Red Deer Minute: Road Closures, Service Levels, and Election Preparation Begins

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

This Week In Red Deer:

• On Tuesday, there will be a meeting of City Council at 10:30 am. The meeting begins with a closed session, wherein Council will discuss a “Union Update”. When the meeting opens up to the public, at 1:00 pm, Councillor Wyntjes will propose a Notice of Motion regarding Operational Funding for Community Organizations. The Notice of Motion proposes that Administration review and update the Community Development Grants policy by early 2025 and include options for ongoing operational funding alongside the existing grants. Council will also receive a report regarding the 2025 municipal election. Administration are claiming that, thanks to Bill 20 which bans tabulators, election results may be delayed by up to three days. This sounded ridiculous, so we checked, and in all three elections before tabulators were introduced, results were available within just a few hours. Later, after a public hearing regarding a rezoning proposal at 4605 63 Street, Council will end the meeting in another closed session to discuss Emergency Services overtime reduction and a Business Improvement Area.
  
  
• Council will also review a report detailing the risks, impacts, and opportunities associated with 37 potential changes to service levels as part of the Budget 2025 process. This review follows a summer-long exercise where Council evaluated 275 service levels and selected 37 for further consideration. An estimated $20 million must be found to balance the 2025 budget. Should the meeting not conclude on time, it will continue on Wednesday.
  
  
• Also on Tuesday, at 5:00 pm, the Red Deer & District Family and Community Support Services Board will meet. The Board will discuss Spark Grants - a program that supports community-led grassroots projects that help people get to know their neighbours. As of August 2024, there have been 23 applications received - more than any other year. The $20,000 has been expended, and new applications are not currently being accepted until January 2025.

Last Week In Red Deer:

• Red Deer has seen a significant rise in urban encampment clean-ups, with City crews dismantling 870 illegal camps so far this year, a 59.3% increase from the 546 camps removed during the same period in 2023. A large encampment was dismantled in a wooded ravine just north of Sunnybrook Farm last week, involving multiple City trucks, a police vehicle, and a front-end loader. Items such as tarps, generators, mattresses, and cooking stoves were removed. The City says an "active" camp will be dismantled only after 48-hours notice and information about local shelters is provided to encampment occupants.
  
  
• The City announced several road closures for September. Closures are due to manhole installation and repairs, water and sanitary work, general road work, and a crane lift. The lengthiest closure will be on 57 Street, between 58 Avenue and Kerrywood Drive, from September 4th to 13th. Full information is available on the City's website.
  
  
• A historic downtown building in Red Deer has been revitalized with the opening of a coworking space on its top floor. The building, purchased by East Lincoln Properties in 2022, now hosts 55 offices across 10,000 square feet, offering flexible workspaces for local businesses and entrepreneurs. The renovation, which cost $3 million, was celebrated by City officials and community members on August 29th.

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