Mega park, downtown development and other things to watch at tonight's council meeting
Plus a World Cup spoiler featuring Mr. PG
This weekend I remembered that wearing proper winter clothes in -30 C is warmer than wearing autumn clothes at -5 C. Here’s some snow sites:
And here’s the news:
Tragic story as a pregnant woman lost her unborn child after being hit by a truck. It’s one of the most dangerous times of year for pedestrians.
Another look at the ongoing bus problems facing school district 57 — a contract with First Student promisesd GPS tracking and other new technology but parents just want the bus to get their kids to school.
If it seems like there’s been a lot of construction it’s because there has been.
Speaking of booms: in Valemount there are, at times, more temporary workers in town for pipeline construction than there are residents, and that’s causing some strain.
Famous Players and McDonald’s drama on Reddit and Facebook, respectively.
One of the fun things about monitoring social media feeds for the term “Prince George” is you pick up a lot about Prince George’s County, Maryland by osmosis. That’s how I came across “Prince George’s Pride” a song that we could add to our own city playlists with some modified lyrics about the neighbourhoods.
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Some good posts:
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According to the latest census data there are 10 people of Argentinian descent in the city and while I’m sure far more were celebrating, not sure how many went this far:
Mega park, downtown development and other things to watch at tonight’s council meeting
I almost forgot we still had another council meeting to get through this year but yep, there is one, and it features two pretty big discussions about the future of the city: One on the development of downtown, and other on a proposed superpark for the community. Let’s start with…
Downtown development
Here’s the situation: Developing downtown has been a priority for years, and the last half-decade or so has been, while not without its challenges, also one of the most successful eras of my lifetime. Since 2014 we’ve seen the civic plaza developed into a viable events space, as proven by the 2015 Winter Games, the long-awaited library entrance completed after decades of delays, new hotels opened, downtown condos and apartments completed, with more on the way, resulting in more than a handful of people living downtown for the first time in decades, a bustling brewery and plenty more. Haters gonna hate but the place is positively bustling compared to what it was a decade ago.
So what comes next?
That is the central question of the upcoming Civic Core District Plan which, translated from bureaucrat, poses the question of how the city should use the properties and buildings it owns to continue the development of downtown over the next decade or so:
“The Civic Core District Plan is intended to focus on the expansion of the existing Civic Plaza with the benefit of attracting development in the area, the expansion of greenspace in the downtown and to provide the opportunity for a downtown transit exchange. The expanded Civic Plaza will look at opportunities to address challenges with aging facilities infrastructure (Kopar Memorial Arena, PG Playhouse, Studio 2880, etc.), as well address other opportunities to create a vibrant downtown.”
Translation: The Spruce Kings arena is aging, so are Studio 2880 and the Playhouse. It’s time to figure out where we will put the replacements and how that fits into the development of downtown. To help figure that out they’ve brought in Stantec Consulting who will be holding public engagement sessions in 2023 to come up with an overall strategy. One thing I notice from their slideshow is it ends with an image from Edmonton’s winter city plan, a strategy aimed at designing public spaces for all-season use rather than shutting down when it gets snowy and cold.
Mega Park
For the past few years, various community groups have been campaigning and fundraising to build a mega park at the corner of 22nd Ave. and Ospika, the edge of the Exhibition Grounds which also house CN Centre. The proposed project would have multiple playgrounds for different age groups, a pump track for biking/boarding, a spray park and a senior’s exercise area.
While the cost of building the thing would largely be covered by donations it would still be up to the city to pay for the land and the maintenance of the park year over year. And the cost of that, according to a new report going to the city, is about $68M over 50 years — or about $1.3M annually. While there is undoubtedly strong community momentum behind this bear in mind the situation we’re in: the city is already facing a 7.22 percent tax increase just to maintain current service levels. Council has asked staff to find a way to cut about $3.5M from the operating budget already in an attempt to try and bring that increase down to the 3-4 percent level. Then, they received a report suggesting they need to add about $5M to the police budget over the next five years in order to deal with public safety issues. Quick back-of-the-napkin math tells you something’s gotta give. I’m reminded of this old venn diagram shared by city planners: stable service, low taxes or low density — you can only ever have two. Unfortunately, a history of planning decisions means we’re pretty stuck on the path of low density for the time being, which means for now we’re largely choosing between taxes and services.
Also on tonight’s agenda:
A presentation from the Association Advocating for Women and Community (AWAC) on their shelter and supportive housing programs.
An update on renewing the Official Community Plan.
A proposal from Crossroads Brewing to expand its outdoor patio.
An ask from the Lheidli T’enneh to support a language learning grant application.
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