Archive for June, 2009


City Centre Airport: Leaning Toward Closure

I’ve worked to keep an open mind about this question since it was reopened after the election. I’ve said until last week that I was still waiting for both sides to make their best arguments, as I didn’t think we had heard them yet. Having heard again from the public and city staff, I’m prepared to say that I’m leaning strongly toward closure.

I’ll admit that the city report from last year painted a pretty rosy forecast for what repurposing the land could mean for the city, and in retrospect folks were right to call it exaggerated. I think this year’s analysis conducted by city administration and consultants is much more realistic (thanks to Mastermaq for compiling all the reports in one place). There are no certainties with land development, but the assumptions and the reasoning appear appropriately conservative after my thorough review. So the argument for the redevelopment scenario has improved from last year. (Edmonton Regional Airport Authority has added some background papers as well here.)

Some of the advocates for saving the airport, including the Alberta Enterprise Group (AEG), raised some fair questions about the analysis, but nothing damning. AEG also retained ASCEND Aviation Consultants to build an ‘Economic Potential’ case for the Muni. They have also argued based on a 2005 study that the airport enables province-wide economic activity of:

  • 2,300 jobs (nearly 2,200 person years of employment);
  • $164 million in GDP; $388 million in economic output; and
  • $99 million in wages.

AEG implies that this economic activity is only possible because of the airport. There is a logical error here since the airport is not a necessary condition for all of this activity, only a portion of it (like aircraft refueling). The airport is merely an enabler for the rest. I questioned AEG representatives about this and they admitted that they didn’t know what the impact of closure would be on the local economy, only that it would affect some of this business, and that the rest would just move around to other airports in the region as people shifted their activity. I would argue that most of this business would still happen, it would just happen differently.

Where Airport Advocates are divided is the question of whether the status quo is working. Most air industry speakers argued that the status quo is untenable. Leisure flyers can live with it as is, but still felt that the airport is slowly dying under the restrictions placed upon it.

Many want the 10 passenger cap for scheduled service raised to 19, restoration of cargo service, easing hanger development restrictions, and resuming customs services for international charters. Lifting these restrictions would be needed for the airport to begin to meet its theoretical potential. They argue philosophically for competition between the airports, forgetting that this is not a true market — it’s a regulated one where the field is among other cities’ international airports, not individual airports within our region.

The Airport Authority takes the position that they’re operating the airport according to the lease with the city, which takes direction from the 1995 referendum on consolidation of scheduled service at the International (or the Leduc Airport, as many Muni advocates refer to it). Some Muni advocates think it’s time to revisit the question of consolidation of scheduled service. Short of a petition with 75,000 signatures on it forcing a plebiscite I don’t see how this is ever going to happen (and I’m fairly certain the consolidation regimen would prevail).

So follow my logic: if the status quo is untenable for all but the jet set, and if expanding scheduled service is not going to happen, that really only leaves one option: closure. This of course should be subject to a number of further conditions about improving access to other airports (Instrument Landing System at Villeneuve for flight training and as an all-weather Medevac alternate for one, express transit connection from South LRT to the International for another).

Will using Villeneuve or the International be less convenient for charter flyers, private pilots and scheduled air users, who use the Muni now? For some, undoubtedly yes. Will all of them take their business elsewhere? It is a risk that some may, however we may reasonably assume that the many reasons why people do business with Edmonton or from Edmonton are strong enough for most to continue to do so.

Incidentally, Villeneuve is only 6 mins further from our Downtown than Springbank general aviation airport is from Calgary’s Downtown.

So what of Medevac? Surely this has been the most sensational issue in the debate. However, I believe from what we’ve heard that Medevac can eventually be accommodated at other airports in the region with no time delay for those who are time critical. First, though, I believe we need written assurance from the Minister of Health that they will make the necessary investments in helicopters, landing pad upgrades, traffic signal priority systems, etc. The issues here are financial, logistical and jurisdictional — and all are Provincial.

In sum, I believe the risks to Medevac patient outcomes and business relationships from eventual closure are low. Intensification of the airport land into a transit-oriented green community for tens of thousands, the end of the height-limiting Airport Protection Overlay over Downtown, plus the unique opportunity to facilitate NAIT expansion combine into a strong case for seizing a once-in-a-generation opportunity for city building.

If there’s one thing everyone agrees on, the historical city-building significance of the site and its heroes ought to be recognized and celebrated.

Council will debate the matter, and may make some decisions on the 8th of July.

Federal LRT Funding

Today council spent the majority of our morning debating the question of the federal and provincial funding for the proposed Northeast LRT extension to Gorman. I questioned the need to have this conversation in private, but because of the sensitivity of working with other orders of government I reluctantly voted along with the rest of council to go in private for the discussion.

The resulting direction from council was voted on shortly after 5 pm today though the specifics are being kept private for now pending further discussions with other orders of government. I voted for the prevailing decision [clarified at 7:30], though I can’t say what that was, but against the decision to keep it in private. I also made the following brief statement for the record:

“Our citizens need to know that the way infrastructure is funded in this country is utterly dysfunctional. It’s why Canada is falling behind and it jeopardizes our city’s goals with respect to LRT and sustainability in general.”

