TAMRMS#: B06
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Facility Development Collaborations
Presented by: Anna Royer, Business Manager
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RECOMMENDATION(S)
recommendation
1. That Administration continue to advance the existing MOU process with the St. Albert Soccer Association and the City of Edmonton with a lens on any evolving regional opportunities and provide an update back to Council by June 30, 2019.
2. That the current lease agreement with the Community Village/Food Bank be amended to extend the date of the current term to 2034, and to include first right of refusal for future lease negotiations.
3. That the Community Village/Food Bank be provided the funding transferred to the capital reserve as per PM113-2017 for the years 2017 and 2018 in the form of a capital grant to be used for building renovations.
4. That no further funding beyond the 2018 allocation be placed into the Community Village/Food Bank building reserve fund.
5. That capital project charters POLI-003 Beaudry Place Policing Renovations Warehouse Space and POLI-004 Beaudry Place Policing Renovations be removed and replaced with a new capital charter that identifies an alternative building accommodation plan and updated costs for future policing human resource needs to be considered for funding through the Council approved capital budget prioritization process.
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PURPOSE OF REPORT
The intent of this report is to provide Council with strategic short and mid-term options to address the recent requests of Stakeholders and to address the recent questions put forward to the electorate. This report does not address the long-term facility needs in the community. The research leading up to the report has included collaborations with user groups, service providers, adjacent municipalities, and internal city staff. Council has been involved in determining the criteria and prioritizing the six focus areas where presentations and requests for support have been presented to Council for consideration. The six focus areas included Indoor Full-Size Field, Additional Indoor Ice, Additional Aquatic Facilities, Food Bank, Library Services, and Gymnastics Facilities.
COUNCIL DIRECTION
On July 10, 2017 Council passed the following motions:
(CM-17-064)
That Administration will provide a report to Council by Q2 2018 recommending a growth plan for facility development including funding strategies, operating models and land requirements.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
As part of their responsibilities, municipalities and their Councils have to often make decisions which favor some projects over others, either driven by the municipality or by valued existing or potential partners. This difficult exercise often forces Councils to choose between several worthwhile projects. Over the last several years, a number of calls for support and capital requests related to community services projects have been identified by Council and Administration as well as by community stakeholders.
Administration embarked on a lengthy process to collaborate with the stakeholders that had vocalized a need for increased services in specific areas, including potential service providers who had expressed an interest in development in St. Albert, as well as adjacent municipalities and potential regional partners facing similar requests.
The initial collaborations resulted in a report entitled “Collaboration for Facility Partnerships”, compiled by facilitator Stephania Duffee, DMC Ltd and provided to Council in February 2018 via slot memo. Please refer to the attached entitled “Collaboration for Facility Partnerships - Special Report to St. Albert City Council”. This process encouraged community group dialogue in discussing similar space and facility pressures being experienced, and also explored opportunities where short-term solutions and partnerships could lead to improved utilization and use of existing space. The process also reconfirmed to Administration that in the event that planning begins on an additional sports complex, it is necessary to include broad community engagement to ensure the facility being developed contains the components that the community needs the most. There are numerous community groups that were not included in the collaboration that may also desire the support of Council but have not yet made a request. Their voices will need to be included in discussions prior to confirming the program and components for a multi-sport complex. As well, opportunities with our regional neighbors including their needs should be explored.
The “Collaboration for Facility Partnerships” report also contains feedback and comments collected during engagement sessions with potential service providers and representatives from regional municipalities. The key messages from these sessions included the need to consider a campus/multi-use facility in the long term once land is available, and when planning such facility, ensure regional collaboration and broad community engagement is integrated.
Following the provision of the February “Collaboration for Facility Partnerships” report for Council, Administration began the process of developing mid-term options to meet the expressed needs. The options were based on the dialogue with the stakeholders, and strongly consider those that were feasible to have a shovel in the ground within the next three years. The recommendations presented in this report will allow Council to initiate facility development and address prioritized focus areas during their Council term. In some cases, the specific stakeholder group was supportive of only one option and did not agree that alternatives that Administration provided were feasible in meeting their needs. This will be highlighted further into this report as each focus area is discussed along with the options and stakeholder comments.
