Council Overview
Information from Drumheller Regular Council Meeting
Monday, December 7, 2020

Mayor Heather Colberg opened the meeting by noting COVID-19 numbers are going down and thanked community members for doing their part.
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Council adopted the minutes from the November 23 Regular Council Meeting.
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Bob Jenkins of the Drumheller Resiliency and Flood Mitigation(DRFM) Program presented the proposed 2021 flood mitigation budget. The mission of the program is to protect residents and property in the Red Deer River valley from loss or injury related to the perils of flood and changes in climate. This is a six-year program with a budget of $61.19 million coming from programs from the federal, provincial, and local government, including $7 million coming from the value of the diking the municipality has taken over from the province. This coming year they are looking at projects worth about $27.9 million including infrastructure and land acquisition. Council adopted the 2021 DRFM Program Budget.
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Chief Resiliency and Flood Mitigation Officer Darwin Durnie, Devin Diano, CEO of Palliser Municipal Services, and Matt Knapik of 02 Planning and Designs presented on the Municipal Development Plan Bylaw 17.20 and Land Use Bylaw 16.20. Since second reading, they have updated the bylaws after receiving feedback. Mr. Diano noted these documents are living documents and will need to be updated and adapted to the situation. Some of the changes before third reading were more protection of the Badlands and more policy language to protect palaeontological resources and historical resources, as well as better defining the role of the development officer. They have added more detailed maps and updated the flow rate to 1,850, Cubic metres/s to match the MDP. Other additions are regulations on how vegetation is to be maintained and added details to stormwater regulations.
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Council passed third readings of the Municipal Development Plan Bylaw 17.20 and the Land Use Bylaw 16.20. These bylaws will go into effect in March 2021.
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Council appointed CAO Darryl Drohomerski as the Returning Officer for the 2021 Municipal Election. A returning officer is required to be appointed by June 30 of an election year. Because of the recent changes by the Province with the earlier nomination date of January 1, 2021, it is recommended Councils appoint the Returning Officer before the end of this year, so they may appoint Deputy Returning Officers to accept nominations and start in motion other planning related to the municipal election.
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Council passed a motion to hold a Public Meeting on Monday, December 21, for the proposed Fireworks Bylaw 19.20. Communications officer Erica Crocker explains they have crafted a short survey on the town’s website to solicit feedback from residents from December 9-16. Due to COVID-19, they do not intend on circulating paper copies of the survey, but residents can complete it online or over the phone.
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Director of Infrastructure Services Dave Brett reported on the 2020 Community Clean-up. He said one planned component of the program was the voucher system, giving residents two vouchers for disposal at the landfill. Over 700 vouchers were used. The other planned component of the program was the annual refuse pick up. Mr. Brett noted the crew reported less material and assigned daily sections were completed without overtime. An unplanned component of the program was the spring amnesty, where residents were able to take loads to the landfill from April 6 to May 2. This year they also introduced the Kick-It-To-The-Curb program. The costs of the entire program, including supervision, equipment and labour, and GFL rentals came to $100,374. He noted elimination of the program would not reduce the overall budget, but staff and equipment would be reallocated to different projects. Going forward, some lessons learned include better communication of the program and more clarity to the voucher system.
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Council passed a motion that the Town of Drumheller implement the 2021 Community Clean Up by the continuation of the voucher program, the “Kick-It-To-The-Curb” event, and a two-week Community Clean Up carried out from September 13, 2021, to September 24, 2021.
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Director of Protective Service Greg Peters updated council on the State of Local Emergency declared by the Town of Drumheller on November 23. Drumheller has seen a decline in active COVID-19 case numbers, although it is still designated as in an Enhanced Status. Provincial case numbers continue to rise.

Complete minutes from council meetings can be found at www.drumheller.ca once they have been adopted.

