Council update, May 25, 2008

Here are a few highlights of recent doings at Town Hall, upcoming events, and what's on the agenda for tomorrow's council meeting.

LONG WEEKEND TRAFFIC

Let's start with the item that's on everyone's mind -- and in my email inbox, as well.  There's no question that we dropped the ball on traffic measures over the long weekend.  We made some wrong assumptions, and I apologize for that.  The good news is that council and staff put a lot of thought last week into where we go from here, and a whole range of improvements (more flaggers, flaggers in different locations, better detour/directional signage, changing the settings on traffic lights, diverting people early to better routes, making sure people can find and access parking lots and the parkade, etc etc) are in the "toolkit" for future use depending on the traffic levels.

BANFF AVENUE CONSTRUCTION DELAYS

We're not going to see completion of Banff Avenue as early as we had hoped.  Late frost in the ground, followed by the present rain, has made concrete work difficult and caused some delays.  But don't those trees look great?!

CAVE AVENUE OPEN HOUSE

A lot of people are asking about Banff Housing Corporation's hopes for the Cave Avenue lots, and about what can and can't be built under the current bylaw, etc.  This Wednesday evening (May 28), from 6 - 8 pm, there's an open house at the Cave and Basin to share some info about this and to hear from the public.  I hope to see you there.  This is not a done deal, and public input is very important.

NEW TRANSIT LAUNCH

The new transit system will be running June 2.  Check out www.banff.ca for information.

COUNCIL AGENDA FOR MONDAY

Carbon offset funding

The Town is in a position to gain about half a million dollars by selling our carbon credits from the in-vessel composting at the wastewater treatment plant.  This money could be put into further greenhouse gas reduction projects.  You can read the complete report at

http://www.banff.ca/AssetFactory.aspx?did=1486  on pages 11-20

Sidewalk Cafe Seating Policy 

After doing a public open house and an online survey about the Sidewalk Seating Policy, the planning department has made a lot of changes to the policy -- real improvements, in my opinion.  At the same time, the report, which you can see at

http://www.banff.ca/AssetFactory.aspx?did=1486 on pages 34 - 56

recommends that we sideline this idea for now and reconsider it when the new Banff Avenue has been in place for a year.  This is in response to public concern that it may reverse what the Banff Avenue project was meant to do - provide unobstructed walking space for pedestrians.  I think this is a reasonable suggestion.  We can make a better decision when we have had a chance to watch how the new configuration operates.

FINANCIAL MATTERS

At tomorrow's council, we will be looking at Q1 results for the town, and the forecast to year-end.  I'm disappointed to see that we are already forecasting going over-budget at year-end.  It's not by much, but I'd like to start looking for economies now to make sure that this trend does not continue.  Certainly new priorities and ideas come up during a budget year, but -- in my opinion -- that means that you have to make choices and drop other things that are at the bottom of the list, rather than just adding on.

As I've said in an earlier blog entry, I'm delighted that the Town will now be having these forecast reviews quarterly, rather than once a year as was being done before.  This is one of the outcomes I had hoped for when I suggested a finance committee, and I'm glad that it has come to pass even though the committee idea was defeated.

THE FINE PRINT