A St. Albert resident is looking to collect some 8,000 petition signatures before the end of March to force a public vote on the future of Millennium Park, for which council passed first reading on a $20.8 million borrowing bylaw last month.
Ciara Fraser said the issues with the Millennium Park project are threefold: the cost; the loss of trees; and a lack of public consultation on the new design.
“One of my concerns with the project is $20.8 million in debt is a hefty sum,” she said. “I think that St. Albert should have the ability to vote on such an amount of borrowing.”
Millennium Park, the name for the area between Lions Park and St. Albert Place downtown, has been an ongoing project for the city since 2016, with council approving the first design for the park space in 2018.
That original design was scrapped last year after many members of council voiced their displeasure about a lack of open green space and subpar Sturgeon River viewing opportunities.
Read more: No design changes after 'off the rails' Millennium Park workshop
Council then approved a new design in December to increase the amount of open green space by cutting down nearly 20 per cent more trees than originally planned. Besides the significant level of tree removal, the new design features a pavilion building with commercial space, a playground, a picnic shelter, a water feature that will double as public skating space in the winter, and boardwalks.
The new design has an estimated price tag of $16.6 million, which the city will need to finance through debt, hence the $20.8 million borrowing bylaw council passed first reading of in January. The extra $4.2 million added onto the project's total is considered a contingency amount, and will only be used if the project goes over budget and receives council approval.
Fraser, who works as a conservation coordinator for an Edmonton non-profit, said she thinks the amount of trees set to be cut down goes against the city's new Green Environment Strategy, but the trees are also what makes that part of St. Albert special.
“Most of the forest that is slated to be cut down is that old growth forest behind city hall,” she said. “The 2018 published document for Millennium Park acknowledged that this was a sensitive habitat ... [and] the initial plan that was presented to the public and that had public consultation ... added walking trails to discourage ad-hoc trails that exist in the forest now.”
“At first it was kind of meant to be [a] feature, not an obstacle.”
Fraser said she isn't against developing the park space in some fashion, but to move forward with a design that involves cutting down more than half of the trees in the area doesn't seem like the best idea.
“I do think that growth and development are important parts of keeping the community vital,” Fraser said. “The problem is just the way in which this is being done — I really don't think there needs to be a concept where half the trees get cut down because, I don't know about anybody else, but when I go to a park I like to see trees.”
“I just don't see why the space needs to be expanded in such a drastic way.”
In an attempt to bring her concerns to the forefront, Fraser is looking to collect 8,000 signatures on a petition against the Millennium Park borrowing bylaw.
Under the Municipal Government Act, communities looking to take on debt to finance projects are required to provide public notice of the intent to borrow, and then wait 60 days after notice is given to allow citizens to submit a petition before council formally passes the bylaw. A successful petition must collect signatures from 10 per cent of a municipality's population, and signatories must be eligible voters.
Signatures must be obtained in-person and witnessed — digital signing isn't allowed.
City spokesperson Kathy deJong said since the provincial government is still working with 2019 population numbers, Fraser will need to get at least 6,608 signatures.
If Fraser's petition is successful, council will have the choice to either shelve the Millennium Park project as it's currently designed, or a public vote can be held.
“I have yet to do the major part of the canvassing, but I'm hoping to drum up interest just by good-ol honest pavement pounding and setting up somewhere and asking for signatures and engaging people,” Fraser said. “What I need right now is volunteers because I do work full time, and this is kind of an evening project for me.”
“I like to joke that this is a job for somebody who's retired.”
In an effort to spread her message, she has created a website (stalbertsays.com) for residents to look at and get in touch through if they'd like to sign the petition.
The last time a petition was submitted against a borrowing bylaw in St. Albert was in 2017 when the city was looking to build a branch library location.
That petition received the minimum number of signatures, but it was later determined by the city 588 signatures weren't properly documented as being witnessed, and the petition was deemed invalid.
Despite the petition ultimately failing, council chose to have residents vote on whether or not the branch library project went ahead, and in the 2017 municipal election 61.7 per cent of voters voted against the project. However, the vote was non-binding, and the Jensen Lakes library branch was eventually established for significantly less money than the project was initially budgeted for.
The 2017 library petition is the only one the city has received against a borrowing bylaw since the turn of the millennium, deJong said.
