Hello everyone:

What a beautiful weekend!  When you come in from enjoying the great outdoors, I hope you’ll be able to take a moment to check out what’s happening with Town Council.

HAVE YOUR SAY

There are two online surveys going on right now – I hope you will be interested in providing your input.

Housing Needs Study

At this link http://banffhousingstudy.com/  you can participate in the housing needs study, and/or comment on some of the topics that have been raised on the blog.  This survey is really important to determine the future direction of the Banff Housing Corporation, and of Council’s policies on housing in town.  Please fill it out, even if you’re already comfortably housed.  We need input from the whole community in order to make the right decisions about future housing efforts.

Transportation Master Plan

The town conducted a survey about transportation issues early in the year, and this planning process is moving into its next phase.  You can see the results from the earlier survey, add your thoughts about the issues, or *volunteer for a focus group* at this link http://www.banff.ca/town-hall/major-projects-banff/Transportation_Master_Plan.htm   Yes, I know the website says the focus group will be in April, but on the next level in, you’ll see that the intention is to hold these groups in September, so you still have time to volunteer.  From door-knocking, I know that lots of you are passionate about transportation issues in town – here’s a great way to get involved.

FINANCE MEETING MONDAY

Council will be meeting as the Finance Committee on Monday morning at 10 a.m. and – as always – you are very welcome to attend.  You can see the whole package at this link:
http://www.banff.ca/AssetFactory.aspx?did=4218   and here are a couple of highlights:

Second quarter financial statements and forecast to year-end

You can see the entire report starting on page 5 of the package.  Overall, staff are reporting that we are forecasting a deficit of $23K, down from a forecast deficit of $44K at the end of the first quarter, so things are being moved in the right direction. 

Reserves for staff accommodation, transit, public art, heritage, parking, offsite levies and municipal reserve (green space)

This report, starting on page 30 of the package, tells you all about what amounts are held in these reserves and for what purposes.  The key recommendation is that we need to increase the amount we are contributing to the staff accommodation reserve, in order to be ready to maintain and replace our staff accommodation as necessary.  This won’t affect taxes, as the operation of our staff accommodation is funded by the rents paid by the occupants.  Raising the reserve contribution means raising the rents to pay for it.

WEBSITE PROGRESS

Council will be briefed on Monday at 1 p.m. about the progress of the Town’s website update.  You’ll recall that we’re getting this revamping for free from a provider of municipal websites, because our staff did a great job of selling Banff as the perfect location for a showcase website for the company.

COUNCIL MEETING

Council meets at 2 p.m. on Monday, and we’d love to see you in the gallery.  As always, there are two opportunities during the meeting for public questions about items on this agenda.  Here’s the link to the package: 

http://www.banff.ca/Assets/Council-Agenda-120820.pdf

Highlights include:

Banff Volunteer Centre report

Didn’t we just have one of these, you say?  Well, yes, but this update is more meaty and informative, with specifics about how the BVC is addressing the volunteer needs of the community, real numbers around effectiveness, and concrete steps they are taking and will be taking.  You can see the report starting on page 4 of the package.  Hats off to the BVC for hearing Council’s concerns at our previous meeting, and responding to them.

Public art project

The Public Art Committee has responded to Council’s concerns about their temporary art proposal by coming up with a project that costs less, that is more long-term, that is more publicly visible and that has a private partner.  The new proposal will see art mounted on the east-facing wall of Town Hall and on the south-facing wall of the Bear Street Mall.  Four different artists will be featured over the 5-year life of the installations, and the public will get input into the artist choice.  The mounting hardware is reusable for future art displays.  With these modifications, I now think this is a good project and will be supporting it.

BANFF HOUSING CORPORATION SHAREHOLDERS' MEETING

After Council is over, council members will be meeting as the BHC shareholders.  You can see the meeting agenda package at this link:
http://www.banff.ca/Assets/BHC-Shareholder-Agenda-120820.pdf

A key piece here is the recommendations on user fees.  Although most fees are recommended to stay at their present levels, the BHC board is recommending a change in resale fees for equity-share properties to 0.6% of the value of the home.  You can see the whole report starting on page 5 of the package.  The shareholder meeting will not make a decision on this report, rather, we will be setting a date for a public hearing on the proposed changes.

