Red Deer Minute: Budget Meetings, Scooter Enthusiasts, and Mental Health Funding

Red Deer Minute: Budget Meetings, Scooter Enthusiasts, and Mental Health Funding

 

Red Deer Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Red Deer politics

 

This Week In Red Deer:

  • There will be a City Council Multi-Year Budget Meeting this morning at 10:00 am. The proposed budget calls for a property tax increase of about 4.8% in 2023 and 4.4% in 2024, assuming Council doesn't find anything else to spend our money on in the two more days of budget meetings that will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday. Once the budget is passed, we’ll be sending out a recap of spending, amendments, and which Councillors voted for responsible stewardship of your tax dollars!!

  • There will be a Council Agenda Review Committee Meeting on Thursday at 3:00 pm to set the agenda for the December 12th Council meeting.

  • The Kinex Arena will be closed starting this morning due to an unexpected issue with ice-making equipment. The City anticipates re-opening the arena on December 10th.

 

Last Week In Red Deer:

  • It was announced that the Red Deer Public Schools District (RDPSD) will receive more than $700,000 as part of a $40 million grant program given by the Province for mental health pilot projects in schools. A new Behaviour Support Team will be readily available to classrooms throughout the Division beginning December 1st. The team includes a registered psychiatric nurse, a teacher with experience in mental health and behaviour, and a registered social worker. RDPSD anticipates receiving $210,000 for this school year, with the remaining money coming over the next two years to fund the pilot until December of 2024.

  • Bird Canada renewed its Red Deer business licence for 2023 and it appears that Red Deerians have embraced the new transportation technology. The e-scooter pilot program is headed into its third and final year. Overall, Red Deer e-scooter users came in second for average trip length in the country according to one of the five scooter companies operating in the city. Also of note, a single rider took almost 140 trips between April and October and another user rode for 35 kms in a single session.

  • So far, in 2022, 580 homeless camps have been cleaned up by a three-person City Parks crew. Parks staff alone have spent more than 5,600 hours on cleanup and the department has spent $295,010.34 doing so. Almost 3,500 syringes have been collected by the crew, and camps have been cleaned up from a variety of locations, from the Red Deer River valley and along creeks to south of Delburne Road, behind Westerner Park.

 

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