AUC Hearings Update

Residents, 

Your Council remains active in defending the quality of life of Strathcona County residents. The county is an entervener iin the AUC hearings. Today, January 14th a milestone was reached. The AUC has deemed the application from Altalink and EPCOR complete. This process step allows the AUC to set the hearing date.

Community hearing sessions are part of the process on
April 20 at 7 p.m. at the Coast Edmonton East Hotel

Interested parties can participate by submitting a written submission, making a 5 minute presentation at a community hearing session or through the formal public hearing.

The County will be pursuing the regulatory route through the formal process.The Commission will hold this formal public hearing on the Heartland application commencing at 9 a.m. on April 11, 2011 at the Edmonton EXPO Centre, 7515 118 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta. The hearing will start daily at 9 a.m. and break for an hour lunch in the afternoon. The public hearing could last as long as four weeks.
Click here for the AUC Notice

Highlights Council Meeting Highlights - Jan. 11, 2011

Today was a busy day at County Hall with an In Camera meeting early in the day and a brief public Council Meeting from 3pm to 6 pm.

Since the expected live stream webcast has not yet been implemented, I thought residents might like a report on today’s meeting.

Train Whistles

Neighbourhoods in several urban and rural wards are kept up at night by train whistles.  Council unanimously supported a motion to direct administration to bring back criteria for and establish a policy to minimize train whistles and mitigate the negative effects on our residential areas.

Family & Community Services recommend $125,000 in Social Service Grants

Council approved FCSS expenditure to support eight local groups in their efforts to offer support and improve the quality of life of our residents. Groups included: Big Brothers & Sisters, Robin Hood, Strathcona Shelter Society, Saffron Strathcona Sexual Assault Centre, Overacting Imaginations Youth Theatre, Hearts and Hooves, Linking Generations and Parents Empowering Parents.

A further $100,000 had been allocated in Partnership Funding to: Strathcona Youth Justice, Strathcona Mediation Society, as well as the Boys & Girls Club of Strathcona County.

Discussion Since 2009 Draws to a Close

Extensive discussion occurred around the SIGN REGULATION BYLAW as Councillors sought to adjust three specific areas in an effort to respond fairly to local business and Chamber requests without having a negative impact on residents. 

Proposed regulations now include a 365 day permit for Inflatable Signs. I am still concerned about inflatable sign locations and made a motion requiring administration to bring forward information that will show which commercial areas will be able to have large inflatables and how close they will be allowed to residential dwellings.

Other changes include a little more flexibility for the time period and numbers of portable signs allowed on a frontage. Third party advertising will be allowed to provide latitude for both business and non-profits.

Now that the changes are made, there will be a public hearing at 7 pm on Tuesday February 8^th. Please contact the Planning Department  to obtain a copy of the regulations which Council will vote on February 8^th. Come out and express your opinions that evening at 7 pm before the vote.

A report from Transportation was heard on the two snow clearings done back to back as a result of the worst storms in this region in the past twenty years. The second P4 in as many weeks will start, weather permitting Sunday or Monday. Latest road information. 

Good news on the economic development front. Council approved the creation of a ten person Advisory Committee that will provide guidance on the Economic Development and Tourism Strategy. One Council person will be on the Advisory Board. Mr Todd Banks, Executive Director of the Chamber  will represent  Sherwood Park and District Chamber of Commerce. An additional eight public members will be chosen in the next few months. Contact Legislation & Legal Services for more information at 

1500 students benefit from the 3^rd Annual Young Speakers Invitational

Organizer of the Annual Young Speakers Invitational Speech Tournament, Brentwood School’s teacher Jordan Smith, requested and obtained a total of $9,000 in PRIORITY FUNDS from Council. This Speakers Invitational promotes critical thinking and oral communication skills with grades 4, 5 and 6 from 15 schools being represented. Ward 2 Priority Funds project recipients 

At 5 pm in Public presentations, a couple from Heritage Hills brought forward the downside of A bylaw that actually prohibits private individuals from using various vehicles to plow snow in their neighbourhood. They spoke eloquently about their experiences in trying to assist neighbours by clearing their cul de sac only to be approached by bylaw and told they should not have cleared the snow and now had to remove the snow piles!

The evening ended with a sobering message from SAFE PLACE, the Strathcona County Shelter who are trying to replace the crumbling facility that has sheltered 318 women and 415 children in the last fiscal year alone. In this same time period another 1,365 people in need were turned away- stark numbers that identify the need and capacity issue facing our municipality today. The Shelter continues to provide services and support to women and children who are fleeing abusive situations. Currently the Shelter is waiting on word from the provincial government to see if their request for building funding will be successful.

