grant per year from the City of Edmonton.

The CIOG recommendations for 2015 total $3,486,180 to 251 non-profit organizations in Edmonton. There were 268 applications received. The report includes the full list of successful applicants.

EFCL Strategic Plan and Growth Strategy

The Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues (EFCL) Board of Directors has identified six key strategic priorities for 2014-2018:

• Vision – The EFCL Board further develops and articulates a strong, long-term vision for its future based on understanding the components of complete communities, and the complementary functions of EFCL and the Community Leagues.
• Advocacy & Engagement – The EFCL Board advocates for positive change by engaging leagues and equipping them to engage their communities and advocate for neighbourhood issues, and advocating itself on behalf of all leagues when the issue is city-wide.
• Broadening Our Reach and Diversity – The EFCL works with Leagues to create better opportunities for social inclusion in their membership and programs.
• Supporting League Leadership and Capacity – The EFCL focuses on building leadership and capacity in leagues.
• Building an Efficient Operations Model – As a member agency, EFCL provides effective, efficient and innovative business supports to all leagues, and regularly assesses its effectiveness and benefit.
• Championing Leagues – EFCL actively and intentionally raises the profile of community leagues and recognizes their contributions and accomplishments.

The organization is now working on its 2015-2019 Business Plan to outline activities and projects, timelines, resources, and budget implications for each of those priorities.

The Growth Strategy is an $80,000 funding package to help EFCL implement “a sustainable, efficient, and effective approach to realizing the vision” outlined in its Strategic Plan. EFCL is looking for a $40,000 contribution from the City of Edmonton for this project to hire a half-time, temporary contractor.

Community Challenge, photo by Edmonton NextGen

The City has a Partnership Agreement with EFCL and discussions have begun about renewing it. Watch for a report in the second quarter of 2015 on that topic.

Non-Profit Organizations in Edmonton

Councillor Nickel made an inquiry back in September to learn about how non-profit organizations in Edmonton manage financial reporting, HR, and IT. The report provides an overview of the current situation, outlines how the City of Edmonton supports non-profit organizations, and identifies some challenges for the second. Here are some of the highlights:

• “Edmonton has approximately 4,000 not-for-profit organizations providing a wide range of programs and services.”
• “Many not-for-profit organizations are having to adapt to on-line staff recruitment processes. This requires expertise in both human resources and information technology applications.”
• The primary way the City supports non-profits is through funding, but it works with other organizations that deliver programs and services too.
• The City says that over the last three years, “fewer organizations are seeking assistance with financial reporting.” They say these organizations are building financial capacity through the resources that are available.
• Under HR, the highlight is the Shared Services model that was piloted from 2010 to 2013. A group of non-profits are still using that approach to help reduce costs and increase efficiency. The report doesn’t say why the model hasn’t been deployed more widely.
• There’s not much to take away under IT, aside from the SpaceFinder application that was jointly developed by the City, Arts Habitat, ECVO, and the Multicultural Coalition.

Challenges identified include increasing demand for services from the sector, a general shift toward project-based funding which reduces the amount of core funding available, and high turnover on boards.

I’m not sure what Councillor Nickel was looking for aside from information on the sector, but I find the report to be lacking in detail, frankly. A couple of Google searches probably would have turned up just as much information.

Other

The two other reports on the agenda are:

• Options to Support Suicide Prevention
• Edmonton Arts Council Cornerstone Art Operating Grant Recommendations – a total of $3,529,000 is recommended to four organizations for 2015:
  • $1,042,000 to the Citadel Theatre
  • $1,020,000 to the ESO/Winspear Centre
  • $1,125,000 to the Art Gallery of Alberta
  • $342,000 to Fringe Theatre Adventures

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Council will hold its next Executive Committee Meeting on Tuesday, scheduled to run from 9:30am until 5:30pm. There are eight reports on the agenda, three of which require Council approval. There are also two responses to Councillor inquiries. Here are some things I wanted to highlight:

Corporate Measures and Targets

This report is an update on the previous work that Council has done on measuring outcomes for The Way Ahead. The key update is why using genuine progress indicators in tandem with gross domestic product is a good way to measure progress.

