Calgary Minute: Damage Costs, Affordable Housing, and Supervised Consumption Concerns

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

This Week In Calgary:

• Council is in recess for the month of August and the first week of September. The next City Council meeting won’t take place until September 13th. During the Council recess, there are bi-weekly meetings of the Calgary Planning Commission, including a meeting scheduled for Thursday at 1:00 pm to discuss land use amendments.
  
  
• The City is seeking feedback on visits to its new inclusive playgrounds. Questions include which park features would facilitate a longer stay, if seating options were adequate, and the challenge the equipment posed to the children in attendance. The survey can be accessed on the City’s website.
  
  
• More than 150 vacancies need to be filled on 21 Boards, Commissions, and Committees (BCCs). The City is looking for Calgarians who want to give back to their communities by providing Council with input and recommendations on various topics. The Audit Committee, Calgary Airport Authority, Calgary Transit Access Eligibility Appeal Board, Climate Advisory Committee, and Urban Design Review Panel are just a few of the BCCs with vacancies. The deadline to apply is September 12th.

Last Week In Calgary:

• The cost of the City Hall break-in on August 2nd has been estimated at between $1.3 and $2.2 million. The cost includes the actual fire and water damage to the building as well as the cost of relocating City services like Fair Entry, cashiers, planning and development, and taxation. Insurance is expected to cover 80% of these costs.
  
  
• Deputy Mayor and Ward 8 Councillor Courtney Walcott, along with federal government officials, announced an investment into 45 new affordable homes in Calgary. The homes will be located in the community of Seton and consist of four housing complexes. The federal government is providing $9 million while the City is kicking in $1.1 million. The problem is that no amount of money will solve housing affordability because it's not actually caused by a lack of government funding; it's caused by higher prices thanks to constant interventions and regulations from big government, which drives up costs.
  
  
• The supervised consumption site at the Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre is set to close and residents of East Village have expressed concern with a plan to move the service to their neighbourhood. Calgary’s Drop-In Centre is one of the proposed locations for an overdose prevention site but residents and business owners who have attended public consultation meetings said they want more information. Concern comes from the increased crime rates in the area around Sheldon Chumir and the worry that services won’t be delivered effectively given the scale of the project. More public engagement will take place in the fall.

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