[5:28] Okay. Well, 3 PM we'll bring this regular council meeting to order and

[5:33] I'll ask Council Heistad to please read the land acknowledgement.

[5:36] » Thanks, Mayor Berkeley. The town of Inisville acknowledges that we are

[5:39] meeting on Treaty 7 um treaty 7 territory of the ancestral and

[5:44] traditional territory of the Blackfoot Confederacy, Kaii, Picani and Sika as

[5:50] well as the Sutina First Nation and Stony Nakota First Nation. We

[5:54] acknowledge that this territory is home to Miy Nation of Alberta region 3 with

[5:59] the historical Northwest Matei homeland. We acknowledge the many First Nations,

[6:04] Matei and Inuit who have lived in and cared for these lands for generations.

[6:09] We are grateful for the traditional knowledge keepers and elders who are

[6:12] still with us today and those who have gone before us. We make this

[6:17] acknowledgement as an act of reconciliation and a gratitude to those

[6:20] whose territory we reside on.

[6:34] I would make that motion. M Barkley. >> Thank you. All in favor?

[6:39] Carried. All right. And we'll move into 3.1, the

[6:43] regular council meeting minutes for October or October August the 10th.

[6:48] Could I please have someone make a motion that we um adopt those as

[6:52] presented? Councelor Highand. >> I'll make that motion.

[6:55] » Thank you. Any changes? No. All in favor? Okay. Carried.

[7:02] All right. And we'll get into our council agenda now. Uh 4.1 uh notice of

[7:07] motion. And I'll turn it over to CEO Becker.

[7:09] » Thanks, Mark. Barkley. Hello, councel. I'll speak to the contents of the

[7:14] report. Put it over then to councelor Russell who was the author of the notice

[7:18] of motion that was presented before council on August the 10th. Uh as you

[7:23] can see, councelor Russell uh support by council through a resolution to direct

[7:28] administration um regarding some uh information

[7:31] regarding uh moving into eliminating one AMP meeting per month as well as the

[7:36] summer months. Um although not part of the written notice of motion, council

[7:42] Russell did speak to the proposed motions um which I'm I'm gathering he

[7:48] would speak to today. I won't read them and I'll let him um speak to that. As

[7:53] per the request of administration, administration did conduct a little bit

[7:56] of research um and looked at different

[7:59] municipalities similar size and location um in the area and a little bit beyond

[8:06] just on the number of uh council meetings, committee meetings uh that

[8:10] make up um their governance model. That's there for your information

[8:14] council. um was also referenced uh requested for budget impacts for

[8:20] eliminating one AMP meeting per month as well as the summer months. Um as council

[8:24] runs Russell indicated in his uh delivery of his notice of motion

[8:29] administration agrees it being that $10,000 um savings um which is gathered

[8:35] through your remuneration policy. uh through the work I undertook um

[8:40] difficult to really quantify dollars but you can quantify dollars on the amount

[8:45] of time administration does spend on development of of council agenda items.

[8:51] Um however

[8:54] did not quantify a number so much to demonstrate the value or the cost of

[8:59] developing um the agendas but we'll speak to this throughout the report.

[9:05] um administration through myself indicate ind indicates there is there

[9:09] could be some inefficiencies for administration in the ability to

[9:12] allocate time to other priorities during the week off the weeks off if there's

[9:16] five weeks in a given month instead of allocating time slots each week to

[9:20] report development the report indicates later that you can speak probably argued

[9:25] counter argue to the point that um u it could add additional workload to

[9:32] administration um From my perspective, it outlines

[9:37] really the procedure in developing a council agenda agenda. Whether it's a

[9:42] council meeting or an AMP meeting, it's the same process, but as the report

[9:46] states, each director researchers prepares their RFDs. Um, comes to the CO

[9:51] for review. Once our review is complete, um, it goes to the executive assistant

[9:55] then to start the process to put into the agenda format digitally.

[10:01] Um, and really depends on the size of the agenda, but it could range from 2 to

[10:06] 4 hours uh per agenda. Um, I was saying this morning to SLT, that's I could

[10:12] spend probably two to three days per week um regardless um as a CO and

[10:19] reviewing and developing the package um each week dedicated for C to council's

[10:24] uh agenda development. report indicates um how council has his

[10:30] um traditionally used AMPA meetings and that is to dive deeper into different

[10:35] agenda items um but also been used as a engagement channel with with community

[10:40] stakeholders um as well as for policy and strategy reviews

[10:45] um including budget. Um the report indicates it but we're

[10:51] here to support you. So it's really up the council to determine what governance

[10:55] way or u mechanism or procedure you wish to have to allow you to conduct your

[11:01] work. Uh just going down into the very last sentence um as stated amp meetings

[11:08] rest largely with council strategic and governance priorities and the style and

[11:12] depth of council wishes to govern by. So if council has any questions to my

[11:16] report um specifically to the information I presented certain to take

[11:20] those questions. If not, I put over to councelor Russell to speak to his notice

[11:23] of motion. >> Okay. Thank you, CEO Becker. Council

[11:26] Russell. >> Okay. Thanks, Mayor Burke. So, I I spoke

[11:30] to this at the last meeting and you know um about the length of minutes when we

[11:34] go back that 96 minute length of meeting um is two years back and so it's 15

[11:42] months of the previous council and 9 months of the current council. So those

[11:46] are the average meeting lengths and I don't think anyone could say that any

[11:50] argument was um cut short or any discussion cut short in that time. So we

[11:56] were able to accomplish them in in a fairly short some of them fairly short

[12:00] times. Our last meeting was an example if we hadn't have spent the 10 minutes

[12:05] on the notice of a of uh motion that that I put forward there really was only

[12:10] one agenda item and we would have been done in 50 minutes. Um and I understand

[12:15] there are some times that it's going to be a little longer but the reason I

[12:19] brought this forward wasn't um you know there is budget implications for sure uh

[12:23] in terms of renumeration for for council. There is certainly time demands

[12:28] that would be a little less for administration if we reduce by one but

[12:32] it's looking at being the most effective governors but we also and need to do it

[12:36] in the most efficient way. So, not knowing if it would work long term. Um,

[12:42] I did want to wait until, you know, I the first few months I thought wondered

[12:48] why we had four, but as it went on, I wondered more. So, waited the 9 months

[12:53] to bring it forward. For me, I think there's with the motion that I'm going

[12:57] to put forward, there's very little risk to council because um as I mentioned

[13:02] before, council always has the right to to call an additional meeting if if

[13:06] needed for an emergent item. Um but based on the data that's there on the

[13:11] meetings of the last 24 months, um I think there's a possibility that we

[13:16] could maybe do it in in three meetings a month rather than four.

[13:21] Um, but I'm not asking council to make a commitment right now without having a

[13:25] trial basis. So, what what I'm recommending and I'll put the motion on

[13:30] the floor that council trial one meeting per month for 6 months held on the first

[13:35] Monday of each month from September 1st, 2026 to February 28th, 2027.

[13:40] If this first motion passes, then I would make the second motion. But

[13:44] there's no sense making that till we see how the first motion goes. And that

[13:47] second motion would be at that time after a six-month trial we evaluate it.

[13:51] And for me, I think there's zero risk, but I think there's two wins for council

[13:56] in this if we were to do this. One is if we were to do it and we were able to do

[13:59] it for three meetings a month and it it seemed to be effective, there would be

[14:04] some savings in terms of of u cost to taxpayers and also in terms of time to

[14:09] our administration. um with a new CEO, they're going to be,

[14:13] you know, have a a busy year getting to get their feet under them. So, it having

[14:18] that extra time might be beneficial to a new CEO. Um but, you know, so that would

[14:25] be one win. It also would be a win if we found out it didn't work. Um because

[14:30] then we could I could say to any taxpayer said to me, "Why do you have

[14:34] four?" I could say, "Listen, we tried to do it in three. It's just not possible.

[14:38] We need to have the fourth meeting." So, I see a win on both sides regardless of

[14:41] what the decision is in February 22nd, but we won't know unless we tie do the

[14:46] trial. So, I'll just leave it at that. >> Thank you, Councelor Russell. So, we

[14:51] have a motion on the the table. Um, I'll open it up for discussion now. We'll go

[14:56] around to see what everybody thinks. Uh, councelor

[14:58] » Heistad.

[15:01] » Well, okay. I thought you were going to put your light on, but

[15:05] » Okay. >> Oh, yeah.

[15:08] You go ahead. >> No. Beauty before age.

