St. Albert city council's first meeting of the month on Oct. 3 will see council debate whether or not annual membership fees for seniors at Servus Place increase by $20 or $30 next year, whether or not the city puts $15,000 towards this year's Snowflake Festival, and debate reinstating the former council sponsorship policy.
As the Gazette reported last month, due to inflation and the cost of running city-owned recreation facilities, administration plans to increase many of the annual and monthly membership prices for Servus Place users, however Coun. Shelley Biermanski has put forward a motion that, if passed, will lessen the increase planned to take effect for senior memberships.
Administration plans to increase the cost of a senior's annual membership at Servus Place by $30 starting September of next year, and Biermanski's motion is looking to limit the increase to $20.
An increase of $30 would mean an annual Servus Place membership for seniors would cost $460.
A report to council from administration says the proposed adjustment “may be considered contradictory to the expectations to continue to improve the revenue stream and net cost recovery” of operating Servus Place.
The Gazette will have coverage of council's decision in the Thursday, Oct. 5 edition of the newspaper.
Snowflake Festival funding
Coun. Mike Killick has put forward a motion that, if passed, will see $15,000 from the city's stabilization reserve be given to the St. Albert and District Chamber of Commerce to help fund this year's Snowflake Festival.
The Snowflake Festival is a one-day event that takes place each year in downtown St. Albert in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
A report to council written by the city's director of economic development, Mike Erickson, explains that although the city usually provides the Chamber of Commerce some sort of financial help for organizing the festival, $15,000 is substantially more than what the city has tended to provide in the past.
As well, Erickson wrote that if Killick's motion were to pass, the $15,000 in support would be on top of the $8,000-$10,000 that the city provides for “in-kind” support for the festival, such as a park and ride service, equipment and staff to set up road closures, waste collection, and more.
The Gazette has yet to speak with Killick about why he's brought this motion forward, and the Chamber of Commerce's executive director Shelly Nichol has yet to respond to an interview request about why, or if, this additional funding is needed.
The Gazette will have coverage of council's decision in the Thursday, Oct. 5 edition of the newspaper.
Sponsorship policy
The council sponsorship policy, which council voted to repeal in May of 2022, provided each member of council an annual budget of $1,000, with an additional $3,000 for the Mayor, that could be used to sponsor groups or events throughout the year.
Despite council voting to repeal the former sponsorship policy, the vote didn't intend for the program itself to be closed, rather the city's Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Bill Fletcher was to be given the authority to administer the program.
A recent report to council written by Marta Caufield, the city's director of legal services, explains that administration doesn't feel as though the program can be administered by people other than individual councillors, and as such, is asking council to reinstate the sponsorship policy with some minor changes.
“(It's become) clear that the individual council member sponsorshups were not easily able to be absorbed under the new framework,” Caufield wrote.
The Gazette will have an article dedicated to the sponsorship policy decision in the Thursday, Oct. 5, edition of the newspaper.
