Hello, everyone:

Council has three meetings tomorrow:

MEETING WITH THE BANFF VOLUNTEER CENTRE

The hard-working board and executive director of the BVC have been putting together a strategic plan, and will be discussing it with council members tomorrow.  At budget time, council made its financial support of the organization contingent on their meeting a couple of milestones, of which this is one.

REGULAR MEETING OF COUNCIL

The council meeting is at 2 p.m. in council chambers, and - as always - the public is welcome.  You can see the whole package for the meeting at this link:

http://www.banff.ca/Assets/PDFs/Town+Hall+PDF/Council+Agendas+PDF/2011+Agendas+PDF/council-agenda-110228.pdf

 Highlights of the agenda include:

Bow Valley SPCA

The SPCA is coming to ask for a $5,000 grant to support their work.  They have a brief presentation on how their work supports Banff.   You can see it, starting on page 4 of the package. 

Prescribed burns for 2011

Parks Canada is proposing three prescribed burns for 2011.  Two are far from town (Red Deer River and Dormer), but one (Carrot Creek Lower) is quite close.  You can see their presentation starting on page 6 of the package.  They've included a note for people who have respiratory issues -- if you want advance notice of burning days, you can put yourself on their notification list by emailing dave.verhulst@pc.gc.ca

Alberta Winter Games 2012

We will be seeing a presentation suggesting that Banff and Canmore might want to do a joint application to host the 2012 Alberta Winter Games.  You can see the bid package guidelines starting on page 8 of the package.  Looks pretty daunting -- aside from the large amount of fundraising, we would have to find 2500 to 3000 volunteers.  And the deadlines are tight.

Bow Valley Regional Housing

You may have noticed on your property tax bill a small percentage that is levied by the Bow Valley Regional Housing organization.  This is a separate body from the town, with its own taxing authority.  Here in Banff, they are responsible for Mt. Edith House and Cascade House (the former Abbeyfield), and they have a wider range of properties and programs in Canmore.  Many people know very little about this organization and what it does, so this is a great opportunity to understand them better by perusing their service summary, starting on page 40 on the package. 

Building permit and development permit fees

Council had asked in the financial plan for these fees to be updated to cover the actual cost of review, approvals and enforcement.  The updated fees are being brought to council for approval - you can see the report starting on page 50 of the package.

Wayfinding signage

Starting on page 69 of the package, you can see the report describing the 38 signs that will be installed this year.  I'm a little baffled at how they could possible cost an average of $11,000 per sign for fabrication and installation, and will certainly be asking some questions about this one!

FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING

Right after council, we will go directly to a Finance Committee meeting in council chambers.  These meetings are open to the public.

This meeting concentrates on the town's purchasing policy.  You can see the agenda package at this link:

http://www.banff.ca/Assets/PDFs/Town+Hall+PDF/Committee+Agendas+PDF/finance-agenda-110228.pdf

 I will be asking a whole range of questions, for example:

• What do we do to ensure that all interested vendors get a chance to bid on providing goods and services to the town?
• How can our purchasing policy best support buying local and buying "green"?
• How can our purchasing policy help us get the best value for your dollar?
• How do we document the various levels of approvals in the policy?  For example, if the policy says that a $50,000 purchase must be reviewed and approved by the Town Manager, how would I be able to check back a year later to see whether that had been done?
• How do we make our purchasing decisions transparent and accountable?

SHAMELESS PROMOTION

Just a quick reminder that the Conversation Cafe takes place this Wednesday evening, 7 p.m., at the WildFlour.  Take this opportunity to talk face-to-face about timely issues with an eclectic mix of Banffites.

THE FINE PRINT

As always, this post describes my opinions and thoughts.  It does not purport to present the opinions or positions of the Town of Banff or its Council.