on this lovely evening. Um, I'd like to call the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m.
Um, I would also like to mention that councelor Murray is not able to attend
this meeting. Um, so she will be absent. I will start things off with the land
acknowledgement. So, as we gather here in Bulmont, we pause to acknowledge the
land we're blessed to live and work on and to honor those who came before us.
We value the enduring relationships with the French pioneers and indigenous
peoples who continue to share their history, knowledge, and culture with our
community. [clears throat] We're also thankful for the generations
whose dedication and faith helped shape this community into the vibrant city
that it is today.
Moving on to the next item on the agenda is the adoption of the agenda. Uh do I
have a member of council willing to make the motion to
Councelor Van Newkerk. >> Thank you.
Yeah. Thank you. I'll move that the July 21st, 2026 committee of the whole
meeting agenda be adopted as presented. >> Thank you, counselor.
[sighs] If everyone could put forward their
vote, please.
So that carries unanimously at 6 to nil.
[snorts] The next portion of the agenda is the
adoption of minutes. Uh do I have a member of council willing to make the
motion to adopt the minutes as presented?
Councelor Penrod. >> Thank you, Chair. I move that the June
16, 2026 committee, the whole meeting minutes be adopted as presented.
Thank you. I ask that everyone vote
and that also carries unanimously. Have any presenters for open forum?
» Thank you, Deputy Mayor. We do have three open forum registrations this
evening. If Surrender could please take his seat.
» Perfect. Thank you.
» Surrender. >> Yes, please.
» Please take your seat. >> Thank you.
» Thank you. I just one second. I will just uh get your mic set up here.
[panting]
» Click it. >> Can you press Did you press the button?
» Just once more. Sorry. There are we >> Yeah,
» just once. Thank you. That That's perfect.
» There you go. There we go. So, uh, just to start off, I will just, uh, have you
introduce yourself, please. And if you're a resident of Bowmont, uh, please
state your address. Uh, you'll be given 5 minutes to present your topic.
» Thank you. My name is, uh, Surender Sinclair. I'm the resident of Bowmont
living at 530461st Street. And um, good evening, Mayor
Lisa, members of council, and the city administration. First of all, thank you
for giving us the opportunity to speak in front of you all
to express our sincere appreciation for everything you do for the city of
Bulmont. As residents, we recognize that managing
a growing community comes with many priorities and challenges. We appreciate
the effort that goes into making Bulmont a safe, welcoming, and vibrant place to
live. We also want to thank the city for supporting the support of cricket by
installing the practice nets and pitch at the four season park. We really
appreciate that. Thank you. It shows that the city recognizes the
growing interest in the support and we are truly grateful for the that
investment. Today however we are here to share a challenge that has become
increasingly difficult for our specific community.
We represent a group of approximately 100 Bmont residents who regularly play
cricket mainly in the summer. Most of us are young professionals, homeowners,
families and long-term residents of who have chosen Bulmont because we believe
in this community and want to build a future here. The biggest issue we face
is the lack of a dedicated field where we can actually play matches. Every
weekend and often on weekend e weekday evenings, we spend valuable time driving
from one park to the another hoping to find an available open field to play.
Many parks are already occupied by the other sports or reserved for the
organized events. On several occasions, we have even started playing only to
discover the field had already been booked. Sometime it was only two people
that came to play. But because they had it reserved, we had to leave and we were
20 plus people playing already. Even when we do find an open space, there is
no cricket pitch. So we play directly on the grass. While we make the best of the
situation, it limits the quality of the game and makes it difficult for the
support to grow within our own city. Because of these challenges, we are
often forced to travel to Edmonton just to play. Unfortunately, Edmonton faces
the same problem. Cricket participation has grown tremendously there and
dedicated grounds are almost always fully booked. What should be a simple
evening or weekend game often turns into hours of driving, searching, waiting, or
not being able to play at all. It has happened with us several times already
just this summer. We believe Bowmont has an opportunity to become a leader in
supporting one of Canada's fastest growing support. Our requesters, our
request is very straightforward forward and practical. We respectfully ask the
city to designate one of existing fields as dedicated cricket field in the future
as resources allow. We hope that field could include a proper pitch as well.
This would provide a permanent home for a growing support in the city, encourage
healthy and active lifestyle, strengthen community connections, and allow Bowmont
residents to enjoy recreation within the city that they proudly call home. Our
cricket community is committed to being a positive partner
with the city. We are always ready to volunteer. As I mentioned, we are all
young professionals, help organize activities, promote respectful use of
the facility, and support community events whenever possible. We don't
simply want to use a field. We want to contribute to Bowman's culture,
diversity, and sense of community. On behalf of everyone in our cricket
community specifically, we respectfully urge council to consider our request and
work with us to find the best possible solution.
A dedicated cricket field would have a meaningful impact on the lives of many
current residents while also serving the growing number of families who
contribute to choose Bowmont as their home. Thank you again for your time,
your leadership, and for listening to our concern. We sincerely appreciate
your consideration and look forward to working together to make Bowmont an ever
even stronger and more inclusive community. Thank you so much.
» Perfect. Thank you very much for that presentation. Uh you're welcome to stay
as we see if any counselors have any questions for sure.
» Um it does appear that councelor Penrod has [clears throat] a question. So uh
councelor Penrod go ahead. >> Thank you Deputy Mayor Natalus. Um thank
you for the presentation surrender. Uh just two quick questions for you. First,
have you and your or your group had the opportunity to present this request to
the recreation and culture advisory committee as of yet?
» This is the first time we're making any official request.
» Okay, great. So, that would be something that I would suggest to you as um a good
next step uh to help you to understand some of what's involved in in your
request. uh this is something that other community organizations have have done
and we're having some good good success I think getting people channeled through
there and then you have uh you're in touch with administration and you can
kind of understand everything that is required in a request like this. So um
maybe the clerk who helped you register for tonight could help steer you in the
direction to get registered with that committee. So that would be a
suggestion. >> It was Stacy. So we'll be in touch with
her. >> Perfect. Uh and then second question is
what types of fields are you currently using when you describe driving around
and looking for an open space? >> 100%. So we're mainly using uh one of
the soccer field that is close to the Anytime Fitness just across the city.
Yeah. >> And uh the other field that if if it is
available then in Four Season Park any of the baseball grounds.
» Okay. And are you ever I mean you mentioned having to yield because
somebody came that had the field booked. Um, have you tried to book fields for
the purpose of playing cricket? >> Not yet.
» Okay. So, that' be another thing that could be discussed at the um the culture
wreck and culture advisory committee. >> Sure.
» Thank you again. Great presentation. >> It's a pleasure.
» Thank you, uh, councelor Penrod. Uh, it appears, uh, Mayor, uh, Vanderqu is up
next. >> Thank you, Deputy Mayor. I just want to
have a question. So you mentioned there's a hundred residents in Bulmont
that play cricket right now. Do you have like an organized club? Have you
formulated a organized cricket club? >> Yes. So uh it's not official like we
haven't registered it anywhere but if needed then we can definitely get their
address names and uh their contact information that they are the residents
of Bulmont. However, we do have an Instagram page where our club is growing
and uh we're regularly posting our content there.
» That would be a recommendation I would have as well is to because when you have
an organized club, there's a commitment. There's, you know, moving forward in
terms of organized games and everything like that. So, I would suggest that you
reach out to the people that you know of and formulate something like that that
will give you a stronger position as well in terms of uh moving forward.
» For sure. >> Yeah. However, we do participate in all
like different tournaments across Edmonton and closer cities and we do
represent Bulmont. Our club name is Bowmont Kings.
» Cool. Yeah. Thank you so much for coming tonight.
» Thanks.
» Perfect. Thank you. Um it does not appear that there's any other counselors
with any questions. So, I thank you again for your presentation.
That being said, uh, moving along the agenda here. Uh, Madame Clerk, I my
understanding that there are some other presenters.
» That's correct. If we could please have Sarah take her seat at the presentation
table.
» Perfect. Thank you. Uh, welcome Sarah. I actually don't need you to state your
address. That's just for a public hearing. But I will, uh, have you state
your name. And again, you'll be given five minutes to present. And if you
could just confirm if you're a Bumont resident.
» I am. >> Perfect. Thank you.
» Right. My name is Sarah and I hold a master of education. My research has
centered on public policy and its health and safety effects on young children,
but most importantly, I am Robin's mom. Today, I'm going to take you through our
current strategic plan to prove that the city daycare is not a problem, but in
fact a solution to many issues faced in our community. First, let's talk clear,
responsible, and reliable public services. In the first childare funding
model, over 80% of daycare costs are now covered by provincial and federal
grants. This is public money that is specifically earmarked for Bumont
families. But once it hits a private cent's profit margins, we cannot control
where that money goes and if it actually contributes to making Bowmont a better
place to live. Conversely, when considering the city daycare, we know
that every penny that was meant for Bowmont families went to Bowmont
families. 100% of the money stayed here and helped to strengthen the community
through a passionate and engaged team of educators. That is clear, responsible,
and reliable public service. On the topic of money, we have heard from
council that cost is the main barrier to keeping the daycare open. Many
reasonable solutions to this exist, such as changing the fees at SAS, leveraging
economies of scale by expanding through the new building that has already been
budgeted for, or raising the cost recovery benchmark. Alternatively, you
could continue letting the daycare do its outstanding work and proudly state
that you think our kids are worth the $145 a month we are asking you for.
However, in discussing these issues with parents, you have heard from us that our
main concern is health and safety. This should be one of council's main concerns
also as keeping Bowmont a safe place to live and raise a family is a second
strategic goal. The money provided to the daycare has produced a standard of
excellence that acts as a market anchor and exerts a positive competitive force
on the local childare market, thus working to raise the standard of care
for all kids in Bowmont. User fees are capped by the province. So, the only way
private centers can make profit is by reducing the quality of programming or
hiring less staff at lower wages. Because the only way to make profit is
to cut costs, nonprofit and municipally operated centers are usually in higher
demand due to better staffing, quality programming, and superior health and
safety metrics. The town daycare far exceeds the minimum licensing
requirements for things like first aid and educator qualifications. Private
centers use surplus dollars for whatever they want, but nonprofit or municipally
operated centers are mandated to use all dollars available to increase the
quality of their programming, thus driving the overall market towards a
better product. However, outside of the city daycare, there's a shortage of
nonprofit centers here. Therefore, the city daycare feels a dire social
infrastructure need. Bowmont hovers very close to being classified as a childare
desert. But even with new centers opening, the number of viable options
from a health and safety perspective has remained critically low. Some of the vi
uh in the past 18 months, 40% of our daycarees have recorded serious health
and safety violations. If you include centers that have also undergone
complaint investigations, that number rises to 53%.
