Family Day at Delwood and Evansdale

Hi everyone, I hope you enjoyed a beautiful Family Day weekend in your community. I dropped in on the open house event in Delwood and at my own Community League, Evansdale.

Here are some photos the open house at Delwood. They had food, soccer registration, skating, tobogganing, and face painting. The local MLA Tony Vandermeer dropped in to hand off a cheque for $22,000 to help with renovations underway at Delwood Community League.




Over at Evansdale Community League they had hay rides, a petting zoo, food, and free skating for the day! It was a busy day there too. Here are some photos:



I hope your Family Day was fantastic.
David Dodge
president@efcl.org

Feburary EFCL Board Package

February EFCL Board Package Highlights

Download the EFCL February 2012 Board Package

3.1 Good Neighbour Awards
 Do you know somebody who has helped your neighbourhood become a vibrant and connected neighbourhood? This is your chance to nominate them for a Good Neightbour Award from the City of Edmonton. There were 150 nominations in 2011. Someone from each of Edmonton's 13 City wards be be recognized.


7.4 Multiplex Review Committee
The EFCL Mutilplex Review Committee consisting of three board members, three members of Community Leagues and Allan, our executive director met with Rob Smyth and Roger Jevne about the City's upcoming plans for multiplexes and to discuss the role community league facilities play in Edmonton's planning and funding of new recreation facilities.
If you weren't already aware the Commonwealth Community Recreation Centre is set to open very soon!
In addition work is underway on the new Claireview District Park and Community Recreation Centre will feature a new pool, fitness centre, gym, library, ECS High School Completion Centre and renovated arenas.
There is some information here at the City's website.
You can read our report in the February Board package. Essentially we discussed four key things with the City folks:


Integrated planning of future recreation facilities to ensure we take into consideration all of the existing community facilities (120 halls, 120 rinks, tennis courts, and the Soccer Centres operated by the Soccer Association). We would like to see all of the rinks and halls on all of the City maps to ensure we consider the best investment possible in optimizing all recreation facilities in the City. For example it might make sense to upgrade a series of Community Rinks by adding covers on them to create more local recreation and event opportunities. A new master planning process is getting underway next year. We made our suggestions and asked to be involved.


Sports Policy - when a sports policy is developed that emphasizes the participation of all citizens we may want to participate.


Aging Rink Facilties - there was a fear that as new facilities are built that the City would simply close aging facilities in some areas of the city leaving them without recreation facilities at all. Community Leagues will definately want to be involved in the discussion of what is happening in areas where facilities may be closing such as Tipton, George Hughes or Donnan. This discussion is important as the City sorts out what to do with the aging facilities after it builds the new facility in Bonnie Doon. One idea being tossed around is mini-multiplexes. What if we take Scona Pool, George Hughes Arena and the EFCL office and combine them all into a small recreation complex that continues to serve the area. Another idea might include putting covers on community rinks where it seems to make sense. These are just ideas however. We will need to get inolved in these processes to ensure creative ideas come out the other end!


Community Usage of City Facilities - The City is making significant efforts to involve the local communities in the new Commonwealth Recreation Centre. But in some cases it would seem to make sense to combine operations. For example, consider Oak Hills on the southside. They have a community site in the field outside the Terwilliger Recreation Centre. Rather than build a $1.0-$1.5 million hall facility adjacent to the massive recreation centre why not make room for them inside. Imagine posting information about volunteering in the local league on a bulletin board in a recreation centre frequented by thousands of people a week. It could be good for both the local community league and the city. Hmmmm, this is just a crazy idea at this point, but it does seem to make some sense. We would like to see more strategic use of facilities that makes better use of buildings and integrates community leagues with local citizens.


Overall the process of meeting and discussing the recreation centres was well worthwhile. Watch for opportunities to weigh on these issues in the near and distant future.