“A Genuine Progress Indicator (or Index) measures economic well-being. It is designed to replace gross domestic product as the standard economic indicator. Genuine Progress Indicators attempt to go beyond measuring the market value of goods in an economy and provide an approximation of sustainable economic well-being by subtracting the negative by-products of the economy.”

There’s no one single Genuine Progress Indicator and they are complex to develop. There are also questions about how valid or reliable they are. There are benefits to using them in tandem with other indicators though. “For example, while Gross Domestic Product may rise over time, a Genuine Progress Indicator may not rise as quickly or may even fall over the same time period.”

Over the year, the City is going to be developing a corporate performance measurement registry to house the strategic and key operational measures throughout the organization. There’s a bunch more discussion on the difference between performance measures and indicators, and on genuine progress indicators, in the report.

What will happen to McDougall United Church?

There’s a fairly extensive report on the work the City has undertaken alongside the McDougall United Church Council regarding the future of the church buildings and land. The report calls restoration of the church “unlikely” and says that to avoid demolition, a compromise may be to restore some of the building’s architectural features into a new facility. Here’s the key conclusion:

“Administration has investigated the options for preservation and restoration of McDougall United Church. At this time, Administration has completed its mandate unless otherwise directed to undertake additional work. The Church Council needs to determine the future of its building and congregation. If City Council elects to provide the required funds to the McDougall United Church, it will require reprioritizing Council’s initiatives in order to find funding. Such a decision could set a precedent for other organizations.”

Inside McDougall United Church, photo by Jason Woodhead

The total cost to maintain the church over the next seven years ranges from $18.4 million to $25.4 million. If Council wants to direct some funding to save the church, it won’t be cheap, and it could set a precedent they’d rather avoid.

Current Planning Reserve Fund

This report is in response to an inquiry that Councillor Nickel made back in September about how the current planning reserve fund is operated. Back in 2010 the Current Planning Reserve Fund was established to “ensure full cost recovery and long-term financial sustainability of revenue generating planning, development, building, and mechanical services.”

Here’s what the City targets:

“The target balance of the Current Planning Reserve Fund, as outlined in City Policy C570 – Current Planning Reserve, is 75% of Current Planning budgeted annual operational expenditures.”

The fund balance currently sits at just half the target value, at $26.4 million as of the end of 2014.

The report goes on to say that in fact, a balance of 100% of annual operating expenditures is “likely required to maintain operations and cover costs during a typical economic recession.” Cities like Calgary, Hamilton, Ottawa, and Waterloo all target a reserve fund balance of between 100% and 150% of annual operating expenditures.

Online Voting

In November, Councillor Knack asked for an overview of the Internet voting test conducted in 2012 and an update on any new information that has been learned since that time. The report provides a summary and includes these observations:

“In order for internet voting to be successful, an extensive auditing process, security system, clear communication plan and thorough testing should be completed prior to implementation. The multi-layered authentication sign on system utilized in internet voting has provided electors a secure online voting option. Internet voting has been successfully implemented in a number of municipalities as an additional voting option and tool to help reduce barriers for voters.”

If the City were to move ahead with Internet voting, legislative changes would be required. These changes “have been raised in discussions on the proposed City Charter and revisions to the Municipal Government Act.”

At this time, the City has not developed cost estimates for Internet voting.

I still think the City should adopt online voting as an option. The last time this came up at Council, they voted against it citing security concerns. They had a good discussion about the issue, but my much more cynical take on it was at the end of the day, mayoral candidates were afraid that Don Iveson would use his connections and tech savvy to take advantage of online voting to win the election. Clearly that won’t be a concern in 2017 because, well, he handily won the last offline election didn’t he?

