Library update
The architect working on the expansion and renovation of the library and cultural centre is going on maternity leave at the end of the month.
Stantec’s Heather Bretz—the third architect to take on the job—will be replaced by “a very senior architect from Stantec,” said the town’s Chief Administrative Officer, Peter Waterworth.
The previous architects left for other projects.
When Bretz took on the job last year, she did a full review of the building—as is customary with any architect taking on an existing project—and she uncovered a number of issues that she felt needed to be addressed. Those issues span the gamut, from problems with the mechanical room to improper construction of the roof, and were revealed after nearly two years of construction nightmares.
The project is now 17 months overdue and it is looking like it won’t be completed anytime soon.
“What I can say very clearly is the library is not going to be finished before I am,” said Waterworth, referencing his departure from his role as the town’s CAO in August.
The good news, though, is that the new architect has already reviewed the building, as well as the work done by Bretz, so he won’t have to delay the project even further to do a reassessment.
Waterworth also reported that a remediation plan has almost been agreed upon for the uneven floors; and the design for the windows has been agreed upon, it just needs to make it through testing by the manufacturers, in order to ensure it meets LEED standard.
“That takes laboratory time,” said Waterworth.
That leaves the stairs as the last remaining substantial issue. Waterworth said there could be major remediation and redesign work to remedy them.
The project is already a million dollars over budget, and an additional million dollars was included in the 2014 capital budget for the centre, bringing the total project budget to $9.5 million.
Accolades for aquatic centre
There are a few more feathers in the Jasper Aquatic Centre’s swim cap, after the facility was honoured with three first place awards from the Lifesaving Society.
The awards are: accumulating the most total points in conducting lifesaving programs during a year; accumulating the most total points for junior lifeguard members during a year; and accumulating the most total points in conducting First Aid programs in a year.
In the competition, Jasper is up against towns with a population below 7,500.
“What it speaks to is the quality of staff that are here, the quality of training and of the lifeguard service,” said Peter Waterworth, while reporting the facility’s successes, June 3.
“It stands to huge credit to JoAnn and the team over there—not only do they maintain a very high level of service, but they do it in such difficult circumstances,” he said, referring to high staff turnovers.
Waist-deep in waste
Couns. Helen Kelleher-Empey and Gilbert Wall recently visited the West Yellowhead Regional Landfill in Hinton and they were astounded by the sheer volume of waste that’s trucked to the facility.
“I couldn’t believe it,” said Kelleher-Empey. “I had never been to a landfill like that before. I had never seen a wet cell or a dry cell before.
“It astounded me.”
The regional landfill is utilized by Jasper, Hinton, Yellowhead County and Edson.
Wall said standing on that pile of garbage, which was generated by just a few small communities, really puts things in perspective.
“Multiply that by a city like Edmonton, and you add Calcutta and New York, it just really puts it all into perspective.”
He said it demonstrates the importance of our Environmental Stewardship Coordinator, Janet Cooper, and the work that she does to educate the community and make waste deflection as easy as possible.
It also demonstrates the need for a person to coordinate regionally, creating recycling programs that work in each community in the region.
On June 28, the board of the West Yellowhead Regional Waste Management Authority—which includes Wall and Kelleher-Empey—will have its next meeting and vote on whether to create such a position in 2015.
“Right now responsibility falls with the Bruces of each municipality,” said Wall, referring to the town’s Operations Director, Bruce Thompson. “And every municipality is realizing that the people in that role are stretched as it is, and maybe it’s time for the authority to hire a coordinator.”
If the authority votes in favour of creating the new position, it will then be included in the 2015 budget, which will be voted on by each participating municipality.
Compliance not enforcement
“We’re not all about tickets,” said Neil Jones, while presenting the bylaw department’s stats for the first five months of the year.
“Like the title of our roles, we are community peace officers and municipal compliance officers.”
So, the department works to bring peace to the community, by encouraging people to comply with the laws. That means, if there is someone parked in the bus only zone on Patricia Street, the officer will look for the offender and give them a warning, before slapping a ticket on the window.
“We go into Tim Horton’s and we go into Coco’s, because we know people are going to be in there, and we make a little announcement: ‘if you want to save $50, move your car.’”
Because of that approach—one that was handed down by a previous council and has been adhered to by the bylaw department ever since—there is nearly a 50-50 split between warnings and tickets being handed out by the town’s peace and compliance officers.
Between January and May of this year, there have been 245 tickets and 234 warnings.
“So it’s nearly one-to-one; nice and fair,” said Jones, noting that it works out to 53 per cent of all compliance enforcement being tickets and 47 per cent being warnings.
In response to Jones’ presentation, Coun. Gilbert Wall said he thinks it’s important to highlight the bylaw department’s philosophy because councillors often receive questions about it.
“We get asked, ‘how do you justify a bylaw department with a full-time equivalency in that department, with the amount of revenue we get from it?’”
But, said Wall, unlike other communities, the municipality doesn’t view bylaw as a revenue generator.
“That’s an important distinction in how we operate,” he said.
Nicole Veerman
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