Red Deer Minute: Land Annexation, Pedestrian Bridge, and a New Parking App

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

This Week In Red Deer:

• There are no City Council or committee meetings this week, on account of the Easter holiday. The next Council meeting is scheduled for April 17th.
  
  
• On Wednesday, from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm, the Central Alberta Spring Job Fair will be happening at the Pidherney Curling Centre. The event is free and there’s a solid list of registered employers looking to hire, including Liberty Oilfield Services and Central City Asphalt.
  
  
• For Western Christians, today is Easter Monday. The Easter weekend is always observed alongside Passover celebrations in Judaism, but this year, Ramadan comes at the same time. Because Judaism and Islam keep different lunar calendars, Easter, Passover, and Ramadan will only overlap three times per century, as they do this year. From all of us at Common Sense Red Deer, may you have a joyous day, whichever holiday you’re celebrating.

Last Week In Red Deer:

• The City announced a new way to pay for parking downtown. Hot Spot, a New Brunswick-based company, will provide the software and equipment for all downtown and hospital parking beginning this summer. The new app-based service will include payment on a mobile device, alerts when parking is running out, and the opportunity to have parking sessions refunded for unused time. Seems like a neat idea - can we get a refund option for other unused City services too?
  
  
• Council discussed the pedestrian bridge from Capstone to Bower Ponds. The estimated cost for the project has gone from $5 million, to $20 million, to $32 million, down to $15 million, and now sits at $50 million. Apparently, there is no explanation for the decrease before the cost ballooned again. Administration said that the conceptual design phase alone will cost $1 million in order to study the project to finalize the plans. The discussion has been deferred until the fall, when Council will next discuss capital budgets.
  
  
• The City of Red Deer and Red Deer County have agreed to a significant land annexation that the City says will be developed into a “regional power center”. The land is in the Northwest part of the city, along the QEII Highway. The Linn Valley neighbourhood will remain County land, but the land between it and the highway will become part of the City of Red Deer. The City has plans to develop a significant commercial space right along the highway - it sounds like we might get a Gasoline Alley North.

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