A city councillor and the St. Albert Chamber of Commerce are at odds over who said what about the recent decision to increase fees for portable sign permits.
At its Nov. 28 meeting, council approved a $100 increase in the cost of a portable sign permit. Coun. Roger Lemieux crafted the motion and originally put forward a $200 increase. The dollar amount was later amended.
While speaking to the motion during the meeting, Lemieux said the chamber supported his motion.
"I met with the chamber six months ago. They are totally in favour of this motion," Lemieux said at the time. "They are not opposed to it. Not one member of the chamber commented."
But chamber executive director CEO Lynda Moffat said both Lemieux's motion and his remarks caught the organization totally off guard.
"We were all very shocked that he said that and told the city we were supportive of it," Moffat said after the chamber issued a news release proposing a new process for addressing portable signs.
"We never knew [the motion] was coming. We weren't advised by the city and we never would have supported it because this is a very complex issue that needs to be studied, so we can make proper recommendations, not just decide it would be a good idea to raise fees."
Lemieux was perplexed when informed of Moffat's comments.
"They are the ones who instigated the motion. They wanted their new signs in the north and south end of St. Albert. And I supported that," Lemieux said. "When I went to the meeting four to six months ago, they said, 'Roger, we are behind you 100 per cent.' "
Moffat was equally at a loss to explain the discrepancy.
"Maybe there was an expectation he had that we didn't or whatever, but we never would have supported that being a one-off on its own to slow down the use of portable signs because this isn't a portable sign issue. It's a signage issue."
But Lemieux insisted the chamber supported him.
"They were beyond 100 per cent supportive. I met with the executive and Lynda Moffat and [chamber chair] Charlene Zoltenko and they said, 'Yes, Coun. Lemieux. We support you.'"
Chamber plan
The chamber wants to take a different approach to the portable sign issue, beyond simply hiking fees. In its news release, the organization proposed a three-month research and consultation process to examine the issue of proper signage as a whole, not just portable signs.
"We know that for many of our businesses, the use of signage is an important part of what they do. We also know it is seen as being clutter or a very unsightly mess on some of the main thoroughfares in our city."
The chamber will instead look at how other communities have dealt with portable signs in a way that has reduced clutter without harming small business. It will consult with its members and issue a report on how to proceed.
"We will take a bit of leadership," Moffat said. "We don't believe we would have supported the fee increase had we known about it."
The chamber expects to issue its report in March.
Moffat said portable signs are all that some small businesses have to market their services and products, which is why the entire issue of signage, not just portable signs, needs to be examined.
"The thing is that we have businesses able to survive and prosper, so we can't just unilaterally decide to come down with a heavy hammer on them without first finding the best approach."
