Best of the Season District B:
As you may have noticed from the emails there is plenty happening this month. The EFCL board meeting this month will be abbreviated due to the board taking a little time to celebrate the holidays together.
This month I attended the playground funding meeting, the living local meeting, the EFCL outdoor rink committee meeting and the City Council budget meetings to name a few.
Download the December 2010 EFCL Board package here
New Capital and Operating Funds for Leagues
First the GOOD NEWS. City Council passed the EFCL budget request for $1.5 million in community league capital funding next year and they also passed our request for increased operating money. The criteria for the capital funds are being developed and we will know more soon. As you will recall this increase in budget came directly as a result of negotiations for a new Tripartite Agreement. The capital funds are half of what we asked for, but a welcome initiative to start cleaning up some of the infrastructure problems in community leagues and possibly building new facilities as well. The money will be gobbled up very quickly since there is a backlog of needed projects. The Planning Committee has created some specific "asks" in this regard. Please see section 6.1 on page 13 of the board package for details. If you have input please let me know.
EFCL/EMHA Hockey - Outdoor Rink Committee
As I reported in a separate email I have joined this new committee that cam about as a consequence of the problems with hockey registrations experienced this year. As Allan reports in the board package the EMHA is saying membership requirement in leagues is in their bylaws and there is a 50-50 chance a vote at the EMHA would remove that requirement. However, for us in the northeast that is only part of the story. The Northeast Zone also has this requirement in its bylaws as well and President, Lorraine Jex advised me last week that they have no intention of removing this requirement. This is why I am working with the EFCL/EMHA committee to support the creation of NEW EFCL/EMHA programs to promote the use of rinks and perhaps even shinny hockey in the communities. This should be positioned as a new program and not a replacement for the relationship we have with hockey in the northeast including membership in leagues.
Dates to remember:
EFCL Trade Show:
Saturday January 22nd 9AM-4PM - Blatchford hanger, Fort Edmonton Park Free parking, food and beverages 9 Featured presentations booths, entertainment, and free parking as well as easy access on the #4 bus.
6.1 Attracting Families to Mature Neighbourhoods - at last month's meeting the board past a motion to ask Edmonton City Council to undertake measures that help mature neighbourhoods retain and attract families with children. This includes infill housing standards that are attractive to families and the development of a strategy to retain existing schools. This month a motions is coming before the board to add some detail to these ideas.
See the board package for more details. As always if you have any questions, comments or input you would like me to take forward please let me know.
David Dodge, Edmonton Community League Blog
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Playground Meeting at the EFCL with MLA Thomas Lukasuk
Hi Folks, I attended the meeting about playground funding on November 22 at the EFCL. MLA Thomas Lukaszuk was there along with half a dozen folks from the City and a gaggle of community league folks including Troy from Belle Rive in our area.
There were wide ranging discussions. Mr. Lukaszuk explained that he feels playgrounds are costing a lot more in Edmonton than in places like Spruce Grove. He also said that the more expensive playgrounds that are built the fewer neighbourhoods will get playgrounds. He said the pot of money is limited from the province. He explained that the provincial money is divided four ways: 1) Edmonton; 2) Calgary; 3) Small Towns; 4) Rural Alberta. He did not say if it was done on a per person, or per capita basis.
The group talked about the use of volunteers in the building of playgrounds and the City seemed to say they would refrain from discouraging communities from using volunteers.
The group also talked about expectations in building playgrounds and managing them. There was some discussion about how suppliers tend to ramp up the sense that we need to buy everything under the sun for each playground and that sometimes overlooked are the less expensive features that are less focused on hardware and more focused on activities and use of the park.
After the meeting the EFCL asked the City to also look at the cost of drainage requirements to see if that can be managed better to reduce the cost to leagues building playgrounds.
Most of the city funding is geared to "neighbourhoods" which is fair for community leagues that have more than one neighbourhood in their community. There is one gap this principle – apparently district parks such as Poplar Park in Belle Rive do not qualify for NPDP funds that are geared to neighbourhoods. Some of our city representatives promised to look into what fund could be used to support playgrounds in district parks like Poplar Park.
When asked about how decisions are made about provincial funding for community leagues undertaking park projects. Mr. Lukaszuk reiterated that funds are limited, but did not elaborate on how funds are dispersed. However, Mr. Lukaszuk did say that there is nothing that should prevent groups from applying for casino funds to assist in funding playgrounds. I did indicate that we heard community folks were getting a lot of grief about this from gaming, so I would suggest taking your applications to your MLA and give them copies when you submit them. He suggested getting you project pre-approved by gaming and to get your MLA involved if you have problems.
It was very worthwhile to get community, city and provincial folks all in the same room!
