The officials conducting the municipal inspection of the Town of Athabasca are asking for public input.
Last week, Strategic Steps Inc. posted an online survey – which can be found at www.strategicsteps.ca and filled out with the password “River2017” – to allow the public to participate in the inspection process.
“Results and comments will be reviewed by the inspectors and analyzed for themes,” the site reads. “The inspectors will also directly contact a random sample of local stakeholders (residents, business owners) to invite their input.”
Lionel Cherniwchan is the petitioners’ representative, as he spearheaded the petition that started the process for a municipal inspection. He has an interview scheduled this week with the inspectors.
He said he had also done the survey and thought it was “well crafted.”
“These guys obviously are really looking for a lot of information,” he said. “They’re really opening it up to everything. I guess that’s why it takes six, seven months.”
Cherniwchan also said he thought that anyone in the region should be able to fill out the survey.
“I think everybody should, whether you live in town or not,” he said. “I mean, they’re impacted by it, and people out in the country feel just as strongly about what’s happening as people who live in town. They support the community.”
Interim chief administrative officer Doug Topinka said the inspection process overall is going well.
“They’ve been good to work with,” he said. “Whatever documents or whatever else they want, we just provide it in whatever format they want.”
The survey site notes that the deadline is Feb. 28. The inspectors can also be reached via email at [email protected] or phone at 780-416-9255.