The package also includes the BHC’s report on the various housing benchmarks for Banff.  You can see the numbers starting on page 25 of the agenda package.

THE FINE PRINT

As always, this update gives my personal point of view.  This email is not an official communication of the Town of Banff or its Council.  If you want off the list, just let me know – I promise not to whine.  If you have friends who’d like to join the list, I’d love to hear from them.

All the best until next time -- Leslie

Leslie Taylor
Box 2275 Banff Alberta T1L 1C1
ph 403-762-3926
fax 403-762-3926
www.lataylor.com

Hello, everyone:

As you may have noticed, council slows down a bit in the summer, with one council meeting per month rather than two.  Many committees continue to be very busy.

FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING MONDAY

Council meets as the Finance Committee on Monday morning at 10 a.m. in Council Chambers.  You’re welcome to attend.  You can read the whole package for the meeting at this link:
http://www.banff.ca/Assets/Finance-Agenda-120716.pdf

Highlights include:

2013 Financial Plan

Each year, before administration starts drafting the budget for the following year, Council approves a Financial Plan, as a way of publicly debating and clarifying the principles we want to see reflected in the budget.  You can see the report and the draft plan, starting on page 4 of the package.  A few examples of what you’ll find in it:
• Direction to limit any proposed total property tax increase to Alberta CPI or lower.
• Direction to use that same Alberta CPI figure for cost-of-living increases to staff salary.  We have a non-unionized work force, so clarity of expectations is important to everyone involved.
• Commitment to set target figures for all capital reserves by the end of 2012 – we’re already well into this task.
• A continuing commitment to occupy any “taxing room” left by decreases in education tax, and send that money directly to capital reserves, to try to close the gap on the infrastructure deficit.
• A commitment to continue to provide public information on how our tax levels compare to a list of other Alberta municipalities
• A requirement for zero-base budgeting
• A commitment to minimizing borrowing, and to ensuring that any borrowing is paid off in such a way that the Town’s capital reserves are in an overall positive balance within five years.

The draft plan is short and is written in relatively plain English (as these things go).  Reading it is the best way to understand the Town’s financial approach and philosophy.  I expect we will see a few changes to the draft at the meeting on Monday.

Debt update

Occasionally, you may hear comments about the Town’s debt level, and figures may be tossed about.  But you can look at the real deal on page 20 of the package.  You’ll see that the Town’s total debt in 2011 was $14,925,292, it will be $12,203,979 at the end of 2012, and $9,547,574 at the end of 2013.  You can also see the reasons for the debt (Rec Centre, Seniors’ Housing expansions, etc), and you can see what interest rate is being paid on each segment of the debt. 

MONDAY’S COUNCIL MEETING

Council’s regular meeting is on Monday afternoon at 2 p.m. in Council Chambers.  You’re very welcome to attend.  You can read the whole package (it’s puny – only 154 pages!) for the meeting at this link:
http://www.banff.ca/Assets/PDFs/Town+Hall+PDF/Council+Agendas+PDF/2012+Agendas+PDF/Council-Agenda-120716.pdf

Highlights include:

Digital wayfinding:

An intern, financed by a program of the Greater Toronto YMCA (!), has been doing some preliminary work on how digital wayfinding (on people’s mobile devices) could be implemented here.  You can see his report to Council starting on page 39 of the package.  I especially like the references to helping visiting pedestrians find their best route – often very different from the car route.

Economic prosperity strategy

We’re looking at preparing a long-term economic prosperity strategy, to help us meet the economic goals expressed in the Community Plan.  Step one is to ensure that we define “economic prosperity” in a way that is meaningful to everyone in the community.  The proposal is to work with groups of business people, residents and representatives of NGOs/non-profits to reach agreed-upon statements of what economic prosperity could/should look like in Banff.  After all, it’s not just about the total money generated in the community.  It’s likely to be about how economically secure households and individuals feel, as well as how economically successful businesses feel.  And there are likely some comments waiting to be made about what we are and are not willing to trade for financial profit.

