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    Beginning January 1, 2018, Drumheller residents will see a slight increase in their utility bill.
    The water rate per cubic meter will increase to $1.7881 from $1.7029 and the wastewater rate per cubic meter will rise to $2.1032 from $2.0619.
    “The town has been very responsible in the proper management of our water, sewer utility,” said councillor Tony Lacher.
    Properties with a lone sewer connection will only pay $38.08 a month, bulk water will come in at $5.8965 per cubic meter, and the recycling fee per unit will be at a rate of $2.00.
    Based on an average consumption of 15 cubic metres, Residents will see the bill for water and wastewater go from $76.47 to $79.18 which is a $2.70 difference.
    The increase in price will build up a reserve that the town can use for repairs and maintenance when necessary.
    “The point of the rates as they are established is to account for the recovery of our system which includes a depreciating asset, one that’s going to have to be replaced down the road,” continued Lacher. “One of the things we still need to maintain is a simple software upgrade that was to be done last year. It has a $2 million price tag and nothing is cheap when it comes to running water and waste plants so yes you need a reserve. If you don’t have a reserve you’re leaning on property taxes or some other source to fund simple upgrades and replacements.”
    Councillor Lacher compared other towns of similar population sizes to Drumheller as a way to understand and put in simpler terms council could understand.
    He discovered that Drumheller was the only town that kept their wastewater rate of consumption at 80 per cent while all other towns stayed at 100 per cent.
    It is ranked third only to Wainwright and Coaldale for the total monthly price. Olds came in with the highest bill of $135.03 a month.
    “I just needed to see where we stack up amongst them and that’s what it proved out to be,” said Lacher. “It was definitely an aha moment for me and some others there that we were not the most expensive. I was one of those guys that was thinking  it was the highest.”
    The bylaw was passed at the regular council meeting on Monday, December 11.
    Council went to great lengths to understand this bylaw by listening to a presentation made by Bob Jenkins of R Jenkins Consulting Ltd. at their last meeting.
    Jenkins has undertaken preparation for the 2015, 2017, and 2018 utility rate models for Drumheller. He explained the legislative provisions governing water and wastewater, why rate models are prepared, the interrelationship between these rate models and other financial plans, and the findings of the 2018 rate model.
    “We were hearing on the campaign trail that utility rates were through the roof so it wasn’t about the minimal increase we were looking for 2018, it was about understanding how we get to that number on your utility bills, what is being measured, how it’s being measured, and how do we stack up to other communities,” said Lacher.

The Drumheller town council has decided to create a new group under the name ‘Economic Impact Task Force’.
Residents of Drumheller and surrounding areas such as Munson, Hussar, and Carbon, have the opportunity to apply within the next week.
“It’s a terrific move forward and I’m proud of how far everybody has taken it,” said Fred Makowecki, council member and leading influence behind this idea.
The task force will be responsible for coming up with innovative thinking in regards to drawing business and young families in by researching and creating a list of incentives.
“You know we’re an amazing community – If you just in your mind, drive across Alberta, there’s very few places that have what we have or look like we look, or once you get here, have the spirit that we have. So the committee needs to bottle that and figure out how to market that. We want to be that community,” said Makowecki. “We’re going to throw it against a wall and see what sticks.”
Areas of exploration include but are not limited to industrial, manufacturing, retail, tourism, professional and medical services, workforce attraction, training, retention, overall activeness of the community, and downtown revitalization efforts.
The idea of this task force is to increase the standard of living within Drumheller and keep it sustainable for the future.
Subcommittees will be tasked with researching a specific industry and come up with a report on how to successfully implement that within the town. At the end of the three month term, all committees will come together to formulate an in-depth report.
“It’s always been an observation that businesses are closing,” said Makowecki. “I mean that’s pretty obvious with the oil field, which nobody has made a mistake there. However it has left our community short-handed and we haven’t got the task base we need and a lot of things like that.”
This new task force coming into action is not to be mistaken with the current Economic Development Task Force.
“We didn’t really want to interfere with that, but rather try to harness some of the knowledge in our community which is something we heard over the election,” said Makowecki. “We have lots of knowledge. Let’s make it a tool for the economic development committee and officer and council, to go and think totally outside the box.”
The seven most qualified candidates will be in charge of the listed tasks and another seven will be divided into specific sub-committees. Council members were uncertain about how much participation there would be for this whether it be far too little or too much.
“We need a core to drive all the subcommittees but if we have 50 people, wonderful, we can address more areas,” said Makowecki.
Any resources from the town will have a maximum amount of $1,000. This will include things like meeting spaces, stationery, photocopies, and coffee.
The task force will serve a term of three months for research and an extra month to create and present a report on their conclusions. Those chosen will be announced on January 2, 2018, at a special council meeting.
“You’re always going to do better if you draw from the knowledge that’s out there,” said Makowecki.
Applicants have until Thursday, December 7, to get their form in for review at the next council meeting.
“If I wasn’t an elected official right now, I would be saying what I said for years. I thirst for leadership not for politics.”
“Something of anything is better than all of nothing and going forward we can’t be criticized for going forward.”