Council Notes
Regular Town Council Meeting of Monday, Feb. 6, 2017
Mayor Terry Yemen opened the meeting.
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Mayor Yemen introduced Chamber of Commerce, Office and Chamber Services Coordinator, Marley Henneigh and President of Chamber of Commerce, Shelley Rymal. They then proceeded with their presentation of the 2016 update. Some of these highlights were; The Chamber gained fifteen new members even though they were down to 231 members in 2016 from 246 in 2015; World’s Largest Dino had 127,481 visits which resulted in 2016 being the second busiest year since it opened; Drumheller’s Visitor Information Centre had 57,805 inquiries during 2016.
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First reading of the bylaw to regulate the water and wastewater systems was completed by Council.
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CAO Ray Romanetz presented council with a quarterly report and then proceeded to present the CAO’s annual report for 2016. Some accomplishments mentioned within the report are a draft of the Infrastructure Master Plan was presented to Council, and a meeting was held with Corvus and Stantec to finalize the offsite levy model. According to CAO Romanetz the Economic Development Task Force has been working on holding a strategy session with Town Council, the Task Force has also handed out Store Front Grants to four more businesses in the last quarter, and they held an “Open for Business Event”. CAO Romanetz also mentioned in the report that the Recreation, Arts, and Cultural Committee granted $1,000 to the Chamber for a Pop Up Arts and Culture Showcase, awarded $1,000 for Cosmi-com, and also awarded $805 to the East Coulee School Museum Miss Morrison Program. The Recreation, Arts, and Culture Committee has also agreed to take on the Canada 150 Celebration as part of their role. According to CAO Romanetz, Council has continued to work on the flood mitigation project and Mayor Yemen, Councillor Garbutt, and himself met with Honorable Brian Mason, Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation, to discuss funding for flood mitigation.
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Darryl Drohomerski, Director of Infrastructure Services presented council with the quarterly report and the 2016 Infrastructure annual report. Darryl Drohmerski highlighted some corporate priorities such as; upgrades to the airport, Aquaplex modernization, and the implementation of the infrastructure management plan.
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Director of Corporate Services, Barbara Miller presented Corporate Services’ quarterly report and the annual report to council. This report stated that a significant amount of time was committed to the preparation of the 3 year operating budget that will cover 2017 - 2019 and will be brought to Council in February. Also noted was the success of the E-Bill Campaign that increased the number of e-bill subscribers 150 per cent which will result in a reduced operating cost of under $6,400 per year.
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Paul Salvatore, Community Services Director presented council with the last quarter update and annual report from 2016. The report highlighted the progress community services has made in many areas such as; the webpage and the growing use through social media; revitalization which entails the installation of the first wayfinding signage; the Heritage, Arts, and Culture created a plan that should be available by the end of the first quarter in 2017; and the creation of the Fee Assistance Program for those who qualify for subsidy of recreation costs within Drumheller.
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Protective Services quarterly report and 2016 annual report was presented to council by Greg Peters, Director of Protective Services. According to Mr. Peters there were 154 calls in 2016 to the fire department. The report also states that there are 31 volunteer firefighters in the Valley. Drumheller’s bylaw enforcement dealt with just over 890 calls.
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Mayor Terry Yemen proposed that Council support an application to the FCM Partnerships for Municipal Innovation: Local Economic Development Program to provide assistance to Nicaragua. Councillor Patrick Kolafa made a motion that Council agree. Motion passed.
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Council then switched over to In Camera matters for a legal matter.
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