Please contact me at any time with your comments. If you would like to be added to my residents e-mail bulletin list, send your e-mail address to carr@strathcona.ab.ca or contact CouncillorCarr on TWITTER

Thoughts on Premier Stelmach

Earlier yesterday I tweeted remarks from the Premier's speech at the Chamber Luncheon at Festival Place. I have had several residents ask me for more of my personal thoughts.

 

I believe that Ed Stelmach knew many of the audience and was relaxed and gentle humoured. This resulted in him cutting through the rhetoric as he updated Sherwood Park business owners and residents on initiatives that he believes are important to move Alberta forward.

 

The stress he put on health care identified his strong support of improving the public health system and making it sustainable by training workers and meeting workforce requirements. He discussed the needs for expanding power distribution in Alberta and acknowledged residents would have an opportunity to present views on preferred technology and alignments - even mentioning the possibility of burying power lines.

I think he showed confidence in the robust businesses of the Capital region particularly Strathcona County. Premier Ed said that expanding our oil and gas interests by building upgrading capacity was his governments way of building Alberta for future generations. His promotion of  upgrading bitumen here in Alberta won him solid applause at the packed Sherwood Park & Area Chamber Luncheon.

 

Premier Ed  referred to a Dec. 9, 2010 press release of an additional $69.1 million allocated for construction of the new Strathcona Hospital saying that Phase 2 of that project will include inpatient beds and operating rooms. Construction is currently underway on Phase 1 of the hospital, which will include 24/7 Emergency services.  In a response to a question about the Strathcona Community Hospital he said he keeps his commitments and phase 2 would follow right after phase 1 is built.

My hope is that MLA Iris Evans and Dave Quest have finally been heard amidst the myriad of issues in the caucas and that Strathcona County residents can now focus on just what the new medical facility will specialize in. Looking at other Alberta hospitals, we know that the most recent ones specialize in specific areas. Councillor Fenske has wondered out loud about an arthritis centre of excellence. Given the '" demographic time bomb" ( 2,000 people turned 65 today) that our Premier referred to today, I wonder whether Strathcona County residents and their medical professionals should be advocating for a Geriatric Centre of Excellence?

 

What are your comments? Please e-mail me

 

If you are not already on my Residents E-News Bulletin List - e-mail me your request right away.

Budget Update

Council has been in discussion and debate for weeks on the budget. On Dec. 14, 2010,  Council is expected to approve the 2011 -2013 Business Plan, the 2011 operating budgets for municipal, utility and library operations and the 2011 capital budgets for municipal, utility and library operations.

Administration originally proposed a municipal tax increase of 4.86%. After much debate we were presented with a proposal of 3.45%. Further discussion will occur on Tuesday.

In addition, Council approved a motion to move 4 million dollars to the Open Space Recreation Facilities Plan in order to encourage Administration to build capacity and provide more recreational opportunities for Strathcona County residents.

I would also like to thank my fellow Councillors for unanimously supporting three of my initiatives that will benefit both urban and rural residents:

Council amended the proposed 2011 budget by adding $3000 in the RCMP operating budget to accommodate criminal record checks for Strathcona County resident volunteers who assist vulnerable citizens in Strathcona County through various projects and programs. This was in response that I have heard regarding volunteers waiting months to get necessary criminal checks done and will mean that volunteers will not have to pay additional fees to have a rapid verification made in order that they can start their work with children and seniors in a reasonable time frame.

I was concerned over the facility rental fees that I saw for both rural and urban room rates for meetings and events. Council discussed this concern with the result that Administration was directed to bring recommendations to Council for not for profit user fees of all Strathcona County facilities for meetings and events.

Finally, I have been unhappy that our residents do not have 'front of class' positioning in the surface parking at our new Community Centre. After much discussion, Council directed that Administration to make twenty parking stalls available close to the Library for free public parking; with a report to come to Council by the end of April 2011 on a parking management plan.


Please feel welcome to attend Council sessions.
Tuesday's schedule is:

Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010
Council - 3 p.m.
Council Open House - 5:30 p.m.
Public Hearings - 5 or 7 p.m.

Your Tax Dollar

I am often asked by residents what they get for their dollar and why taxes just keep going up.

Municipalities supply a balanced ‘basket’ of goods and services to their residents. These services include:

•  utility services (water, wastewater, solid waste)
• protective services (fire, ambulance, police)
• transportation services (roads, transit)
• recreation, parks and culture programs
• planning services
• community social programs. 