[15:16] » Okay. Yeah. Actually, um I made a comment. I think it was a couple weeks

[15:20] ago. Um I I think that our current uh route that we work on is is effective. I

[15:29] believe that. Um similar to what I'm trying to recall

[15:33] what I said, the C we got a new CEO coming. We have a lot of changes. I

[15:38] think there's a lot more work for this council in the next three years and it

[15:43] comes down to with you have a new CEO coming on stream um is making sure that

[15:49] we're doing our jobs as um you know governors and making sure that we're um

[15:55] attuned to what's going on in our community. And I think that having that

[15:59] those two au that gives us that opportunity to have those communications

[16:04] um and and the one-on- ones with people in our own community and it's we're

[16:09] addressing things uh sooner than later. And I find that the AMP is a great oper

[16:16] opportunity on the as to the day-to-day work whereas the regular council

[16:22] meetings uh you know sometimes we it's we're dealing with the day-to-day but

[16:28] the we get to really know the the nuts and bolts of what's going on in each

[16:32] department and we have that free flow and I like the free flow as a counselor

[16:39] uh more regularly than not. So, Councelor Russell, I'm going to be

[16:44] opposed to this this motion, but I respect where you're coming from and

[16:48] thanks. >> Okay. Thank you, Councelor Heistad and

[16:51] Councelor Hill. >> Yes. Thank you. Um, I'm more than uh I

[16:56] would be definitely in favor of trying this out. I I see the side of being

[16:59] responsible to the community and and seeing if we can uh function well and

[17:04] efficiently without the fourth meeting. Um, and I think there's there's uh like

[17:10] I don't see a problem with trying it and uh being able to say that we did try it

[17:14] and and knowing that we've been kind of with the information provided to us, you

[17:20] know, there are three meetings a month seems to be quite uh regular or quite

[17:24] common for most municipalities, but uh maybe we do need the fourth, maybe we

[17:27] don't, but this is the only way we're going to find out. So, I'm I'm fine with

[17:30] that. >> Okay. Thank you, Council Hill. Anybody

[17:34] else want to uh jump in? Uh Councilman Keller.

[17:38] » Thank you, Mayor Barkley. Um I'll speak in favor of uh Councelor Russell's uh uh

[17:44] motion here as well. I think uh as he said earlier, we got nothing to lose by

[17:49] trying this and just seeing how it works. Um I too have often wondered,

[17:54] particularly from the administrative side, the volume of work that happens uh

[17:58] each week after we leave here uh to get us ready for the next meeting. So, um, I

[18:04] I think there's some some wins here and we'll have some answers in February.

[18:10] » Thank you, Councelor Wing. >> Thank you, Mayor Barkley. Um, I will not

[18:16] be voting in favor of this resolution and given a lot of thought. Um, and I I

[18:20] think the conversation has been really important, but I guess where my position

[18:25] is right now, um, I've I've written down some points because I think it's I think

[18:29] it's actually important more important that we consider um, than just a couple

[18:33] of comments. So, at our workshop on August the 5th, we reviewed every single

[18:37] council, committee, commission, and board relative to their mandate and

[18:40] purpose, our participation, and our desire to continue or not. So, we did

[18:46] not identify A&P at that time as being a committee of concern or determine a

[18:51] desire to amend its terms of reference, which is schedule A of our council

[18:55] procedure bylaw. Um, the terms of reference has a very um intense

[19:01] description of the work that council should be doing at&p. And so, you know,

[19:05] if we're not having wholesome A&P meetings, that's on us. where I would

[19:09] say to you that eliminating the meeting is in fact just making it more evident

[19:14] that there's some of this work that we need to be doing that we haven't maybe

[19:18] been paying attention to. Um, in the five summers that I've been on council,

[19:22] we have adjusted our meeting schedule, eliminating AMP meetings and therefore

[19:26] only meeting for two council meetings in July and in August. So, it's been in in

[19:32] the 11 weeks since our last council meeting on June the 24th, we've met four

[19:37] times for council business. And yes, some some of us have participated in

[19:41] community events. We've had open houses and a workshop. Um, but I feel like

[19:47] we've become disconnected as a team by reducing our meetings to that degree

[19:50] because there has been a lot of stuff going on. So typically after we would

[19:54] have a community meeting or an event at the first AM immediately following we

[19:59] would debrief that event. We would talk about the participation we would talk

[20:03] about the feedback. We would talk about our own agenda and the content and

[20:06] whether we wanted to continue as we move forward. So, I feel like we're not

[20:10] closing the loops or we're waiting to close the loops. Um, and perhaps not not

[20:15] having the proper or adequate time to do that because we have other things that

[20:19] that are on our regular council meeting agendas. So, I would actually propose in

[20:24] the future that we add one A&P back into July and August to ensure the the uh

[20:30] connection and the continuity. Um, I think the timing for this, um, our

[20:36] most important work and our and relationship is recruiting, hiring, and

[20:40] subsequent retention of our CEO. And we're all aware of the ongoing work. We

[20:45] aren't even halfway through the process we've identified for the successful

[20:48] completion of the work. And once we have found our preferred candidate, the TR

[20:53] transition and successful onboarding of that individual will begin. I've sat on

[20:58] both sides of the table. I've been the one reporting to the board and I've been

[21:02] the director or chair of the board and I understand the complexities of those

[21:06] relationships and relationship building, but I also understand the need

[21:10] especially at the beginning for time to invest in relationships and to ensure

[21:15] we're all moving forward in the same direction. So just sort of my last

[21:18] thought is we have a really aggressive and optimistic strategic plan that we

[21:24] adopted unanimously earlier this year. Um it identifies significant and

[21:28] important goals and outcomes, none of which will happen if we aren't all on

[21:32] the same page and moving the plan forward. Um housing, community economic

[21:36] development, the new recreation master plan, asset management, school site, so

[21:41] on. But finally, the last point on that in that strap plan is around land

[21:45] development. And I saved that for last because last week at our budget meeting,

[21:50] our budget open house, the last guest who joined us about it was about quarter

[21:55] to 4 was a major land developer in this region who's very curious about what our

[22:00] what our plans are for future growth. This person is aware of our strategic

[22:04] plan. This company is aware of what our intentions are and so they're curious

[22:09] about well what's coming next. And so it was a significant conversation. It

[22:13] should lead to further meetings and hopefully further outcomes. But I think

[22:19] the one the biggest gap or biggest lapse in good governance is adopting a strat

[22:24] plan and not resourcing it um adequately and effectively. So um I I just think

[22:29] that to step away um to reduce our meetings by 25% we

[22:34] eliminate time for ourselves and for our community as well. Um, and so I yeah, I

[22:40] would prefer that we um I I think it's I think that it takes time and commitment

[22:46] to support council. I know it does to support council, but it also takes time,

[22:51] a huge amount of time for a meeting to be um rescheduled or to be put inserted

[22:57] into every one of our individual calendars. So if we don't have

[23:00] significant content for an agenda, then council could decide to cancel it. But I

[23:05] think that's much easier than trying to fit meetings in or reschedule them. So

[23:09] that's my thoughts. Thanks. All right. Thank you very much for those comments.

[23:14] Um I don't know. I kind of all over the

[23:18] place on this. I you know work es and flows. I I think last term we came out

[23:23] of the the shoot uh very ambitious and there was a lot going on. um new

[23:29] industrial park development, the southwest residential, the outdoor

[23:34] rinks, the playgrounds, and on and on and on. The aquatic center took up a lot

[23:38] of time. And I think towards the end of that term, the last couple of years, you

[23:43] can't just keep putting things on administration's desk. Uh they need to

[23:47] have time to breathe and and do the work. and and so I I think that's why we

[23:52] maybe saw a bit of a a downturn in in time with with&mp and am but I I don't

[23:58] know that I'm just kind of anecdotally saying that. Um, on the other hand, I I

[24:02] think that um, you know, we you're right, councelor Russell, we we haven't

[24:07] spent a lot of time in AMP or in council meetings for that matter and and um, you

[24:12] know, that that's going to be dependent upon, you know, council driving that

[24:16] agenda and driving our strategic priorities and and, you know, meetings

[24:21] will last as long as there's good dialogue going on. So if that's not

[24:25] necessarily taking place then um the meetings will will be very short. So you

[24:31] know I I don't mind trying this for a few months. I don't know whether it's 6

[24:35] months or four months or or whatever it is. I I'm interested when we we do have

[24:39] a new CEO in place what their thoughts will be on on this. Um I look at nine

[24:43] communities on this list some larger than us that do not have uh two AMPs a

[24:50] month. And so I I do see the

[24:57] I guess I I I see how much time administration does put into the package

[25:01] every week and and that is a lot of administration time and you're right

[25:04] it's week after week after week after week and and um so I I think uh you know

[25:10] some of councelor Wing's comments are you know very valid but you know if we

[25:14] have a an open house like we did last week for budget well we have

[25:17] opportunities in our round table to report back on those And um that's where

[25:22] that should be happening or we can put it as an agenda item on the actual

[25:26] agenda. But you know I I think to support administration and

[25:32] and all the things they have on their plate. Um I wouldn't mind trying this

[25:36] for a few months and and see how it goes. And and like I said with a new CEO

[25:41] coming on board, let's see what that person has to say going forward. And and

[25:46] it was interesting that um oh I won't get into that. Never mind. But um yeah.

[25:52] So yeah, we have Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So um do you want to follow up with anything?

[25:59] Council >> just follow up on on councelor Wing one

[26:02] one comment you made about our committee meeting. Um it was brought up in our

[26:05] group there and we did bring it forward the end, but no decisions were made on

[26:08] any committees at that meeting. It's going to the next stage, but um I think

[26:13] I made council aware at that time that I did have this notice of motion already

[26:17] in place coming forward. So, um, but I think everyone's had their their fair

[26:22] share. I respect everyone's opinion and the motion's on the table, I guess.

[26:26] » Okay. So, we'll call all in favor of, uh, Councelor Russell's motion.

[26:32] Okay. And opposed. Okay. So, four to two. It's carried. Thank you,

[26:37] » Mayor Barkley. >> Yes.

[26:39] » Could I make the second motion now that that first motion's passed? So, I move

[26:42] that at the February 22nd, 2027 council meeting, council evaluate the six-month

[26:47] trial of one ANA am meeting per month and decide to either permanently move to

[26:53] one AM meeting a month or revert back to two AM meetings per month.

