Medicine Hat Minute: Emergency Access, Construction Season, and Substation Application Denied

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

This Week In Medicine Hat:

• This afternoon, there will be a Regular Meeting of City Council. As usual, the meeting begins in a closed session at 3:45 pm, before opening up to the public at 6:30 pm. During the closed session, Council will discuss a request for funding from HALO Air Ambulance, the recently rejected substation project (more on that below), future funding options for the Medicine Hat Curling Club, and provincial appointments to the Medicine Hat Police Commission, among other items. During the public portion, Council will discuss seconding the City of Grande Prairie’s resolution to be presented at the Alberta Municipalities 2023 Conference. The resolution calls for the provincial government to compensate municipalities when municipal fire services provide Medical First Response when Alberta Health Services paramedics are delayed.
  
  
• The Administrative and Legislative Review Committee will meet on Wednesday at 3:45 pm. No agenda is available for this meeting yet.
  
  
• The 2313 Medicine Hat Army Cadets will have their annual ceremonial review today. It is also the 75-year anniversary of the Medicine Hat Army Cadets and, to mark the occasion, General Wayne Eyre, Chief of the Defence Staff of the Canadian Armed Forces, will act as the reviewing officer. The public is welcome to attend the event, which is scheduled to take place from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm at the Patterson Armoury.

Last Week In Medicine Hat:

• The City’s request to build a substation in southwest Medicine Hat has been denied. The plans to build the substation began in 2019, and an application for regulatory approval was filed last June. The Alberta Utilities Commission said that the proposed sites were not in the public’s interest. Three intervening parties objected to the substation on account of proximity to residences, property devaluation, noise impacts, visual impacts, groundwater impacts, and more. Councillor Alison Van Dyke, Chair of the Energy and Infrastructure Committee, said that the substation is necessary to meet the needs of residents, and the City will consider next steps.
  
  
• Administration has proposed $250,000 in work to create an emergency access route for residents of the southwest community of Saamis. Currently, the community is only accessible through the intersection of Sierra Boulevard and Southride Drive. Residents have been grappling with concerns about what could happen in an emergency situation for more than a decade.
  
  
• Construction season has come to Medicine Hat. South Ridge Community Park is getting upgrades to its washroom facilities and a replacement irrigation line. The park, along with its trails, tennis courts, and horseshoe pits, are expected to stay open throughout construction, while the baseball diamonds will be closed. Road resurfacing work has also begun, with Carry Drive between Dunmore Road and Trans-Canada Way the first of five road sections under construction. Motorists are being warned about delays.

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