To assist Council with the difficult task of making decisions regarding facility development requests, Administration engaged the services of the consulting firm RC Strategies + PERC to develop the focus area reports, assist with confirming the stakeholder needs and desired options, and to facilitate the process of prioritizing the focus areas.
During the spring 2018, Council was led through a priority exercise related to the six identified focus areas. Facilitated through two separate workshops, the intent of the exercise was to utilize an objective process to prioritize the focus areas with the end result being a combined Council ranking. To assist with comparing a variety of criteria, a report was developed for each area, which was vetted through the applicable user groups/stakeholders prior to utilization for the Council priority workshop. Each report contained information for the specific area related to each one of the criteria identified for prioritization. Council was provided the opportunity to influence the criteria to be used for the priority exercise as well as the weighting or metric to be assigned.
The criteria utilized in the prioritization included Public and Stakeholder Input, Utilization, Partnership Opportunities, Regional Partnership Opportunities, Local and Regional Provision, Economic Impact, Accessibility, Benchmarking, Trends, and Historical Support. Please refer to the attached report from RC Strategies entitled “Facility Prioritization Final Report”.
After each Council member had scored the criteria for each focus area, the final ranking in order of priority was as follows:
1. Indoor Full-Size Non-Boarded Turf Field
2. Additional Indoor Ice
3. Additional Aquatic Facilities
4. Food Bank
5. Library Services
6. Gymnastics
Each focus area will be looked at in order of the above ranking in terms of the mid-term option being recommended. These are options which would allow a shovel in the ground to begin work on the project within the next one to five years. The recommended options are based on Council priorities, stakeholder input, land availability, funding requirements, corporate needs, and previously identified projects based on current master plans.
1. INDOOR FULL-SIZE NON-BOARDED FIELD
The City of St. Albert currently has two indoor boarded fields located at Servus Place used extensively for indoor soccer October through March. The boarded soccer game is played primarily in Alberta. Boarded soccer is generally a different game from traditional full field soccer. The focus area of indoor full-size non-boarded turf field would provide a space where St. Albert can return to the traditional game of soccer year-round. Currently St. Albert offers the traditional game of soccer played world wide during the summer season which is limiting for player development and success. The opportunity to play year-round in an indoor full-size field could be utilized by a wide range of activities in addition to soccer such as football, baseball, rugby, badminton, volleyball, and other activities requiring large turfed space. A full-size indoor field can also be sectioned off for multiple groups to use smaller areas simultaneously.
The St. Albert Soccer Association has approached Council to support and invest in the “Field of Dreams” initiative which involves the development of a facility which would include an indoor full-size non-boarded turf field. While the plans are conceptual, the facility may also include two multi-use gym courts, dressing rooms, office and storage space, retail rentals, a community boardroom, club lounge, spectator seating, parking and eventually the addition of two outdoor turf fields and five additional outdoor natural turf fields. A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed with St. Albert Soccer Association, the City of St. Albert and the City of Edmonton as this would be a partnership project with each partner contributing financially. While discussions continue, they are preliminary until the dedication of land and financing are confirmed. The site identified by the soccer association is a piece of non-contiguous un-serviced land located northwest of the Anthony Henday and owned by the City of Edmonton. It is estimated that the cost of the initiative including site development, parking and outdoor fields will be approximately $50 million. This does not include the cost of land or site servicing.
A partnership opportunity is currently being explored within the capital region on another site involving a variety of stakeholders for a multi-use facility. This project is in the early discovery stage but has garnered interest in the region. While outside the boundaries of St. Albert, there may be opportunity to become a partner in this initiative and include the component of an indoor full-size non-boarded field. Capital investment required is unknown.
