St. Albert city council members were cool to a draft policy on sustainable buildings as it was presented, and postponed further discussion until after budget deliberations conclude.
Development services manager Gilles Prefontaine presented a final draft version of the council policy on sustainable buildings at the Nov. 14 meeting, with a recommendation for council approval, but several council members were concerned about the policy’s contents.
The policy spells out how the city will mandate standards for its own buildings that are in line with a third-party verified green ratings, such as the LEED certification overseen by the Canada Green Building Council, the Business Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of British Columbia, and/or the WELL standard set by the U.S. Green Building Council.
The policy would apply to any new builds or renovations costing $1 million or more, and would also potentially apply to any buildings the city leases for a period of six years or more.
Council got its first look at the policy in August, at which time it passed motions to provide feedback for the final version to come back by the end of the year.
Mayor Nolan Crouse immediately raised concerns that his feedback hadn’t been included in the final draft, citing specific concerns about ambiguous wording, and said he would not support the policy in its current form.
“There are many, many word-smithing things that are just poor grammar,” he said. “I plan on resending my input in, because my input will determine when it comes back whether or not I support it.”
Coun. Cam MacKay said he couldn’t understand why the policy would include the need for a full-time staff member to oversee it, at a cost of more than $100,000 per year.
“I really wondered why we could just direct the architect … rather than hiring our own staff member,” he said. “When we’re not building any buildings, I don’t know what this person would do.”
Prefontaine explained the coordinator’s role would be to oversee and monitor the policy, and ensure new city buildings are compliant.
Coun. Bob Russell said he agreed the full-time position probably wasn’t needed, and could be handled by the city’s contracted architects and construction firms instead.
“We simply say when we sign the contract, that you adhere to this policy statement,” he said. “We don’t necessarily have to hire someone.”
Interim city manager Chris Jardine explained that without having a staff member to oversee the policy, certain deliverables would be unrealistic and the policy might not be workable.
“If the resources would not be put in place to manage the policy as it is currently written, we would really need to look at how it’s written,” he said.
Coun. Sheena Hughes made the motion to delay approval of the Sustainable Buildings Policy, noting she’s proposing to defund the position as part of the ongoing 2017 budget deliberations, which would then make the policy moot.
“If we decide not to fund that position, then admin will have clear direction to come back with a policy that reflects reality,” she said.
Council unanimously voted to postpone approval of the policy.
