TOWN OF BONNYVILLE
COUNCIL HIGHLIGHTS
REGULAR MEETING
OCTOBER 24
2024 BUDGETS DRAFT 1: Administration presented Draft 1 of the 2024 Operating and Capital Budgets to Council during the meeting. The first draft of the Operating Budget has a deficit of $1,748,472, which will need to be balanced in order to conform to the Municipal Government Act (MGA) prior to final passage. Some of the increase in expenses that attributed to the deficit include $550,000 funding requests from outside organizations, insurance costs at $46,000, $20,000 increase for the carbon levy, among others. The Capital Budget has a deficit of $24,330,201. To aid in balancing the Capital Budget, administration recommended deferring or scaling back a number of projects. Some of those projects include traffic lights installation for $300,000, $100,000 for a wastewater treatment master plan, future library expansion for $1,500,000, and more. The second draft of the budgets will be brought before Council during the Nov. 28 meeting.
BUDGET OPEN HOUSE: Council set the annual Budget Open House date for Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023, to be held in Council Chambers at 6 p.m. Residents are invited to add comments and ask questions regarding Draft 2 of the 2024 Capital and Operating Budgets. Administration will make a short presentation outlining both before attendees share their feedback.
BRANDING STRATEGY: A motion was passed to proceed with the development of a new route for up to $30,000 for the Branding Strategy. This project, which explores visual language for the proposed branding strategy, is estimated to take eight to 16 weeks.
LETTER OF INTENT: The Town of Bonnyville will provide a Letter of Intent to partner with the City of Cold Lake, MD of Bonnyville, and Village of Glendon in a regional joint bid to host the 2026 Alberta Winter Games. The funding amount required from the Town of Bonnyville would be a total $250,000.
PROCLOMATION: Mayor Elisa Brosseau proclaimed November Family Violence Prevention month in the Town of Bonnyville. Alberta has the third highest rate of self-reported intimate partner violence among Canadian provinces. The community benefits in creating awareness in resources on family violence and violence against women and children represents one of our most significant societal issues that endangers Canadian’ health and well-being. Mayor Brosseau calls upon citizens to speak out against family violence and to make a difference by creating a culture of support for those affected by family violence.
DONATIONS: A $500 donation to the Bonnyville Tuneagers for their annual Christmas Choir Fest was approved. The event is happening on Dec. 7, 2023. All proceeds will go to the Knights of Columbus Christmas Hampers program and the local food bank.
$1,000 donation was also approved for the Lakeland Panthers U18AA Hockey Club to host a home tournament at the Bonnyville and District Centennial Centre.
The Bonnyville Snowdusters Snowmobile Association grant request for $5,000 to be used towards the purchase of a tracked vehicle for trail grooming and maintenance was approved by Council.
BRIEFLY: The purchase of a table of eight for the CNRL 16 annual Steak and Shrimp Fundraiser Dinner for $520 was ratified by Council.
Council refused to grant a waiver of permit penalty fees in the amount of $250 due to the installation and location of the accessory structure prior to approvals of development and building permits.