Monthly Archives: December 2012

City touts 500+ new rental units

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The City of St. Albert is hoping an influx of rental units will help attract and keep young people in the city.
A building permit is pending for a total of 255 rental units in four buildings in Erin Ridge North, while City officials are also working on a development permit for 173 units in three buildings in North Ridge. Add to that 96 units on Nevada Place that opened earlier this year, and that’s more than 500 rental units added to St. Albert’s housing stock in a short period of time that are close to commercial developments, employment opportunities and transportation networks.

Read more: http://tinyurl.com/cw5xzze

Ray Gibbon Drive counts make case for expansion

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Traffic counts on Ray Gibbon Drive could push the City of St. Albert to pressure the Alberta government into expanding the roadway sooner than expected, according to St. Albert’s mayor.

City councillors were slotted a report from City staff in late November showing that the number of cars per day on the southern portion of the road has hit more than 14,000 this year, prompting Nolan Crouse to suggest that it might be time for the province to step in and expand the road beyond its current two lanes, even before the third phase to Villeneuve Road is finished.

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Building permit fees top $1M

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Things are looking up for the local economy, if building permits are any indication.

City of St. Albert officials say that, as of the end of November, the value of residential and commercial building permit fees crossed the $1-million mark, clocking in at $1,006,675. That’s the fourth-highest total for the same period in the past 10 years and the first time it has topped $1 million since 2009.

“When you factor in some of the boom years like 2005, 2006, we were over that amount, but only slightly,” said Curtis Cundy, general manager of planning and engineering for the City.

Read more: http://tinyurl.com/cuo46rs

County to contribute more to ‘urbans’ for recreation, culture under new policy

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Red Deer County councillors voted unanimously to amend the county’s policy regarding support to urban municipalities for recreation and culture during their regular meeting Dec. 18. Agreements signed under the previous five-year policy had expired.

The policy addresses decision-making procedures when reviewing funding requests from urban municipalities. County administration hoped to create a fairer funding formula with the new policy.

Read more: http://tinyurl.com/cod2kgc

Correction – Sylvan in Red Deer – Wolf Creek

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Sylvan Lake is in the new Red Deer-Wolf Creek federal electoral district.

Our story in the Dec. 20 issue of Sylvan Lake News was incorrect in that we misinterpreted the descriptions of the two districts created in our region from information that was in a report of the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Alberta when it was tabled in the House of Commons, Dec. 12.

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Expect more big moves among tenants in Calgary’s downtown in 2013

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The past year proved a year of major moves, both present and future.

Imperial Oil and Canadian Pacific Railway announced they will be moving their corporate head offices out of the downtown in the coming years; Imperial to Quarry Park in the city’s southeast and CPR to its Ogden facility.

Meanwhile, the Bow tower in recent months saw its first tenants from Encana and Cenovus begin moving in.

Read more: http://tinyurl.com/bn95dgm

Fast-growing Lethbridge can’t keep pace with cultural needs

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As conductor Glenn Klassen raised his baton and his musicians sounded the opening notes of Handel’s Messiah at a recent concert, there wasn’t an empty seat in any of the pews at the local church the Lethbridge Symphony Orchestra calls home.

While the sellout performance to a crowd of 750 people ought to have filled his heart with joy, Klassen said he felt a tinge of sadness instead that this fast-growing city lacks a performing arts centre with the acoustics and capacity to accommodate his ensemble.

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Annual poll finds more Canadians confident about their finances than year ago

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TORONTO – It appears Canadians will be entering 2013 in a more positive mood about their finances than they were a year ago, according to a poll released Thursday.

The Harris Decima telephone poll conducted for CIBC found that 70 per cent of those surveyed were feeling positive about their financial situation.

Read more: http://tinyurl.com/bnt8m5y

Child labour growing issue

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Many young people regularly help out on the family farm. Scenes like a farmer’s son driving a tractor, helping collect bales or working during the busy harvest season are iconic images of what the rural, Prairie lifestyle is all about.

Those images have also served to muddy the waters of the child-labour debate on Alberta farms, according to some. But no matter how the issue is viewed, many agree now is the time to address the dilemma.

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