The Town of Penhold has denied a Parkland Community Planning Services (PCPS) request for grant support to purchase investment property office space.
While council denied the Alberta Community Partnership Grant Application request for up to $350,000 for the purchase of a building, it voted to endorse PCPS's included application for upgrading its computer systems and development of a Geographic Information System (GIS), citing a variety of reasons in its splitting of the initial request.
“The initial request from PCPS included a building purchase, which was to be located in Sylvan Lake, upgrading their computer system and a new GIS,” said Rick Binnendyk, chief administrative officer for Penhold. “According to their request they have already been approved for marketing assistance, business and strategic planning, and governance review. The most current request was sent to us as inclusive, and they have promised to get information out as soon as possible.”
Council members spoke on the request for full support and expressed concern over the building purchase.
“PCPS is a planning service used by member communities and they do provide excellent service to 15 municipalities,” said Dennis Cooper, mayor of Penhold. “As a council member, I do have a hard time looking to request government funds into a planning service we all use in addition to our fees. Their request is like having the regional sewer service ask for money to build an office tower, and I can't support that.”
Coun. Sharolyn Sanchez, who attended the board meeting that generated the support request on Sept. 3, noted there was no firm plan other than relocating to Sylvan Lake, which has offered to host PCPS.
Meeting minutes indicate that the agency's present office location in Red Deer is impractical due to the fact the city is no longer part of its clientele and costs are higher there, prompting a suggested move to a lower cost community.
With a grant application deadline of Nov. 30, council voted to endorse PCPS's application for computer system upgrades and the development of a GIS to be used by the 15 member communities, including Penhold and Innisfail.
PCPS provides professional planning assistance and planning support staff for community-based needs such as subdivision planning, which eliminates the need to have in-house professionals at a higher cost to communities.
Dennis Cooper
"PCPS is a planning service used by member communities and they do provide excellent service to 15 municipalities."
