The municipal council meeting on Tues, June 16, featured a smattering of different initiatives ranging from property encroachment issues to the Activity Centre renovations.

Local resident Lorine Tank, who owns a home in the trailer court, made a presentation to council on her property encroachment that is hindering the renewal of her mortgage. Encroaching over 300 square feet onto municipal property, Tank explained that her fence and shed sit on the encroached property and that has been the case since she bought the house. Municipal manager George Krefting, who has the discretion to deal with encroachments up to 50 square feet, explained that this phenomenon is not uncommon in the trailer court, but that the largest they’ve dealt with was in the 100 square foot range. Council unanimously voted to hold the decision on the issue until the July 7 council meeting and mayor Richard Ireland said he intends to see the property.

Councillors also unanimously voted on the notice of request for decision on municipal sustainability initiative operating funding. If approved at the July 7 meeting, $25,000 will be allotted for communications and another $25,000 for staff training, which is viewed as a staff retention tool. 

Lane paving in blocks 27 and 28 was also unanimously approved with mayor Ireland stepping out of the room due to the fact that this will affect his home. 

Architectural services for the Activity Centre renovations was also unanimously decided upon. Council also unanimously approved short-circuiting the general procedures, which would have seen the final decision held until July 7. Project manager, Christopher Read emphasized the importance of moving swiftly in the approval process so that construction is not delayed. 

Toker and Associates Architecture, out of Calgary, is the firm that will be designing the $4.5 million renovation. Although short on municipal project experience, Toker and Associates Architecture “will be responsive to our needs,” said Read, who worked with culture and recreation director Yvonne McNabb, Krefting, director of environmental services Ken Quackenbush and director of emergency services Greg Van Tighem on the vetting process. There were 20 architectural firms vying for the contract and all proposals were ranked on a multifaceted and comprehensive score sheet, with Toker coming out on top. Read also pointed to the benefit of working with a “boutique” firm in which the main contact “is going to be the guy who makes the decisions,” said Read. 

Mayor Ireland gave an oral report - with a written one to follow - on last week’s Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) annual conference in Whistler. Deputy mayor Brenda Zinck and councillor Rico Damota accompanied mayor Ireland on the trip. “It was another fairly well-run conference,” said mayor Ireland. Sharing a booth with Banff during the expo portion of the event, there was “lots and lots of visitation” to Jasper’s booth, said the mayor. The mayor also attended an information session on affordable housing solutions and concluded that after listening to the presenters, there’s no reason why Jasper couldn’t be a presenter on this issue within two years, he said.