An option in the development of an indoor full-size non-boarded field could include completing the site feasibility and stakeholder engagement on covering an existing field, specifically the Larry Olexiuk Field in Riel Recreation Park. This field is heavily booked on a seasonal basis and would only add additional full field space during November through April. A similar initiative recently completed at the University of Alberta involved doming Foote Field. The air-supported dome structure allows for year-round play with the dome in place November through the end of April. A high-level cost estimate for a similar structure would be $2 to 4 million, however a feasibility study and detailed costing would provide a more accurate and site-specific estimate. Current operations of this field are through Recreation and Parks Department and Public Works. There would be operational impacts with extending the season to year-round related to staffing (scheduling, maintenance, and facility supervision). This option has not been discussed with the user groups, therefore both stakeholder and community consultation would be required to ensure support as well as site feasibility as this facility is located on and old land fill requiring environmental mitigations.
Recommendation for an Indoor Full-Size Non-Boarded Field
Administration recommends the following related to the development of an Indoor Full-Size Non-Boarded Field:
1. That Administration continue to advance the existing MOU process with the St. Albert Soccer Association and the City of Edmonton with a lens on any evolving regional opportunities and provide an update back to Council by June 30, 2019.
2. ADDITIONAL INDOOR ICE
The City of St. Albert currently operates five indoor ice surfaces; two located at Akinsdale/Kinex Centre and three surfaces located at Servus Place. In 2016, Administration was directed by Council to develop the Arena/Ice Surface Conceptual Plan which is attached entitled “Arena Ice Surface Conceptual Plan”. This plan provides the City with direction on the type, size, location, and associated amenities for a new indoor ice facility in the city. Extensive stakeholder input was gathered as part of the development of the plan, and 24 potential sites were identified for preliminary review to determine suitability for a new indoor ice facility. Through an evaluative process, Servus Place ranked the highest as the most appropriate location for the sixth indoor ice surface. Capital growth project charter SERV-004 was developed and has been updated with a capital investment requirement of $21.3 million. Please refer to the attached capital project charter entitled SERV-004. Annual operating costs are estimated at the time of the 2016 Conceptual Design were $450,000. This includes allowance for annual lifecycle contribution. This option remains the preferred option for the ice users. In the 2017 civic election ballot question, an additional indoor ice arena received 46.1% support for continued planning.
Administration has developed a second option related to ice needs as a response to direction by Council to develop a capital project charter for a refrigerated outdoor skating rink/summer use combination. This option involves an outdoor rink placed on the northeast corner of Servus Place. The structure would consist of a concrete arena pad which includes cooling capabilities with a trenchless header. There would be new UV protected dasher boards and Plexiglas. A connection via a walkway would lead directly into Servus Place and into the current leisure ice area. LED lighting will be used as well as a chilling system. A sun shade would also be installed to extend use into the warmer months and provide some protection from snow. During the summer months the surface could be utilized for hard surface sport activities or as an outdoor movement studio. The estimated capital cost of this project is $2,8 million. It is not recommended to combine a splash pad with this option based on the architect’s evaluation and recommendation. Please refer to the attached “Servus Place Additional Outdoor Rink”.
The three main stakeholder groups (Minor Hockey, Ringette, Figure Skating) participated in a focus group led by both the Consultant and the Architect of the design to review the proposal and provide feedback on potential use. The top concerns with the proposal is that ultimately this is still an outdoor rink and use will be contingent on weather, therefore they would not schedule teams for practice times. In addition, the users require dedicated dressing rooms which have not been included. The cost to add dressing rooms would double the capital cost of the total project to an estimated $5.4 million. In summary the groups were in agreement that this would be a “nice to have” addition to the community as a spontaneous leisure surface but would not use this for any of their programs, therefore it would not alleviate their ice needs.
Next Steps for Additional Indoor Ice
Administration will submit capital project charter SERV-004 6th Arena Ice Surface for consideration for funding through the 2019 Council approved Capital budget prioritization process.
3. ADDITIONAL AQUATIC FACILITIES
St. Albert has two indoor aquatic facilities which combined experience over 575,000 users annually. Fountain Park Recreation Centre is designed to meet the majority of programming needs including swimming lessons, school lessons, user group rentals, and aquatic fitness programming. In addition, Grosvenor Outdoor Pool also provides aquatic programming during the summer months. Fountain Park Pool and Grosvenor Pool are 40 and 50-year old infrastructure. The Landrex Water Play Centre located at Servus Place is designed as a spontaneous use leisure pool. Increased pressures from community members and aquatic user groups as well as knowledge that our community is growing, have led to consideration for additional indoor aquatic facilities being requested. In the 2017 civic election ballot question, planning for additional aquatic facilities was the only one of three questions which received over 50% support at 55.7% of those responding indicating support for continued planning.