[26:57] » Okay. Thank you. Does anybody have any further discussion about that? All in

[27:01] favor? All right. Carried unanimously. All right. Thank you.

[27:08] Okay. We will move into 4.2 two and the CAO report.

[27:13] » Thanks, R Barkley. As you can see, the report is quite brief. Only thing I'd

[27:16] highlight is again if council has any feedback on your recent council

[27:21] engagement um that could come into now or kind of lead into the conversation

[27:26] about budget, it would be helpful for you perhaps as well as administration to

[27:30] hear some of that feedback. Other than that, that's my report.

[27:34] » Okay. Thank you. Um Okay, you go first. I I have some feedback. Um, there were a

[27:38] few people that showed up. I know midafter afternoon, midsummer was was

[27:41] tough for people to get out, but I think the evening one coming up might have

[27:45] better attendance. But I wonder if we were to advertise that there will be a

[27:49] brief presentation at such and such a time. So I think what is the hours for

[27:54] the next one? 6:00 to 8. So whether we say 6:15 or something, there'll be a

[27:58] brief presentation to maybe get people there more to common time to maybe hear

[28:04] um from folks. That's just a suggestion I would have. I I don't know if other

[28:07] counselors agree with that, but um I think it's important to have those. Um

[28:11] and I do think the next one being in the evening might be more highly attended.

[28:15] But >> no, I agree. It was a beautiful sunny

[28:18] summer afternoon and uh just so everybody knows, Ken had put together

[28:21] some slides for me and I did have a presentation, but we thought we'd just

[28:25] play it by ear and see how many people came. Um some feedback. I will go after

[28:29] councelor Heistad because he has his lights on. So,

[28:31] » no, that's okay. I was I was listening. I should have turned off Mayor Barkley.

[28:34] I would agree with councelor uh Russell as with many of your comments as as I

[28:40] cut you off. I think it's I think it's important to have a bit of a

[28:44] presentation and and not a big Q&A but uh it was an opportunity it's another

[28:50] opportunity to have those discussions. So I'm in favor of that. Thanks.

[28:54] » Thank you for that. um some feedback I would say that the people that I spoke

[28:58] to it was really around budget and why are you know costs going up so much and

[29:03] staffing and and that sort of thing. So I'm wondering if we could think about

[29:08] what should we have there. I I don't think it's helpful to the person that

[29:12] you're speaking to just to say, "Oh, well, this and this and this and this."

[29:15] because they're not necessarily going to to recollect all those details where um

[29:22] I don't know whether we could have, you know, something in print that we

[29:26] could give people that showed inflationary costs that showed I know uh

[29:31] Director Kennedy I I always love that 2,00 to $2,900 number, but uh update

[29:36] that to whatever it might be now um because it it's a good illustrative

[29:41] point to um to explain um you know, how many staff do we have?

[29:47] Right, that was a um a question I got u thank thankfully director Vickers was

[29:53] there because I don't necessarily know that off the top of my head, but how

[29:56] many do we have and how many part- timerrs do we have and when do they come

[29:59] and when do they go and and I I think you know the more detail that we can

[30:03] provide the better. But um yeah, I think of even I mean we talk

[30:09] about accounting software and how much that's going to cost to to update and

[30:13] licensing for that kind of thing and that's something that we didn't have 20

[30:16] years ago or 15 years ago. So I I think there's a lot that's changed and with um

[30:23] how an organization runs of course as anybody's organization has changed. So

[30:27] you know it's it's different than it was. So,

[30:34] but those are those are mostly the conversations I had was around that and

[30:38] then um the developer at the end and and uh but I I know that director Jenkins is

[30:44] dealing with people like that all the time and and we'll bring things forward

[30:47] from that but it's great to see him there for sure.

[30:53] And I uh sorry, Emma uh council, I've had some discussions with communications

[30:57] and we were going to update just the advertising that it starts at 6 so that

[31:01] hopefully we'll get everyone there at 6:00 and that someone will be saying a

[31:03] few words at the beginning to kind of >> Well, I would say there's going to be a

[31:07] presentation like at 6:15 or something like councelor Russell said.

[31:10] » Yeah, we talked about that and we'll update how that's looking going out to

[31:13] try and get everyone there right at 6 kind of thing.

[31:16] » Okay. Okay. Thank you. And I don't know if they're um I I know the the involve

[31:22] information is upright where people can use the the slider on there to determine

[31:28] do you want to put money into this or this and what happens and uh Mayor

[31:31] Berkeley. So there is a section under the asset management where they can put

[31:35] money in for different assets and they have a certain dollar amount. Uh and we

[31:39] are continually updating the budget page on involve each week as we put things

[31:42] out through budget posts. We're continually updating that page. Yes, I

[31:47] think the uh state of infrastructure report we didn't have that there that

[31:50] probably be worthwhile to to have some copies of that and because it was a

[31:54] topic of discussion for sure just the supports

[32:00] what we're doing. So, okay. Councelor High.

[32:04] » Um Mayor Barkley, Councelor Wing was fine. Go ahead.

[32:08] » No, you were ahead of me. >> Well, okay. Um just the other a question

[32:12] that I've had at at the event, but also otherwise um is around assessments and

[32:18] how assessments are actually done and in our last term we actually had our

[32:23] assessors come and give us a presentation and so I wonder if that's

[32:27] not an opportunity for um the future to have a delegation come and explain how

[32:32] it all happens and if we could kind of advertise for maybe people would come

[32:35] and listen but if we could have some information just saying to them you can

[32:39] call the town and appeal or question your val the value and they're they're

[32:43] not happy with the response that they get either. So they I think if there was

[32:47] some assistance in how does how do they arrive at the numbers? They don't come

[32:51] and walk through my house. They don't knock on my door. That that kind of

[32:55] thing. Um that would be helpful. >> Thank you.

[32:59] » So do you mean having wild rules come to the presentation?

[33:01] » No, I think wild rules coming to council at a future date, but I think had

[33:05] information at the budget openhouse around assessments would be helpful.

[33:11] » When were they here last director? a couple years.

[33:15] » I They were here recently. >> I thought they were here with new

[33:19] counsel. >> They were

[33:21] very early >> generally. They probably came. Yeah.

[33:24] » Yeah. >> Yeah.

[33:28] » Mhm. Council >> Yeah. Mayor Barkley. Um we we were

[33:32] having the same conversations, councelor Wang and I, with um certain people or

[33:36] certain individuals. And I think this we talked about the staffing side of

[33:40] things. I think there's a lot of people that have lived here for, you know,

[33:44] years and years and years and they think it's, you know, 1986 still. And I think

[33:49] that the data and the information will help uh clarify that cuz when I look at

[33:54] the numbers, I don't think it's exponential where we have our staffing.

[33:57] And I think we staff appropriately overall the last number of years that

[34:01] I've sit around the table. But as the assessment piece um that did come up in

[34:06] the discussion and it's it's always um how do you you know how do you explain

[34:10] it properly to people and uh it's easy to look at the numbers um is the couple

[34:17] that we are talking to are saying they've gone around and checked out all

[34:20] the houses and you know the areas and I think it's it will help us when we're

[34:25] having that framing that discussion. So, but on the staffing level, I'm I am

[34:31] confident with it, but it's it's good to have it uh readily available. Thanks.

[34:37] » Okay. Thank you. All right. Anything else? If not, we'll

[34:43] just have a motion to approve the CAO report, please.

[34:48] Councilman Keller, >> Mayor Barkley, I'll make that motion.

[34:51] » All right. All in favor? Carried. Okay. Okay, we'll move on to the council

[34:56] action control.

[35:00] Any questions about anything on here?

[35:05] If not, we'll just have a motion to accept council action control as

[35:10] information. Councelor Hill, >> I'll make a motion that we accept the

[35:14] council action control as information. >> Okay. Thank you. All in favor? Carried.

[35:19] All right. We'll move into 5.1 with director Kennedy.

[35:24] Thanks, Mayor Barkley. So, yeah, in front of you a report coming back to you

[35:28] just in regards to a review of the 42nd Street and 52nd a intersection. Um,

[35:34] during the review, we also identified an opportunity here to uh include an

[35:39] inventory of our playgrounds, school zones, as well as an assessment on our

[35:43] traffic signal um that we we look out on an annual basis. Anyway,

[35:49] uh part of the review, so we came up with four options. So really one one

[35:54] option is to increase pedestrian crossing time which we did move forward

[35:57] with increasing it by 5 seconds to 15 um which has improved that a lot of time to

[36:04] get across the intersection at 52nd a option two uh we are are looking at

[36:13] uh changing the existing school zone on 52nd a to a playground zone. Uh this

[36:19] would change uh would then give some consistency to the other roadways that

[36:24] surround the school uh as they are all uh operated as playground zones as well.

[36:31] Existing cost uh would be within our existing budget for that. Option three,

[36:37] uh we looked at upgrading that traffic signal at that intersection. Um this

[36:42] would include increasing the timing flexibility during peak hours. Uh

[36:48] changing the intersection to a camerabased monitoring uh which gives us

[36:51] again more operational ability. Uh we'd look at look at adding an

[36:57] additional left turn lane uh arrow for the eastbound traffic on 42nd Street as

[37:03] well as replacing all the existing signage heads to LED inserts. that cost

[37:09] uh for that just that one intersection upgrade would be in that $50,000 range.