Some of the violations in the last 18 months, staff not having criminal
records checks, harmful substances stored in reach of children, failure to
supervise children at all times, and threat for child guidance, which means
kids were physically punished, verbally degraded, isolated, or denied basic
necessities like food or water as a form of punishment. If the town doesn't
provide social infrastructure where it is needed, it means parents need to
sacrifice their jobs, move, or take their money to different communities.
Safe, quality childcare is as necessary for parents to be able to work as the
road they drive on to get there. The parents behind me and on the live stream
agree it takes a village to raise a child. Our village up to this point has
been Bowmont, a place where kids have traditionally meant more than a budget
line. Bowmont is growing rapidly, but still maintains the heart of a small
town, the pulse of which are the unique, long-standing community services you
simply can't find elsewhere. The spirit of Bowmont is here in this room. a
community coming together to say that thoughtful growth cannot come from cuts.
This leads to the third section of the strategic plan supporting thoughtful
growth that makes sense for the community. So where is the common sense
in closing the highest quality most in demand care in our city? When we talk
thoughtful growth, we must also consider the equitable access and stability of
that growth. Private daycarees are 97% more likely to close in their first four
years, leading to major disruption for families and major headaches for
developers. Private centers are also statistically less likely to provide
specialized care for kids with diverse needs. They can claim that they can't
afford to accommodate these children and so the refusal isn't viewed as
discrimination. My own child is nearly rejected at a center for having an
epipen. The city daycare is the only childcare in Bulma that is unable to
pick and choose from their applicant list. Yes, child care is critical to
families, but ELCC and SAS are critical to our sense of community. Our town mo
motto is life is better in Bowmont. Not BMont means minimum licensing
requirements. We are trying to help you. We want you to understand that if you
close the daycare, you will be seen as going out of your way to champion
inferior conditions for our children. But to keep the daycare open would be to
breathe life into every section of your strategic plan. A success for the
council and a success for the community. It plainly comes down to this. A good
deal for kids is a good deal for Bulmont. Thank you for your time.
Perfect. Thank you. Uh thank you for that presentation. I am looking around
to counselors and I do not see anyone with any questions. So appreciate you
coming forward. Appreciate the presentation. Thank you very much.
» Thank you for
» moving along on the agenda. Madame clerk, I believe there's one last uh
correct open forum. >> If we could have Erica take her seat,
please. >> Thank you.
Welcome, Erica. Um, I know we already said your name, but I'll have you uh
repeat it as well and just confirm if you're a resident of Bowmont and uh
you'll have 5 minutes to present. >> Yes, I am a resident of Bumont. My name
is Erica Campbell. >> Thank you.
» Okay. Good evening, Madame Mayor and Council. Today, I will be speaking in
response to the 2026 review of the municipal run daycare. My name is
Erikica Campbell, as I said, and I've been a resident of Bowmont for four
years. I currently have two children attending ELCC, one of which will be
moving to SAS shortly. When I heard about the review, I had many questions.
I quickly realized that although I have experience with the financial side as an
accountant, I do not have expertise in child care, municipal run programs, and
understanding these specific benefits to communities. So, I reached out to those
who did. I've been in communication with researchers, daycare directors,
childcare advocates, charity directors, and advisory council members. I began
asking questions and gathering relevant information so that I could ensure I had
a thorough understanding. I must add that I was met with such support and
kindness, and this daycare's excellent reputation was brought up again and
again throughout this process. I am very proud to be where I am.
The executive director of the Drayton Valley Municipal Run Daycare, Bernice
Taylor, was very helpful in highlighting key benefits to the community, such as
the fact that childcare is what draws workforce to our communities. It is what
stabilizes our service industry and is needed to attract professionals who wish
to serve the community. In addition, she has provided the following quote to be
shared. The early childhood development center has provided a safe, nurturing
environment to Drayton Valley families so they could maintain their businesses.
Childcare is a critical role in our econ economic development and has been
pivotal in retention of employees in our community.
This is not special to Drayton Valley and in these economic challenging times,
we have been counted on for quality care. Families shouldn't need to worry
about child care and we know municipal care are some of the longestrun programs
in the province.
Work that well-known policy researcher Martha Friendley has done has been very
helpful in understanding the municipal daycare model and the many benefits. For
example, publicly operated childcare programs have been effective in meeting
service gaps, piloting innovative practices, and addressing emerging
issues. There are also benefits to our staff such as opportunities for learning
and career growth. These factors feed into the high employee retention and low
turnover. In my personal experience with daycarees, low turnover and high quality
go hand in hand. I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr.
Susan Cake who serves as a chair for Childare Now Alberta. She has very
eloquently stated that during difficult economic times like these that families
really look to all levels of government to do what they can to make life more
affordable and just a little less hard. Particularly young families. I hope that
keep being a government that these families and more can turn to for things
they need to be supported and successful in our cities and towns. Excuse me.
One of my most memorable conversations was with a member of the National
Advisory Council on Early Learning and Child Care. They reminded me that
Bowmont is actually in a fantastic position right now as a wellestablished
successful municipal run daycare. The trending of the public funding from the
federal government has been increasing since 2021. And even just on June 19th,
there was an announcement of an additional 5.4 billion over 2 years. As
80% publicly funded, childcare is now thought of as a public good. Public
funds deliver public value. Bulmont is in a fantastic position to celebrate
their successes and expand the reach where we can. In my opinion, having a
municipal rent daycare says the following. We as a city understand the
needs of our citizens and want to ensure that we provide consistent highquality
standards where we can. When Urban Systems did their presentation, they
stated that it really comes down to, do you want to run a municipal daycare? And
my question to council is, why wouldn't you?
Thank you.
» Thank you uh Erica for your presentation. and I really appreciate
it. Um, that being said, I'll open up the floor to council members to see if
anyone has any questions and it does not appear that there are
any additional questions. So, thanks again.
» Thank you.
» So, thanks again for the open forum. Um, really appreciate the presence of all
participants. Would like to see the chambers full this time all the or this
much all the time. So, um, that being said, uh, we are slated to go into close
session. Um, but I would encourage everyone to stay because there's
additional presentations after the fact. But, uh, I am going to ask for a motion
to go into closed session and ask that.
Uh, Mayor Vanderquac,
» the council move into close session at 523 pursuant to the Access to
Information Act, sections 26 and 29. >> Thank you, mayor. I ask uh that we vote
on that, please.
And that carries unanimously. So, as mentioned, unfortunately, everyone will
have to leave for the closed session, but I do encourage folks to stay for the
uh presentations that come later. Thank you so much.
Welcome back to our regular session. We just finished up with close session. Uh
on our agenda we have a 6.1 presentation from Alberta Capitable Airhed and I
believe this presenter is going to be presenting virtually for us.
» Hello. Are you able to hear me? >> We sure are. Yes. Thank you.
» All right. Well, thank you so much for having me today. I'm just going to share
a presentation here.
There we are. If you're able, please confirm that you're able to see that.
» As we're just running through that to get it set up here, um, are you able to
just quickly introduce yourself uh before you present?
» Yes, certainly. My name is Colton Arabeski. I'm the engagement and
membership coordinator uh for Alberta Capital Shed.
» Perfect. Thank you. And I do believe uh we have the visual here.
» Okay. Excellent. Thank you so much.
Okay, let's see.
Uh, sorry about that.
» My apologies. Give me one moment here. Everything went far too fast.
All right. Thank you. Sorry um about that. Thank you for your patience. So
why does air quality matter? We all breathe the same air. Air quality
affects everyone every day uh regardless of your age or background. There are
significant health impacts associated with poor air quality. uh this can
include respiratory and cardiovascular effects, effects on neurological and
brain health and links to depression and anxiety disorders and more. We also see
vulnerable populations at higher risk. Not everyone is impacted equally. Uh
children and infants, seniors, outdoor workers, people with pre-existing
conditions, pregnant people and unborn children, uh people exercising outdoors
are all impacted more by poor air quality. And air quality can impact our
daily life. uh yesterday and today for example during poor air quality events
uh people may have to limit outdoor activities and sports uh school and work
attendance can be impacted and it also increases healthcare visits and costs.
Uh we're seeing an increase of course of poor air quality days due to wildfires
and climate change in recent years and so this is very top of mind for a lot of
uh residents of the Alberta Capital airship region.
So who is Alberta Capital airship? Uh we're responsible for monitoring,
evaluating and reporting the outdoor air quality including the air quality health
index or AQHI. Our boundaries expand north to Aabaska and south to Camero's
Motasin area with a lot of our monitoring concentrated in and around
the capital region as shown in the map. As a nonprofit, ACA receives funding
from three primary streams uh including monitoring agreements, grants, and
membership fees which include emitters and others such as municipalities like
Bowmont. At ACA, we actively engage with communities to raise air quality
awareness, share data through knowledge translation, and provide education. AC
is one of 10 airsheds within Alberta, and the 10 airheds formed the Alberta
Airheds Council. Together, aired operate over 85 continuous monitoring stations
and hundreds of other monitoring sites that measure a variety of air quality
parameters. Over 85% of Alberta's population lives within an airhed.
ACA uses several different methods to monitor air quality, including
continuous monitoring stations, uh, integrated sampling, sensor based, and
micro sensor technology. Together, this allows us to collect and provide broad,
accurate data to support public reporting and community health.
Continuous monitoring stations provide near instantaneous measurements of
ambient concentrations of many pollutants, including sulfur dioxide,
nitrogen monoxides, ground level ozone, fine particulate matter, carbon
monoxide, and more. All monitoring stations are also equipped with
meteorological equipment to assess the impact of local conditions on ambient
air. The data collected at many of our continuous monitoring stations is used
to count air quality health index. ACA also has a growing network of fine
particulate matter or PM2.5 micro sensors and they're affordable, easy to
use and they allow for community level air quality monitoring. uh by placing
those in different locations, we can see more detailed variations in air quality,
identify hotspots, and understand local sources. Involving the community in
setting up sensors also builds awareness and ownership around air quality issues.
Uh and they're a great source of air quality data during wildfire smoke
events.
Our monitoring network collects a lot of data. So most parameters are collecting
data every minute of the day, 24/7, 365 days of the year. Uh what do we do with
all this data? Wide real-time data is available on our website and it's also
used by the provincial and federal governments to provide communities with
the AQI. Uh beyond that, the data is collated for reporting to regulators and
stakeholders and it's analyzed for insights and trends in air quality. The
data also goes through a rigorous quality assurance and validation program
where all data and reports are scrutinized to ensure accuracy. Uh so we
have two streams of data available on our website. the public facing live data
map on the left side of the red line uh which shows real time air quality data
from our stations and micro sensors and then we also have our members portal
where members like the city of Bmont can access historical data, comparison
tools, calendar plots, exceedence reports and more. Uh so as members uh
city of Bowmont has access to monthly and annual reports that highlight and
analyze local air quality monitoring data.
