DIDSBURY - At their recent regular council meeting, councillors approved the amended 2018 budget.
The amendments include moving $41,000 for a firehall generator from reserves to operations.
"Due to the increase in the cost of fire unit 321 of $150,000, the $41,000 needed to cover the cost of a generator cannot be allocated from reserves; consequently, the generator has to now be funded through operations," said Nita Bartholow, chief financial officer for the Town of Didsbury.
Council rescinded the occupational health and safety policy in order to change the town's occupational health and safety procedures into a directive, which allows administration to make amendments as needed, however, the directive would still require review and signatures from the mayor and chief administrative officer.
Council also approved a revised version of the hiring policy for the Town of Didsbury. The administrative review stated: after reviewing it, there are some minor revisions required such as formatting, grammar, additions and deletions.
Council directed administration to enter into an agreement with Carstairs and Cremona to establish an intermunicipal subdivision and development appeal board (ISDAB). The board has been established for the purpose of hearing appeal from decisions made by the development authority and subdivision authority pertaining to applications relating to lands located within each municipality.
Council approved the awarding of the curling rink roof upgrade project to Cooper Roofing for the amount of $84,995 plus GST. The background information in the council agenda stated that the project planned for repairs to the metal roofing, pressurized cleaning and a full coating application of synthetic rubber compounds for the entire roof.
"The project is scheduled to begin on May 14," said Nicole Aasen, manager of community services. "The roof has reached the end of its life, as leaks and heat loss is prevalent in this facility."
Coun. Bill Windsor, council's municipal representative on CAEP (Central Alberta Economic Partnership), talked about whether the town would be better served by leaving the organization. Council determined that they would wait until they heard a presentation from CAEP representatives before making any decisions. No firm date for the CAEP presentation has been set at this point, said Aasen.
In his report to council from the CAEP member engagement meeting on April 6 in Red Deer, Windsor wrote under council action required: "Discuss and evaluate the value of our membership in CAEP. Membership termination requires a one-year written notice. Ponoka and Olds College have submitted their exit notices and (as reported by councillor Poggemiller at the April 10 regular council meeting) CAEP has been courting Ponoka to retain their membership. I wonder what the courting would look like and what added benefit, if any, Didsbury could attain through that courtship."
