Medicine Hat Minute: Flour Mill, Plane Crash, and Natural Gas Prices

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

This Week In Medicine Hat:

• It’s going to be a steady week at City Hall with three meetings scheduled, starting with a Public Services Committee meeting at 8:00 am this morning. At this meeting, the Committee is set to discuss a budget amendment to the Pickleball Facility. The budget will be increased from $2,000,000 to $2,390,000, funded by a Community Facility Enhancement Program grant of $125,000 and a transfer from Capital Reserves of $265,000. The Managing Director will provide a service area update that includes topics like the Big Marble Go Centre Playground, the hiring of seasonal staff, and the new boat launch.
  
  
• On Tuesday, there will be a meeting of the Emergency Advisory Committee at 8:00 am. At this meeting, the Committee will receive an Annual Flood Preparedness Refresher, as well as a debrief on the pandemic Emergency Response Centre. Both items will be discussed in camera.
  
  
• On Thursday, there will be a meeting of the Corporate Services Committee at 11:00 am but there is no agenda uploaded for this meeting yet.

Last Week In Medicine Hat:

• The floating rate for natural gas sank after local administration found an unusual discrepancy that included outdated rates in its pricing formula. As a result of the blunder, two major gas distributors can now apply to recover their losses when they buy and resell gas from the market at a lower price, or have regulators reduce costs to consumers when the situation is reversed. The ongoing situation is a reminder of last year's contentious debates around local rate setting.
  
  
• A local construction company owner told City Council that he wants to purchase the old ADM Flour Mill and convert it into a space for manufacturing and green energy development. Casey Van Maarion said he plans to use some of the space for his own company and some for manufacturing screw pilings for solar farms, with the remainder of the space marketed to tenants focused on modern energy production. The building has been vacant since 2013 and is privately owned, but Council will need to approve any new use.
  
  
• A light plane crashed in the backyard of one local residence. Transport Canada is sending a team to investigate, as the plane had no pilot and no one aboard. The incident occurred in the Saamis Heights neighbourhood, overlooking the Cottonwood Coulee Golf Course. No injuries were reported.

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