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Smoking Bylaw - Fully Support Current Bylaw. Would not vote for any weakening of the bylaw.
- Affordable Housing - What is affordable housing? I would argue St. Albert has a fair inventory of affordable family housing on the market at present. As of October 1 St. Albert has 37 listings - minimum 3 bedrooms - at 160,000 or less.
- One simple solution would be to regulate lot sizes. In the community of Country Hills in Calgary houses are 1250 square feet or smaller built on smaller lots! That is how my family bought our first house in 1998 and loved it. St. Albert could do the same. We must annex more land!
- SENIOR ISSUES - As many Seniors (65+) live in Condos of some sort I believe the mill rate should be adjusted so Condo Owners are not paying more than their fair share. The Mill Rate in St. Albert should Mirror Sherwood Parks and Spruce Grove. I would call for at least an 8% reduction.
- As many seniors are on fixed incomes I would support the idea of FREEZING the costs of Library Cards, Bus Passes, Pool passes and so on at todays rates.
- Free Bus Rides for Seniors from 9AM to 3PM on our Empty Buses. These are the times most likely a Senior would want to use the bus and when they are travelling through the streets empty.
- Hold the line on Property Tax Increases
- Transit needs to be overhauled. When was the last time you saw a city bus even 1/3 full on the neighbourhood routes? Sell the big buses to Edmonton or other centres and replace the expensive buses with smaller, more practical transport buses that take the few to the main bus terminals. We will save on insurance, maintenance and salaries.
- Lobby the Provincial Government to Provide the Cities with more money, The Tories have passed the costs of many items to the Cities without providing the money!! . We deserve the gas tax money!
- The city can "encourage" Builders/Developers to build smaller single family homes or single attached family homes on smaller lots by Changing the Lot Sizes! New Homes need to be built that are 1250 square feet or less. How many Estates do we need in St. Albert?
- Acquire Land and do it Fast and at a Good Rate. We need to secure more land for future expansion or we are in trouble
- Garbage Tags - It is called Pay as you Throw but there is a minimum of one bag per week? Common Sense says citizens should be able to subscribe to any number of Tags they see fit!
- Rec Centre - I have reviewed the materials for the Rec Centre and while the current location isn't the best and it would have been nice if the last council hadn't blown it with our neighbours I believe we need to get the Rec Centre started. I support a yes vote although I would argue for higher fees for non-residents of St. Albert to use the facility. I endorse the idea of a 30 day maximum negotiations period with Sturgeon county to see if they want to get involved. If 30 days is to long to ensure the guaranteed cost estimate I would lower the time frame to reflect that.
- The Road - Enough already, build it where it is planned and get on with it! The environmental assessment gave it thumbs up so that is the end of the debate.
- Actively campaign for Companies to Relocate Head Offices to St. Albert by changing our land use bylaws. Companies should want to choose St. Albert instead of Edmonton.
- Make the Parks and Trail a Priority - Repair, Rebuild and Clean
- Halt the Urban Sprawl - many of us moved here because St. Albert didn't have bad traffic! A full review of what citizens want is needed!
- Reconsider the development at Lacombe Lake - Why would anyone want to destroy St. Albert's Hawrelek Park? Has council surveyed the neighbourhood for the residents opinions?
- Quality of Life - We need more police officers that are visible in the community - cracking down on excessively loud vehicles shattering our peace and quiet, working with night patrol volunteers to help curb vandalism and developing a safe neighbourhoods program with community leaders.
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