WEEKLY UPDATE - MAY 23
Welcome back to the weekly wrap up. I hope everyone had a lovely (if smokey) long weekend!
At Public Hearing, there were no rezonings in O-day’min but I wanted to highlight the Ellerslie redesign. It’s an impressive example of what the City Plan is helping Edmonton to create: integrated, ecologically friendly, accessible neighbourhoods. Looking forward to more like it!
At City Council, our discussion of the Private Tree Bylaw continued. I was glad to pass a successful motion asking City staff to prepare a roadmap of projects and initiatives that the City will take to plant and retain trees on private and public lands. The roadmap will look at what strategies are already in place and the progress we're making on our goal of 2m new trees and 20% tree canopy coverage. This check-in will be a great opportunity to see what's working and what could be strengthened. I was also delighted to support the Mayor's motion for tree planting along the QE2 Highway. This creates a great opportunity to beautify the gateway to our city from the airport while also adding to our urban forest!
Council approved $4m for the Bissell Centre and Boyle Street Community Services to operate their outstanding day programs, in addition to advocating for sustainable funding from the provincial government to meet this important need in our city.
This week was also the final approval for several critical City projects, like replacing the LRT vehicles, approving Capital South line expansion, and our Climate Resilient City facility upgrades. These are going to be fantastic investments in our City!
Finally, we heard an update on Edmonton’s budget redirection strategy and how the City will make sure we are serving Edmonton in a sustainable, efficient, and equitable manner. I'm excited by the great work that's underway to accelerate our City Plan vision.
At Police Commission, we heard about the Healthy Streets Operation Centre and the great work underway at the Detention Management Unit to decrease overdoses. I also asked about the enforcement of noisy vehicles and was glad to learn Project TENSOR launched this past weekend.
That’s all for this week! Council is on recess this week - I'm in the office, catching up on emails, and taking the opportunity to vote in advance polls for the Provincial election! Be sure to take the time to share your voice and don't forget to Ask About Edmonton!
