Town of Sundre council approved the formation of an ad hoc committee for the Corridor Enhancement Project, during the council meeting on June 17.
Also during the meeting, Coun Tony Jordan was appointed to the committee, after Coun. Myron Thompson made the suggestion.
Thompson said he agrees with Jordan's thoughts on the project, which were discussed during the governance meeting on June 10.
Coun. Chris Vardas was appointed as an alternate member to the committee.
The committee will also consist of a minimum of three business owners along the Highway 27 corridor.
During the June 10 governance meeting, councillors questioned town administration's direction for the project.
It was discussed that parking availability along the corridor is slim and should be the main priority, before beautification measures are taken.
The goal of the project is to beautify the corridor through visual elements, but councillors believe this step should be taken after parking options are looked at.
“We suggest that a corridor enhancement committee be developed for the period of the project to act as the champions for the project and to aid in determining the many funding options available,” said Kim Galloway, the town's economic development officer, in a report to council.
She said without the buy-in of businesses along the corridor the project will not be successful.
“The businesses are instrumental in problem solving the funding of the enhancements in collaboration with the Town of Sundre,” she said.
Town officials planned to host a public open house on Saturday, in the Sobeys parking lot from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., which was cancelled due to flooding in town.
Town officials are seeking feedback from the community on what residents would like to see implemented in the future.
The project aims to inform future purchasing decisions on elements including benches, planters, decorative lighting and garbage cans.
It also aims to address potential storefront improvements and a new signage program to support businesses that don't have highway frontage.
Town officials must follow Alberta Transportation regulations, so re-constructing downtown is not an option.
The project is a “second step” to a similar project town officials were looking at a few years ago.
Town officials are now working on incorporating the feedback received from the public into a report. The plan is for council to approve the report by the end of 2013 and then town officials would move forward with the action plan in 2014.
