Planning and cost estimates for the servicing of Lakeview Business District and debt strategizing top the mayor and council's list of key topics to appear on meeting agendas in 2024.
“The one opportunity that we really have to focus on is our number one strategic priority, and that is development of the Lakeview Business District,” Coun. Mike Killick said.
The future business park, located just north of Big Lake, is thought to have the space to create some 5,000 jobs. However, before the area is fully developed, city council will need to finalize the West Area Structure Plan (ASP), a legally-required planning document covering 1,000 hectares of land stretching from Carrot Creek to the west, Ray Gibbon Drive to the east, LeClair Way to the south, and slightly past Villeneuve Drive to the north.
City staff have been developing the West ASP since March 2022, and council heard in December a draft will be published in May or June 2024.
“We have to be laser-focused on that opportunity to really diversify the tax base and move the burden away from the residential side and have more industrial commercial land available so that we get taxes from businesses rather than residents,” Killick said, referring to how the future business park is considered St. Albert's best opportunity to reduce the city's reliance on residential property taxes.
Mayor Cathy Heron said she wasn't sure if servicing of the land — installing water, sewage, and electrical infrastructure — will get underway in 2024 or 2025 as an exact estimate of the cost to do so hasn't been calculated yet. Heron has previously told the Gazette that she thinks servicing the area could cost as much as $80 million.
“I hope by the end of the next two years you'll have a picture in the Gazette with council putting shovels in the ground at Lakeview,” Heron said. “We've set our goals, we set our priorities, and now we have to get [it] to a point of no return.”
Coun. Ken MacKay said the development of Lakeview Business District is “critical” for St. Albert, and he's hoping the provincial government might step up with some funding in 2024.
“We continue to have discussions and we continue to advocate to push forward in relation to getting provincial dollars for that, because it's so critical to our ongoing development,” he said.
Provincial funding for Lakeview became a bit of a hot topic leading up to the 2023 provincial election, with the NDP promising to partially fund the servicing if the party was elected, while now UCP Energy and Minerals Minister Brian Jean said at the time provincial funding for Lakeview seemed “a lot like corporate welfare.”
Morinville-St. Albert MLA Dale Nally later followed up on Jean's comment, saying he was “working closely” with his party to make sure the importance of Lakeview's development was understood.
Debt strategy
For Coun. Sheena Hughes, 2024 will involve council continuing to work on a debt strategy, as some major projects, such as servicing Lakeview, will be before council for approval either next year or in early 2025.
“The debt has not yet been completely resolved,” Hughes said. “Until we're confident about how much things are going to cost, we don't know where we are with our debt.”
Just as an estimate for Lakeview hasn't been put forward yet, neither has a concrete estimate for the future Community Amenities Site (last estimate was between $80-$110 million) or some major servicing work the city will need to do in North Erin Ridge as continued development has pushed the area's servicing infrastructure to capacity. The last estimate was $56 million.
“There's no more room,” Coun. Wes Brodhead said of Erin Ridge. “We've got construction going on up there and there's development going on up there, and we need to move on that for sure.”
“When that comes, I suspect [that conversation] will be sooner rather than later, but I have no timeline, no horizon on that one.”
“The fact that we have to discuss this is very alarming because it definitely ties the hands of future councils when there's other emergent issues that need to be addressed through debt,” said Hughes, referring to how St. Albert could encroach on its municipal debt limit of about $310 million if council moves forward with a host of projects that require debt financing.
Later this month, council is expected to debate borrowing more than $16 million to fund the construction of Millennium Park after a new design was approved in December.
As of the end of 2023, St. Albert had $98 million in outstanding debt.
“What is the total debt expected to be between now and the end of the next two years? We don't even have a clearer picture on that yet because there's things that are still being evaluated,” Hughes said.
LUB update
Another key policy debate council will have in 2024 is the widespread changes being proposed to the city's Land Use Bylaw (LUB).
In November, city staff published a draft version of a highly revised LUB, which dictates how, and what kind of, development takes place across the city, while also regulating and setting development standards.
Some of the changes being proposed by administration include having minimum numbers of electric vehicle charging stations required in parking lots of any new shopping malls, schools, hotels, and government buildings; and requiring new development of commercial and residential property to also have minimum numbers of bicycle parking spots.
Another major change being proposed is allow for more secondary suites throughout the city, by increasing the number of suites allowed per residential property from one to two, while also allowing duplexes to have secondary suites as well.
“I think that we need to modernize it,” MacKay said of the LUB. “We need to bring it forward.”
Efficient and effective government
Several members of council said their goals for 2024, and for the rest of the council term, are related to ensuring the city's municipal government operates effectively and efficiently.
“I would just like to focus on on clarity of getting the job done as efficient as possible as a council, and in turn, directing administration to be as efficient as possible,” Coun. Shelley Biermanski said. “We've had some successes, and we've had failures as well.”
“We got to just hone back on things — I probably sound like a broken record — on the tax increase and [now] a big utility increase as well.”
Likewise, Hughes said one thing she'd like council to focus on in 2024 and in 2025 is to improve city processes.
“My goal from the get-go for this term and which will continue, is to make the emphasis on improving our processes,” Hughes said. “To truly improve our efficiencies needs to be a focus of government, and especially this government.”
“We need to say 'How can we do it better?' as opposed to ‘How can we simply cost more?' so my goal with audits, or with any other motions I have for business improvement processes, is to help strengthen government in that it will be able to do processes more effectively and efficiently.”
For Coun. Natalie Joly, a big goal for 2024 is to have council continue to focus on its long-term vision of creating a sustainable St. Albert.
“I would like to see us continue to focus on that long-term vision of having a healthy and welcoming and sustainable community,” she said. “It's less of a checkmark of getting a particular project done, and more of staying focused of the importance of having a fantastic community for our grandkids and great-grandkids and however long down the line.”
“That's my priority, keeping focused on that goal.”
