Mayor Terry Yemen was quick to respond to a letter to the editor in this week’s Drumheller Mail.
On Monday evening, Margaret English provided The Mail with a letter addressed to Premier Alison Redford on behalf of the Concerned Citizens Delegation of East Coulee. Mayor Yemen has taken issue with many points in her letter.
“In regard to the letter to the editor dated July 13; being directly involved in the process, it baffles me as to how misconstrued the facts can get,” said Yemen.
The letter states council was proceeding against the wishes of residents of East Coulee in approving a water transmission line at the July 16 Council meeting.
“Those officials responsible for this untenable situation obviously do no know what is best for the taxpayers. They do not respect the diversity of the villages, nor do they respect the democratic process,” states the letter.
Mayor Yemen said it is simply untrue. The residents of East Coulee did not vote on the installation of transmission line, nor did council approve such a project at last Monday’s Council meeting.
“The residents of Lehigh and East Coulee were polled by the Town of Drumheller to seek their opinion on a local improvement tax which would see water being delivered to their residences. The poll, not vote, showed no support for this local improvement and as a result, the Town has not pursued this project any further,” said Yemen.
The Town of Drumheller is proceeding with a line that will run from Cambria to the western edge of East Coulee. This was approved in the Town’s 2012 Capital Plan. The Town has received funding for the project from the provincial Water For Life Program which will pay 90 per cent of the project. East Coulee residents are not being asked for any funding.
“Council dealt with second and third reading of a borrowing bylaw which would provide the authority for administration to borrow up to 10 per cent of the water transmission line extension costs. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone because as required by the Municipal Government Act, this bylaw has been advertised in The Drumheller Mail for the past two weeks,” he said.
He also takes issue with the statement that the Town of Drumheller is deeply in debt and that East Coulee residents will face “taxation that will destroy the village.”
“To suggest that the Town of Drumheller is deeply in debt, again, untrue. Municipal debt servicing limits are set by the provincial government and while Drumheller does have debt, the Town is nowhere near this limit. In fact, the Town is at less than 50 per cent of allowable limits,” said Yemen. “To suggest that the residents of East Coulee are going to face taxes which would destroy the village is malice and irresponsible and again, not true.”
In fact, Yemen is proud of the Town’s efforts to keep taxes manageable.
“In 2012, the Town of Drumheller approved a three year budget of a tax increase of 3 per cent. This increase is there basically to cover the costs of inflation,” said Yemen. “A large number of municipalities in Alberta are very envious of a 3 per cent tax increase.”
