Edmonton Minute: Parking Rates, Board Recruitment, and LRT Over Budget

Edmonton Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Edmonton politics

This Week In Edmonton:

• This week is a busy one at City Hall. Today, at 9:30 am, there will be a City Council meeting. On the agenda is the 2023-2026 Spring Operating Budget Adjustment - the good news is that it looks like the City spent slightly less (nearly $6 million) than anticipated. Council will also consider reforms to the City Police Commission Reporting and Accountability Framework as well as a number of bylaws to authorize sidewalk replacements in certain areas, a police helicopter replacement, and improvements to Century Park LRT station, amongst other things.
  
  
• On Tuesday, there are three meetings. At 8:30 am, the Agenda Review Committee will meet. Then, at 9:30 am, there will be a non-regular meeting of the Community and Public Services Committee. The Committee will discuss recruitment to its various boards, such as the Combative Sports Commission, the Edmonton Public Library Board, the Edmonton Historical Board, and the Community Services Advisory Board. The Executive Committee will also have a non-regular meeting at 9:30 am with the same intent - recruitment to various boards.
  
  
• On Wednesday, there will be a non-regular meeting of the Urban Planning Committee at 9:30 am to discuss - you guessed it!- recruitment to various boards. Specifically, the Committee will discuss the Subdivision and Appeal Development Board, the Edmonton Transit Service Advisory Board, and the Edmonton Design Committee. At 5:30 pm, there will be a non-regular meeting of City Council to discuss work plans for some of the aforementioned boards. Finally, on Friday, at 3:00 pm, there will be a Special Audit Committee meeting to discuss the City of Edmonton 2022 Consolidated Financial Statements and the 2022 KPMG Audit Findings Report.

Last Week In Edmonton:

• City administration are asking Council to consider a few options for saving money on the Capital Line LRT extension. The project is over budget by an undisclosed amount. Council will look at a few potential cost savings, including reducing the number of spare LRT cars, nixing a planned maintenance facility, deferring the expansion of the Heritage Valley Park and Ride, and building the station at Heritage Valley and the crossing at Ellerslie Road at grade rather than elevating them.
  
  
• The City has decided to raise the price of parking. EPark stalls will no longer be free on Sundays starting next month, and curbside parking will only be free for 15 minutes rather than 30. Some busy parking stalls in Downtown, Old Strathcona, Kingsway, and 124 Street will go up $1 per hour to $4.50, but other low-demand areas will become free stalls for a few hours. Monthly rates will increase to $350 from $315 in City-owned parkades, and there will be 22 public parking locations designated for electric vehicle charging only.
  
  
• Pierre Poilievre made a stop in Edmonton. He blamed the Trudeau government and the federal NDP for a lax “catch-and-release” bail system that has resulted in a rise in violent crime in the city. The same day, a stabbing occurred at a southeast bus stop, and the day prior, a young man was stabbed at Southgate Centre. In March of this year, the Edmonton Police Service responded to 18 shootings. While federal bail reforms are outside the purview of City Council, there are steps to be taken at the municipal level to curb this recent spate of violence. We hope Council is listening and are finally starting to take this seriously! We're still running a petition encouraging them to do exactly that. Almost 2,000 Edmontonians have signed it so far. If you haven't added your name yet, click here to do so.

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