DIDSBURY – Despite some negative feedback from residents, council approved final reading of Bylaw 2016-12, which allows administration to enter into a loan agreement with the Wild Rose Humane Society.
The loan agreement, which is for $50,000 payable at 10 years at three per cent, was approved at the Nov. 8 regular council meeting.
“The agreement will need to be drafted by the town and the humane society, but as far as the process is concerned the loan has been authorized by council,” said Christofer Atchison, manager of legislative and development services.
The bylaw was advertised in accordance with the Municipal Government Act and received one letter in favour of the bylaw being approved and five opposed.
Those in opposition were mostly concerned with the town acting as a “bank” and competing with local lending institutions, as well as thinking that the money would be better spent if it was used for infrastructure needs instead.
Derek Sutherland, manager of protective services, told council that the Wild Rose Humane Society was approved for a mortgage and is set to go ahead with plans for an animal shelter in Didsbury.
Dean Orlando, president of the society, told the Gazette that they were very pleased to hear the town approved the loan. He said they are just finalizing approval of purchase of the building.
“We're pretty excited,” he said. “We're just going to sign all the final documents and move forward with opening up the shelter.”
Orlando said the loan from the town will help the organization with operations for the first year.
“We think we'll bring a lot of advantages to the town,” he said. “We're very excited to be part of the community.”
In other council news, council and administration are continuing to work on the town's 10-year strategic plan, which will guide the direction of the municipality over the next decade.
The town recently conducted a community survey as well as two open houses.
“As part of the strategic plan process, council decided they wanted a large amount of community input,” said Atchison. “In doing that they develop a survey as well as some open houses. The survey results were released Nov. 8 as promised. They'll also be on our website for citizens to look at.”
Key findings from the survey found that almost all respondents (96.5 per cent) rated the overall quality of life in Didsbury as good or very good.
The primary factors believed to contribute to better quality of life included community safety, “small-town charm” (peaceful, friendly, quiet, community spirit, family friendly, etc.) and the quality of local educational and municipal amenities.
The three municipal services rated most positively were RCMP, fire services and waste collection and recycling. Rated most negatively were economic development, engineering (infrastructure) and public works.
Atchison said the survey provides a good overview of what residents feel is important in Didsbury and what their priorities are.
“Council has taken that (feedback) and other community engagement and has really begun to develop that strategic plan,” he said. “We hope that strategic plan will be out to residents in a draft copy within the next few weeks for their initial feedback.”
Atchison said they are hoping to have final approval for the plan by the end of the year.