7.8.4 Pool Allocation and Bookings Consultation with the CIty
We held the fifth meeting of the this committee on January 31 and there is generally some satisfaction with the new models that Community Leagues can use to book swim times for their leagues. 
The one thing we mentioned loud and clear was that we would like to see the 20% discount for Wellness Passes reinstated. The discount was cut to 10% in the City budget. A lot of leagues say their members think the discount is important and reason to join Community Leagues. The benefits of these discounts go beyond the number of wellness passes sold. Please write your favorite City Councillor and let them know if you think the 20% discount should be reinstated.
Also we learned through the committee that community leagues (and others) can make bulk purchases of admissions to City facilities and save up to 40% on the fees. This discount rate cuts in when you purchase 1260 admissions. This may be an option for a group of leagues to consider, or possibly the EFCL.


Community League Signs
As most Community Leagues are probably aware you can rent signs to promote your events up to 8 times a year. Each rental can go up for a maximum of two weeks. Leagues like doing this to promote big events or sports registrations. The City increased the number of signs you can rent from 2 to 8, but the Transportation Department reduced the the number of sites you can put the signs quite significantly.
We are going to meet with folks from the City to discuss this. Some community leagues were left with no sites for signs in their community, which doesn't really work.


That's it for now. Please contact me anytime.
David Dodge
president@efcl.org

January 2012 EFCL Board Package

The Fire and Ice sculture was a dramatic installation at
Ice on Whyte this year. The event was held at Strathcona
Community League in Old Strathcona. A very cool event!
Photo David Dodge (click photo to enlarge)

January EFCL Board Package Highlights

Download the EFCL January 2012 Board Package

I have already reported on the the highlights of the January board package in my January 3 blog entry! The bigs news was that the Community League Infrastructure Program funding was increased to $3 million for 2012 - deadline for 2012 applications in March 1. We also received confirmation that the entire $1.5 million made available in 2011 was awarded to Community League projects around the city. We also heard that 153 of 154 community leagues have signed or are in the process of signing the Tripartite Agreement.  Each of these has or will receive the 2011 operating grant that increased 40% last year.

Community League Capital Funding Up $1.5 million

Happy New Year Community Leagues!


Community League Capital Funding Up $1.5 million


Ok, the good news first! We were successful in getting another $1.5 million in funding earmarked for the Community League Infrastructure program for 2012! 


This means $3 million will be available as matching funds to fix up old community league facilities (halls, rinks, basketball courts etc.) and to build new facilities as well in 2012! Edmonton City Council recognized the need for this funding and voted unanimously to support the new allocation of funds. If you submitted applications in 2011, but did not get funds be sure to re-apply this year. Please also try to find out why your application in 2011 was turned down. Was it because your project did not meet the criteria for the funds or was it simply because there wasn't enough money? Ask your community recreation coordinator to help you figure this out and then re-apply.

December 2011 Board Package

News about Signs


The City has amended it's sign regulations. Community Leagues used to be able to place only two signs per year for two weeks. The new rules allow up to eight placements of portable signs per year for two weeks each for Community Leagues. Each placement requires a $15 permit.
If you own your own sign you need a licence to place signs. The $375 licence is needed by all sign owners, whether they are businesses or community leagues. The licence is good for five years. 


December EFCL Board Package Highlights


Download the EFCL December Board Package


4.2 EFCL Meet with Area Councils – Dwayne Robertson, president of the Area Councils of Edmonton Society has asked for a meeting to discuss a draft EFCL/Area Council MOU. An agreement was drafted some time ago and the Central Area Council of Community Leagues and the Castle Downs Recreation Society have approved the MOU. The idea is to get together and discuss how the two organizations can work together.


4.4 Family-friendly Multi-unit Housing Guidelines – That EFCL adopt and promote the December 2011 version of the Child/Family-Friendly Multi-Unit Housing Guidelines. These draft guidelines attempt to put some clear criteria forward that describe "family friendly" housing in order to ensure that higher density and other new developments are truly family friendly. (see board package for the draft) These guidelines provide 67 key points to assist us in advocating for more family friendly housing. This is a really nice piece. The purpose of the exercise for the EFCL is to help keep children and family friendly facilties in mature neighbourhoods.


6.3 EFCL City Budget Request – After our presentation to City Council in the budget process members of council chose to make motions for two out of our three funding requests. Councillor Ed Gibbons moved and councillor Kerry Diotte seconded the motion to increate the Community League infrastructure budget from $1.5 million to $3 million for 2012. Then Kerry Diotte moved and Kim Krushell seconded the motion for $30,000 in addition funding to match the money that EFCL members agreed to commit to a new community league development program. We also asked that the operating grants be increased again this year, but no motion was made by any councillor. CAUTION - remember these are simply the motions and this means these two funding requests are seriously in the running for approval, but they must still be approved.


