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)

Notes from the June 14th EFCL Board Meeting

Allan's Notes From the June 14 Board Meeting

Applications Roll In For Solar and Energy Savings Program

Five community leagues – Ritchie, McLeod, Evansdale, Riverbend and West Jasper Sherwood – have decided to invest in the EFCL’s Solar and Energy Savings Program.  The pilot project will see each league get a 1.2 kw (five panel) solar energy system, an information display monitor, an energy and carbon audit and a chance to take part in a provincial energy retrofit grant program.

The EFCL, which along with the City of Edmonton is subsidizing the cost of the program, has spots for seven leagues to take part.  Each league is required to provide a cheque for $6,000, along with some league contacts and basic information about their hall.  If more than seven leagues apply by the July 3 deadline, a draw will be held on July 4.

In related news, the federation decided to enter its own office building in the program, at a cost of $14,000.  The EFCL negotiated this arrangement with the suppliers separate from the league program, so that it wouldn’t impact the amount of subsidy money available.

EFCL Explores Opportunities With Indigenous Games

The Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues is working on a partnership proposal with the organizers of the Alberta Indigenous Games, which is set for Aug. 5-9, 2013.

The plan focuses on the recruitment of volunteer coaches, to help run team sports such as soccer, softball, volleyball, basketball, ball hockey, lacrosse and canoeing, as well as coaches for individual sports like golf, archery and athletics.

The coaches would prepare the athletes for a month or two prior to the games, which will be held in Edmonton, St. Albert, Leduc and Enoch.  All participants on Edmonton teams in the games would need to have a community league membership in order to participate.  Participants, largely with the help of their coaches, would then be introduced to community league and other community-based programs after the Games.

Games co-chairman Allan Ross and Edmonton Public School Board consultant Dawn Marie Marchand pitched the proposal to the board at its meeting Thursday night.

They expect to see between 2,000 and 3,000 participants, aged 12-18, take part in the Games.  They will include people from First Nation, Metis and Innuit backgrounds.

The EFCL plans to hold meetings with interested sports organizations to help get this project off the ground.

Infrastructure Assessment Program Winding Down

Community leagues have until December 31 of this year to apply to the EFCL for infrastructure assessment funding, according to decision reached by the board on Thursday night.

After that date, all remaining funds in the program will be redirected to other federation projects.

The infrastructure assessment funding is available to any league that needs to do work that wasn’t covered in the basic hall assessment that was completed by Stantec or Williams Engineering in the past couple of years.  Sample projects are geotechnical reviews, to determine the integrity of the hall foundation, as well as investigations to locate and determine the degree of hazard presented by asbestos in the hall.

The EFCL is willing to cover 80% of the cost of the review, on projects up to $20.000.  Leagues are expected to obtain three quotes for the work before applying to the federation for funding.

Applications should be sent directly to the EFCL executive director, Allan Bolstad.

Presenters Sought for League’s Alive Conference

EFCL Board members were asked to bring forward the names of community league executives who would be willing to make a presentation at the federation’s conference on Nov. 3.  Confirmed topics at the conference are as follows: Consensus Building, Board Governance Basics, Developing Policy, Bylaws, Role of the President, Role of the Treasurer, Connecting with your Community, Road to Accountability, Use of Gaming Proceeds, Volunteer Engagement and Recruitment, Social Media, Building Operations, Crime Prevention, Community Gardening.

Online System For Membership Card Distribution Well Accepted

The EFCL has yet to receive any complaints from Leagues or customers about the online sale of membership cards.  We have also yet to notice any cases of people trying to take advantage of leagues with very low membership fees.

Requests far outweigh submissions to the Supplier Marketplace

We have only had three submissions so far from Community Leagues for our Supplier Marketplace.  We do get a lot of leagues interested in finding a recommended supplier – 1,260 visits that page in May alone - so we need to promote this service to our Leagues and continually remind them to submit suppliers.

Living Local Arts and Heritage Program (Year Two) Launched

The EFCL launched the second year of its Living Local Arts and Heritage Program. 
The program is open to any league that wants to hire local artists to do a project that showcases