Drumheller Town Council Meetings | DrumhellerMail

Council Notes from Regular Council Meeting Monday, April 19, 2021

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Council Overview
Information from Drumheller Town Council Regular Council Meeting
Monday, April 19, 2021

Mayor Heather Colberg opened the meeting by recognizing Volunteer Appreciation Week April 18-24. She also noted they have 10-12 patio approvals for outdoor dining in the downtown core.
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Council approved the minutes for the April 6, 2021, Regular Council Meeting.
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CAO Darryl Drohomerski acknowledged receipt of a petition from residents of Drumheller and Wheatland County on the closure of Raymond Hill. It was closed earlier this year because of a slide.
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Council gave first reading to a bylaw to amend the Former St. Anthony’s School Structure plan. The developers of Riverside Estates would like to divide the remaining three lots into four lots and allow them to develop duplexes. With this change, the lots would no longer meet the minimum land requirements for a lot. A Public Hearing will be slated for Monday, May 3.
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Council approved the 2021 Capital Budget that includes 26 capital projects totaling $3.84 million. About 87 percent of the capital budget is funded through grants, although this may change in future years as Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) funding is expected to drop significantly.
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Chief Resiliency and Flood Mitigation officer Darwin Drunie presented an update on the project. He said even with the recent snow, the snowpack appears still lower than average. The Dickson Dam is releasing water at 20 cubic metres per second, indicating the ice on the river has melted. He said the community is providing many great questions. He notes many residents are desperate to know the scope and design of the project, and how they will affect their homes. These designs are not yet completed. They have completed a review of critical infrastructure with utility companies and are continuing to study what work will be needed. Assessment of the railway will continue this week now that brush cutting is complete.
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Council passed three readings of the 2021 Mill Rate Bylaw 06.21. Council has maintained the tax requisition at the 2020 level, however, the residential Mill Rate will rise from 11.56901 to 11.85663. This is due to an increase in requisition from the Drumheller and District Seniors Foundation and a decrease in property assessments. The Alberta School Foundation requisition has increased, and the Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools requisition has decreased from 2020.
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Director of Protective Services Greg Peters provided an update on the COVID-19 response. He said Premier Kenney announced the AstraZeneca vaccine will now be available to Alberta residents over 40 years of age this week. As of Monday, there are 27 active cases in Drumheller.
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Manager of Human Resources Nicole Skiftun provided her quarterly report. Strategic priorities include customer service, a review of job descriptions and its HR Policy, and a review of key performance indicators.
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Manager of Community Development and Social Planning Tiffany Scarlett, presented her quarterly report. They have hired an events coordinator and are being flexible working within COVID restrictions. They successfully held a Family Day event and also had a selfie station set up for St. Patrick’s day. They continue to work on developing teen programming. The volunteer tax return program is underway, and they organized a revenue Canada Scam presentation for seniors. They have hired a poverty reduction coordinator for a six-month term. Colton’s Place family violence was launched in March and already it is being utilized at a high rate.
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Darren Goldthorpe, manager of Recreation Arts and Culture presented his quarterly report. It has been a roller-coaster of openings, closures, and restrictions. As of April 6, all reservable activities at the Arena, Aquaplex, and BCF have been cancelled until further notice. One-on-one training, youth groups up to 10, and household bookings may continue. Memberships have been suspended throughout the restrictions and they are working on converting the unused membership time into credits on members’ recreation accounts.
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Erica Crocker, Communications officer, presented her quarterly report. They are working on an internal communications plan. Their branding and signage program is continuing. The new website launched on February 1 and it has been getting positive feedback. They have hired a social media and marketing coordinator.

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

Council Notes from Committee of the Whole Council Meeting Monday, April 12, 2021

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Council Overview
Information from Drumheller Town Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Monday, April 12, 2021

