Red Deer Minute: Business Awards, Welcoming Week, and Parking Meter Sale

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

This Week In Red Deer:

• On Tuesday, at 5:00 pm, there will be a meeting of the Housing and Homelessness Integration Committee. The Committee will receive a report on the 2024-2025 Budget and Request for Proposal Components.
  
  
• The Red Deer Local Immigration Partnership (RDLIP) is extending their Welcoming Week for newcomers by organizing events over two months instead of just a week. The purpose of Welcoming Week, which is celebrated worldwide in September, is to make communities more diverse and inclusive and help newcomers feel at home. The RDLIP is partnering with various organizations to host events such as a Community Resource Fair, an anti-racism lunch n' learn, a health fair, and a blanket exercise to connect newcomers with local Indigenous peoples.
  
  
• The Zed Haunted House is returning to Parkland Mall for the final 13 days of October as a fundraiser for Youth HQ. The event attracts more than 7,000 people every year and volunteers contribute more than 8,000 hours. Tickets are $15 at the door and more details are available online.

Last Week In Red Deer:

• Council heard that starting a Waste-to-Energy (WTE) project in Red Deer may not be worthwhile at this time due to the City's limited waste production. An assessment by Administration highlighted that many WTE technologies are still emerging, and the proven ones generally require significant volumes and specific types of waste to be economically viable. Red Deer's waste output is insufficient to make the project feasible, even if they used an estimate of one million people producing 100,000 tonnes of waste. Instead, the City plans to focus on waste reduction and diversion initiatives, including recycling and reusing items, while waiting for technology to support smaller centers.
  
  
• The Red Deer & District Chamber of Commerce hosted the 40th Business of the Year Awards. The event brought together 225 business and community leaders to recognize six recipients receiving prestigious awards. New Board President Mike Szyszka highlighted the Chamber's history and encouraged businesses and leaders to engage with the community. The winners included Royal LePage Network Realty Corp., shiftOHS, Johnson Spring & Trailer, Three Broke Sisters, Golden Circle Senior Resource Centre, and Rieley Kay with Cilantro & Chive.
  
  
• In the quirky news section, more than 500 people gathered at Red Deer's Sorensen Station for a chance to purchase one of the City's old parking meters. After the City shifted to the HotSpot mobile app for downtown parking payments, they were approached by community members interested in buying the old meters. All money raised went to the parking department. Did you enjoy the experience of plugging coins in the meter so much that you picked up a meter for your home? 

-----

Donate:

Common Sense Red Deer doesn't accept any government funding and never will. We think you should be free to choose, for yourself, which organizations to support. If you're in a position to contribute financially, you can make a donation here.

-----

Share:

If you're not in a position to donate, we understand, but if you appreciate our work, you can help by spreading our message. Please email this post to your friends, share it on Facebook or Twitter, and help make sure every Red Deerian knows what's really going on at City Hall.