Red Deer Minute: New Murals, Building Demolition, and Assessment Notices Mailed

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

This Week In Red Deer:

• There will be a City Council meeting today at 10:30 am. The meeting begins in closed session, where Council will receive an update on the permanent homeless shelter, as well as labour negotiations with two different unions. Council will also receive the proposed 2024 Budget Amendment package and discuss a Notice of Motion from Councillor Lee regarding the City’s response to urban encampments. The meeting will conclude with a public hearing regarding some land use amendments.
  
  
• On Tuesday, at 5:00 pm, the Housing and Homelessness Fund Adjudication Sub-Committee will meet. The majority of the meeting will take place in-camera to discuss a request for proposal for homelessness support services.
  
  
• The Club House, a new Red Deer establishment located near Parkland Mall, is set to open and offer a dance club, arcade games, and a sports bar. The facility will feature a dance floor, DJ booth, pool tables, and air hockey, with the goal of adding nightlife options to Red Deer, particularly on Fridays and Saturdays, addressing the void left by the closure of other establishments. The Club House will be open to all ages until 9:00 pm, transitioning to an adults-only bar afterward.

Last Week In Red Deer:

• The City unveiled two new large murals on the underside of Taylor Drive Bridge. The murals aim to beautify the space, which has been previously vandalized, and align with the theme of families using the riverside trails. The murals are coated with a product allowing easy removal of spray-painted tagging without damaging the artwork, and were funded as part of the Taylor Bridge upgrades.
  
  
• The City mailed out assessment notices, with the average house assessed at 4.85% higher than in 2023. The City’s assessment team is inviting property owners to reach out if they have any questions about their notice. The City has not set the tax rate for 2024 as the budget adjustment debate will take place later this month.
  
  
• Valley Park Manor, the old seniors home in Riverside Meadows, was finally demolished. It closed in 2010 and has been a derelict building ever since. Neighbours say that it had become a haven for thieves and squatters, even though it had been boarded up for nearly a decade. Alberta Health Services said that the full remediation work is expected to be complete by March and that the cost of demolition was $2 million.

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