Edmonton scores 7th on walkability among big Canadian cities

This came to me from Mark Anielski of Strathcona Communtiy League. Ever thought about how walkable your neighbourhood is?

Walkability certainly varies by neighbourhood, but the Top ranked Edmonton neighbourhoods are:

• Downtown (91 points) which is a walking 'paradise', including McCauley and Norwood
• Garneau
• Rossdale
• University of Alberta
• Calgary Trail North
• Old Strathcona

You can check out the walkability scores for all Edmonton neighbourhoods at the Walk Score website.

EFCL 100th Anniversary Park Project - Update

Hi Everyone,

Click to enlarge.

I heard some folks at Area 17 would like an update on the EFCL Community Leagues 100th Anniversary Parks project.

• Kris Morra of the EFCL will come to the Area 17 meeting in March (replacing me) to give a report on the parks project;
• There are regular reports on this project in our board package, newsletter and website:
• Fall newsletter: http://www.efcl.org/news/efclnewsletters/tabid/91/default.aspx
• Webpage on project: http://www.efcl.org/EFCLActivities/100thAnniversaryProject/tabid/414/Default.aspx
• Feb. Board Package: http://www.efcl.org/Default.aspx?TabId=74&xsfid=51
• The project is generally proceeding well.

The main issue that arose was that we had hoped to integrate our community league plaza and stream components with the beach component that the mayor and city are talking about doing. We are disappointed that it does not look like these are being integrated, but regardless of whether the projects are connected, we plan to go ahead with phase 1 (the community plaza) and phase 2 (the stream component) of the EFCL project is going ahead and we are actively working on it. Of course there are many steps in the process as leagues are well aware from their own park projects.

Check out the resources liked above. If you are in Area 17 Kris Morra will be at the next meeting to answer any questions you may have.

David Dodge

EFCL District B (Londonderry) Rep.

EFCL February Board Meeting Notes

February Board Meeting Notes 

Hi Everyone, you can download the Feb. 2013 board package.

Here are some notes from the February EFCL Board meeting. Please feel free to send me your comments, questions or any issues you would like me to raise at the EFCL.

First, here are a few photos from the Kilkenny and Evansdale Communtiy Family Day events in District B. 

1) K Days Parties For Leagues

The EFCL is pleased to announce that it is teaming up with Edmonton Northlands on some key promotions.

The first is a party package that will be available to four community leagues in June.

On four different Saturdays, K Days will sponsor a K Days party at the league that would include food, entertainment, games, ride, prizes etc. Interested leagues are to fill out an application through Northlands, telling why they are such a great community and why they deserve to party. They will be asked logistical questions about the facilities, green space and the number of people expected. Northlands is hoping to award these parties throughout the city and not just to BIG leagues.

Once the applications have been received by Northlands, the top 10 will be put on their website and the public will have an opportunity to vote online for their League. The top four vote getters will host the parties.

Applications should be ready by the end of February and a contest deadline will be set in April. Winners will be announced in May.

A second promotion, still in the development stages, involves the inclusion of parade floats from various organizations in the K Days summer parade. K Days wants to work with a number of organizations, including the EFCL, to develop floats for the 2014 summer parade.

2) EFCL Hosts Volunteer Recognition Night

The EFCL is encouraging all community leagues to send their hard working volunteers to a free evening of entertainment and socializing at the Myer Horowitz Theatre at the U/A.

Set for Tuesday, April 23, the evening will feature a keynote speech from Laurel Vespi, a local inspirational speaker who has written a great book called Spontaneous Combustion.

We are working with Nancy Rempel and Shaw to procure the video clips that Nancy has done on community league programs over the past year. We will be showing these clips, and possibly others, to showcase what the Leagues have done over the past year. We will also be running a slideshow of League photos at the reception following the keynote address

Myer Horowitz holds over 500 people which will allow us to thank many league volunteers.

3) EFCL Develops Civic Election Strategy

The EFCL is beginning to gear up for the fall civic election. At last week’s board meeting, the federation has decided to interview all of the key mayoralty candidates, to bring them up to speed on key federation initiatives and solicit their support. It also intends to prepare and send a backgrounder on its key initiatives to all of the candidates seeking a seat on council and will be encouraging leagues to hold all-candidates forums, with a focus on league issues, prior to the Oct. 21 vote.

4) EFCL To Connect with Leagues Without Halls

The EFCL has decided to survey all of leagues without halls to determine what they are doing to meet their space needs and whether or not the EFCL can be of any assistance. Once the survey results are in, the federation intends to hold a meeting with these leagues to discuss their situation in more detail.

The EFCL has approximately 30 leagues that do not have a hall for regular meetings or league programs. This number has been growing in recent years, as the membership of the EFCL grows and very few new halls are built.

5) EFCL To Review Role In Planning and Civic Matters

The EFCL has commenced meetings with senior city staff to discuss the federation’s role – as well as that of community leagues - in working with the city on planning and other civic policy matters.

No question this is a complex subject that will require a significant analysis, as the leagues and the federation are involved in a wide variety of issues in an equally varied number of ways. Trying to build consensus, often on short notice, is a significant challenge and finding the resources to properly research matters is another.

It also important that the involvement of the EFCL and its leagues be seen in a constructive light, given the importance of maintaining a strong working relationship with the City of Edmonton. 

