Joanne McQuarrie, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter | [email protected]
The bylaw department is now ready for the summer season as the Municipality of Jasper has hired a third bylaw officer.
Greg Van Tighem, director of protective services, presented an extensive protective services report to council at their regular meeting on March 16.
Van Tighem explained that the norm is to have two bylaw officers on duty at the same time.
鈥淚t鈥檚 strictly a safety factor,鈥� he said.
This means the department has only been able to provide bylaw coverage for five days out of the week.
With the third officer, who started on March 10, the bylaw department should be able to return to seven-day coverage before the busy summer period begins.
The new officer has two years of bylaw officer experience, gained as a CPO Level 2 in another Alberta municipality.
He also has two years鈥� worth of knowledge of the Jasper area from working on the Jasper Park Lodge (JPL) security team and as a JPL volunteer fire service member. This experience means his training can be expedited, which allows him to take on his full duties much sooner.
Van Tighem also outlined emergency incidents that occured from Nov. 3 to Feb. 24.
鈥淭here have been 38 emergency responses since our last report,鈥� he said. That included 17 command/minimal staff responses and 21 full fire department responses.
Lemonade Day
Lemonade Day Northern Alberta will be held in Jasper in a few months.
Council carried a motion to sponsor the Local Entrepreneur of the Year Contest for $500, one of three contest sponsorships for the event.
Community Futures West Yellowhead (CFWY) is hosting Lemonade Day.
In a letter to the municipality, CFWY general manager Nancy Robbins said Lemonade Day is an opportunity for children from pre-Kindergarten to high school ages to set up a lemonade day stand in their community on June 19 to promote entrepreneurship in their community and to have fun.
The event is free to participate in and the cost is covered by CFWY and local sponsors.
鈥淲e participated in 2019,鈥� said Coun. Helen Kelleher-Empey. 鈥淚t was great to see children from Kindergarten to Grade 12 put such effort into creating a business, getting a business licence.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 excellent for young people to learn about how a business works, how to become entrepreneurs and I think this is a great program.鈥�
The contest that the municipality is sponsoring will highlight the most creative business model for the day. The contest is being hosted in Hinton, Edson, Grande Cache and Wildwood as well.
To prepare for Lemonade Day, kids learn to set goals, develop a business plan, establish a budget, seek investors, provide customer service, save for the future and give back to the community.
Affordable housing grant
An application by the Jasper Community Housing Corporation (JCHC) to the Rapid Housing Initiative was not selected.
The grant would have helped fund the affordable housing project along Connaught Drive.
Coun. Paul Butler, who sits on the JCHC board of directors, gave this update to council.
鈥淲e have been asked to consider leaving our application in place for a possible second intake into that program, should additional money be allocated to the RHI,鈥� Butler said.
At their March 2 meeting, council allocated $350,250 in the 2021 budget for upfront project costs for the Connaught Drive affordable apartments, subject to approval of the RFI.
鈥淚 think that it is appropriate that we consider the status (of the above information),鈥� Butler said.
He noted the JCHC will consider its next steps.
