Red Deer Minute: Cell Tower, Molly Banister, and Hospital Information Session

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

This Week In Red Deer:

• On Monday, there will be a regular meeting of City Council at 9:00 am. The meeting will begin in a closed (secret) session where two separate land matters will be discussed, as well as a verbal update on the permanent homeless shelter. Council will also go through the 2022 Innovations and Efficiencies Report, though discussing this report after the budget deliberations seems like odd timing - wouldn't it have been helpful during the budget process?
  
  
• On Tuesday, at 5:00 pm, the Housing and Homelessness Integration Committee will meet. The Committee will be receiving an update from the Lived Experience Council as well as a report on Indigenous Funding.
  
  
• On Thursday, between 5:15 pm and 7:00 pm, representatives from Alberta Infrastructure and Alberta Health Services will be on hand at a public information session to discuss government plans for the expansion of the Red Deer Regional Hospital. The event will be held in the main lobby of the Red Deer Provincial Building (4920 51 Street). Hopefully, the meeting will include new information regarding timelines for the much-needed and long-awaited expansion of the hospital.

Last Week In Red Deer:

• A public hearing was held to discuss the potential removal of the Molly Banister Extension from City plans. This is the third time that this issue has been brought before Council since 2019. However, this public hearing attracted much less attention than previous ones, with only 12 people providing testimony. Ultimately, the vote among Council members was tied at 4-4, resulting in the motion being defeated. After three unsuccessful attempts, it remains uncertain if the developer will raise this proposal again in the future.
  
  
• The Province has responded to ongoing complaints about inadequate ambulance service by allocating 10 new ambulances to Calgary and Edmonton. However, no additional ambulances will be provided to Red Deer. Additionally, patient transfers will be outsourced to other providers using non-ambulance vehicles, allowing for more efficient use of ambulances for emergency responses in Edmonton and Calgary. A government report supports the decision to centralize ambulance dispatch and offers recommendations for improvement.
  
  
• In a feel-good infrastructure story, the new cell tower at the Timberlands Firehall is complete and fully operational. Representatives from Telus provided assurances that they have tested it and the cell phone signal in the North East neighbourhood is significantly improved. If you live in the area, let us know how it’s working out for you.

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