EFCL May Board and Planning Committee Notes

Hi community leagues in the Londonderry District B of the EFCL (Lago Lindo, Kilkenny, McLeod, Evansdale, Northmount, Londonderry, Steele Heights, Balwin, Killarney, Delwood, Glengarry, Rosslyn, Belvedere community leagues in Edmonton)

Here is a report on both the EFCL Board Meeting and the meeting of the EFCL Planning Committee.

EFCL Looks at Adding Wind Turbine to Its Renewable Energy Arsenal

The EFCL board of directors has decided to investigate the possibility of installing a wind turbine on the roof of its office building (7103-105 Street).  The board made the decision after reviewing an energy audit that suggested a turbine could be an effective way to reduce the federation’s energy bills and carbon footprint.

According to audit, a wind turbine would cost approximately $29,700 to install and would produce approximately $1,110 in electricity each year, at today’s prices.  This equates to a annual saving of 4.8 tonnes of cardon dioxide (greenhouse gas) if this electricity was produced by traditional methods (coal and natural gas).

The federation will investigate potential cost sharing opportunities, including the Taking Action to Manage Energy (TAME) program offered by the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre.

The board’s decision comes only days after the federation successfully installed a 1.2 kw, five panel solar energy system on the roof of its office building.  Development of the solar energy system, which comes complete with an energy production display monitor in the lobby of the office building, was done as part of the federation’s solar and energy conservation program.  This program saw the completion of energy audits and installation of solar energy systems at seven community league halls (Ritchie, Riverdale, Rossdale, Meadowlark, Alberta Avenue, West Jasper/Sherwood and North Glenora) this spring.

Final Tripartite License Agreement Signed

The EFCL is pleased to report that all of the community leagues with land have now signed a tripartite license agreement.

The last signatory, Glengarry Community League, put pen to paper in a private meeting with EFCL president David Dodge last week.  A key precondition for Glengarry was the development of an addendum that outlines the steps the EFCL will take if it is ever needs to assume control of the league’s facilities, as outlined in the terms of the license agreement.  This addendum is now attached to the document signed by Glengarry, the EFCL and City of Edmonton.

Completion of the new agreement is a major milestone for all parties.  It provides clarity on how the land the city provides to each league is to be used and how disputes are to be resolved.  It also clarifies the supporting role that will be played by the EFCL.

Negotation of this agreement was also accompanied by the creation of a significant city grant program to help leagues build and repair their facilities.  Called the Community League Infrastructure Grant Program (CLIP), it makes $3 million available each year for everything from painting a room to building a new hall.

Edmonton Northlands Wants to Connect With Community Leagues

The EFCL is quite excited about a partnership opportunity that is starting to take shape with Edmonton Northlands.

Northlands would like to see greater community involvement in its operations, notably the annual K-Days Parade and K-Days Exposition during the summer.  They would love to see leagues sponsor one or more parade entries and are exploring the idea of a community night at the fair grounds, when league members could get in for a reduced rate and community leagues could jointly operate an exhibit or game (like our football toss) as a way to raise our profile and earn some money for the leagues.

Both of these ideas seemed to have good potential, particularly if the EFCL and Northlands were able to help facilitate the development of parade entries and a booth at the fair, to make it easy for leagues to participate.

Edmonton Northlands has been invited to make a presentation on this topic at the May 29 Annual General Meeting of the EFCL.  It is our intention to invite league reps to sit on a committee to flesh out ideas and opportunities for 2014.

If this partnership is put into place, Northlands would become one of the EFCL’s corporate sponsors and would be identified in our advertising and at all of our events.

Parking and School Construction on the Agenda:

EFCL to Meet with Edmonton Public School Board

The EFCL has invited the trustees and senior staff of the Edmonton Public School Board to a dinner meeting on May 15 to discuss some key issues of mutual concern.  These include the plan for new schools in growing parts of the city, retention of older schools in mature parts of the city and the provision of adequate parking and drop off areas around all schools.

The federation is keenly aware of the role a school plays in bringing people together in a community and wants to see as many new buildings constructed and older buildings maintained as possible.  It also wants to ensure community usage of all school facilites.

Recent trends among parents to drive their children to school has lead to an array of parking and drop off issues in the immediate area of the school.  In some cases this has affected the local community league, when parents utilize the league’s parking lot before and after school each day.

