Drumheller Town Council Meetings | DrumhellerMail - Page #71
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Council Notes from the Regular Council Meeting of Monday, September 18, 2017;

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Mayor Terry Yemen announced to council that, this being Nomination Day for Upcoming Municipal Government elections, that 17 candidates had submitted nomination papers for town councillor, and two candidates had submitted their papers for the mayor’s position, for the Town of Drumheller.
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Mayor Yemen brought up a Request for Decision before Council to cancel the remaining Council and Committee of the Whole meetings until after the municipal elections on October 16. No motion was made on the matter, so it was not dealt with further.
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CAO Ray Romanetz updated Council on the ongoing problem of the sewer smell emanating from an area around the Royal Tyrrell Museum. A committee has been struck to help move things along, and another monitoring system has been purchased to back the system when one goes down or needs repairs. A chlorine additive is being used and seems to be working, but the problem is not resolved as of yet. A lift station would ensure that decomposing waste would move along through the system, however the province has agreed that new equipment needs to be installed. Two complaints from the public about the odor were handled to date this year.
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The province will remedy sidewalk problems near Fas Gas, Dollarama, and the Travelodge north of the Gordon Taylor Bridge, and they will also do traffic counts on both Highways 9 and 10.
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Christ the Redeemer School Division has asked the Town of Drumheller to handle their Trustee election voting on Municipal Election Day, October 16. This is a normal request so that voters can access the Trustee Voting for a Separate School trustee at the same locations as municipal council voting.
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The old Elks club rooms on Centre Street will be demolished by the town following a vote at Monday’s meeting. The building has been vacant for a number of years and, with no interest shown by any party to purchase the building after the town advertised it for sale, it was decided that the best course of action would be to demolish it.
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Councillor Jay Garbutt attended the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) conference held in Edmonton. Garbutt specifically focused on information sessions rather than study tours. The conference gave insight into how other municipalities are operating as well as inspiring its attendees to further action in their hometowns.
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Councillor Shoff gave an update on Economic Development Advisory Committee meeting of September 13, 2017. The committee received results from summer survey of the museum which showed lots of day trips.
The government and Arts and Culture committee have given $2,500 in grants to put together a Pop Up Arts and Culture Days event. They are hoping to see this flourish and happen next fall.
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A discussion over the Hamilton land use bylaw amendment request was brought forward. The committee was confused as to why this bylaw was rejected. The committee felt the application should have been given more consideration.
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The meeting adjourned at 5:54 p.m.


Council Notes of the committee of the whole meeting Monday September 11, 2017

Lyle Cawiezel, president of the Drumheller Minor Baseball and Kent Jensen, president of the Drumheller Girls Softball Association presented a list of concerns about the current diamonds where the Drumheller Minor Baseball Association plays.
The association mentioned that they needed larger fields to accommodate bantam and midget teams. They also asked for a drainage system at the Rosedale diamonds as the water that drains across from the left diamond to the right diamond remains in the right diamond behind first base. This water leaves the diamond unusable and stops town crews from entering the area to mow the grass.
The outfield fence at the Midland diamonds were suggested to be turned into smaller infields for t-ball and coach pitch.
Lastly, the association mentioned a new use for the old tennis courts located east of the aquaplex. For a couple years before the courts get repurposed, a temporary batting cage could be easily set up.
The town council agreed to work further to address the most relevant and pressing issues.
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Director of Infrastructure Darryl Drohomerski gave an update on the aquaplex modernization project.
The project has jumped from 45 per cent to 75 per cent complete over the last week and so far the budget is on track.

 

 

TownofDrumhellerCrestPipe work is 99 per cent complete and the pouring of concrete will be at the same level of completion by Friday night.
The pool liner is scheduled to be returned by next Monday.
Tile work, floor coating, and bathrooms will be the main focus once concrete work is finished.
Drohomerski hopes to have water in the pool by the third week of October.
The decision to upgrade the women’s showers next year was brought forth as tile takes a long time to deliver.
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On Wednesday, September 6, councillor Sharel Shoff attended a Palliser Regional Municipal Services meeting.
Palliser believes to be doing better than for the past few years on subdivisions.
To highlight some of the ongoing projects, they are working with Rockyford on infrastructure, a rail project for Oyen and Special Areas, and with Drumheller for sewer and automation purposes.
Palliser is looking to phase in a new funding model that may lead to a larger requisition from the town.
The reason for this increase is because an assessment has gone down significantly and the board made a decision to modify the funding formula.
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Councillor Jay Garbutt gave an update from the Drumheller Housing Administration (DHA).
Currently four vacancies are available in community housing and one in the Sandstone Manor. Nine more move outs are expected to occur by the end of the year.
Turnover is at the highest it’s ever been but within the market, rent is lower, however DHA is poised to make a healthy reserve payment this year.
For projects, the DHA has worked with Drohomerski and his team to work on the Hunts property where flooding in basements was a common issue. The first fix did not hold up so more work is being done to solve the issue.
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The meeting was adjourned at 5:17 p.m.

Council Notes from the Regular Council Meeting of Tuesday, September 5, 2017;

 

 

TownofDrumhellerCrestTom Zariski was sworn in as Deputy Mayor for the months of September and October..
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The Drumheller Chamber of Commerce requested council review the current Purchasing Policy after a brief presentation on May 8 for new recommendations.
Changes like posting on the Town of Drumheller website for tendering purposes as well as proposal opportunities will come into effect.
Councillor Jay Garbutt noted that the website must be navigated well and that many will not search for the information so it must be easy to find.
A local preference clause was also put in place to encourage local spending between the town and businesses.
This may give preference to suppliers operating from taxable property within Drumheller and all bids or quotations offered will be considered equal.
Local suppliers may be granted a pre-tax price differential preference of five per cent over other suppliers on individual purchases up to $25,000, provided that with the exception of price, all things are considered equal once specifications and terms are reviewed.
Cindy Clark, Business Advocacy Committee Chair, was very pleased with the overall policy and thanked council for considering the purchasing policy changes.
A motion was carried to follow through with the revised policy
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A new Infrastructure Financial Strategy was discussed and presented by Stantec, an international professional services company in design and consulting. This new strategy was based from policy adopted by council in 2011.
Stantec first visited council and presented a presentation on February 13, 2017.
Under this strategy, the plan will focus on certain points. It does not require significant increases in currently available annual revenue for infrastructure. It maintains a similar debt level as present - well below maximums set in Debt Policy.
The strategy will also Increase overall cash reserve levels over a 10 year period. It is dependent on similar levels of infrastructure grants and availability of special purpose grants and does not include funding for major new infrastructure.
A request for decision (RFD) was made for council to adopt the updated strategy. Councillor Tom Zariski made a motion to adopt the new strategy. Sharel Shoff seconded.
The motion was carried unanimously


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