Medicine Hat Minute: Fair Entry, Organizational Structure, and a Sober Facility Decision

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

This Week In Medicine Hat:

• The Public Services Committee will meet this morning at 8:00 am. The agenda includes a funding request from HALO air ambulance as well as an urban wildlife bylaw. There will also be a Managing Director’s Service Area Update regarding Big Marble Go Centre and a Fair Entry Program update.
  
  
• The Corporate Services Committee will meet on Thursday at 4:30 pm. No agenda is available for this meeting yet.
  
  
• Municipal Bylaw Enforcement is reminding people not to feed deer in the city. They say doing so could lead to an increased risk of vehicle collisions, property damage, and animal dependency on humans.

Last Week In Medicine Hat:

• The sober living facility planned for North Railway Street will not be going ahead after the City’s Subdivision and Appeal Board sided with business owners who did not want the facility in the area. Council originally approved the Mustard Seed’s proposal to use the Champion Centre location for bedrooms for up to 10 people looking to transition into alcohol- and drug-free housing. Business owners filed an appeal, citing proximity to bars, a community wellness facility, and a children’s dance studio, in addition to growing crime on the street.
  
  
• Council approved an expansion of the Fair Entry Program. The program aims to ensure that Hatters of all income levels have access to public services and includes a discount on recreation and transit fees, as well as a utility bill credit. The utility bill credit portion of the program has been increased from $300 to $1,200 after an 8-1 vote allocated $500,000 to the program. There are nearly 400 recipients of the program who will now receive $200 every month from August to December instead of the $50 they received in each of the first seven months of the year.
  
  
• The City announced a new organizational structure. There are now four divisions, each with a Managing Director - corporate services, development and infrastructure, public services, and energy, land, and environment. Development and Infrastructure were previously separate areas, but have been consolidated.

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