Council Highlights May 4 2020

Director of Emergency Management, Merrick Brown, provided City Council an update on the City’s COVID-19 response. The City activated the Municipal Emergency Management plan on March 13 and has since worked closely with Alberta Health Services to support their leadership during the pandemic response. Mr. Brown summarized the activities over the past nine weeks, including business continuity planning, employee and community support, changes to processes for both employees and community members, additional restrictions enacted by the City, and ongoing planning for relaunch, recovery and the possibility of a second event such as a flood.

Through Administrative Committee, Council received for information Tender Recommendation EU20-05 Brier Park Gravity Bypass – Phase 2. The tender was awarded to the best evaluated bidder meeting specifications, Hamm Construction Ltd. in the amount of $5,066,715.30.

Through Corporate Services Committee, City Council received for information an update on the 2020 property tax approach. Due to the interruptions and challenge created by COVID-19, the City will defer payment on all property tax accounts and Business Improvement Area (BIA) tax accounts with a revised due date of September 30, 2020. No penalties will be charged for the current unpaid taxes until October 1, 2020.

By resolution, City Council approved a COVID-19 assistance package. The $8.2 million dollar package consists of the following:

• $3.9M COVID property tax credit for all classes (subject to final 2020 Assessment values completed early May). This will be achieved by maintaining all municipal taxes at 2019 rates (originally set to increase by 3.5% for 2020)
• $0.3M relating to three-month payment deferral of property taxes and utilities with a 12-month repayment plan for arrears (up to 24-month repayment plan on a case-by-case basis)
• Up to $2M grant for reinvestment into local businesses. The fund will be facilitated by Community Futures Entre-Corp in $500,000 tranches. Entre-Corp is a trusted and capable entity, and is well-equipped to facilitate fund redistribution as per their current mandate. The City will provide criteria to ensure appropriate adjudication of applicants.
• Up to $1M support for the most vulnerable. Offered via $250,000 tranches as needed, the contribution will be shared between Community Warmth and Community Foundation of Southeastern Alberta.
• Up to $1M for inducements to achieve / expedite economic development, and financial amendments to existing contractual arrangements on a case-by-case basis. This fund will be facilitated by the CAO office.