6) Cultural Inclusion Project Reaches Out to Southwest Leagues

The EFCL was pleased to see a number of southwest Edmonton community leagues and city settlement agencies turn out for a meeting to explore ways to engage more recent immigrants in league activities.

Discussion focused on the lessons learned by Duggan Community League, which recently reached out to a significant number of Bhutanese residents living in their area, as well as people from other cultural backgrounds. The league executive is now extremely diverse, with members from a variety of cultural backgrounds.

Representatives from the Welcome Centre for Immigrants (which is now serving all of south Edmonton), as well as Catholic Social Services and the Mennonite Centre for Newcomers noted that they would be happy to work with leagues on this initiative.

One suggestion that surfaced was for leagues to hold an international pot luck supper as one way to meet newcomers, initiate friendships and determine who might be interested in getting involved in the league.

7) Leagues Support New Swim Time Booking Arrangement

The vast majority of leagues attending the federation’s recent swim booking night were quick to throw their support behind a new community swim concept the city has proposed.

Instead of signing a rental agreement, leagues will now sign up for a community swim program offered by the city. Provision of lifeguards will be included in the program and the city will calculate the program fee, based on seasonal enrolment. Leagues or Area Councils will be billed monthly.

The community swim program will be seen as a continuous program where leagues will remain enrolled until they notify the city of their intent to withdraw.

To help facilitate participation in this program, the city will issue the EFCL bar codes that will be attached to all community league membership cards. This will make it easier to identify league members and keep track of the number of swimmers coming from each league.

8) MP Laurie Hawn challenges SOCAN tariff

The Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues is pleased to see Edmonton Centre MP Laurie Hawn has taken up its cause against SOCAN’s tariff #21. Mr. Hawn informed us that he brought the subject up at a meeting of the Alberta caucus of MPs last week and will coordinating the fight against this tariff on behalf of all Alberta organizations.

Community leagues with halls are obliged to pay SOCAN a levy of $185 per year for the right to play music at hall events, under the tariff approved by the Copyright Board of Canada. The EFCL and a number of leagues have asked the board to exempt non-profit organizations like community leagues from this tariff. We have been told that the board intends to review the need for this tariff in the coming months.

9) Abundant Communities Initiative Underway

The EFCL is pleased to see that work is underway on the Abundant Communities pilot project in the Highlands neighborhood. Former league vice president Howard Lawrence has been hired as the Community Connector and is in charge of locating neighborhood interviewers. The interviewers will meet with residents on their block to determine the kinds of programs and events they would like to see happen in the neighborhood. Apparently, a handful of interviewers have already been lined up and a series of one-on-one meetings have been held.

The EFCL has offered to help publicize this project and do what it can to make it a success. It is our hope that a number of other leagues will be able to initiate a similar program, should the pilot project prove successful.

11) EFCL Applauds Victoria High School Decision

The EFCL is pleased to see that the Edmonton Public School Board has decided to give priority to local children who want to attend Victoria High School. The federation sees this as an important practice that helps citizens connect with each other in their own neighborhood. It appears the board responded to concerns raised by local residents, community leagues and the federation.

12). EFCL and Leagues Work Hard On Low Density Zone Amendments

At least 30 Community Leagues wrote City Council asking for further consultation and outlining concerns with the proposed amendments. The EFCL also provided a report, summarizing the concerns its heard during three workshops that were held on the subject. In addition, a number of people spoke at the Feb 11th Executive Committee meeting of City Council.

Although Council did not direct Administration to do more consultation prior to bringing the amendments to the Public Hearing, March 18th, they did ask Administration to address the sunlight, privacy and mechanical noise issues. It also appears that Administration will be bringing amendments to Council which will drop the previously proposed changes to the Mature Neighbourhood Overlay rear setbacks and will lessen the changes to the front setbacks. In addition, the EFCL has been told that a collaborative citizen/city infill group will be created to continue dialogue regarding infill housing.

That's it for now.

If you have any questions or comments please send them to me at president(AT)efcl.org

David Dodge

District B, Londonderry Rep.

EFCL January Board Meeting Notes - Call District B Londonderry?

1. EFCL Backs Family Day Unplugged

The Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues is encouraging all of its leagues to support the city’s Family Day Unplugged campaign.  The idea is to encourage Edmontonians to turn off their electronic gadgets – such as computers, televisions and cell phones - and focus on family-related activities on Family Day (Monday, February 18).

This week the city announced that it would offer family passes to city rec facilities as prizes for the league that convinces the most members to turn off their gadgets and attend a family day activity.

Registration details will be provided at the EFCL’s General Meeting on January 30 and in communications to the leagues in the coming weeks.

2.    Community Connector Pilot Project Approved

Remember the good ol’ days, when neighbors knew neighbors and did a variety of activities together on a regular basis?

Well the good news is that more people may get to experience this feeling if a new City of Edmonton/EFCL pilot project proves effective.

Called the Abundant Community, the project focuses on hiring a community connector, whose job it will be to bring people together block by block and encourage the development of local activities.

“It could be a dog walking program, a choir group, a men’s hockey night - anything that appeals to people in the area,” noted Highlands Community League president Howard Lawrence.

“Some of the activities might be run through the local community league.  Others might simply happen between residents living on the same street.”

