Coming Up: Feb 7

Council meets on Monday. The most significant items on our agenda:

  • Delegations

  • Indigenous Advisor

  • County Sportsplex

Following is more information and my take on agenda items.

As always, any mistakes or opinions belong to me and me alone, not to Council or City staff.

While I express my current views below, I work hard to go into meetings ready to listen and with an open mind. I learn new information and participate in debate. This always informs, and sometimes changes, how I vote on issues.

If you would like to watch the meeting or read any of its supporting material for yourself, you can do so by clicking here. The City will post the highlights of Council’s decisions here.

delegations

At every Council meeting, members of the public are welcome to address Council on any matter of interest. This week, three delegations have told us they will be coming to Council:

  • Peace Library System to give Council a primer on the work it does to support library programs in our region

  • A resident to talk to Council about the Restriction Exemption Program

  • A resident raising concerns about unsafe driving on 68 Ave

indigenous advisor position

It is recommended that Council direct Administration to proceed with the hiring of an Indigenous Advisor. This person would provide expertise, guidance, and cultural knowledge to Council and City staff. They would also help lead future engagements with our indigenous community. A job description has been developed after consultation with many local indigenous leaders and organisations. It can be found here.

I will be supporting this recommendation. The City should be working to further Truth and Reconciliation. Having an Indigenous Advisor on staff will be a great asset to this work.

county sportsplex

There are recreation groups in our region struggling to find adequate indoor space. At the same time, the City is moving forward with a demolition of the Leisure Centre in 2023. This will place indoor space at an even higher premium.

Regional municipalities have been working together to find ways to create more space. A likely solution: the County Sportsplex.

This building has a wall that can be taken out, allowing the soccer field to be expanded into a full sized pitch. There is also an opportunity to create a fieldhouse with court space.

The City, County, and Swan City Football Association each contributed money towards getting high level architectural work done to examine this possible expansion. It came back with a cost estimate of $11,880,000 to expand the existing soccer pitch and an additional $14,280,000 for the fieldhouse addition. This is what the expansions would look like (orange in the below image).

It is recommended that Council endorse this project in principal. Council’s decision on Monday isn’t “do we commit to and fund this project?” Instead, it is more like “do we have enough interest in this project to consider funding it?”

If there is interest from both City and County Council, this will go to the Regional Recreation Committee for further work. More detailed design work will occur, and a proposal to split capital and operational costs will be developed. Councils will then be asked whether or not they are willing to commit to funding.

I'll likely be voting “yes.” We should to be looking for opportunities to meet indoor recreational needs. This one would be particularly exciting because it would include the City, County, and perhaps other regional municipalities working together. It deserves development and serious consideration.

That’s what is on our agenda for Monday. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

You can comment below. Or, you can contact me at dbressey@cityofgp.com or 780-402-4166. I'm happy to talk online or over the phone. I'm also always willing to setup a time to meet for coffee.

We also always have great conversation in the GP Round Table group on Facebook.

After Council meeting, you will be able to find highlights posted by the City here.

Thanks for reading!

-Dylan

Dylan BresseyComment