The report that starts on page 47 of the package shows a range of options for a public engagement process to discuss this key definition.  I like Option 2 – having three discussion groups plus a larger resident survey. 

Formula retail and restaurants

You’ll recall that Council expressed an interest in exploring an idea that came out of the Land Use Bylaw working group -- a quota or cap on the total number of formula-based retail stores and restaurants that we will have in town.  This has been a hot topic of discussion for years, off and on, and now the planning department is putting a bylaw in front of us for consideration.  The idea is that we would state what a formula-based business is (one of 12 or more that are the same), decide which districts are appropriate for these types of businesses, and then set a figure for the total in each district.  I’m inclined at present toward 10% more than we have already, to give business people room to adjust – but I’m mostly interested in seeing what public discussion is generated by this proposal.

Council is being asked to just give first reading of the proposed bylaw, and to set a public hearing date for September.  Final decision on whether to go ahead with this approach, whether to tweak it, or whether to forget it altogether would come after the public hearing.

Historic designation of St George’s in the Pines Anglican church

Hats off to everyone who has worked on getting to this stage.  It’s very exciting to see St. George’s ready to be municipally designated, and ready to be eligible for a substantial grant to help with preservation of the historic building.  I’ll be pointing out a few tweaks needed in the statement of historical significance, but I’m wholeheartedly in support of this.  You can see the whole report starting on page 103 of the package.

Municipal bench-marking

Town manager Robert Earl and other members of town staff have been taking a leadership role in trying to get a bench-marking collaboration going in the province of Alberta.  Municipalities who are members would share information on their performance on key benchmarks such as the cost of maintenance per kilometre/lane of paved road, or the percentage of solid waste that is diverted from the landfill, or the cost of sewage treatment per cubic metre of sewage combined with effluent standards.  Having this information from other municipalities would let each member know how they are performing relative to others and who they should go to for best-practice information.  The province seems interested in supporting this initiative, and may kick in some funding, and each potential member is being asked to contribute as well, as there will be some start-up costs and some annual cost to compiling and distributing the information.  You can read the report starting on page 152 of the package.  I’m very much in support of this project, as I think it will lead to better transparency and accountability.

THE FINE PRINT

As always, any opinions expressed in this post are mine alone.  This post is not an official communication from the Town of Banff or its Council.  I welcome new members to my email list – just send me a note and I’ll add you in.  Similarly, if your inbox is just too full these days, let me know and I’ll take you off my list.

Hello everyone:

I hope you all enjoyed the summer solstice!  Council has a heavy meeting load this week.  Today’s weather was perfect for reviewing a total of 234 pages of agenda package for Monday!

FINANCE COMMITTEE

Council meets as the Finance Committee at 10 a.m. Monday in Council Chambers and – as always – you are welcome to attend.  You can see the whole package for the meeting at this link:
http://www.banff.ca/Assets/Finance-Agenda-120625.pdf   The two items on the agenda are ...

Fleet Capital Reserve

As you know, we are reviewing all of the town’s capital reserves to ensure that, as a community, we are putting away enough money to replace our capital assets when we need to, without nasty surprises for future taxpayers. 

How much do we need to put into a fleet reserve each year in order to make sure that we can replace vehicles and equipment as they reach the end of their useful lives?  You can see the report that analyzes this question, starting on page 4 of the package.  I was pleased to see that staff had carefully weighed the maintenance records of our vehicles and equipment, their expected cost recovery at the time of disposal, and used two different methods for calculating replacement cost.  The upshot of it all is that we are aiming at an average of 15 years of useful lifespan for our vehicles.  This will require an annual transfer of $359,000 per year to be fully funded over time, and we are within sight of that now with an annual transfer of $270,000.

