Bike Park Clears Hurdle
Jasper is one small step closer to having a bike park, after council gave its support in principal for the construction of one in town.
May 20, Matt Staneland of the Jasper Park Cycling Association proposed building a skills park on the west end of town—on Connaught Drive across from the Mount Robson Inn.
At council’s June 17 meeting, Couns. Dwain Wacko, Vonna Arsenault and Rico Damota all expressed concerns that the JPCA needed to do more work to make the project a reality, but there was a general agreement that the project was worthwhile.
And while the approval in principal is an important step, there is still a long way to go.
“[The motion] says that council is in agreement, but we don’t have any specific comment on location and scope. That’s still to come, and there’s a lot of stuff still up in the air. This just tells the cycling association and its members that we agree in principal - but a lot of work still to be done on both the scope and the location,” Damota said.
Arsenault, Wacko and Damota all expressed that they would like to see more concrete physical ideas - like a backup location - before things move further.
According to Staneland, the park will cost anywhere from $40,000 to $250,000 to build, and $5000 to $12,000 to design - money the JPCA hopes to get from grants, sponsorships and donations.
Library Budget Overrun
The library and cultural centre is once again causing headaches for council.
According to the municipality’s finance and administration director, Alice Lettner, the centre is about to push past the $8.5 million cost limit council put on the project in its last budget.
Lettner told councilors that to date the cost of the centre is just under $8.3 million. But two yet-to-be-paid invoices - for $105,000 and $394,000 - will push the project past its limit when they’re paid.
“We are now in uncharted capital expenditures,” Lettner said.
Council put the $8.5 million limit on the project with the understanding that any spending beyond that would require additional approval. Lettner told council she hasn’t yet paid the invoices for this reason.
After a brief discussion, Lettner and Mayor Richard Ireland agreed council should give its approval before Lettner spends any money.
“Council should bear responsibility, not staff. So while I appreciate the effort to bring it to our attention... the problem is that council approves the expenditure to protect staff, and if there are consequences they will rest at this table,” he said.
Lettner said additional spending on the centre will have tax implications insofar as the funds will have to come from the municipality’s restricted surpluses. Those are extra funds left over in the budget, and if that money had been intended for another use it will no longer be available.
In the end, it was decided that the invoices will be brought to council’s next meeting for approval.
“I’m at the point where I feel like crawling under the table into a fetal position,” Damota said after the discussion.
Health and safety audit
Jasper passed its yearly health and safety audit with a tentative score of 87 per cent, Culture and Recreation director Yvonne McNabb told council.
As part of the Alberta Municipal Safety Association, the municipality is required to conduct an audit every year, which allows it to keep its recognition under the association.
The audit measured everything from organizational commitment, hazard identification, hazard control, and formal workplace inspection, orientation and training, to emergency response planning, incident investigation and program administration.
The audit process took more than a week, during which McNabb and her fellow auditor interviewed 28 municipal staff, took an observational tour, and checked all the municipality’s health and safety documentation.
The 87 per cent grade still needs to be confirmed by the association, but McNabb said the number won’t likely change very much, and that it was a good score.
She said confirmation of this year’s passing grade should come in about a month.
Zamboni comes home
It wasn’t the most triumphant return, but Jasper’s Zamboni is finally home. The machine was dropped off two weeks ago; the problem was it wasn’t in working condition.
Yvonne McNabb told council “it took four tries to even get it from the parking lot to the arena with stalling and stopping. So we had to take it here locally to get it repaired and there were several issues on it that hadn’t even been looked at in the city when we had it in repairs from the fire restoration.”
After getting repaired in town, the beleaguered beast is once again fully operational.
McNabb said the local repairs will be covered by insurance, and that the municipality will use the machine until it gets a new one next year.
