TAMRMS#: B06
13.1
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CM - Active Communities Alberta Funding Request
Notice given by: Councillor Killick
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PURPOSE OF REPORT
On December 6, 2021 Councillor Killick provided notice in accordance with Section 23 of Procedure Bylaw 3/2018 that he intended to bring forward a motion in relation to the Active Communities Alberta funding request. The motion was scheduled to be debated at Council on January 10, 2022 and on that day Councillor Killick advised Council that he wished to amend his motion before making it. Because the amended motion differs significantly from the originally intended motion, Council agreed to debate it on January 31, 2022 so as to give both Councillors and the public ample opportunity to consider their positions on the amended motion which is set out under the "Proposed Motion" heading below.
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PROPOSED MOTION:
recommendation
That the Active Communities Alberta (ACA) request for financial support from the City of St. Albert towards an Outdoor Recreation and Community Hub is considered within 60 days after the following conditions have been met:
The receipt of an Independent Financial Review of the proposal completed by a third party funded by the ACA, based on criteria mutually established by ACA and the City; and
The ACA has raised a minimum of $3 million from other sources towards the project.
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ALIGNMENT TO PRIORITIES IN COUNCIL’S STRATEGIC PLAN
Strategic Priority #4: Infrastructure Investment: Identify and build needed capital assets.
Complete Community Amenities Needs Assessment and Concept Planning to determine city-wide needs for recreation facilities and amenities, and apply the community need to determine those most appropriate for the new community amenities site.
ALIGNMENT TO LEVELS OF SERVICE DELIVERY
No alignment to Levels of Service Delivery.
ALIGNMENT TO COUNCIL DIRECTION OR MANDATORY STATUTORY PROVISION
N/A
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
It is Administrations understanding that the notice of motion outlines Council’s desire to accept and respond to a request for financial support from Active Communities within 60 days of the following conditions being met:
• The receipt of an Independent Financial Review of the Active Communities proposal completed by a third party funded by the ACA, based on criteria mutually established by ACA and the City; and
• Confirmation that Active Communities has raised $3 million of funding from other sources towards the project.
This proposed funding review process would occur outside of the current planning process underway for prioritization of recreation amenities for future development in St. Albert.
Community Amenities Planning
The following information is to provide Council with a background on current work in planning for the future of recreation amenity development in St. Albert. This will provide context and alignment of the Active Communities Project with planning work for the prioritization of recreation amenities and the Community Amenities site.
As part of Capital Project RECR-065: Community Amenities Planning, Administration is completing a recreation needs assessment and a prioritization for future development of recreation amenity infrastructure. Through this process, recreation amenity infrastructure will be assessed against City philosophical and program alignments and will include community and stakeholder feedback. Many community stakeholders have been identified to participate in the recreation amenities prioritization public engagement, including Active Communities.
The draft Recreation Amenity Prioritization will be presented to City Council for endorsement in Q2 2022. This information will define the City’s priority for future recreation amenity development and will be used to form recommendations to Council on future recreation amenity development at the Community Amenities site and at future land parcels in the city.
As this process will take into account all the recreation amenity needs in the community, including outdoor refrigerated rinks, it would be beneficial for Administration to complete the needs assessment and prioritization before Council consider requests for funding in isolation of this process.
STAKEHOLDER COMMUNICATIONS OR ENGAGEMENT
Stakeholder engagement is an identified component of work in the Recreation Amenity Prioritization project, including the contributions of local stakeholder groups, in which Active Communities has been identified as a stakeholder.
IMPLICATIONS OF RECOMMENDATION(S)
Financial:
None at this time.
Legal / Risk:
None at this time.
Program or Service:
Review and/or acceptance of one-off funding requests outside of the established budget processes, may result in additional community requests being received by Council.
Organizational:
None at this time
ALTERNATIVES AND IMPLICATIONS CONSIDERED
1. Alternatively, Council can direct Administration to review a request for funding from Active Communities and provide a summary report and recommendations for Council consideration, providing the request meets the conditions outlined in this notice of motion.
It is important to note that the timing required for Administration to complete the document review and report for Council consideration would have to be determined at the time of submission by Active Communities in alignment with Administrative workload and resource availability.
2. Active Communities can be referred to the Community Capital Program Grant. This program is in place for community organizations requesting funding for specialized community capital development in promotion of their organizational goals and objectives. However, the Community Capital Program Grant funding budget is $250,000 annually, substantially under the funding requested by Active Communities.
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Report Date: January 31, 2022
Author: Daniele Podlubny, Acting Director
Department: Recreation & Parks
Deputy Chief Administrative Officer (Interim): Diane Enger
Chief Administrative Officer (Interim): Kerry Hilts