With the support of the city’s community services department, Highlands Community League will soon be spearheading the pilot project in its 100-year-old neighborhood. However, the EFCL would like to know if other leagues would like to give this a try and will soon set up an information night for any league that is interested. The federation sees this initiative as a great way to engage local citizens and will be releasing more details of the initiative at its January 30 General Meeting at Royal Gardens Community League.

3.    EFCL looks forward to an Action Filled 2013

The Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues has put together a promotional plan that features fun activities and events from one end of the year to the other.

Beginning this month, it is starting with a great toque giveaway for any leagues holding winter festival events.  The black EFCL emboldened touques can either be used as prize giveaways or as a thank you to hard working volunteers.

Later this month the federation will also be announcing the recipients of this year’s Living Local Arts and Heritage Program award winners.  Successful leagues will be employing a local artist and/or historian to develop a project that celebrates the historical character of their area.

This spring, seven leagues – along with the EFCL – will see their building adorned with solar energy systems, as the federation seeks new ways to make community leagues more energy efficient.  This will be followed by the announcement of this year’s CLIP grant recipients, where the city will be providing $3 million in grant money to leagues interested in building new facilities or repairing existing ones.

Volunteer Recognition Night Set For April 23

One of the premier events of the year will be held on April 23, when the federation  invites community league volunteers to a gala affair at the Myer Horowitze Theatre on the U/A campus.  Delegates will be treated to an engaging speech entitled “The Power of One” by the popular speaker Laurel Vespi, along with some interesting videos on community league projects and a wine and cheese reception.

Later this spring the federation will team up once again with the City of Edmonton to host the Good Neighbor Awards, where citizens across the city will be recognized for helping others in their immediate area.

Balconies In Bloom Set to Blossom

Another new initiative planned for 2013 is Balconies in Bloom, where residents of apartments and condominiums will be recognized for work they do to dress up the balcony of the unit in which they live.  Designed to be an extension of this year’s Communities In Bloom contest, the contest will be run as a pilot project this year by interested community leagues.

This summer the EFCL intends to do a bang up job on its Heritage Days booth in Hawrelak Park.  A key feature will be a new exhibit, describing the federation’s 100^th Anniversary Project in the park.  Visitors to the booth will be encouraged to view the plans and offer their design suggestions as the federation completes the conceptual phase of this program.

The month of September will once again be dominated by Community League Day, where leagues across the city will be encouraged to host an event on the third Saturday (Sept. 21).  Once again the federation is planning to provide promotional and event materials for the leagues and this year is making plans for a Community League Day Video, to document the activities at leagues across the city.  The video will be used as an information and promotional tool in future years.

Rounding out the year will be the return of the “Leagues Alive Conference”, where delegates will be treated to a variety of educational seminars on topics pertaining to community league operations.  The November event will once again feature a luncheon members of city council.

4.    Federation Starts Work on Five Year Business Plan

The EFCL eagerly looks forward to the creation of a new business plan, now that it is nearly finished with the five year plan created in 2008.

Last week the board of directors approved the hiring of a consulting firm to do some research and provide some guidance.  The consultant will interview community league reps, city councillors, senior city administrators and other key stakeholders in an effort to evaluate current initiatives and plot new directions over the years to come.

One area the federation wants to take a hard look at is the manner in which it handles civic issues, such as planning matters, social housing policies, traffic safety programs and crime prevention measures.  Trying to act as the spokesperson for a large number of leagues is a very challenging task for the EFCL and the stances it takes on controversial issues often affects the relationship it has with government and private industry partners.   Consequently, the federation is looking for new ways to handle this portion of its mandate effectively.

5.    Swim Allocation and Consultation Meeting held January 23. 

The first change is to stop referring to this program as a rental.  Given that the city is providing the community swim supervisors, not the renters, it wants to start referring to the community swim nights as a community swim program, and manage it in a similar fashion to other city programs.

With this in mind, community leagues will no longer be required to sign rental contracts. Rather, communities will be asked to acknowledge their interest in being involved in the community swim program in their local pool. The City will calculate the program fee based on the

enrollment seasonally, and leagues/ Area Councils would be billed monthly (there will be no change in how monthly rates have been calculated currently).

The second change is to view community swims as a continuous program where leagues will remain enrolled until they notify the City (Facility Booking Unit) of their intent to withdraw. 

It is hoped that the restructuring should remove a number of barriers and facilitate a smoother transition into and out of seasons.

6.    Three Board Development Workshops In The Works

The EFCL has three more workshops lined up to help league executives hone their skills.  Here they are, in chronological order:

Tools for Treasurers: Thursday, February 7, 2013, 5:30pm, at the EFCL office.  This workshop will follow the EFCL budget meeting set for January 30/13, where we will discuss community league budgeting practices - so we expect a full class.  Linda Crosby, EFCL Financial Assistant, and I will work closely together to further expand on key concepts introduced during the Leagues Alive 2012 session, with a strong focus on the necessity of having a budget and how to work within the budget the community league board has set

Social Media 101: Thursday, February 21, 2013, 5:30pm, at the EFCL office, presented by Joseph Carma, technology & social media consultant.  Joseph has generously offered to present this session, in order to provide an opportunity for those community league board members who may have missed L.A. 2012.

