Mayor Terry Yemen started off the meeting noting Drumheller resident Tony Kollman was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Tom Zariski also mentioned that previous Drumheller resident Brett Hogan has topped the Amature Golf Tournament this year.
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Council gave first reading of Bylaw 8.17, which is a proposition to build a sanitary lift station in East Coulee for approximately 1.37 million.
So far $685,000 will be provided by the provincial government, $200,000 will come from the gas tax, which leaves $485,000 from other sources.
Proposed options to fill this gap is borrowing and or accessing reserves as well as applying for federal funding.
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The town passed third reading to Bylaw 9.17, which is a bylaw for the purpose of creating three public utility lots to accommodate a settling pond and drainage ditches.
It will be constructed for the orderly flow and discharge of surface water near the newly renovated ATCO facility in Newcastle. Agreements are in place for three acres to create said utility lots in the name of the town.
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Council gave third reading and passed Bylaw 10.17. It is an Assessment bylaw that needed an extension in order to be approved. The extension specified that the bylaw must be passed before the end of July.
Supplementary is not included but allows to catch construction that hasn’t been assessed from the previous year. This includes houses that have just been built, allowing them to be assessed upon completion or by years end.
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The Referral for Direction (RFD) to choose to shop locally through the purchasing policy was brought to council’s attention.
Many rural locations don’t have a local policy in place. The town of Drumheller is looking at a possible 5% for max purchases of $25,000. As of now, the RFD is up for consideration.
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Council received a Request for Decision from the Wayne Community Hall as the land is owned by the town. The Wayne Community Association wishes to look at funding for improvements to the current hall.
“It’s something that’s long overdue and needs to be taken care of,” said Mr. Romanetz. The town has approved a ten year lease for the Wayne Community Association.
With this in place, automatic renewal is set to kick in after the 10 years is up and they can begin the renovation process.
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The CAO quarterly report consisted of a look at flood mitigation with various meetings held with the provincial government over the three month course.
Mr. Romanetz plans to continue conversations with the government to resolve the ownership issue of the dykes. So far four or five meetings have been held as ‘progress has been slow.’
Mr. Romanetz urged council to re-apply for grants as they are eligible to get funded. So far the town is forwarding two applications within the next 30 to 45 days. The work has since started with the province.
In the community, Mr. Romanetz noted that the ‘flowers are growing and turning out to be a nice addition.’
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To continue the quarterly reviews, Director of Infrastructure Darryl Drohomerski highlighted the positives of the summer with the arena lighting upgrade which started in June. As of last Friday, the arena area has been completed. By mid August, they will have the lighting all changed.
A grant from the Alberta government allows to get funding back for work done due to the eco friendliness of the LED lights. The funding is also being applied to the Aquaplex for its renovations.
With the installation of 12 doggie waste stations, Mr. Drohomerski has received positive feedback from the community. They have been placed at trails and off-leash parks.
Contractors started on May to begin revitalization of the Aquaplex. Large portions of concrete has been removed. As of Monday, July 24, they have started putting the liner together.
Overall, the project is believed to be approximately one to two weeks behind schedule.
For beautification, they are getting more people from the hotel area to downtown by adding new signs in the hotel/restaurant corridor. They are adding in tree wells rather than just planters. Median enhancement, using both planters and flowers, has continued along Highway 9 south. Beautification along Highway 10 East (by Greentree Mall) will be completed in the next quarter.
Lastly, 90% of road construction is completed and the construction company will be finished by August long weekend.
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For the Corporate Services department, property taxes/notices were mailed out on May 23 following the adoption of the mill rates bylaw on May 15. So far, one formal commercial appeal has been filed.
A call for proposals for IT Managed Services received 12 requests. Evaluation of these proposals will be brought forward to council in the form of Request for Decision’s.
A call for proposals for the purchase and redevelopment of properties known as the Elks Club and Nacmine Bar were received by the town. Both are known to be in derelict state and require much attention. There has been no interest for the Elks Club but some for the Nacmine Bar.
Due to seasonal demands, Human Resources has acquired five students thanks to the STEP grant. HR was also successful in applications for the Canada Summer Job grants, securing funding for three students.
Over the past three months there has been a large surplus but with more expenditures during the summer months with labour costs due to influx of people.
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For Community Services, the department was in full force with summer activities and surveys.
They are continuing to create Strategic Plan Priorities. They have also been busy with surveys including the dinosaur street naming and the downtown revitalization panels at the BCF which will have results later on.
As for the July 1st Canada 150 celebration, it was considered ‘one of the greatest Canada Days Drumheller has ever seen.’
Director of Community Services Paul Salvatore also noted a 43% increase on the town site; natural from seasonal tourist time. A relaunch of the Travel Drumheller site has caused only minor setbacks, not losing as much traffic as thought at first.
The Aquaplex numbers are down because of the revitalization ultimately shifting people to different activities.
As for the BCF, wedding season is in full swing with the venue booked until 2019.
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Protective Services tasks are related heavily to the season. Compared to the last quarter, there is an increase in weed and grass complaints, complaints of birds, ground squirrels, magpies and situations of dogs being left in vehicles.
RCMP Constable Craig Nelson is leaving for a position in Olds as a school resource officer but the current local police department will still have full members after his departure.
