On Tuesday St. Albert city council will debate whether or not the local transit fleet will grow next year as city staff is asking council to approve $1.62 million in spending for the purchase of two new buses.
If approved, a report to council explains, the two new buses will allow the city to create two new peak-hour-only service routes in the Jensen Lakes and Riverside neighbourhoods respectively. The report states that the need for service in the two neighbourhoods was first identified in 2019, however due to the then-pending creation of the Edmonton Metropolitan Transit Services Commission as well as other budgetary priorities, the project charter for the two new buses went unfunded in the last four consecutive budgets.
“Customer inquiries have been received that question the fairness of this service absence,” administration's report states. “Now that the transition to a commission has been halted, the issue of new service to these communities will need to be addressed.”
Council is being asked to make a decision on the project prior to the 2024 budget being finalized so that administration can get a head start on procuring the buses, which may take more than a year before the new wheels hit the city's streets.
Similarly, the other main item up for debate on Tuesday is whether or not council will approve $17.5 million in repair, maintain, replace (RMR) spending in 2025-2026 so that the city can replace 17 buses that are nearing the end of 18-year lifecycles.
Another report to council states that administration is asking council to make a decision on the spending in advance so that, if approved, administration can start the procurement process early.
Every other item on Tuesday's council meeting agenda is currently set to pass on consent, including approval of the city purchasing a commercial grade scanner to aid in ongoing efforts to digitize city records, the approval of $9,000 for some maintenance and removal of some pieces of public art, and approval of a recent update to the Capital Region Emergency Preparedness Partnership (CREPP) agreement.
St. Albert is one of 22 municipal signatories covered under the CREPP, which outlines the formal process for how municipalities in the Edmonton area must ask for help from other municipalities in the event of a disaster or emergency.
The Gazette will have coverage of the council meeting on the Thursday, Aug. 31, edition of the newspaper.