There were wide ranging discussions. Mr. Lukaszuk explained that he feels playgrounds are costing a lot more in Edmonton than in places like Spruce Grove. He also said that the more expensive playgrounds that are built the fewer neighbourhoods will get playgrounds. He said the pot of money is limited from the province. He explained that the provincial money is divided four ways: 1) Edmonton; 2) Calgary; 3) Small Towns; 4) Rural Alberta. He did not say if it was done on a per person, or per capita basis.
The group talked about the use of volunteers in the building of playgrounds and the City seemed to say they would refrain from discouraging communities from using volunteers.
The group also talked about expectations in building playgrounds and managing them. There was some discussion about how suppliers tend to ramp up the sense that we need to buy everything under the sun for each playground and that sometimes overlooked are the less expensive features that are less focused on hardware and more focused on activities and use of the park.
After the meeting the EFCL asked the City to also look at the cost of drainage requirements to see if that can be managed better to reduce the cost to leagues building playgrounds.
Most of the city funding is geared to "neighbourhoods" which is fair for community leagues that have more than one neighbourhood in their community. There is one gap this principle – apparently district parks such as Poplar Park in Belle Rive do not qualify for NPDP funds that are geared to neighbourhoods. Some of our city representatives promised to look into what fund could be used to support playgrounds in district parks like Poplar Park.
When asked about how decisions are made about provincial funding for community leagues undertaking park projects. Mr. Lukaszuk reiterated that funds are limited, but did not elaborate on how funds are dispersed. However, Mr. Lukaszuk did say that there is nothing that should prevent groups from applying for casino funds to assist in funding playgrounds. I did indicate that we heard community folks were getting a lot of grief about this from gaming, so I would suggest taking your applications to your MLA and give them copies when you submit them. He suggested getting you project pre-approved by gaming and to get your MLA involved if you have problems.
It was very worthwhile to get community, city and provincial folks all in the same room!
EFCL-EMHA Hockey Committee Launched
New EFCL Hockey Committee News
Here is a quick update on the hockey situation. I have joined a committee to discuss a new relationship between the Edmonton Minor Hockey Association (EMHA) and the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues (EFCL).
See these notes from the first meeting on November 22, 2010. We had a second meeting today (on December 6, 2010).
The committee arose as a result of wide-spread problems that occurred during hockey registration this year in some parts of the city.
The idea is to establish a new relationship between the two organizations and possibly to run programs together at the community level.
Today, Shirley from Belvedere stepped forward and joined the committee as someone who looks after a rink and is interested in programs. See the attached document for a list of the other participants.
Committee Objectives:
1) To increase the utilization of outdoor rinks in Edmonton.
2) To increase the number of people playing hockey
3) To provide more opportunities for people to develop their hockey skills.
4) To bring people together in neighborhoods, to help them develop friendships and feel good about the area in which they live.
At today's meeting we talked about programs to bring community scale hockey back into communities, the idea of a winter rink day and the idea of talking about improving use of rinks and participation in learn to skate and hockey related activities.
I also spoke with Lorraine Jex last week and she confirmed that the North Zone is very committed to retaining the relationship between communities in the northeast and hockey and the requirement for memberships. I also stressed that many folks in the Northeast would like to see these new programs developed as "new initiatives" between the EMHA and the EFCL and not as replacements for the requirement for community league memberships.
The EFCL/EMHA committee is talking about hosting an event in January to get community folks together to discuss ideas for improving participation and possibly even promoting informal shinny hockey in leagues. Watch for details, but the meeting will likely be held on Saturday January 29, 2010 early!
Here is a quick update on the hockey situation. I have joined a committee to discuss a new relationship between the Edmonton Minor Hockey Association (EMHA) and the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues (EFCL).
See these notes from the first meeting on November 22, 2010. We had a second meeting today (on December 6, 2010).
The committee arose as a result of wide-spread problems that occurred during hockey registration this year in some parts of the city.
The idea is to establish a new relationship between the two organizations and possibly to run programs together at the community level.
Today, Shirley from Belvedere stepped forward and joined the committee as someone who looks after a rink and is interested in programs. See the attached document for a list of the other participants.
Committee Objectives:
1) To increase the utilization of outdoor rinks in Edmonton.
2) To increase the number of people playing hockey
3) To provide more opportunities for people to develop their hockey skills.
4) To bring people together in neighborhoods, to help them develop friendships and feel good about the area in which they live.
At today's meeting we talked about programs to bring community scale hockey back into communities, the idea of a winter rink day and the idea of talking about improving use of rinks and participation in learn to skate and hockey related activities.
I also spoke with Lorraine Jex last week and she confirmed that the North Zone is very committed to retaining the relationship between communities in the northeast and hockey and the requirement for memberships. I also stressed that many folks in the Northeast would like to see these new programs developed as "new initiatives" between the EMHA and the EFCL and not as replacements for the requirement for community league memberships.
The EFCL/EMHA committee is talking about hosting an event in January to get community folks together to discuss ideas for improving participation and possibly even promoting informal shinny hockey in leagues. Watch for details, but the meeting will likely be held on Saturday January 29, 2010 early!
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