What else do we do at ACA? Uh we have robust education and outreach program.
We engage with the community and our members in a variety of ways. We attend
uh many of our members events throughout the year and share information about ACA
and air quality. We have free air quality educational resources available
for teachers. Uh we host clean air webinars throughout the year touching on
various air quality talk topics of interest with recordings available
online. And we're active on social media. Um you can find us on Instagram,
X, Facebook, and LinkedIn uh @ Yank Airshed. Uh we also have a monthly
newsletter that goes out and our community guide to wildfire smoke is a
members only resource that we recently developed designed to support Alberta's
municipalities and other organizations in planning for and responding to
wildfire smoke events. So at the beginning of November uh we held our
fourth clean air forum which is a conference that we host providing the
opportunity for information exchange and dialogue amongst air quality
stakeholders. Uh we work with our partners in ways just like this
providing air quality information to the public and interested organizations.
Uh we're also alongside the uh wildfire guide to or so the guide to wildfire
smoke uh launched our Aaware wildfire smoke and health workshop and the
workshop was developed based off the content in a guide to uh help
individuals and organizations better understand the connection between
wildfire smoke and health. So at ACA we offer a full suite of air
quality services designed to support industry, government and community
partners across our operations uh including assessment and public
engagement. And these cost recovery services are available at competitive
prices for both members and non-members. Uh we offer air quality operations and
monitoring service services. We're able to design, deploy and maintain air
monitoring systems for air quality measurement along with meteorological
monitoring and data transmission solutions. Our data team can provide air
quality assessment and modeling providing expert guidance and defensible
sources. Sorry, dispensable signs for permitting, planning and emergency
response. Uh and our communications and engagement team can help make air
quality understandable, actionable, and meaningful to your stakeholders from
outdoor event planning to public education and internal training. Uh we
try to help bridge the gap between technical air data and real real world
decisions. Uh on the screen you'll see a photo of one of our AQHI cloud lights
which is a tool we use to share uh information on air quality in public
settings. The city of Bulmont has been a member of
ACA since 2021 and we absolutely appreciate your continued support. Our
municipal members are valued partners and participate as ACA members
voluntarily. Uh by working closely with communities, ACA can play an integral
role in addressing local air quality concerns. As an ACA member, the city of
Bmont has access to support for effective public engagement on air
quality and odor concerns and membership also provides a cost-effective way to
meet environmental responsibilities. The city is also access is also has access
rather to our data portal and local air quality monitoring data uh which can
support informed evidence-based decision-m
uh being part of AC ensures consistent regionwide messaging about air quality
so residents receive the same information across neighboring
communities through ACA Bulmont can collaborate with neighboring
municipalities and other stakeholders on shared air quality issues and maintain
strong connections with regulatory and legislative bodies. Uh other municipal
members include city of Edmonton, Sturgeon County, Leuk, Spruce Grove,
Camros, St. Albert, Westwalk County, Strath Kone County, and the town of
Devon. Right now, Bulmont has one purple air
micro sensor located on city hall operated by ACA. And on our live air
data map, you can see the AQHI plus or AQHI equivalent cover reported for this
micro sensor calculated using climate particulate matter only. Uh,
Environments and Climate Change Canada does uh report the an AQI for the
community in the weather app website. Uh, but it reports actually the city of
Edmonson AQHI. So, uh, more accurate data is available on our website for uh,
residents of the communities in Bulmont. The closest AQI station would be Lendum
or uh, Sherwood Park. Um, and there's an aerrow qual.
This is a quick summary of the micro sensor data for the city hall site since
2025. Uh it is a daily or 24-hour average of fine particulate matter or
PM2.5 which is the the the very fine dust especially you'll find in uh
wildfire smoke. And we can see some peaks in June and September that
correlate with wildfire smoke in the region.
And that's it. I just wanted to take today's today as an opportunity to uh
reintroduce ACA to council and mayor and uh fence any questions and and hopefully
just establish a a dialogue and relationship going forward.
» Perfect. Uh thank you Colton. Appreciate that presentation. I will open up the
floor to council members if they have any questions. I see uh councelor Van
Newkerk. I'll pass the floor to you. >> Yeah, thank you. Um, you mentioned the
Alberta Quality Health Index a lot in that presentation. Um, can you just
definitively speak to how the data from Bulmont feeds into the rating uh that is
put out there cuz a lot of sports fields, sports teams, you know, every
that's I think that's still the go-to, is it Nathan? Even for soccer like the
AQHI, um, how does that how does that integrate in?
» Yes, thank you for the question. Um, the mayor to councelor, please. The um,
AQI number that Bowmont has access to is of course generated by continuous
monitoring stations located within city of Edmonton boundaries. Uh, so it
frankly is an imperfect uh, system right now where the AQHI number is not
generated from data directly connected within or collected within the community
of the city of Bmont. And that's that's why we have the purple air micro sensor
on city hall. Um the issue that we run into is the cost to a place a station uh
continuous monitoring station within a geography but also the availability
availability of land space to put that station on um can be really challenging
to make that happen. And so the the micro sensors allow us to kind of fill
those gaps in monitoring and provide local data to local communities. Um, but
you're correct. The AQHI uh that the city of Bmont is receiving uh is not
calculated using any continuous monitoring data for the actual city
itself. It's the neighboring region. Thank you. And uh you touched on my
second question. How much like in there the Edmonton Lendum station is there and
it's got a mural on it and it's got a razor wire fence around it to keep
everybody out which I'm sure you need. Um what is that worth? uh forget the
land to install it, but what does it cost and who pays for it when another
one of them comes online? >> Certainly. Um the station itself ranges
in cost frankly depending on the sensors inside, but typically is going to be
somewhere between say $350,000 to $500,000 uh just for the station and the
equipment. Uh and that's not counting the monthly calibrations and the
technician labor uh needed on a yearly basis to support set station. Um every
station is slightly unique in terms of how it comes online and how it ends up
being deployed. Uh in some cases their operating contracts uh based on
regulatory requirements for example with an industry member that may uh need a
continuous monitoring station next to their operating site uh in which case
the that member will pay the bulk of the cost for that type of station. In other
cases, there are gap communities where the government of Alberta has mandated
placement of a station in which case I'll be funded through grants and other
times um just through the natural evolution of private companies perhaps
abandoning uh stations that they once used uh we were able to come in and take
those over and uh rehabilitate them and and make them into fully operational
stations once again and maybe find better placement for them.
» Thank you.
Thank you, counselor. Um, that being said, I do not see any other counselors
with questions. So, again, I thank you for your presentation.
» Thank you very much.
» Uh, continuing on with our agenda here, we do have three other presentations.
However, a member of council has requested a quick recess. Uh if there's
no objection, I would uh like to put forward uh the proposal for a recess for
5 minutes. Uh return here at 6:40.
online.
» All right, it is uh 6:41. Uh we are finished our recess here. Returning back
to our presentations, next item the on the agenda is 6.2 which is off-site levy
program. Um I believe Miss Raymond and team will present.
» Perfect.
Oh, it's hiding on my screen. Just one sec here.
Seven. Press it right there. Seven.
» There we go. >> Perfect. Uh, thank you. Uh, good
evening, chair and members of committee. I'm Trevor Monica, manager of long range
engineering. Uh the purpose of the report tonight is to provide committee
with an overview of the city's new off-site levy program guide which
administration has prepared to support consistent implementation of the
off-site levy bylaw 1086-25. The requested committee action from
tonight is a recommendation to council that the existing council policy C2
off-site levy policy be repealed and with that recommendation intended to be
considered at the upcoming September 8th, 2026 council meeting.
Council adopted the current off-site levy bylaw in August of 2025.
That bylaw established the city's updated off-site levy framework,
including infrastructure categories, projects, calculation methodologies,
benefit allocations, levy rates, and annual reporting.
At the time the bylaw was adopted, administration advised that additional
implementation and guidance was still being developed and that the existing
council policy C2 would remain in effect in the interim. Administration has now
completed that implementation work through the new external facing off-site
levy program guide included as attachment one in the report.
This report is intended to close that loop on the implementation of the
updated OSL program for the bylaw adopted in 2025.
Uh, the program guide helps developers, applicants, and administration
understand in greater detail how the city's off-site levy bylaw is applied
and administered. It explains what an off-site levy is, when it applies, how
it is assessed and collected, and how frontending, credits, securities,
grants, and repayments are administered. The guide is clear in that it must be
read together with the off-site levy bylaw, and that if there's any
inconsistencies, the city's off-site levy bylaw and the MGA prevail.
An important point to note is the guide does not replace the bylaw, amend it in
any way, or create new levy obligations. It supports the implementation of the
already approved bylaw.
The existing off-site levy uh council policy C2 was approved back in 2014 when
Bulmont was operating under the previous offsite levy framework. Policy C2
established administrative processes for levy assessment and collection
deferrals, front-ending, offsets, reimbursement, annual reporting. The
city now has its updated uh bylaw supported framework through 1086-25
and the program guide is now uh written specifically to support implementation
of the new framework.
As I noted, the program guide is not intended to be the policy authority for
the OSL program. Rather, it's an administrative implementation document.
It explains how again how admin will apply the bylaw on day-to-day
subdivision development permit development agreement
uh and the repayment processes. Council's role remains intact through
the bylaw, annual reporting, annual budgeting and capital planning approval
and any future bylaw amendments. The guide reinforces council role by noting
that certain offset levy projects, including those that require city
funding, debt financing, or inclusion in the capital line and annual budget, must
first be approved by council before any approval is granted to execute these
projects. Maintaining policy C2 in parallel with
the new program guide would create some overlap and potential confusion about
which document would guide implementation.
Repealing policy C2 reduces the risk of duplicate or outdated administrative
direction.
Uh, as mentioned, the program guide does not establish new levy rates and does
not amend the methodology that was approved through the offsite levy bylaw.
The levy rates themselves are are still governed through schedule B of the
bylaw. And the broader levy framework continues to be governed through the
bylaw and the uh background report.
Uh just on the transparency and engagement piece, the updated offset
levy program was developed through substantial engagement uh with the
development community uh throughout the course of that project including uh six
engagement sessions and the program guide is building on that work by
translating the the OSL framework into a clearer guide for applicants and
developers. This guide has been distributed to the development committee
and been made available on Bulmont's website for reference.
