Bill ———— Bill Given Mayor, City of Grande Prairie Phone: 780.538.0310 Cell: 780.814.0518 Email: bgiven@cityofgp.com Blog: http://billgiven.ca Twitter: http://twitter.com/billgiven———————————————– This message, and any attached documents, may include proprietary or protected information. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify me, delete this message, and do not further communicate the
Continue readingAuthor: Bill Given
Bill Given: You Don’t Deserve to be Misled: City Reserves
Bill Given: You Don’t Deserve to be Misled: City Reserves
Some very bad, intentional, misinformation is being circulated today by email and on Facebook, about how the city manages it’s savings accounts, otherwise known as reserves. “Reserves” are a fancy name for savings accounts and the city maintains 12 different ones. Each has a different purpose but I’ll get to
Continue readingBill Given: You Don’t Deserve to be Misled: City Reserves
Some very bad, intentional, misinformation is being circulated today by email and on Facebook, about how the city manages it’s savings accounts, otherwise known as reserves. “Reserves” are a fancy name for savings accounts and the city maintains 12 different ones. Each has a different purpose but I’ll get to
Continue readingBill Given: City Moves Forward With Annexation
Last night council formally approved moving the annexation process forward by approving a final set of information sessions for the public. As the City’s media release below details it’s been a long process to get to this point, and there is still more to go before annexation is actually complete.
Continue readingBill Given: City Moves Forward With Annexation
Last night council formally approved moving the annexation process forward by approving a final set of information sessions for the public. As the City’s media release below details it’s been a long process to get to this point, and there is still more to go before annexation is actually complete.
Although the City “officially” initiated annexation back in early 2011 (by sending the County and the Municipal Government Board formal letters) I really view the process as having started back in 2005 or 2006. Back then Mayor Ayling’s council started a discussion about how the city would grow in the future and that initiated what would result in the 2008 Growth Study (PDF Download). Then, after the election in 2007, Mayor Logan’s Council started renegotiating the Intermunicipal Development Plan (PDF Download) with the County. When it was completed, after nearly 3 years of negotiations, the IDP laid out the future annexation areas for the city in two chunks that were intended to provide for a “30 Year” and “50 Year” growth horizon. Then, shortly after the 2010 election – in the spring of 2011 – this current council sent the letter that started the direct negotiations and landowner consultations that we are just wrapping up now.
Future growth areas for the City. |
Annexation is important for the City because we need to be able to offer a variety of development options to expand our tax base, particularly for commercial and industrial properties. Without the raw land laid out in the annexation area the city has extremely limited space to be able to attract new industrial and commercial development. These two classes of properties pay property taxes at a higher rate than residential properties – essentially they carry more of the burden of the city budget, so obviously if we have more of them it reduces the load on all the existing properties. One important thing to note is that while this is unquestionably about new taxes – it is NOT a “tax grab” as annexations are sometimes made out to be. If this was a “tax grab” the city would be annexing the already developed areas of the County, particularly the Clairmont area. As you can see in the map, that is not the case; the city is getting largely undeveloped land and the County gets to retain and grow it’s Clairmont area. (The light yellow areas are the “30 Year” growth areas that we are talking about in this annexation, the darker brown areas are the “50 Year” growth areas.)
Once the annexation is complete the city still has a lot of work to do to encourage growth and development of new tax paying properties in the new areas of the city. City Council recognizes this and we’ve started that work by recently adopting our Industrial Attraction Strategy (LINK), and beginning investments in the infrastructure that will help fuel development.
So, we are nearing the end of one phase of what has been, and will be, a very long process in improving the City’s financial viability.
City media release below….
Open Houses Set For Annexation
- Taxation Phase-in Formulas – City’s Final Positions on Landowner Taxation Transition from County to City rates
- Zoning /Development Opportunities
- Service Levels
- Lifestyle Issues, including solid waste and business licenses
Bill Given: City Moves Forward With Annexation
Last night council formally approved moving the annexation process forward by approving a final set of information sessions for the public. As the City’s media release below details it’s been a long process to get to this point, and there is still more to go before annexation is actually complete.
Continue readingBill Given: Legion Track Renewal
I just received the note below from our facilities maintenance department:
The Legion Track resurfacing project is well underway!