Council Overview
Information from Drumheller
Regular Council Meeting
Monday, November 23, 2020

Deputy Mayor Jay Garbutt announced the November 30 Committee of the Whole meeting is cancelled. This is part of its strategic plan to limit the number of meetings it has from four down to three a month.
Garbutt stated Council and administration are monitoring the COIVD-19 situation and are deeply concerned by the rising numbers and the subsequent ripple effect it has had with the schools and the service level changes at the Drumheller Health Centre.
Council began the meeting by discussing whether the Town of Drumheller ought to declare a State of Local Emergency (SOLE). CAO Darryl Drohomerski outlined the reasons that a SOLE should be declared. He said the decision is not taken lightly, and a SOLE would be helpful for the town to demonstrate to residents, visitors, as well as the province it is taking the pandemic very seriously. A declaration of a SOLE would demonstrate Drumheller is mobilized to deal with the rise of numbers. Council passed a motion to declare a State of Local Emergency, with Drohomerski as the director of Emergency Management. The SOLE will be reviewed every 14 days.
Council passed three readings of the Drumheller COVID-19 Mask Bylaw. The bylaw would make masks mandatory in indoor public spaces, including eating establishments, public vehicles, theatres, retail stores, places of worship and community and recreation facilities, common areas of hotels, motels, and offices to which the public have public access. The goal is to provide support and warnings. Not complying with the mask bylaw could lead to a $100 fine for a first offence. There are exemptions, and the bylaw would be in effect when the town and surrounding areas are in an enhanced status. See story on page 2.
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Council adopted the minutes from the October 26 Organizational Meeting, the October 26 Regular Meeting, and the November 9 Regular Meeting.
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Chief Resiliency and Flood Mitigation Officer Darwin Durnie, Devin Diano, CEO of Palliser Regional Muncipal Services, and Matt Knapik of 02 Planning and Design gave a brief report of feedback it received at community information sessions regarding the Municipal Development Plan Bylaw and Land Use Bylaw. They outlined some of the changes to the bylaws that came as a result of the public consultations. Many of the changes clarified the language used and permitted land uses.
Diano said the changes were not material enough to require a second Public Hearing and recommend council give second reading to the Municipal Development Plan Bylaw and Land Use Bylaw.
Council passed second reading of the amended Bylaw 17.20, the Municipal Development Plan Bylaw, and second reading to the amended Bylaw 16.20, the Land Use Bylaw.
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Council passed a motion to extend the Leave of Absence with pay for eight weeks for Councillor Lisa Hansen-Zacharuk for medical reasons.
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Council appointed James Foster to the Drumheller Public Library for a three-year term. Mr. Foster is an English teacher at Drumheller Valley Secondary school.
Council approved a Request for Decision to purchase a new truck-mounted combination sewer cleaner (hydrovac truck) from FST Canada Inc, for a total cost of $412,500, excluding GST. This is a demo unit. The current unit the town uses was purchased as a demo unit in 2010. In the last two years, the vacuum component has required significant repairs, and the town has been advised the next repair would cost in the area of $30,000-$40,000. The town received four bids from two companies. This purchase comes in about $73,950 under the budget allotted for the unit.
Council passed first reading of Bylaw 19.20, to regulate and control the sale and setting off of fireworks within the municipality of Drumheller. Director of Protective Services Greg Peters explained the bylaw is in line with federal regulations. This bylaw would regulate consumer fireworks and display fireworks as well as regulate permits to act as a fireworks vendor.
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Town of Drumheller Human Resource manager Nicole Skiftun updated council on an innovation program for Town of Drumheller employees and volunteers. Its mission is to unleash the power of innovation in all Town of Drumheller team members and volunteers by offering peer coaching, recognition, and tools to empower staff to collaborate for positive change. Recognition would come through the Dino Innovation Award program as well as Dino Safety and Service Excellence recognition cards.
Deputy Mayor Garbutt, who sits on the Drumheller Housing Authority, presented the Sandstone Manor annual budget. This year he says Sandstone Manor is under financial pressure because of additional expenses due to COVID-19 cleaning, keeping a suite vacant for a domestic violence shelter and an explosion in its water costs. Typically its water bill would be around $1,000 a month. However, this summer they saw the costs three times higher. They have been busy investigating change. He asked council to consider the first increase in rent since 2015. Sandstone Manor provides affordable housing, and it is mandated rent has to be at least 10 per cent below market values. With these increases, it will still be within that range.
Council approved a motion to adopt the budget for Sandstone Manor with the rental increase.

Complete minutes from council meetings can be found at www.drumheller.ca once they have been adopted.