Coming Up: October 3

Council meets on Monday. The most significant items on our agenda:

  • Delegations

  • Snow & Ice Control

  • Broadleaf Weed Control

  • Regional Handibus

  • Planning Applications

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.

Delegations

At every Council meeting, members of the public are welcome to address Council. This week, two delegations have told us they will be coming to our meeting. They are:

  • A teacher from St Joseph High School asking for City permission and expertise to help paint the crosswalk in front of the school in a pattern that furthers reconciliation.

  • Representatives of Alberta Transportation. I don’t have any information about this delegation, but in the past it has come to Council to give a brief update on and answer questions about regional transportation projects.

I look forward to hearing from these delegations.

Snow and Ice Control

Over the past year, Council and Administration have been undertaking a comprehensive review of Snow & Ice Control policies. You can see the report here.

Out of this review, it is recommended that Council forward the following two initiatives to Budget Deliberations in November:

  • Start removing snow on residential streets after 7.5cm of accumulation rather than the current 10cm. This would have an anticipated budget impact of $250,000/year.

  • Remove snow from high priority Transit stops within 24 hours and other Transit stops within 48 hours. Currently, there is no defined service level for Transit stops. Implementing this service standard is estimated to cost $75,000/year.

I’m likely to support these motions. They are relatively low cost and would greatly enhance quality of life for Grande Prairie residents.

I’m likely to make or support tow additional motions unless someone beats me to the chase:

  • Also refer setting a service standard for paths and trails of 2 days for high priority routes, 4 days for low priority routes. Currently, there is no defined service level for active transportation corridors. Implementing this service standard is estimated to cost $55,000/year.

  • Direct Administration to implement 24 and 48 hour clearing for Transit stops in 2022. (If we wait until Budget Deliberations, this wouldn’t start until 2023. With the recent Transit Re-Design, I feel it is important to give Transit riders this enhanced level of service immediately).

Regional Handibus Project

It is recommended that Council support a grant application that the County of Grande Prairie is working on. This grant is for funding to explore the creation of a regional Accessible Transit system.

I’ll be supporting this. Throughout our region, there are several organisations providing accessible transportation. This can be inefficient and confusing. There are also gaps in the services offered. Exploring a single system has potential to significantly enhance quality of life for regional residents with mobility or other challenges.

Broadleaf Weed Control

There have been discussions about Broadleaf Weed Control (ie: dandelions) alongside major roads.

It is recommended that Council refer both increased mowing and the starting of spraying operations to November Budget Deliberations.

I’m fine with Council having these discussions, so might vote “yes” to sending these to Budget. But I’m unlikely to support them in the end.

If we want to control weeds along major roads, I’d prefer to do it through naturalization. This is safer and more environmentally friendly than mowing and spraying. It is cheaper in the long run. It retains more water, which is great for our stormwater system. And personally: I think it looks better for much of the year.

However: some people are skeptical of naturalization. Which I get. It is little understood. And often looks bad for the first couple of years.

I’ll be advocating for Council to initiate a naturalization pilot project that includes public education along several arterial roads. This will allow our residents to get a better idea of what this could look like so that we can have an informed conversation about whether or not to enhance naturalization efforts.

Planning Applications

There are two planning applications coming before Council:

  • An application to re-zone land to allow for the expansion of a recycle yard on the north end of town near the old Sears

  • An application to allow the Sand Lot to undertake a wider variety of commercial activities on its property.

You can read more about each application here.

Since these haven’t come to Council in the past and are subjects of Public Hearings, I will reserve my thoughts and opinions until Council meets. But I look forward to the conversation.

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

Dylan BresseyComment