Red Deer Minute: Recreation Fees, Federal Funding, and a New Conduct Bylaw

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

This Week In Red Deer:

• There will be a regular meeting of City Council this morning, beginning with a closed session at 10:30 am. During the closed session, the agenda includes a land matter, Council Representation on Alberta Municipalities Board of Directors, and a permanent shelter update. When the meeting opens up to the public, at approximately 1:00 pm, Council will vote on whether or not to endorse the City of Red Deer hosting the Alberta Municipalities Conference every three years, as well as discuss rezoning the parcel of land on Bremner Avenue that contains the Red Deer Advocate building. The meeting will end with another closed session, where a new Code of Conduct bylaw will be introduced. We’ll be watching this item closely owing to the recent Code of Conduct violations.
  
  
• Registration is now open for City recreation programming. Fitness and swimming lessons, arts, and family programs are all available at various City facilities. You can view the schedules and sign up online.
  
  
• It’s a busy week at Westerner Park. On Thursday evening, the venue is hosting a concert headlined by 90s band Aqua (you might know them from their hit ‘Barbie Girl’), followed by the Canadian National Quarter Horse Show starting on Friday.

Last Week In Red Deer:

• The City of Red Deer announced that fees will increase as of September 1st for transit, recreation, and cemetery services. The cost of riding the bus in Red Deer will increase to $3.00 for an adult and $2.50 for youth or senior. The cost of admission for every recreation centre will also go up, with the exception of the G.H. Dawe Community Centre (which already saw an increase after its February expansion). The City says the fees are needed to manage the increase in operational costs and maintenance demands. Recall that the City needed to borrow money back in 2020 as a result of not collecting revenue from transit and recreation due to the pandemic.
  
  
• The City opened an evacuation centre for residents of the Northwest Territories who were forced to flee their homes due to ongoing wildfires. Red Deer has capacity to welcome 1,000 evacuees. The G.H. Dawe Centre was set up as the reception location, and evacuees are being asked to register there to get connected with additional support. The Dawe will continue to remain open to the public in addition to being the evacuation centre site.
  
  
• Over $1.6 million in federal funding was provided to community service organizations in Central Alberta through the Community Services Recovery Fund. There were 15 different projects funded in Red Deer and Red Deer County, including the City of Red Deer Library Board’s Youth Literacy Program, which received $9,714, and the Red Deer Symphony Orchestra, which received $69,000. You can see the full list of recipients here.

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