In 2016 Administration was directed by Council to provide an updated project charter to address the need for aquatic expansion, with the intent of this project being considered in the 2018 Growth capital budget deliberations. Due to unavailability of land in the mid-term future, the aquatic expansion has been developed in a conceptual plan as an addition to Servus Place. The existing infrastructure can accommodate the additional operational requirements of an expansion. Capital growth project charter SERV-009. was developed and has been updated with a capital investment requirement of $14.3 million. Annual operating costs have not yet been confirmed but it is estimated that this addition would increase the operating budget expenses by approximately 30%. The work completed for the purpose of project charter SERV-009 is conceptual and did not include public or stakeholder consultation. Before committing to the construction of additional aquatic facilities at Servus Place public and stakeholder engagement is required and additional work on the detailed design and costs should be carried out. Please refer to the attached capital project charter entitled SERV-009 as well as the attached analysis and conceptual plan related to aquatics entitled “Servus Place Expansion Analysis - Aquatics Expansion”.
Next Steps for Additional Aquatic Services
Administration will submit capital project charter SERV-009 6th Servus Place Aquatics Expansion for consideration for funding through the 2019 Council approved Capital budget prioritization process.
4. FOOD BANK
The St. Albert Community Village and Food Bank (CV/FB) has been located at 50 Bellerose Drive since 2009 and is currently in a lease agreement with the City for their space. The lease term expires in 2024, with a provision for an automatic extension of 3 years (2027) if the City does not notify the CV/FB that they require them to vacate the leased space. At the time that the lease was initially developed and signed, there was interest from the City to eventually utilize the CV/FB leased area for future RCMP additional space needs. In June 2017 the President of the CV/FB presented Council with their vision for a new facility, and asked Council to support the project through the donation of a parcel of land.
Through numerous discussions and collaborations, including a closer view into the vision of the City of St. Albert’s Community and Social Development Department, the CV/FB has expressed that if possible they would desire to stay in their current location. The location is centralized, easily accessible, and the current space if reconfigured would meet their needs for the longer term. In addition, the CV/FB has a number of synergies with both the clients, programs and services offered through Community & Social Development who are also located at Beaudry Place. By providing the CV/FB with a more stable future, the continued evolution of a “Social Hub” at Beaudry Place can be realized. In order for this to happen, they have requested that their lease agreement be amended with the provision of an additional ten years added to the current expiry date of 2024. In addition, they are requesting access to the funds collected to date approved through the following motion which was approved though the 2017 budget process.
(PM113-2017)
That $50,000 per year for 8 years be transferred into a capital reserve to support the Community Village/Food Bank for their future new building and that Administration bring forward any necessary amendments to C-FS-01 Financial Reserves schedules to reflect this new reserve.
These funds from the reserve would be used to reconfigure their interior space to meet their needs long-term.
Providing assurance to the CV/FB that they can remain in their current space long-term, impacts the ability of the RCMP to access this space in the future. Currently capital project charters POLI-003 and POLI-004 identify Beaudry Place, including the CV/FB, for future renovations to accommodate for human resource growth. An alternate plan for future space for the RCMP and Policing Services would be required, and revisions made to the aforementioned project charters.
An alternative option for the CV/FB is to support their previous request which involves the City donating a parcel of land in Campbell Park to construct a new building on. This would involve a long-term land lease, with the costs of constructing and operating their facility solely that of the Food Bank. This option would then remove the CV/FB from Beaudry Place, opening space for the RCMP and Policing Services. This option is not the preferred option of the CV/FB. There is a strong desire and vision to develop Beaudry Place as a Social Community Hub, encompassing a variety of agencies including the Community and Social Development Department.
