Medicine Hat Minute: Escort Licenses, Funding Decisions, and Sea Can Feedback

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

This Week In Medicine Hat:

• There will be a City Council meeting today, beginning with a closed session at 3:45 pm to have a “realignment discussion” and hear a verbal update on the Offsite Levy Bylaw. Once the meeting opens up to the public, at 6:30 pm, the agenda includes a presentation on Family Violence Prevention Month from the Medicine Hat Women's Shelter Society. Council will also receive a presentation from the Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede on the facility’s revitalization project. There will also be a public hearing to rezone 29 2 Street SW from a Low Density Residential District to a Medium Density Residential District. Lastly, Council will look to align escort business license fees with other municipalities in Alberta. (Medicine Hat’s fees are currently much more expensive).
  
  
• Council’s Committee of the Whole will meet on Tuesday at 3:45 pm. No agenda is available yet. The Energy, Land and Environment Committee will meet on Thursday at 4:00 pm. No agenda is available for this meeting yet, either.
  
  
• Our friends at the Medicine Hat Utilities Ratepayer Association are holding a Town Hall meeting to talk about utility fees, tax increases, and solar farms. The event will take place this Thursday, November 7th, at the Medicine Hat Exhibition at 7:00 pm.

Last Week In Medicine Hat:

• The City launched a new feedback tool allowing Medicine Hat residents to upvote or downvote ideas on what to do with the downtown sea cans, which will help guide Council's decision on November 18th. Originally intended as vendor spaces, the sea cans have been criticized for issues like limited visibility, extreme temperatures, and limited vendor use. Removing the sea cans would cost about $20,000, which Council will consider alongside public feedback. You can give your feedback using the tool here.
  
  
• City staff have recommended that eight out of 15 Community Vibrancy Grant applications be funded in 2025, totaling $44,000. The fall intake received $127,893 in grant requests, which were evaluated using a scoring matrix to prioritize impact and inclusivity. The Community Vibrancy grant includes $25,000 for new community projects and $19,000 for annual festivals, with multi-year funding impacting allocations each year.
  
  
• Medicine Hat’s Saamis Solar project was called a “no regret” investment by the City’s Director of Energy, Land and Environment, who sees it as a key opportunity to diversify the City’s energy sources. If approved by Alberta’s utilities regulator, the City intends to start with a smaller, more affordable build, gradually scaling up based on financial assessments. While some residents question solar’s reliability, the City says that beginning now is crucial due to limited available space for future renewable projects.

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