Council Overview
Information from Drumheller Town Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Monday, September 12, 2022

Mayor Heather Colberg opened the Committee of the Whole meeting and made several opening announcements.
The Legion will be holding a farewell parade in honour of Queen Elizabeth II on Monday, September 19 starting at 10:30 a.m. at the Cenotaph.
There will be tree carving at the plaza and car boot sale on Saturday, September 17.
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Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Darryl Drohomerski presented the Committee with the Drumheller Public Library bylaws for council comment and review. He explained, although the library is its own entity, under the Libraries Act, the municipality may disallow a bylaw passed by a municipal board.
Following discussions and some concerns around portions of the bylaw, the Committee requested Councillor Stephanie Price to invite members of the library board to attend a future meeting to provide further information prior to council giving its consent for the board to pass the bylaw.
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Flood Mitigation Program project director Deighen Blakely gave an update on the program and its plans over the coming months.
Preliminary designs have been completed for the Nacmine, Michichi Creek West (Dike A), East Rosedale, and East Coulee berms. Construction is underway on the Midland, Willow Estates, and Newcastle Berms; there are some outstanding land acquisitions pending for the Newcastle project, and some tree clearing is still being completed on the Willow Estates project.
One-on-one meetings with impacted landowners are underway for the Hospital Dike Extension and North Drumheller Michichi Creek (Dike B) projects. Ms. Blakely noted a tender package has also been prepared for the Dike B project.
The Downtown Dike D project was originally tendered in spring 2022, but the project was put on hold for rescoping as the bids came in well over the approved budgeted amount. A community information session will be held on Tuesday, September 20 to gather input for the project, and a new tender package is anticipated to be prepared for release in spring 2023.
So far, the program has purchased 16 out of 27 properties targeted for buyout as they are unable to be protected by flood mitigation. A total of $4,592,500 has been spent so far on land purchases, and an additional $1,771,000 on reclamation costs; it is estimated the total buyout will cost $8,499,000.
Construction work is expected to continue over the fall until spring 2023 on the Midland, Newcastle, Grove Plaza and Willow Estates berms; redesign work on the other berms continues and it is expected tender packages will be ready for these projects by spring 2023 with construction to begin over summer and fall 2023. It is anticipated a Request for Tender will be submitted to landscape and replant shrubs and trees in spring 2023, with planting being carried out over the fall.
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Manager of Community Development and Social Planning (CDSP) April Harrison presented the Committee with recommended updates and amendments to the Recreation Fee Assistance Policy. The program began in 2016 and was previously updated in 2021. Since then, CDSP and Recreation departments have identified other points of clarification or amendments to make the policy consistent with its intent to offer a tiered cost reduction for membership at the Town’s recreation facilities.
Administration was provided direction to revise the Recreation Fee Assistance policy with the recommended changes and bring a draft policy back to a future council meeting for council’s consideration.

Complete minutes from council meetings can be found on
www.drumheller.ca once they have been adopted.

Council Overview
Information from Drumheller Town Council Regular Council Meeting
Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Drumheller Mayor Heather Colberg opened the meeting and announced Coffee with Council is being held the second Monday of every month, beginning Monday, September 12 between 10:30 a.m. and 12 noon at Cafe Ole.
Deputy Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Greg Peters announced flags were lowered to half-staff on September 6 in remembrance of the victims of the recent stabbings in Saskatchewan; Councillor Crystal Sereda also announced flags will be lowered to half-staff on Sunday, September 11 in honour of Firefighters’ National Memorial Day.
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Drumheller RCMP acting detachment commander Corporal Alex MacDonald provided council with a quarterly update on policing services in the community.
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Deputy CAO Peters announced the Town has hired Derian Rosario as the new, full-time Fire Chief. Mr. Rosario was selected from a number of candidates and has over 38 years’ experience. (See story on front).
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Mr. Peters presented council with a request for decision to establish a CN Trail Fundraising task force to work collaboratively with the Town and administration to contribute to the CN Rails to Trails pathway project. The task force will be made up of Councillors Patrick Kolafa, Crystal Sereda, and Mayor Colberg, along with community volunteers who will be appointed by council for a term ending in February 2023.
Council unanimously approved the establishment of the task force (See story Page 3).
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Deputy CAO Peters presented council with an update to the 2022 and 2023 policing costs. Due to a new collective agreement, officers are due a wage rate increase retroactive for the last five years, and it is expected the Town will see policing service costs increase approximately $337,000 over the approved budgeted amount; this is expected to increase in 2023 to $1,945,000. A contingency of $100,000 is also included for final adjustments.
Mr. Peters noted policing costs are forecast to increase by approximately 25 per cent between 2022 and 2026.
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Director of Infrastructure Dave Brett presented council with a request to award the tender for the Cast Iron Replacement water main program. The program has been ongoing for the last 11 years, and a majority of funding was provided through the Alberta Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) grant program.
The Town was recently informed the final portions of the project must be completed, or risk losing the allocated funding. The project has been broken down into three sections to facilitate completion with minimal disruptions-from 3 Street West from South Railway Avenue to the water tower, Railway Avenue West from 3 Street West to 1 Street West, and from the back alley by the water tower from 3 Street West across Highway 56 to back alley.
A total of three bids were received.
Council unanimously awarded the contract to UG Excavating Ltd for $1,222,714.20, excluding GST; UG Excavating was previously awarded completion of the Nacmine force main replacement.
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Director of Corporate and Community Services Mauricio Reyes presented council with a request to appoint an auditor for a period ending in 2025. RSM Alberta LLP was previously appointed in September 2019 for a two year period ending in 2021, with the option to extend the appointment for an additional two one-year terms.
A Request for Proposal was posted in June 2022, and a total of three bids were received from JDP Wasserman LLP (Wetaskiwin), BDO Canada LLP (Red Deer), and Matrix Group LLP (Edmonton).
Council unanimously awarded BDO Canada LLP as the Town’s auditor for a term between 2022 and 2025.

Complete minutes from council meetings can be found on www.drumheller.ca once they have been adopted.