The Facility Maintenance Department is landscaping the interior perimeter of the track to address drainage issues, repairing irrigation lines as needed, removing the old rubber crumb track surface and installing the new track surface. We may have the opportunity to install the new long jump pits as well, but this depends heavily on our strict time frame.
Work will continue for approximately 5 – 6 weeks. During this time, access to the track is limited to construction workers and City employees wearing safety vests. There will be one Drillers football game as scheduled on July 7th .
Once the project is complete, vehicles will no longer be allowed on the track for any reason. When crossing the track with mowers, light trucks, tractors etc.. rubber mats will be available to place across the track surface. Any and all vehicles including City vehicles will need to stay on the gravel path on the south side of the track or travel in the grass areas on the exterior perimeter of the track. Please ensure that summer staff without email access are aware of these changes.
Feel free to forward this email to affected user groups throughout the City of Grande Prairie. Thank you for your patience over the next few weeks.
Continue readingBill Given: Legion Track Renewal
I just received the note below from our facilities maintenance department: The Legion Track resurfacing project is well underway! The Facility Maintenance Department is landscaping the interior perimeter of the track to address drainage issues, repairing irrigation lines as needed, removing the old rubber crumb track surface and installing the
Continue readingBill Given: Legion Track Renewal
I just received the note below from our facilities maintenance department: The Legion Track resurfacing project is well underway! The Facility Maintenance Department is landscaping the interior perimeter of the track to address drainage issues, repairing irrigation lines as needed, removing the old rubber crumb track surface and installing the
Continue readingBill Given: Grande Prairie is the Youngest City in Canada
The demographic breakdown of our area from the 2011 census was released recently by StatsCan. The attached charts show how the city and county populations break down by age. Both graphs are on the same scale to make comparison easier. Some interesting ways I found to look at the data….
Continue readingBill Given: Grande Prairie is the Youngest City in Canada
The demographic breakdown of our area from the 2011 census was released recently by StatsCan. The attached charts show how the city and county populations break down by age.
Bill Given: Grande Prairie is the Youngest City in Canada
The demographic breakdown of our area from the 2011 census was released recently by StatsCan. The attached charts show how the city and county populations break down by age. Both graphs are on the same scale to make comparison easier. Some interesting ways I found to look at the data….
Continue readingBill Given: Sir Elton John – In Grande Prairie
Now how’s THIS for entertainment at the Crystal Centre? CRYSTAL CENTRE Thursday, April 26th GRANDE PRAIRIE, AB – Elton John will perform solo at Crystal Centre on Thursday, April 26th at 8PM performing his “Greatest Hits Live” concert, featuring number one chart hits and classic album tracks from throughout his incredible five-decade
Continue readingBill Given: Sir Elton John – In Grande Prairie
Now how’s THIS for entertainment at the Crystal Centre? CRYSTAL CENTRE Thursday, April 26th GRANDE PRAIRIE, AB – Elton John will perform solo at Crystal Centre on Thursday, April 26th at 8PM performing his “Greatest Hits Live” concert, featuring number one chart hits and classic album tracks from throughout his incredible five-decade
Continue readingBill Given: Sir Elton John – In Grande Prairie
Now how’s THIS for entertainment at the Crystal Centre?
Bill Given: Taxi Bylaw – Missing the Point
At tonight’s council meeting one of the agenda items will be the third and final reading of the proposed changes to the sections of the city’s business licence bylaw that deal with regulations around taxis. The discussion about the changes has been cov…
Continue readingBill Given: Taxi Bylaw – Missing the Point
At tonight’s council meeting one of the agenda items will be the third and final reading of the proposed changes to the sections of the city’s business licence bylaw that deal with regulations around taxis. The discussion about the changes has been covered in the media many times – and
Continue readingBill Given: Taxi Bylaw – Missing the Point
At tonight’s council meeting one of the agenda items will be the third and final reading of the proposed changes to the sections of the city’s business licence bylaw that deal with regulations around taxis. The discussion about the changes has been covered in the media many times – and
Continue readingBill Given: Welcome to 2012
We are now a week in to 2012 and so far it doesn’t seem like the end of the world. Unseasonably warm, yes. But end-of-the-world hot … I don’t think so. 2011 was a busy year; for me personally, in the region and here at city hall. In fact I was
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