Tom Zariski was sworn in as Deputy Mayor for the months of September and October..
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The Drumheller Chamber of Commerce requested council review the current Purchasing Policy after a brief presentation on May 8 for new recommendations.
Changes like posting on the Town of Drumheller website for tendering purposes as well as proposal opportunities will come into effect.
Councillor Jay Garbutt noted that the website must be navigated well and that many will not search for the information so it must be easy to find.
A local preference clause was also put in place to encourage local spending between the town and businesses.
This may give preference to suppliers operating from taxable property within Drumheller and all bids or quotations offered will be considered equal.
Local suppliers may be granted a pre-tax price differential preference of five per cent over other suppliers on individual purchases up to $25,000, provided that with the exception of price, all things are considered equal once specifications and terms are reviewed.
Cindy Clark, Business Advocacy Committee Chair, was very pleased with the overall policy and thanked council for considering the purchasing policy changes.
A motion was carried to follow through with the revised policy
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A new Infrastructure Financial Strategy was discussed and presented by Stantec, an international professional services company in design and consulting. This new strategy was based from policy adopted by council in 2011.
Stantec first visited council and presented a presentation on February 13, 2017.
Under this strategy, the plan will focus on certain points. It does not require significant increases in currently available annual revenue for infrastructure. It maintains a similar debt level as present - well below maximums set in Debt Policy.
The strategy will also Increase overall cash reserve levels over a 10 year period. It is dependent on similar levels of infrastructure grants and availability of special purpose grants and does not include funding for major new infrastructure.
A request for decision (RFD) was made for council to adopt the updated strategy. Councillor Tom Zariski made a motion to adopt the new strategy. Sharel Shoff seconded.
The motion was carried unanimously
