Update: Dec 18th Council Meeting

Last night Council had a meeting. Checkout my previous blog post for more information about what we discussed. Here is what happened:

• We made a number of appointments to various boards and committees. This was a very tough conversation: we had more qualified and dedicated applicants than spots. There were many people we were disappointed to have no spots for. If you applied and were not appointed, I would encourage you to apply again in the future. One development: we did not appoint anyone to the Economic Advisory Committee. This is because we want to put some work into re-imagining it: we want to leverage it to get the best advice possible. We will be having an in depth conversation about it in February. After that, our intention is to make appointments to it. We may also tweak the terms of reference. 
• We approved the operating and capital budgets. The operating budget includes a 2% increase in taxes and a $1 million drawing from reserves. The capital budget includes the next phases of Downtown Rehabilitation. To see my thoughts on the budget and downtown, you can see earlier blog posts by clicking here.
• We awarded $50,000 from the Large Scale Tourism Events grant to East Coast Garden Party contingent on them returning $7000 previously awarded under a different grant.
• We approved the terms of reference for a Grande Prairie Regional Recreation Committee.
• We approved a contract to install an Electronic Fare Management System on our transit fleet.
• We postponed discussion about the Disable Transportation Society until our meeting on January 29th. We wanted more information: this delay will give administration time to flesh out all transition opportunities. We are supportive of having a specialized transit system. However, we want to take the time needed to find an operating model which serves our community in the best possible fashion.
• We passed updated Utility and Lot Grading bylaws

As always, I welcome any feedback and questions.

Thanks;

Dylan