[37:14] Uh we did look at the additional uh intersections that we have for traffic

[37:18] lights. So along 50th Street, 40 at 44th A, 49th A, and 50th A. Um this would

[37:26] include upgrades to LED lights, uh which hasn't happened in a while. Therefore,

[37:33] that cost was roughly $30,000. Um those two projects we'd look at

[37:38] bringing into our capital uh budgeting deliberations uh for further discussion.

[37:45] Um then we looked at the playground zone uh throughout town. Actually we have 22

[37:49] playground zone signs uh all varying with con um variety not

[37:57] being consistent throughout the community. To improve this, uh, we did

[38:01] look at recommending replacing these signs with an updated version, as well

[38:06] as adding a additional signage for playground zone hours for clarity, um,

[38:11] making it 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Additional or estimated cost for this

[38:17] would be in that $1,000 range, which we're recommending doing, um, as part of

[38:22] our operating project next year.

[38:27] So, we are recommending uh op proceeding with option two um as well as proceeding

[38:33] with the replacement of playground signs in 2027

[38:38] and then bringing in further discussion for option three for the intersection uh

[38:43] light upgrades. So, we'll take any discussion.

[38:47] » Right. Thank you, Director Kennedy. So, do the lights have LEDs now or

[38:53] » they're not. >> They're not. Okay. I wasn't sure whether

[38:55] you meant replacing or >> No, okay. Yeah. Okay. All right. So,

[39:00] I'll have uh somebody please make the recommended motion and then we will open

[39:03] it up for discussion.

[39:08] » Councilor High Stand. >> I'll make that motion that council

[39:11] direct administration to proceed with conversion of the school zone on 52nd

[39:15] Avenue between 42nd Street and 47th Street to playground zone in 2026.

[39:22] » Okay. Thank you. Um, anybody have any comments about that?

[39:27] » I get comments about uh I think it's that left-hand turn uh 42nd. I think

[39:32] that's the in the 52nd there. How with the broom you guys are confident with

[39:38] that is, >> you know, you're talking about the to

[39:42] upgrade the intersection. >> Yeah, the integration.

[39:44] » It would just be a light signal. So, it wouldn't be adding a light.

[39:48] » Okay. Okay. That's what I was thinking. >> Okay. All right. All right. Thank you. I

[39:53] was like, where how the heck could that happen? So, no, I appreciate that.

[39:58] » Okay, councelor Wing. >> Thank you, Mayor Barkley. Um, and

[40:01] through to Director Kennedy. When we talked about this the last time, we just

[40:05] we briefly touched on well, we touched on the fact that the playground or the

[40:09] playground zone doesn't extend all the way past the ball diamonds on 52nd. And

[40:15] we know that the speed on 52nd is becoming more and more of an issue. So,

[40:19] I I wonder why we wouldn't consider extending the playground zone all the

[40:24] way to just short of 40th Street to incorporate all of the green space.

[40:28] There's kids running back and forth from the what used to be Max across to the or

[40:33] the ball diamonds, whatever. And it I just think that perhaps then that might

[40:37] help slow people down in general on 52nd.

[40:41] » Uh we could heavily look at that as further um review. Well, I guess when

[40:46] when uh director Leath comes back, we can look at a further.

[40:50] » Okay. Thank you, Council Hill. >> Yes. I I think that since we've had this

[40:56] brought up, obviously, it was a worthy topic to have the time and resources put

[41:01] into this. Um, as far as the $1,000 cost for the signs and and it being proposed

[41:06] in the 2027, is there any way I understand it's finding capacity, but

[41:12] what would have to happen? uh outside of the budgetary expense of the thousand

[41:17] dollars to be able to implement the new signs. Um obviously I know that time is

[41:23] not free and we can't always just free up staff like that, but is there any way

[41:27] it could be done prior to 2027 since we've already have the need for it and

[41:32] the cost is is uh I feel acceptable. >> Um councelor Hill, we we could look at

[41:39] trying to include it in this year's but it is done down to resources. uh our

[41:43] team teams get into their fall kind of program here to get going on. Um

[41:48] replacing signage is just as one more thing. So that's why we were looking at

[41:52] putting it into our 2027 tasks. >> Okay.

[41:56] » Okay. Council Keller or Councelor Russell, anything?

[42:01] » Thank you, Mayor Barkley. I I would just like to comment on uh Councelor Wing's

[42:07] uh comment about extending that down 52nd to about just before 40th Street

[42:12] there. That makes a lot of sense to me because of the traffic issues we have

[42:17] that start just past the lights there.

[42:24] » Councelor Het did have his light on. He's been so polite to everyone else.

[42:27] » I thought we'd try to go around him again. How's that?

[42:30] » I tried. appreciate that comment. >> No, I I agree with a lot of the

[42:34] comments. I do like the consistency in the signs cuz I know some of them it's

[42:38] sunrise to sunset. Well, what is that? When is that? You know, and uh when

[42:42] schools are in session, well, which school is and isn't in session? Creates

[42:46] confusion. So, I do like the consistency. I agree with counselor um

[42:51] Hill about the $1,000. If we could get it done sooner, it would be great. But

[42:55] if it is more of a um resource issue rather than the money issue, I I get

[43:02] that as well. But I'd like to see it as soon as we could do that. And I do like

[43:07] uh councelor Wing's suggestion of of getting director Lee's involvement and

[43:12] seeing should we maybe extend that down to the end of the ball diamonds because

[43:15] that is a busy area for kids moving back and forth and uh I see it all the time

[43:21] when I bike through there the amount of pedestrian traffic happening. So

[43:26] » yeah, it's interesting. Well, I live down there so as does council Keller and

[43:31] drive that road a lot. Um, so I'm not a huge fan of turning the playground zone

[43:37] in or the school zone into a playground zone. Uh, I'll give you my reasons why.

[43:41] The the street is wide. Um, on 51st, there's houses that front that street.

[43:46] There's the community entrances or the front door entrances to two schools. On

[43:51] 52nd, the entrances to the schools are well off that street. And so after say

[43:58] 4:30, 5:00, there's not much happening along there. like even after school

[44:01] activities are taking place on 51st Avenue for the most part or people are

[44:06] driving into the parking lot and then I think of all of July and August there's

[44:11] nothing but also if you go further down by the the Circle K store of course and

[44:16] that ball diamond I there is um lights for the the crosswalk there flashing

[44:21] lights but it it is pretty busy um to to me all along that the big deal has been

[44:25] the the intersection at at 42nd and 52nd uh just the congestion there twice a day

[44:32] during school hours. But um you know I guess to provide consistency if we're

[44:36] going to bring Director Le in to see about extending the rest of it, it

[44:40] wouldn't make sense to have school zone, playground zone. That that would really

[44:44] confuse people. So

[44:48] Council Heist. >> Yeah. No, I uh I was just going to say I

[44:52] agree with uh councelor Hill and the $1,000 and bumping it up 2026

[44:58] as to uh councelor Wing's comment about the playground zone down to 40th. Um I'm

[45:05] just referring back to a conversation we had. Um councelor Hill, correct me if

[45:10] I'm wrong. You looked at the whole area as a campus to to make it safer for

[45:15] everybody. So, I'm good with us making sure that we're uh doing our due

[45:21] diligence and working with Director Leath on, you know, if we extend the

[45:25] that playground zone, but I think this is a really good opportunity for us to

[45:30] to improve some of the safety in our community. Thanks.

[45:36] » See you back. >> So, the council to put you back where

[45:38] you're at. So, we have a motion on the table as per the recommended motion.

[45:41] We're hearing some feedback to direct administration to consider or to explore

[45:46] moving the playground zone from 42nd Street to 40th Street or around that

[45:51] area. Um with so that if that's council's wishes, then I'd recommend

[45:56] moving into an amendment um to direct administration accordingly.

[46:01] » Yep, for sure. Okay. So, we'll have an amendment to the um to the motion then

[46:05] please to add the playground zone extending to

[46:12] » 40th y street or almost yeah to the end of 40th

[46:16] » council Russell >> is is the amendment to um request

[46:22] administration to bring back more information regarding that or make that

[46:25] switch right now I think it's to bring back more information right now we just

[46:29] be approving the school zone conversion Right. But in addition to that also

[46:36] bring us back information about possibly extending.

[46:39] » We should have two different motions in >> I think maybe it should. Yeah.

[46:42] » Yeah. >> Yeah. Two motions. One is original

[46:45] motion which you'll deal with um later. But the one right now is if you want is

[46:50] if there's a motion on it that can be presented be to amend the current motion

[46:54] or to have an amending motion to proceed with the conversion of a school zone on

[46:59] 52nd Avenue between 42nd and 40th Street.

[47:03] » So yeah, I was going to ask Becca like what I mean council can decide to do

[47:07] that. We don't need to have a a report come back from director Lee. So that's

[47:11] what we wish to do and >> so or

[47:15] » I think Mayor Barkley is

[47:19] » that's for the director stating hey I want the director of protective services

[47:23] eyes on this okay >> recommendation.

[47:25] » Okay. All right. We'll have two different how about we have two

[47:28] different motions and we'll keep it clean. So we we'll have the the first

[47:31] motion >> uh 52nd and 42nd playground

[47:36] » and then we'll have another motion to direct administration. Okay. So, who

[47:40] wants to make the first counselor? >> So, councelor already made the first

[47:46] wasn't listening to him. Sorry. Kidding.

[47:50] » Okay. All in favor? >> Kind of. Couldn't remember this. Okay.

[47:54] And then we'll have another motion, please, to um direct administration to

[47:58] bring back a report on extending that playground zone to 40th Street.

