From parks to parking, Edmonton reviews 5 main service areas for cost savings
CBC News | Posted: March 30, 2021 1:53 AM | Last Updated: March 30, 2021
City considers charging parking fees at larger parks and open spaces
Park and open spaces, recreation centres, city vehicles and fire services are all up for review as the City of Edmonton looks to become more efficient.
City administration is scrutinizing 16 subcategories in five main service areas and expects to propose changes to city council by June.
People looking to park their vehicle in larger parks and open spaces for more than two hours could be paying for it in the future, the preliminary review outline says.
City manager Andre Corbould said staff has looked at how other jurisdictions charge for parking.
"There are a lot of municipalities in Canada and North American that do handle parking in different ways," Corbould said.
"So we thought it was very important to address this and take a specific look at it from a business case perspective."
Corbould did not specify which parks may be included in future parking fees or how much the city may impose.
Mowing and maintenance
The review will study which areas of the city require mowing and maintaining turf and shrubs. It will also explore the benefits of allowing some park spots to be naturalized.
Corbould said some candidates for going natural include riparian areas along the river, where it's good for the environment and water.
"The grass that needs to be cut certainly needs to be cut," Corbould said. "But we need to take a look at where there may be opportunities for not doing that everywhere."
Some fields went unmowed last spring, as the city cut part of its lawn maintenance budget at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Coun. Jon Dziadyk called for the city to restore that funding last year.
"This summer I think it is more important than ever to have properly maintained parks," Dziadyk said in an email Monday.
"I am supportive of looking for efficiencies but we have to be careful and continue to offer the services that Edmontonians expect and pay for with their taxes."
- Mowing rogue: Edmontonians tackle tall grass as pandemic cuts city maintenance budget
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Coun. Tim Cartmell said he thinks sports fields should be considered outdoor recreation centres and not grass, especially in COVID-19 times.
"Our green spaces are going to become more active and more valuable, not less," Cartmell said. "So I don't know that this is a place we cut service, but we might cut cost by allowing third parties to participate in that."
Cartmell invited the review, which includes analyzing whether in-house mechanic and fabrication shops are cost-efficient for the city.
The city — with about 5,900 vehicles and pieces of equipment — will look at its overall fleet size
"When you're servicing the number of vehicles that we have and the number of vehicles we service — everything from automobile replacement parts to motor oil needs to be inventoried."
Cartmell said the city is shouldering the cost of purchasing the equipment, the cost of maintaining the inventory and the cost of storing it.
It could be more efficient to leave the everyday mechanical work and vehicle maintenance to heavy duty shops in Edmonton, Cartmell suggested.
"It doesn't necessarily benefit us to have all that material at hand when it's at hand at the third party shop down the street."
Fire response
The city and Edmonton Fire Rescue Services, with the help of KPMG consultants, aim to optimize how they respond to calls by evaluating staff at specific stations and times.
Fire service currently responds to medical calls with four firefighters and a full-size vehicle. Up to 25 per cent of calls are non-emergency, non life-threatening and not within their scope of service.
Rec centres
Smaller, single purpose facilities such as arenas, leisure centres and senior centres could come under new management.
The city will look at having other groups run its golf courses and recreation centres, which could include contracting third party providers or community partners.
"We're not looking at changing ownership in any way," Corbould said.
"It's how we deliver those services within those city facilities."