Volunteering Recruitment & Screening: Thursday, March 28, 2013, 5:30pm, at the EFCL office, presented by Milena Santoro, Volunteer Management Certification instructor with Volunteer Alberta, and owner/operator of MS Productions.  As all community league boards are run with volunteer energy & input, the need to recruit the “right” individuals is an important & timely issue, along with how to ensure the new board volunteer is the correct fit for the league and job(s) at hand. This session will look at ways to recruit new volunteers, as well as methods involved to screen potential volunteers.

7.    Socan Saga Lurches Along

According to the Copyright Board of Canada, the review of an application by the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) for a new tariff in 2013 never proceeded last summer as planned, due to the high number of objections and complaints received.  Instead, the board is putting together a review process to accommodate all parties and will apparently let us know when the hearings will be held.

In the meantime, we are told that the 2012 rate of $185.07 will remain in effect until the board conducts its review and certifies a tariff for 2013 or beyond.

Consequently, we continue to receive reports from community leagues that are being pestered by SOCAN reps to pay tariff #21, which allows them to play music in their hall.

8.    EFCL Decides to Name Each of 12 Districts

The EFCL has decided to name each of its twelve districts, in order to make it easier for everyone to understand where the districts are located.

Last week the board decided to invite feedback from its leagues on a draft list of suggested names.  It intends to finalize the names at its meeting in March.  The names are as follows:

District A: Castle Downs/Calder.

District B: Londonderry

District C: Clareview/Horse Hills

District D: West Edmonton

District E: Meadowlark

District F: Downtown

District G: Highlands/Beverly

District H: Terwillegar/Riverbend

District I: Greater Strathcona

District J: South East

District K: Southgate/Heritage

District L: Mill Woods/Meadows

What do you think. We will still call our area District B, but to help folks who don't know what area that refers to we are considering referring to our area as District B: Londonderry? There is the pool, a mall and a community league of the same name. Does this work for you? Let me know what you think.

Cheers,

David Dodge

District B Rep. 

Thanks to Allan Bolstad for the notes that have been adapted

January EFCL Update

1. EFCL And League Budgets The Focus of January General Meeting

I saw this snowy owl in Camrose this week and needed
a picture for the blog, so here he is! 

The EFCL is holding a special general meeting at Royal Gardens Community League (4030-117 Street)  on January 30 to review the federation’s 2013 draft budget and business plan.  The objective is to get some feedback and direction from the membership on the key programs and initiatives the EFCL has in mind for the coming year.
Once that is accomplished, it was thought that this would be a good opportunity for leagues, in small group settings, to think about their own budget and program plans.  Here, it is our intention to encourage leagues to bring forward their latest budget and strategic plan so that others can hear how they were prepared and how they meet the needs of the host league.  We see this as a good learning experience for leagues and one that will encourage them to enroll in future EFCL workshops on these topics. 
We will have a league budget and strategic plan template on hand for comparison purposes, or to help out at tables that do not have any league material to review.

The rest of the agenda consists of announcements, board and planning committee elections, a report from the city and various EFCL staff reports, that will be dealt with by exemption.  There is also some time set aside for community league suggestions and concerns.

2. Balconies in Bloom 

The Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues has asked the City of Edmonton to include a “Balconies in Bloom” component to this year’s Communities in Bloom contest.  The goal is to give residents in apartments and condomium complexes a chance to take part in the program that recognizes the efforts Edmontonians make to beautify their property each summer.
Response to idea has been most favorable and work has begun on the means by which well groomed balonies can be recognized.

3. Area Councils Support Memorandum of Understanding

A draft memorandum of understanding received broad support at a meeting between the EFCL and the city’s eleven area councils on November 22.  The memorandum sets out the role for the federation and the councils and describes how they will all work together to represent and assist community leagues in Edmonton.
The federation has also agreed to host regular meetings with the area councils to share information and identify partnership opportunities.
Please review the MOU ask your community board if they can support the agreement.  Take your decision to your next area council meeting. You can download the latest version of the MOU here. The agreement is a pretty simple agreement for two of our important community organizations EFCL/Area Councils to cooperate. Evansdale CL looked at this last year and has already accepted it. Most of the Area Councils indicated they would support the MOU as presented at our last meeting. 

4. EFCL Refines Anniversary Project Design

An application has been made to the province’s Community Facilities Enhancement Program (CFEP) for $75,000 to help the federation flesh out the design of its 100th Anniversary Project in Hawrelak Park.  The funds will be used to help with the design of the community league plaza and stream upgrade, which is being planned as a comprehensive facility in the southeast corner of the park.
In addition, the federation has been meeting with the city’s consultant (Stantec), to look at water play options in the park.  Stantec has been charged with developing a conceptual plan for the water play feature and with determining an appropriate location for the facility.  One site under consideration is an open field between the existing playground and stream.  If this location is selected, the water feature would be integrated into the federation’s anniversary project.  The other location is north of the main pavilion in the park, near the northeast corner of the lake.
The consultants are scheduled to present their draft plan to the federation’s anniversary committee on January 14 and to the general public later that month.  It is due to present its recommendations to council’s community services committee on February 26.

