Medicine Hat Minute: Construction Activity, Weather Balloons, and a Chief Electoral Officer

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

This Week In Medicine Hat:

• The Public Services Committee will meet this afternoon at 3:45 pm. On the agenda are options for a Capital Project Grant Program for Non-Profit Agencies, as well as a presentation from the South Eastern Alberta Search And Rescue Association regarding collaboration opportunities. The Committee will also receive a Managing Director’s Service Area Update that includes Dead Tree Removal, Canada Day Celebrations, and Towne Square Block Parties.
  
  
• Administration is recommending that City bank statements be detailed to clearly separate funds allocated for addressing long-term liabilities and modernizing the City's power production. Suggestions to rename the City’s “Heritage Savings Reserve” to “Medicine Hat Endowment Fund” to avoid confusion with the Province’s fund are also on the table.
  
  
• Landing Zones Canada - a company based in Medicine Hat - is looking to tackle the issue of single-use weather balloons, which contribute significantly to e-waste. The company has developed a reusable drone system that rides up with the weather balloon and returns after the balloon bursts, while continuously measuring weather conditions. This innovation aims to reduce environmental impact and cut costs associated with the disposal of over 22,000 weather balloons used annually in Canada.

Last Week In Medicine Hat:

• The City has appointed Andres Cardona Arias as its first Chief Electoral Officer to manage the October 2025 municipal election, a role created to address the growing workload in the City Clerk's office. Cardona Arias will oversee election rule compliance, voter education, outreach, and staff training for election day. This new position is a departure from the previous practice where the City Clerk handled elections. The City believes this change will ensure election integrity and has stated that the shift is feasible within the existing budget.
  
  
• New numbers revealed that, in 2024, high-density residential developments, such as apartments and condos, are driving construction activity in Medicine Hat. Seven significant projects totalled 96 new units and a combined value of $13.9 million as of July 31st. This surpasses the value of similar projects from 2022 and 2023 combined. While multi-family residential construction is showing strong growth, single-family home construction remains sluggish, with only 15 permits issued for detached homes. Overall, 367 building permits were approved in the first seven months of 2024, totaling $41.3 million, down from $54.6 million in the same period in 2023.
  
  
• The Salvation Army has reversed its decision to cancel the evening meal program in Medicine Hat, citing recent improvements in safety and security measures. The program will continue, maintaining its role in addressing food insecurity despite the end of the expanded drop-in service that was introduced during the pandemic. The Mustard Seed noted that the Salvation Army's dinner service is crucial as it remains the only one of its kind in the area. By-appointment meetings will still be available, but the program's future drop-in service will not be reinstated.

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