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Council email update, November 20, 2010

Posted Sat, 11/20/2010 - 23:22

Hello everyone:

Hope you're managing to stay warm, and that you're also getting out to enjoy this snow! 

It's a busy time at Council.  Here are a few items you might be interested in ...

BUDGET MEETING

Council begins the public budget process on Monday with a meeting from 9 - noon in council chambers.  This meeting concentrates on presentations from community groups that would like funding from the Town's budget, the approval of the Financial Plan (the document that lays out the assumptions behind the budget), and the approval of a draft Service Review document, which will then be available for everyone to look at and comment on before it is presented for final approval in December.

You can see the full package for this budget meeting here:

http://www.banff.ca/Assets/PDFs/Town+Hall+PDF/Council+Agendas+PDF/2010+Agendas+PDF/council-budget-agenda-101122.pdf

This meeting and all the budget meetings coming up are open to the public.  I know you'll want to get there early to get a good seat! 

MONDAY'S COUNCIL MEETING

Monday's council meeting starts at 2 pm and is open to the public.  You can see the full package for the meeting here:

http://www.banff.ca/Assets/PDFs/Town+Hall+PDF/Council+Agendas+PDF/2010+Agendas+PDF/council-agenda-101122.pdf

Highlights include:

Outdoor downtown rink:

Council will be talking again about the proposal for a downtown skating rink.  I think it's fair to say that the majority of feedback that councillors have received about this idea has been against the Bear Street location.  People that I've heard from generally suggest that we just stick with the facilities at the Rec Centre (plus the other outdoor rinks available around town), or that we find a way to get around the insurance problems and provide support to the river ice clearing, or that we find a way to get around the turf damage problems and provide a rink at the High School grounds or in Central Park.

Electrical Franchise Fee:

Back in September, council voted to explore the idea of adding a "rate rider" to electrical bills, with the revenue to be dedicated to an appropriate project, based on feedback from the resident satisfaction survey.  We now have information on what that would look like -- you can see the report starting on page 23 of the package.

I missed the original vote, and so will have some questions before voting to go ahead.  For example, I wonder whether this rider is directly tied to consumption (in other words, can you decrease your fee by conserving electricity?).  It doesn't look like it is.  If it's not directly tied to consumption, then isn't it just a tax collected by someone else and remitted to us -- doesn't this add administrative costs, and decrease transparency?  If it is directly tied to consumption, then perhaps it would encourage conservation, and perhaps the money should be dedicated to projects connected to electrical use, such as the burying of power lines.  I'll need to get this information and think about these factors in deciding on my vote.

Banff Winter Festival:

There is a distressing report starting on page 46 of the package.  It describes diminishing volunteer and organizational support for some of the events that make up Winter Festival, and suggests that the Town stop trying to coordinate the Festival and just concentrate on the Mountain Madness and Loppet events.  Essentially, this means that the overall umbrella of Banff Winter Festival would fold, and there would just be a sprinkling of independent events such as those races, the Jon Whyte Memorial Spelling Bee, etc.  I can't remember off-hand what year the first Banff Winter Carnival (as it was then called) was held, but I believe it was around 90 years ago.  It would be a real shame to see this community tradition disappear.

WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH THE RESIDENT SATISFACTION SURVEY?

The research company is working away at the report of the results from the survey.  I expect we will see this report presented at Council's meeting on December 13.

OPPORTUNITY FOR INPUT - BUSINESS LICENCE FEES

Just a reminder that proposed changes to business licence fees will be brought to Council for approval on December 13, and now's your chance to have your comments heard.  You can do that through this page on the town's website:

http://www.banff.ca/business/business-profile/business-license-fees.htm

THE FINE PRINT

As always, this post represents my point of view, and does not purport to represent the opinion of the Town of Banff or its Council.

 

wrong council email

Posted Sun, 11/14/2010 - 19:14

Sorry about that!  Turns out that the _Council address only works if you're inside the town's system.  So, unfortunately, to send to all council members, you have to copy in this string of email addresses:

karen.sorensen@banff.ca; stavros.karlos@banff.ca; paul.baxter@banff.ca; brian.standish@banff.ca; grant.canning@banff.ca; chip.olver@banff.ca; leslie.taylor@banff.ca

 

Three opportunities for input

Posted Sun, 11/14/2010 - 14:52

Hello everyone:

Just a quick note to let you know that there are three important opportunities for input into decision-making coming up.

TOWN OF BANFF FINANCIAL PLAN

The Financial Plan lays out the assumptions that Council will ask staff to use in building the 2011 budget.  It's very short (10 pages) and it's written in plain English, not financial-ese.  This is the earliest and most fundamental stage at which your comments can affect the budget for 2011.  You can see the plan and comment online at:

http://www.banff.ca/town-hall/finance/financial-plan.htm

POTENTIAL BEAR STREET OUTDOOR SKATING RINK

The idea of a skating rink in the downtown comes up every winter.  The Parks Canada parkette is too small -- you saw the ice there last winter (great for toddlers, but only a stride or two for adults).  The high school field is not an option for this winter (concerns over damaging the turf).  So council is looking at whether a rink on half of the Bear Street parking lot might be something people would like. 