EFCL’s 100^th  Anniversary Project Rolls Along

The EFCL continues to make good progress on its 100^th Anniversary Project, which is earmarked for the southeast corner of Hawrelak Park.

On April 24, the federation took part in an open house that the City of Edmonton organized to show the public all of the changes that are planned for the park. These included the city’s plan to construct a water play feature between the playground and our project, as well as deepen one end of the main lake this summer to enable swimming during triathlon events.

Most of the visitor’s attention – and that of the media in attendance - was focused on the city’s water play project.  The city’s consultant had two concepts on display (see attached drawings).  The first drawing showed an extensive wading pool, complete with a central island, surrounded by a large sand beach area.  New washrooms would also be included.  This concept was expected to cost approximately $4.4 million and would utilize almost the entire grassy space between the playground and the east end of our project (that starts with a small pond).  Additional features not included in the budget were a spray deck ($653,000), Parking Lot Expansion ($472,000) Walkway to the Parking Lot ($197,000) and Walkway to the EFCL Project ($18,000).

City proposal Concept 1 Beach Play - the EFCL project
connects with the bottom left of the concept.

The second drawing showed a much smaller, concrete or rubber surface wading pool as well as a spray deck.  This development was pegged at $2.1 million, which represents the funds that the city already has in place for this project.  Additional features not included in the budget were Washrooms ($803,000), a Beach/Sand Area ($78,000), Parking Lot Expansion ($472,000), Walkway to the Parking Lot ($197,000) Walkway to the EFCL Project ($25,000).

City proposal Concept 2 Water Play - the EFCL project 
connects with the bottom left of the concept.

We prepared a display that showed the conceptual plan for the Community League Plaza, which will house a display on community leagues, and a walkway by the existing stream, which will connect the city’s water play feature to the main lake in Hawrelak Park.

Most of the 35 people who attended the open house were in favor of our project and appreciated the fact that we were doing something to recognize the contribution that community leagues have made to the City of Edmonton.  It was also evident that Hawrelak Park is heavily used by many groups, as some people felt it didn’t need any further development at all.

The two water play features, along with a summary of the public feedback, will be presented to city council’s community services committee on June 11.  The committee will recommend one of the concepts to City Council for approval.

In addition to this work, the federation has hired Marius Veldtman, a consultant we worked with on our infrastructure assessment program, to oversee the development of a Request for Proposal (RFP) for project management and design work on our 100^th Anniversary Project.

Marius has located six Edmonton firms that are interested in submitting a proposal.  He is now preparing the bid documents and should have them ready to send out later this month.

Our anniversary committee has expressed an interest in reviewing the responses, as well as interviewing the company representatives.  Once this process has been completed, it is our intention to compare the RFP results to the city’s offer for project management services before determining the best route to follow.

In addition, the EFCL is reviewing the potential of developing a Cultural Heritage Walk on the pathway next to the stream.  The walkway would feature displays that show the contributions individuals and groups from different cultural backgrounds have made to the City of Edmonton and as such, attract visitors to this part of the park. This component has the potential to bring a number of other partners to the table, to help fund the overall project and increase its appeal to all three orders of government.

The EFCL could also use this opportunity to describe what it is doing to reach out to people from different cultural backgrounds.

EFCL Wants In On Elevate Task Force

The EFCL Board of Directors made it clear that they want to see a role for the federation in the revitalization of older neighborhoods, which is the job of a task force trying to implement recommendations contained in the city’s Elevate Report.

Board members were pleased to hear that all three levels of government, along with the local school boards, are members of the task force.  One of the primary recommendations of the report was to bring all of the key parties at the table.  The EFCL was also pleased to hear that the city has appointed a staff person, Jack Araujo, to work on this project.

The board was concerned to hear that the task force has yet to identify any projects or programs, other than to begin by comparing the capital budget plans of each organizations.

The board made it clear that they want to be involved in the development and implementation of a variety of projects and programs, including those that attract and retain families in these parts of the city.  The loss of families is a huge concern to the federation, given the substantial investment many leagues have made in local infrastructure (playgrounds, courts, halls and rinks) and the manner in which families with children help bring the community together.

Ms. Araujo, who provided a status report on the project at last week’s board meeting, said she would do what she could to ensure that the federation is represented in some fashion.

