Spring open house
Sharon McLeay
Times Contributor
The Town of Strathmore is holding an event for the public to showcase its departments, services and events.
The open house will be held at the Civic Centre on April 10, from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
“We will be informing everyone on our 150 Canada projects event and will be providing a lot of information on each department of specific interest to the public,” said Jennifer Sawatzky, legislative services coordinator with the Town of Strathmore.
A kid’s zone will be available, so parents can browse and converse. Town vehicles will also be on display. Those attending will be eligible for door prizes and snacks will be served.
According to Sawatzky, the event will be interactive.
“Each town department will have a booth with information and receive questions from the public,” she said. “It is a similar format as a trade show, with the Canada 150 event front and centre. Definitely there will be a lot of room for questions and one-on-one conversations.”
“It is one of the ways we want to create and promote information on what we are doing,” said James Thackray, chief administrative officer with the Town of Strathmore. “It will highlight dozens and dozens of services that we provide every day.”
Saving now and planning for the future
Strathmore town council supported the replacement of streetlights with LED lights, saving the town about $26,278 annually. Conversion will cost about $585,000.
There are 1,170 streetlights to be replaced. The cost per light will be about $500.
“At some point in time, if the town fails to convert to LED lighting, the question will be asked why the town had failed to go to a more efficient LED lighting,” said Mel Tiede, Town of Strathmore’s director of corporate services.
He said he compared Fortis’ offer with similar replacements costs and Fortis came in under the $600-800 average.
He said the lights last longer as well, and the bonus is Fortis is carrying the upfront capital costs.
When asked what the incentive was for Fortis, Tiede replied: “I believe Fortis will make money during that time period, through additional lower maintenance costs. The recovery is for the town, but Fortis will come out ahead on this.”
Coun. Pat Fule asked about night sky issues and Fortis said this lighting would fall within that plan’s guidelines.
Coun. Denise Peterson asked about ownership details and Tiede responded that provincial legislation provided protection on those issues. She commented overall, public and municipal suspicion for these types of conversions was the biggest barrier to implementation.
Bob Sobol asked about the light intensity and asked that the 3000 lumen level be entrenched in the contract.
2016 Community investment fund breakdown
With the support of the Town of Strathmore’s Community Investment Fund, eight Strathmore organizations and their events were supported in 2016:
The Celebration of Christmas Lights was awarded $7,500. The Rock and Ride skate event in which 45 youth participated, received $1,000. Others supported included: Embee Disc Golf Tourney, $500; Salute to Slim Heavy Horse pull, $2,000; $500 for facility rental for the Rocky Mountain Symphony Orchestra debut in Strathmore; the Strathmore and Wheatland Christmas hamper received $2,800 and the Wheatland Conservation Wildlife Association received $500.
The $10,000 for Canadian Rocky Mountain International Rodeo and Music Festival was unrecoverable.
Donations in kind for various organizations using the Civic Centre for special events totalled $12,213.40, and a $6,500 price tag was estimated for town-hosted events, such as staff meetings, open houses, community projects and funerals. Promotional items were also donated to various groups.
Safety issue on Brent Blvd.
Students crossing Brent Blvd. at Crowther Memorial Junior High School are living on the edge. Coun. Pat Fule has asked that town staff look at the possibility of putting in a flashing crosswalk light over Brent Blvd., near the bus loop, just before Maplewood Drive by the school. Fule said school staff considers the area an accident waiting to happen.
“Having spoken to the associate principal, they have tracked five near misses since September,” said Fule.
Fule said adult drivers have been seen driving through the crosswalk on the heels of crossing students, before students reach the curb.
The cost to install a flashing crosswalk light would be approximately $20,000.