Council Notes
Drumheller Town Council
Regular Council Meeting
Monday, December 11, 2017
A public hearing commenced for Bylaw 12.17 being a bylaw to amend Section 30, the Downtown Transition district, by adding the following use of the list of discretionary uses; Self Storage Facility. The property in question, can best be described as the old High School property on 5th Street East.
November 14 was the passing of the first reading.
Cynthia Cvik, CEO and director of planning of the Palliser Regional Municipal Services presented their viewpoint on the bylaw amendment. The Municipal Planning Commission (MPC) endorses the recommendation of the Palliser Regional Municipal Services. MPC does not recommend the support for the proposed text amendment to add “Self Storage Facility” to the list of discretionary uses in the downtown transition district.
As stated in the current bylaw, this district is intended to promote tourism, service businesses and to retain the residential character of the neighbourhood.
The Town of Drumheller received letters from the community and the Drumheller and District Chamber of Commerce (DDCC). All parties recommended that the facility should be stationed in the Industrial end of town rather than the current location.
Council defeated the motion after second reading of the bylaw.
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Council went over Bylaw 14.17, being a bylaw to set the utility rates for 2018 before going over the second and third reading.
Councillor Tony Lacher researched and found that Drumheller was one of the cheapest places by only charging 80 per cent of water consumption for sewer. This bylaw comes into effect on January 1, 2018.
The motion was carried to increase the utility rates after third reading.
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Council appointed Brandon Strilisky to the Heritage, Arts and Culture Committee.
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IT services for the Town of Drumheller is provided through contracted work. Due for renewal, the terms of the existing contract were extended earlier this year to December 31, 2017 in order to allow time for a Request for Proposal (RFP) to be issued, responses to be evaluated and a new service contract awarded.
This term will stretch over five years and 12 proposals were received. Awarding an RFP is not solely based on price but rather other factors such as level of service, professional qualifications of staff and corporate experience was also given much consideration. Three IT businesses were asked to present their proposal and organizational fit with the requirements of the town.
Dave White from Trinus Technologies Inc. presented on behalf of that company. They proposed a bill of $92,100 per year. They also work with the Town of Olds and Starland County.
John Shoff of Reality Bytes presented. Reality Bytes is based out of Drumheller. They have proposed an amount of $78,000 a year, the second lowest price offered by the 12 companies.
The ITeam presentation was conducted by president James Wagner and Dan Salmzer. They offered a price of $85,949.
Council awarded the IT contract to Reality Bytes.
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