Collaboration was key priority for the County of Grande Prairie in 2020

However, Beaupre remains optimistic that collaboration between the County and the Province is the key to success during this time, especially when it comes to investing in infrastructure, as those strategic investments and projects often play a key role in economic growth in a community.

“The Twinning of Highway 40 with the M.D. of Greenview, that project will move forward in 2021, and I think it’s a really key, collaborative strategic investment,” says Beaupre.

“As well the Province approved $2.6-million Municipal Stimulus Program funding for the servicing of the Five Mile future school site, which reduces the cost of servicing that particular piece of property to an estimated $4.6-million. It is an obligation of a municipality to provide school sites and to service this site we had to bring water, sewer, power and gas to it.”

The County also used 45 per cent of this year’s budget to maintain the transportation network. Those road and bridge construction projects amounted to $42-million of work, which included just over 31 kilometres of road surfacing.

A new strategic plan was created prior to the pandemic in February to hel guide the County’s priorities and initiatives over the next five years, which Beaupre says is designed to help drive the economy.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Beaupre says the County tried to mitigate the impact on residents by reducing the municipal tax rate by 1.2 per cent, and they delayed the payment deadline for property taxes. Despite these measures Beaupre says the County was fortunate to see the average they had seen in collections for 2019 were the same for 2020. She says this was a good sign that people were able to arrange their finances to ensure they paid their taxes, which is the municipality’s only guaranteed revenue stream.

The County also worked in collaboration with the other municipalities through the Grande Prairie Regional Emergency Partnership (G-PREP) to provide supports to businesses, social services and mental health programs, and the community care program.

“One of the things I think we were quite proud of was that we continued with new and updated programs, including socially distanced and outdoor activities for families. We recognize the need for families to be able to continue to do things, you can’t lock people up and expect them to stay there. We had to make sure that we could find things that we could help with their mental health and their physical activity while respecting provincial protocols and health and safety.”

She adds that it was amazing to watch G-PREP respond so quickly and efficiently to a health crisis, as, despite having training to do so, this was far from their prior experience, which mainly consisted of wildfires and floods.

The pandemic also highlighted challenges of connectivity in the County, as many people, including County Council, transitioned to working from home, despite not always having stable internet connections.

“We have in the past, and will continue to lobby the province for our fair share of investments in high speed internet and dedicated bandwidth. It’s proved that it’s almost a necessity and almost a core municipal service. If you look at how schooling has been delivered these past few months, it’s going to be crucial in the future to make sure that we have the secure and dedicated bandwidth to continue to do business and education, and even for quality time for families. They’re spending more time inside, especially in the winter months, and so streaming devices and such are really important to them as well.”

Another thing Beaupre says the County saw as important was learning how to make money last a little bit longer, and with the scarcity of those resources, the need to collaborate with other municipalities became more essential.

Despite the troubling year, the County was also still able to meet priority needs of the community through things like millions of dollars of recreation and culture grants, while also allowing groups to reallocate their grant funding this year to meet new priorities and adjust to the situation caused by the pandemic.

Beaupre adds that while most faced difficulties this year, with some businesses being forced to close, there are some promising projects coming soon, including one in the natural resource industry.

“Pembina Pipelines just announced that they are spending just under a billion dollars to make investments in this area through new pipelines and new infrastructure. They’re a transportation business, which means they rely on others to put product in their line, so that’s a really good indication that even others have confidence in selling their products. The numbers may not be as high as they were in the past, but they certainly won’t be as low as they were at the lowest of the economic downturn.”

She was also very enthused by the output of the forestry and agriculture sectors this years. Prices for the forestry industry’s commodity has been high and the industry continues to grow in the region. Meanwhile the County’s agriculture sector continues to show it’s resiliency.

“For the last five years, we’ve had nothing but weather related issues. But this year they were fortunate enough to in the spring get crops off that we’re left out from the previous season, do some spring work, get their crops in, get their crops off as well as do some fall work. In the big scope that is a lot of work to do for one year’s crop.”

In December, the County adopted the 2021 Budget, which Beaupre says proposes a zero per cent tax raise to residents.

“We recognize the last year was challenging, and we’re looking forward to a brighter future, but I believe that we’ve still a ways to go, and people are going to need the support of their municipality to get their feet back underneath them.”

She adds that work next year will prioritize investments in economic development and maintenance of the transportation network, as they end up contributing to the community’s economy in both the short and long terms.

“It may have slowed down somewhat but I believe that we’ll continue to see growth, it may be modest in the next year or so, but the resource is here and the diversification of some of that resource industry, whether it’s oil and gas or forestry or agriculture, it will continue to see growth in this area.”

Beaupre says while brighter days are ahead, work still needs to be done to make sure COVID-19 cases do not continue to climbs and get out of control in the new year. She encourages people to stay safe over the holidays by following Provincial health regulations, keeping gatherings very small, and being kind to one another.

by Liam Verster

Collaboration was key priority for the County of Grande Prairie in 2020

Pro Tips