Personal Vaycay
Cally and I spent the first part of the summer fulfilling a
dream of ours to go to Europe. We toured
around seven countries for five weeks and were able to really experience a
number of different cultures. It was
also an excellent learning opportunity as I got to see how cities operate over
there. We kept up a travel blog if that
piques your interest.
Tourism Strategy
Council has been working on City-specific tourism strategy
to compliment our position within the Grande Prairie Regional Tourism
Association. Several discussion points
included how we can capitalize on the opening of the dinosaur museum, what we
can do with signage and boulevards to beautify the city, and whether there is a
need for a big attraction (possibly world's largest something??).
Downtown Enhancement
Council has had a couple of visioning sessions where we've
discussed what we'd like downtown to be.
We will be engaging the public for feedback in the coming months. We are currently waiting on a report that
will identify all the sewer/waterline/storm water infrastructure upgrades that
will be needed should we decide to encourage higher density development.
Montrose Site
In conjunction with the downtown enhancement project, we
have began making plans for the empty Montrose site to the south of Montrose
Cultural Centre. While nothing has been written in stone, there seems to be
much support for a performing arts/multimedia centre and a town square/green
space.
Seven Generations Tour
Several Council members took part in a tour of a number of
Seven Generations wellsites. It was
valuable to see firsthand the level of oil and gas activity in the area. It's good for Council to have an ear to the
ground with regards to economic activity as we can be better informed as to the
anticipated pressure that will be put on the City's infrastructure and
services.
Deputy Mayor/Community Events
I served my first term as Deputy Mayor and had the chance to
run my first Council meeting (fyi--everyone survived). I was able to attend several events put on
community groups including: Youth
Emergency Shelter, Ronald McDonald House, Big Brother/Big Sisters, Free the
Children, PACE, CSD Homeless Initiatives, Suicide Prevention Resource Centre, and
the Mission Heights Neighbourhood Association.
Wapiti Corridor Planning Society
We are currently working with residents of Grovedale who have
had some concerns with the plan. The
Society will be working with Sustainable Resource Development to incorporate
our recommendations into their Land Use Framework. Consultations on the Framework begin in the
new year. You can find out more about
the plan here.
Joint municipal meetings
We have held a couple meetings with our municipal neighbours
to discuss a number of topics ranging from regional transportation priorities to
water lines to advocacy efforts. It's
always great to connect with other Councillors in the region to hear their
perspectives.
Municipal Symposium on Regional Governance
At the beginning of September we hosted a symposium where we
brought together advocates and critics regional municipal governments. The information that was provided was highly
valuable. You can watch clips of the
symposium here.
Special Olympics
I was appointed to the 2015 Alberta Special Olympics board
earlier this year where I've taken on the responsibility of making sure each of
the 850 athletes and coaches are fed during their 3 days here. I've been able to meet a lot of new people
and am having a lot of fun with it!
AUMA
Council attended the yearly meeting of the Alberta Urban
Municipalities Association. It was a
great time to meet with colleagues across the province and to meet with
provincial cabinet ministers. There has
been a strong push for significant changes to municipal systems as the
Municipal Government Act is reviewed.
Budget
City Council and staff have been gearing up for budget in
one month's time. Starting Nov. 13th, we
begin deliberations for the upcoming 4-year budget cycle. We are going to be using some new engagement
tools to get public input on the budget...so stay tuned!
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