Council has asked for draft amendments to the Committee Appointments Policy that would allow residents who are not Canadian citizens the ability to sit on advisory committees. The motion was made following a delegation by David Michaels, a Banff resident who does not hold Canadian citizenship, but has lived in the community for many years. He said changing the policy would allow a large section of Banff residents to become more involved in the community. Administration will return to council with a report on what potential policy changes could look like.
Banff Community Foundation executive director Lorraine Widmer-Carson and board member Bill Fisher spoke to council as a delegation, updating them on the work the organization is doing and their future projects. The foundation’s next community grants deadline is Sept. 30, and they’re also accepting SHINE nominations until May 31.
Council made multiple requests for reports and cost estimates for both short term and long term tactics to improve parking management in downtown Banff.
For short term tactics, council directed administration to return with a cost estimate for implementation:
• of ‘off-street stall’ no same day return enforcement
• of a zone-based cumulative time limit enforcement strategy
• for increasing time limit enforcement earlier in the day
• for increased time limit enforcement (May long weekend to Sept. 30)
• together with a forecast of implications of using Licence Plate Recognition Technology as an enforcement option
• options for a parking data collection and monitoring program
• for a substantive behaviour change campaign
• options for increasing the frequency of Roam regional and local transit
• options for increasing the use of under-used stalls, both private and public, in the downtown core
• options to run a pilot user pay parking project, but postpone the report until fall 2014 once further parking data is collected
For long term tactics, council directed administration to return with cost estimates and funding options for capital projects to improve alternative transportation infrastructure, for the design and construction of new parkade in 2015/2106 as well as new surface lots, and where they might be located.
Council gave three readings to the 2014 Tax Rate Bylaw 240-11. They also directed administration to amend the 2014 budget to increase municipal tax revenue by $89,363 and increase the general municipal transfer to the general capital reserve by $89,363. Trends show a 2% average increase in taxable residential assessments and a 20.4% increase in the average taxable commercial assessment.
Council voted to use the Environmental Reserve to cover funds distributed through the environmental rebate program, from the operating budget of Environment.
Council adopted the revised 2014-15 Recreation Facility Rental and Special Event Permit and
Equipment fee adjustments and voted to authorize the Town manager to approve special rate structures for large scale or unique facility bookings. In general, all fees were increased by 3% to cover increases in utilities and manpower with two exceptions:
• The Banff Minor Hockey/Banff Skate Club/Canmore Minor Hockey hourly ice rental rate was increased by 13% (from $94.00 to $106.00) to bring it in line with council’s standard that resident minor users are subsidized and pay 50 per cent of the resident adult rate.
• The non-resident youth rate was increased by 18% (from $179.00 to $211.00) to ensure that non-resident youth were not receiving a subsidized rate and are paying no less than the resident adult rate. Comparative research from the Calgary and Area Arena Managers Coordinating Committee supports this increase.
Council voted to draft an email to send to MP Blake Richards regarding approved identification for voting in federal elections, and inquire which ID Banff residents would be able to use.