Council Overview
Information from Drumheller Town Council
Committee of the Whole Meeting
Monday, February 14, 2022
Mayor Heather Colberg opened the Committee of the Whole meeting.
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Council members presented the minutes from their various committee and board meetings for approval, including the Drumheller Public Library Board and Drumheller Housing Administration.
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STARS senior municipal liaison Glenda Farnden provided the Committee of the Whole with an update on the foundation’s efforts. The foundation has identified operational and funding deficiencies throughout the pandemic. To help support fundraising efforts, the foundation continued to hold the STARS Lottery in 2021, which sold out, and the 2022 STARS Lottery is underway.
The mission rate continues to increase year over year, and STARS carries out an average of 21 missions per year in the Drumheller area, representing over $150,000 in annual service value. In 2021, there were a total of 31 missions for critical transfers and scene calls for the Drumheller area.
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Drumheller and District Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Heather Bitz and President Martina Morrison provided the Committee with an update. The Chamber is governed by a volunteer board of directors; currently, there are 11 board members from various local businesses, along with Town appointed member, Councillor Lisa Hansen-Zacharuk. The Chamber registered 23 new members in 2021 and ended the year with 243 members; in 2020 they finished the year with 242 members.
The Chamber was responsible for administering the Building Enhancement Grant program, previously the Storefront Enhancement Grant and a total of $35,000 in funds were made available through the Chamber, Town, and Community Futures Big Country to support businesses enhancing and modernizing building exteriors or interiors. 10 business projects were supported in 2021; applications for the 2022 program, which has some $40,000 in funding available, closed February 15.
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Drumheller and District Seniors Foundation (DDSF) Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Glenda Youngberg provided an update on the foundation. DDSF serves the Town of Drumheller, and Starland County in the villages of Morrin, Munson, and Delia. Drumheller and the cooperative municipalities fund DDSF through requisitions, and some 50 per cent of these requisitions primarily help with debt repayment for the remodelling of Sunshine Lodge in 2003 and construction of Hillview Lodge in 2008; the Sunshine Lodge renovation loan was paid off in August 2021 and the Hillview loan is expected to be paid off by August 2023. The foundation will use part of the requisitions towards the new Sunshine Lodge remodel loan to complete upgrades at Sunshine Lodge to accommodate higher levels of supportive living. This project is still in the pre-construction stage.
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The Committee was presented with a Strategic Priorities briefing update by the various departments.
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Strategic Priorities reports will be printed in the Wednesday, February 23 edition of The Drumheller Mail.
Complete minutes from council meetings can be found on
www.drumheller.ca once they have been adopted.