Oct. 18, 2022 meeting
Joe McWilliams
Lakeside Leader
Two murals down, two more proposed
Council heard from representatives of the regional arts council (RAC) on the subject of murals. Two have recently been completed, and the RAC would like to get two more done in 2023.
To accomplish that, the RAC would like financial support from the town. This year’s mural projects cost about $12,000 apiece, council heard, but that was with a quite a bit of donated labour, which can’t be counted on for next year.
“We feel a budget of $20,000 per mural is not unreasonable,” said RAC member Katrina Hill. “It would be nice to have a bit of a comfort zone.”
Hill added that the RAC thinks the mural are “a great asset to our community,” and that there has been nothing but positive feedback.
“Perhaps (we can) make Slave Lake the mural capital of the north,” she said.
Mayor Tyler Warman said the town his happy to support the murals and thinks, “It’s a great investment,” but made no commitments for next year. It will be one of the things discussed in budget deliberations, he said.
Positions filled; positions unfilled
The CAO report (presented by public works director Calvin Couturier) included the news that five positions at the town have recently been filled, and eight others have yet to be filled.
The new ones filled are recreation assistant, public works operator, admin assistant, manager of communications and economic development and director of community services.
The town is still looking for an MRC and parks supervisor, a planning and development officer, another public works operator, a manager of facilities and parks, two lifeguards, another rec. assistant and a health and safety coordinator.
Projects
In the CAO report was the news that concrete work at the new spray park in Hilda Eben Park was expected to start later that week. On the 3rd St. SW project, the news was that the underground work was pretty much done, and paving over the trench would be done later that week.
Fire update
The regional fire service had 63 calls in September. These included 21 medical co-response types, 18 alarms, 13 motor vehicle collisions, two search and rescue incidents, three wildland fires, two water rescue calls, an elevator rescue and no structure fires.
Some success was reported on the recruiting side of things, with six signing up for a training class at the Slave Lake hall; as well, two new members have joined Hall #3 in Smith and one at Hall #4 in Flatbush.
Pool open
The Northern Lights Aquatic Centre was back open after its month-long maintenance shutdown, council heard. The biggest project was the resurfacing of the pool deck. Fall swimming lessons started a couple of weeks ago.
Fire Services Agreement gets thumbs up
Council approved the two major co-funding agreements between the town and the M.D. of Lesser Slave River. One is the Fire Services Agreement, which lays out who pays for what, and how much. It’s been contentious in the past, but apparently not this time.
“Very few changes,” said mayor Warman.
The agreement states that operating costs (as well as revenues) at Hall #1 (Slave Lake) are shared equally by the town and M.D., while the M.D. bears sole responsibility for the costs of the other four halls.
The agreement runs for five years, with the current one due to expire in January of next year.
Councillor Steve Adams asked why, if the agreement can be terminated at any time with six months’ notice, the five-year term is even necessary.
One reason, Warman said, was that going through the exercise of negotiating a new term is useful.
The agreement still needs to be ratified by M.D. council.
Reports
Inter-municipal committee
One thing this committee talked about was the M.D.’s lobby effort on the Smith bridge replacement. It’s not a town issue, particularly, but it’s important for the region, said mayor Warman, and council hopes to help support the lobby effort. A big chunk of provincial resource revenue is coming from this area, he said, and “there has to be some re-investment.”
Another thing the committee discussed was expansion of industrial land in (or near) Slave Lake. Warman spoke about demand for industrial shops and such being high, but there isn’t much available. Opening up new land for development doesn’t happen overnight, he said, but “we have to figure out what we’re going to do with that.”
Tri-council health
The news out of this group is that the shortage of nurses is “getting to a crisis level.”
Expect service disruptions, said councillor Ward. It’s probably inevitable.
Slave Lake’s Family Care Clinic had 4,062 visits in September, which was 14 per cent higher than August. Also up was the number of no-shows, which isn’t good.
Pitching in his two-bits’ worth, mayor Warman said the nursing shortage is part of a nation-wide phenomenon that is probably going to get worse before it gets better. One effect it has is a sacrifice of operating room capacity in favour of ER priorities.
Tourism Society
This group will soon have a part-time executive director, reported councillor Kimberly Hughes. One thing the new ED will be working on is a partnership with whoever organizes the Slave Lake Slam ice-fishing tournament in February.
“We’re also working on a winter tourism event,” said Hughes.
Plans are already afoot for a summer event called ‘Beach Fest,’ which would include a sandcastle competition, volleyball and more. The date is Aug. 12.
The group is also looking into producing marketing materials for the Visitor Information Centre, Hughes said.
Homeless Coalition ‘gearing up’
This group is preparing for the opening of its temporary ‘Mat Program’ shelter. It got Municipal Planning Commission approval to locate in the fire hall property, said councillor Brice Ferguson, but that decision is being appealed. A public engagement session is planned for Oct. 25 at the town office.
Theft a big problem at landfill
The regional waste commission has been talking about budgets and such lately. Also about theft, which Warman described as “a big problem.”
An ATV was stolen in one of the break-ins at the landfill. Warman said they’re talking about putting in lighting and cameras.
Managing leachate is another “big issue” for the commission. By regulation, the stuff has to be monitored, pumped out and transported to the sewage lagoons for proper disposal. Trucking is expensive, so they are looking at ways to reduce the amount of stuff to be trucked, while staying within the rules.
Airport
We’re still looking at options on shoreline stabilization, reported councillor Ferguson. There are plans for a new hangar, which is good news.
Also: expect a minor funding increase request this year, Ferguson warned.
Legacy Corp.
Warman said bookings for the Legacy Centre are strong for the Christmas season. One group wanted to rent the entire place for two full weeks, for some sort of climate change display, but that probably isn’t going to happen.
Otherwise, some upstairs office space is still available for rent, but maybe not for long; some interest has been expressed.
Mayor’s corner
Business awards.
Congratulations to all the nominees for the Chamber of Commerce business awards, said mayor Warman, beginning his concluding remarks. He noted that Slave Lake seems to be doing quite well, business-wise. We had a number of businesses start during COVID, he said, and they are thriving.
“Slave Lake is a pretty good place to be right now.”
MLA reaches out
Warman said MLA Pat Rehn had reached to ask what council’s priorities were for the province. Warman gave him three:
- MSI funding. It’s been cut by 50 to 60 per cent, but municipalities are still expected to keep their infrastructure up to Alberta standards.
- Health care staffing crisis
- Hwy. 88
On that last item, Warman said “I think we’re finally making some headway.” No specifics to speak of, but what they’ve heard lately from the province is “a lot better than, ‘Go away, there are worse highways in Alberta.’”
Managing expectations
Warman mentioned council’s annual organizational meeting had been held, and was “very different” from past years. The notable difference was that rather than people being keen to get on various committees, the impression was of them wondering how they could manage all that’s expected of them.
“Thanks to council for all the hard work,” he said.
Budget starting
Warman mentioned Thursday as the first of many budget meetings. Councillors have a 173-page document to help them prepare for the discussions.
A big issue is inflation, Warman said. All departments are seeing cost increases.
Crime
Warman said he’s been hearing quite a bit from residents about crime. Report it, he said. Press charges. If you don’t, “it makes the system look better than it actually is.”
