As Nolan Crouse begins his second term in the mayor's chair, there are some questions on his mind about affordable housing and some certainties about the city's need to communicate better.
During an editorial board meeting with the Gazette, Crouse questioned whether the need for affordable housing is as great as the city's decision-makers have been led to believe in recent years.
Crouse pointed out that only 10 families applied for the Habitat for Humanity project in North Ridge. Meanwhile, the affordable seniors' complex Chateau Mission Court has a wait list of less than 10 people for its lodge spaces and the first round of residents to move into the new Rosedale seniors complex last summer were all from outside St. Albert, Crouse said.
"Some people have written it as well — it's not as bad as people think it is — I'm starting to wonder if maybe that's the case," Crouse said. "Not because I'm scared off from 70 Arlington but there's some truth I think going on."
Crouse will be watching closely to see how many people apply for the Arlington Drive Habitat project.
"In theory there should be hundreds and hundreds of applicants," Crouse said.
The city spent $2.3 million to purchase land for Big Lake Pointe, a 96-unit apartment complex being developed by the St. Albert Affordable Housing Society. The society is applying for provincial dollars to make the project a reality.
"Maybe Big Lake Pointe is the project that we take on and that's the only one that's needed at this point," Crouse said.
Development and spending
When it comes to increasing non-residential development, which is generally viewed as a necessity to ease St. Albert's residential property tax burden, Crouse thinks the city is better poised to move forward now that it has several areas where lots are available.
Council's immediate challenge will be to find an appropriate site for an industrial park, he said. This issue is partially dependent on how council votes on an upcoming development proposal expected in the new year by the proponents of Avenir and St. Albert Sports City. These are two separate but interdependent developments that would bring mixed residential, clean technology businesses and sports facilities to an area in St. Albert's northwest.
Avenir in particular has generated considerable buzz in the region for its promise to bring a hub of clean technology innovation.
Crouse hasn't said much publicly about the concept other than to point out that the land owned by Avenir would be developed entirely as residential, while the non-residential development promoted by the Avenir group would actually happen on adjacent land being touted for a sports urban village. The sports project proponent, Pat Cassidy, doesn't own the land, but has an option to purchase from a local landowner, Crouse pointed out.
"It does not add up and that's one of the reasons why it hasn't come to council," Crouse said. "It's some people planning other people's lands."
"That particular one hasn't gone to council because it's not passing the smell test of our staff," he added.
Regarding the city's finances, Crouse wants to challenge senior staff to scrutinize their entire operations to see if they can find efficiencies. He doesn't want to hire an outside efficiency expert and thinks administrators will be on board.
"I just don't see us being able to afford the dreams that are out there," he said.
Communication
Crouse said his first act as mayor will be to introduce a motion that seeks to improve the way the city communicates and consults with residents.
This is a weakness that came to light often during the last term, he said, most notably during the controversy over affordable housing at 70 Arlington Dr.
The current process the city employs to consult on new developments is for the developers to present their concept to the public in a lecture style, which doesn't feel like two-way communication, Crouse said.
"We have to gut what we do and change it," he said.
Crouse earned a reputation in his first term as a workaholic who is seemingly everywhere at once. He has no intention of changing this approach.
"If I've learned anything it's the need that people have to make sure that their cause or their issue is important," he said. "So I have to be able to, as a mayor, demonstrate my support of that community group or that initiative."
