Red Deer reminded the province that the city still needs answers about Michener lands, infrastructure funding and when the city will get a new courthouse.
City council met with both Minister of Infrastructure Brian Mason and his federal counterpart at last week’s Alberta Urban Municipalities Association conference in Edmonton.
Mayor Tara Veer said the city wants “timely answers” that can be passed on to the community, and to allow the city to prepare for its upcoming capital and operating-budget meetings.
“We identified specifically the need for an answer on the courthouse. We know that it’s identified in the provincial capital plan, but it’s unfunded,” said Veer after Tuesday’s city council meeting.
Recent funding announcements of $120 billion over 10 years from the federal government will result in municipalities receiving funds through an agreement between the federal and provincial governments.
At the AUMA conference, Red Deer put forward a resolution for tri-lateral agreements between municipal, provincial and federal governments to ensure municipal priorities are part of the funding conversation when the agreements are built and criteria is developed.
Veer said at the very least municipalities have to be consulted at the front end of negotiations on agreements between the federal and provincial governments.
“By the time it reaches a municipality of our size, it’s been filtered through two orders of government and it puts challenges on us in terms of us being able to leverage those dollars for local priorities.”
She said the city’s tri-lateral resolution was adopted by the AUMA.
The city also advocated for infrastructure needs including north highway connector funding, high speed rail, polytechnic university status for Red Deer College and clarification on the province’s intention for the Michener grounds.
“We recognize the historical, environmental, social and cultural significance of that site. We had commitments from the province that we would be undertaking a joint planning exercise with the provincial government.”
Other Red Deer resolutions adopted by the AUMA included:
l Advocating to continue the auxiliary constable program. Auxiliary members are trained to mitigate risks and work alongside the RCMP. Earlier this year changes to the program put a halt to all ride-alongs and firearms training for auxiliary constables. More changes are proposed to remove their peace officer status and have them focus on non-enforcement duties like attending community events and assisting in training.
l Advocating that all municipalities be equally responsible for the costs of policing in their municipality. A municipality with more than 5,000 residents is responsible to pay 90 per cent of policing costs with 10 per cent subsidization from the province, but municipalities with a population under 5,000 do not pay for policing.
l Asking the province to establish provincial standards for vehicle noise to define an objectionable noise, establish a consistent method of determining or measuring noise, and allow for stronger enforcement of the use or operation of a vehicle that emits a noise above an established and regulated level.
szielinski@www.reddeeradvocate.com