Council postponed a decision on applying property tax on the dormitories of the Banff Centre, directing administration to prepare a report indicating the potential taxation revenues if taxed at 80 per cent and 75 per cent of assessed values. The report will return on December 20.
Council directed administration to enter into negotiations with EPCOR to provide operation and maintenance services for the Town's water, sewer and storm water utility. In September 2011, Council directed administration to seek pricing from EPCOR for a new, 10-year contract to operate the Banff WWTP to compare against providing the service in-house. Further investigation showed that the Town may be able to realize greater efficiencies by integrating the services at the treatment plant with the water utility services.
Council voted to allocate all the commercial use development allotments currently with the Town of 3,077.06m2 (33,121.19ft2). The allotment regulations govern the rate and amount of commercial growth annually under the growth cap in Schedule 4 of the National Parks Act of Canada. Council had postponed the allotment process during the Land Use Bylaw review but voted to resume it as the bylaw review nears completion.
New projects and previously unsuccessful projects must submit an application by February 15, 2013 to indicate their interest in receiving an allotment. Allotments must be awarded within 60 days of the submission deadline.
The Town is developing a mobile parking site for smart devices. Council took a tour of the pilot project, which uses the Town's GIS services. The site, banffparking.ca, will indicate real time vacancy of the Bear Street parkade, as well as more in-depth information on parking locations by vehicle type. Visitors can access the site using their smart phones as they enter Banff to find where to park as well as washrooms and pedestrian routes from car parks to destinations. The site will launch next year.
Council learned that Roam regional service enjoyed 714 riders the first week of operations: 85 riders on day 1, growing steadily to 130 riders by day six.
Council has moved the final meeting of 2013 to Thursday, December 20, at 2 p.m.