Motion of support for Evergreens
To help with its grant applications, the Evergreens Foundation requested that each of its participating municipalities—including Jasper—pass a motion showing support for its expansion projects in Hinton and Edson.
Those motions will be sent to the provincial government, which recently issued a request for grant proposals through the Affordable Supportive Living Initiative (ASLI).
The proposed motion caused a great deal of debate during the Nov. 4 regular council meeting because of its wording, so at the Nov. 18 meeting, council wrote its own motion and unanimously supported it.
The motion reads: “In recognition of the requisitioning power of the Evergreens Foundation, our council supports the development of additional seniors supportive housing in Hinton and Edson.”
The proposed expansion in Edson will create 62 new supportive living units, adding to the 18 that are already there, as well as 22 new independent living units. Hinton’s expansion will see 15 new supportive living units, on top of its 30 existing units, and 10 independent living units.
As a member of Evergreens, Jasper is required to provide funding toward the projects. That funding is based on each community’s tax assessment.
Based on its 2014 assessment, the Municipality of Jasper is responsible for about eight per cent of the foundation’s capital and operational costs. That means, if approved by the Evergreens board, Jasper will be responsible for about eight per cent of the cost of expanding Edson’s Parkland Lodge and Hinton’s Pine Valley Lodge. Comparatively, Yellowhead County bears the brunt of the weight, paying nearly 53 per cent.
Busking, sidewalk cafes considered
Private use of public land is a recurring discussion at the council table—whether it’s busking or sidewalk cafes—and finally, council has given administration direction to develop policies to deal with the varied uses of public land.
“Each one of these items would be treated differently because there are different impacts on residents and businesses from each item,” explained Mark Fercho, the town’s chief administrative officer. “Through [public] consultation and through the policy development we’ll separate each one out.”
Some of those items include street festivals, busking and sidewalk cafes.
Private use of public land was last discussed when the Jasper Farmer’s Market requested the use of the McCready Centre parking lot for its 10 weekly markets. Ultimately, council approved the use.
Mayor Richard Ireland said he’s “enthused” to see administration working on this issue.
To come up with policies for each of the different uses, Fercho said he will be looking at the policies used by other towns in national parks to determine what the best practices are and to see what’s working and what can be improved upon, all while considering Jasper’s specific constraints.
“Then I’ll come back to council with a proposed strategy of ... things that may work for Jasper and what might not work.”
Before the policy is presented to council for decision, there will be a public engagement process.
Budget time around the corner
The municipality’s operating budget is currently being compiled by its directors and will be made available to the public via the municipal website (www.jasper-alberta.com) Thursday, Nov. 26.
Administration will present the budget to council at the Dec. 2 regular meeting and then public meetings will be held Dec. 16 and 17.
Those meetings will be held at 7 p.m., with the first taking place at the Jasper Activity Centre in the Multipurpose Hall and the second in the Emergency Services Building.
The budget will appear for decision at the Jan. 6 regular meeting.
At that time, council will either pass an interim budget, allowing for more discussion before the budget is passed in full, or it can pass the presented budget, with whatever amendments it agrees upon.
If council requires further discussion, it will have to pass an interim budget to ensure the continuation of regular business—including the payment of staff and the delivery of day-to-day services.
Nicole Veerman
[email protected]