5. Community Swim Consultation Meeting Set for January 23.  

A Community Swim Consultation meeting is set for January, 23, at 7:00 P.M., at St Anthony's Centre (10425-84 Avenue).   
The City is proposing two changes to the current program and would like feedback from league representatives.
The first change is to stop referring to this program as a rental.  Given that the city is providing the community swim supervisors, not the renters, it wants to start referring to the community swim nights as a community swim program, and manage it in a similar fashion to other city programs.
With this in mind, community leagues will no longer be required to sign rental contracts. Rather, communities will be asked to acknowledge their interest in being involved in the community swim program in their local pool. The City will calculate the program fee based on the enrollment seasonally, and leagues/ Area Councils would be billed monthly (there will be no change in how monthly rates have been calculated currently).
The second change is to view community swims as a continuous program where leagues will remain enrolled until they notify the City (Facility Booking Unit) of their intent to withdraw.  
It is hoped that the restructuring should remove a number of barriers and facilitate a smoother transition into and out of seasons.
These changes came thanks to the work of numerous area council folks!

6. Continuing Education Program Reaches Out To Community Leagues

The Edmonton Public School Board’s Continuing Education program is exploring the possibility of providing educational programs for community leagues.  The program have provided some examples of courses they could provide to community leagues.  It is also willing to accommodate any special request, if there is enough community interest.  Courses under consideration include; Effective Listening for Leaders, Intercultural Communication, Creating a Mentorship Environment, Effective Meeting Skills, Dealing with Difficult People, Managing Workplace Politics,  Conflict Resolution, Building Cohesive Teams, Team Building, Working with Different Generations, Project Management, Minute Taking.

7. Workshops Scheduled to Review Low Density Zone Changes:

As requested by several of the League representatives who attended the October 29th Public Hearing, the EFCL has organized workshops regarding the multiple low density zone changes under consideration by City Council.   The first workshop, held Dec 3rd at Glenwood Community Hall, was productive and its results will be posted on the EFCL’s website.
The next workshops will be held 7 pm, January 3rd at Pleasantview Community Hall, and 7 pm January 14th at Spruce Avenue Community Centre.  Council’s executive committee is due to consider the matter on January 28.

8. Neighbourhood Design & Complete Streets Guidelines Coming

Guidelines for New Neighborhood Designs and Complete Streets will be available for review by the public from January 28th to mid February.   During this consultation period the City project teams will gather feedback and then do their final revisions before presenting the Guidelines to Council for consideration.   The city will present its draft plans in each of these areas to the EFCL’s Planning Committee at its next meeting on January 23rd.

9. Two Board Development Workshops Planned

The following workshops have been scheduled to help community league board members improve their skills.

a) Tools for Treasurers: Thursday, February 7, 2013, 5:30pm, at the EFCL office. Linda Crosby, EFCL Financial Assistant, and Andrea Sage, Board Development Officer, will expand on key concepts introduced during the Leagues Alive 2012 session, with a strong focus on the necessity of having a budget and how to create and work within the budget the community league board has set.  This workshop will follow the EFCL general budget meeting set for January 30/13, so we expect a full class.

b) Social Media 101: Thursday, February 21, 2013, 5:30pm, at the EFCL office, presented by Joseph Carma, technology & social media consultant.  Joseph has generously offered to provide this opportunity for those community league board members who missed Leagues Alive 2012.

Thanks to Allan Bolstad for the core of this update.

District B News & Update on November Board Meeting

Well it's been a very busy month. As a volunteer at the EFCL, it seems there are limitless opportunities to serve on committees and work on community issues.

Regular General Meeting
The EFCL held its Regular General Meeting on October 23 at Britannia Youngstown Community League. You can still download the meeting package here. The membership did decide to have a third meeting each year so the EFCL can pass its budget in a timely fashion. If you have any questions about the meeting please let me know.

District B News

In district news we were very sad to learn of the passing of Margaret Day's husband Les Day. He passed away at age 80 after a short fight it cancer. Margaret Day has been an active community league president and volunteer in Londonderry for decades and we offer our sincere condolences to Marg at this most difficult time.

Welcome to Troy Kalita, the new president of McLeod Community League and it sounds like Lago Lindo is getting a new president as well with news of Ralph Guido leaving the position as president. And after getting funding contributions from Area 17 and the City of Edmonton Steele Heights is still waiting for crucial funding from the province to resurrect their hall.

Committee Work

Edmonton Minor Hockey Association Strategic Planning

I am representing the EFCL in the EMHA strategic planning process which we view as a good opportunity to attempt keep community connections going in hockey in Edmonton. The EMHA is challenging itself to look to the future and improve on one of the most successful hockey programs anywhere. Community Leagues still have 120 rinks in the Edmonton area and community leagues still offer a tremendous opportunity for kids to skate and try hockey. We'll let you know how this goes. By the way the EFCL suggested to the hockey folks that they opening game of Minor Hockey week be played on an outdoor rink - we're not sure it will happen, but what a neat thing this would be for hockey to return to its outdoor roots on this historic year.

Renewable Energy Task Force Redux

Seven community leagues
are participating in the
EFCL's solar and energy
conservation program.
Photo David Dodge

I represented the EFCL on Edmonton's Renewable Energy Task force that wound up its work with a report earlier this year. It was the work of the task force that inspired the EFCL Solar and Energy Conservation program now underway at seven leagues in Edmonton. Part of the task force has been reassembled to provide reaction to the consultants who are now preparing a draft renewable energy program for the City. As you may recall about 18 community leagues applied for the solar and energy conservation program that had only seven spots. Hmmm.