[48:02] Counselor Hill. >> I would make that said motion.

[48:05] » Okay. Thank you. Any discussion? All in favor? Carried. And then the third

[48:10] motion,

[48:15] » councelor Russell. >> Thanks, Mayor Eric. I move that council

[48:18] direct administration to include funding for traffic signal upgrades, LED traffic

[48:22] light conversions, and playground signage improvements in the 2027 budget

[48:26] process. >> Right. Thank you. All in favor? Okay.

[48:31] Carried. All right. And we'll move into 2027

[48:35] budget priorities 6.1 with Director Vickers. Thank you, Mayor Barkley. Um,

[48:40] so we've brought this report uh before council to just kind of begin the

[48:45] discussion around the priorities for the 2027 budget uh and also to kind of put

[48:49] in front of you guys budget deliberation dates and start thinking about getting

[48:52] those booked just cuz we know how hard it can be to get everyone in the room at

[48:56] the same time. Um so the uh report today brings together the strategic the

[49:01] strategic plan that council previously um had passed, our draft corporate plan

[49:05] that's kind of brand new before council today and our updated tenure capital uh

[49:09] plan and it's kind of just the starting point uh for the development of the

[49:13] budget. Um so earlier this year, as I said, um council adopted the strategic

[49:17] plan and identified four uh pillars that were that will guide the town's work

[49:21] over your four-year term. Um within those four pillars, council did identify

[49:26] three goals. um for particular attention during the 2026 and 2027 year. Uh and

[49:31] those were increase housing options that are diverse, affordable, and accessible,

[49:37] increase recreation and wellness opportunities, and develop a clear

[49:40] approach to the town's role in land development. So, the draft corporate

[49:44] plan kind of takes those priorities and identifies the work administration is

[49:47] proposing over the next kind of several years. And the 10-year capital plan

[49:51] provides the longerterm look at infrastructure, facilities, fleet, and

[49:54] other capital requirements. And these documents are intended to kind of work

[49:57] together and provide the framework that administration is using to present uh

[50:01] budget 2027 to council. Um so let's talk about budget

[50:06] deliberations too. So each year we do like to look at um three full days of

[50:10] budget deliberations typically in that third week in November. Um so for 2026

[50:14] um this year it would be the 17th to the 20th of November.

[50:19] Um and in in advance of budget deliberations, we always tend to um um

[50:25] look at some organizations that through our budget we actually bequeef money out

[50:30] to specifically the public library and the historical village. Um they can come

[50:34] in advance so not during budget deliberations but just prior to and

[50:38] that's the moment that they can talk to council about their budget request,

[50:41] their ask for what they're looking for the next year. So we're I want to take

[50:45] this opportunity to ask is there any other organizations that you would like

[50:48] us to invite with the purposes to hear some kind of budget request. So not not

[50:54] an organization that we just want to hear what they're doing. That can happen

[50:57] anytime. But these would have a very specific ask for them to come to council

[51:02] with whatever budget request they're wanting. So typically we like the

[51:05] library to present to us how much money they need for the next year, what their

[51:08] request of the town is that we then can discuss within our budget.

[51:14] Mayor Barkley, uh, this might be out out of turn, but, um, is there is there a

[51:20] term of an agreement we have with the Lions Club in the in the campground? Is

[51:25] that something that we might is that still all good?

[51:30] » So, wonder do you know what does >> because that's a subsidized piece the

[51:34] town is involved in? >> Yeah, the count agreement expires in

[51:38] December this year. >> Okay. So, so potentially having them in

[51:41] this year would be appropriate. >> We can we can add

[51:44] » I just I just kind of Yeah. Thank you. >> Perfect. We'll add that to the list.

[51:49] Yeah. Is there anyone else like that kind of kind of group that you'd like to

[51:53] see? If not, we can add some later. It's it's

[51:57] no big deal. But

[52:04] okay. So we have attached the updated uh 10-year capital plan and currently it's

[52:09] identifying uh $20.7 million in capital expenditures from 2027 to 2029. So

[52:15] approximately 3.88 million in 2027, 5 million in 2028. And then you can see

[52:21] a large jump of 11.84 million in 2029. That does um hold the um the arena

[52:30] project that's sitting in our 10-year capital uh capital plan. You will see

[52:34] later in this project that we are looking to do an arena feasibility study

[52:37] um later next year and that will kind of identify finalize the arena project kind

[52:42] of identify what it looks like. Yes, >> director Vickers. Yes, recreation. Um, I

[52:50] do not want personally am concerned about making a step into recreation

[52:56] facilities without Red Dear County being involved because um

[53:04] when we look at the record agreement and uh what's required in there for us to

[53:08] keep them apprised of the needs in this community when we look what's happened

[53:13] with the ICF and then um I I think it's really important that uh

[53:20] we make sure that we're not getting ahead of ourselves

[53:28] and I I would also like us to think about and I'm sure you already do but

[53:32] that there's you know grant programs that come and go and um I have reached

[53:38] out to Blaine Caukins office to have them send some information about the

[53:43] announcement a couple of weeks ago but how do we align or can we even align

[53:48] we need to do or some of the work we need to do with grants and and you know

[53:53] what what is shovel ready mean? Do we have to have a design in place? I always

[53:57] felt that the Dodd's Lake work that we did that was we did that partly because

[54:01] so we would have something ready to go if an opportunity came up but are we

[54:06] missing out on things because well we'd like to do this or we're going to do

[54:09] this but it doesn't fit here here and here and uh I think of infrastructure

[54:14] water wastewater there was you know federal provincial announcement two

[54:18] weeks ago on on that and what does it take to qualify what does it take to

[54:23] qualify with the government of Alberta's water wastewater facilities I know we've

[54:27] tried in the past and we haven't been successful, you know, because it I don't

[54:31] know doesn't quite fit, right, Director Kennedy? And and so I I really like

[54:36] administration to

[54:40] I guess do a lot makes it sound like you're not doing the work. I know you're

[54:43] doing the work, but but I would like us to um kind of have that information come

[54:48] forward to see where we can align our priorities with what kind of grant

[54:53] funding is available, if that's even possible. and maybe it's not

[54:58] we can absolutely explore what that could look like. Um

[55:07] and like this is all preliminary numbers and and everything is just

[55:11] » so the tenure capital report that's really where all our building condition

[55:14] assessments and when we've done all that stuff and from the state of

[55:17] infrastructure that's kind of where that's pushing us is to kind of invest

[55:21] invest those dollars in and that's where the arena project is. that's sitting

[55:24] from those building condition assessments that there is that large

[55:28] large project. So, we do need to really iron that out and see about what that is

[55:32] and really kind of create that shovel ready uh ready project so that if there

[55:35] is a potential grant, we are ready to apply for that. Yeah, I just don't think

[55:40] it's fair to the residents of our community and our business owners that

[55:43] they are bearing the burden of the recreation facilities

[55:49] and the library. >> You know, and I I look at the um you

[55:52] know, we'll get to the the letter in our correspondence, but

[55:56] » Yes.

[56:02] » Okay. >> Yeah. Mayor Barkley. Um just in regards

[56:06] to that um with the expenditures and further work with the county, I guess I

[56:12] agree with you wholeheartedly. I think that uh there's a lot lot more work that

[56:16] needs to be done um with that partnership and that work with them. do

[56:22] do we want to have those meetings more regularly like you know like that's I

[56:28] think there's an opportunity with that and making sure that there's more

[56:31] structured meetings with the county and and as we're coming up to 2029

[56:36] um because there's a lot of work to do on this one. So I I agree with you but I

[56:42] I just wanted to know what your expectations were of us as counselors as

[56:46] well as the administration. Yeah, it would be the ICF committee that that

[56:49] would do that and that would be dependent upon the two administrations

[56:53] to to um we we have a project and you know we we need to speak earlier.

[56:58] Obviously I you know you look at the the letter for for Rotary from the county.

[57:03] They're saying no to the bike park but also saying it needs to go to ICF but

[57:07] they're already saying no to it. So you know and and I know Rotary went to

[57:12] Red Deer County. they were told you have to go through the town of Enisvale and

[57:15] so when they do it's a no but the skate park didn't have to go through that

[57:21] process. So I think we we're clear now that we need to use this ICF process to

[57:26] to ask for funding and uh to make sure we we do that going forward and and um

[57:31] not to to get ahead of ourselves.

[57:38] Okay. Yeah, we'll look into into that and see

[57:42] what we need to do to make sure the appropriate steps are being followed,

[57:45] but we still want to make council aware of of what those numbers kind of look

[57:49] like uh and what we're currently expecting right now. We do anticipate

[57:52] that arena project that is just for what's in that building condition

[57:55] assessment, not for anything new or expanded or anything like that. So that

[57:59] number will definitely get redefined as as we go forward hopefully through the

[58:04] building condition assessment and whatever conversations we need to have

[58:07] with Raider County or any other committee as well. So we're we're on the

[58:12] topic of recreation with the recreation master plan. Director Jenkins is are

[58:16] they involved in in any feedback in that as well? they'll be invited to like a

[58:22] stakeholder meeting or whoever whether that's um on the elected side or or

[58:27] administratively they'll be invited um as part of that

[58:30] » outreach. Um and again sort of that feasibility study

[58:35] is the attempt to be ready for those grant opportunities. Um again that the

[58:41] grant opportunities pop up and they want you to be able to justify what you're

[58:44] going to do. Um, and if if we don't have that laid out, particularly with the

[58:50] arena where, as Director Vickers mentioned, that's $9 million, that's

[58:54] just replacing all the things that have been identified for replacement. That's

[58:59] not new dressing rooms, that's not an expansion, that's not washrooms, that's

[59:03] not that's not anything. So trying to develop a project scope so that you know

[59:09] even if the project's two or three years out from that study you you have it so

[59:13] when the grant comes in and says how is this project going to enrich the

[59:17] community you have that information. >> Okay. No thank you for that.