Again, administration is recommending that the committee of the whole
recommend to council that council policy C2 offsite levy policy be repealed and
the program guide will then be kept up to date as future amendments to offsite
levy bylaw are approved. Uh thank you for your time and with that
I'm happy to answer any questions. >> Perfect. Uh thank you uh Mr. Manika for
that presentation. Councelor Van Newkerk go ahead. Yeah,
just a question on where you actually left off there around the uh
recommendations. Is there any reason that we can't or
shouldn't call a special council meeting to get it done before September?
» Uh thank you for that question through to councelor Vanukk. Um there's there's
no reason the the like I mentioned the uh the program guide is now published
available to the community. It's in place and in effect. So um the policy
can be repealed at uh at any time. >> Okay. Maybe just looking for further
comment from Ledge um around the timing of this. Um, and what I'm left wondering
is what projects are being contemplated between now and September that might,
I don't know, benefit Bulmont from being from this policy being repealed and, you
know, this process being gone through. Is that clear or not clear?
between now and September, what could happen in Bulmont for projects that that
would be under the old levy system that aren't captured under the new levy
system. Is that a thing? Just help me understand that,
» Miss Winter. I >> thank you. Through the deputy mayor to
councelor Vanukkirk, [laughter] I couldn't speak to any of those projects.
And with the policy not being repealed until September, I wouldn't be able to
speak with what that that would look like. I'd have to refer to planning and
development on that. >> Okay. Is planning and development
prepared to comment on that?
» Policy. >> Yeah. Yes. Uh thank you for that. I I
don't believe there are any projects that are currently occurring that would
be impacted by this. um any projects that are happening right now would still
fall under the all sale levy bylaw as it currently exists which is the guiding
document or bylaw in this case. So um there's no concerns from that regard.
» Okay. I still have concerns but I'm hearing no concerns from aden. So yeah
thank you. >> Thank you counselor. Uh that being Oh,
uh Mayor Vanderquac, >> just
» it's coming. >> Just to follow up with that. So,
uh the question is whether or not there's
any benefit to this passing sooner rather than later.
And if this is just this is to implement the actual policy change, right, or the
bylaw change, right? the terms of the off-site levies.
» So, thank you for the question uh through the mayor or through to the
mayor Vanderquac. U the the current so the current bylaw is not being amended
through the the program guide. Um the guide is just a clarification on on
administrative procedures and the policy um is largely the same in that uh
respect. Um but it it has a few inconsistencies with the the new bylaw.
So the the recommendation to repeal that is to eliminate that the confusion
between uh the the 2014 policy and the 2025 bylaw. Uh the program guide takes
that place but outside of a council policy
» and so there's been uh sufficient time communicated to those who would be
affected by this to know that there is changes happening.
Yes, there's that's correct and there there is largely no change that like
materially is is occurring. Um the the current bylaw as adopted in 2025 is the
governing bylaw. Um so any inconsistency would be referred back to that bylaw. So
in effect there is no change. >> Okay. So there's no detriment to wait
until September is what you're saying. >> Correct.
» Okay. Thank you. >> And I guess I I'll just repeat that. I I
think my understanding of it obviously bylaw is in effect that takes precedence
along with MGA. Um so this is more an administrative change than it is a
change that'll take effect to anyone developing or making any changes in that
sense. >> Yes, that is correct.
» Perfect. Thank you. Uh quick question uh for administration or the clerk just uh
am I required to put a motion forward to take this uh report as information or am
I able to proceed to the next presentation?
» We have a motion ready to go if you just give me a moment.
» Perfect. Thank you.
And councelor Penrod, are you speaking to the motion?
» Uh, just a question on this. >> Okay, perfect. All right. Uh, go ahead.
» Thank you. Uh, before I get to my question, I just want to note in the
bylaw uh, as published, there is a small typo under the WAT-30
project, the Watt 30 project. Um, it looks like it's just a simple error. the
start year and end year look like they're reversed there, but since it's
in the bylaw that should probably address that. Uh, and I think because
it's just um kind of a correction of a typo, it wouldn't require a a motion or
a resolution or anything like that, but just wanted to raise that. um in the
background report from urban systems page 56 through 152 of the package
tonight. Um they talk about the modeling >> [snorts]
» uh for how the osite levy rates were calculated and they specifically
reference um some of the density targets uh for administration. If in future
statutory plans, Bowman embraces lower density targets, what's the likelihood
our off-site levy rates would need to be adjusted downward
as a result.
Uh through to councelor Penrod. Thank you for that question. Um it is
difficult to to speak to exactly what would happen to
the levy rates if uh the density targets were adjusted. Um likely though um you
would find through the modeling is that because land consumption would increase
uh corresponding to a reduced density target um
there there would be a change to levy rates. Uh it again I would it would
depend on all other factors staying exactly the same which they would not um
in any sort of future scenario. Um, so beyond that, it's hard to speak to
whether they would go up or down.
» Okay. And I think that's all that I had on this item. Thank you, chair.
» Thank you, councelor. Uh, is there a member of council willing
to put forward this motion?
» Thank you, chair. I'll make the mo Thank you, chair.
I'll make the motion that committee of the whole recommend to council to be
considered at the September 8th, 2026 council meeting that the coun that
council policy C2 offsite levy policy be repealed.
» Thank you. UN counselors if we could put our votes forward
and that carries unanimously at 6 to0.
Perfect. Uh next uh matter of Perfect. Uh next uh matter of business uh is uh
presentation on facility rental policy. Uh correct me if I'm wrong here. My
apologies. Mr. Pival and Mr. Sudter, I believe, are presenting.
» Yeah, I will be. It's personal. Close. You got it. Yeah. My apologies.
» Good enough. Yeah.
» Yeah. Good evening, chair, committee members. Paul Scooter, director of
community services. Administration is here this evening with committee to have
a conversation on a draft facility rental policy. And this was something
administration committed to council to bring back this year. Uh basically
stemming from a couple more than a couple inquiries on some uh decisions
made on some rentals in the past. So with that, I'm going to turn over for
presentation to Sean Persal, the manager of rec facilities. Uh facility rentals
falls within his portfolio. So I'll turn over to Sean. Thank you.
» Thank you and good evening everyone. As Paul mentioned, my name is Sean Persal.
I'm the manager of recreation facilities. I'd like to thank the
committee for allowing me the opportunity to present a proposed
facility rental policy for the city of Bumont.
We'll start this evening off just by discussing some background of how we got
here. We'll show a regional scan we completed and looking at what other
municipalities are doing for rental policies,
some rationale around why we believe this policy is needed, and finally we
will address next steps beyond this meeting.
So back in January 2026, in response to both community and administrative needs,
administration began looking into establishing parameters and principles
that would govern how we rent our spaces to the public. While many of our areas
have operational procedures for how they rent space, these procedures do not have
any strategic alignment with guiding principles from either a city directive
or a city policy. Our goals in this proposed policy
include consistency in how the city rents its spaces, alignment of all
procedures with the set of guiding principles, and direction in how the
city's bookable spaces are governed.
So, a bit about why we feel we need this policy or believe we need this policy.
The establishment of a facility rental policy would provide strategic direction
in how we manage and govern the rentals of our spaces, support the development
and review of all of our current procedures to ensure alignment with each
other and those guiding principles, and ensure a fair and unbiased approach to
the rental of bookable spaces across the city. Additionally, it would provide
clarity and transparency in our decision-making processes for rentals,
both approvals and denials, as well as acting as a risk mitigation tool as
staff can refer back to the policy in the operational decisions that are made
for rentals. In the absence of a policy,
administration will continue to work on better overall alignment of the
procedures we have in place, as well as continuing to work collaboratively
between branches and departments in our decision-m around facility rentals.
However, without that connection to a larger set of guiding principles, it may
result in a more subjective approach and outcomes to how we close gaps and find
alignments.
So, part of the approach that was taken was to conduct a regional scan
uh to see what other municipalities are doing or what they have in place to help
guide facility rentals. As you can see, some of the communities on the slide in
front of you have some form of guiding principles such as cost allocate or
excuse me, allocation or cost recovery targets. However, many have no guiding
principles that provide staff direction or support on operational procedure
development and only two of the community's policy policies speak to any
specific or unique subject matter. This policy being proposed would itself
provide guiding principles for staff to use in their operational development and
would reference applicable city policies and bylaws as well as provincial and
federal legislation to support the types of rentals we allow in our facilities.
So beyond this, if the committee recommends this proposed policy to
council and council approves the policy, this will initiate work in bringing
department stakeholders to the table to complete a full review of all existing
procedures to ensure alignment with the policy, which we anticipate would begin
in Q4 of 2026.
Thank you for your time and we're happy to answer any questions the committee
may have.
» Perfect. Thank you for the presentation. Uh Councelor Penrod, you are up first.
» Thank you, Chair. Appreciate you bringing this forward. I know uh we've
had some conversation in the past year or so um just around that kind of
scattershot approach on decisions and appreciate the effort here that's gone
into creating a process that's a bit more robust and transparent for folks to
know where they they stand in this regard.
Um, I appreciated the I had some questions
that were answered just by the the inclusion of the definition. So, I I
just wanted to highlight that kind of continuous improvement element as we're
developing these policies and and renewing them um into that kind of
template for how Bulmont does all of this work. I think that's wellreceived
and it it makes it easier to read these documents um for the public, too. So
just wanted to highlight and give thanks for that. Uh questions in 3.2 under
exclusions uh page 143 of the package
excluded are any other groups activities or uses as deemed necessary to carry out
the administrative duties of the city. That feels like a pretty broad exclusion
point. I wonder if you could speak to the necessity to have it. So uh so
broad. >> Sure. I'll get off I'll kick it off to
the through the chair to councelor Penrod. Um that bullet is
by its design intended to be somewhat overarching and subjective. um if the
city or the CEO's office or council were to determine a certain activity to be of
necessity to the city's operations that that could be excluded from the guiding
principles within the policy. Um it's list it might be more applicable to
emergency management use, but if the city had to activate a facility for an
emergency evacuation center on a whim, that might be something that could fit
into that bullet. Um but again it was sort of by design to allow that
flexibility for the city manager or council to make those types of decisions
if if they deem necessary. >> Yeah, I appreciate it. So the way it
comes through is it's actually an exclusion that um helps the city slot in
things that are in the city's best interest. It's not an exclusion that
would be used against the group that's trying to secure space from the broader
community. >> That's correct. Yeah.
» Thank you. Uh and item 5.4 four under rental refusal.
Uh it says administration may deny a request and it goes on um but it lists
uh for grounds for potentially denying a request. Uh I activities that are
prohibited under provincial or federal legislation. Uh, I wonder if if May is
the right word there, if it's strong enough, would we would we as council
want administration to grant or a request that's prohibited under
provincial legislation? Um, I just wondered if stronger language might be
used there. That would be my feedback. >> Okay. Appreciate that. Yeah,
» perfect. Thank you, uh, Mayor Vanderquac.
