Grande Prairie Minute: Remembrance Day, Community Sandbox, and Budget Deliberations Begin

Grande Prairie Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Grande Prairie politics

This Week In Grande Prairie:

• Today is Remembrance Day. The Grande Prairie Legion #54 will host a ceremony at the Bonnetts Energy Centre, with doors opening at 9:45 am and the ceremony beginning at 10:45 am. ANAVETS Unit 389 will organize a parade starting at 10:45 am from Trinity Lutheran Church, proceeding down 100 Street to the Cenotaph in Jubilee Park for the ceremony.
  
  
• Tuesday is Standing Committee Day. The Public and Protective Services Committee will meet at 9:00 am to discuss funding to Helping Hands of $80,000 per year, over two years, to address food insecurity. At 9:45 am, the ​​Financial and Administrative Services Committee will have an in-camera (secret) meeting. Then, at 10:15, there will be a public meeting of that same committee to discuss the 2024 Q3 Financial Report and a 2023 Tax Recovery Sale, among other items. The Operational Services Committee will meet at 11:00 am. Their agenda includes a discussion about paving gravel areas. To finish off Standing Committee Day, the Investment and Strategy Committee will meet at 11:15 am to discuss updating the Elections Bylaw and a Fibre Optics Fee Rebate program.
  
  
• On Wednesday, at 9:00 am, the Council Committee of the Whole will meet for budget deliberations. Stay tuned for Common Sense Grande Prairie’s in-depth budget analysis!

Last Week In Grande Prairie:

• Deputy Mayor Gladys Blackmore said she is confident that Administration has worked hard to find savings and increase cost-effectiveness ahead of budget deliberations. While suggesting that tax increases are inevitable, she emphasized that Council is not willing to approve a significant hike, aiming instead for a modest increase. Blackmore gave the City credit for efforts to reduce inflation impacts and streamline services.
  
  
• Officials from various municipalities, healthcare organizations, and educational institutions gathered at the future site of the Maskwa Medical Centre to celebrate a partnership aimed at enhancing healthcare in the Peace Country. The Centre, located near Grande Prairie Regional Hospital, will feature a medical training unit for future doctors, a daycare, a restaurant for hospital staff, and improved patient access to specialists. The facility's academic clinic is also intended to reduce the need for hospital and emergency room visits.
  
  
• A free community sandbox has been opened for residents to access sand for improving traction on sidewalks and driveways during the winter. Residents can bring up to two five-gallon containers to fill with sand at the sandbox, located at the City Service Centre near the south end of 112 Street.