From City Council, Tuesday, August 6

Kinsmen Community Arenas funding request (decision)

• Council has approved the $350,000 budget request to replace the chiller at the Kinsmen Community Arenas; this will be funded through the Capital Projects Reserve. Administration will order the part, which is expected to arrive in 14 weeks, then the contractor will take two weeks to install, then staff will install ice, taking an additional ten days. If there are no delays or issues, the arenas are anticipated to open mid-November at the earliest.
• Administration is working to revise rental permitting that has been previously shared with sport groups –the majority of rental permits will need to be revised with a proportionate reduction in ice access across all community rental groups. Revised permits are anticipated to be back to Sport Partners by August 30.
• The chiller is the main piece of equipment that allows ice to be made at the twin arenas. It cools brine water and provides cooling. The brine water’s chemical properties keep it from freezing. To freeze the rink surface, the system pumps chilled brine water through the pipes and then into the ice-bearing concrete slab.

City Council reviews Automated Traffic Enforcement program

At Tuesday’s Council meeting, City Council received a report reviewing the current operation of The City’s Automated Traffic Enforcement (ATE) program.

Mobile photo speed enforcement, commonly known as photo radar, is one component of the ATE program that has been an important tool in capturing speed violations on city streets. On Tuesday, administration provided a report on the effectiveness of the current program, as well as identified opportunities to optimize resources and enhance public safety through conventional enforcement.

“The ATE program’s number one goal has always been to prevent accidents and increase motorist and pedestrian safety by identifying speeding violations,” said John Ferguson, Manager of Municipal Policing Services. “However, after conducting a thorough review, we have found the current photo speed enforcement program has limitations in achieving our public safety goals.”

Identified limitations of the Mobile Photo Speed Enforcement program included a range of issues, including the inability to capture all traffic and safety violations, a lack of positive change in speeding compliance over time, limited consequences to drivers, and inability to provide targeted enforcement that responds promptly to evolving community needs because of a reliance on external guidelines set by the Government of Alberta’s ATE program.

Conversely, the report found that Community Peace Officer-led enforcement could offer a number of advantages, including the ability to address a wide range of traffic and safety violations, engage directly with drivers, have the flexibility to adapt to emerging community safety needs, and have a greater impact on changing the immediate behaviour of drivers with the stopping and ticketing process.

“Most importantly, Community Peace Officers can identify and remove dangerous driving issues that go beyond speeding, such as stopping uninsured or suspended drivers, impaired or distracted driving, and seatbelt use,” said Manager Ferguson. “This report explores the value or striking a better balance between automated and conventional enforcement that fosters a stronger sense of safety, reassures residents and deters potential offenders.”

Municipal Policing will return in the fall to propose a comprehensive approach for traffic safety enforcement that replaces the use of mobile photo speed enforcement with Community Peace Officers.

For more information about the current ATE program, visit www.reddeer.ca/ATE.