Edmonton Journal Community Advisory Committee

I also serve on the Journal's community advisory committee. The paper is looking for ways to connect with community and a business model that works in the age of the internet. The Journal wants to interact more effectively with community, involve the community more in the news process and collect feedback to the Journal on new ideas they are working on. The Journal tried to connect with readers by encouraging them to contribute ideas and content to the Bridge - it didn't work. We'll see where this goes.

Communities in Bloom

On October 10 I joined Mark Stumpf-Allen of Alberta Avenue and Stephane Labonne of the City of Edmonton in making a presentation on community leagues to the National Symposium & Awards Ceremonies held in Edmonton.

EFCL November Board Meeting Update

Download the EFCL November Board Package (section #s refer to the board package) 
Each month in the board package you will find our reports, all of the recommendations to the board and a full record of all decisions made at the EFCL. You can also find copies of letters we send and summaries of recommendations coming to the board from the planning committee. Don't forget our elected District B Representative on the Planning Committee is Ron Favell from Killarney Community League. You can reach him at 780-456-4706

Here I am with
EFCL Allan Bolstad,
executive director
at Leagues Alive.
Photo Rob Agostinis

With Councillor Kim Krushell and
EFCL VP David Gibbens.
Photo Rob Agostinis

Russ Dahm of the Chamber of
Voluntary Organizations at
EFCL's Leagues Alive with
me, David Dodge.
Photo Rob Agostinis

3.1 Leagues Alive Conference

The Leagues Alive conference seems to have been a big hit with community leagues with good attendance at most of the sessions and some very good suggestions for improving the sessions for next year. The lunch with City council was popular with leagues and councillors alike. It seems trade show attendance is down however, so we will be evaluating that component of our fall event. If you have any feedback please send your thoughts to us now.

5.1 Living Local Arts and Heritage Program

The board appointed Maureen Esch as the EFCL jury representative for the Living Local Arts and Heritage program this year. The Deadline is December 1 for grants up to $20,000 to  undertake arts or heritage projects in your community. The community must raise 1/3 of the cash to get the grants.

5.3 Name the District - Time to get creative

Let's face it "District B" is just not a great handle for our district name and it tells you nothing at all about where we are located or what makes our area unique. To this end the EFCL is asking the districts to recommend names for the districts before the new year to help people recognize our districts. We will retain the letter "B" in our district name, but we are looking for some description, creative ideas for the name of our district. Please send your ideas to me ASAP: president@efcl.org
How about the North Central Lake District, or possibly a historical reference?

5.4 Dates for next two general meetings

Mark your calendars the EFCL has set the dates for its next two general meetings: January 30, 2013 for  the first of our new year's meetings and May 29, 2013 for our AGM.

5.5 Four leagues sign up for Rink Roof Pilot Projects

Four leagues stepped forward indicating they wanted to participate in the Rink Cover pilot project. Belvedere, Eermineskin, Jasper Park and Grandview Heights all came forward before the deadline and qualified for a small amount of seed funding from the EFCL. If their project goes ahead each league qualify for $20,000 from the EFCL. If a project does not go ahead the funds will be split amoung the leagues that actually go through with their projects. There are a lot of details to work through to make this work for the league, the community and the city, but we are hopeful that this may be a way to provide a very useful year-round facility that is still community league scale.

5.6 Civic Engagement Practices

The EFCL is asking the Mayor and the City Manager for a meeting, or a series of meetings to discuss new ways of interacting on civic issues. The EFCL is very proud of our efforts in recent years to up our game in terms of representing leagues on city-wide issues through the work of the EFCL Planning Committee and numerous other committees, but we are constantly stretched in terms of our capacity to respond to requests for input and even worse sometimes we are not afforded the time for due process properly consider issues and get feedback from our leagues. A pile-up of issues in recent weeks has meant leagues are frustrated, some city councillors are frustrated and the EFCL is frustrated. So we intend to seek out some creative solutions to increase the opportunities and the quality of our input on issues.

5.7 Cell Tower issues

The EFCL Planning Committee has developed some principles for consideration by the City for siting cell phone and other towers in the city. This is definitely tricky since the cell towers in particular are regulated by the federal government, but with increasing numbers of towers going up to serve ever increasing demand for remote digital communications the principles call for good process, adequate notice and a consistent application of city policies in such matters.

8.6 League Attendance at EFCL General Meetings

This board package contains graphs and an analysis of which members have been attending general meetings at the EFCL. The good news is that attendance is definitely growing at EFCL general meetings. Our district has one community league that have attended 10 out of the last 10 EFCL general meetings: Evansdale, okay, okay that's my league. In addition Rosslyn has attended 8 of 10 and Killarney has attended 7 of 10 meetings. The general meetings are held three times a year and it's your change to have a voice in the policies of the EFCL. Remember the league can send any representative to these meetings, it does not have to be the president. 

8.7 Community Development Officer's Report

Community Swims

Of interest to folks in Area 17 and Area 2, our community consultation is set for January 23, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. The City has agreed to provide a venue for the meeting but have not identified one yet.