ICLEI Day 4: Youth, Hope, and BBQ

Yesterday a number of younger delegates assembled at ICLEI’s request to scope out a possible Youth/Next Gen initiative for young leaders. (Daveberta has written a great synopsis.) A few of us put together a resolution today and we’ll see what the reception at the main meeting is like tomorrow.

R to L: ICLEI Secretary General Konrad Otto-Zimmermann; Cllr. Cathy Oke from Melbourne, Aus.; Ald. Dominic Mishio from Leduc, AB; Cllr. Sebastian Müller from Freiburg, Germany; Eero Vainio from Lahti, Norway; yours truly; and Vancouver Cllr. David, who is also President of ICLEI.

At Fort Edmonton (from left): ICLEI Secretary General Konrad Otto-Zimmermann; Cllr. Cathy Oke from Melbourne, Aus.; Ald. Dominic Mishio from Leduc, AB; Cllr. Sebastian Müller from Freiburg, Germany; Eero Vainio from Lahti, Norway; yours truly; and Vancouver Cllr. David Cadman, who is also President of ICLEI.

Many delegates were impressed with our Youth Council and Next Gen initiatives. At least a few dozen attended Pecha Kucha Night IV last night and were very complimentary today. I thoroughly enjoyed it too, particularly Trevor Anderson’s That’s Edmonton For You presentation and Stephani Carter’s inspired rhyme about sustainability.

Conference sessions today were focused on solutions, new technology, and propelling change. Peter Neuman, who is giving a public talk on Thursday, spoke enticingly about integrating TODs, PODs and GODs – meaning Transit Oriented Development, Pedestrian OD and Green OD.

The day was capped with a wonderful BBQ down at ol’ reliable Fort Edmonton. A spontaneous conga line broke out at Kelly’s Saloon on 1885 street. Seeing 200 or more ICLEI Delegates take line dancing lessons was pretty entertaining too.

A highlight for me was a conversation with a young delegate from Iowa who said, “I’d move here. It’s great!” She meant Edmonton, not Fort Edmonton, so that was nice. She went on to talk about the people, the river valley, the infrastructure, the various environmental initiatives, and more.

Positive feedback like this gives me hope that we’re doing some things right.

I think our city really is on the cusp of something compelling, something positive, and hopefully something greener than we have seen so far. This ICLEI event could propel a lot of change. Lots of conversation with locals about how we capture this energy and put it to work at home in a lasting way. Lots of bright eyes and hope, starting with our mayor and stretching to all the volunteers who’ve rallied to make this event so very special.

EcoMobility in Edmonton: ICLEI Day Three

More than 30 delegates from around the globe assembled to take the LRT south to our newest station at South Campus for a field trip to see the Local Motion EcoMobility pilot project in Parkallen. By the way, EcoMobility means encouraging walking, wheeling, cycling and transit.

The city is partnering with Transport Canada and the Global Alliance for EcoMobility to work with the neighbourhood to put in place conditions to better enable residents to try alternatives to the single-occupant vehicle for the month of June, and hopefully beyond.

More than 100 households have signed up to take the Local Motion challenge to reduce their car use, and the project is measuring their behaviour and perception changes. Delegates had a chance to meet some of the community leaders and tour the neighbourhood. They also heard about the philosophy behind all this in the community’s words, which not only value environmental objectives, but positive social and and health outcomes as well.

We’re also documenting the project on film as well, and some short clips are already available.

Parkallen was selected from thirteen enthusiastic applications, which bodes very well for taking this concept further. To my mind, the great strengths of this project are the interdisciplinary cooperation from the city staff (including Transit, Transportation Planning, Community Services and the Environment and Energy Branch) and, more importantly, there is bottom-up leadership coming from the community, starting with the community league, but also including the elementary school administration andparents’ council and a number of local businesses.

I participated in the launch of the Global Alliance for EcoMobility in December of 2007 at the UN Climate Change Conference, and the idea for doing this specific project during the main ICLEI world congress was hatched over iced teas with the Secretary General of ICLEI at the USA conference in Albuquerque last May, so it’s a treat to see it ‘in motion.’

I think the delegates enjoyed the experience, which included lunch from Parkallen Restaurant, the Lebanese fixture on 109 St and near 70 Ave. There was also an option to take a guided bike tour on our bike routes and through the river valley to get back downtown, and I understand most did and enjoyed it very much. I had to train it back downtown for a meeting.

Oh, and Sarah wrote about her visit to the cycling cities session yesterday.

ICLEI Day Two: Tidbits

Today was another splendid instance of connections with colleagues. I had an impromptu conversation with a number of young elected officials about possibilities for an ICLEI network of younger members. There will be a formal discussion on this that I’m moderating tomorrow at city hall.

Councillor Ben Henderson of Ward 4 and I twittered our way through the sessions.

I attended a great session on EcoMobility in the morning (more on that tomorrow), and one on cycling cities in the afternoon. I secured media accreditation for Sarah to come and write something for her popular blog, which I’ll link to when she posts.

Looking forward to Pecha Kucha tomorrow night, theme is Ideas Inspiring Sustainability. I hear we’ve sold more than 600 tickets.

Lastly, briefly, a heads up for Thursday evening’s FREE talk from Peter Neuman put on by the University of Alberta’s City Region Studies Centre:

Resilient Cities: Responding to the Crash, Climate Change, and Peak Oil

Thursday, June 18th

Lecture 7:00 pm, Doors open 6:45 pm

Shaw Conference Centre, Salon 4