You can read the Crag story here:

http://www.banffcragandcanyon.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2838040

and you can let me know what you think via email:  lataylor@telusplanet.net   or you can email all members of Council:  _Council@banff.ca

BANFF NATIONAL PARK ANNUAL PLANNING FORUM

This coming Thursday and Friday (November 18 and 19), Parks Canada will be holding their annual planning forum in the Kinnear building at the Banff Centre, Room 103.  It runs from 9 - 4 on day one, and 9 - noon on day two.  Audience members get to be full participants in the small group discussions that will take place on the afternoon of day one. 

If you're interested in the park's progress on their new management plan, or want to have input into the future of the park, this is an opportunity for both those things.

council update, 6 November 2010

Posted Sat, 11/06/2010 - 17:43

Hello everyone:

I hope you're taking in the many great events at the Banff Mountain Film Festival this weekend.  I'm looking forward to MCing the awards ceremony tomorrow night -- my 14th and probably last year of doing so.

WHAT'S THE NEW COUNCIL UP TO?

Organizing

As you'll have seen in the paper, we've had our organizational meeting and assigned people to the various committees and boards.  If you'd like to see who ended up where, you can click on:

http://www.banff.ca/Assets/PDFs/Town+Hall+PDF/Council+Minutes+PDF/2010+Minutes+PDF/aom-101025.pdf

and scroll down to page 2 for the list.  On page 6 of that same PDF, you'll see the schedule for council meetings for the coming year.  I know you'll want to note those on your calendar!

Setting priorities

Council will have a strategic planning session for two days plus a couople of evenings this coming week.  This is the session where we talk about possible priorities for the coming year.  Once those are approved by Council in a public meeting, they become an important consideration in finalizing the budget.  We will have a rough idea of the results of the resident satisfaction survey (you did fill one out, didn't you?) to help us in these discussions.

DOES COUNCIL EARN ITS MONEY?

Next week, between regular council, council strategic meeting, and BHC, I have 20.5 hours of meetings scheduled!  Just saying ...

COUNCIL MEETING MONDAY

You can see the full package for the Monday council meeting at this link:

http://www.banff.ca/Assets/PDFs/Town+Hall+PDF/Council+Agendas+PDF/2010+Agendas+PDF/council-agenda-101108.pdf

Highlights of the agenda include:

3rd quarter results, updated forecast to year-end

Although administration is still forecasting a deficit of $84K at year-end, the good news is that this projected deficit is lower than it was at the last quarterly review.  Council has already set aside money in the budget stabilization reserve to cover this.

I have a few questions to ask about some of the forecast amounts in the departmental budgets.  I am concerned that we may be being a bit too optimistic about revenues expected in the fourth quarter, and I will be asking for the basis of those projections.

The accuracy of the year-end forecast is very important at this point, because when council is working on the budget for next year, we use the forecast from the existing year to see how realistic the proposed figures are. 

You can see this financial report starting on page 16 of the package.  Don't let your eyes glaze over at the prospect -- go ahead, take a look!  This is important stuff.

First reading of business licence bylaw changes

First reading of a bylaw just gets it on council's table for consideration.  When council votes first reading, it doesn't mean that we approve of the bylaw, it just means that we're putting it out there so that people can see it.  Then we give people time to comment before bringing it back for second and thrid reading -- second is where the real debate happens.

You can see the report on the proposed changes starting on page 43 of the package.  If you have a business licence in the Town of Banff, you will definitely want to take a look.  Some of the proposed changes include:

  • increasing the business licence rate for people who make under $30,000 in gross revenue from $100 per year to $280 per year.
  • making it easier to get a temporary non-resident licence
  • increasing some Schedule B fees by 2%
  • reorganizing the transportation and service sectors, and changing their fee categories

Right now, it's proposed that the bylaw come back to Council on November 22.  I'll be asking whether we could make that the first meeting in December instead, to give people a bit longer to comment.

Options for an outdoor rink downtown

Starting on page 66 of the package, you can see a detailed report on the possibilities for an outdoor rink downtown.  The areas being considered are the parking lot between Town Hall and Nesters, or the parking lot in the 2000 block of Bear Street.

The cost for doing this is estimated at around $20,000, but I'm not sure from the report whether this actually includes all the staff time and equipment that would be needed.  I'm concerned that we may be overstretching our capabilities, given that our facilities staff is very busy with the new Rec Centre this winter,, and want to be sure that council makes a decision based on the true costs and with full information about what other work would need to be postponed or cancelled.  Much as I love the idea of skaters in the downtown, I'll be asking losts of questions about this one.

Regardless of whether we end up with a downtown rink this year, there will be outdoor skating at the Rec Centre this winter, weather permitting.