Drumheller Town Council put pencil to paper to hammer out the 2019 Operating Budget.

Council held a budget meeting on Monday, March 4, Director of Corporate Services, Barb  Miller, presented a draft of the 2019 operating budget that showed a requisition of $8,894.691, an increase over 2018’s budget requisition of $8,718,766, up about $175,925. To hold the line with zero per cent increase in taxes requisition would result in an approximately $16,000 deficit. A 2 per cent increase in the requisition would result in approximately $160,000 surplus for new spending.

Miller said 2019 is an atypical year for budgeting with many factors creating uncertainty. This includes a potential increase in expenses for salaries. Already one of the largest expenses, making up approximately 32 per cent of the budget, contracts with the town of Drumheller inside and outside workers expired on December 31, 2018.

Another atypical factor is the town’s commitment of $5,000,000 towards flood mitigation projects if the town is successful in its bid for grants.

Another factor casting uncertainty is pending provincial and federal elections. New governments bring uncertainty in priorities and grant funding.

Early in the budget process, council directed the administration to work towards a 5 per cent budget reduction, which totals about $436,000. Through finding efficiencies, administration was able to realize a savings of $376,900, without reducing services.

One area council show support financially was for economic development which saw an increase of $52,320 over 2018. This is to support the town’s decision to hire an economic development officer.

The town also realized saving in the police budget. This was a savings of $163,815 compared to the 2018 budget. Last year the town saw an increase in training and equipment for the RCMP, however, that budget line did not carry over to 2019.

Council considered approximately $458.000 on new spending to add to the draft budget. A number of lager projects such as a corporate review were deferred as well as some economic development projects. More projects may be considered as the budget process continues.

Town council is holding an Open House on Wednesday, March 6 at the Badlands Community Facility from 5- 7 p.m.

For the March 7 session of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology’s 2019 Speaker Series, Dr. Andrew Heckert (Appalachian State University) will present “Before There Were Ankylosaurs, There Were Aetosaurs.”

During the Triassic Period, before ankylosaurs appeared, aetosaurs were the evolutionary prototype of the heavily armoured animals. These “crocodile-line” reptiles are known from late Triassic rocks from across much of Pangaea.

Like ankylosaurs, aetosaurs were covered in armour, with hundreds of overlapping osteoderms arranged in two columns on the back and sides of the animal. Most aetosaurs had additional armour on the underside of the body. Adult aetosaurs were typically 1.5 – 2.5 metres long, but exceptionally large individuals may have reached six metres.

Many famous early palaeontologists worked on aetosaurs at some point in their careers, but these animals have remained relatively obscure for 150 years. Scientific understanding of aetosaur palaeobiology remains in its infancy, and details of their diet, origin and development, locomotion, and metabolism remain elusive. Largely considered herbivorous, it appears that some aetosaurs may have been insectivorous. Histological studies often indicate slow growth, with adult specimens older than 20 years old.

Dr. Andrew Heckert will discuss how aetosaur discoveries from the last four decades have given us new insights into these animals.

The Royal Tyrrell Museum’s Speaker Series talks are free and open to the public. Presentations are given in the Museum auditorium every Thursday at 11:00 a.m. until April 25. Speaker Series talks are also available on the Museum’s YouTube channel at: youtube.com/c/RoyalTyrrellMuseumofPalaeontology.