Council update email, January 11

Hello everyone, and best wishes for a great year in 2008! 

Here are some quick notes on recent and upcoming happenings at Council.  As always, any opinions expressed here are mine alone, and do not represent the position of Council  or the Town of Banff.

ACTION REQUESTS

There's a super new addition on the Town's website (www.banff.ca).  Along the very top of the screen, in the black and white part above the Town of Banff title, you'll see a string of text that looks like this:

Home | Contacts | Action Request | Feedback | Subscribe | FAQ | Privacy | Weather | Site Map 

If you click on Action Request, you go right to a simple form that lets you ask the town for what you need done.  Maybe you've noticed a sidewalk that needs clearing, a road sign that's been damaged, an intersection that needs some sanding, or an organics bin that's overflowing.  Just fill out this action request and send it in -- the  person who receives it will make sure that it gets to the right department, and they'll report back to you.  I tried out the system myself over the holidays, and it worked just great!

THE BUDGET

By now, you probably know that we ended up with a 5.27% overall property tax increase.  As well, the town is "occupying the taxing room" left by a decrease in provincial education taxes. 

In my opinion, there is good news and bad news here. 

The good news is that all the money from the education tax part goes to increasing the town's contribution to capital reserves.  Putting the right amount of money into capital reserves helps to ensure that we can replace infrastructure as needed, and that we won't find ourselves borrowing huge amounts in the future to do so.  It's the responsible thing to do.

The bad news is that I think we could have done better on the operating budget, to at least get the increase at or below the rate of inflation, rather than slightly above.  I proposed some areas to trim or change, but -- although some were adopted -- I wasn't convincing enough to get the majority of council onside for all of them.  I apologize for not being able to make this happen, and I hope to be more effective next year, once I have longer experience with the budget and more familiarity with each of the areas.

THE PARKADE

As you know from my previous emails, I was very concerned about the implications of the proposed parkade on Beaver Street, and so I am pleased with the result of the vote.  The Town is not going ahead with final design of the parkade, and instead will be exploring all the other alternatives for dealing with parking demand.  The debate was detailed and passionate, and everyone on both sides of this issue was trying to do what they felt was best for Banff.

COMING TO COUNCIL ON MONDAY

The Community Standards bylaw is coming for debate and decision on Monday.  I've discussed this briefly in a previous email -- you can see the draft bylaw itself here:

http://www.banff.ca/AssetFactory.aspx?did=1250

There will also be a public hearing on Monday at 2 pm for a proposed bylaw to allow for Family Day Homes in town.  You can make a verbal presentation at that public hearing, if you have any issues or concerns with the bylaw.  You can read the draft bylaw here:

http://www.banff.ca/AssetFactory.aspx?did=1271

Also on Monday, Council will be looking at increasing the offsite levies (the fees charged by the municipality to developers – both for new development and redevelopment – to help with offsite (town) costs for upgrading or expanding the sewer treatment system, the water supply system, and storm sewer drainage facilities).  These fees have not been increased since 1993, and we are looking at an increase in line with inflation.  You can see a report on this by going to the agenda package at the link below, and flipping through to page 51:

http://www.banff.ca/AssetFactory.aspx?did=1301