Medicine Hat Minute: Eco Incentives, Security Modifications, and a Response For Ratepayers
Medicine Hat Minute: Eco Incentives, Security Modifications, and a Response For Ratepayers
Medicine Hat Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Medicine Hat politics
This Week In Medicine Hat:
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This afternoon, there will be a City Council meeting at 3:45 pm. The meeting will begin in a closed session to discuss a media proposal, a Municipal Affairs Information Request, an update on legal proceedings, and the designation of a Chair and Alternate for the Assessment Review Board, among other things. When the meeting opens up to the public around 6:30 pm, Council will discuss authorizing Administration to sell the former Food Bank location at 532 South Railway Street SE and rezoning 19 Stober Bay SE from Highway Commercial District (C-H) to Mixed Use District (MU).
- The Corporate Services Committee will meet on Thursday at 4:00 pm. No agenda is available for this meeting yet.
- The HAT Smart Residential Incentive program, which encourages property owners and builders to undertake eco-friendly upgrades through rebates, is now accepting registrations for 2024. In its 16th year, the application process has been simplified, with an added $100,000 in funding, totaling $360,000. Interested individuals can apply on the City of Medicine Hat’s website.
Last Week In Medicine Hat:
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City Hall announced that it would be undergoing security modifications, with improvements such as relocating the security desk on the main floor to enhance sightlines and access control. Officials said the changes were not prompted by the recent attack on City Hall in Edmonton, but those events reiterated the need to make the changes. Despite the challenges of keeping City Hall open during modifications, the project is expected to be completed by mid-February.
- The Medicine Hat Utilities Ratepayer Association (MHURA) held a town hall, and we were very pleased to be able to speak at the event. If you weren’t able to attend, you can read our remarks here. At the town hall, MHURA called for the elimination of the municipal consent access fee (MCAF). City Hall responded to the organization, and warned of a potential 7% increase in property taxes if that were to happen. MHURA maintains that if spending was kept under control, the fee could be eliminated without requiring additional property taxes.
- All seven showings of "Your Cinema Needs You," a documentary about the Monarch Theatre (and showing at the Monarch), have sold out, prompting four additional screenings later this month. However, after these showings, the Monarch Theatre team announced they will temporarily halt movie screenings to focus on overdue renovations. These renovations include floor upgrades, stage expansion, and decluttering, with the theater exclusively open for private event bookings in the coming year. If you missed the documentary, the creator plans to make it available on streaming services across Canada after its run at the Monarch.
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