Joe McWilliams
Lakeside Leader
Council had made the decision to start its meeting at the unusually early time of 5 p.m. The reason for this became apparent when council members all showed up wearing Edmonton Oilers’ jerseys. The strategy worked, as the meeting ended well before the 7:30 p.m. face-off time for the Game 1 tilt between the Oilers and the Las Vegas Golden Knights.
Operating budget: first quarter
Council received a brief report on revenue and expenses for the town in the first three months of 2025. According to the town’s financial boss, revenues were at 10 per cent of the budgeted amount, as of March 31. Expenditures stood at 26 per cent of the budget on that date. Nothing unusual in either of those figures, Roland Schmidt told council, except for “an unanticipated overage in administrative wages.”
Asked about that by Councillor Steve Adams, Schmidt said simply it was “a staffing issue.”
Overall, Schmidt concluded, “the town remains in a stable financial position, with no significant variance or risks identified in the first quarter of the fiscal year.”
6th St. SE getting dug up
The watermain under part of 6th St. SE is in need of replacement, and it’s scheduled to be done this year. Council got the results of the tender on the project, and accepted administration’s recommendation to award the job to GS Construction, for just over $1 million.
The replacement of the 50-year-old (or more) pipe will be between 10 Ave. and 9 St., so a relatively short stretch. It is well beyond its expected service life, says the report, and has had repeated failures in recent years. During repairs, exposed sections of the ductile iron pipe were seen to be in pretty rough shape, and more breaks are expected if it’s not replaced.
The new line will be eight-inch PVC.
GS got the nod over four other companies, all of which submitted higher bids.
The report did not say when construction was expected to start. It did say adjacent property owners would be notified by letter. The street will be closed off for a period of time.
14th Ave. SE to get makeover
One of the roughest residential streets in Slave Lake is getting fixed up this year. Council approved a recommendation to award the contract for the 14th Ave. SE rehabilitation project for $1.8 million.
The successful bidder was a local company, Ruel Concrete Ltd.
Council heard that the re-hab job was scheduled as early as 2018, but was put off going on seven years in favour of other priorities. It has “suffered significant road base failure over the years,” says the written report.
The town got four bids on the project, with Ruel’s being the lowest. The total cost to the town, including engineering and contingency, is expected to be $2.468 million.
Ken Sargent House
Council heard from a representative of the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital Foundation (GPRHF), which breaks ground this year on a residence for families of people getting medical treatment at the hospital. It’s called Ken Sargent House, after a major donor, and the foundation is trying to raise funds to cover the rest of the $12 million cost.
Dale Bond of the GPRHF told council $15 per capita would do nicely, but added that was probably unrealistic. That would amount to around $105,000. Bond got no commitment from council for that or any other amount.
Questions were asked about the service area of the GPRH. Slave Lake is in it, as far as the provincial government is concerned. That news came from Councillor Kimberly Hughes, who told her colleagues under the new Primary Care Alberta model, “We’ve been told anyone in our area with major medical issues will be taken to Grande Prairie, instead of Edmonton.”
Bond said Grande Prairie, for health care purposes, serves a region of around 500,000 people.
Election appointments
Municipalities don’t have to appoint returning officers for local elections, but if they do, it has to be done before June 30 in the year of an election. That’s according to the Local Authorities Election Act. The town’s bylaw, though, requires such appointments, so that’s what council did.
Ashley Lindbergh is appointed returning officer, for the town council election in October of this year. Joshua Engen will serve as deputy returning officer. Both are Town of Slave Lake employees.
Policing study
A consulting firm hired by the town and M.D. presented its report on a police services study. Cutting right to the chase, it concluded that more law enforcement would be helpful, but costly.
One option proposed was more community peace officers. Three of them would cost an estimated $570,000. Each additional RCMP officer, on the other hand, would be expected to run just under $250,000, all things considered.
Another suggestion in the report was that the town and M.D. could advocate for another ‘provincial’ RCMP position. This, if successful, would result in an RCMP officer at least partially funded by the province. He or she would be assigned to the M.D., but “would benefit both jurisdictions,” council heard.
Another recommendation in the report was advocacy on addressing “the roots of homelessness.”