Traffic Safety Partners Discuss Speed Management Continuum

The Traffic Safety Partners committee, which includes city staff, police, school board and EFCL reps, has given its blessing to a newly-created method of analyzing and responding to neighborhood traffic concerns.  It is called the Neighbourhood Speed Management Continuum and it looks at traffic speeds, traffic shortcutting and number of collisions, along with the location of playgrounds, schools and recreation centres.

The continuum will help the city determine the most appropriate response to local speeding problems, including engineering measures and speed reduction campaigns like the 40 km hour speed limit program.

Senior-Friendly Community League Promoted

The EFCL is working with the Seniors Coordinating Council of Edmonton to determine ways in which community leagues can do a good job of reaching out and engaging seniors.

Our plan is to hold one or more workshops where representatives of leagues and various senior organizations review various initiatives that leagues could consider.  This could include having a senior’s liaison officer on the board, giving special consideration to the needs of seniors at league events and ensuring that league facilities are accessible to people with mobility issues.

Information gathered at the workshop would be tabulated and presented in newsletter articles, on websites and in the community league resource guide, to name three.  Workshop participants would also brainstorm ways to develop and promote activities that are of  interest to seniors.

Leagues interested in this initiative are encouraged to contact the EFCL’s community development officer, Shahriyar Khan.

EFCL Prepares For 2013 Annual General Meeting

Preparations are well along for the federation’s 2013 Annual General Meeting, which is set for 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 29 at Duggan Community League (3728-106 Street).  This year’s meeting will feature presentations on the federation’s Solar and Energy Conservation Program, the 100^th Anniversary Project and the new bar code system on community league membership cards.  Quick updates will also be provided on Leagues Alive 2013, the Balconies in Bloom program, the Living Local Arts and Heritage Program, our Civic Engagement Review and our new partnership with Edmonton Northlands.

The federation will also be seeking new board members in the west end, as well as planning committee members in the west end and Castle Downs area.

Community league delegates are urged to contact Joanne Booth at the EFCL, particularly if they are coming for dinner, which commences at 5:30 p.m.

Vitalize Conference Looks Good This Year

A number of board and staff members at the EFCL are making plans to attend the provincial Vitalize Conference, which is set for June 13-15 at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton.  The conference is built around the following seven themes: board governance, communication, human resources, leadership, organizational development, technology and general interest.  This conference is a great opportunity for leagues to provide their volunteers with training and a chance to network.

The continuum and its use in promoting traffic safety will soon be presented to city council for its consideration.

EFCL Planning News

Light Efficient Community Policy Complete

The EFCL, along with the Light Efficient Community Coalition, played a major role in getting the city to consider developing a policy to reduce light pollution and energy consumption, while enhancing safety on city streets and city property.

EFCL Vice President David Gibbens and planning advisor Bev Zubot represented EFCL on the advisory committee throughout the policy and information document, working alongside very knowledgeable city engineers, consultants, coalition members and city department staff.  In addition to creating a progressive policy, this project forged positive working relationships and a pool of experts that we can turn to when communities raise street lighting or park lighting concerns.  

EFCL Prompts the City to Review Bylaws for Eating and Drinking Establishments.

The EFCL Planning Committee and Central Area Council encouraged Executive Committee of Council to support the Administration’s recommendation to review the relevant Zoning Bylaw and the business license bylaw.  We are hoping that the amendments will prevent the morphing of restaurants into late night bars, and will properly evaluate parking requirements.

        

Body Rub Centre Bylaw remains an important issue for the EFCL Planning Committee.

Our committee strongly believes that Body Rub Centres should be more than 100 m away from community halls, schools and other locations where children or vulnerable people congregate.   It plans to prepare background information and a survey that will be distributed to leagues by email and at the AGM, May 29^th.   Bylaw amendments will be considered by Council on June 10^th.  

EFCL Gains Insights at Building Edmonton Symposium

Hosted by the City & the Urban Development Institute, the symposium featured a number of developers and city planning staff in panel discussions, along with EFCL executive director Allan Bolstad

Mayor Mandel, who gave the opening speech, sees Council as the promoters of development.  He said it has only turned down two projects during his time on council.  He said community leagues, not Council, are the problem, when it comes to moving the city forward.  He said leagues oppose affordable housing in the inner city, oppose seniors and don’t want their complexes on surplus school sites.  He said they are also opposed to too much traffic for no good reason.