The City is proposing a new structure for community swim contracts. As proposed, communities will no longer be required to sign a rental contract. Rather, communities will be asked to acknowledge their inter- est in being involved in the community swim program in their local pool. The Department will calculate the program fee based on the enrolment seasonally and leagues or area councils will be billed monthly. Communities will remain enrolled, for both the winter and summer seasons, until they notify the Department (Facility Booking Unit) of their intent to withdraw.

8.8 Planning Advisor's Report

1. Low Density Zones & Mature Neighbourhood Overlay

Leagues were very interested in changes here. About 20 leagues wrote the City about changes. 

Council will hear from the public on January 28, 2012 at Executive Committee of City Council. City Administration is organizing an Open House at City Hall, Nov 20th, 4 pm – 7:30 pm. Community Leagues wanted workshops, but that can't happen until after January 28, so the EFCL is organizing a workshop before the January 28 executive meeting.

3. Vacant School Sites

The Oct 15, 2012 Public Hearing resulted in all 8 sites being approved by Council for Seniors Housing, but not without several amendments to the motions recommended by Administration. EFCL members provided significant input. (please see the report in the board package for details)

10.2 EFCL Letter on Food and Agricutlure Strategy

This item is actually from last month. With almost no time to gather additional feedback or to share this city strategy with community leagues the EFCL commented on the Food and Agricultures strategy that went to report and before council at hyper speed. EFCL Past President David Gibbens served on the committee and had some deep reservations about the report of the committee, but we had no time to consult with our members. The EFCL indicates that this is "a forward-looking step" in our letter to City Council, but we recommended against accepting the policy at this time. This incensed one council member. It also prompted one of our members to write an email that provided a different take on the reports recommendations. Council passed the strategy.
You can read our letter in the November EFCL Board Package on page 38.
Here is an email I received from Lisa Jimmo after the board meeting from the President of Horse Hills Community League. It offers a slightly different assessment of the strategy:

Hi David,  

I was reading your current blog and feel that I must comment on the entry regarding the City-Wide Food & Agriculture Strategy.  As you are likely aware, I am also a member of the Advisory Group with David Gibbens.  In my view, this is a high level strategy document and provides a good framework for the future Food Council to develop detailed projects to implement that will bring about cultural change concerning local food within the City.  It is not an implementation plan but a starting point.
I do not believe that more time will add to the end product.  I may not agree with every word of the document but I attended all meetings and provided my input.  It is a reasonable and sensible compromise between a lot of differing viewpoints and I do support the final strategy.  Council gave over two years to bring back a product and that is a reasonable expectation in my view.

I feel that the EFCL should be looking at this strategy and saying "this is where we see the EFCL & the member community leagues contributing"  instead of saying that you need to be told where you fit in.

Preservation of agricultural land is an agreed upon objective - so that is a commitment.   How much land needs to be saved has to be done in concert with the Area Structure Plans.  You need to see the whole picture and not pre-judge the ASP's.  Because of this focus on saving agricultural land, anything good in the CWFAS is being lost.  

Saving agricultural land within the Urban Growth Areas is a nice to have; it is not key or foundational in my view.  It is only a part of the overall view.  Agribusiness in the form of greenhouse production needs to be developed as well as encouraging individuals to use what is in their backyards and neighborhoods. Encouraging more institutional use of local ingredients needs to happen.  There are more opportunities for creative land use than preserving large tracts of land.  The Edmonton Energy & Technology Park holds a large amount of "good dirt"  & its use is never discussed.  I support the farmers who want to retain the land they own for farming.  I also support the farmers in our area who feel that there is "good dirt" other places and want to move on.  

Make no mistake, however, this strategy does not address the needs of the vulnerable and disadvantaged - that needs to be done.  This is a strategy for those who are better off.
Lisa Jimmo
President
Horse Hill Community League

There are certainly divergent opinions on this issue as reported in the Edmonton Journal.
As we indicated in our letter the idea of community gardens, farmers markets, food hubs are all encouraging suggestions. It's when you get to the issue of protecting farmland that the going gets really tough. At the EFCL we strive to have excellent processes and to engage our members. It is far better to have the time and capacity to hear from our members in matters so important. Hopefully by communicating more with council and administration we can find even better ways of engaging our citizens in meaningful dialogue on important issues.

That's it for this month. If you have any comments please contact me anytime at president@efcl.org

Cheers,
David Dodge
President, and District B Representative
Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues (EFCL)

October EFCL Board Meeting Highlights - RGM

Hi everyone, you can download the board package from the October 11 board meeting and here some hightlights from the meeting. 

Notes From The October Board Meeting

1. Registrations Rolling in For “Leagues Alive” Don't Miss It!

Fifty six community league executive members have now registered for the “League’s Alive” Conference and Trade Show,
which will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, November 3 at the Mayfield Inn. So far, the four most popular sessions
are Use of Gaming Proceeds, Bylaws and Policy Development, Event Planning and Role of the President.

In addition, nine members of city council have confirmed their attendance for lunch with the councillors session at 11:30 a.m.
in the trade show ballroom. Registrants will be able to sit at an individual table with any of the following councillors
- Linda Sloan, Kim Krushell, Dave Loken, Tony Caterina, Ben Henderson, Jane Batty, Amarjeet Sohi, Kerry Diotte and Ed Gibbons.

