Town Council News – April 10, 2024, 2024

Budget and Tax Discussion

Council reviewed and discussed the final changes and revisions to the 2024 budget and proposed tax by-law. After some minor adjustments discussed at the March 27 Town Council meeting, the final budget and taxation will be very similar to those passed in 2023, with a 1% increase to residential municipal taxes.

Request For Decision (RFD)

Council reviewed 2 RFDs:

· New Fire Department Pump Apparatus: RFQs (Request For Quote) were posted for one month, with Fort Garry Fire Trucks being the only reply received by the closing date. They have met all the requirements in the quotation documents. The quoted price was $769,980.00 plus $38,499 G.S.T. for a total cost of $808,479.00. This value is within the forecasted cost and has been approved in the Town’s capital plan. If approved, the expected completion and delivery date would be September 2025. An initial deposit and payments would be made at specific benchmarks throughout the build process. Council passed a motion to approve the quote and purchase from Fort Garry Fire Trucks for a new 4-man Crown Pumper/Top Mount Enclosed Pumper apparatus for the Fire Department.

· 2024 Final Budget: After further review and discussion of the final adjustments and revisions to the 2024 budget, Council passed a motion approving the 2024 operating budget and the 2024 capital budget as presented.

By-laws & Policies

· 2024-02 Tax By-law: By-law 2024-02 sets the municipal tax rates for the 2024 taxation year. Council gave By-law 2024-02 two readings and then unanimously passed a motion to have the third reading. Council then gave By-law 2024-02 a third reading, thereby adopting it.

CAO Report

· Administration continues to work with the accountant (auditor) on the 2023 financial statement preparation. The auditor will present to Council at the April 24 meeting.

· Administration continues to work with representatives from the Disaster Recovery Program on reimbursement for the May 2023 evacuation.

· Administration is working on preparing the 2023 MSI and CCBF SFEs for submission to the province.

· The bidding period for the new Fire Pumper closed on April 2.

· Administration continued to work on the final budget and taxation preparations, including the 2024 taxation by-law.

· Administration completed and submitted the 2023 year-end Safety Codes Council audit.

· The Safety Codes Council 2023 year-end audit has been approved.

Operations And Infrastructure

· The Reservoir upgrade project is ongoing. A portion of the project required asbestos abatement, which will result in a three- or four-day delay. Operations still anticipates wrapping up before the end of May.

· Replacement tanks for the Water Treatment Plant microfiltration system have not arrived yet. Once the replacement equipment is on-site, two representatives from Pall will attend to complete the installation.

· End-of-season maintenance at the Arena will be complete by April 25.

· PW’s focus will be road and culvert maintenance moving forward.

· Campground preparations have begun for the season.

Protective Services

· There were six calls for the Fire Department for the month of March 2024.

· FireSmarting activities around the town have been completed.

· The Town has applied for another FRIAA (Fire Resource Improvement Association of Alberta) grant to clean up the wood and debris and relevel the windrows along the fireguard that were created by implementing last year’s fire protection plan.

· The Fire Department purchased an assortment of structure protection sprinklers, water cannons, and hoses to prepare for wildfire season.

· The Fire Department’s RFQ deadline for a new pumper was April 2, 2024.

Reports

· Mayor Wilson attended a Barrhead & District Social Housing Association (BDSHA) meeting on March 28. The BDSHA has been operating at a deficit for several years due to factors such as the expansion project initiated just before the pandemic taking longer than anticipated and difficulties in filling vacancies at the lodges. The difficulties in filling vacancies at the lodges were due in large part to the public health restrictions during the pandemic, as seniors were less likely to want to move into a care facility with the restrictions in place. As such, the BDSHA has made the difficult decision to requisition $500,000 in total from the member municipalities to cover the association’s operational deficit. The requisition for Swan Hills is $ 17,331.61.

-Mayor Wilson also reported on a Golden Triangle meeting on April 2. Unfortunately, there has not been much activity on any sections of the Golden Triangle this year due to the lack of snow this winter.

· Councillors LaBerge and Kuyek reported on a GROWTH Alberta meeting on April 5. The meeting was held in Swan Hills and included the first meeting of an advisory circle with representatives from the East Prairie Metis Settlement, ANC (Alberta Newsprint Company), the Swan Hills Treatment Centre, and the region’s REDS (Regional Economic Development Specialist) from the Ministry of Jobs, Economy, and Trade.

· Councillors LaBerge, Kraweic, and Kuyek attended an Economic Development Committee meeting on April 8. They reviewed the community profile form from Invest Alberta. Filling out and submitting this form is the first step in accessing services through this organization, which is a crown corporation with a mandate to search out investment projects and attempt to attract them to communities in Alberta. The committee will work on filling out this document for submission. They also discussed making a directory of vital services available in Swan Hills and putting together day trip itineraries for visitors to Swan Hills in an effort to support tourism.

· Councillors Kuyek and Watson attended an Inter-Agency Board meeting. P.A.W.S will be running a summer program again this year. The school is still running a breakfast program for students.

· Councillor Goebel attended a Community Health Board meeting on April 9. A representative from Alberta Health Services spoke about the CLXT (Combined Lab and X-ray Technician) position and the ongoing vacancy at the Swan Hills Healthcare Centre (SHHC), outlining the different recruitment strategies that have been tried to fill the position. Unfortunately, these efforts have not been successful. Rita Foster has stepped down as site manager for the SHHC. A local nurse is going to open a foot care clinic in Swan Hills in the near future.

Dean LaBerge, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Grizzly Gazette