Paying for Police

Many time over I've highlighted the fact that in Alberta, provincial legislation creates an uneven playing field that financially disadvantages some municipalities. Essentially, in many areas the province has funding programs that create artificially uneven playing fields. The funding formula for police in the province is probably the prime example of this. In fact I highlighted it in this post from 2007. With the provincial cabinet making a tour of the province I'll press them on the issue again as it has a big impact on city residents.

The government's current funding formula states that:

• Towns and cities with a population from 5,001 to 20,000 receive a $200,000 base payment plus an additional $8.00 per capita.

• Cities and urban service areas with a population from 20,001 to 50,000 receive a $100,000 base payment plus $14.00 per capita.

• Cities and urban service areas with a population over 50,000 receive grants of $16.00 per capita.

In the case of the City of Grande Prairie this means the province funds only $800,000 of the City's $12 million dollar annual policing budget – approximately 6%. I've spoken with communities who are (probably jokingly) considering what they can do to convince people to move out of town so they don't go over the 5000 population mark. (See all the per capita grants given to communities across Alberta here)

The grant to cover 6% of The City of GP's cost is in contrast to the surrounding county, towns and village who are under no obligation to pay anything for towards the cost of RCMP service as the province covers 100% of the cost. As I noted back in the 2007 post to it's credit the County of GP does choose to hire additional RCMP at their full cost (I think it might be a total of 5 members now) which, in very round numbers, costs approximately $600,000.

Of course the advantage is that we are largely in control of our destiny when it comes to how many police we have - council makes the decision on when and how many RCMP officers we need to hire. But on the other side of the equation taxes in the city have to be higher to pay for those police and this added burden decreases the City's ability to be financially competitive with surrounding municipalities like the county.

So those who would like to see city taxes as low as the county should support our efforts to lobby the province make police funding more equitable. If it were we would at least have a fighting change.

Library Update - May 3rd, 2010

As we move through spring there's lots going on at the Library - from author visits to classes on personal safety and a visit from The COW there's a lot to check out! It's all below in the latest Library Update courtesy Library Director, Laurie Harrison:

We’re pleased to announce that The Grande Prairie Public Library is now designated as a Safe Harbour location. What does this mean? As a Safe Harbour location, we demonstrate equitable treatment and respect for all cultures, religions, socioeconomic backgrounds, ages, abilities, genders and sexual orientations. For more information on Safe Harbour, please visit www.safeharbour.ca

Things are rolling along well at the library. With more staff resources assigned to programming, we are pleased to offer more and varied programs for the public. Some in May include:

Personal Safety
Constable Ellen Archibald will assist you in learning how to be safe and secure at home and away from home with this two-hour Personal Safety course. Bring your questions and go away feeling more able to handle personal safety issues in your life.
Thursday, May 13, 6:00 pm, Rotary Community Room

Let’s Discuss Family Violence
We are happy to be able to welcome you to this most informative and preventative discussion with Courtney Jones from Odyssey House. Topics include: types of abuse, the cycle of violence, warning signs, what you can do to help a friend or family member who is experiencing family abuse or violence. Wednesday, May 19, 6:30 pm, Rotary Community Room

Making Your Will & Understanding Estates
Do I need to have a will and can I write a will without a lawyer? Do I have an estate? What about divorce, marriage, children and other dependents? Does the Adult Interdependent Relationship Act have anything to do with me? Can I leave my wishes for my health care should I happen to be unable to make those decisions when the time comes? If I leave my wishes for health care, are they binding? Answers to these questions and many more will be provided by Sherry B. Heikel. Sherry is from Grande Prairie and has practiced law here for many years. Come and be informed. Date: Wednesday, May 12, 7:00 pm, Rotary Community Room

Other programs include:
Internet Basics for Job Seekers
Grande Knitters Club
Grande Readers Book Club
Songwriter’s Circle
Foreign Movie Night
Cygnet Writers
Computers for Seniors

And always lots for children:

COW BUS (parented)
Visit the COW (Classroom on Wheels) bus at the Library and learn with fun activities. For families with children age 6 and under. Drop-in. While at the COW bus, be sure to pick up your FREE ticket to special cow themed programs at the Library on Tuesday afternoon and evening!

Date: Tuesday, May 4
Time: 1:30 pm - 7:00 pm
Location: Grande Prairie School District parking
lot in front of the Montrose Cultural Centre

Made with Love (unparented)
Make a beautiful handcrafted gift for your mother, grandmother, aunt or another special person! Master Sculptor Chris Jammer will teach you how to sculpt. Registration limited to 12 crafty kids ages 8-12. If you register and cannot attend please telephone 780-357-7454 so another patron may attend.

Date: Saturday, May 8
Time: 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Location: Linda Smith Story Room

Author Visit
Presented by Encana
Visit with author Cheryl Schenk, one of the imaginations behind The Stibil Forest Adventures: Little Synni’s Moonlight Mischief. Registration required. Register online at www.gppl.ab.ca

Dates: Tuesday, June 1 &
Wednesday, June 2
Times: 10:30 am (for preschoolers & early elementary)
1:30 pm (for homeschoolers)
4:00 pm (for families)
Location: Linda Smith Story Room

Bertie the Beaver Visits the Library
During Alberta Forestry Week Bertie the Beaver will be visiting lots of places including the library on May 14. Visit with Bertie and learn about forestry safety. For forest explorers of any age. Families welcome, Registration required, Maximum: 35 naturalists

Date: Friday, May 14
Time: 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Location: Linda Smith Story Room

Author Visit
GPPL is pleased to welcome Alberta author Shirlee Smith Matheson. Please join us as Shirlee shares her new book, Jailbird Kid. Check out her website atwww.ssmatheson.ca For students 12 and up. Registration required.

Date: Thursday June 3
Time: 10:30 – 11:30 am
Location: Linda Smith Story Room

Why Grande Prairie Is A Great Place To Invest

An important function of our Economic Development department is inform companies and individuals about Grande Prairie and why they should consider investing here.

To support this there is the InvestGrandePrairie.ca website that has lots of practical info that corporate head offices and regular people alike will find useful. The website has been up for some time and is a great asset - but of course there's nothing like "face time" and we are sometimes called upon to do presentations about the region. To this end Brian Glavin, our Economic Development officer, has put together a slide show outlining the reasons that Grande Prairie is a great region to invest in. Brian presented this at a GGS committee a couple of weeks ago, just so council would be aware but I thought I'd take it a step further and get an electronic version to share with you.

Check out the slide show below and if you, or your company, is looking for a place to invest - consider the Grande Prairie region!

Green Jobs for Earth Day!

What better way to cap off Earth Day 2010 by attending this FREE event discussing the potential of green jobs and the new green economy right here in Western Canada- I'll be there tonight, hope to see you there too!

RePower Alberta: Putting Power Back into the Hands of Albertans, the kick-off event for Albert’s first annual green jobs tour!

Albertans face a choice: Do we want to build a future with clean, efficient, sustainable electricity sources or do we want to continue using old, polluting systems that are becoming increasingly scarce and obsolete? Do we want to increase resiliency in our communities, diversify our economy, and create good green jobs that provide for our families and take care of our land? Voters are demanding economic stability and recognizing the environmental and economic cost of over dependence on the oil and gas industry. Your region has great potential for green jobs and renewable energy development in the new green economy. These economic gains can be made as we enter the new economic frontier of renewable energy, efficiency retrofits, green technology research and development and manufacturing.

When: Thursday, April 22 (Earth Day), 2010, 7:00pm
Where: Room D308, Grande Prairie Regional College
Cost: FREE

Speakers will include:

- Valerie V. Gilson, Executive Director of Peace Energy Cooperative
will be sharing the success story of the Peace Energy Cooperative and the great initiatives happening in Dawson Creek.

- Randyn Seibold, Entrepreneur, Renewable Recruits
will present on a report on the clean energy 'industry hot-spots' around Canada, and what some of the most sought-after professionals are.

- Yvonne Peterson, Industry & Continuing Ed Green Building Program, Fairview Campus
will give an introduction to the GPRC Fairview Campus and its Green Building Summer course cluster

- Sheryle Carlson, Associate Director of Sierra Club Prairie Chapter
will present on the RePower Alberta Campaign and give an overview of the renewable energy potential in the province, how our energy demands can be met by clean energy and create good green jobs, and some of the great initiatives taking place across Canada and the world.

Event Sponsored by:
- SPOC (Start Protecting Our Communities - Grande Prairie)
- Green Peace Canada
- Sierra Club of Canada - Prairie Chapter
- Solar Eden Project

Aquatera Report to Shareholders

At the General Government Services committee this morning Aquatera is tabling it's 2009 Annual Information to Shareholders Report. (Read the whole report for yourself HERE.)

The report contains some interesting points that caught my attention:

• The proposed 2009/10 Capital Budget totals more than $17 million and the projection for five years is $110 million.
That's more than the cost of the Aquatics Centre Multiplex! If the city and our partners had not formed Aquatera that $110 million in capital projects would be competing with other municipal priorities, particularly since we are limited on how much debt we can take on. I, for one, am happy that we aren't in a situation where road upgrades or a new fire hall have to compete with water infrastructure for funding.

• The Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) has reached capacity. Significantly increased chemical use is needed to meet quality standards. Construction of the initial phase of the Wastewater Treatment plant upgrade is complete. Further phases of upgrading will accommodate growth and more stringent effluent standards including disinfection and enhanced nutrient removal requirements currently set for June 2013. A Wastewater Treatment Facility Master Plan commenced in 2009 to set direction for future upgrades. The Master Plan will be completed in spring 2010.

• A Sludge Survey for the Storage Lagoon was completed in early July to establish the quantity and characteristics of the sludge in the storage lagoon at the WWTP. This was also needed to establish the cost for budgeting purposes. It is anticipated that this work may take place in 2010 – subject to available funding. Desludging will increase lagoon capacity and reduce the potential for off-site odours.

• The Aquatera water system is served from a single treated water line. A second feed for back-up and redundancy is planned beyond 2010.
This is probably one of the capital projects in that $110 million 5 year projection and I'd say it's a must. Although I'm sure the one line is well maintained and safe, not having a redundant back up is a risk that should be addressed.

• Aquatera has completed its second year of Aquatic Assessment and Water Conservation Programs as mandated by our interim diversion license. The projected cost for the Aquatic Assessment Program for 2010 is approximately $140,000.
This is just one example of how provincial regulations directly impact Aquatera's cost of doing business. I think it's good that they are looking after the environment but people need to know that these are costs that are forced on the company and end up being reflected in the rates.

• Three management / administrative positions were eliminated (in the Solid Waste division)
There's been quite a bit of talk about how the company runs the landfill operation. I had someone ask me "why doesn't Aquatera just cut staff when times are tough - like any other private company would". Turns out they have.

• Recycling depot collection and processing contracts were renewed for a 3 year term with Recycle Plus, effective June 1, 2009 to June 30, 2012.

• Development of a Community Energy System was halted and the related Steam Supply Agreement expired.
This is sad news, and an opportunity lost. We could have been heating buildings in the city using the waste heat from the operations at the Co-Gen plant at Canfor.

• The Bottle Donation Program gave $78,000 to community groups in 2009 - since the program began in 2004, almost $358,000 has been raised to support local groups.
This, on the other hand, is great news! It's good to see that the company has been able to put a program into place that helps the community give.

• (On getting services to new areas of the city...) The most challenging areas are the north and west portions of the City. Although we have developed interim strategies for some of these areas, they come with a hefty price tag and may require partnering amongst developers to lessen the financial burden.
Interestingly these are the main areas that the county was willing to give up for short term annexation in the Intermunicipal Development Plan negotiations. This suggests, to me, that the city is getting land that may not develop quickly due to the difficulty and expense of getting services out there.

That's some of the high points but read the report yourself and see what you think. Overall, when one looks at the data I think Aquatera has been doing an effective job under challenging conditions.

A Look Back - "The Men Who Run This Town"

It's been a while since I posted the last episode of World Report with Clete Roberts and unfortunately this is the last clip I have.

In this episode Clete talks with "the MEN who run this town." That's my emphasis on "men" but if you listen Clete says it pretty much that way - which I think is a little bit of a throw-back, I can't help but think of it as a little bit of a sign of the times.

Anyhow, Clete mentions the population of Grande Prairie right upfront and then talks with Mayor Robert Wadell as well as J.C. Mackie who would become mayor just before GP became a City. There's a park named after J.C. on the west side of the city now, it was a legacy project of the 50th Anniversary committee I chaired in 2008.

So, without further adieu, here's your final helping of Clete Robert's World Report.....

Multiplex Photos at about 50% Complete

On Wednesday I had a chance to pop by The Multiplex construction site. The building is at about 50% complete and although there is a long way to go (really, a loooooong way to go) you can start to see it all coming together since the last time I posted pictures. Below are some highlights of Wednesday's visit:

There's the 25m program pool. Now that it's actually got a floor you can see the unique slope. Most pools are deeper at one "end" (the narrow side of the rectangle) this pool is deeper on one "side" (the long side of the rectangle.) This will be great for things like water aerobics classes. Check out this pic from last time where the 25m pool was just an empty space. In the non-public service area you can actually walk right under the 25m pool.

At the end of the big 50m pool you can see the dive tower starting to be constructed. The contractors Wright Construction area actually doing this as a sponsorship of the facility and building the dive tower at their cost, a savings of about $800,000 to the project if I remember correctly.


On my last visit the floor over to this area wasn't built yet so this is the first look inside the "weight room" area on the second floor. All together this area is about 16,000 sq ft - lots of room for all the bikes, treadmills & weights, ect. There's also a great program room for things like yoga or aerobics, it can be configured as one large room or two smaller ones.


This is a look down from the public viewing area on the second floor to the Flowrider. It's pretty exciting to see the unit starting to take shape! I can just imagine hanging out up here watching the actions as people pull off tricks (and face-plants) ... very cool! Straight behind the Flowrider is the 25m pool... our current pool is only a little bit bigger than that area you see there.