Hello Chestermere,
I am honoured to have the opportunity to serve beside a dedicated council who, with administration, has accomplished a lot since taking office on July 3. In less than two months, we have created the Mayor’s Task Force for the Not For Profits and Mayor’s Task Force for Recreation, brought back the Chestermere Economic Development Advisory Committee with a new Terms of Reference, brought Back Question Period – now known as Public Input Policy, implemented a temporary solution for Beach Parking with plans to establish a long-term plan for Spring 2025, held a council to council meeting with Town of Strathmore, established weekly times for 15 Minute Meetings with the Mayor, will see the completion of the Rainbow Road South project, hired of our new CAO, passed the new Procedural Bylaw, and we are close to completing our Council Strategic Plan. We have informed the community where we are really at with our school sites and are close to finalizing the deal for the new high school site. Finishing this will allow Rocky View Schools to apply for funding. All recommendations in the Cuff Report have been completed and all but three Directives from the original Ministerial Order are complete. We have completed 39 of the 97 recommendations in the Deloitte Report and are on track to have all recommendations completed by November 1, 2024. We are additionally excited to confirm that the City of Chestermere is in a strong financial position.
As mentioned, we had a meeting with the Town of Strathmore. We recognize that there has been a shift in municipal politics and local, regional, and provincial relationships are now more important than ever. As such, we have been meeting with the Western Irrigation District, have plans for a council-to-council meeting with Rocky View County and all of council will be attending the Alberta Municipalities Conference at the end of September. We have hosted a meeting with Minister McIver, have strong communication with our MLA Chantelle de Jonge and have plans for future meetings with other ministers. I have been meeting with mayors and reeves from various municipalities. We are confident that this work will lead to positive outcomes for our community.
On top of these accomplishments, council continues to be heavily involved in community and city led events and programs. Continued community involvement assists us in making informed decisions. Keeping open lines of communication with our community is important and we have multiple ways for you to connect with council including having our contact information in every edition of The Wave, through the 15 Minute Meetings with the Mayor, the new Public Input Policy, through public hearings, both legislated and not statutory, through presentations from delegations and upcoming Coffee’s with Council. Informed leadership, responsible governance, and trust happens through ongoing relationship. Our council is committed to continually finding ways to establish and earn trust with our community and, in turn, that will help us be stronger and more informed leaders in our roles in governance.
Moving into the fall, we are looking forward to seeing the completion of the Rainbow Road South Bridge Project by the end of September (please note this is separate from the Rainbow Road South Project), and to hosting our Dirt to Door Event in late October / early November with our development community. We will also be hosting the inaugural Mayor and Council Charity Golf Tournament where we will be raising money for the Chestermere Public Library and to assist with the recovery efforts in Jasper.
However, despite these great accomplishments, we know that there is much more work ahead. The work we have accomplished in the first two months will greatly assist our being successful in moving forward on big projects in recreation, schools, infrastructure and increased positive social impacts for our community. We are keenly aware that we need a long-term solution for Rainbow Road North as well as other transportation nodes around Chestermere. We are looking forward to our budget process for 2025 where we can clearly articulate capital projects that will positively impact our community. We have made School Sites and Recreation a standing item on our Governance and Priorities meetings to demonstrate that these truly are a high priority for council.
Thank you Chestermere and we hope everyone has a fun and safe long weekend.
– Mayor Shannon Dean