[59:26] » Okay. So we'll move on. So administration uh we've also prepared an

[59:31] early kind of three-year projection to give council the sense of some of the

[59:34] financial pressures that are currently showing um for 2027 to 2029. So here's

[59:39] kind of where we're sitting today. So you can see that the tax requirement

[59:44] current increases are kind of looking like that. So in 2027 a total increase

[59:48] of 8.82 and so on and so forth. So and this is this three year projection is

[59:54] kind of look at it at two parts. So the base operating budget and then new

[59:57] initiatives and funding requirements. So the first base operating budget. So this

[1:00:01] is the estimated cost of continuing um everything that we've currently have

[1:00:05] now. So all the current staff, the current programs,

[1:00:08] all any increases and decreases um they're all included in that number.

[1:00:13] Then the second part is any new initiatives and funding. So you can see

[1:00:16] that in 2027 8.04% those are new initiatives. So this could be new debt

[1:00:21] saving new like the there is still the last year of the aquatic center debt

[1:00:26] servicing is included in that number. So that's all new news new new stuff.

[1:00:31] So breaking the projection out that way kind of gives council a clear picture

[1:00:35] what's changing from the existing budget and what is just standard from last

[1:00:38] year. And again these are still preliminary figures and everything will

[1:00:43] be continued to be refined before budget deliberations. As you can see, something

[1:00:46] happened just before this that would now add more money into this budget that was

[1:00:50] not put in here before. That $50,000 for um for the intersection was not was not

[1:00:56] in here and now we will have to add that in there. So, more things will come out

[1:00:59] before we get to budget deliberations. Um salary estimates will be updated for

[1:01:04] actual staff costing and benefit costs and we'll continue still to look out

[1:01:08] what um other municipalities are doing. Um we'll continue to update any major

[1:01:13] external costs such as policing insurance, electricity, natural gas, um

[1:01:17] any regional wastewater and water as well as any other information that

[1:01:20] becomes available. So one of the significant items um is that continued

[1:01:25] increase in funding for capital infrastructure replacement. So this kind

[1:01:28] of this did start in 2025 where we started with $200,000 um and then an

[1:01:32] additional $200,000 in 2026. And we would like to continue doing that until

[1:01:37] we hit that $2.4 $4 million gap in capital spending each year. Um, so we

[1:01:42] are looking to do that increase 200,000 each year. So we're looking at 627 will

[1:01:47] be 828 and then a million dollar going into reserves in 2029.

[1:01:52] And this is that gradual increase to kind of build up that infrastructure

[1:01:56] gap. So one of the things you can see there

[1:01:59] that the aquatic center debt servicing that final year is in there and then

[1:02:02] once that 2027 year servicing in there we will be fully funded to make sure

[1:02:06] we're making that full payment for that aquatic center including debt and line

[1:02:10] of credit payment as well. Then you can see a new a new project. Um so we are

[1:02:16] looking to do something kind of similar for the arena. We know that it's early

[1:02:19] in discussions um and this is kind of the first time council's kind of seen

[1:02:23] this. But while we're looking to do that feasibility study and start planning

[1:02:27] what that project's going to look like, we know that likely we're going to have

[1:02:31] some form of payment. Um we we will take every opportunity to look for every

[1:02:35] grant and access every other form of funding we can, but we do want to be

[1:02:40] prepared that if if at the end of the day we still might have a portion of a

[1:02:43] line of credit or a portion of some debt that we're starting to build some of

[1:02:46] that that debt equity kind of in our reserves. Um just an early thought, we

[1:02:51] just want to make sure that it's kind of front and center. um for discussion with

[1:02:54] council.

[1:02:58] Um so and also there's some other initiatives. So in 2027 um so in

[1:03:02] addition to any of that infrastructure and debt funding um it does include two

[1:03:05] new positions. So one being a planner position. Um so as you guys know PCPS is

[1:03:11] is no longer um that happened last year. We're kind of kind of trying to figure

[1:03:16] out what that looks like. We did have a planner position on the books. It was

[1:03:20] removed last year. Um, and now with PCPS gone, we do need to make some choices of

[1:03:26] what we're going to do. So, either we do need to hire a planner. If we don't hire

[1:03:30] a planner, there will definitely be increased costs to reach out to get some

[1:03:33] kind of planning activities done with some kind of third party, which we don't

[1:03:36] know what that would look like yet. Um, but this way we would have a planner um

[1:03:40] inhouse um for about $120,000. Now, that hopefully would be all in inclusive of

[1:03:45] benefits. Uh and then we also have another parks operator position that

[1:03:49] would be uh needed as well with the addition of all the new subdivisions.

[1:03:53] Bella Vista, the new one that we're bringing on, which likely in next year

[1:03:57] they will have to have some activities in there plus the new industrial park.

[1:04:00] We just they just need some more some more staff, right, to help with with all

[1:04:04] that work. In 2028, they have the continued

[1:04:08] infrastructure. Uh but then they also have the downtown area redevelopment

[1:04:11] plan update. So you can see that in 2028 for $50,000. And then in 29, uh, we're

[1:04:17] looking to, um, add in a human resources coordinator as well for around that

[1:04:21] $120,000, um, dollars. So, and most

[1:04:26] » can I ask why an HR coordinator? Like when we have a third party

[1:04:31] or >> just like cost, the third party is is

[1:04:34] quite expensive. We'd be able to get more full-time hours with someone

[1:04:37] internal. we'd still likely maybe want to keep an external person for very high

[1:04:41] level terminations potentially complaints like within to have a a third

[1:04:47] party complaint system for staff to go to if there's some issues. Again, this

[1:04:50] is all preliminary and we will we will iron these out kind of as we go through.

[1:04:54] Um

[1:04:58] okay.

[1:05:01] Um, so any of these costs that are are are um in there, they do continue beyond

[1:05:06] the year that they're first introduced. So any of the permanent positions or any

[1:05:10] of the like debt contributions once they're in there, they are in there

[1:05:14] permanently unless it's physically reduced the next year. So if we add in

[1:05:19] 200,000 for debt servicing, when we start budget next year, it's already in

[1:05:23] there. Now, however, the one-time um expenses, some of those new initiatives,

[1:05:28] those operating projects, those will go away at the end of the year. So, that

[1:05:32] money doesn't stay in the budget year after year. Okay? And at this stage,

[1:05:37] none of these initiatives are approved. Uh we're just being presented to give

[1:05:40] council an early look at kind of what we're we're thinking about um in the

[1:05:44] three-year projection. Council can amend them, defer them, change any of the

[1:05:47] timing, phase them in, consider funding, other funding sources, um or ask

[1:05:53] administration to bring back uh different financial scenarios if you

[1:05:56] don't like some of these. Uh we have also begun public participation process

[1:06:00] for 2027. We had our first public session um last week and we have started

[1:06:04] um doing our weekly posts um online. So today, uh, administration is just

[1:06:10] looking for council to provide any of those initial comments that you guys

[1:06:13] have on the direction of the priorities or timing reflected in any of the plans.

[1:06:18] Um, anything council would like administration to look at differently

[1:06:22] before we're doing budget deliberations. Um,

[1:06:26] is and and I guess yeah, any other organizations we already have identified

[1:06:29] at the campground that we'll we'll invite and any specific dates that that

[1:06:34] you guys could pick. Now, I understand that councelor Strong's not here, but um

[1:06:40] just start thinking about some of those budget deliberation dates.

[1:06:43] » Yeah, I I would just comment that like the the tax increases that that are

[1:06:50] shown in here, requirement increases based on some of this information, I

[1:06:54] think is is too high. I'll just put it that way.

[1:06:58] I I just don't think we can keep going at 8 10% 7 8 9%s every year. It's too

[1:07:04] much for people and I I realize I understand the other side of it and

[1:07:08] things aren't getting done and but at the same time it's it's a lot.

[1:07:15] » Y councelor Russell,

[1:07:18] » thanks Mayor Barkley. I I would echo your comments like when I saw those

[1:07:21] numbers I my heart jumped a beat. Um but you know I do understand the rising

[1:07:26] costs and and what we have to do too. So you know this is just preliminary

[1:07:30] numbers, preliminary discussion. We're going to have a lot of detailed

[1:07:33] conversations on those three dates um in November. Um there is some data that I'd

[1:07:39] like to have for that, but I think I'll wait and ask it at that meeting or

[1:07:43] unless you'd want it now to prepare for it or

[1:07:46] » the earlier we can get some of your questions so that we can gather the

[1:07:51] information the better because it could take us some time to gather some

[1:07:54] anything. >> Okay. I I don't think those will take

[1:07:56] long, but I'll put it out there now. Um Oh, sorry.

[1:07:59] » Certainly. Welcome your feedback. Councelor Russell and all the council.

[1:08:02] This is only the first meeting. There's going to be several meetings u up to

[1:08:06] November, >> right?

