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December 05, 2011
October 17, 2011: Presentation To City Council To City Council -- LRT Extension to North St. Albert
Good afternoon Mayor Crouse and members of City Council. As you know, I am Charlene Zoltenko, the 2011 Chair of the St. Albert Chamber of Commerce, representing over 780 members.
We are here today to ensure that our lines of communication are open and effective, and to inform you of a new initiative that is underway in the St. Albert Chamber of Commerce. I am referring to the extension of the regional LRT service right through to the north end of St. Albert.
The St. Albert Chamber of Commerce undertook intensive Strategic Planning efforts last year, with a three year focus. The three strategic focus areas of our plan are:
1. Vibrant Community
2. Regional Hub
3. Role Model
The supporting actions for these focus areas are:
1. Chamber expansion
2. Business expansion
3. Partnerships
4. Leverage opportunities
As you can now understand, the expansion of the LRT into St. Albert very directly addresses all three strategic focus areas, but primarily the second one: Regional Hub. It is also very clear, that it is supported by our stated actions of business expansion, partnerships, and leveraging opportunities.
Today, I’ll focus on the strategic area of Regional Hub and the supporting action of leveraging opportunities.
With the Capital Region moving forward with LRT expansion, St. Albert has been given an outstanding opportunity to come out as a leader in the region, and to cement its position as a regional hub for the north. Opportunities like this one do not come along more than once, and we are encouraging City Council to be progressive and innovative in your approach, and to do all in your power to ensure that the LRT expansion doesn’t stop before reaching the north end of our city. To settle for anything less, is to announce to everyone that economic prosperity is not for us.
We are so strongly encouraged by the steps you have taken recently to place more focus on Economic Development for St. Albert. This is one area where you can now make a definitive statement that you are going out for business, and for growth and prosperity for our city.
Of course, growth depends on development, and we are forming a task force committee that is focused only on bringing the LRT to north St. Albert. We have received very positive support from Larry Andrews at Landrex, and have discussions pending with other active developers in St. Albert.
We are aware that city administration is making a presentation to you next week regarding LRT expansion. We do not know what that presentation contains. We do, however, know that we will completely stand behind any and all efforts you make to bring the LRT to north St. Albert. This is the one chance to leverage this opportunity for paying a minimal portion of the costs, while the federal and provincial governments carry the most significant shares. The truly regional nature of this initiative makes it very favourable to the other levels of government. Our neighbours to the north will be brought into our discussions. We are predicting that their support will be unanimous . . . it is truly a win-win situation in the making, and it is St. Alberts to take ownership of.
We won’t go into any more detail today. Our primary purpose for attending is to communicate with you, and to hopefully see opportunities for us to work together to follow our common vision of economic growth for our community. We will come and speak to you once again, as we move this project further along, and as we watch your actions in supporting this exceptional opportunity that is now presenting itself for you.
71 St. Albert Road St. Albert, AB T8N 6L5
Phone: 780-458-2833 | Fax: 780-458-6515
e-mail: chamber@stalbertchamber.com
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