In the panel discussions, developers such as Jodie Wacko emphasized the importance of flexibility – all policy documents should be a living document so that the rules can be changed on the fly in response to customer demands.  Allan Bolstad said leagues are interested in stability – that the city should develop policies and regulations and stick to them so people know the rules and can depend on them. 

Tegan Martin-Drysdale of Redbrick Real Estate Services asked why the EFCL and its leagues were so involved in civic and planning issues.  She noted that the EFCL and its leagues do not represent everyone in the neighbourhood.  Allan acknowledged that the leagues only represent their members, but that the city often relies on them for public input.  He noted that the EFCL and its leagues have some binding agreements with the city, relative to consultation, and that leagues have been involved in civic engagement since their inception in 1917.

EFCL considers Active Role with Bike Routes

Given the level of discontent with the city’s planned bike network, the EFCL has decided to explore how it could assist in the development of welcomed, safe bike routes and bike infrastructure in neighbourhoods.   Four potential roles for EFCL have been identified through a meeting with Transportation staff and Great Neighbourhoods.  

a)     Assistance with social marketing of bike infrastructure – promoting safety, community building, benefits of cycling (predominantly a city role)

b)     Discussion of safe bike route designs at the Transportation Safety Partnership Committee meetings (EFCL staff Allan Bolstad and Shahriyar Kahn are members of this committee)

c)     A review of Public Involvement Plans for bike routes

d)    A bike route design workshop with leagues, in the fall, sponsored by the City and the EFCL. 

EFCL April Board Meeting Notes

Hi Everyone in the EFCL Londonderry District (B):

Here's a quick report on happened at the April EFCL Board meeting. I was a packed agenda that unfortunately took us late into the evening.

Thanks to Jeff Stewart of McLeod Communty League for attending the EFCL meeting. It was great to see a district league at one of our regular board meetings. Just a reminder the board meetings are open meetings and members are welcome to attend them.

Download the April Board Package (PDF)

1)   EFCL Reviews Its Role In Civic Engagement

This started because a few City Councillors took exception with us on a number of issues. But this is a much needed exercise. This is a very good opportuntiy for the EFCL and it's member leagues to dramatically improve how we interact on civic issues. We have formed a committee and we will be inviting community league input once we do some basic work on the issue. This is a wonderful opportunity to improve our status, the sophistication and impact of our engagement and to have the role of community leagues respected on a much higher level.

The EFCL has decided to review the manner in which the federation and its member leagues get involved in civic issues.  The goal is to find ways to do a better job of responding to civic issues and complement the city’s public engagement process.

A Civic Engagement Committee has been struck to oversee this exercise.  It is comprised of four board members (David Dodge, David Gibbens, Christine Bremner and Masood Makarechian), two planning committee members (Jamie Post and Elaine Solez) as well as two EFCL staff members (Allan Bolstad and Bev Zubot).   The EFCL is also considering hiring a consultant to help us through this exercise and has tentatively lined up some community advisors to review our proposals.

Here is a sample of some of the broad questions we hope to answer during the review process:

• Should the City be notifying leagues directly, or should EFCL be notifying leagues of project initiatives needing public input?   In what instances should both EFCL and leagues be contacted directly by the City?
• What is EFCL’s obligation vs. the City’s obligation to consult with leagues?
• To what extent should EFCL be educating leagues on planning matters and coordinating the input of leagues? 
• What is the obligation of leagues to consult with their neighbourhood residents? 
• What support should EFCL and/or the City be providing to leagues if consultation with residents is expected? 
• In what situations is it adequate for EFCL to participate in city task forces or workshops without first consulting leagues?  How can EFCL consult with leagues if the information provided at workshops is not public information which can be shared?
• How can the EFCL provide input to the city on multiple topics if we are to adequately consult leagues on every topic?
• And finally, how can EFCL partner with the City in the public engagement process to make best use of EFCL and City resources?

 

The EFCL will draw on the work it has recently done with its leagues on two major exercises.

The first was a review of the sustainability of older neighborhoods, which lead to the creation of the city’s Elevate Report.  The second was a review of the zoning guidelines governing low density development.  In both cases we hosted multiple workshops and developed a consensus on a number of key recommendations from among the league participants.

In one instance, the EFCL reported on behalf of the leagues, while in the other leagues presented their recommendations directly to the city, with some assistance from the EFCL.