Performance benchmarks

In order to be transparent and accountable, the Town is adding easily measured performance benchmarks to our service review system.  This means that you can look at a report each year and see how we’re doing on a range of factors, compared to how we were doing in previous years.  A report that starts on page 13 of the package shows you some of the benchmarks that will be added this year, and reports on benchmarks that we already have in place.  You can see comparisons to other communities’ results where we are able to access them.  (The reason you’ll see comparisons to Ontario is because they have a benchmarking system in place that we can access easily).   Just to give you a few examples of the numbers you can see in this report:
• The percentage cost of our benefits package (health, dental, etc.), compared to wages, is going up, in spite of the fact that we have cut back on benefits available to Town staff.  This appears to be an issue that many employers are facing.
• Our website use continues to climb, and is way ahead of OMBI (the Ontario average) and Whistler
• Our voter turnout is lower than in comparable communities
• Our fire department costs less to operate per person served than those in two comparable communities
• We have fewer transit riders per population than the Ontario average, but our ridership is increasing
• Our operating cost per hectare for “grounds” (gardens, parks) is higher than the Ontario average, and is increasing in the three years shown
• We’re landfilling much less waste per person (residents and visitors included) than Whistler, and our amount is decreasing
• Our energy use per person continues to slowly increase
• The percentage of our population that registers for community classes continues to slowly decrease
• Crime numbers are available only for 2008 and 2009 – in those years, we had higher numbers than the Alberta average
• The tourism marketing dollars spent per visitor varied from $1.30 in 2009 to $1.06 in 2010 to $1.18 in 2011.

SPECIAL MEETING OF COUNCIL

At 9 a.m. on Monday, Council will continue its deliberation on Land Use Bylaw related items, including the required housing and required parking policies.  You can see the package at this link:  http://www.banff.ca/Assets/Special-Council-Agenda-120625.pdf  Feel free to join us in Council Chambers!

REGULAR MEETING OF COUNCIL

At 2 p.m. on Monday, we’ll roll up our sleeves for  a heavy agenda for the regular meeting of council.  You can see the whole package at this link:
http://www.banff.ca/Assets/Council-Agenda-120625.pdf
and you’re welcome to attend.  Here are a few highlights from the agenda:

Grease traps

Read the report that starts on page 10, for more than you ever wanted to know about yellow grease, brown grease, and how they can clog the arteries of our sewage system!  Utilities staff are briefing council about a pro-active education program they want to undertake, so that staff in restaurants and other businesses can understand better how their grease traps work and how to prevent sewer clogs.  If you’ve ever seen the football-sized grease balls floating at the sewage treatment plant, or had your neighbourhood’s system blocked up by grease, you’ll know what a problem this can be.

Environmental rebates

The town offers rebates to residents and businesses that update their property with water-efficient or energy-efficient appliances and equipment.  Examples?  Dual-flush toilets, energy-rated dishwashers or refrigerators, solar hot water systems, programmable thermostats ... and many more!  Take a look at the report that starts on page 25 to see what’s offered and how some of the offers may change.  It’s interesting to see that we get the best bang for our rebate buck by helping to fund programmable thermostats.

There is a proposal in this report to change the rebate for solar hot water from $650 to $3000, because we have had no takers so far.  However, this would also involve capping the rebates to the first three homes that apply.  I don’t think this is a fair way to allocate public dollars – a lot of money to a very few people on a first-come, first-served basis.  I’d like to leave it at $650, but make sure that people know that this is available.  Or perhaps we could consider the higher rate for people who will commit to making their home a demonstration project that others can look at?

FCSS Annual Report

Starting on page 108 of the package, you can read about the many programs offered by FCSS, and how they are working with a multitude of partners to meet their goals and to support the people of our community.  Everything from the community greenhouse to the seniors’ bus to settlement services for foreign workers is in this report, and it’s pretty impressive.

The Railway Lands

Council is being asked to approve some options for public consultations about the proposed uses at the railway station.  When the Land Use Bylaw was being discussed, most members of the public were focussed on other areas.  But now there are major changes proposed for what that area might look like, changes that would result in a new commercial area in the town.  Council believes that people will want to be consulted about this.

Land Use Bylaw

Council will consider third reading of phase 2a of the Land Use Bylaw update, after hours and hours of discussion and amendments on second reading.  In these recent meetings, I have been on the losing end of lots of motions related to the Land Use Bylaw.  However, I feel that every item was discussed thoroughly, and that all councillors brought their carefully considered opinions to the table and listened with an open mind to everyone else’s opinions before voting.  So the system is working the way it’s supposed to.

