Council Notes
Drumheller Town Council
Committee of the Whole Meeting
Tuesday, July 3, 2018
Councillor Kristyne De Mott was sworn in as Deputy Mayor for the months of July and August. She will assume responsibilities of the mayor in the case Heather Colberg is unavailable.
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Council assessed the results from the public participation policy survey which was conducted online and in person last week. The town is preparing to implement this policy at the end of July in accordance with Municipal Government Act requirements. There were over 200 responses. Most respondents wanted to hear feedback online, digitally, and over social media, but there was also significant interest in open houses, radio, and face-to-face interactions.
Councillor Fred Makowecki asked if there was potential to create a Town of Drumheller phone application to communicate with the public. CAO Darryl Drohomerski said this is a possibility, especially in light of the survey results.
Since the survey suggested people preferred open-house and public consultation times to be from 6:30-7:30 p.m., councillor Jay Garbutt said council should consider hosting public hearings at this time rather than at 4:30 at the start of council meetings, as has been traditionally done.
Councillor Tom Zariski suggested there are individuals in this town who have strong networks of communication and they may be a resource to be used by the town to distribute information. CAO Drohomerski voiced concern over individuals skewing or inaccurately relaying information. Councillor Garbutt said council has considered creating ambassadors in the community who attend council meetings and are informed.
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Council heard an update from CAO Drohomerski regarding the stop signs at 7 Avenue SW and 1st Street SW. Last week the stop signs were switched from facing east-west to north-south due to concerns of speeding drivers and council has heard concerns from the community. It was reported by immediate neighbours they were never consulted with by the town. There was also concern that drivers were using different residential streets in the area. CAO Drohomerski said they are considering turning the stop sign into a four-way. The intention is to reduce traffic through residential areas while promoting traffic on main roads. He said studies were conducted which showed 600 vehicles travelled the road daily.
Councillor Makowecki suggested there should be two additional speed bumps on 10 Avenue SW to reduce speeding drivers.
Councillor Garbutt said the decision has not been given enough time to test the change’s effectiveness and suggested the town should monitor traffic flow.
Mayor Colberg said she has heard dozens of concerns from residents and urged administration and council find a solution which was most welcomed by the residents nearby.
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CAO Drohomerski updated council on the water fountain by the World’s Largest Dinosaur. He said the pipes under the fountain are corroding and even starting to disappear due to the corrosive nature of soil there. They have found a company in Alberta to do the specialized work. Administration is creating a tender out to have the work completed as soon as possible, with the hopes to have it fixed by the end of July. Prices are estimated to be in the range of $65,000.
Councillor Zariski suggested a fountain replacement should be placed on a long term capital budget for the town.
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CAO Drohomerski updated council on the Highway 575 culvert, saying work will be started by the province around the end of the July with an estimated timeline of approximately six weeks.