6.4 Recreation Facility Review – A joint committee of the EFCL and Edmonton community leagues has been struck to review the city‘s development strategy for constructing major recreation facilities. The committee heard about the plans for the new facilities in Claireview, Stadium, Pilot Sound and the Meadows and Lewis Estates. Each of these facilities is worth about $115 million. The committee is interested in seeing these centres serve more as community hubs. We also discussed community league rinks and wondered out loud why they are not considered part of the City's inventory of recreation facilities. If they were considered and put on all the maps we may be able to come up with better integrated plans for recreation for Edmonton. We brought up covered rinks as a possible way to provide district facilities, and we briefly discussed old rinks that the City wants to close. Mostly we were in information gathering mode at this point. It was very interesting to see the plans laid out. The idea is to advocate for more living local options for recreation and to create a much more integrated system.

Winter Community League Event - Register Now, Get in on the Promos!
There is no time like the present to make a decision about your winter event and to motivate you to make a commitment the EFCL has ReMAX event kits for the first 15 leagues that email to info@efcl.org

Send us the details of your event

• Name of Event
• date and time
• location and address
• type of activities
• contact person

A new online rink map will be released early December and not only displays the location of your rink, but also the rink opening times, and any event any league is having (including those not involving rinks), any date, any theme.

That's all for now!

If you have any comments please email me anytime president(at)efcl.org


David Dodge

Inspiration and Creativity Builds Better Communities in Edmonton

Community League Showcase Awards


Inspiration and Creativity Builds Better Communities in Edmonton

The Community League Showcase was an
evening of inspiration and a tribute to
community leagues in Edmonton. 

A huge thank you goes out to councillors Don Iveson, Ben Henderson, Kerry Diotte and Amarjeet Sohi and EFCL board members  Rob Agostinis, Christine Bremner, Ken Shapka, Lindsay Smith, Veronica Vinge and Alf White and Allan Bolstad and the EFCL staff for helping host a very inspiring Community League Showcase Awards night on Saturday at the Italian Cultural Centre in Edmonton.


When the event was done I had this overwhelming sense that all of the folks in every one of our 154 community leagues needs to hear these stories and become inspired too.


It reminds us that when they are at their best, community leagues are creative, inspiring and amazing agents of change. Where else would a group of people such as the Castle Downs Recreation Society get together to rebuild a playground and end up building a $2.3 million community-inspiring facility and then travel half way around the world to reinstall the used equipment in the Philippines!


Where else but Dunluce would a group of people get together to address security concerns posed by natural forest in a neighbourhood and instead of cutting the woods down create a young environmentally minded group of Play Rangers who wanted to learn about the woods and save the trees instead. 


Where else but North Millbourne would a group of folks from the community get together with a local fitness business called “No more excuses” and get people from their community involved in “Sweat, Hope and Rock-n-Roll fitness event that helped get residents active and it raised $25,000 for inner City schools.


Where else but Duggan would a group of community folks get together to create a new kind of Community League Day event by welcoming immigrants from the entire Bhutanese Community and others from the Chinese community to a day of culture, food and music. And beyond the day, the Bhutanese are now engaged in their new community holding events in the Duggan Community Hall that is theirs too.


Or consider Alberta Avenue. When they recognized the power of the Arts community in their area, they created amazing events like the Deep Freeze Byzantine Winter Festival. Aside from making an amazing video about their event, these new connections ignited a spark of inspiration and a a new kind of engagement in their community.


And finally it’s one thing for a community to work to amass resources to build the amazing Terwilliger Recreation Centre, but it’s quite another thing to build community around it by embedding themselves in the process of building the centre and being open to new partnerships and possibilities. The Southwest Farmer’s market is an unintended consequence of building community. Plopped smack, dab in the parking lot between the high school and the recreation centre the new Farmer’s market is attended by thousands of people and already has a half time staff member. 


