Coming Up: January 13th
Council meets on Monday. The agenda includes:
Appointments to Oversight Committees
www.Discounts4Heros.com
Kingsgate Landing Outline Plan
Following is more information and my take on agenda items.
As always, any mistakes or opinions belong to me and me alone, not to Council or City staff.
While I express my current views below, I work hard to go into meetings ready to listen and with an open mind. I learn new information and participate in debate. This always informs, and sometimes changes, how I vote on issues.
If you would like to watch the meeting or read any of its supporting material for yourself, you can do so by clicking here. The City will post the highlights of Council’s decisions here.
Oversight Committees
In December, Council made a number of appointments to public member committees. However, three very important committees did not have enough applicants to fill them. These provide oversight to Council and to the City. They are:
Complaint Adjudication Committee: investigates and makes recommendations of how to proceed if someone complains that a Councillor violated our Code of Conduct
Council Remuneration Committee: towards the end of this term, our Council will set remuneration for the next Council. This decision will be based on recommendations made by the Remuneration Committee
Assessment Review Board: this board hears appeals if a taxpayer thinks their property was assessed at the wrong value. It operates according to provincial legislation and regulation. If it is deciding on assessments for non-residential or multi-family housing, it is chaired by a provincial appointee.
We’ve now received further applications for these committees. On Monday, Council will be making further appointments to them.
Discounts4Heros.com
Council has been asked to endorse a new initiative: www.Discounts4Heros.com. This is a program that businesses can join to give discounts to veterans, soldiers, first responders, and Legion members. Proceeds from this program will go towards supporting the Legion and advertising member businesses.
Kingsgate Landing Outline Plan
Kingsgate is a new development on the north east side of the City. It adjoins 132 Avenue and 84 St.
A new Outline Plan for this area has been proposed.
The biggest change within this Plan has to do with a large wetland. Under the current Plan, it would be destroyed. The new Plan would preserve the wetland and create a buffer between it and residential lots.
Changes to the Plan would also involve removing Medium Density Residential sites and increasing the amount of land dedicated to Small Lot Residential. A school site in the area would also be slightly moved and reduced.
To accommodate these changes, roads would need to be re-aligned. So there is also a proposal to update the road network within the Copperwood Outline Plan which is immediately south.
I still need to learn a little bit about these proposals.
On one hand, I love that the new Plan preserves a natural wetland. I also appreciate that we need to be responsive to potential change to accommodate market demand. Municipalities in all places need to be aware of this demand. It is especially important in a place like Grande Prairie, where we have a municipal neighbour that we need to compete with.
On the other hand, the new Plan reduces Open and Public Utility space by 7.4% while also projecting that 400 less people will live within that. I don’t like to see our planning head in that direction.
I’m not quite sure where I will land on this proposal.
That’s what is on our agenda for Monday. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
You can comment below. Or, you can contact me at dbressey@cityofgp.com or 780-402-4166. I'm happy to talk online or over the phone. I'm also always willing to setup a time to meet for coffee.
We also always have great conversation in the GP Round Table group on Facebook.
After Council meeting, you will be able to find highlights posted by the City here.
Thanks for reading!
-Dylan