Council Overview
Information from Drumheller
Town Council Regular Meeting
Monday, September 14, 2020

Mayor Colberg announced that the annual clean up began on Monday.
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Council adopted the August 2020 regular council minutes.
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Council approved first reading of Bylaw 17.20, the Municipal Development Plan, and Bylaw 16.20 the Land Use Bylaw. These documents capture modern and innovative approaches to planning. This document places the Red Deer River at the heart of the plan and supplants decades of reactive policies with bold proactive measures that protect the valley, and creates a place to grow and discover. The document places disaster response and the changing climate at the core of its logic and long-term vision. Chief Resiliency and Flood Mitigation Officer Darwin Durnie and Andrew Palmiere of 02 Design led the discussion on the proposed bylaws. The Land Use Bylaw reduces the number of land use districts from 21 to eight, and establishes a flood hazard overlay and the development opportunity overlay. An extensive public consultation program is being planned and Public Hearings have been scheduled for October 26 before the second readings of the bylaws.
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Durnie updated Council on flood mitigation. Last week they met with seven of their consultants to discuss an overview of its original plan to get to the design phase, and this week they are updating fieldwork. They are contacting landowners to gain access to do preliminary information gathering. This will continue over the next few weeks. Property acquisition has been ongoing and this week they will be making offers on some parcels, and others are being assessed. They have sought 56 access agreements and 17 have been secured. They have done some work with banks and insurance agencies to work through a write up to be added to the campaign. “It is extremely important for people to understand that whether it is on the old mapping or the new mapping, we are trying to create protected zones for the entire neighborhoods and it isn’t just necessarily the homes along the river,” he said.
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Manager of recreation Darren Goldthorpe presented a revised Request for Decision for the Drumheller Dragons Abatement and Free Restructuring. He explained when council originally approved the Request for Decision, all the financial reports had not been reviewed and the dollar figures in the request were not correct. The program proposed this season the Dragons would receive a 100 per cent reduction in fees. In year two, there would be a 75 per cent reduction, year three would see a 50 per cent reduction, year four would see a 25 per cent reduction, and the fifth year there would be no reduction. The original estimated cost over four years was about $66,000. By using the figure of up to $50,000 per season, the cost would be up to $125,000 over four years. Council approved the revised Request for Decision.

Council Overview 

Information from Drumheller Town Council Committee of the Whole Meeting

 Tuesday, September 8, 2020

Mayor Heather Colberg recognized September 10, 2020, World Suicide Prevention Day in Drumheller.
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Councillor Kristyne DeMott, Erica Crocker, and Ridell Weibe introduced the GenNow, the millennial committee of the Town of Drumheller. Its vision is to attract and retain millennials in the community by enhancing the quality of life in Drumheller. On this day, they launched their website and social media pages.
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GenNow brought its first advocacy item to council and that is to discuss urban hens. This would include chicken and quail. They presented how other jurisdictions deal with urban hens and proposed Drumheller could allow residents to keep urban hens. Council thanked GenNow for the presentation and recommended administration work with GenNow and will be bringing back a report to council.
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CAO Darryl Drohomerski updated council on the Dino Bucks program. He said about two dozen businesses are participating. A number of businesses have used up their Dino Bucks and have asked for more The downtown business association is requesting council consider a similar program for the Christmas season.
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Chief Resiliency and Flood Mitigation officer Darwin Durnie presented an update on flood mitigation. The province has asked for comments on provincial flood hazard mapping and the flood mitigation office will be providing feedback. The office is working on the land assembly program for this project. There are 15 distinct properties in the queue and offers have been accepted by eight. Two offers have been withdrawn. There are 56 site access agreements that have been sought in Nacmine and nine have been executed.
They have updated their frequently asked questions on the Drumheller flood mitigation website. They are planning first reading of the Municipal Development Plan and Land Use Bylaw at next week’s council meeting. Next week they will be mowing and grubbing from Clark Hill to the hoodoos. They will be completing an inspection of the current diking system in the valley and will need to be mowed to do this. They will also be looking at drainage ditches to make sure they are clear of debris buildings and vehicles that may have been placed in these areas. They are also working at designing improvements to the diking in Rosedale and Newcastle areas. Durnie said they are looking at more public engagement to share more information as it becomes available.
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Erica Crocker presented on the Town of Drumheller’s new website project. It was awarded to Box Clever of Edmonton. She will update council in six weeks.
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FCSS coordinator April Harrison updated council on the events coordinator position. It was posted in March, but taken down in light of the pandemic. They have since reposted the position and there have been many applications. She also updated council on the car boot sale event on Saturday, September 5. There were 14 vendors. They are exploring possibilities this winter for the Festival of Lights depending on what restrictions are in place. She also noted the Downtown Farmer’s market has been very successful this season.
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Director of Infrastructure David Brett presented a report on the Drumheller scatter garden at the cemetery. He said much of this work could be done in-house. Brett is working on the design, and they will also have to amend bylaws to make that a reality. He also updated council on the Rotary Spray Park Fountain. They have spoken to MPE Engineering to review the drawings to facilitate bringing in a contractor to implement the work.