Council Overview
Information from Drumheller Regular Council Meeting
Monday, December 7, 2020
Mayor Heather Colberg opened the meeting by noting COVID-19 numbers are going down and thanked community members for doing their part.
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Council adopted the minutes from the November 23 Regular Council Meeting.
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Bob Jenkins of the Drumheller Resiliency and Flood Mitigation(DRFM) Program presented the proposed 2021 flood mitigation budget. The mission of the program is to protect residents and property in the Red Deer River valley from loss or injury related to the perils of flood and changes in climate. This is a six-year program with a budget of $61.19 million coming from programs from the federal, provincial, and local government, including $7 million coming from the value of the diking the municipality has taken over from the province. This coming year they are looking at projects worth about $27.9 million including infrastructure and land acquisition. Council adopted the 2021 DRFM Program Budget.
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Chief Resiliency and Flood Mitigation Officer Darwin Durnie, Devin Diano, CEO of Palliser Municipal Services, and Matt Knapik of 02 Planning and Designs presented on the Municipal Development Plan Bylaw 17.20 and Land Use Bylaw 16.20. Since second reading, they have updated the bylaws after receiving feedback. Mr. Diano noted these documents are living documents and will need to be updated and adapted to the situation. Some of the changes before third reading were more protection of the Badlands and more policy language to protect palaeontological resources and historical resources, as well as better defining the role of the development officer. They have added more detailed maps and updated the flow rate to 1,850, Cubic metres/s to match the MDP. Other additions are regulations on how vegetation is to be maintained and added details to stormwater regulations.
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Council passed third readings of the Municipal Development Plan Bylaw 17.20 and the Land Use Bylaw 16.20. These bylaws will go into effect in March 2021.
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Council appointed CAO Darryl Drohomerski as the Returning Officer for the 2021 Municipal Election. A returning officer is required to be appointed by June 30 of an election year. Because of the recent changes by the Province with the earlier nomination date of January 1, 2021, it is recommended Councils appoint the Returning Officer before the end of this year, so they may appoint Deputy Returning Officers to accept nominations and start in motion other planning related to the municipal election.
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Council passed a motion to hold a Public Meeting on Monday, December 21, for the proposed Fireworks Bylaw 19.20. Communications officer Erica Crocker explains they have crafted a short survey on the town’s website to solicit feedback from residents from December 9-16. Due to COVID-19, they do not intend on circulating paper copies of the survey, but residents can complete it online or over the phone.
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Director of Infrastructure Services Dave Brett reported on the 2020 Community Clean-up. He said one planned component of the program was the voucher system, giving residents two vouchers for disposal at the landfill. Over 700 vouchers were used. The other planned component of the program was the annual refuse pick up. Mr. Brett noted the crew reported less material and assigned daily sections were completed without overtime. An unplanned component of the program was the spring amnesty, where residents were able to take loads to the landfill from April 6 to May 2. This year they also introduced the Kick-It-To-The-Curb program. The costs of the entire program, including supervision, equipment and labour, and GFL rentals came to $100,374. He noted elimination of the program would not reduce the overall budget, but staff and equipment would be reallocated to different projects. Going forward, some lessons learned include better communication of the program and more clarity to the voucher system.
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Council passed a motion that the Town of Drumheller implement the 2021 Community Clean Up by the continuation of the voucher program, the “Kick-It-To-The-Curb” event, and a two-week Community Clean Up carried out from September 13, 2021, to September 24, 2021.
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Director of Protective Service Greg Peters updated council on the State of Local Emergency declared by the Town of Drumheller on November 23. Drumheller has seen a decline in active COVID-19 case numbers, although it is still designated as in an Enhanced Status. Provincial case numbers continue to rise.
Complete minutes from council meetings can be found at www.drumheller.ca once they have been adopted.