The Feb. 21 St. Albert city council meeting has just one main item on the agenda: two amendments to the city's Business License Bylaw.
The first amendment, discussed briefly during the Feb. 14 standing committee of the whole meeting, will allow private educators "providing curriculum-based educational services to publicly-funded school boards" to operate locally without acquiring a business license.
The amendment defines a private educator as "a person providing educational-based services which fall within the definition of business."
The second amendment will allow retail cannabis stores to remove the film window coverings that obstruct the ability to see into the business from outside.
According to a council backgrounder prepared by city business license inspector Monty Killoh, the regulatory change will bring St. Albert in line with other municipalities in the province as the Alberta Liquor and Gaming Comission (AGLC), the provincial regulatory authority, removed the requirement for film window coverings last August after a rise in thefts and robberies in cannabis stores across Alberta.
Killoh wrote that city staff spoke with 16 cannabis retailers in St. Albert about the changes made by the AGLC, and all 16 supported the bylaw amendment to no longer require the obscured windows.
The Gazette will have an article dedicated to the amendment allowing cannabis retailers to un-obscure their store windows in the Feb. 23 edition of the newspaper.
Three civic committee meetings will also take place at city hall next week.
The council remuneration review committee will meet on Feb. 22 to continue their review of the salaries paid to St. Albert's elected officials.
The Arts Development Advisory Committee will also meet on Feb. 22, and according to the meeting agenda the committee will hear updates on three public art projects, including the Grey Nuns White Spruce Park.
Lastly, the Environmental Advisory Committee will meet on Feb. 23 to discuss the committee's three year work plan.
