SUNDRE – Town council has approved an allocation of $90,000 for a contract position that includes salary and expenses to help enhance festivals and events in the community.
But whether to make the position – which since this past spring has been trialled as a pilot – a permanent addition to the municipality’s budget will be up to the incoming council to decide.
Introducing the item on Dec. 2 during a regular meeting, Linda Nelson, chief administrative officer, said the position had been approved for as a pilot for a two-year period with funds drawn from the Community Services Stabilization restricted surplus account with separate motions for 2024 and 2025.
However, the first portion technically covered approximately half of 2024, while the renewed commitment would account for all of 2025, said Nelson.
The intent of the position is to work collaboratively with the community and local groups on planning and organizing festivals and events that benefit both residents as well as businesses year-round, she said.
While there had been some challenges experienced this past year as a result of short timelines to make arrangements, Nelson highlighted some events that came to fruition.
Among the examples she cited were: the Sundre Pro Rodeo parade; a bicycle safety and maintenance event that included participation of multiple groups and agencies such as the Sundre Daycare and the Sundre Bike n’ Ski Club as well as the RCMP and peace officer; the new west side pop-up market that is expected to return; the inaugural bridal and grad consignment fair that is also poised to become annual; a Halloween candy walk at the Sundre Community Centre boardroom; and a Christmas in Greenwood Park event that involved lighting up the gazebo and surrounding trees.
Administration sought council’s support approving the transfer of an amount not to exceed $90,000 from the Community Services Stabilization reserve to the community services operating budget to support enhanced festivals and events in 2025.
Making a motion to that effect, Coun. Owen Petersen said, “As it is a pilot project to see its effectiveness, I guess it’ll be the next council that decides if this keeps going or not.”
Based on what he’d seen to date, Petersen said council ought to reaffirm the position to get a better metric based on an entire year.
“I’m encouraged to see the things that have happened,” said the councillor, adding he hopes to hear feedback from the community and organizations who feel they’ve benefited from the position.
“I hope that when all is said and done, that this is a really highly successful initiative.”
Coun. Chris Vardas spoke in favour and said the position has the potential to introduce new events that by extension benefit businesses and the community.
“We built that gazebo a few years ago, yet we never got to enjoy it for the winter,” said Vardas, adding the original intent was always to have the gazebo available for public use throughout the year and that council had finally made that happen.
“Community, is coming together,” he added.
Coun. Jaime Marr supported the motion and said she wanted to see more statistics from a full year as well. She emphasized the position is not intended to duplicate or replace established events but rather either help enhance existing ones as well as create new ones entirely.
Mayor Richard Warnock also spoke in favour and said half a year was not enough time to properly gauge whether the position could be deemed successful.
Warnock echoed Petersen’s comment that the next council will ultimately determine whether to make the position permanent in the 2026 budget.
The motion carried unanimously.