OTHER ITEMS

On Tuesday, I’ll be attending a meeting about the Transportation Master Plan, along with a lot of people from various sectors of the community.

And dog owners will be pleased to know that the fence for the off-leash dog park is almost complete.  Councillor Canning has taken a walk-through and says it looks great.

THE FINE PRINT

As always, any opinions expressed in this post are mine alone.  This post is not a communication from the Town of Banff or its Council.  I welcome your comments or questions, and I’m always happy to add your friends to the email list.  If you’re just too busy to read these updates, let me know, and I’ll take you off the list (but I’ll miss you!).

Hello everyone:

Sorry to keep bombarding you with emails, but it seems as if lots of people are interested in information re the high water levels (I know I am!), so I hope you won’t mind a few extra messages during the run-off period.  This one, however, is just the regular council email update.

On Monday, council will have two meetings.

SPECIAL MEETING RE LAND USE BYLAW

We didn’t finish debating the Land Use Bylaw phase 2a changes at the last council meeting, so we’ll be continuing that process on Monday, starting at 8:30 a.m. in Council Chambers.  You’re welcome to attend!  The package for the meeting can be seen at this link:

http://www.banff.ca/Assets/Special-Council-Agenda_120611.pdf

We still have to cover items such as bed and breakfast regulations, signage regulations, the height of buildings in the downtown, discretionary uses in the area around the train station, and our policies on required housing and parking to go with developments.

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING

The regular council agenda is quite light on Monday (only 65 pages!!).  You can see the entire package at this link:

http://www.banff.ca/Assets/Council-Agenda-120611.pdf

Here are a few highlights from the agenda:

Rocky Mountain Housing Co-op

You’ll all be familiar with the apartment buildings near the Recreation Grounds.  Since the earliest days of this cooperative (which provides 114 housing units for 18 different community organizations and businesses), the Town has provided a loan guarantee for the outstanding moneys owed by the cooperative, as a way of supporting this important staff housing initiative.  This doesn’t mean that the Town loans them money, or that tax-payers pay for any of their costs.  It just means that we enable them to borrow at the low interest rate that is available to the Town.  Council is being asked to renew the loan guarantee for three years.  This borrowing by-law will be subject to public scrutiny and comment before coming back to Council for a vote at a future meeting.  I will be asking for some updates on the current status of the RMHCA organization before we eventually pass this by-law.  You can see the whole report starting on page 7 of the package.

Non-resident business licences

Event-based businesses (such as wedding photographers) who come to Banff to do business from time to time are asking for some different  options for business licensing.  These include having single-day licences, and being able to pay for licences online.  The report that starts on page 17 updates Council on what is being done to explore these options.

Housing needs study

In a report starting on page 44, Banff Housing Corporation is asking Council to fund a housing needs study, to identify gaps (if any) between housing supply and demand in town.  Our last study was done in 2002.  The BHC has gone through a careful process to identify the questions that need to be answered, and to review proposals from potential contractors.  The $54,000 required for the study would come from the Town’s budget stabilization fund.

I expect a lively discussion about this one.  I strongly support the idea of updating our housing information before investing in a new housing project.  That’s because everyone I talk to tells me that “anybody knows” what the housing problem is – and then it turns out that each person has a different version.  Some believe that there is no longer a problem – that our housing supply has caught up with demand.  Others say we need seniors’ housing, or accessible housing, or managed housing for young, single entry-level staff, or starter homes for the first-time buyer, or move-up homes for the family looking for more room.  I have my own views, based on my own observations – but that’s just anecdotal.  I believe we need some concrete data to back up any future projects.

Settlement Support Services

An interesting report, starting on page 61 of the package, briefs Council on the changing nature of temporary foreign workers in our community, and how Community Services is working to help these new Banffites be successful and happy here.  There are many interesting points, but here’s one that stuck out for me:  In 2009, Banff Elementary School had 10% of their students as ESL (English as a Second Language).  In 2012, that has grown to 25%.  That one fact alone shows how quickly the changes are taking place.

THE FINE PRINT

As always, this blog post represents just my point of view.  This is not a communication from the Town of Banff or from its Council.  I welcome your comments and questions!

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