Council update May 26, 2012

Hello everyone!

Hope you’re managing to stay warm and enjoy the outdoors, in spite of this somewhat unseasonable weather.

A NOTE RE THE LETTER TO THE OUTLOOK

In this week’s Outlook, a letter made reference to a May 12 email to me, and suggested that I had failed to respond to one of the questions raised in it.

I responded on May 15, 16 and 18, and would be happy to share those responses with any of you who may wish to see them.  You have a right to see whether I am doing my job diligently, so please feel free to ask!  I continue to hope that you will ask me or another member of Council directly, if you have any questions about the sewer crossing or about the pedestrian bridge that Council is adding to it.

Council has a busy day on Monday with ...

FINANCE MEETING

The Finance Committee meets Monday at 10 am in Council Chambers, and you’re very welcome to attend.  You can see the entire package at this link:
http://www.banff.ca/Assets/PDFs/Town+Hall+PDF/Committee+Agendas+PDF/Finance+Agendas/Finance-Agenda-20120528.pdf

General Capital reserve

Reports starting on page 4 of the package describes the value of land improvements (such as playgrounds and trails) and machinery & equipment (such as transit signs and office equipment) owned by our community, what the expected lifespan of these items is, and how much we should be saving in capital reserves for their future replacement.  Our recommended target is to be contributing $4 million annually to the general capital reserve, based on what we’ve seen in this report and the earlier reports on roadways and buildings. Fortunately, we’re fairly close to the necessary amount, and should be able to reach the right level of annual savings within the next five years or so.  Council will be asked to approve the target and discuss how best to ensure that we get there.

Keeping tabs on the budget

At the end of the first quarter, we were forecasting a small deficit of $44K at year-end.  Fortunately, we have three more quarters to make sure that we correct that and come in on budget.  That’s one of the values of paying public attention to these numbers each quarter – it focuses our efforts.  We’ll see the second quarter results and forecasting in August.  You can see all the information about results and forecast, starting on page 13 of the package.

MONDAY’S COUNCIL MEETING

You can see the entire package for the meeting at this link:
http://www.banff.ca/Assets/PDFs/Town+Hall+PDF/Council+Agendas+PDF/2012+Agendas+PDF/Council-Agenda-120528.pdf

The meeting is at 2 pm in Council Chambers, and we’d love to see you there.  As always, there will be two opportunities to ask questions related to Monday’s agenda.  Here are some of the highlights from that agenda ...

Off-leash dog park

Nothing’s simple, as you’ll see in the dog park report that starts on page 10 of the council package.  Because of concerns raised by the environmental screening, the location will move slightly to the southwest of the original proposal, and the park may be 1.5 acres rather than 2 acres.  To get to 2 acres in the new location, we’d need an extra $10K worth of clearing and site work.  I’m inclined to stay within the original budget, but council will be discussing whether to add the money to ensure the 2 acre size.  I welcome your thoughts on this!

Land Use Bylaw, Phase 2a, and Parking and Housing policies

The bulk (and I do mean bulk!) of the meeting will be on this topic, which you can read about on pages 16 to 328 of the council package. 

This is the phase of the bylaw review that deals with matters in the commercial zones.  We won’t be talking about the formula-business quota idea – that will come back to council in June.  But we will be deciding on many other items including (among others):

• Defining “liquor stores” and “night clubs” as unique uses, and making new ones discretionary, so that their impacts in a particular area can be considered.  I think this is a good idea, as the loading requirements of the former and the noise and spill-over aspects of the latter make these businesses worthy of attention.
• Requiring anyone building or redeveloping in the downtown to meet only 10% of their parking requirements on-site, and requiring them to pay for the remaining 90% in cash.  I don’t support this.  I think 10% is too low, and that this will encourage larger buildings while leaving the community to pick up part of the tab on parking costs elsewhere (because cash-in-lieu doesn’t actually pay enough to cover the cost of providing a new stall).
• “Encouraging” B&Bs to not put guests into below-grade bedrooms that have little natural light.  I think we should be stronger with this wording.
• Removing the requirement for a spatial separation between B&Bs.  I disagree with this change – I think having a row of adjacent B&Bs would not be good for a residential neighbourhood.
• Limiting hotels along the Banff Avenue strip to one free-standing sign along their entire frontage.  I’m not convinced that this is necessary, as I think our limits on sign size and materials keep the strip from looking over-signed already.  But I’ll be interested in discussing this with planning staff and my colleagues.
• Making it possible for small start-up businesses to provide or pay for their parking and housing requirements over a three-year phase-in period.  I think this is a good idea, as long as we can ensure that we will be covered if a business changes hands.

There are many other changes in the bylaw that we will be debating on Monday.  These are just a few examples.  I hope you will contact me if you have any questions or comments about what you see in the package.

All the best until next time -- Leslie