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

Anthony Henday Opening Today - Update

Hi Folks in District B. 


Here is an update on the on the opening of the Anthony Henday from Councillor Ed Gibbons.


Anthony Henday Opening Today

With the opening of Anthony Henday Drive later today, it is likely that questions will arise about the status of 66 Street north and south of A Henday.  The following information is provided:

a) 66 Street between 167 Ave and A Henday will operate through the winter on the existing alignment.  Roadway maintenance has undertaken minor work to ensure that the roadway will be functional over the winter.  The road will be closed for reconstruction next spring to be reconstructed to an urban arterial roadway on the permanent alignment.  The work could not be completed this year due to the various utility relocations necessary prior to construction.

b) 66 Street between Henday and 195 Ave will operate through the winter on the existing alignment, and a temporary cross connection between the new and old 66 St alignment has been built.  The City and Sturgeon County are working together to ensure the road is maintained until the new connection from Henday north to 195 Ave is completed next year.  The existing road will remain in operation through this construction.

c) Access for trucks to new snow site - the new northeast snow site on 50 St just south of Highway 37 will be operational this winter (replacing the former, temporary site at 188 Ave and 66 St) - 24 hour truck access will be from 66 St/Henday interchange north via 66 St, 195 Ave and 50 St.

d) Alternative routes to 66 St - the new 82 St arterial connection is open to traffic and paved from 167 Ave north to 195 Ave, and 195 Ave is paved from just west of 50 St through to 127 St.  For callers who are concerned about the condition of 66 St south of Henday, we would recommend the use of 82 St as an alternative.  During the reconstruction of 66 Street north of 167 Ave next year, the primary detour route will be west along 195 Ave to 82 St.

e) Winter road maintenance - the City and the Provincial contractor have developed a strategy to ensure that maintenance of 82 St and 66 Street takes place across Anthony Henday.  Also, as of Nov 1, the Province has assumed maintenance responsibility for Manning Drive north of Henday and Highway 28A from Manning Drive to the City boundary.

This update was from Councillor Ed Gibbons. You can reach him at: ed.gibbons@edmonton.ca

I will be at the Area 17 meeting today. 

David Dodge

Update on Sinking Roads in Northeast Edmonton

Here's an Update on Sinking Roads in Northeast Edmonton from the City of Edmonton, provided buy Councillor Ed Gibbons:

Three neighbourhoods (Ozerna, Matt Berry and Hollick Kenyon) have had premature road base failure on a number of roadways as a result of wet subgrade conditions.  The mitigation measures for this are to dig up the road and base, install drainage systems to intercept the flow of moisture and replace the base and road surface.

This work has been ongoing for 3 years at the rate of about 1 km/yr.  The upcoming 3 year capital program continues this work and the most deteriorated areas are being programmed for reconstruction at an ongoing rate of about 1 km/yr.  The funding for this work is from within the neighbourhood renewal programs (both roads and drainage), and it is anticipated to take an additional 12 years to complete the work

The construction standards that led to this problem have been changed to avoid the same issue occurring in future.

This update was provided to Ed Gibbons by Brice W Stephenson, Manager, Transportation Operations.

This update was from Councillor Ed Gibbons. You can reach him at: ed.gibbons@edmonton.ca

The sinking roads issue has been a long standing concern of Area 17.