Travel Drumheller presented an update to council on their 2020 activities and a snapshot of its plans for 2021. In 2020 it supported the Town of Drumheller in its COVID-19 messaging. When restrictions began to lift, it was able to offer its Travel Ambassador program and provide information to 5,766 visitors. It also ran two digital marketing campaigns. It received about $110,000 Travel Alberta cooperative funding and hired a full-time director. This has allowed it to prioritize and strategize for the coming years. Travel Drumheller is primarily funded through a voluntary Destination Marketing Fee as well as $35,000 operating funding from the Town of Drumheller, and Travel Alberta. It also has a local partnership program. This year they anticipate grants from Travel Alberta, Community Futures, and the Government of Alberta for approximately $120,000. Looking forward to 2021 they foresee another challenging season. They have begun their Get Ready for Summer spring campaign. They are working in partnership with Kneehill County, Wheatland County, and Community Futures for its Summer Ready Business programming. They are launching the Drum Discovery Program which includes customer service training and familiarization tours at local attractions and leadership training. They are also planning to expand its ambassador program and its 2021 visitor guide.
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Chief Resiliency and Flood Mitigation officer Darwin Durnie provided an update on recent activities. They are revisiting the Municipal Emergency Plan with utility providers to identify areas where they might have deficiencies in their critical infrastructure to develop a plan to protect it. Emergency Preparedness Week is in the first week of May, and they are engaging with partners to prepare for flood season. The focus this year is on homeowners, making sure they have the tools to prepare for flooding of their homes. They have received their management audit package and it found the program is operating effectively and efficiently. The office is having major discussions with the Alberta Government regarding the Disaster Recovery Program and its effect on property values. The new policy stipulates property owners may only draw on the program for $500,000 and only be able to access it once. Without a reasonable insurance product available to residents, the office believes this not acceptable for the government to make these changes. They are also working with the province to revisit natural and regulated flow for mapping. The Red Deer River has a regulated flow with the Dickson Dam in place, and it should be evaluated as such. Geotechnical and drilling programs in areas throughout the valley. Appraisers are visiting properties throughout the valley speaking with landowners.
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Director of Protective Series Greg Peters provided an update on COVID-19. Over half of the province’s cases are of the UK variant. Premier Kenney mentioned 22 percent of the province is immune due to exposure or receiving a vaccine, and anticipates if the pace keeps up the province could be at 64 percent protective immunity by the end of June, and 72 percent by September, allowing reductions in restrictions. CAO Darryl Drohomerski noted the Town of Drumheller is working to expedite patio permits and have waived permit fees to facilitate outdoor dining as restaurants have closed to indoor dining.

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

Council Notes from Regular Council Meeting Tuesday, April 6, 2021

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Council Overview
Information from Drumheller Town Council Regular Council Meeting
Tuesday, April 6, 2021

Mayor Heather Colberg announced flags will be flown at half staff on Friday, April 9 to mark the Battle of Vimy Ridge, and welcomed back Councillor Lisa Hansen Zacharuk to the meeting.
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Council adopted the minutes from the March 15, 2021, Special Council Meeting, and the minutes from the Regular Council Meeting on March 22.
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Council passed second and third readings of Bylaw 03.21. This is to change the boundary of the Environmental Reserve. This will allow a home at 149 10th Ave SE to meet yard setbacks without significant variances.
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Chief Resiliency and Flood Mitigation Officer Darwin Durnie provided an update to council. Landowner consultation is continuing with landowners directly affected by the project. He says there have been some setbacks to the design process, but they are making forward progress. By and large, residents are being cooperative, however, there have been some access issues. They have been doing brush cutting at the rescue access sites to allow access for emergency services. They are monitoring spring runoff and it appears nothing is abnormal at this time. They are on schedule to complete work on the rail line.
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Director of Corporate Services Mauricio Reyes presented the 2021 Capital Budget draft. The Total Capital Budget is $3,843,560 and does not include the Flood Mitigation project, or carryovers. 68 percent of the budget is supported by ongoing grant funding, 29 percent from one-time grant funding, 12 percent from tax-supported municipal reserves, and one percent utility-supported reserves. He noted funding from the Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) will be coming down, and the town is expecting about $3.7 million in the next three years, about a 33 percent drop when compared to previous years. The budget includes $940,000 for the downtown plaza, funded by a municipal stimulus grant. There is also $350,000 for a new water tanker for the fire department and $375,00 for a new grader. Council is planning to invest $1 million into the Street Rehabilitation program. Council has budged $142,000 for the airport runway, grant dependent, and $194,000 for audiovisual upgrades/replacement at the Badlands Community Facility.
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Council passed three readings of Bylaw 05.21 to authorize the Supplementary Assessment for improvements within the Town of Drumheller for the purpose of imposing a tax.
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Director of Protective Services Greg Peters provided an update on COVID-19. On Tuesday, April 6, Premier Jason Kenney announced the return to Step One of restrictions. This is due to the rising rates of COVID-19 variants.
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CAO Darryl Drohomerski introduced Reg Johnstone as the town’s new Economic Development Officer.

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

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