» Uh, thank you, Chair. All right. So, I have a few things. First of all, I think
the policy is very concise what you've written here. Principalbased
deliberately avoids uh listing controversial groups
or viewpoints. But there are some things that I do have some questions about that
I think uh from a governance perspective. And one of them is that
there seems to be some broad allowance for subjectivity and
discretion. Uh for example, in the word public interest, you know, the phrase
that is in the statement says rentals must be fair, equitable, and safe, which
is great. Then it adds in the public interest. And this kind of dubtales into
my second point, but uh who who defines what public interest is? You know, um
I'm wondering if there's something else we could use here that could be a little
bit more objective because public interest means different things to
different people. Um so can administration explain that to
someone? Can that be objectively measured so that
different staff members for example who are making that decision consistently
reach the same decision? That's kind of where it comes down to a little bit more
of a problem. And the other one is it goes into the
second was um it contravenes the principles of this policy referring to
same one councelor Penrod was talking about there whereas
this being part of that principle of the policy uh whether it's within the public
interest then it becomes a problematic becomes now like a circular test. So
those things really jumped out at me there as far as there's a lot of
discretion in that and I think we need to have a little bit more less sorry
more less discretion and things that are a little bit more objectively defined so
that anybody who's in that position can make the same decision and it's going to
be consistent. So those are a few and I'll come back
around when I have more time.
Perfect. Thank you. Any response from administration or just noted? Okay. Um
so through the chair to Mayor Vanderquac. Um appreciate the comments.
Um certainly something that can be taken into consideration for frontline staff
that take the rental requests that review them that contact the prospective
renters. The idea is that the it would be an application of the
guiding principles of this policy that would be used to measure whether to
approve or deny a rental which would include
all listed and applicable city policies, bylaws, federal and provincial
legislation. So to circle back to the potential subjectivity around public
interest, um I can appreciate that comment given the fact that frontline
staff would should this policy be approved and operational documents were
to be reviewed and created etc. It would be a pretty specific list of questions
that staff would likely get um that would be applicable only to those
guiding principles and the um relevant uh documents that I listed before. So it
uh something to take back for for us is to potentially consider changing the
word public interest and having it be more defined as the public interest is
that we are ensuring that we are only using this policy and applicable
legislation and other bylaws to approve or deny a rental request. That action
itself would be in the best public interest.
» Thank you for the response. Councelor Vanukkirk.
» Yeah, thank you to Mayor for raising that cuz one of the questions I brought
forward tonight to ask was does this policy lend itself to different staff
members all coming to the same decision using the policy. So I think that's been
covered now. Um I wanted to focus on 5.4 a second if you wouldn't mind scrolling
to that. Um I'm going to propose adding a bullet
point. Um, now one of the criteria that I wondered about is
a review of previous rental stewardship to an applicant or an applicant group.
As in last time, what happened? You know, last time your group or you rented
bylaw came three times, we had to call the cops and there was all this stuff,
right? Um I don't know that there it I'm confident there would be some you know
knowledge of that within administration but documented relative to that group's
rental of the facility. I don't know how that would work internally. So, one of
the things I contemplated was adding a bullet point that would say something
like um so it says administration may deny a
request if administration determines that the intended rental use um
documented prior [clears throat] non-compliance with rental terms or city
policies as in property damage non-payline non-payment bylaw
contraventions you know within the last 24 months like within some kind of
period. So just trying to [snorts] add the contemplation of what happened last
time you rented our facility. Does that sound reasonable?
It does. Yeah. So through the chair, councelor venue Kirk, I would
I would maybe recommend to your recommendation that this type of
to to use your term non-compliance in previous rentals might find itself maybe
better served in the operational processes that administration takes. So
rather than council um identifying specifically
um anecdotal examples of non-compliance in
rentals that occur in our facilities that we instead look at ensuring that
the way that we operate the administration of rentals includes
um some penalty or some kind of acknowledgement
that uh we may look at previous rentals as far as whether to deny them or not
based on previous experiences. And I I I suppose to be to be blunt, there's a
number of different reasons why a group may be denied rental opportunities,
including things like previous damage to the facility or otherwise. So, I'm
I I may have to defer over to Paul, but I would say my my initial response is
it's it's the right idea. I just wonder if it may better fit into the the way we
operationalize the policy as opposed to the policy itself, if that makes sense.
» Yeah, I think my overall goal would be um in the process of reviewing a policy
or going to rent a facility that it be clear to the user group that that
consideration would pop up somewhere. That that that's my goal. Right.
» Right. Yeah. Understood. Okay. Thank you. Yeah.
Thank you, councelor. Uh, councelor Cole Smith.
» Thank you. Um, yeah, I had similar concerns just about the um
[clears throat] consistency of the application given the broad authority to
determine appropriate use. So, some of the things discussed already to to
tighten that up. Um, the other one was I think it was 5.3.
Um the city may request risk mitigation measure me measures to be instituted by
the user. Um I'm wondering if we could include something where um that those
risk mitigation requirements be based on like a documented objective for evidence
um base policy and maybe like a checklist of of things that were
validated or evaluated.
And if at all possible, I know it's that tall ask some definitions around like
the safety risk, operational risk, and community risk.
So through the chair to council colemith. Um so the intention behind uh
behind this particular section is to provide
prospective rental users with an understanding that if we believe that
based on the unique nature of their rental request, there may be additional
measures that CIC has to take to ensure that we can make their rental safe for
themselves, other public in the facility and staff. Um that that cost may fall
onto them. Um, certainly to take away a definition around safety, I would
caution that because there are, especially at the community center,
there are so many different types of unique rentals that come through here,
it would be fairly daunting to include that level of specificity. However, um
in to borrow a phrase to tighten up that definition of safety just to give a even
a higher statement to say safety is what you know we determine based on the
unique nature of the rental requests that we receive. There may be dot dot
dot. So certainly that that that is one thing that I think we could probably
look to do in in the definition section. >> Thank you.
» Thank you. the councelor uh councelor Penrod go ahead.
» Thank you chair. Um so just kind of continuing the the thread of
uh possible additions rather than go
forward with that. I just want to ask kind of following your response to some
of the other questions. How how will this policy help um you to do the work
to operationalize how you think about how an individual rental proposed rental
group impacts the use of other user groups that are also in the building?
Most of these buildings are multiuse, right? Um
do you want to speak to that? Is that something that belongs more in the
policy, more in the operational guide?
through the chair to councelor Penrod. I would my initial response to that would
be it it is more it likely fits better into the operationalization of the
policy. So if for example um we would be able from this policy and
the associated documents that I've referred to a few times um already we
would be able to better equip our staff to understand where to place certain
requests that come in. So a cultural event that wants to take place at the
rec center but they are expecting 300 people. Well we know they can't go
there. So, we would be able to fit them into a very specific space at a
different facility. Um, in terms of groups that may conflict with one
another within the same structure, um, I would see that as something that would
be a part of a review of when staff take requests. They currently they already
look at what else is occurring in the building and it's unlikely to to change
through a review provided this policy were to be approved by council. Um but I
would see that falling actually under the 5.3 bullet for safety is that would
be a part of what our staff would do to determine the safety of the rental for
the sake of the renters, the staff and other individuals that are in the
facility. If that answers your question. >> Yeah, I think so. And just to follow on
in that conversation, I guess part of how I interpret some of the questions
that are coming your way is I think um we want the policy to do the policy
things and the administrative operational guides to do what they do.
The tension in the community though, the reason that we're here is because we've
had some rental groups kind of question on what basis have we been denied or
given certain um qualifications to follow or whatever. And so I just wonder
how transparent those operational guides are
to potential renters and are we doing you any favors by having them kind of on
the administrative side of things? Would there be benefit in having some of that
outlined in the policy so that as a person is preparing their uh documents
to propose a rental, they're able to see the criteria that this is based on.
Sure. Uh so through the chair to council penrod I would say I'll try to answer
your second question first. I provided the policy is approved and we
move forward with the full comprehensive review of our operational documentation
and procedures.
One consideration that we can take in during that review
would be to include the policy in any rental request documentation that we put
out. [sighs and gasps] So rather than having the operational documents
referred to in the principal or or attached, we'd try to flip it and
actually have the policy referenced in any rental applications that a
prospective renter would fill out. and we can ensure to highlight that so it's
not buried in some footnote or um secondary attachment and that way a
person who is interested in renting a space in one of our facilities could be
driven right to the policy to see exactly what the city is setting out as
its guiding principles and its its sort of approval process in that regard. Um
would you mind repeating your first question? I'm not sure if I remember it.
» Sure. I guess what it comes back to is would it be helpful to have as part of
the guiding principles just an acknowledgement that these are multi-use
spaces and that part of the metric for deciding if your rental can go forward
or not is who else is there and how compatible your uses are. I'm not sure
what you call that exactly, but that's feedback I'm giving you today. Okay, I
appreciate that and I think that's good feedback to take into consideration
pro well actually quite frankly regardless of whether this policy is
approved, it's still something we can take back and and put into
consideration. Um, and remembering a piece of your first
question from the first time you asked it, yes, you are doing us a favor. In my
opinion, and I I suppose I'm speaking on behalf of the city in this this rule,
this is something that is favorable to administration. And this is, you know,
the the short answer is that's why why we did it, right? The long answer is um
this provides so much less subjectivity around approvals and denials. The
challenges that have been faced in the previous few years and in particular
this year as well is that certain decisions were made using subjective
approaches to approvals or denials. This provides us a risk mitigation tool in
approaching the uh the the rationale behind whether we reject a a rental or
we approve it. If in its current form, if we reject it, we base it on this is
what we've been doing the last few years. Whereas now, if we were to have
to reject a renter, it would be something we would lean back on in this
policy as well as applicable documentation. And again, just to be
very very blunt as well, our goal is to rent to as many people as possible and
at all costs to have every space we have available to be rented to be rented. Um
we're not looking to put a lot of boundaries or barriers or red tape in
place for prospective renters. We just want to ensure that we have um
applicable guiding principles that will protect the city, protect the staff,
etc. Um, and again it's it's to try to drive in as many renters as possible.
So,
» thank you. I I just have a quick question. You had mentioned that we've
experienced quite a few challenges. We being obviously uh the city. Um, are you
able to speak to some of those challenges because obviously we're not
privy to to necessarily some of the details. It doesn't need to be super
specific, but just so we have a general understanding.
