occidentalcapital
Senior Member
Let the proponents engage on this issue, but to kill it now before that has even happened would be incredibly cynical.
- Thread starter Kaizen
- Start date
CplKlinger
Senior Member
It was a very sensitive and heated discussion, to say the least.
Edmonton council presses proposed gondola operators on Indigenous engagement, burial grounds
Councillors grill gondola operators over plans for public and Indigenous engagement what would happen around the burial grounds in Rossdale.
edmontonjournal.com
The_Cat
Senior Member
There are lots of people in Edmonton who will turn down anything nice.
The_Cat
Senior Member
What really gets me is the impact of the gondola on Edmonton Transit. I think this could encourage transit use on both sides of the river.
JaayJR
New Member
I wonder if Prairie Sky would consider finding an alternate back up location instead of the Plant. Maybe the site west of Remax field? Its up for redevelopment anyway to be a “park”. A station would be a good fit there imo.
The only thing is it would still have to cross Rossdale, but a station is different than a tower.
I would rather see the station moved as a compromise than this project canned entirely.
The only thing is it would still have to cross Rossdale, but a station is different than a tower.
I would rather see the station moved as a compromise than this project canned entirely.
Sunny1
New Member
West of Remax is far more likely to have burial sites than the land directly east of the power plant where it's currently proposed.
IanO
Superstar
After hearing dozens of people speaking for and against the proposed Prairie Sky Gondola, executive committee pushed the decision on whether to approve a land agreement with the developers to next week’s city council meeting. The company has agreed to pay about $1.1 million annually to lease public property for the project, saying it would be 100% privately funded, not integrated with ETS, and meant to be running by 2026. Many questions were raised about whether the development would disturb the burial grounds on the Rossdale flats and what would happen if remains were discovered during construction. Mayor Amarjeet Sohi told Postmedia he couldn’t support the gondola without certainty that the burial sites would remain undisturbed, given the city’s commitment to reconciliation. Coun. Aaron Paquette also questioned whether Prairie Sky was committed to consulting with Indigenous communities or just determined to “get to ‘yes’.”
Taproot
Taproot
_urbanite
Senior Member
I think council would be ill-advised if they reject the land agreement before actually knowing the answers that both the archeological and environmental assessments will provide (both 100% paid for by PSG). So I can't see this being rejected next week, but who knows
TAS
Senior Member
I don't think council is going to be approving the leases even though they are conditional.
I think before getting to the current stage they are going to reverse the order of things and have an assessment on the site and maybe even something broader.
Based on their comments, Rutherford, Paquette and Janz are likely opposed to this gondola regardless of what comes from the burial ground analysis and would prefer it just die on Monday.
I'm surprised the city did not have to do any of this work in planning the Touch the Water project for the Rossdale section - since it's also disturbing land. And what about the entire west Rossdale development plan?
I think before getting to the current stage they are going to reverse the order of things and have an assessment on the site and maybe even something broader.
Based on their comments, Rutherford, Paquette and Janz are likely opposed to this gondola regardless of what comes from the burial ground analysis and would prefer it just die on Monday.
I'm surprised the city did not have to do any of this work in planning the Touch the Water project for the Rossdale section - since it's also disturbing land. And what about the entire west Rossdale development plan?
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David A
Senior Member
Interesting to refer to reverse order - I think that is a good point. Some of these assessments should have been done earlier.
I am not sure how far along Touch the Water actually is. The area it impacts might be a bit different and more compact, but it would make sense that some of the same issues might arise.
As for West Rossdale, nothing has been built there in decades and I doubt anything will happen in the next several years. It may be more of a pipe dream than the other two and again the location is slightly different.
XXIV94
New Member
Just joined this site since I am interested in the gondola moving forward!
I watched most of the council's meeting yesterday, and it seemed like some people (Sohi, Rutherford) are fine with the business aspect of the deal. However, they are concerned about the ability of Prairie Sky Gondola to conduct fair consultations with Indigenous peoples. I'm not sure if this is possible, but I had an idea that I thought could work.
Would it be possible to have the City of Edmonton and Prairie Sky Gondola conduct consultations with Indigenous peoples jointly? The costs in this scenario would be paid by Prairie Sky Gondola. Therefore, the City of Edmonton would be satisfied with the consultations since they would be one of the parties leading it.
I watched most of the council's meeting yesterday, and it seemed like some people (Sohi, Rutherford) are fine with the business aspect of the deal. However, they are concerned about the ability of Prairie Sky Gondola to conduct fair consultations with Indigenous peoples. I'm not sure if this is possible, but I had an idea that I thought could work.
Would it be possible to have the City of Edmonton and Prairie Sky Gondola conduct consultations with Indigenous peoples jointly? The costs in this scenario would be paid by Prairie Sky Gondola. Therefore, the City of Edmonton would be satisfied with the consultations since they would be one of the parties leading it.
Kaizen
Senior Member
occidentalcapital
Senior Member
Possibly, but it's a heck of a lot to ask of the gondola people without even giving them an assurance about the project. Simpler to approve the lease, if consultations/radar reveal a significant problem there (which seems unlikely because the burial ground is further west), the lease could be amended to move the location of that one tower/station.
edmontonidiot
New Member
Hi. I joined up as well after following this project, seems like a friendlier community than Twitter.
I'm confused that this project has gone this far without more input and involvement with indigenous peoples from the get-go. I think it could have cooled some of the city councilors reservations, specifically Aaron Paquette.
I'm not surprised that the city administration doesn't have more data on this supposed burial site though. I work in the nondestructive testing industry, I'm not certified for GPR though. I've seen it used, and my impression is it's pretty crude. I inspect ferromagnetic and paramagnetic metal, and we barely interpret our examinations anymore, it's too much liability. They keep bringing up GPR, but I'm not confident a technician or engineer, could extrapolate any more information from a GPR examination other than, dirt may have been disturbed here (or not). I doubt we will know for sure until sholves are in the ground.
Sunny1
New Member
They do have to do this work & admin spoke to the multiple places where it's in progress for those projects last night. There have also been ~24? different heritage resource impact assessments in the area. The archeologist spoke to his involvement with other work done, (as did Cheif Miskis) including the Walterdale bridge & another site. Is more needed? Probably, do ww have alot of info already? Definitely. But this Council is new & I doubt most of them have this context & despite it being referenced by many it wasn't spelled out super concretely.