It is the diversity and quality of these services that make Strathcona County the community of choice for those of us who live here.

Residents should expect Strathcona County Council and administration to monitor their expenditures on an ongoing basis to achieve a balance between continuing to plan for the future, exercising fiscal prudence in uncertain economic times and delivering value for the municipal property tax dollar.

In 2010, your municipal tax dollar was distributed approximately as follows:

Transportation (roads) = 32 cents

Recreation, parks & culture = 23 cents

Fire, ambulance, police & bylaw =  22 cents

Public transit = 13 cents

Planning services = 04 cents

Agriculture = 03 cents

Family & community services = 02 cents

Economic development & tourism = 01 cents

The short answer to ‘why taxes continue to increase’ is that the cost of goods and inflation continues to increase. In addition, our community growth is about 2% and our own expectations drive the need for more and better services and programs. We want more community policing, more ice time, a bike park, artificial turf…. the list is endless. We all have a role to play in beating down any tax increases. I believe that as residents we need to think before we demand bigger, better, newer infrastructure. Let’s think before demanding more. I believe that Council can mitigate increasing taxes – with your help.

So – how do we minimize some of those costs?

Where Council needs to look for the greater savings, in my opinion, is in the list of capital projects that are requested year after year. This County has about 150 ‘open projects’ – some of which reach back 10 years. Over 220 million dollars allocated to these projects, some of which are multi-year, are not expended. So – I have to ask the question: Why not have a catch up year? Why create new positions tied to new capital projects? Why not utilize existing resources to complete important projects that previous Councils promised our residents. These open projects include major arterial overlays, traffic signal improvements, traffic calming and intersection improvements… the list goes on and on… from road and building infrastructure to equipment replacement… I say: “it’s time to get’er done”.

So in this year’s budget talks what can you expect?

Administration is recommending a 4.86% tax increase, across the board utility increases and an increase of about 50 staff. Some of these positions are related to the requested 50 million dollars in capital requirements.

So again I ask – why take on more projects than you can handle? Let’s focus on cleaning up the projects of the past ten years and then turn our efforts and resources to future needs. 

While I am pleased with our municipality’s move to cross department functional reviews, I still believe a corporate efficiency review will give us a more comprehensive picture of our current efficiency level and our potential capacity to improve in giving the taxpayer more for their tax dollar.

Also on my list of outcomes that I am driving toward is a thorough review of our customer service – both focus and culture (Oct. 26, 2010 blog).  Our customer is the taxpayer and you deserve the best service we can offer.

In 2010, administration is forecasting a potential year-end operating surplus in the area of 10 million dollars. Once again this year I will propose that the year end surplus be allocated to fund a very few necessary one time only 2011 capital projects – in an attempt to decrease the 2010 tax rate.

Join us in Council to find out more about where your tax dollar is going. For more details on times. 

I appreciate your comments. Please continue to send me your concerns.

Roxanne Carr is Councillor for Ward 2 and can be reached at 780-464-8002 or carr@strathcona.ab.ca.

Council Representation on Advisory Committees & Boards

On Nov. 9, 2010,  Councillors learned of their new appointments to committees.

On all the committees I have served - I have enjoyed meeting many extra-ordinary residents. The experience has been a great one.

This round of appointments sees me saying a fond farewell to both the Senior and Youth Advisory Committees. It was a privilege to encourage them in their pursuits. The Youth Advisory Committee improved the Youth Council website and proactively identified key issues to Council that impact youth in our community. The Seniors Advisory have a tremendous outreach program – one that is responsible for being the ‘eyes and ears’ for Strathcona County as they identify senior’s issues and supported the development of the County’s Older Adult Plan. I hope that I contributed in some small way to achieving their annual goals.  

This year I have been asked to take on the role of Council representative on the Library Board, the Festival Place Advisory Committee, and the Information & Volunteer Centre Board of Directors. I am extremely excited about joining these groups and look forward to supporting these members as they work toward achieving their priorities in the next year. As representative of Council, I will share Council and County goals – looking for common objectives where we can work together to increase the quality of life of our urban and rural residents in Strathcona County. I will also report their challenges and successes back to Council – in an effort to strengthen the partnerships.

I am pleased to remain on the Boards and Selections Committee, Pioneer Housing Foundation, and the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board. All of these committees offer a rewarding experience to me, as a Councillor, and I believe to our public members. Members of the public have an opportunity to interview for many of these committees in November of every year.

I take my appointment on committees very seriously and believe they are an integral part of my role as Councillor. Attendance and participation are crucial. I intend to pursue the definition of the elected officials’ obligations in December when Council develops policy around the Roles & Responsibilities of the position as per the recommendations of the Cuff Report.  