Admission to the conference and trade show, including lunch, is free to all community league executive members. However,
delegates need to register to reserve a seat in any of the sessions, as well as for lunch. It should also be noted that there are no child
care services on site.

2. $60,000 Available To The First Rink Cover Applicants - Act Soon!

In an attempt to encourage one or two demonstration projects, the EFCL is making $60,000 available to the first leagues that decide
to build a cover over their outdoor rink.

Leagues are reminded that there is also federal matching grants of $250,000 available for such a project. The deadline for applying
is November 19. Information on rink cover suppliers is available through the federation office.

3. Living Local Arts and Heritage Grants Available

Leagues are reminded that the EFCL, Edmonton Arts Council and Edmonton Heritage Council are once again sponsoring the Living
Local Arts and Heritage Program. Up to $20,000 is available to any league that wants to engage a local artist or artists to do a project
or performance that recognizes the historical character of their area.

Leagues are responsible for providing 1/3 of the total funding and must provide a letter of endorsement. Applications are available
through the EFCL website (www.efcl.org) by clicking on “Activities” and then “Arts and Heritage Grant.”

4. Leagues Reminded About Fall General Meeting - Oct 23 RSVP now!

Each league is encouraged to send a representative to the fall general meeting of the EFCL, which is set for 6:30 p.m. at Britannia/Youngstown
Community League (15927-105 Avenue). Updates will provided on all of the federation’s programs, elections will be held for board and
committee members and leagues will be asked to consider the addition of a third general meeting, to consider the federation’s budget and
annual program plans, in January or February of each year. Delegates are encouraged to register so we know how much food to order for dinner,
which is set for 5:30 p.m., as well as the number of agendas and reports we need to print.

5. Food And Agricultural Strategy Needs More Meat On The Bones

The EFCL has decided to ask the city to do more work on the Food and Agricultural Strategy before adopting the draft document as city policy.
While liking many of the ideas presented in the policy, such as the promotion of food hubs, farmer’s markets and community gardens, the EFCL
couldn’t determine from the document who was going to undertake any of the projects, how they would do them or where they would get the
resources. The EFCL also didn’t see any commitment to protecting any of the city’s prime agricultural land, which is a key ingredient to providing
locally-grown food.

Without additional direction the federation is concerned that the draft policy won’t accomplish much of anything.

6. EFCL To Register Concerns About Changes To Mature Neighborhoods

The EFCL is not sold on the idea of allowing more front garages and driveways on properties in mature neighborhoods, or the concept of allowing
some properties to sit very close to the street and others quite far back. Hence, it is going to ask the city to scale back on its plans to change the rules
for development in mature parts of the city.

7. Realtors Pitch Fancy New Edmonton Website

The Realtors Association of Edmonton and Area – which is one of the key sponsors of the EFCL – is putting together a $2 million website which will
contain a host of information about the community along with homes that are for sale.

The EFCL has been asked to provide information for the “YEG is Home” website and encourage its leagues to do the same. It has also been asked to
contribute financially to the project.

The federation is quite intrigued by the possibilities presented by this communication tool and will use the next few weeks to flesh out the role it can play.

8. Planning Continues on 100th Anniversary Project

The EFCL is continuing to refine its plans for the upgrade of Hawrelak Park. The biggest decision that needs to be made is the possible inclusion of a
water play feature next to the playground. This will hinge on the recommendations of a consultant the city has just hired, who will review the pros and
cons of including a water play feature as part of the federation’s project, next to the playground, or putting it north of the main pavilion, near the northeast
corner of the lake, where the city will be responsible for the design, development and financing. The consultant will be meeting with relevant stakeholders,
including the EFCL, and welcoming public input over the next few months.

In the meantime, the EFCL will continue to flesh out plans for the Community League Plaza and Stream Upgrade.

9. Conflict Resolution Session Set

In order to help leagues deal with difficult situations, the EFCL is offering “Tips and Tools for Having a Difficult Conversation” at the EFCL office at
6:00 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 18. The workshop is being presented by staff from the Mediation and Restorative Justice Centre.

10.Federation Pleased With Traffic Calming Measures

The EFCL was pleased to see the city approve a set of traffic calming measures to reduce speeding on residential streets. The city will now prepare a
set of custom-designed plans, featuring traffic islands, extended curbs, raised intersections and road medians for neighborhoods experiencing significant
speeding issues.

Neighborhoods are also welcome to apply for a 40 km./hr speed limit on their residential streets. The initiative must be endorsed by the community league
and two thirds of the area residents before it will be considered by the city.

11. Meeting Set with City Council

Eleven members of Edmonton City Council have confirmed their attendance for the annual meeting with the board of the EFCL, which is set for Monday,
October 29. The EFCL will update council on various federation initiatives and seek input from council on future directions.

12. Representing the EFCL on Hockey, Edmonton Journal and Edmonton's Renewable Energy commitees

I have volunteered to represent the federation on three task forces or committees. The first is a visioning task force set up by the Edmonton Minor Hockey Association, which is looking for ways to increase participation and engage the community in the provision of hockey programs.
The second is Edmonton Journal’s Community Advisory Board and the third is the city’ renewable energy task force, which helped spawn the federation’s solar
and energy conservation program.

If you have any questions or comments please call or write anytime. Thanks to Allan for these notes.

David Dodge
President and District B Representative
Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues (EFCL)