» Sure. Uh so to through the chair to the chair um I would say to be a little bit
high level and not to excuse myself completely but I've I've been in the
role for 6 months. So, the what I've seen so far is that
there are in some cases there are decisions made
to say refuse a rental based on a similar rental that may have been
refused 18 months ago, but we don't have maybe any documentation to support the
rationale from 18 months ago. It's just someone remembered that 18 months ago we
we refused a similar rental. >> [snorts]
» Um we also uh have again challenges with you know people that may feel like a
similar rental to the one that they were refused was allowed access and so that
seems unfair and that very very well may be. Um, however, at this point, the way
that we approach rentals is is a bit too administrative and without without
guiding principles to really kind of help guide us to that end result of
whether to approve or or deny rentals. So, if that answers your question,
» perfect. Thank you. Uh, Mayor Vanderwack,
» thank you. Just get my reset here.
Uh, thank you so much. So I am going to just circle back around to
the fact that the draft policy there seems to be a bit of a contradiction
between the report and the draft policy. The draft policy never mentions
petitions but the report spends considerable time discussing petitions
and previous practices. So my question is are are you asking council to approve
a policy that removes petition restriction or is administration
intending to continue that practice through this operating procedures?
» So through the chair to Mayor Vanderquac. So petitions are listed in
the report as an example of kind of what brought us here today. It wasn't to
explicitly um request support to reject or deny
petitions. The policy doesn't list any specific subject matter because well,
frankly, the policy might be 150 pages long if we listed every single potential
subject matter in a rental that was being requested. Um, we are not asking
for council specifically to allow or to deny petitions. If a person
hypothetically wanted to book a space in a facility to run a petition, provided
they meet all the guiding principle checkboxes in the policy as well as
applicable other city policies, bylaws, and federal provincial legislation,
they're in. [clears throat] As far as we're concerned, that would be fine with
us. Um, if that answers your question about that.
» Yeah, it does. So, I would want to know what those other regulations are that
might restrict them because my concern is, sorry, I got to get my timer going
here. My concern is this whole thing of fairness. How is fairness measured? And
I actually like some of the descriptions that are in the jurisdictional scan that
you provided. Bruce Grove and Edmonton for example had a really good
description which I think personally that it would be really great for our
princ our policy to have as a principal and specifically
supports democratic values freedom of choice fair treatment and I don't
believe you know as a municipality that we can uh dictate the content of which
someone is putting on an event as long as it doesn't violate certain things you
know but at the same time. Uh if we could have it more conduct related
in terms of they are abiding, they're peaceful, they're safe, all those
things, then I think that would create a more fair and equitable
because it comes down to why was one denied and why was one allowed. If it
was cont conductbased as opposed to contentbased
that to me would be more along the lines of pro promoting free and open access
and process. So maybe you can speak to that.
» Yeah. Through the chair to Mayor Vanderquac. Um,
there is nothing within this policy that would dictate to staff building
operational documents to scrutinize any of the subject matter that a renter is
bringing forward with the exception of any operational
processes that we bring in to ensure that they're not violating another city
policy, bylaw, federal, provincial legislation. So
I can't speak to the specific nature of a rental request until we receive it.
That that is just the honest answer. So if someone were to want to carry out a
rental and again they met the guiding principles as they're written in the
policy, they don't violate any bylaw or policy already in place and they don't
violate on paper at least through the request any provincial or federal
legislation. As I mentioned before, we would approve their rental. So, the goal
of this is by no means to have staff get into the business of scrutinizing the
subject matter. It would simply be, do they violate any of these documents? Yes
or no. If it's a no, then we carry forward with the request 100%. Um,
[snorts] we would, and again, I don't want to put
the cart before the horse because we haven't operationalized this, but we
would always, in my experience, we we would build in safeguards to ensure
there's an escalation process at any time that a staff member who's taking a
request may have questions or may not be certain. And it's possible that when we
get to the opera operationalization of this policy and its principles, etc.,
that there may be opportunity for us to review denials before the denial is sent
back to the renter. uh the prospective renter, excuse me. So again, I guess to
summarize that, it would be we're we're simply looking to see if they violate
one of the principles or any of the applicable documents within the policy.
That's it. >> Uh thank you for that. So I would I
would like to propose that we have something in there like a principle like
as is in Spruce Grove or Edmonton where the city recognizes the public
facilities are uh exist to serve a diverse
community with different beliefs, values, viewpoints and that rental
decisions can be administered in a lawful viewpoint neutral politically
neutral manner and shall not be based on agreement or disagreement with ideas,
opinions or beliefs of a user. That's by recommendation.
» Appreciate that. And I see no reason why we can't include something like that.
For sure. >> Thank you.
» Perfect. Thank you. Uh looks like we have one last request here. Councelor
Van Newer, go ahead. >> Yeah, thanks. I thought I was done, but
then uh Mayor brought something up that made me think about
uh rentals underway. So the questions I asked to begin with is um like
looking for criteria to potentially refuse a rental upfront, right? With the
suggestion I made at a policy level, how can we in this policy also address the
fact that conditions can change after a rental has begun? As in you rent to do a
thing, everybody shows up to do that thing. It's way more people than you
expected. It's disrupting active users. It's disrupting the community. It's
disrupting everyone around. Does the city have how can this policy
protect the users around that facility? Uh, you know, is do we need to put a
statement in here? We can cancel a rental at any time. Like operationally,
I know you're going to have that, but does this policy need to have that as
well? So through the chair to councelor
vanukkirk I would say to address the examples that you brought forward I
would refer back to the 5.3 section around safety of the rental that would
be applicable on a preventative measure and it would also be something to be
incorporated into the oper operationalization of the the rental
itself. So, for example, in the current form, we have staff that work at the
facilities that monitor the rentals. And in doing so, if staff believe or feel as
though a rental has, I'll just say, gotten out of hand, for a lack of a
better term, there are processes in place right now that staff take to to
address that. Whether it's calling um our CMP, whether it's contacting the
supervisor, whatever the case may be. Um, so I would say that this policy and
specifically the guiding principle around safety would help
I'll say beef up the operationalization of how staff can address rentals that
have already started as opposed to it just being before they start. If that
makes sense. >> Makes sense for sure. It's just it's
easier to add this language now than when something's in once than then than
when something or someone is in front of us. and fire code definitely is, you
know, the safety piece that governs the people inside the building. But I'm
thinking more about who shows up outside, how many vehicles, huge lineups
of people, and we've seen a lot of examples in that lately. And I don't
know when it'll pop up next, but it will. And at some point, we're going to
be dealing with that. And then it'll be disrupting members of the community, you
know, other facility users as you've said before, right? So anyways, if
there's an opportunity to at a policy level um strengthen anything, you know,
I think you should take that opportunity. So thank you. Thank you.
» Thank you for that, counselor. Uh I echo my uh fellow counselor's comments there,
especially on uh things such as uh previous behavior and and some of the
things that we've seen as councelor Van Newkerk had mentioned uh too many folks
potentially too loud uh not controlling the original agreement. So something
along those lines and just you never want to go to the enforcement side, but
just knowing that there's an out uh should you need it if it's disruptive to
uh general users within uh the facility.
Perfect. I will go to administration just to see if we are needing a motion
for this one. No. Perfect. Um, that being said, we will proceed on to
business item 6.4, level of service, roads and parks policy. And I believe
Bryce, you're going to be presenting that. Thank you.
Okay. [snorts and clears throat] Good evening, members of council. This policy
update translates your 2026 2030 strategic plan into everyday action on
our roads and in our parks. It gives residents full transparency into what we
do, how we do it, and how we manage growth together. To set context, this
update directly supports council's 26 to30 strategic plan, specifically our
commitment to delivering resident centered services.
It's important to emphasize that this policy update doesn't reinvent the
wheel. It is a new and improved method of communicating our existing service
levels clearly to both council and the public. By expanding from a narrow
winter focus to a comprehensive year-round model in both parks and
roads, we're establishing realistic operational targets while setting clear
expectations.
One moment. Okay. [snorts]
Technical difficulties. Can you go to two?
Um, scope definitions and foundation principles. So, structural improvements
have been made to improve clarity and accountability. A new scope and
application section confirms that the policy applies to both city staff and
external contractors. Definitions have been moved to schedule
one with new terms added for parks and outdoor amenities such as sports fields,
playgrounds, and outdoor rinks. [snorts]
Under the strategic plan pillar of growth that makes sense for Bowmont, our
foundational principles now explicitly address how operational demands scale as
our community grows. We are grounding our standard operations in a 40-hour
service week with emergency response triggers, ensuring that we remain
fiscally responsible and tied to annual budget approvals.
Winter maintenance remains a core focus with road priorities streamlined from
five categories down to four. Local roads are now more clearly distinguished
between connecting residential roads and lower volume local streets, culde-sacs,
alleys, and gravel roads. Quadrant-based service delivery has been clarified.
Once priority one and two areas are addressed, clues will be deployed by
Quadrant. The policy now explains how service timelines reset during
back-to-back snow events, making expectations clearer during extended
weather events. [sighs]
Sidewalk and trail maintenance is scheduled Monday to Friday with after
hours or weekend snowfall addressed on the next business day. City building
entrances, the language has been cleared up. The city city building entrances
must be cleared within 2 hours of openings. Parking lot clearing
thresholds have been tightened from the previous 5 to 10 cm range down to a flat
and hard 5cm target. Snow storage lang language will allow temporary storage
during extreme weather and parking ban enforcements now refer to the traffic
safety bylaw. Clear service levels have been
established for year- round maintenance tasks in both parks and roads. This
includes sweeping of streets, sidewalks and trails, grass cutting, trimming,
storm water facility mowing and upkeep of sports fields, sports fields and ball
diamonds. The policy formalizes service frequencies for garbage collection,
porter potties, border potties and bathroom maintenance, playground
inspections, hard surface maintenance, and outdoor rink inspections.
A new section formalizes the use of contractors for specialized seasonal or
surge capacity work, including support during winters with above average
snowfall. Annual policy reviews will occur during budget delimmerations to
ensure service levels remain aligned with available funding.
This slide represents the biggest win for our residents and aligns directly
with council's strategic commitment about modern communication. Uh again,
this policy is not about improving. This policy is ultimately about how we
communicate. Um instead of residents guessing when a
trail is swept or a road is cleared, everything will be hosted in one clear
central location on the city's website. Residents will have access to current
service levels, interactive maps, property owner responsibilities, and
real-time seasonal updates for outdoor spaces.
Finally, as Bowmont continues to expand, this policy ensures that our growth is
deliberate and transparent. Every year during budget deliberations, council
will receive supporting documents and clear cost service implications for any
proposed service level increases or new developments coming online. This will
ensure full strategic oversight before new operational commitments are made.
