Council Overview
Information from Drumheller Town Council Regular Council Meeting
Tuesday, September 6, 2022
Drumheller Mayor Heather Colberg opened the meeting and announced Coffee with Council is being held the second Monday of every month, beginning Monday, September 12 between 10:30 a.m. and 12 noon at Cafe Ole.
Deputy Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Greg Peters announced flags were lowered to half-staff on September 6 in remembrance of the victims of the recent stabbings in Saskatchewan; Councillor Crystal Sereda also announced flags will be lowered to half-staff on Sunday, September 11 in honour of Firefighters’ National Memorial Day.
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Drumheller RCMP acting detachment commander Corporal Alex MacDonald provided council with a quarterly update on policing services in the community.
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Deputy CAO Peters announced the Town has hired Derian Rosario as the new, full-time Fire Chief. Mr. Rosario was selected from a number of candidates and has over 38 years’ experience. (See story on front).
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Mr. Peters presented council with a request for decision to establish a CN Trail Fundraising task force to work collaboratively with the Town and administration to contribute to the CN Rails to Trails pathway project. The task force will be made up of Councillors Patrick Kolafa, Crystal Sereda, and Mayor Colberg, along with community volunteers who will be appointed by council for a term ending in February 2023.
Council unanimously approved the establishment of the task force (See story Page 3).
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Deputy CAO Peters presented council with an update to the 2022 and 2023 policing costs. Due to a new collective agreement, officers are due a wage rate increase retroactive for the last five years, and it is expected the Town will see policing service costs increase approximately $337,000 over the approved budgeted amount; this is expected to increase in 2023 to $1,945,000. A contingency of $100,000 is also included for final adjustments.
Mr. Peters noted policing costs are forecast to increase by approximately 25 per cent between 2022 and 2026.
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Director of Infrastructure Dave Brett presented council with a request to award the tender for the Cast Iron Replacement water main program. The program has been ongoing for the last 11 years, and a majority of funding was provided through the Alberta Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) grant program.
The Town was recently informed the final portions of the project must be completed, or risk losing the allocated funding. The project has been broken down into three sections to facilitate completion with minimal disruptions-from 3 Street West from South Railway Avenue to the water tower, Railway Avenue West from 3 Street West to 1 Street West, and from the back alley by the water tower from 3 Street West across Highway 56 to back alley.
A total of three bids were received.
Council unanimously awarded the contract to UG Excavating Ltd for $1,222,714.20, excluding GST; UG Excavating was previously awarded completion of the Nacmine force main replacement.
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Director of Corporate and Community Services Mauricio Reyes presented council with a request to appoint an auditor for a period ending in 2025. RSM Alberta LLP was previously appointed in September 2019 for a two year period ending in 2021, with the option to extend the appointment for an additional two one-year terms.
A Request for Proposal was posted in June 2022, and a total of three bids were received from JDP Wasserman LLP (Wetaskiwin), BDO Canada LLP (Red Deer), and Matrix Group LLP (Edmonton).
Council unanimously awarded BDO Canada LLP as the Town’s auditor for a term between 2022 and 2025.
Complete minutes from council meetings can be found on www.drumheller.ca once they have been adopted.
