While much of Monday’s spotlight was stolen by an Olympic bid blunder that saw incorrect information be released about government funding commitments, a packed council agenda also includes two big pushes from Calgary city councillors on different topics.
Councillor Diane Colley-Urquhart will be asking the city revisit its snow route parking ban policy and try to determine what’s working, what isn’t working and how can the city change it to improve compliance.
Her motion includes reviewing the fine structure and how the parking authority enforces the bylaw. It will also look at other options for where people can park when their street is under a snow route ban and upping enforcement on areas where people are breaking the rules the most.
Councillor Druh Farrell will be pushing for mandatory inspections of older buildings in Calgary. The push comes after the Fairview Arena collapsed and after residents were forced to flee their apartments at Kensington Manor in mere minutes because the building was deemed unsafe.
READ MORE: ‘Possible imminent building collapse’ forces evacuation of 8-storey Kensington complex
“Let’s not forget, Fairview Arena failed and we got lucky,” Farrell said. “Kensington Manor — we had residents on the sidewalk with 15 minutes notice to grab belongings, so neither of those situations were ideal.”
“There was no loss of life but frankly, we got lucky.”