Calgary Minute: Airport Project, Working Capital, and Marathon Hearing Continues

Calgary Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Calgary politics

This Week In Calgary:

• The City’s largest-ever public hearing will continue this week. The hearing, concerning a proposal to for blanket rezoning, could possibly continue for weeks as there’s no restriction on when or how many people can sign up to speak to Council. Despite the marathon sessions planned, less than half of the registered speakers have had their turn so far, with Mayor Jyoti Gondek hinting at the possibility of extending the hearing into a third week.
  
  
• There will be a City Council meeting tomorrow morning at 9:30 am that, despite the continuation of the public hearing, will not be rescheduled. There is a lengthy Consent Agenda (the stuff they don’t debate), after which Administration will present a report entitled “Understanding The City of Calgary’s Financial Position and Funding Shortfall from the Province”. As expected, the City blames the Province for not providing more money, rather than looking internally at the ways in which the City is spending. The Calgary Airport Authority will also make its annual presentation to Council. According to that presentation, in 2023, 18.5 million passengers moved through the Calgary Airport, breaking the 2019 record of 18 million passengers.
  
  
• The Community Development Committee will meet on Wednesday at 2:00 pm. The Committee will discuss the 2023 Civic Partner Annual Report - a detailed report of results achieved by each of the City’s 20 Civic Partners that received an operating grant from the City in 2023. These partners include Heritage Calgary, the Federation of Calgary Communities, and Tourism Calgary, among others. The Emergency Management Committee, originally scheduled for Thursday at 9:30 am, has been cancelled.

Last Week In Calgary:

• A year after approving a deal for a new arena, Calgary officials have disclosed an $818 million working capital fund that can be used for financing the $926.4 million project. Initially, the City had announced $537 million in cash would be used for the arena, leading to questions about covering the full cost. The City's Chief Financial Officer introduced the working capital fund figures in the 2023 annual financial report, marking the first such disclosure. The bigger question must surely be - how can the City justify years of massive tax increases when they were sitting on almost a billion dollars more than they told citizens they had?
  
  
• An open house was held in Abbeydale to gather public feedback on plans to extend Memorial Drive eastward to Stoney Trail, aiming to connect it with rapidly growing suburbs. Residents expressed mixed feelings, with some concerned about the potential increase in noise and traffic. The City is expecting about 60,000 people to end up living in the Belvedere area, and while the construction funding is not yet secured, the project might be expedited due to the area's faster-than-expected growth. The City plans to use the community feedback from the open house to refine and finalize the proposed road extension this summer.
  
  
• The West Runway Rehabilitation project at the Calgary International Airport has begun. The $200-million project involves replacing the runway pavement, upgrading to LED lighting, enhancing drainage systems, and improving related infrastructure such as taxiways. The federal Airport Critical Infrastructure Program will provide $57.5 million, with the remaining funds provided by the Calgary Airport Authority. Despite the substantial nature of the renovations, airport officials say they have planned meticulously to prevent any disruptions to flight schedules. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.

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