Medicine Hat Minute: Bridge Repairs, Audit Reports, and Mayor Challenging Sanctions

Medicine Hat Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Medicine Hat politics

This Week In Medicine Hat:

• The Municipal Planning Commission will meet on Wednesday. The calendar lists the meeting time as 1:30 am, but we’re pretty sure that’s a typo. There's no agenda for this meeting either. The Audit Committee will meet on Wednesday at 11:00 am. The first portion of the meeting will be held in-camera to discuss the 2023 Year End Audit, the 2023 Fraud Report, and an Enterprise Risk Management Update, among other things. When the meeting opens up to the public, the Committee will discuss the 2023 City of Medicine Hat Financial Statements, as well as assess capital projects and major operating expenses. We’ll have more to say on this soon!
  
  
• Repair work is starting on four bridges over the Trans-Canada Highway. The repairs, focusing on cracked girders underneath, will begin on the Saamis Drive bridges and then move to the Box Springs Road bridges. During this time, traffic will be limited to one lane, and speed reductions to 50 kilometers per hour will be enforced on both roads. Work is expected to last until mid-June.
  
  
• Our friends at Project Confederation are hosting an Alberta Pension Plan town hall on Tuesday evening (tomorrow!) at 6:00 pm at the Grit City Distillery & Tasting Room. Josh Andrus, Executive Director of Project Confederation, and Justin Wright, MLA for Cypress-Medicine Hat, will be providing information, answering questions, addressing concerns, and gathering feedback for potential improvements. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online.

Last Week In Medicine Hat:

• At a press conference, Mayor Linnsie Clark announced her intention to challenge the sanctions imposed by Council, asserting that she was merely asking tough questions of Administrators rather than breaching Council’s Code of Conduct. A heavily redacted report from Kingsgate Legal was released, which did not contain any new revelations, but listed Councillor Shila Sharps as the person who filed the complaint. Clark took to Facebook to release her own set of documents. Despite being limited in her role and salary, Clark said she is committed to fulfilling her elected duties and seeking accountability and transparency in governance. As we said last week, whether you agree with the Mayor’s general direction for the City or not is irrelevant - this sets a disturbing precedent about how beholden elected officials are to the unelected bureaucracy.
  
  
• Construction has commenced at the Moose Recreation Centre in Southeast Hill, focusing on enhancing accessibility by adding a universal change room, an accessible public use washroom, a new janitorial area, and minor infrastructure upgrades. The project is expected to be completed by early August, with work scheduled during the day to allow for evening recreational activities. The City is urging patrons to follow construction signage instructions.
  
  
• The Medicine Hat Police Service said it is actively investigating a series of mailbox thefts in South Ridge and Ross Glen. The thefts targeted older brown community mailboxes rather than the newer, gray style. Police are treating these thefts seriously due to the potential for identity theft and other secondary issues. Canada Post is working to repair damaged mailboxes and is urging affected residents to report any mail delivery problems. Police and Canada Post are collaborating to identify victims and resolve the situation, with more details expected after the investigation concludes.

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