Uh to wrap up, me members of council, when you introduced the new strategic
plan, you set a clear mandate for resident centered services and growth
that makes sense for Bmont makes sense for Bowmont. What we've brought you
today isn't just an administrative update. It's an operational translation
of your vision vision by replacing outdated single season
policies with comprehensive year round framework. administration is carrying
out the direction that you sent you set for PL public transparent communication,
clear accountability and prudent financial oversight. We are excited to
get this modernized communication live on our website so our residents can see
the full value of the services that council fund every day. Uh thank you for
your time and I would be happy to answer any of your questions and listen to your
feedback.
» Perfect. Uh thank you Bryce for that presentation. uh if this policy is a
representation of some of the efforts we've seen put forward uh so far. I I'm
impressed with this policy. I I don't know if we uh hit the lotto in terms of
some good employees uh because we've definitely seen a lot of hard work and
and effort put into a department that uh always has to show what they can do and
and make the citizens happy. So great work to you and the team. I I just want
to note that. Um, in terms of questions, I do see uh, councelor Klemith, so we
will start with you. >> Thank you, Deputy Mayor. Um, yeah, no, I
really like the policy. Just had a couple of questions. Um, in C grass
cutting, it talks about um, the naturalization below the one in year one
and 5year flood line. Can you just explain what that means? I just want to
make sure I got it right. >> Yep. Through the chair to councelor Cole
Smith. uh natural naturalization below the one in fiveyear flood line relates
specifically to the storm water management facilities. Uh the one in
5year flood line says that uh in any given year there's 20% chance that
through the recent rains that's where the water level will get to. So I'm sure
we've seen recently that the storm water facilities they the water level can rise
and the naturalization within that boundary helps with soil retention soil
erosion. uh we plant some wet tolerant species within that area and with
naturalization uh it's a clear message to the residents
of where the water level can get to uh 20% of the time when it rains.
» So after this most recent rain that line is now higher. Okay. Um
I noticed the outdoor uh outdoor facilities would be their status would
be updated on the website. Does that include the time stamp like each day?
That that's excellent. >> Through the chair to councelor Cole
Smith. Yes. Uh we heard that from the residents and council loud and clear
this year that our messaging behind when sports fields are open and uh the
posting on the website could be improved and that is a part of it. timestamps,
daystamps, uh as well as providing that information to the guest services
representatives at the BSRC. So any user groups can call and get confirmation
after hours when uh say we're not in the office, they can get confirmation of
what fields are open, what are user discretion, and what are closed.
» That's really good. Thank you. >> Perfect. Thank you, counselor. Counselor
Vanu Kirk. >> Yeah, thank you. [clears throat] Um two
things. I guess I'll I'll stay on the naturalization piece. I caught that as
well. Um I'll say before that in our documentation naturalization has
actually never been defined before. So that is something that you know will
need to be contemplated as we move back. Um I would also say that naturalization
has become the enemy because naturalization was all the way up to the
edge of the sidewalk. Right? So this is right here saying naturalization is to
the one and 5year flood line. It isn't to the edge of the sidewalk. Right? So
there's some definition on that. So I think that's important and good and we
can watch to see how that is working. Um I would challenge that naturalization of
vegetation um does benefit from periodic mowing as well uh to elongate widen root
structures. So blindly seeding and growing and then not managing that
naturalized vegetation from time to time actually isn't the way to go. So there's
an operational piece there that should be considered. Um, secondarily,
this will be my annual plug. Uh, can you go to page 183 of 216? It was the
presentation on the map there, uh, around communication.
And while you're going there, being mindful of my time, I'll just say that
annually concerns come into the city where in areas where servicing is yet to
be turned over to the city or the city isn't responsible. Um this is my annual
plug for some mapping to show that um that that top bullet point there. Um I
think there's an opportunity to have a map layer that says the city is
responsible for all this and it's in a color and the city isn't responsible for
this and it's in a color as in commercial nodes, condominium complexes,
um areas that the developer is responsible for still and hasn't been
turned over the city. I think there should be a visual representation of
that um that folks can be directed to as part of the SEO responses to people.
That visual aid is going to help a lot. So, thank you.
» Thank you, counselor. Appreciate it. Uh Mayor Vanderclack,
» thank you. Thank you, Bryce, for this. And yes, u really happy with um what's
going on in our parks right now. So, one thing that stuck out to me is
I'm going to talk about it from again a governance document that um what you
said earlier I think would be a great piece to put in here as far as the
purpose of this policy is to establish clear, measurable, transparent
service level expectations for residents uh guide administration delivery of
roads park services and provide council with a framework for oversight, resource
allocation and continuous improvement. I think they're having a Y statement is
really important in that document as a governance. Um the other thing I wanted
to mention is the word and I understand it from a
legal perspective but I'm wondering how we how we measure it when in the
document talks about the city will make reasonable efforts.
So how will council know whether administration is consistently achieving
their targets if they described as reasonable efforts?
through the chair to Mayor Vanderquac. Um, reasonable efforts is something
that's pulled directly out of the MGA uh with a lot of infrastructure
maintenance. >> So that that's a very set standard that
the the city will make reasonable efforts to keep infrastructure in in
appropriate m maintainable condition. So um reasonable efforts
is a vague statement that is allows the city to be
in alignment with what's operationally possible cuz you know we can repair
anything given uh appropriate amount of money. But when budget is set and we're
working with uh a set uh funding timeline that it may not be reasonable
to repair a sports field that someone drove a tractor through and and ripped
up a big trench in it. So we will make reasonable efforts to maintain and
repair everything within our operational boundaries.
» Maybe uh maybe a kind of an explainer like that might be helpful.
» Yeah, >> that just I'm just thinking of someone
reading this policy the question will be well what does that look like? But what
you just said there brings it into scope right within context of that. So that's
something um just go back over here. Got to go back.
The other thing I love the quadrant. I love the fact that you're doing a
rotational in terms of the services. I think that's really great. Will that be
communicated as to year by year which quadrant is beginning and which
» which you're starting at >> through week whatever timing is. Yeah.
» Yep. Through the chair to Mayor Vander. Yes. So that um that's something we've
already done and we already do it. We've been doing it for nearly a decade. It's
just we haven't been good at communicating that to the public.
» Okay. So for example, street sweeping uh we sweep by quadrants and we change
which quadrant starts uh the process every year. So the northwest quadrant
one year, then northeast and south southeast and southwest. So uh the
intent is to give each and every resident equal service. So uh street
sweeping, uh pothole patching, snow removal. We work on a quadrantbased
system with alternating quadrants every year. So it's a at the moment it's a
four-ear cycle. as we continue to build out that will change. Uh but yes, we
will communicate that and that is one of the things that will be on this
centralized location on the website. >> Awesome. Yeah. Well, I I think yeah,
communication is really key for that. So, uh people understand kind of the
rotation of that. The other thing is I don't have it in my notes here, but
about the reporting back, I think there was an annual report. Will will that
also report include maybe stats? I know I just v visited the
SEO center today. Was quite impressed with all that's going on there. But will
that include data collection in terms of maybe improvements in certain area or
less complaints in a certain area >> through the chair? Mayor Vanderqu uh we
provide a quarterly report corporately to council and we're looking to fill
that out with as much stats as possible. So recently uh GPS has been installed in
most of our vehicles which gives us increased data and reporting. Uh our
goal is that quarterly reporting that you receive to build out as much as
humanly possible. >> Awesome. Yeah, just for continuous
improvement. I think that's really important. Thank you so much. I'm done.
» Perfect. Thank you, Mayor Councelor Penrod.
» Thank you, Deputy Mayor. Um appreciate this policy coming forward. Um, one of
the things I zeroed in on right away was the proposed annual review. Uh, and then
meshing that in with the budgeting process. I think that's excellent and
and gives us a chance to really have those conversations about
service tweaks very intentionally as opposed to sometimes it can feel like
it's a throwin at the end of a a budget um, session.
I just wonder if you could speak more to when that would come up. So that because
the way I would imagine this happening is there'll be some questions about
current service levels that will require some reporting or a bit of preparation
to come back to the budget workshop in the fall. So, have you done some
thinking around when this would be calendarized so that we can have those
preliminary conversations or or does it tie into your earlier
point to those quarterly reporting through the chair to councelor Penrod?
It would tie into the quarterly reporting. Um there is nothing stopping
council at any point from letting us know what you would like to see in
service levels. Uh especially when it comes to this policy. Before this
policy, uh it's been service maps at the end of a budget. So service level has
been tied to the budgetary approval. Budgetary approval has been tied to
service. This gives you a chance throughout the year to look at what
we're doing, see how we're performing, and make recommendations on what you
would like to see the following year. Okay. Uh just a couple quick hit pieces.
Um we talked about the quadrants already. Um and that's been a piece
that's in practice. Something that's been unclear to me is there's a couple
different services that run on the quadrant system. Are they staggered or
does all the services start in quadrant 1 in year one or are we saying like snow
removal starts quadrant 1 and street sweeping starts in quadrant 3 so that
over the so that one community isn't last on everything in a given year. Does
that make sense? >> Through the chair to councelor Penrod.
Yes, we alternate every single service. So snow removal, uh, pothole patching,
crack sealing, and street sweeping, they alternate. So not one community or not
one section of the city is last every single year, as well as every four
years, you're not first every year. So for equitable treatment, we alternate
every single service. Yeah, sorry, I might not have been clear. What I'm
trying to ask is, are they staggered? So does does every is everything on one
beginning in one this year and then 2 3 4
» or are some services in starting in one while others are starting in three
» through the chair to councelor Penrod maybe I wasn't clear
» for example this year 2026 um snow removal will be northwest
quadrant but then street sweeping will be northeast quadrant then it'll be
pothole patching southeast quadrant yep we make every effort to make sure
there's equitable treatment across Ross every single community uh every single
residential area within our community. Thank you.
» Thank you, councelor. Uh next on the list is councelor Hyde.
» Yeah, thank you. Uh Bryce, just uh looking at the naturalization areas and
such like that. Um I'm wondering there's nothing in here that talks about noxious
weeds within that as well. I'm talking about like cat thistle, foxtail,
um leafy spurs, uh blue weed, hounds tongue, all that kind of stuff that it
must be controlled within Alberta. It's not in here at all. Is is there some
other place where this would be for noxious weeds
» through the chair to councelor Hyde? Uh yes, that's in the Alberta Weed Act. So
that's a provincial legislation. Um we have to abide by that. uh Canada thistle
tanzy if it's noticed on our property we have 48 hours to control so in an effort
not to double up what the province is already doing it's very explicitly
covered under the ability to weed act >> okay so is there anywhere that can refer
to that within this documentation >> uh through the chair to councelor hyde I
can take that away and see if we can add it in um again we didn't see I didn't
see the need to double up when the province specifically states what the
requirements are. Yeah, we we uh as a city are held to the exact same standard
as res residents are held for their own properties.
