City to develop environmental roadmap in 2023

By COLLIN GALLANT on January 12, 2023.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant

A local “environmental roadmap” to reduce carbon emissions and prepare infrastructure and operations for more extreme and less predictable weather needs to be aggressive, but also needs to fit Medicine Hat’s “unique” situation, council members said Tuesday.

Such a plan has been promised since 2018, but with initial work completed in 2022, the next year will see formal work begin and a final report brought forward late in 2023.

Some stakeholders in the city, such as industrial and environmental groups, may be engaged this winter, and the general public in the fall before it goes before council.

“The report will deal with what makes sense for our community, and the level of support and action is what council will determine,” said Rochelle Pancoast, managing director of the city’s strategic management and analysis office.

That department is handling the process, and reported to council’s economic, land and development committee this week that administrators will complete the study in 2023.

That will involve a study by consulting firm WSP, paid for with an $80,000 grant from the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre, work with departments to determine baseline of operations, and discussions with local industry and environmental groups, about goal setting before public consultation this summer and fall.

Work on major topics due by the end of March include water management, air quality and emissions, the local ecosystem, solid water, urban design and land use, and the potential of “green” economic growth. From that a final report will lay out short-, medium- and long-term goals for the next 25 years.

The timeline however, raised questions from committee member Coun. Robert Dumanowski.

“I’m not opposed, but my fear is that it could be too vague – I’m not looking for a plan that just captures what’s being said in every other community,” he said. “It’s a dynamic plan, but it sets in motion our actions … I want it to reflect our community.”

A similar plan to bring the city’s electric generation station is being developed in a separate but “parallel” process, say administrators.

The city has been without a “Community Environmental Roadmap” since 2016, when council of the day allowed a previous plan, developed in 2008, to expire without update.

At that time council members critiqued the plan – which set goals for the entire city, not just municipal operations – stating that goals for trash reduction, reduced water and energy use appeared arbitrary and hadn’t been met.

Mayor Linnsie Clark said the city needs to get a picture of its exposure to changing weather and needs to start acting to reduce its carbon footprint.

“The plan will come to fruition this term, and we have an opportunity to include it in a budget cycle (beginning in 2025),” she said.

Coun. Andy McGrogan said some facets of the report, such as solid waste handling and sewer operations, should be straight forward because they are already heavily regulated.

Committee chair Coun. Alison Van Dyke said water conservation will be an important focus for the city in the future when rainfall is expected to be less predictable.

Earlier this year, Calgary city council came under fire for approving a plan to achieve “net zero” status in municipal operations that would potentially cost as much as $87 billion to implement.

That would avoid costs of up to $8 billion per year by 2080 from not retrofitting buildings or bringing other urban design measures, according to the report.

Preparing for more extreme weather could come with expensive projects to upsize storm sewers, require additional drainage ponds, or elevate other city infrastructure. Other planning requirements and regulatory changes could include adding greenspace to combat heat island effect during warmer summers.

Medicine Hat is also working with consulting group “Strong Towns,” which advocates for compact urban design to combat costs related to urban sprawl.

A pilot project with the U.S.-based group could be unveiled locally in February.

Updates to the city’s overarching Municipal Development Plan two years ago led to a general preference for increasing density in existing communities over suburban expansion as the city balances the cost of expanding infrastructure with replacing or upgrading existing road and utility systems.

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