Environment draft to council
A draft plan looking at how best to improve Red Deer’s environment over the next 25 years will go to city council for information on Monday.
The proposed Environmental Master Plan provides actions and outcomes for seven areas — water, ecology, transportation, built environments, air, energy and waste.
It includes a number of recommendations, including decreasing the weekly limit of five garbage bags, encouraging developers to set aside a small amount of land for community gardens, and introducing a Discovery Walks program celebrating local culture, heritage and key amenities.
Both the municipality and community would be involved in making Red Deer more green within certain timeline targets.
The city’s Environmental Advisory Committee has been working on the plan with the support of specialists from Urban Strategies in Toronto and Halsall and Associates in Calgary.
The master plan will undergo further review and public input before it’s brought back to council for approval, possibly on Feb. 22.
Sustainability to be discussed
A network of experts are coming to Red Deer in February to share their knowledge on how to develop and maintain strong, thriving communities.
The three components of resilient communities — food, fuel and finances — will be the focus of the Pathways to Sustainability conference, said the event co-ordinator and ReThink Red Deer member Rene Michalak.
Pathways to Sustainability, or P2S, will be held Feb. 23 to 25 and will feature panel discussions, sustainability showcases from a variety of vendors, keynote speakers, workshops and plenty of networking opportunities.
A community cafe will be held on Feb. 24 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Four Centres trade wing at RDC. The cafe is open free of charge for anyone interested in learning more about sustainable communities but cannot afford to attend the three-day event.
Conference fees are $350 per person or $175 per student. Michalak anticipates that 300 people will attend the conference.
For more information or to register for P2S, visit www.pathways2sustainability.ca.
The conference, which was first held in Cochrane in 2009, was co-ordinated by ReThink Red Deer with the support of the City of Red Deer, Red Deer College and several other organizations.
Two charged after police raid
Two Red Deer men were charged with drug-related offences after RCMP searched a residence in the Pines neighbourhood early Friday.
Red Deer RCMP executed a search warrant at a residence on Phelan Street at about 4:40 a.m. and seized an undisclosed amount of marijuana, crack cocaine, cash and drug trafficking paraphernalia.
A 19-year-old man is charged with drug possession for the purpose of trafficking, possession of a controlled substance and possession of property obtained by crime.
An 18-year-old man is charged with possession of a controlled substance.
Both were released by police. They are scheduled to appear in Red Deer provincial court on Jan. 27, at which time their names will be released.
