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News of the Red Deer Region
snippets and
summaries of news from local resources including media, press releases
and personal knowledge
June 2010 Part 2
June 30, 2010
Prime Site Development Requires Road
Changes
Red Deer city council has given first reading to a road closure bylaw
and a land-use bylaw amendment to allow for a mixed-use
residential-commercial development on prime land on the south side of
the river along Gaetz Avenue on the northwest edge of downtown. Two
roads, 55A Street and the 54 Avenue underpass, would need to be closed
for the development to proceed. The city plans to extend 55 Street west
from Gaetz Avenue to join up with 54 Avenue but that may not occur right
away. Meanwhile, the Saputo Foods dairy, formerly Alpha Dairy, uses the
land slated for the 55 Street extension for the movement of large trucks
and has expressed a need for time to make their site work better for
deliveries.
Rezoning of Railyards District Gets First
Reading
Red Deer city council has given first reading to rezoning a former
industrial area sometimes referred to as Cannery Row near the river
northwest of the downtown to a Direct Control District now referred to
as the Railyards district as outlined in the Greater Downtown Action
Plan. It is anticipated that the new mixed-use neighbourhood will
feature high density housing, commercial uses and green space. An area
redevelopment plan will be created later. A public hearing is scheduled
for late July.
New Town Centre Concept Gets First
Reading
Red Deer city council has given first reading to a land-use bylaw
amendment that would create a new pedestrian-friendly Town Centre
District that incorporates high-quality urban design, restricts the
maximum size of a commercial building and replicates a downtown. The
first area slated for the new zoning will be around 67 Street and 30
Avenue at the Clearview North subdivision on the east side of the city.
A public hearing is scheduled for late July.
Historic River Journey Begins
A replicated flat-bottomed scow celebrating the 100th anniversary of the
first major dinosaur fossil-hunting expedition was launched onto the Red
Deer River at the Kiwanis Picnic Park yesterday near the same point in
Red Deer where the original journey began. Two dozen researchers,
paleontology students and other dinosaur enthusiasts will take part in
the 5-week journey that ends at Dinosaur Provincial Park near Brooks in
early August.
June 29, 2010
City Recreation Fees Adjusted
For the first time, Red Deer council has decided in a close vote to
charge admission to recreation facilities based on the number of
features within that facility. As a result, users of the newly renovated
Dawe Community Centre and the Collicutt Centre will pay more for
admission that at other facilities. The Collicutt Centre will charge the
most at $8 per adult as it has the highest number of amenities with the
Dawe Centre charging $5.75 and the downtown Recreation Centre and
Michener Centre $5 per adult. All facilities have swimming pools and
other features but the Collicutt Centre also has a field house and
fitness track. A monthly system-wide pass will also be available. It is
the first significant price increase for those recreation facilities in
seven years.
Dramatic Electoral Boundary Changes Gone
Proposed dramatic changes to the provincial electoral boundaries in
Central Alberta have been replaced with more modest changes reflecting
the opposition to the earlier proposed changes and replaced by
boundaries similar to those that currently exist. Red Deer will continue
to have two ridings adjusted to reflect changes to the city's own
boundaries in recent years. The earlier proposal had areas of Red Deer
as part of rural ridings. The rural ridings have maintained their
east-west orientation as opposed to a north-south orientation previously
proposed. The two Red Deer ridings will have a higher than average
number of constituents.
Wildlife Centre Concerned About Feral
Cats
Officials at the Medicine River Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre west of
Innisfail have become very concerned about the recent explosion of
homeless domestic cats that pose a high risk for wildlife in the region
including those at the centre itself. Left on their own, feral cats
could decimate the songbird population as well as mice, one of the
primary sources of food for some wildlife. The centre has had to take in
some abandoned cats to avoid them being dumped somewhere else.
City Transit to Apply for
GreenTrip
Funding
Red Deer Transit plans to apply for funding under the recently-announced
provincial GreenTrip (Transit Incentives) program for some new
environmentally-friendly buses. The city currently owns 50 full-sized
buses covering 40 routes. Ridership has increased 36% since 2004.
June 26, 2010
Land Near Pine Lake Acquired for Nature
Preserve
The Nature Conservancy of Canada has purchased 320 acres of land west of
Pine Lake as part of the Red Deer River Natural Area, Alberta's largest
remaining areas of native parkland supporting viable populations of
native species of wildlife. The protected land consists of unspoiled
forest, shrub lands and wetlands that contain unique breeding habitat.
The Red Deer River Natural Area now consists of 15 conservation
properties and over 3,000 acres.
June 24, 2010
City Officials Address Chamber of
Commerce
Red Deer mayor Morris Flewwelling
and city manager Craig Curtis each addressed the Red Deer Chamber of
Commerce at a luncheon yesterday. The mayor talked about the importance
of sustainability especially at a time of budgetary restraint when taxes
need to be kept as low as possible while maintaining service levels that
citizens expect. It also means major projects need to be postponed. The
city manager discussed the value of diversity in the long-term growth of
the city. Future prosperity for communities in Canada will come from how
well immigrants are welcomed. In Red Deer, There are currently 57
non-official languages spoken in Red Deer and 10% of the city's
population has a different first language than English or French. About
5% of the population has aboriginal roots.
