Photo by Curtis Galbraith.

By Curtis Galbraith

City Hall

Increase for water rates among items discussed by City Council at Monday’s meeting

Jan 30, 2024 | 6:00 AM

Other items discussed at Grande Prairie City Council’s meeting on Monday included the following:

Water Rates Increasing

Council approved a new utility bylaw that will see the cost of water and wastewater go up as of March 1, 2024.

A delegation from Aquatera told council that the increases for city residents would be 7.1 per cent for water, 6.7 per cent for wastewater, and 8.6 per cent for solid waste.

Aquatera says this would mean a monthly increase of $9.52 per month for an average customer.

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Aquatera also asked for a section covering landfill tipping fees to be removed to allow for a change in fees.

This was asked for because of what the company terms “competitive forces in the market.”

Recreation and Culture Strategy

Council approved the new Recreation and Culture Strategy.

Part of the discussion was centered around an item in the document that mentions a new performing arts centre for Grande Prairie.

Councillor Grant Berg brought this up, saying he did not want this to be forgotten.

Council agreed to have more discussion around this at a meeting planned for February 14.

The strategy covers areas like making recreation and culture facilities accessible to everyone, providing good facilities, and event tourism.

It also talks about having partnerships in recreation and culture and having “a positive legacy” when hosting events.

Community Micro-grant Program

Council approved a new policy regarding corporate sponsorship policy and created a new Community Mico-grant Program.

The new policy is meant to cover city sponsorship for events and to lessen or eliminate gift-in-kind support.

Council approved moving $100,000 from its Large Scale Tourism Events Fund and $5,000 from the Corporate Sponsorship Fund to council’s public relations budget.

Changes include removing a formal application process and increasing the maximum sponsorship from $2,000 to $50,000. Any sponsorships above $10,000 will require approval by council.

The new grant program combines several previous ones; including the Individual Project, Scholarship, Major Projects Arts and Culture grant programs into one.

Some money has also been moved into this new program, including $5,000 from the Corporate Sponsorship Fund, $7,000 from the Arts and Culture individual projects and scholarship fund and $5,000 from Major Project Funding.

Council’s next meeting is scheduled for February 12.