While both of these reviews entailed a lot of work, they left the federation feeling that it had helped shape the final product.

The EFCL intends to launch its Civic Engagement review this spring and complete the work by the end of the year.

2)   Solar and Energy Conservation Program Cooking Along

Work is proceeding nicely on the EFCL’s Solar and Energy Conservation Program.   All of the leagues have received their energy and carbon audits and have been asked to submit their list of hall retrofits to the City of Edmonton no later than May 17.  The city will package them and send them to the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre (MCCAC) in order to qualify for $50,000 in grant money from the centre’s Taking Action to Manage Energy (TAME) program.

The EFCL’s board of directors were presented with the summary findings of the energy and carbon audit on its office headquarters at its board meeting on Thursday.  A wide range of suggestions were made, from installing a wind turbine on the roof to reducing lighting levels and installing outside doors that are better insulated.

With respect to the solar installations, two companies have been selected to do the work on the seven community league halls and the EFCL building.  Evergreen and Gold will handle the installations at North Glenora, Meadowlark, Alberta Avenue and the EFCL.  Dandelion Renewables will install systems at West Jasper/Sherwood, Rossdale, Riverdale and Ritchie.

The installations are scheduled for the last part of April and first week of May (assuming the weather cooperates).   A presentation on the energy and carbon audits as well as the solar energy installations is scheduled for our annual general meeting on May 29.

3)   Registrations Pick Up For Volunteer Recognition Event

The federation is pleased to report that 179 community league volunteers have registered for its Volunteer Recognition Event on April 23.  The evening features a series of videos on community league projects and a talk from motivational speaker Laurel Vespi.  Set for the Myer Horowitz Theatre at the U/A Student’s Union Building, the event begins at 7:00 and will conclude around 9:00 p.m., after a wine and cheese social.  The event is open to all community league volunteers and registrants are encouraged to contact Joanne Booth (Joanne.Booth@efcl.org) by April 19.

4)    EFCL Endorses Realtors Website and Safety Council’s New Facility

The EFCL decided to endorse two projects at its meeting last week.  The first is a comprehensive website being put together by the Realtors Association of Edmonton and Area.

Entitled YegisHome, the multimillion dollar initiative is designed to contain a wide variety of information on communities throughout the city, in addition to extensive descriptions of homes for sale.

The Realtors would like to include information about community leagues and their activities on this website, as another means of equipping buyers with information about the community they are considering.  This appears to be a good opportunity for the EFCL and its member leagues to raise their profile and get their information into the hands of potential members.

The second project is the new Centre for Safety Excellence that is being put together by the Alberta Safety Council.

Located near 50 Street and Whitemud Drive, the $10 million facility will house driver education classrooms and feature an expanded Safety City Park for children to learn the rules of the road.

5)   EFCL Prepares For 2013 Annual General Meeting

Preparations are now being made for the federation’s 2013 Annual General Meeting, which is set for 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 29 at Duggan Community League (3728-106 Street).  A draft agenda presented to the board last week included presentations on the federation’s Solar and Energy Conservation Program, 100^th Anniversary Project and the new bar code system on community league membership cards.  Quick updates will also be provided on Leagues Alive 2013, the Balconies in Bloom program and Living Local Arts and Heritage Program.

The federation will also be seeking new board members in the west end and Capilano areas, as well as planning committee members in the west end, Castle Downs and Capilano area.

Community league delegates are urged to contact Joanne Booth at the EFCL, particularly if they are coming for dinner, which commences at 5:30 p.m.

6)   Mark your calendar for Leagues Alive 2013

Community league volunteers are encouraged to mark their calendar for Leagues Alive 2013.  This year’s conference will be held at the Grant MacEwan downtown campus on Saturday, Nov. 16.  The event will once again feature a variety of board development workshops, as well as an opportunity to hear from the federation’s corporate sponsors and have lunch with members of Edmonton City Council.

7)   Federation’s Books in Good Shape

The EFCL received a very favorable review from its auditor, Curtis Friesen of Hawkings Epp Dumont last week.  The federation was complimented on the establishment of a $200,000 financial stabalization reserve, which it has been working on over the past five years, as well as

the manner in which its books are kept.  Curtis will be reporting to the general membership at the May 29 AGM and will be happy to answer questions at that time.

Thanks to Allan for writing up the notes,

David Dodge

District B Rep. and President

Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues