Athabasca County council has agreed in principle to giving the Town of Athabasca membership on its Tourism and Economic Development (TED) committee.
Though details still have to be hammered out administratively, county councillors suggested last Tuesday that membership on the TED committee be expanded from seven to nine, adding one member of Athabasca town council and one member-at-large who would be a town resident.
County councillors seemed agreeable to the town’s suggestion that in exchange, the town would cover 20 per cent of the TED committee’s annual operating expenses.
“I like the direction,” councillor Larry Armfelt commented.
“There’s no other place they’re going to get a deal like this,” councillor Kevin Haines added.
Some county councillors were concerned that the cost-sharing agreement needed more specific parameters.
“I do not like putting that percentage down there,” councillor Denis Willcott said. “We’ve got no limit, but we’re going to put that in there?”
“What if we increase our budget substantially?” councillor Christine Bilsky asked. “I just don’t want to tie them to something.”
“All of the sudden, (they) can’t afford it,” Willcott added.
“I would read (the town’s suggestion) that it’s 20 per cent of whatever we set,” county manager Gary Buchanan suggested. “At (any) point in time, if they as a member don’t wish to support the direction the (TED) committee is going in, they (could) drop — this is the county’s committee.”
However, at Buchanan’s suggestion, county council voted unanimously to accept the town’s proposal in principle, with Buchanan and town CAO Ryan Maier to negotiate the finer details.
“We’ll work out the nuances of how to make this work,” Buchanan said.
Athabasca County’s 2014 budget, approved last Tuesday, projects expenses related to tourism and economic development at $214,774.
Meanwhile, Buchanan reported to council that administration is hoping to wrap up its search for a new economic development officer shortly.
“We were quite pleased with the calibre of individuals who applied,” he said of the interviews conducted in early December.
Buchanan noted, however, that they have encountered some obstacles coming to an agreement with their preferred candidates.
“If they don’t accept, we’re going back to re-advertise,” he said.
County council got a mixed message back from Alberta Transportation regarding council’s application for funding to conduct a water supply study for Rochester.
“This was submitted to see if a proposal to provide an alternative approach to providing water would qualify,” county communications coordinator Karl Kopan explained. “It would see the county pay for the cost of cisterns (while) residents would pay for the cost of the water. A contractor would haul potable water to the cisterns.”
The good news from Alberta Transportation was that yes, the project would qualify under the Alberta Municipal Water/Wastewater Partnership; the bad news was that the program is not approving any new projects.
“Once future budgets allow, this project will be competing for funding with all of the provincial projects,” North Central Region infrastructure manager Dean Litke wrote to council.
“One positive out of this is that they haven’t rejected what we were proposing,” Buchanan observed. “At least they didn’t say the project is whacko.”
