St. Albert city council will be busy this week, as a request for additional funding for the Kingswood disc golf course, 2023 budget adjustments, possible Millennium Park concept plan changes, and more will be discussed and debated during the May 2 council meeting.
The Kingswood Park disc golf course, which will be a permanent fixture once completed, is running $42,000 over budget, according to a council backgrounder. The course's current budget is $100,000.
The course was initially approved in 2021, however, when design work and further stakeholder consultation took place last year, administration heard significant concerns from the cross country skiing community regarding the impact the course would have on skiing equipment and trail quality, as the park is a cross country hub in the winter months, the backgrounder says.
“Concerns largely focused on impacts to ski grooming equipment and ski trail quality from the material for the tee pads,” the backgrounder says, adding that skiers told the city that having 18 concrete tee pads throughout Kingswood Park could negatively impact the ski-ability of the park during winter months.
As a compromise, administration is recommending that artificial turf should be installed for the course's tee pads, and the course's design will be changed so that less park area is used for disc golf.
The additional $42,000 would cover the design changes and inflationary costs, the backgrounder says.
The Gazette will report council's decision in the Thursday, May 4, edition of the newspaper.
Millennium Park
Council will once again discuss some possible changes to the Millennium Park concept plan on Tuesday, as Coun. Sheena Hughes has put forward a motion that, if passed, will direct administration to present council with three design options to pick from later this year.
The three options would be categorized by low, medium, and high levels of development and cost, with the current concept plan, which was approved back in 2018, being considered the high level option.
According to a council backgrounder included in the May 2 meeting agenda, a low level option would remove the planned pavilion and water and ice feature from the park's design and would mainly feature a "hard surface" that would function as an event or performance area.
The medium development option, according to the backgrounder, would still entail a pavilion, although the planned water and ice feature would be removed. This option would "focus on event needs and provision of amenities and needs that promote programmed and spontaneous gathering," the report says.
If Hughes' motion is defeated, administration will continue with the current park plan, which multiple councillors have criticized for not being spectacular enough to warrant the project's $15.8 million price tag.
The Gazette will report on council's decision in the Thursday, May 4, edition of the newspaper.
2023 budget adjustments
A multitude of recent developments have led to the need for council to approve minor adjustments to the 2023 budget before this year's tax rate is finalized.
The adjustments, if approved as presented by administration, will lower the 2023 tax rate to about 4.1 per cent, compared to the 4.6 per cent that was estimated last December when the budget was initially approved.
The adjustments include the postponement of the upcoming census to next year; a higher than expected 2022 assessment growth rate; and a $492,000 off-set in city operating costs stemming from a slight increase in provincial grant funding.
Despite the positive adjustments, administration also says an additional $788,800 needs to be added to the 2023 budget as a result of higher costs associated with city employee's worker's compensation (WCB) claims.
"The (budget) increase ... is required due to higher costs of group benefits due to utilization and inflationary pressures, and elevated multi-year WCB premiums costs due to claims experience," a council backgrounder says.
The Gazette will report on council's decision regarding the budget adjustments in the Thursday, May 4 edition of the newspaper.
Community Capital Grants
The citizen-based Community Services Advisory Committee (CSAC) has finalized their funding allocation recommendations for the city's 2023 Community Capital Grant program.
The grants, which will need council's approval on May 2, include $65,000 each for the Ecole Marie Poburan Parent Society and Friends of Bertha Kennedy School Society to aid in funding new playgrounds for each of the schools; $45,000 for the St. Albert Men's Slow Pitch Association for concession stand and dug-out renovations and upgrades at the Meadowview Ball Diamonds; $59,830 for the Royal Canadian Legion St. Albert Legion Branch for the renovation and replacement of the Legion building's heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system; and more.
The Gazette will have an article dedicated to the 2023 Community Capital Grant allocations in the Thursday, May 4 edition of the newspaper.
Council may petition Telus
Coun. Mike Killick has put forward a motion that will be discussed on May 2 that, if passed, will have Mayor Cathy Heron write a letter to Telus asking the company to "honour their original commitment" from 2019 to connect all St. Albertans to Telus' PureFibre network.
Telus' 2019 announcement included a $100 million price tag for connecting the entire city and parts of Sturgeon County to high-speed internet.
According to a council backgrounder prepared by Joanne Graham, the city's director of information technology, Telus has connected 37 of the 57 segmented parts of the city to PureFibre, however, construction of the remaining areas, which largely cover the Kingswood, Braeside, Grandin, Heritage Lakes, and Lacombe Park neighbourhoods, has been put on an indefinite hold by the company.
The Gazette has reached out to Telus for an interview and explanation, and will have an article dedicated to council's decision and Telus' project in the Thursday, May 11 edition of the newspaper.