June 22, 2010
Jungle Farm Honoured by Governor General
Jungle Farm co-owner Leona Staples is one of a select group of food
producers from across Canada to be invited to attend the Governor
General's Awards in Celebration of the Nation's Table. The Jungle Farm,
located north of Innisfail near Highway 2A, is known for the diversity
of its products, public demonstrations and tourist-friendly events.
June 21, 2010
Annual Artwalk Festival Displays Variety
of Art
The 22nd annual Artwalk Festival Day was held on Saturday at Rotary
Recreation Park on the east edge of downtown Red Deer showing a wide
variety of art mediums for creative expression. About 50 artists
displayed everything from painting to sculptures, pottery to glass,
calligraphy to woodwork, jewellery to sketches, even T-shirt designs. It
was estimated that about 3,000 people attended the event.
June 19, 2010
Future University for Red Deer Discussed
School officials and community representatives from around the region
recently met to talk about the merits of pursuing a university for Red
Deer. The city is the second largest urban centre in Canada and largest
in the West without its own university. Although Red Deer College is a
cherished institution, there is a growing interest in having a local
body that grants degrees.
Local
Centre Trains Workers in Power Industry
The FortisAlberta Employee Development Centre, located in Red Deer
County west of the city, trains electrical power industry workers both
in the theory and practical skills of working with high-voltage power
distribution infrastructure. The 40-acre site currently consists of
30,000 sq. ft. of building space, the only training substation in Canada
and a field of power poles for practical training. A couple of
enclosures are planned for this fall for field equipment so workers can
train during inclement weather.
June 18, 2010
Builder Contributes to College Building
Fund
Bill Welikoklad recently made a personal donation of $250,000 to the Red
Deer College Building Communities Through Learning fundraising campaign.
The money, to be matched by the Alberta Access to the Future Fund, will
help finance expansion at the college and create three annual
scholarships. When the college was first created in 1966, Welikoklad was
general foreman for the construction contractor. The following year, he
started Executive Homes focusing on building larger homes and in 1974,
he started his own lumber company, Executive Home Building Supplies, now
operating as Home Building Centre. Welikoklad also recently contributed
substantially to the new Ronald McDonald House.
June 17, 2010
Plasco
Garbage-to-Energy Plant Gets Boost
The Climate Change and Emissions Management Corp. of Alberta has
announced a $10 million grant to Plasco Energy Group for a $100 million
waste-to-energy gasification plant proposed for Red Deer County at the
Horn Hill Transfer Site, provided that the company commits the full
funding to the project by September. Plasco is still waiting final
approval of $24 million from the federal Green Infrastructure Fund and
debt financing through the federal Export Development program to proceed
with the 200-tonne-a-day facility. The company hopes to start
construction this summer and have the plant built 18 months later. The
plant would be fully operational 6 months after that. Garbage would be
supplied by 9 municipalities including Red Deer County, the City of Red
Deer, the towns of Innisfail, Sylvan Lake, Blackfalds and Penhold. The
first-of-its-kind facility is expected to generate international
attention once completed.
New Cafe Opens at Red Deer Airport
The new Circuit Cafe has opened next to Red Deer Regional Airport that
caters to airport workers, the adjacent Springbrook community and to
recreational flyers. The business is decorated with aircraft models,
photos and maps and patrons have a front row seat to watch aircraft come
and go. The restaurant serves light and hot lunches, desserts and coffee
and is open 6 days a week.
June 16, 2010
Wide Variety of Talent at This Year's
Westerner
The Westerner Fair and Exposition, Central Alberta's largest summer
celebration, is booking three times the entertainment this year with two
more stages than usual. The main Centrium stage will feature evening
performances by Canadian rockers Trooper, Harman B and OJ Kwake,
pop-punkers Marianas Trench and platinum-selling Juno-nominated Johnny
Reid. A wide range of talent from live theatre to flamenco guitar to
bluegrass is booked for the other stages situated at various locations
throughout the day around the exhibition grounds. Various fine artists
and artisans will demonstrate their talent at the revived Artistic
Expressions pavilion. Other shows include Living Dragons - Lizards of
the World, Doo Doo the Clown, Bobs and Lobo and the winners of the
Northern Star Talent Search. There will be 42 midway rides, two more
than last year. Chuckwagon races will go every evening. The Westerner
will also be more green with several new trees planted. Organizers hope
to attract 90,000 people to this year's event. The Westerner Fair and
Exhibition runs from July 21 to 25.
Apartment Vacancies Increase, Rents
Decrease
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) reports that apartment
vacancies in the city have risen this spring to 8.7% from 3.9% a year
earlier. Two-bedroom apartments had a vacancy rate of 9.3% compared to
4.6% last year while 3-bedroom units had a vacancy rate of 5.5% compared
to 1.6% a year earlier. Average rental rates ranged from $595 for a
bachelor suite, down from $622 last year while 3-bedroom apartments
rented for an average $946, a drop from $1001 a year earlier. Meanwhile
Sylvan Lake had a vacancy rate of zero, the lowest in the province,
compared to 5.3% a year earlier while Lacombe had an average vacancy
rate of 11.4% compared to 2.8% last year. Average rental rate in Sylvan
Lake was $683, down from $705 last year. In Lacombe, the average rent
was $720, up from $713 a year earlier.
City, Public Work on Updated
Environmental Plan
Recently the city conducted a public and high school workshops as part
of a process to update its environmental plan. Common themes included
finding ways to conserve energy, reduce waste and enhance the overall
health of the environment within the city and its surrounding area. A
progress report will go to city council in July with completion by the
end of the year.
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