Council Overview
Information from Drumheller Town Council Special Meeting and Committee of the Whole Meeting
Monday, April 11, 2022
Mayor Heather Colberg opened the Special Meeting and noted the Committee of the Whole meeting will follow immediately after.
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Director of Infrastructure Services Dave Brett presented council with a request to award the Drumheller Municipal Airport Lighting and Runway project. These are grant funded projects through the Strategic Transportation Infrastructure Program - Airports to update lighting and runway pavement at the municipal airport.
The lighting portion of the project was tendered in 2021 but came in over budget and was re-tendered to align with the paving project. However, after receiving all tenders the lighting portion of the project once again came in over budget while the lowest paving bid came in about one per cent over the budgeted amount in the 2022 Capital budget.
It was recommended to give a partial award for the paving portion only to Border Paving Ltd in the amount of $1,314,442.38; the Town will submit additional funding request to the provincial government for the lighting upgrade.
Council unanimously awarded the tender.
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Director of Corporate Finances Mauricio Reyes presented council with the amended 2022 Operating budget. At the March 21 council meeting, council had requested administration to bring back the budget with further amendments to reduce the proposed municipal rate bylaw increase.
Following some discussion and changes, some of the changes made to the budget saw decreases of $134,320 for salaries and benefits, increasing user fees by some $10,000, and reducing the library requisition by some $21,550.
Based on the amended budget the municipal tax rate will increase by 1.9 per cent, down from a proposed 3.2 per cent increase during the March meeting.
Council unanimously approved the 2022 Operating budget in the amount of $9,147,735 (see story on front).
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The special meeting was adjourned and Mayor Colberg opened the Committee of the Whole meeting with several announcements about upcoming Annual General Meetings for Travel Drumheller and Newcastle Hall and acknowledged the 105 anniversary of Vimy Ridge.
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Dr. Sara Newstead, on behalf of Travel Drumheller, presented the committee with the updated Travel Drumheller three-year strategic plan. The strategic plan outlines ways Travel Drumheller will be looking to expand seasonal tourism and draw more off-season visitation and longer visits to the community to promote a more stable workforce.
In 2021, the Royal Tyrrell Museum saw over 312,000 visitors and some 4,000 visitors were assisted by the Travel Drumheller Ambassador program. Through a digital media campaign, a total of 33 million impressions were generated, and there was an increase of 48 per cent in web visits. Travel Drumheller also provided some $45,000 in direct marketing support to businesses.
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The committee received quarterly reports from various departments, including Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Darryl Drohomerski, Recreation, Arts and Culture manager Darren Goldthorpe, and Community Development and Social Planning coordinator April Harrison.
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The committee adjourned to a closed session to discuss advice from officials regarding the flood mitigation program and Municipal Facility Information and Asset Management.
Complete minutes from council meetings can be found on
www.drumheller.ca once they have been adopted.
