Hello everyone:

Could this be the beginning of spring?  I saw a Canada goose yesterday, and I'm watching for my first robin.  But I'm also reading my council package for tomorrow.  Here are some of the highlights:

COUNCIL PACKAGE FOR MONDAY, 14 MARCH

You can see the whole package for tomorrow's meeting at this link:

http://www.banff.ca/Assets/PDFs/Town+Hall+PDF/Council+Agendas+PDF/2011+Agendas+PDF/council-agenda-110314.pdf

The meeting starts at 2 pm in council chambers, and -- as always -- you are welcome to attend.

YWCA request for exemption from garbage pick-up fees

As you know, we are beginning the switch this year from having our garbage and recycling pickup covered by our taxes to having the pickups paid for on a user-pay basis.  This means that the amount you used to pay for your garbage comes off your tax bill and goes onto your utility bill.  This is a four-year transition, so you will see a quarter of the effect each year, through to full implementation in 2014.

Some properties (usually those belonging to charitable organizations, churches, and so on) have been supported in a tax-exempt status by council and the community for many years.   The Y is one of these.  Moving the garbage to the utility bill means that they would now pay for garbage pickup, where they have not paid before.  It does not affect the rest of their tax-exempt support. 

The Y is requesting that the community continue to cover the costs of their garbage pickup, because of their many services to the community.  This is a follow-up to their earlier presentation to council, and will provide more information.  One of the questions that council asked at the last presentation is whether YWCAs in other communities normally have their garbage pickup paid for by the community at large, and I hope we will hear about that in the presentation. 

You can see a letter from the YWCA board chair starting on page 4 of the package.

Presentation on assessment and assessment appeal process

Frank Watson, who is contracted as the Town's assessor (the person who places values on properties for tax purposes), is coming to make a presentation to Council.  If you have always wondered how assessments are determined, I recommend this presentation.  Mr. Watson will be covering everything from the basics to more complex questions, and I know from listening to him in the past that he makes a difficult topic clear, simple, and even interesting!

Building permit fees

Council will be asked to give second and third reading to the amended fees for 2011.

Alberta Winter Games

We're being asked to join Canmore in signing a letter of intent to host the 2014 Alberta Winter Games.  An actual bid would have to be prepared by June 30, 2011.

I'm inclined to support the letter of intent, because it does not commit us to the event, it just gets our name on the table.  Between now and bid time, I would need to be convinced that the Banff community actually wants us to spend around $150,000 of your tax money on this event, and that we really have around 1000 people who want to volunteer for it.

The most compelling argument I have heard so far for hosting the Games is a simple one -- it's our turn.  These events are important to the youth of the province, lots of Banff and Canmore athletes compete each year, and we haven't hosted since 1976.  In the meantime, we have had a lot of provincial grant money provided for our recreational facilities, and this may be one of the provincial responsibilities that we have to take on in return.  Without communities standing up to take their turn, young athletes won't get these opportunities.

You can see the report starting on page 15 of the package.

Resource Recovery outside our town boundaries

Beginning on page 34 of the package, you can see a report about a possible cooperation between Parks Canada and the Town.  Parks has come to us to ask if we would consider handing the garbage and recycling pickup in part of Banff National Park outside our boundaries.

Parks has had this work done by a local contractor for many years, but the contract runs out on March 31.  It is my understanding that Park is considering whether to do it themselves from here on in, or -- as an alternative -- have the Town do it.  The local contractor is unhappy about the fact that Parks has decided not to contract the work in future.  Both Parks and the contractor will be at the council meeting.

If Parks were going out to tender again, and we were considering competing for the work, I can see concerns.  But if the alternatives are "Town does the work" or "Parks does the work", then the first choice is probably a better deal for townspeople as a whole, because we can achieve economies of scale and flexibility of staff and equipment which will help keep service levels up and costs down for people within the town.

Before I vote, I will be asking lots of questions to ensure that my understanding of the choices here is correct.  And, if the idea goes ahead, I will be asking us to ensure that any staff taken on to do this work are hired on a term basis that coincides with the term of the agreement with Parks.

Snow reserve

No, I'm not talking about that giant pile in your backyard!  Many people have asked me recently whether we have gone over our budget for snow-clearing.  This new reserve is an attempt to make sure that we won't.  In low-snow years, when we end up with unused funds in the snow-clearing budget, we will put those funds into a reserve.  Then, in years like this one, we'll draw on the reserve to cover extra snow-clering costs.  It's a good way of evening things out over time.  You can see the report starting on page 49 of the package. 

OPPORTUNITIES FOR INPUT

On March 22, Planning will be launching their public input drive for Phase 2 of the Land Use Bylaw.  I will try to let you know about events (open houses, community tent outreach) as they come up.  As you probably know, there has been also an opportunity to comment for some time online at http://www.banff.ca/business/planning-development/land-use-review/phase_two_outreach.htm

At the March 28 council meeting, there will be a public hearing on the proposed Development Permit fees.  You can see a report about this by going to page 64 of this package:

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

THE FINE PRINT

As always, opinions expressed in this post are mine alone, and do not purport to represent the point of view of the Town of Banff or its Council.