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At committee: St. Albert councillors talk rec collaboration, Sidekicks plan

St. Albert Place
FILE PHOTO/St. Albert Gazette

St. Albert finalizes rec agreement with Edmonton

Edmonton and St. Albert will soon have an agreement in place guiding decisions around recreation, but that does not mean dollars will flow.

On Monday, St. Albert city council’s community living standing committee reviewed the agreement – an intermunicipal collaboration framework (ICF) – before sending it off to council for approval.

While the agreement does not commit either municipalities to pitching in dollars for recreation projects, it does open the door to having those conversations, St. Albert government relations manager Trevor Duley told the committee.

“The ICF does not commit the partners to cost sharing; it commits the partners to share information and connect with one another and seek partnership opportunities when it makes sense to do so,” he said.

While previously mandatory, ICFs became optional for municipalities within metropolitan regions after the UCP government’s Bill 25 was given royal assent last month.

However, Duley said there is “still value” in having ICFs in place and increasing conversations with neighbours.

One tangible product of the agreement will be a working group comprised of members of both municipalities, which will share information and make recommendations to their respective councils.

The ICF identifies current projects that are agreed-upon joint opportunities, and ones that are independent. The only item currently listed as an agreed-upon joint venture is a future “Field of Dreams” soccer campus proposed to be in Edmonton.

A new recreation facility for north St. Albert is also listed as a topic for future conversations by the working group, which Mayor Cathy Heron told Global News this week could be more of an opportunity with Edmonton shelving their plans for a Lewis Farms rec-centre.

Last month, Edmonton city council decided to postpone plans for a previously approved $321-million recreation facility in Lewis Farms, saying it would be too expensive.

Heron was not available for interview before print deadline.

Sidekicks to be kept afloat

Keeping a popular youth mentoring program afloat with interim 2020 funding led to discussions of how the city funds organizations outside its boundaries.

On Monday, the committee discussed the need to review St. Albert’s FCSS program funding policy, when Big Brothers Big Sisters of Edmonton and Area was brought forward as a potential option for taking over the Sidekicks program.

Up until now, Sidekicks has been offered through the Community Information and Volunteer Centre (CIVC). But the organization’s future was thrown off balance in November when council denied CIVC funding in 2020 due to duplication of services and declining usage.

Since then, the organization has been canvassing other organizations to take over some of the well-loved programs it has been offering during its 39-year life.

The committee recommended council approve funding CIVC to continue running Sidekicks until the end of March for $11,300.

When that funding dries up, administration said as city policies stand to date, Big Brothers Big Sisters would not qualify for grant funding from St. Albert.

Coun. Natalie Joly said the conversation about funding Big Brothers Big Sisters needs to extend to a bigger conversation about grants for agencies that operate outside St. Albert but serve city residents. She noted examples such as the Jessica Martel Memorial Foundation in Morinville and WILDNorth in Edmonton.

Coun. Sheena Hughes cautioned her colleagues about opening the door to funding outside organizations.

“This is bigger than a Big Sisters, Big Brothers consideration; this is about how many others are going to flood the gates and what expense will be to established current organizations in St. Albert,” Hughes said. “Because the pot of money isn’t getting any larger but the numbers of asks could increase quite dramatically.”

As for other programs offered by the CIVC, the St. Albert Family Resource Centre will take over delivery of the babysitting course, which requires no funding. The St. Albert Community Village could be delivering the community income tax program, if city council approves $6,600 from its FCSS grant program to do so.

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