The City of St. Albert is preparing for a crowd at a public hearing Monday when council will hear input on a controversial affordable housing project in Akinsdale.
City officials will have two overflow spaces equipped with television feeds in anticipation that the public gallery in council chambers will be too small to hold the crowd. The gallery space holds about 70 people.
A boardroom down the hall, which seats at least 50, will be open as an overflow space, as will the main floor lobby, said chief legislative officer Chris Belke.
Scheduled for 5 p.m., the hearing will begin with a procedural summary from Mayor Nolan Crouse, followed by presentations by city administration and Habitat For Humanity. These steps could take two hours, Crouse said.
After that, the public will have a chance to speak. To date, about two-dozen people have registered to speak, with each allotted up to five minutes, Belke said.
Crouse is hoping to finish hearing public input but thinks it’s unlikely that council will vote, even on first reading.
“Council may want to push it through first reading. It depends what time it is,” Crouse said. “If it’s nine or 10 o’clock or 11 o’clock, I’ll be discouraging anybody from debating and voting at that time of night.”
The issue requires input from the Capital Region Board before it can enter third reading, Crouse said. Since that input hasn’t come yet, it would be impossible for council to finalize a decision on Monday, even if it wanted to.
The city has earmarked Tuesday, March 23 as the date for the hearing to resume.
Follow it live
The Arlington Drive public hearing will not be televised Monday, but you can follow the proceedings live at www.stalbertgazette.com.
