Red Deer Minute: Museum Funding, Borrowing Bylaw, and Airport Progress Continues

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

This Week In Red Deer:

• This morning, at 10:00 am, there will be a meeting of the Council Agenda Review Committee. The Committee will draft the agenda for the upcoming March 4th meeting of City Council.
  
  
• The Housing and Homelessness Integration Committee will meet on Tuesday at 5:00 pm. There will be a closed session for the Committee to privately discuss “permanent supportive housing”. The public portion of the agenda includes a report on the Housing Asset Development Action Plan and the Indigenous Funding Adjudication Process, as well as verbal updates on Winter Unsheltered Emergency Funding and the Lived Experience Council.
  
  
• Beginning this morning, Red Deerians can expect a road closure on 48 Street from 48 Avenue to 49 Avenue for underground utility upgrade work. Access to 48 Street from 49 Avenue will be limited during the project, while pedestrian traffic along the south side of 48 Street will be maintained. Work is expected to be completed by March 15th.

Last Week In Red Deer:

• Significant progress has been made on the Red Deer Regional Airport expansion project as Red Deer County Council approved a $4.4 million under-budget tender for the first phase of a project to extend Airport Drive and provide a second access to the Springbrook airport. Construction on this project is set to begin in spring, with completion expected by mid-September. Concurrently, a terminal expansion project is underway, anticipated to finish by the end of July. The $3.5 million project includes a 10,000-square-foot addition. The Province allocated $30 million to the Airport expansion project in the April 2023 budget. In other Red Deer Regional Airport news, CEO Graham Ingham stepped down after leading the organization for over seven years. The airport board is actively searching for a new CEO, aiming to appoint a successor by summer.
  
  
• Council approved an amendment to its borrowing bylaw, raising maximum interest rates by approximately three percent for several active capital projects. The amendment, given first reading in January, aims to address the risk posed by rising 30-year interest rates offered by Loans to Local Authorities, which currently stand at 5.22%. The increased maximum interest rates are proposed as a proactive measure to mitigate potential delays in capital work. While Administration anticipates a gradual decline in rates, the amendment was intended as a precautionary step, allowing flexibility in case rates exceed authorized limits within the borrowing bylaws for specific projects like the Riverlands Project and various road initiatives.
  
  
• Alberta's Minister of Tourism and Sport, Joseph Schow, announced that the Province would provide the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame Museum with $302,500 in funding. Mayor Ken Johnston expressed gratitude for the provincial government's continued support, emphasizing the Hall of Fame's role in inspiring future generations and promoting the province's athletic legacy. Over the past two years, an estimated 20,000 people annually visited the Hall of Fame, exploring exhibits on various sports and organizations, including the Hall of Fame Gallery, which highlights those who have been inducted annually since 1957.

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