Or lastly, consider the Brintnell Park Society in my district of the City. Faced with the absolutely daunting challenge of deciding where to start building community in their neighbourhood, they decided to tackle the problem head on. They quickly became aware of the serious challenges being faced by new communities trying to begin living local and building even the most basic community facilities. Inspired by the impossible, this group entered a national Schneiders Picnic in the Park competition and wound up winning $100,000 that will go towards a playground in their area.


The key ingredient in every single case is the unbridled creativity that comes from true inspiration and community. Thanks to all of the community leagues for the uplifting evening. 

EFCL November 2011 Board Package

Hello District B Community Leagues

Download the EFCL November Board Package

A few highights from the November package

4.2 - Socan –First approved in 1994 the tariff was set up to apply to community halls that generate less than $15,400 from events where music is played. The rates are $185 per year. Please see the letter from Rona Ambrose, MP.

4.3 Covered Rink Proposal – It's going to the board for approval on Thursday. The idea is to dedicate $100k of infrastructure money to support a pilot project to cover a rink somewhere in Edmonton. Read more!

4.4 Transit Oriented Development – a proposed position statement that is going to the board to establish that higher density development around high speed transit be family friendly, that schools and public amenities such as parks and play areas be provided. See the statement in the package and let me know what you think.

4.5 City Notifications – because key stakeholders were not notified of changes to meetings community folks missed meetings about the location of a fire hall in Rossdales and changes to speedlimits in the 40-kph pilot communities. We think there should be a way for stakeholders to be notified when changes to the agenda's of City meetings are made.

4.6 Meeting with Edmonton Public School Board – after a successful meeting with the EPSB last May the EPSB has invited the EFCL for a follow-up meeting. We will follow-up on the issues we raised in May and topics considered by the Mayor's task force on the sustainability of older neighbourhoods.

6.2 Living Local Conference – 80 people attended the conference the EFCL hosted along with the Office of Great Neighbourhoods. Attendees were community folks, city staff and people from other non-profit organizations. There were three excellent presentations and discussions centered around ways to make communities involve and serve residents locally. The people involved felt the whole concept of living local needs to be advanced on an ongoing basis through leadership from the EFCL and the Office of Great Neighbourhoods. They also felt resources need to be dedicated to this effort.

6.3 EFCL Youth Connections – Michael Janz, the EFCL marketing director intends to make a proposal to the board on ways to engage young people in community leagues. We will learn what he is thinking at the meeting, but it involves a series of gatherings organized throughout the city! Hmmm, the Next Gen group helped create the Community Challenge, but it is generally felt that we have a ways to go to truely attract and engage younger folks in leagues. I look forward to hearing Michael's ideas.

6.5 Get a community solar system and energy audit? – That's the idea, to create a low cost small solar system for communty leagues on a pilot basis. The idea is to do something high profile (a solar system) and combine it with a community message board in the lobby of leagues and a comprehensive energy audit to help leagues understand what can be done to save energy on league facilities. In our research for this project I had the pleasure of touring my own hall with Rob Harlan from the solar energy society. He thought our hall was perfectly suited for a solar system, but it is even better suited for energy conservation projects that could save energy and money for the league. We (the EFCL) needs to raise some money to pull off this program.

6.8 Planning Report - check out the board package for these topics:

• EFCL makes headway on Grocery Store Restrictive Covenant Issue
• EFCL disappointed with new digital sign regs
• Communty plan for non-market housing in the works
• EFCL providing input into zoning bylaw changes for massage parlours
• Community Sustainability Task Force - report coming in December!

6.9 Executive Director's Report:

• EFCL 100th Anniversary
• City seeks builders for vacant school sites - the city is laying the groundwork for the development of 18 more sites
• Outdoor rink comittee winds up!

7.0 Community Services Report

• 103 Tripartite Agreements signed, sealed and in
• 51 applications for new capital funding totaling $3 million!
• Building Great Neighbourhoods - news about infrastructure spending
• Mayor hosting six senior's coffee parties
• more...

That's all folks, see the board package for more information on any of these topics.

Please email me your thoughts on these or any other issues you would like to see raised at the EFCL board meeting. 

Cheers,

David Dodge, District B Rep and President, The EFCL