Developers in St. Albert may be asked to help chip in to create a public art fund for the city.
City manager Bill Holtby said developers cannot be forced to pay the contribution according to the Municipal Government Act, but they can ask for voluntary contributions to the city for various areas. Council is exploring such an idea, depending on the outcome of an upcoming review.
According to a report presented to city council last week, several municipalities throughout Alberta and Canada ask developers to contribute to their funding for public art. Council had asked for the report last fall.
During the meeting, Coun. Carol Watamaniuk, who was in the meeting via speakerphone, said that the city needs to start funding more of the arts projects in the city, noting a funding imbalance for the arts versus recreation.
“Something that has bothered me for years while on council is that our recreation can demand state-of-the-art facilities, and the state of our arts isn’t that great,” she said. “I hope this will be looked upon favourably by developers.”
Currently, the city asks developers to volunteer a percentage of funds for the city’s recreation reserves. Holtby said the contributions policy, which started 30 years ago, is under review with the potential to add the public arts funding request.
“I believe the underlying message is could we, and would the developers, be willing to contribute for the purchase of city art,” he said. “[The fund] is not for maintenance, but for art purchases and possibly major art rework.”
Holtby said that during discussions about rising offsite levies for sewer and water work, developers expressed concern at the costs associated with working on land within the city.
“They did express some concern over the cost of land. They said it will be challenging to keep the market competitive,” he said, adding that the city would consult with a number of St. Albert developers to come up with the new policy.
Heidi Alther, visual arts co-ordinator for the city and the author of the report presented to council, said many municipalities have similar policies for their developers. She added that with the developer contributions, those helping to build St. Albert could also help it flourish as an artistic city.
“The benefits could be that these developers could be part of the art (purchase),” she said in a separate interview. “They could support these cultural projects.”
Coun. Len Bracko echoed this sentiment in a separate interview, saying the developers would be able to take pride in helping to develop a community that is not only about the people, but also about their surroundings.
“People take more pride in the community,” he said. “Developers would take part in the art, in the community they build.”
Community and protective services manager Chris Jardine said that the funding could be applied in a number of different ways. Exactly how will be determined by the policy review later this year.
