St. Albert city council voted on Monday to release the city’s solar farm project proposal to the public as soon as it is available.
Typically, council’s procedures have agenda packets for council meetings released the Friday before council meetings, at 3 p.m. Currently, the city’s solar farm meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 6, after the long weekend.
During the meeting, council is set to review recommendations from administration based on the 90 per cent design of a hybrid commercial and municipal own-use generation (MOUG) solar farm, a business case, and public engagement results from a survey that ran from April 11 to May 15.
In Monday's council meeting Coun. Sheena Hughes put forward a motion to release the solar farm administrative report at the same time it is made available to council.
“I don’t know what the report is going to say, but we do know there has been an extraordinary amount of public interest in this topic,” Hughes said.
She added that members of the public likely have plans for the long weekend, limiting the time they might have to take a look at the agenda after it is released.
“I want the public to understand we’re trying to provide as much information and transparency in this decision-making process as possible,” Hughes said. “We’re just talking about probably a day or two tops ... but for some people that day or two will make a difference.”
The motion passed unanimously.
In an email Tuesday morning, city spokesperson Cory Sinclair said the details about where the information will be posted on the city's website are still being finalized.
"We will notify folks via social media as soon as it is posted so people know where to get the information," Sinclair said in the email.
When the city releases agenda reports the Friday before council meetings, they are available online at the city's council agenda, minutes, and videos webpage here.
Public engagement
Last summer, when council voted to postpone the $33.75-million borrowing bylaw for the solar farm project, they voted to have administration undertake “enhanced public engagement inclusive of the broader community within St. Albert” on the solar farm project with $30,000 in funding from the city’s stabilization reserve.
In an email, Sinclair said more than 500 residents provided input on the proposed solar farm project through the city’s Cultivate the Conversation platform.
Asked how much of the funding for engagement the city has already used, and to give a breakdown of the costs, Sinclair said the city is still finalizing the invoices and does not yet know the final cost.
Sinclair said the city chose to pursue the survey "to develop a better understanding of what residents like and didn’t like about the proposed solar farm, to help inform council decision-making."
"We didn’t want to delay collecting this information while waiting for more comprehensive information to be finalized, recognizing that further engagement is always possible," Sinclair said.
As for whether there will be further opportunities for public engagement once more is known about the project's details, Sinclair said any decisions on future engagement depend on the "nature of the agenda report" being prepared for the Sept. 6 meeting.
The results of the solar farm survey will be shared with the public as part of the solar farm meeting agenda packet.
More public engagement needed: residents
Malcolm Parker, a member of the public and former city councillor, addressed council last summer when the $33.75-million borrowing bylaw for the solar farm project came before council and was ultimately postponed.
Parker said, in his eyes, there “has to be more public engagement” around the project.
“Spending this kind of money for a project — on the capital side — it’s a lot,” Parker said, noting that if passed there will also be ongoing operation costs.
It can be difficult to get a community engaged around a project, Parker said, adding that the survey was a good first step, but additional methods — such as a public forum — would give the public the opportunity to become more involved and ensure questions are being answered.
“Council has got to spend more time trying to encourage people to speak either for or against it,” Parker said.
Ken Crutchfield, who also addressed council during the Aug. 30, 2021, meeting pertaining to the solar farm, said he and other members of the public are counting on council to ask questions about the project in an “open and candid way” during the Sept. 6 meeting.
“What’s involved here is … there will be a loan that will have to be paid off by the residents, supposedly in the promise that there’s going to be revenue coming in that’s going to help offset that, and maybe a little bit more than can then go to other services,” Crutchfield said. “Well, show me the money.”
Parker said he will be looking at what administration proposes when the information is made public.
“I'm a real strong believer of when elected bodies have to make decisions on spending the public's money, they’ve got to get a business case and a field feasibility study that's well done and well thought out so that they can make an intelligent decision,” Parker said.
