Editor's note: The Athabasca Advocate reached out to municipal leaders from the town, county, village and school division to submit their perspectives on some of the highlights and issues in 2020 that didn't necessarily involve COVID-19. This is what Athabasca mayor Colleen Powell had to say.
ATHABASCA – We cannot say that 2020 has been uninteresting, but there have been better years and I hope that 2021 will bring relief from the pandemic and a better year for all of us. There were bits of light in the gloom so let’s talk about those first.
The Old Brick School
The Town is now the sole owner of the Brick School and the library after reaching an agreement with Athabasca County. We are close to being recognized as a provincial historic site that will give us access to matching funds to begin the restoration.
Energy Future Roadshow
This was a series of four workshops that has brought together people from industry, municipal government, environmental groups and citizens interested in the future energy world. I am excited by this because it looks like we will be able to do one or two projects that will bring together local groups and businesses to complete one or maybe two projects.
Crime and Drugs
Like many, if not most small communities, we are suffering from crime mostly fuelled by drugs. It has been frustrating and our attempts to mitigate the problem have not been that successful. Our problem is that we have very few powers in dealing with these issues. We can only levy fines and must rely on the RCMP who deal with criminal activities. Citizens on Patrol have been active in working with the RCMP and I thank them for their work.
Homelessness
This is a growing issue in our town and I am hoping that the Native Friendship Centre is able to provide a space for our homeless population to sleep. We are not able to provide proper shelter, but our community should be able to provide a space for people to sleep. Fortunately, our winter has been mild so far.
Athabasca University
The Town and the community have been asking the University to hire staff to work at the AU location in Athabasca. We have taken this to the Minister and the MLA but this has fallen on deaf ears and our local economy will continue to suffer from a drop in population partly due to our largest employer hiring people outside the area.
Budget
The downturn followed by the pandemic led to a decrease in our provincial grants and the added burden of RCMP costs being added to our tax rolls. The 2020 budget saw a two per cent increase in residential taxes and a one per cent increase in non-residential taxes. The downturn is more serious now but we are trying to construct the budget without any tax increases, even though the province has clawed back most grants, decreased the Municipal Stimulus Initiative (MSI), our major grant, and increased the RCMP cost by about $30,000.
The pandemic
Everyone, businesses and people have suffered from COVID-19. Lockdown meant Christmas was a solitary affair. Please follow the regulations so we can get out of this. Support your friends and neighbours by following the rules. If you don’t, we will be doing this for many more months and more people will die.
I’d like to wish you all a Happy New Year, but this year I also wish you a hopeful New Year.