Other

• The City wants to spend $1.9 million over the next four years on CAD software from Bentley Systems. The City has 800 active users of the software and has been a customer since 1977.
• A report on Brownfield Remediation and Redevelopment Grant is expected but is not yet available.
• Council will be discussing possible amendments to the way inquiries are made, as a result of concern that the current rules are too restrictive and don’t allow Council to act quickly enough.
• There’s an update on the Belvedere CRL, which is financing $34.25 million through December 31, 2032.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

The next Transportation Committee Meeting will take place on Wednesday from 9:30am until 5:30pm. There are seven reports on the agenda, plus four responses to Councillor inquiries. Here are some items I wanted to highlight:

Funding Strategies for Future LRT Lines

The total length of the long-term LRT Network Plan is 69.7 km, of which 24.3 km is either in service or will be soon, with another 13 km that has funding approved. That leaves about 32 km still to be funded and constructed. The City has identified the following options for funding future LRT:

• Tax-Supported Debt Service Room that becomes available in future years
• Gas Tax Fund that becomes available as South LRT Debt is fully repaid
• Additional Transit Fare Surcharge
• Pay-As-You-Go and other traditional Capital Budget Grant sources
• Additional Tax Levy Directed to LRT Reserve

How much money would we have to spend?

“The total currently identified nominal dollars becoming available between the years 2019 and 2034 total $658 million. This would mean that in order to contribute $658 million towards future LRT as a direct funding source, it would take until 2034 to generate this amount of funds, without considering any additional tax levy impact.”

If that were applied to debt servicing costs, that would translate into about $1 billion in capital funding.

Of course, any future construction is realistically going to require assistance from the provincial and federal governments and for that reason, “an advocacy and lobbying strategy would be required.”

In order to fund future LRT expansion, Council will need to have either an appetite for more debt, the desire to increase taxes, the ability to get more money from other orders of government, or more likely, a combination of all three.

Escalators at LRT Stations

Transit riders complain about escalators being out of service all the time at LRT stations, and this report summarizes the current status and way forward.

• There are currently 37 escalators in the LRT system.
• In 2014 (to the end of October), reliability for escalators was 83%. Total impact of major interruptions was 990 days.
• The life expectancy of an escalator is 30 years. The oldest one of ours is 36 years.
• Escalators break down because of age, vandalism, power outages, and of course sand, snow, and other debris that requires regular maintenance.
• The current elevator and escalator maintenance contract expires this year, so the City will be refining the proposed contract before renewing in an attempt to improve service.
• ETS has a target reliability figure of 90% based on an average of 36 days out of service for preventative maintenance.

The 2015-2018 Capital Budget included $11.874 million for the end of life escalator replacement program. Six escalators are scheduled to be replaced using that money: three at Central, one at Coliseum, one at Stadium, and one at either Bay or Corona.

TIL there’s an organization called the Alberta Elevating Devices & Amusement Rides Safety Association. Who knew!

EPark: Brought to you by the City of Calgary

The City is progressing with plans to replace parking meters with pay-by-plate technology, with implementation set to begin in May. They want to contract the City of Calgary to make it happen, noting that its ParkPlus system is “the only fully automated pay-by-plate parking management solution operational in Canada.” The particulars of the agreement are still being negotiated, but the City is looking for a four-year deal that would include all software and services, plus training.

The report also talks about the need to approve a name and design for the system. I don’t think the logo is going to win any design awards, but I do agree that having a consistent name and look is important. Here’s what the City is proposing for Council’s approval:

Like I said, it’s not pretty.

Other

• The City is looking for $10 million from Council to continue with the Smart Bus Initiative.
• They’re also looking to spend $11.6 million out of the Photo Enforcement Revenue Reserve Fund to improve pedestrian safety with traffic signals.
• There’s a response to an inquiry from Councillor Oshry regarding complaints about traffic noise from people who live near Anthony Henday Drive. My report would be much simpler: IF YOU LIVE NEAR ANTHONY HENDAY DRIVE, DEAL WITH IT OR MOVE. It’s not like the highway appeared one day without warning. Seriously.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

The final committee meeting of the week will be the Utility Committee Meeting on Thursday from 9:30am until 5:30pm. There are three reports on the agenda:

• Biosolids Management Agreement
• Blackmud/Whitemud Creek Watershed Drainage Plan
• Shared Services Fair Market Evaluation – Real Estate Services

There’s also one verbal report, on waste management, that is private under sections 16, 24, and 25 of the FOIPP act.

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.