Mayor shares thoughts on next four years

Mayor Nolan Crouse met with the Gazette’s editorial board on Thursday for a wide-ranging discussion touching on many topics.

Light industrial development

“There is no other plan,” said Mayor Nolan Crouse regarding alternative uses for the employment lands, 617 acres of land in the west of the city designated for industrial use.

Crouse said the city is working with the current landowners to try and get them to sell. Crouse also noted that city policy allows for municipal purchase of land but that there are no plans to do that right now.

When asked about annexation north of the city, Crouse said there will be a joint announcement coming soon with Sturgeon County.

“I think annexation if we do it would have to be a friendly annexation, it would have to be a joint agreement on a boundary,” he said.

Crouse didn’t close the door on the idea that St. Albert could partner with Sturgeon County to bring in development, but said he hasn’t spoken to the new county council yet about that sort of relationship.

“If it kick-started something, then yes,” Crouse said.

However he noted servicing for those lands will take awhile unless a developer who’s willing to front-end the necessary work is found.

Economic development

“I think it’s going to be a long time before a department like that has a rate of return,” Crouse said of the city’s economic development department.

Stronger reporting mechanisms are coming soon, Crouse said, but in the meantime there are ways to measure success like looking at permits or tax revenue.

However, he would like to see the department reaching out farther to bring in business.

“I’m probably not satisfied with the number of developers that are introduced to our community,” Crouse said. “I don’t think we’re bringing enough developers in to showcase what we have.”

Utilities model

“I’m flexible, I really am,” Crouse said on the different models that St. Albert could use going forward to build its utilities’ structure.

For instance, he’d be okay with using a 25-year model for planning rather than the current 100-year model.

He could go either way on whether or not money from the Municipal Sustainability Initiative continues to be used as part of the utilities budget, but if he had his “druthers,” he’d like to see utilities budgeted for without MSI.

Municipal Planning Commission?

The mayor said he’d be surprised if the MPC was resurrected exactly as it was before it was scrapped.

“We’ll see some form of vetting stuff,” he said. He’s asked council and administration to survey other communities to see what’s being done in other parts of Alberta.

Traffic concerns

Previously, Crouse has stated there was little to no planning in terms of traffic flow in the north end of the city. That was due to the county initially controlling that land and development being slightly piecemeal, he said.

“It has to stop. Quite frankly, we have to correct it now,” Crouse said.

Council will also be reviewing the various school zones in the city, he said. The installation of countdown lights still needs to be finished, he said, and suggested he’s in favour of even more photo radar and red light cameras.

Transit

Cost recovery is not getting better when it comes to the city’s transit system, Crouse said.

There is some potential to look at using smaller buses, but then the big buses – which are big assets – are just sitting there unused, he said.

There continues to be concerns over the proposed park and ride, issues that include provincial negotiation and location problems, he said.

He did say a smart card system for St. Albert Transit is moving ahead.

A regional transit system through the Capital Region Board is a likely possibility but it will be tough, he said. “Let’s face it, sooner or later we need to have a regional transit system in place,” Crouse said.

Capital Region Board

Crouse, who is chair of the CRB and has been nominated to serve in that capacity again, said long term planning for the region is important as population continues to grow.

“I do not believe it’s flawed,” he said. “To me, there has to be a planning function to look ahead for that.”

He recently met with the new mayor of Edmonton, Don Iveson, and they’ll be trying to bring an economic development component into the CRB, he said.

Long-lasting policies

In his inaugural speech, Crouse called for more long-lasting council policies to be developed. During the editorial board meeting, he said that’s in part to do with uncertainty that he’d be re-elected if he runs again in 2017.

“I’m less comfortable now,” Crouse said, who noted that through some of his stances over the years, he’s alienated various interest groups in St. Albert. “Your policy is your succession plan.”

He’s not sure if he’ll run again in 2017, noting the political landscape will change greatly in the next four years.

“Right now I would plan to run again. I’ll also say I understand the risk, I’m not stupid,” he said.

The new council

Crouse said the council exudes a “strong sense of intellect” and they have a good grasp of the financial side of things.

He does believe there will be some long, drawn out assessments and a variety of extreme viewpoints.

“I think it’s going to be a very, very challenging council to chair, but I don’t think you’re going to see the stereotypical 5-2 votes I keep hearing about,” Crouse said.