Recommendations for the Food Bank
Administration recommends the following related to the Community Village/Food Bank:
1. That the current lease agreement with the Community Village/Food Bank be amended to extend the date of the current term to 2034, and to include first right of refusal for future lease negotiations.
2. That the Community Village/Food Bank be provided the funding transferred to the capital reserve as per PM113-2017 for the years 2017 and 2018 in the form of a capital grant to be used for building renovations.
3. That no further funding beyond the 2018 allocation be placed into the Community Village/Food bank building reserve fund.
4. That capital project charters POLI-003 Beaudry Place Policing Renovations Warehouse Space and POLI-004 Beaudry Place Policing Renovations be removed and replaced with a new capital charter that identifies an alternative building accommodation plan and updated costs for future policing human resource needs to be considered for funding through the Council approved Capital budget prioritization process.
5. ADDITIONAL LIBRARY SERVICES
The St. Albert Public Library has been looking for additional space for several years. The current facility is well used and was originally designed with a maximum capacity to serve a population of 50,000. There is a demand for additional space to address programming and study needs and learning activities. In the 2017 civic election ballot question, additional library facilities received 36.1% support for continued planning. The Library continues to be eager to be involved and included in the potential long-term development of a campus or shared multi-facility hub, but in the interim have provided alternate options which would assist in moving towards the provision of additional library services for the short and mid-term.
The Library is supportive of the development of a Storefront Library in a leased space of approximately 3,000 square feet in the north end of St. Albert. The space would contain the library’s greatest hits: popular books and materials for all ages, an area for programs, materials pick-up and drop-off, access to technology and community space. The Library has developed a project charter for this initiative and will be submitting it for consideration in the 2019 budget deliberations. The capital cost estimate for the start up of this location would be $517,000. The 2019 operating expense would be $279,225 with 2020 operating budget requirement of $382,300.
Next Steps for Additional Library Services
Administration will be submitting an operating business case and a capital project charter for the Storefront Library for consideration for funding through the 2019 Council approved Capital Budget Prioritization process.
6. GYMNASTICS FACILITY
There are two gymnastics clubs in St. Albert: Dynamyx Gymnastics Club and St. Albert Gymnastics Club. Dynamyx currently leases a facility to offer its programming while St. Albert Gymnastics owns its space. Dynamyx has been experiencing increasing rent increases in their current space and have a strong desire to have a purpose-built space. The request for funding support in the form of land and/or financing which has come in front of Council was initiated and driven by the Dynamyx Club. The Dynamyx Club has previously applied for support through the past Capital Partnership Program but were unsuccessful in their application and subsequent appeal.
On the direction of Council Administration facilitated discussions to bring the two gymnastics clubs together with the City to develop a MOU for joint gymnastics planning. After participating in discussions, and careful consideration, St. Albert Gymnastics Club has respectfully declined to proceed with an MOU.
Past direction of Council also requested Administration to thoroughly examine the request of the Dynamyx Gymnastics Club and provided a report to Council. In July 2017 Administration provided their review which included challenges within the report of proceeding forward with the development of gymnastics specifically if only one of the two clubs were involved. Please refer to the attached entitled “Dynamyx Facility Needs Report”. The challenges noted within the report included that Dynamyx was not a single representative of the sport/activity for the City, the facility type does not align with the corporate service levels, the facility would be developed for a single user experience. The Dynamyx Club has indicated that St. Albert residents make up less than 50% of their clientele.
Next Steps Related to Gymnastics Facilities
As a consensus for the development of an MOU was not achievable at this time, no further discussions regarding a partnership for gymnastic facility planning with the City will take place in the short or mid-term future. Administration will continue to include gymnastics club in future discussions and collaborations related to facility development for the longer-term (five years plus). Additionally, gymnastics clubs will be invited to provide feedback into any future master plans related to sport and leisure.
