Medicine Hat Minute: Innovative Education, Tax Rates, and Unused Construction Incentives

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

This Week In Medicine Hat:

• There will be a regular meeting of City Council this evening. As usual, the meeting will begin with a closed session at 3:45 pm before opening up to the public at 6:30 pm. During the open session, there will be a public hearing to address a couple of land use bylaws. After deferring discussions from previous meetings, Council is out of time and must make a decision regarding how to spread property taxes between homes and businesses.
  
  
• The Energy and Infrastructure Committee will meet on Thursday at 4:30 pm. No agenda is available for this meeting yet.
  
  
• The Heritage Pavilion will reopen for public use. It was closed after sustaining flood damage in 2013 and then reopened as a training facility for City staff. Now, after numerous inquiries from community members, reservations begin today for public use.

Last Week In Medicine Hat:

• Results from an independent study commissioned by the City showed no detectable levels of asbestos in Medicine Hat’s drinking water. There is no regulatory requirement for testing, but after a news program created concerns about possible asbestos, the City decided to alleviate residents’ fears. Roughly 32% of underground water pipes in Medicine Hat are made from asbestos-cement.
  
  
• A City Committee was told that nearly $2.3 million in construction incentives that were not awarded last year will be reallocated. The money was intended to offset costs for inner city construction projects. About $650,000 of the $1.5 million dedicated to residential unit development in the Waterfront District will be moved to other areas for the coming year, with any unspent funds folded into the budget for the program in 2023. The City is in the process of hiring a new Managing Director of Invest Medicine Hat who will assess and potentially overhaul the program for next year.
  
  
• ​​Schools in Medicine Hat have been experimenting with a variety of new programs and activities. A pilot program with George Davidson School aims to reduce barriers to experiencing dance, and members of Alberta Ballet have been providing free ballet classes to students in grades 1 through 6 during school time. For older students, those ages 16 and above, Medicine Hat Public School Division ​​partnered with local organizations to provide naloxone training. More than 275 students completed the training and were given kits with the drug used to reverse opioid overdose.

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