Red Deer Minute: Vacant Lot, Brick Bunny, and Conduct Complaint Cost

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

This Week In Red Deer:

• There are no City Council meetings this week. The next scheduled meeting is on June 26th. On Wednesday, at 1:00 pm, there will be a meeting of the Audit Committee though. The Committee will receive the Capital Information and Expenditure Variance Report and a report regarding the Whistleblower Program. As well, the Chief Financial Officer will give a presentation regarding the Debt Policy Review. The City has a self-imposed debt limit of 75% of what the Province will allow. The City is currently at those limits, and Administration recommends keeping the limit in place at this time. Probably a good plan given the current state of the City's finances...  
  
  
• Friday through Sunday, the Central Alberta Humane Society is hosting their annual Garage Sale fundraiser at the Pidherny Centre. There are VIP tickets available for purchase online for those who want to shop the sale on Thursday night before it opens to the public.
  
  
• The brick bunny on 48th Street will be repaired and relocated. The bunny was vandalized last month, and it was suggested that the art be decommissioned. But, the original artists agreed to do the repair work for a “reasonable” estimate. Now, the Public Art Commission is reviewing proposals for a new site for the bunny.

Last Week In Red Deer:

• It was announced during last week’s City Council meeting that the RCMP in Red Deer will begin using an ATV to patrol the city's trails during the day and into the evening. The RCMP plan to have a stronger presence on the trail system as a means to proactively deal with issues. It was also announced that two more Police and Crisis teams, which pair a psychiatric nurse and a police officer, were created to deal with mental health calls.
  
  
• The process has begun for rezoning the vacant lot at Ross Street and 40 Avenue for commercial use. So far, there has been minimal opposition. This prime space has been vacant since 2001 when the gas station and car wash were demolished. Contamination on the property was remediated in 2015. Currently, the area is zoned for residential duplexes, but the public hearing to change that is set for July 10th.
  
  
• The final bill for the latest investigation into a Code of Conduct complaint against a City Councillor has been tallied. The City spent $17,632 on the investigation, only to find that Councillor Barnstable had violated the Code of Conduct for incidents for which he has already publicly apologized. Was this really an effective use of taxpayer money?

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