Red Deer Minute: Town Halls, Local Landslides, and a Downtown Identity Plan

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

This Week In Red Deer:

• There’s only one meeting scheduled at City Hall this week - a City Council Regular meeting today at 10:30 am. Council will receive a report on the Downtown Identity Plan. The City says this will be a strategy “to create a refreshed identity for Downtown Red Deer - one that resonates with Red Deerians, businesses, visitors and investors and inspires them to visit, shop, work, live and invest in its commercial core.” Council will also receive a report on the next steps for the permanent shelter.
  
  
• Westerner Days kicks off on Wednesday with a parade. After the event’s cancellation last year, what are you looking forward to most? The midway rides, food, agriculture demonstrations, or the chuckwagon races?
  
  
• The United Conservative Party will be hosting a series of in-person town halls featuring several of the leadership candidates. The Red Deer-South Constituency Association will be hosting the town halls at the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and the candidates will each have their own event. Todd Loewen and Danielle Smith will be speaking on Wednesday and Brian Jean and Leela Aheer will have their respective town halls on Thursday.

Last Week In Red Deer:

• Excessive rainfall caused three separate landslides. The rare events occurred in escarpments of the Cronquist area of West Park, and the area adjacent to Waskaskoo Creek. City engineers are reminding residents to be on the lookout for cracks or moving ground, particularly near properties with slopes or close proximity to embankments. No damage occurred to City infrastructure.
  
  
• The federal government approved $8.5 million in funding for a Living Lab project aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the agricultural sector. Alberta Beef Producers is looking for Red Deer-based producers to participate in the project, which brings together farmers and scientists to identify technologies and on-farm management practices that reduce emissions. Is anyone running a project on how much we could reduce emissions by reducing the size of government?
  
  
• The latest rental rate data has been released and the cost to rent a home in Red Deer continues to rise. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the city last month was $1,052 - up almost 6.5% from May and just under 13% from the same time last year. Of the 35 cities included in the report, Red Deer ranked 33rd, placing the city’s rental rates among the lowest in Canada despite the spike.

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