On the agenda: Waste, budget process, city manager's power

This week, councillors will hear about the results of a waste characterization study, vote on a recommended process for the four-year budget deliberations, and consider changes to the city manager's authority.

There is a utility committee meeting on Oct. 5 and a council meeting on Oct. 6, with a continuation scheduled for Oct. 7.

Here are some key items on the agenda this week:

• A waste characterization study suggests that apartment and condo residents are adapting more slowly than expected to sorting food scraps into green bins, says a report to be presented to utility committee. The study, conducted between April 2025 and April 2026, found that only 37% of waste was properly sorted at apartment and condo buildings. The city started rolling out food scraps and recycling collection to condos and apartment buildings in 2023. The study also looked at items that are regulated by the city's single-use item bylaw. It found a 30% reduction in the disposal of the regulated items, surpassing the goal of a 20% reduction by 2027. Retail bags and foam takeout containers saw an especially large decrease. However, disposal of items that are not regulated by the bylaw generally increased.
• The proposed four-year capital, operating, and climate budgets will be released on Nov. 2, says a report to be presented to council, which includes a schedule and process for deliberations. On Nov. 23, administration will present the budgets, and councillors will be able to ask one round of questions on each of the capital and operating budgets. A public hearing will run from Nov. 24 to as late as Dec. 18, if required. Once council has heard from speakers, it will debate amendments to the capital budget and then debate the operating budget, in descending order of magnitude. Council will also hear presentations from city-funded organizations and civic agencies.
• Administration has proposed amending the city administration bylaw to give the city manager the authority to refuse a councillor's request for information if it would require significant city resources or input from multiple departments to prepare, if the information is not readily available, if it includes unbudgeted expenditures, or if it would unreasonably interfere with the normal operations of the city. The change reflects amendments to the Municipal Government Act made through Bill 28, says a report to be presented to council. Administration also proposes increasing the city manager's delegated authority for approving affordable housing agreements from $1 million to $5 million. The report said this change would reduce red tape and decrease approval timelines. These and other changes will be debated by council on Oct. 6.

Here are some more key items:

• Council has nine motions pending on the Oct. 6 agenda. Coun. Michael Janz is set to introduce a motion to reduce the standard speaking time for speakers at committee and council meetings from five to three minutes. He is also expected to introduce a motion to add a moment of silence at the beginning of each council meeting for people killed on roadways, and for council to write a letter after each moment of silence to the transportation minister calling for action on traffic safety. Coun. Ashley Salvador will make a motion asking administration to prepare funding options to finish off the active transportation routes planned in the 2023-2026 budget cycle, plus more funding to introduce another round as informed by an update to the implementation guide. Coun. Reed Clarke is set to introduce a motion asking for options to improve notifications to residents when a developer proposes a rezoning for a large-scale infill project.
• Administration is preparing the rate filings for the Blatchford renewable energy utility and downtown district energy utility. The Blatchford utility still faces a financial shortfall after the removal of the federal carbon price threw a wrench in its path to financial sustainability. It requires a non-refundable cash infusion of at least $69 million. Meanwhile, the downtown district energy system has been heating the Winspear Centre, Century Place, and Chancery Hall, and pending a council report, it will expand to City Hall, the Citadel Theatre, and the Stanley A. Milner Library.
• Administration has provided options in a private report to supplement the advisory services that utility committee currently receives from industry professionals.
• Electricity bills could increase by a few dollars for a typical ratepayer in Edmonton if council approves changes to the city's electricity franchise fee. The city charges EPCOR a fee for the exclusive right to distribute power in Edmonton, which is recovered from utility ratepayers. The Alberta Utilities Commission caps that fee at 20% of total distribution charges. Administration recommends increasing Edmonton's current fee of 17.65% to the maximum to align it with other Alberta municipalities. Utility committee is set to review the proposal, and council will make the final vote at a future date. If approved, the new franchise fee rate will come into effect on Jan. 1. Administration said a typical residential customer's monthly franchise fee would increase by 2.4% from $9.06 to $10.27. The increase would mean the city collects an additional $14.8 million in franchise fees in 2027, bringing the total to $125.6 million.
• Utility committee will meet in private to discuss a project that converts landfill gas to renewable natural gas.
• Council will meet in private to receive instructions on a confidential legal settlement and hear an update on intergovernmental relations.

And here are updates on some of the items we told you about last week:

• Edmonton city councillors have voted to suspend the part of the public spaces bylaw that prohibits loitering in transit spaces during extreme weather. City administration already has authority to suspend some bylaws during extreme weather events, but at a community and public services committee meeting on Sept. 28, councillors voted 4-1 to formally direct administration to do so.
• Councillors on the urban planning committee did not make a recommendation on how to allocate a surplus in the planning and development business model (PDBM) reserve. Representatives of the development industry urged city council to make sure surplus development revenues benefit all developers and not just those building infill. While urban planning committee didn't make a recommendation, at a meeting the preceding day, councillors on the community and public services committee recommended that council allow a policy exception to transfer $12 million from the planning and development reserve to fund affordable housing site readiness. Council will vote on the recommendation at a meeting on Oct. 6.
• Urban planning committee directed administration to work with Calder residents to commemorate the heritage of 129 Avenue through plaques, interpretation panels, and art. Councillors chose not to pursue special zoning that would limit redevelopment options. "I think this is about really making sure that we can honour and share the history and origins of all the unique characteristics of many of the diverse neighbourhoods across Edmonton whilst also making sure we're not impacting our goal as a city to continue to be rebuildable," said Coun. Erin Rutherford, whose Ward Anirniq includes the neighbourhood.
• Executive committee approved an amended agreement with Azolla Hydrogen to align with an extended timeline for the Alberta Zero-Emissions Fleet Fuelling project. Because it is a single-source contract, committee must approve changes; however, no additional funds are required because the extension will be covered by the already-approved city budget and grant funding from Emissions Reduction Alberta.
• Executive committee unanimously approved an agreement to offer the premium version of the Transit app to all Edmontonians.
• Councillors on the executive committee approved administration's recommendation to modify the city's ward boundaries, placing the entirety of the Glenridding Ravine neighbourhood within Ward pihêsiwin and the entirety of the Chappelle neighbourhood within Ward Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi. Council will vote on the changes at a future meeting.

Meetings stream live on YouTube on the Chamber channel and River Valley Room channel.

For more on civic affairs, including changes to the public spaces bylaw, a proposal for more security at the redeveloped Edmonton City Centre, and a plan for a data centre infrastructure project, listen to Episode 374 of Speaking Municipally.