[1:08:08] » That's getting into the fine detail, but there's going to be a lot of discussion

[1:08:10] with you as we move along up to that date,

[1:08:13] » right? >> So, anytime. Yeah, please.

[1:08:15] » So, do you want it now or want me to hold off? Okay. I I would just like to

[1:08:19] know I know we have roughly $15 million in debt right now, right? Between the um

[1:08:26] industrial park and the aquatic center. I just like to know what is the annual

[1:08:31] interest that we pay combined on those and what that equates to in terms of a

[1:08:38] average amount for a of my let's say my tax bill is it 250 bucks my tax bill is

[1:08:46] just going simply to pay interest right I just would like to know that number so

[1:08:52] » I would say on that note too director Vickers when you bring that or at some

[1:08:56] point in time you know I know we talked about the land sales, Southwest

[1:09:00] Industrial Boing to pay off some debt and when when is that taking place and I

[1:09:05] know when sales close and that kind of thing, but um

[1:09:09] » yeah, that might look very different a year from now.

[1:09:12] » Absolutely. So, yeah, we actually discussed debt this morning and and the

[1:09:16] options that that we could look at once some of these sales kind of go through

[1:09:20] and we have some of the money >> sitting there to actually play with,

[1:09:24] then we could look at at paying down some debt. Could you or director Jenkins

[1:09:27] could you bring kind of a an overview of like the grant programs that are out

[1:09:33] there? Do we need to know that CO Becker or is it more of a an administration

[1:09:37] thing? Who like we don't need like a 20page

[1:09:44] report but it would be nice I think just >> council has that interest or have that

[1:09:49] right to request that information. It's it's really up to you.

[1:09:52] » Okay. And then maybe even like director Kennedy, you know, explain again or have

[1:09:57] it in this report. Um, you know, what qualifies with, um, water, wastewater

[1:10:04] infrastructure and and is that changing or who knows?

[1:10:15] » Mayor Barkley, I would make the motion if we were all in. Do we want to choose

[1:10:20] those three dates right now? I mean, I would put out there like the 17, 18,

[1:10:23] 19th, but I don't know what's available. That's the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.

[1:10:27] Um, or other if Friday works better for other counselors. It's flexible for me.

[1:10:33] Any of those 17 to 20. So, whatever works for people that need to rearrange

[1:10:38] schedules, but >> councelor Hill says as long as it

[1:10:41] doesn't snow, you'll be fine. >> Okay. All right. So, will no snow on the

[1:10:45] 17th, 18th, and 19th, it'll be whatever. >> Okay. So that's a motion. Is everybody

[1:10:51] busy with that? >> All in favor of the motion.

[1:10:55] » Okay. Carry check. >> I like it.

[1:10:58] » Okay. Can I ask a question of of council just with respect to that that corporate

[1:11:04] plan document? It's sort of the first time council has seen that document.

[1:11:07] We've probably been working on it for the better part of a year and it's

[1:11:11] » outdated as soon as you finish it. But if there's any sort of feedback as to

[1:11:16] whether it's helpful being able to have sort of that three-year outlook, those

[1:11:22] types of things, is the information in it of value? The intent is that it would

[1:11:27] be a a public facing document um that would be sort of updated every other

[1:11:32] year um to to go through. Okay. Yeah. No, it's very valuable. Thank you.

[1:11:38] Scary, but valuable. Yes, Mayor Barkerley, don't get me wrong. We we

[1:11:42] assumed that when you guys saw those tax um amounts, you would be Oh, that's

[1:11:46] interesting a little bit. That's nice. >> Um and we would assume that those are

[1:11:51] not going to be the final numbers. Either you're going to direct us to pull

[1:11:54] from grants, adjust priorities, reduce other expenses. So, we knew that that's

[1:11:59] not But this is where we're starting, right?

[1:12:01] » Yeah. And I was also interested too seeing the assessment. you're expecting

[1:12:06] it to. >> So, a lot of that is new assessment and

[1:12:09] that is we we looked through the the houses that we currently have for sale

[1:12:12] and the capital buildings that we have for sale and some of that. And so, we

[1:12:15] kind of worked it out. It may not be exactly in those three years. We kind of

[1:12:18] spread it out over the three years. So, it could be higher in one year and less

[1:12:21] and but so that is kind of amounts that we're kind of relying on with

[1:12:26] with the new area that we're bringing on this year too. So, over the next couple

[1:12:30] of years on when those assessments will will realize into our as taxes. And I I

[1:12:35] also want us to be, you know, I realize last year we reduced the mill rate a bit

[1:12:39] and yet there was still a significant increase.

[1:12:42] » So I want us to keep that in mind because there's no sense saying we

[1:12:46] reduced our taxes or 0% tax increase when people were getting hit with a 10%

[1:12:50] tax increases. That >> that's

[1:12:57] So council though, is there anything in here outside of the amounts? Obviously,

[1:13:01] that's shocking, but is there any project on here that you don't like?

[1:13:04] Like, do you want us to remove the arena debt servicing one for now? Is there

[1:13:08] something that you're not happy with? Are we kind of in the right direction,

[1:13:10] but we just need to finalize things? So, just some some of those comments would

[1:13:14] be helpful just to make sure we're not going until November and you're like, we

[1:13:17] don't want any of that, right? >> Yeah. No, I mean, I think you need to

[1:13:20] plan for the arena, but I'm just really cautious right now that um

[1:13:24] » we do that in the right order and and maybe maybe there's some partnership on

[1:13:28] a cost of a Yeah.

[1:13:32] » And even if we were building debt capacity for the Arena project, likely I

[1:13:36] would recommend that we take that and put it onto the line of credit for now

[1:13:40] and then we'd have we're paying less debt, but at least we have capacity in

[1:13:43] our budget for a future debt payment. So there could be those options as well

[1:13:47] too, but

[1:13:53] and I don't like we don't know either like specifically and you'll get into

[1:13:56] that later what some of the capital projects are, right? seems a big ones.

[1:13:59] But >> yeah,

[1:14:00] » so

[1:14:04] » for 2027, the priority is linear infrastructure, roads, and underground,

[1:14:07] right? >> As always.

[1:14:08] » Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah.

[1:14:13] » Yeah. You'll see the full listing of all the specific projects as as we get

[1:14:16] closer.

[1:14:19] » Okay. Anything else? No, we're good. Okay.

[1:14:24] Thank you. We've got our date selected, so that's good. So, we will move on to

[1:14:28] um 7.1 and the regional wreck facility inventory study.

[1:14:33] » Thank you, Mayor Berkeley. Uh, so as council's aware, I believe this letter

[1:14:36] was in your correspondence a couple weeks ago, Reder County has invited um

[1:14:41] regional municipalities to participate in the creation of a regional recreation

[1:14:45] facility inventory, um, intended to support some of these conversations

[1:14:50] around recreation needs and opportunities, um, gaps and services and

[1:14:55] and how those decisions will be made um, in the future. Um the county is looking

[1:15:00] for application partners um a letter of support uh and or an indication of

[1:15:06] willingness to participate in data sharing um for a proposed application

[1:15:10] through the Alberta Community Partnerships Grant. So that's a

[1:15:13] government of Alberta grant um available to municipalities. Um this is sort of a

[1:15:20] first step that has been discussed administratively

[1:15:23] uh in the past as a way to start a regional conversation around um the

[1:15:29] wreck agreements and wreck funding. Um so we do feel that it's valuable to be a

[1:15:34] part of this conversation um and and be a partner uh for that

[1:15:40] grant allows us to be involved both in the the scope development of the project

[1:15:44] as well as the sort of input. Um this is the type of thing even on a data sharing

[1:15:50] level we would share our data um for even we get uh requests even outside of

[1:15:56] the region to from municipalities doing um sort of rec master plans similar to

[1:16:02] what we're doing. Um so that that's something that we would we would do in

[1:16:06] any type of situation likely. So, Director Jenkins, like what is the like

[1:16:12] what what is I guess the purpose is sharing our data, which I think we do,

[1:16:16] but um you know, how involved would Inisville

[1:16:20] be? Like are we going to be at the table with this or is it going to be all Red

[1:16:24] Dear County doing this work and we're going to send them some information? And

[1:16:28] so again, they're they're looking for that project partnership. Um, we at this

[1:16:32] point have as much information as as this letter and I've had a brief sort of

[1:16:37] email correspondence back and forth um on their with their administration. Um,

[1:16:42] again, it's going to be funding dependent whether the the project moves

[1:16:46] forward. Um, in in my opinion as the more involved we can be in that being

[1:16:54] helping with the grant application, the more we're likely to get out of the

[1:16:58] study. Um but again they'll be looking for data across the board about

[1:17:02] facilities about usage data about age of facilities all of those types of things

[1:17:07] to try to create a picture across the region of of what is available and where

[1:17:13] some of those needs are. So

[1:17:21] are you trying to put your light on Becker? There you go. You look like you

[1:17:24] were trying to put your light on. Uh if council has reservation,

[1:17:30] I think the deadline for submission um is October

[1:17:35] » for the grant >> 15th. Yeah. The county had asked for an

[1:17:37] indication of participation by the end of August.

[1:17:40] » Yeah. >> As per your question, Mayor Barkley, if

[1:17:43] you're if council yourself seeking more information on the scope of the project,

[1:17:48] outline what you're signing up for. I think that's a legitimate question. You

[1:17:52] can certainly pose that back to administration before moving into this

[1:17:56] recommended motion if that's what uh where you're leading to.