» Yeah, understandable and and I appreciate that. Um but we do get a lot
of people that send in complaints saying about some noxious weeds that are around
some of the naturalization areas and in the ditches and those type of places as
well which are in our jurisdiction. So, if it was somehow there that they can
take a look at it, that just makes it easier for us to say, "Well, don't go to
a different spot. It's right there." That's all I'm referring to. Thank you.
» Thank you, councelor. Hi, uh, Councelor Vanu Kirk.
» Yeah, thank you. I just wanted to go back to um [clears throat]
5A if you wouldn't mind scrolling down. Just wondering if you could speak to 5A.
So basic um some of the feedback that council get gets is um you know very
black and white. You know everybody goes home on the weekend and doesn't care
about the trails, right? Not true. Um so can you speak to how a 40-hour week
might look at different times of the year? You know is everyone Monday to
Friday or is there people that are you know Thursday to whatever you know that
different 5day periods? Are there shifts in schedules? How is some of that
managed? Uh, I know with bylaw for instance, you know, shifts are managed
and worked around events and times of year and all those kinds of things. Can
you speak to some of the parks and recck staff and what that scheduling looks
like? I think the public should hear some of that
» through the chair to council venue. The parks and roads teams are grounded in a
40-hour work week. So, from 8 to 4:30 Monday to Friday. The reason that is um
the roads team they have six staff uh we need six staff for snow removal. We need
six staff for adequate pothole patching and and traffic control. So there is a
need of the whole team to be together. Um historically we have considered what
it would look like for 7-day coverage and what that looks like is suboptimal
crew numbers and resourcing to get the job done during the week and we weren't
able to achieve the same amount of work. This does allow us to get the most
amount of work done during the 40-hour work week. However, we do have an on
call system. Uh there is an individual on call from both parks and roads and
they are available 24/7 and that nothing will be allowed to go outside of that
service level. Uh for example, in the winter, if we have a big snow on the
Saturday morning, does this 40-hour work week does not mean that the plows and
the sanders are not out Saturday morning at 5:00 a.m.? We have on call staff
appropriate for the season. say at Christmas there's more than one and that
if we see conditions where we need to respond we will respond 24/7 uh but the
grounding of the team is within the 40-hour work week with our current
complement of staff that is our limitation however we have set out the
pathway to get to say 7-day coverage but that does involve a increased level of
service which involves uh personnel and resourcing
» yeah that's good um [clears throat] I think clarity there is that the on call
system is what um the tool is right now to make sure that if there are large
concerns mostly on trail snow clearing that's a lot of the feedback we get back
on on weekends some of the key areas are are looked after so I know that I've
definitely saw some of the trail machines clearing trails on weekends and
um you know it's not that they're pulling in full shifts on that but you
know some of the key areas are looked after so thank
Thank you, councelor Councelor Penrod. >> Thank you, Deputy Mayor. Um,
so on page 159, the document says the snow and ice
control program will reset when continuous snow events are experienced.
This is the single biggest pinch in the current system. I wonder if you could
take the opportunity given your response to the last question. And I think this
is a great opportunity to just hear um why this is the best of the worst
options if that makes sense. Um if you could speak to how this helps us to
achieve that community safety and well-being in the
resident centered services through the chair to councelor Penrod.
Thank you for that question. Uh that's probably the most misunderstood part of
our service levels is the roads operational in winter. Uh the quadrant
policy is specifically around the sentence of if snow uh comes again that
we reset the service levels until they can be brought back into align. So
realistically what does that mean? So we do priority ones and two roads five
times a month. Um we do residential once a year guaranteed maybe twice and that's
just by the time we get to that trigger. That's the accumulation that we would
see. We would do priority ones and twos as much as we need to and then we would
move into residential clearing. We would start for example at the colonial uh
neighborhood and we will work all the way through to the southeast. If it
snows again to the point where we need to re-trigger priority ones and twos, we
will finish let's say 30% of the city. we would go back, clear the priority
ones, the priority two roads, and go right back to where we started. Uh the
misconception that we've seen with resident responses is that when we see
enough snow to go back to priority ones and twos, we're doing all the ones and
twos, then we starting Colonial again. So some streets are getting two services
while others are only getting one. That's not the case. Uh reality is that
we would do the priority ones and twos, the arterial roads, the range roads, uh
the arterial roads, range roads are priority one. Then priority two is the
ring roads. We'll go right back to where we left off in the residential clearing
program and continue to clear those priority in four and five roads until we
until every single street in Bowmont has had one service and then that would be
the totality of our first clear. So the misconception often lies that we will
clear the pro the quadrant one of that year's roads three or four times before
we get to the pro the last quadrant. Uh that's not the case. We do everything
once before we start everything twice. >> Just uh before you continue, uh Miss
Winter has a comment.
» Um I just wanted to respond um back to Councelor Hyde's question with regards
to the noxious weeds. That's actually under our um community standards bylaw
where we have that and it's enforced through municipal enforcement as our
weed inspectors.
Yeah, >> thank thank you. So, it's through the
bylaw through that that portion of it. Um, of course, it has to do with
residential um uh yards as well then as well as public.
» Community standards by law. >> Okay. Thank you.
» Thank you. >> Perfect. Thank you for that. We'll
return back to councelor Ben Ryan. Thank you. Um, appreciate the explanation. If
you could just um, maybe explain for us and for our
residents why it's essential that we double back
on that snow reset to the ones and twos. What what is the
what are the data points or the considerations that bring us back to
those service level or the priority ones and twos? And what benefit does the city
receive by making sure that those priority ones and twos are are cleared
» through the chair to councelor Penrod? Uh priority ones and twos as I uh
alluded to earlier we can maintain between three and five times a month.
The data suggests that at that service level level trigger that's how often we
would need to be there to complete one full residential clear will take 6
weeks. So if we were to not revert back to the priority ones and twos, 6 weeks,
month and a half, we're potentially missing seven services on priority ones
and twos. The ones and two roads are 50th Street, 50th A, uh, and all the
range roads. So the streets that likely every resident uses every day to leave
the city, uh, enter commercial space. All the all the schools are on priority
ones and twos. Um, this is just an effort to keep our highest traffic
areas, um, the ones where there's no room for error in top maintainable
condition all winter long. Thank you. Uh, and just one more point
on the ice control, sanding, and rock chip rock chips. Um, maybe it's maybe I
misunderstood, but is there a service level change here? Um
it I remember a map that showed where rock chips were being applied, but this
makes it sound like it will be done um kind of
under the judgment of the operators and that I remember that being a
recommendation that came from the uh consultants report. So I just wanted to
check that and also the may on the rock chips being available at designated
areas through the city. previously that has been for sure available. Are we
looking at pulling that back >> through the chair to councelor Penrod?
Uh you've actually identified one of the improvements that we've made to our
service level. So the original service level was a map which clearly clearly
identified which intersections would have rock chip and and ice control. What
this policy says is that we will manage every single intersection on an as
needed basis. So just because the intersection is not marked on the map
does not mean the operators won't maintain it. Uh we heard that from that
conversation in budget two two years ago and we went about fixing that. So uh
what you've identified is actually an improvement. We will rock chip ice
control every single intersection on an as neededs basis through the inspection
program within our team. Uh secondly the may in rock chip gives us the ability to
increase the rockchip locations. It's not something that we've planned just
yet. Uh but under Bowmont growing we know that there might be an opportunity
in the future to offer rock chip at additional locations and that's why we
included that there. So it gives us the ability to scale up.
Appreciate the continuous improvement. >> Thank you councelor uh Mayor Vanderwak.
Go ahead. >> Um okay got to get my thing here. Thank
you. Uh Bryce, just a quick question. Actually, one question myself, then I
have a question from a resident that sent us an email. Are the trails also on
a priority system in terms of snow clarity in the winter
» through the chair to Mayor Vanderquac? Yeah, the trails are on a priority
system. Uh there's only two priorities. Priority one, priority two. Uh the
priority one is the main thoroughare for all the trails to allow uh hight traffic
areas. So such as around schools or commercial plazas and then priority two
would be the the connections from residential areas. So priority one will
allow us to clear that first uh lot of trails immediately after snow clearing
and then when there's time we'll go back and and hit those priority twos. Yep.
» Okay. Good. And then uh um there's a question regarding attachment one item 6
C page three talking about the removal and disposal of snow. And there was some
indication that um it had changed to instead of being
plowed to the middle and hauled away, it was plowed to the side and then come
back later. Is that correct?
» What What is the current practice right now?
» Okay. Through the chair to Mayor Vanderqu. Our current practice is plow
to the middle and remove. However, in extreme situations where we have a
inundation of snow or a large accumulation, we will plow to the side
to allow traffic to freely flow. We will come back as soon as we can to plow to
the middle and remove. >> Um, as I said to councelor Penrod
earlier, it takes us 6 weeks to get around residential neighborhoods. Uh,
this January was a perfect example. We were forced to plow to the side in
residential neighborhoods to allow residents to leave and come and go as
they need to as well as for emergency standards, emergency vehicle standards.
And it just gives us that operational flexibility to handle a large storm
event. Uh however, the practice that we will do every day is plow to the middle
and remove. That's that's option one and preferable.
» Okay, good. Thanks for clarifying that. >> Thank you. Uh just one quick question uh
that sparked a a question after you had mentioned the priorities for the
pathways. Um does that follow similar suit to the roads where if we get
another snowfall we're starting back on one and then eventually getting to two?
» Uh to the chair. Uh yes, that would be the case. So priority one is our
priority one. So if we have consecutive rain event uh snow events uh back to
back to back and we're not able to stay on top of it, we'll be continuously
doing the ones before we can get to twos. uh the ones are identified as
around the schools around the commercial uh high use pathways um and that's why
they're prioritized one over two. >> Perfect. Thank you. Um I think no need
to beat a dead horse, but you uh you hit the nail on the head when you said
communication was maybe a gap that previously exists. So appreciate that
there's a system going forward where we better communicate and let uh residents
know what's going on because uh I think there's a lot of value that and I know
residents appreciate it. So thank you so much.
All right. Well, that being said, that is the end of our presentations.
Um, Madame Clerk, do we have any new counselor inquiries?
» No, we do not have any new counselor inquiries.
» Perfect. Well, unless I am missing something, I believe that brings us to
adjournment. Um, so that being said, I would like to
adjourn this meeting at 8:03 p.m.