By Justin Dionne

City of Grande Prairie Mayor reflects on 2018

Dec 27, 2018 | 6:39 AM

The past year has shaped up to be another interesting one for Grande Prairie.
 
Mayor Bill Given says the city has come across some challenges throughout the year, but there’s also been a number of positive highlights.
 
“Recently, the concern around the oil and gas industry and the massive grassroots effort to shine a light on the concerns our community has to be a highlight of 2018,” says Given. “Also, we’ve seen some significant provincial investments in our community through the advancement of new highway infrastructure, and that’s something our community has lobbied for for a long period of time.”
 
Given explains another highlight for the city was the announcement of degree-granting status for Grande Prairie Regional College.
 
Along with the highlights come some of the challenges the city faces. Given says some of those challenges involve housing and the opioid crisis.
 
“One of the major challenges is that our economy has continued to grow and we’re seeing an increased pace of development, and I get a sense that employers are starting to see some challenges around the labour force. For me, that starts to point to the availability of housing in 2019 as a concern; but also, the opioid crisis has been a significant challenge and concern for our community and many other Alberta communities in 2018,” says Given.
 
He says a community working group has been doing what it can throughout the year to battle the opioid crisis. The group is made up of social agencies, enforcement agencies, the health sector, and businesses. Given mentioned earlier in December that the city is also preparing for a population increase with strategies such as the Northern Lights Area Structure Plan which allows land developments to proceed faster.
 
Looking ahead to 2019, Mayor Given says residents can look forward to forking out less money on property taxes.
 
“Residents have the fact that the city of Grande Prairie is reducing property taxes in 2019. The community for a long time has been very vocal that the city needs to keep a focus on taxes, and that has been heard by previous councils, but this is the first time where council and administration have delivered a property tax decrease.”
 
Given adds the city will be having discussions on how it delivers its services at the right costs while keeping a lid on property taxes as much as possible.