Additional Considerations Related to Facility Development
In the past few years there have been two service providers formally presenting visions for multi-use facilities to Council; the YMCA and Active Communities Alberta. These were both unsolicited presentations and not part of a call for proposals or expression of interest. When planning for facilities, especially those which require significant tax dollar support either as initial capital and/or on-going operating grants, it is important that the corporation and the community has been engaged in defining needs and components. In addition, the following criteria require consideration: financing, land availability, and land servicing. Extensive consultation with Council, residents, stakeholder groups, the public at large, and City departments, all contribute to shaping the project and ensuring success. These consultations help to develop a shared vision, define scope, budgets, operating impacts, and look to partnership opportunities both regionally and locally. Once the above is established, a competitive process for a service provider can take place.
There is also potential to form partnerships with land developers who may have land available for purchase or lease by the City for facility development. While acquiring the land is attractive, the purchase price would be competitive and would add additional capital cost to project development.
Discussions continue to take place regionally as a number of municipalities are experiencing similar space and growth challenges. Changes within the region may direct development related to recreation facilities and support those that move forward as regional projects. Per the 2018-2021 City of St. Albert Corporate Business Plan, Activity 4.3 is intended to bring clarity to regional partnerships, specifically with Sturgeon County, the City of Edmonton, and others regarding frameworks for collaboration for recreation. This initiative is still in the planning stages, but once initiated and implemented, should provide Council with options for regional partnerships, and a framework to consider requests. In the meantime, City Administration continues to meet with regional partners, but is looking to adopt a holistic and standardized approach (if possible) to planning for shared recreation needs, on an inter-municipal level as mandated by the province.
While the scope of this report is to focus on mid-term options for facility development, there was also a consistent message being repeated throughout the dialogue with user groups, service providers, and potential regional partners. Communication and collaboration is beneficial for all groups and there were many who were not at the table who may be experiencing the same type of space needs. Collaboration encourages the discovery of possibilities for innovative use of space and increases resourcefulness. The groups that were involved in the collaboration opportunities were honest and insightful in their discussion. St. Albert could benefit from the formation of a multi-sport committee or a “Sports Connection” Committee with representation from a number of sport partners including regional representation. This could be set up similar to the provincial model (Alberta Sports Connection), or to other models employed in some Alberta communities. This would move discussions towards a more structured continuation of collaboration, encouraging proactive rather than reactive strategies and could assist in planning for long term facility development. Administration is exploring the feasibility and costs anticipated with this initiative.
STAKEHOLDER COMMUNICATIONS OR ENGAGEMENT
Community Stakeholders impacted by the six focus areas addressed in this report were engaged throughout the process of collaboration, development of the focus reports, and discussions surrounding options for their specific area of interest. Internal department staff were engaged in discussions surrounding options for development as well as collaboration meetings with the user groups. Regional stakeholders were invited to collaboration discussions as well as potential service providers.
IMPLICATIONS OF RECOMMENDATION(S)
Financial: None at this time.
Legal / Risk: None at this time.
Program or Service: None at this time.
Organizational: None at this time.
ALTERNATIVES AND IMPLICATIONS CONSIDERED
1. That the information contained in this report be received as information.
2. That Council not proceed with any short or mid-term options and direct Administration to work towards a long-term multi-purpose community campus site in the north.
STRATEGIC CONNECTIONS
Corporate Business Plan
4.1 - Identify opportunities for shared Recreation, Social and Culture activities and facilities.
4.4 - Identify an inventory of existing facilities including an assessment of condition and usability and identify gaps in land and facility supply and demand.
City of St. Albert Strategic Plan (Policy C-CG-02) - Pillars of Sustainability
BUILT ENVIRONMENT - We build our community towards the future to sustain balanced development, with a reverent eye to the past, honouring our unique settlement history and distinct identity.
Governance Strategy
Council is committed to ensuring that the City of St. Albert is a responsive, accountable government that delivers value to the community.
Service Delivery Strategy
Council is committed to ensuring that the City of St. Albert is engaging residents to identify opportunities to improve delivery of services to the community.
Long Term Plans (e.g. MDP, Social Master Plan, Cultural Master Plan, etc.)
This report supports the Recreation Master Plan, the Culture Master Plan and the Social Master Plan.
Report Date: June 25, 2018
Author(s): Anna Royer
Committee/Department: CPS Administration
Acting General Manager: Diane Enger
City Manager: Kevin Scoble