Because I feel strongly that residents have a right to be fully informed, I will be putting my annual attendance on all of these committees on both this website and the Strathcona County website – similar to me listing all priority fund expenditures in the last term. I will also be reporting to residents on the activities of these committees on a regular basis.


This is also the time of year that selections are made to all public committees. This year we have 73 residents interviewing for 47 positions on a dozen committees. These committees are as diverse and exciting as our community - dealing with issues that range from social to enviornmental and economic. Descriptions of these committees can be found here on the County website 

Information on which Councillors wereappointed to which committees. 

OUTCOMES TO BE ACHIEVED IN THE 2010-2013 TERM

Looking ahead to 2013, I would like my electorate to know that they have a report card by which to judge the effectiveness of the Councillor for Ward 2. My Sept. 30, 2010 blog Working On Your behalf For the Next Three Years attempted to give a broad outline of what I intend to do in the areas of social, economical and environmental sustainability.

This post is an attempt to add measurement to my goals, where possible. This is a document that I will bring forward on an annual basis in an attempt to hold myself accountable to the residents of Strathcona County and my Ward.

Community

Playing Working & Living in a Safe Environment

•  Encourage Council to support policy that strengthens existing neighbourhood associations and promotes the creation of new groups and associations
• Bring to Council a policy that addresses multi generational utilization as a key component of park revitalization.
• Bring to Council a policy to make playground accessibility mandatory. 
• Double the number of Community gardens in Strathcona County from three to six.

Increase safety on residential streets

• Bring to council two new policies or initiatives that will result in lowering speed in residential areas.
• Support existing volunteer speed watch programs, education and enforcement.

Engaging Youth

• Obtain Council buy in to expand current services and programs to a youth centre concept with easy access.
• Encourage proactive and initiative youth activities in our community including a Graffiti Team and greater participation in Council meetings.

Municipal

Balanced Sustainable Growth

• Call for Council to review the measurables of Administration’s plan to encourage balanced sustainable growth of the County.
• Invite business and industry community leaders to have their own symposium to come up with innovative ideas that will result in sustainable growth that addresses the socio-economic needs of our region and a harmonious relationship between residents, business and the environment.

Openness & Transparency

• Continue to advocate for the implementation of an organization wide efficiency audit in order to increase accountability of the County to taxpayers.
•  Increase the accountability of County Council to the taxpayer by urging Council to create policy that mandates attendance and participation in all Council Meetings and committees. This policy should stipulate what responsibilities a councillor has and what hours “on the job” is considered core to the task.
• Ask Council to create a policy that holds Councillors’ accountable to the public and enforces the Strathcona County Code of Ethics: including but not limited to a misuse of County resources and equipment, and disrespectful behavior toward staff or other councilors.

Customer Service – in pursuit of Excellence

• Present to Council the need to improve customer service to all key stakeholders. Request that a process be developed whereby Administration is held accountable to define and improve response times, address attitudinal concerns and resolve issues. Ask Council to engage our stakeholders in developing a model of excellence for customer service. Consider the need for an ombudsmen position.

Communications

• Continue to offer innovative ways to communicate to my public.
•  Request that Council support open government data.
• Continue to support the creation of a social media policy which I have asked for since 2009 so that the County as an organization can better communicate on different levels with our diverse demographic of residents.

Accessibility

• Request that Council have a Councillor on the Accessibility Advisory Committee to ensure direct communication to and support from Council.

Preparing for Significant Demographic Changes

As the number of citizens over the age of 65 is forecast to increase from 13% to 25% of our total population in 2031 changes must be made.

• I will urge Council to support the findings of the Pioneer Housing Study (now in progress) as it relates to increased beds required in assisted living, creating a third level to our existing assisted living seniors care residents, and providing Increased housing options for an aging population.
•  Continue to support the implementation of the Older Adults Plan in facilitating increased assistance for seniors living in the community.

Light efficient community

• Call for performance criteria that measure progress made on the implementation of the light efficient community policy that I brought forward in 2010.

Agribusiness & Urban Agri Initiative

• Support residents in their efforts to establish agri initiatives that increase sustainability in the urban area by bringing new policy opportunities to Council.
• Broadly supporting agribusiness in the rurban and rural area.

Provincial

• Encourage Council to advocate to the province for full development of the 23-acre hospital site, beginning with the completion of phase 2 by 2015.
• Demand underground powerlines.
• Continue to champion the building of a new courthouse by 2015.