[1:17:59] » Yeah, it is what I'm leading to. I'd like to see more information and how we

[1:18:04] would be at the table. And >> councelor Russell.

[1:18:08] » Yeah, Mayor Burke, I'd agree. I'd like more information. I know what what is it

[1:18:12] the outcome that Red Deer County is hoping to have out of this. Um I I I

[1:18:17] don't know. Is it to to not fund individual communities, but maybe look

[1:18:22] at, okay, the study says we only need three arenas in this area. We we've got

[1:18:27] six, so we're out of that game. Like, I I don't know what what the goal of this

[1:18:32] is, right? So, I I don't know. I'd like that information like what is the

[1:18:37] purpose and what is the end goal that what is the objective they're hoping to

[1:18:42] achieve by doing this? So,

[1:18:47] Councelor Hill. >> Yeah, I I do obviously see some some of

[1:18:52] the um hesitation and and wanting to know

[1:18:56] more about it. I obviously from our standpoint or my standpoint, I would say

[1:19:01] it would be nice for the inventory study to to identify that Inisell is

[1:19:06] definitely um uh you know in need of of some investment and to that we have

[1:19:12] seeing the needs assessment and and all our numbers that we do uh provide a

[1:19:17] service to um the county residents and I I think it's kind of a double-edged

[1:19:21] sword. It could be used against us, but it could also be used to help us as

[1:19:25] well. But I I do understand the the hesitation and I I would also want more

[1:19:30] information. But that's my understanding of it. But I guess uh it is like I said

[1:19:35] a double-edged sword, but hopefully it would not be sharp on our end. So

[1:19:39] » Mhm. I I just add to I I do see Mayor Berkeley that they've the letter is CC

[1:19:45] to pretty much every municipality within Red County's boundaries. Right. So I

[1:19:51] wouldn't want to be the only one not at the table. Um but uh cuz that could put

[1:19:55] us at a huge disadvantage as well. But just a bit more information, maybe

[1:19:59] you'll hear from other administration what other communities are thinking

[1:20:03] about this and I think if we bring it the next meeting, I think we still meet

[1:20:06] the timeline, don't we have to do to respond?

[1:20:10] » Yeah, councelor W. >> Um I mean I certainly share everyone's

[1:20:15] concern based on history and you know sort of how we're feeling right now. Um

[1:20:21] they're not asking us for money. they're asking us for support. Um, I think that

[1:20:26] we're better placed at the table with a list of all of our concerns and ensuring

[1:20:30] that the data that is relevant to us is being seen and heard at that table. So I

[1:20:37] mean we can certainly ask for for more information now officially from Redger

[1:20:41] County but if they need a letter by the end of if they need something by the end

[1:20:45] of August I mean I guess we can ask for them to give us extra time but they have

[1:20:50] asked us for the information by or for agreement by the end of the month. So I

[1:20:54] wouldn't have a problem saying let's be involved and be at the table.

[1:20:59] He did say October that the the application's going in. Red Dear County

[1:21:03] has asked for indication by the end of August that the grant is due

[1:21:07] » um the 15th of August. So, they would need to determine if they're starting to

[1:21:12] prepare that grant application. >> And I think it's fair to to ask for more

[1:21:16] information. We we have a meeting coming up in a couple of weeks and um I would

[1:21:20] like to see more information and

[1:21:25] kind of the purpose of I agree with councelor Russell. Mayor Berkeley, would

[1:21:31] it be possible when administration talks to him saying we're going to make a

[1:21:34] decision at what is our next meeting? September 8th.

[1:21:38] » Yeah. >> Um that we'll make that decision.

[1:21:42] » Well, what's that >> to council? That's our dialogue we're

[1:21:46] having council based on your motion of counseling your first meetings. Uh you

[1:21:51] wouldn't be meeting until the 15th of September. Um so which is basically 3

[1:21:59] weeks away. It's pretty significant time gap,

[1:22:02] » but isn't our first our AMP meetings are the first Monday of each month. So that

[1:22:06] would be >> September 8th.

[1:22:08] » September 8th. Yeah. >> But

[1:22:10] » we can't give you direction at that meeting.

[1:22:13] » We don't have >> We don't have that.

[1:22:15] » We don't have an AMP meeting that day. >> It's a regular one.

[1:22:19] » No, cuz you just canled your first meeting.

[1:22:23] the the second we cancelled the first not the third A&P of them.

[1:22:29] » So you're meeting on the 15th 20 whatever and then the end of

[1:22:34] September that's your meeting schedule. >> Yeah.

[1:22:39] » I council >> I think if they need it by the 30th

[1:22:43] maybe we should make a decision today then about whether we provide that. We

[1:22:47] can always we're not committing any money like councelor Wing said right.

[1:22:51] So,

[1:22:54] » well, maybe we can do both. We can commit, but also ask them for more

[1:22:57] information because I I think we we need that

[1:23:00] » for sure. >> Mayor Barkley, um, speaking to this, I'd

[1:23:05] like to see us commit to the letter and then follow up with the the ask because

[1:23:11] all we're doing here is is they've invited us to the table. Um, sometimes I

[1:23:16] always say it's better to be in the room versus looking through the window into

[1:23:20] the room. >> Uh, so I uh I would move in that

[1:23:24] direction or support the direction.

[1:23:31] » I will. Mayor Barkley, I would move that council commit to being a project

[1:23:36] partner with Renter County for the purpose of an Alberta community

[1:23:39] partnership grant application for the completion of a regional recreation

[1:23:43] facility inventory study. And we also would like administration to

[1:23:50] bring back more information on the scope of this project

[1:23:55] » or you don't you don't want to see more information?

[1:23:57] » I can well I can't imagine saying no to being involved quite honestly. So in

[1:24:02] more information or not, but if if having more information provided to us

[1:24:07] in advance of the application is good for if that's what council wants, I'm

[1:24:11] fine with that. So we can certainly add that in.

[1:24:17] Okay. All in favor.

[1:24:21] All right. We'll move into 8.1 correspondence and information.

[1:24:37] Okay. Next,

[1:24:43] um this um I would again look want more information

[1:24:50] on what this means for Inennisville. Maybe we could have um drive come in and

[1:24:55] do a presentation to us or you could administration could bring back some

[1:24:59] more information. Do you want a motion on that? Um CO Becker.

[1:25:04] » Okay. Um Okay. I I will make a motion then

[1:25:08] that we um administration invites Red Dear Drive to to come in and

[1:25:15] do a presentation to us about their new economic development

[1:25:19] body and how they see Inisville fitting.

[1:25:25] Any comments? All in favor? Okay.

[1:25:33] And RCMP stats. Um, anybody have any questions about that?

[1:25:40] And then we have MPC minutes. So, we'll just have a motion to accept the

[1:25:44] correspondence as information, please. >> Council Hill.

[1:25:49] » Mayor Barkley, I would make that motion that we expect accept the correspondence

[1:25:53] information. >> Perfect. Thank you. Okay. All in favor?

[1:25:58] Carried. All right. We'll do council reports next. So, we'll begin with

[1:26:01] councelor Hill. >> Member Barkley. I did not submit of uh

[1:26:06] uh >> we know

[1:26:07] » as you can tell uh nothing nothing to report.

[1:26:11] » Okay. Thank you. Councelor Wing, >> my report is in the package. Um Mayor

[1:26:16] Barkley, I don't have anything to add. >> Okay. Thank you, Councelor McCeller.

[1:26:22] » Mayor Berkeley, my information is in the package as well and no further

[1:26:25] information to add. >> Okay. Thanks, Councelor Russell.

[1:26:29] » Thanks, Mayor Berkeley. my uh reporters there. But I would like to say that I've

[1:26:33] seen the lights along um Main Street have been put up. Now that it's getting

[1:26:38] dark before my bedtime, I might be able to see them at night as well. So I

[1:26:43] appreciate that. >> And councelor Heisad.

[1:26:49] » Yeah. Uh, Mayor Barkley, I just the only comment I'd have, uh, I went to the

[1:26:54] government of Alberta data center consultation in Lome and also went to

[1:26:59] the one NDP data center consultation. It was interesting, right, seeing both

[1:27:04] sides and it's a hot topic. So, I chose to go to both of those to learn more

[1:27:10] about what was going on in the province and potentially in the future. So, just

[1:27:14] wanted to bring that up as a highlight. and uh lots of it's you know an awkward

[1:27:20] topic but I think there's there's ways to do it in the right way in our

[1:27:24] province and it takes a lot of consultation and work on all parties so

[1:27:29] thanks >> okay thanks and I don't have anything

[1:27:34] further um did go see the um corn roast at the historical village on Saturday

[1:27:39] and then the lantern festival which was really lovely in the evening uh former

[1:27:45] counselor Bates's grandson was playing at the Lantern Festival, which was

[1:27:49] great. So, it was a a really good evening.

[1:27:53] Okay, we'll um move into upcoming events.

[1:28:01] And the wastewater meeting that was originally for August 21st has been

[1:28:06] switched to September 14th.

[1:28:11] And we'll just have a motion, please, to accept the upcoming events as

[1:28:14] information. Councelor McCller,

[1:28:18] » Mayor Barkley, I'll make that motion. >> Awesome. Thank you. All in favor. Okay.

[1:28:23] Carried. And then we'll have a motion to go in camera.

[1:28:28] Councelor, >> I'll make the motion to go on camera.

[1:28:30] » Thank you. All in favor? Carried.

2026.08.24 Regular Council Meeting

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