Lethbridge City Hall. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Lethbridge City Council sets up future initiatives during inaugural meeting

Nov 15, 2021 | 3:17 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Monday, November 15 marked the first regular meeting of Lethbridge City Council since last month’s election.

Blaine Hyggen sat in the mayor’s chair for the first time and was joined by city councillors John Middleton-Hope, Jenn Schmidt-Rempel, Nick Paladino, Ryan Parker, Jeff Carlson, Belinda Crowson, Mark Campbell, and Rajko Dodic.

Since this was the first-ever council meeting for Middleton-Hope, Paladino, and Schmidt-Rempel, the city’s most experienced councillor, Ryan Parker, gave an informal course on “City Council 101” as he spoke, outlining the various terms and processes they use during meetings.

Parker also brought forward five official business motions, comprising the vast majority of Monday’s proceedings.

For all of them, the city manager will return on December 14 to outline the schedule for when detailed reports on these issues will be presented to council.

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All of the motions, except for the one relating to off-leash dog parks, were approved unanimously.

Transit Services:

“THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT City Council request the City Manager to provide a report to City Council on the impact of the most recent changes to the Transit System”

Parker acknowledged that many transit riders in Lethbridge had negative feedback about the new cityLINK network.

READ MORE: Rally-goers raise concerns about Lethbridge Transit’s cityLINK network

Economic Incentives:

“[THEREFORE] BE IT RESOLVED the City Manager bring back options similar to current downtown redevelopment incentives which could be offered across other commercial districts within Lethbridge.”

The City of Lethbridge has funded numerous initiatives for the downtown core over the years, primarily through the Downtown BRZ organization.

The purpose of this motion was to see if there are ways to incentivize growth and redevelopment in other sections of the city.

Off-Leash Parks:

“THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the City Manager bring back options in adding more OffLeash dog parks in Lethbridge”

Within Lethbridge, there are currently four off-leash dog parks. Parker believes that more need to be added because many of the existing ones require people to drive to them as they are not accessible by foot for most dog owners.

He says existing spaces can be utilized for these and would require little in the way of initial or ongoing costs.

Belinda Crowson voted against this motion as the city’s parks department is already working on its next budget and operational plan. She felt it would be better to let the parks staff come up with the details than have city council get too deep into things themselves.

Go Friendly Transit

“THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the City Manager bring back a report to City Council on the status of the “Go Friendly” transit service”

Go Friendly was first introduced in 2008 as a way for seniors to get from their homes to either the Nordbridge Seniors Centre and Lethbridge Senior Citizens’ Organizations (LSCO).

It was discontinued in 2020, but Director of Community Services Mike Fox says plans are in the works to bring it back in a slightly altered form.

Council requested that the report back to council include updates on funding, mandates, when the service might resume, and any other changes from its original incarnation.

Toxic/E-Waste (ECO Drop Off)

“THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the City Manager bring back options to deliver these services at the existing recycling depots”

Parker recognized that the city has made great strides in terms of recycling in recent years, but wanted to inquire specifically about hazardous materials.

His inquiry was as to whether the current recycling & yard waste drop-off sites would be able to accommodate toxic materials.

G.M. of Waste and Recycling Joel Sanchez says there are safety concerns when it comes to hazardous waste being brought in by the public, but it is an option he would be willing to entertain if city council gave him that direction.