With the Town of Drumheller paid parking pilot wrapped up on October 31, the Town is beginning to reach out to the surrounding municipalities to engage in discussions about potential intermunicipal funding agreements.
Wheatland County, which borders Drumheller to the south and southeast, directed its administration during the regular Tuesday, October 17 council meeting to bring a Request of Decision forward at its next council meeting regarding a proposed intermunicipal funding model.
“Drumheller is unique as it is the only municipality not supported by the surrounding counties, but bordered by four counties,” Drumheller Mayor Heather Colberg tells the Mail.
She says that starting the paid parking program at the beginning of October “opened Pandora’s box,” and has resulted in the Town receiving numerous phone calls, letters, and other communications from residents in the surrounding areas who have concerns about the program. While the program aims to help offset additional infrastructure costs and pressures due to the influx of visitors coming to the Drumheller Valley every year, there were some concerns about how this program would impact those residents who do not live within the municipal boundaries of Drumheller but use the services provided.
The parking program uses Fredericton, New Brunswick-based company Hot Spot Parking, Transit, Taxis.
Although Mayor Colberg says the implementation of the paid parking program was never intended to “create a divide” between residents and area residents, she says it has forced the conversation to begin between the Town and its municipal partners.
Unlike other town municipalities, like Stettler and Strathmore, that are fully encompassed within a county and automatically are granted intermunicipal funding, Drumheller is bordered by four counties but does not belong solely to any entity except itself.
Mayor Colberg says she has reached out to the municipal leaders of Kneehill County, Starland County, Wheatland County, and Special Areas, and is looking forward to discussing how to move forward.

A new rescue truck has been added to the Drumheller Fire and Rescue fleet, and department members are currently working on transitioning items from its old rescue unit and figuring out where everything will go.
In May of this year, Drumheller council approved a total budget of $526,000 for the purchase of a new rescue truck, an increase over the previously allocated amount of $490,000, and on Saturday, October 28 the new unit arrived at the Drumheller Fire Hall.
“The new truck is going to give the department tremendous capabilities,” Drumheller Fire Chief Derian Rosario tells the Mail.
The purchase came in under budget by about $10,000, and Chief Rosario says the department was fortunate enough to receive the unit as quickly as it did as the manufacturer had the chassis in stock. He notes it is not unheard of for new builds to take upwards of 20 to 48 months to procure.
Chief Rosario shares that the department had outgrown the old rescue truck, which had served the department for some 22 years.
He adds, while there are no real limitations on service life on non-pump units like the rescue truck, it is considered best practice to upgrade about every 20 years to keep up with changing technology.
The new unit will allow the department to have a significant increase in storage capacity while maintaining firefighter carrying capacity.
A commercial vehicle inspection has already been completed, and radios are in the process of being installed.
Chief Rosario is hopeful the unit will be ready to be put into service later this week, and he says he is grateful for the tremendous support of both the Town and council for recognizing the department’s need.