Gord Mounce, Community & Indigenous Engagement Advisor for Chevron Canada, presented to Council via Zoom the company’s Duvernay Development Update. Throughout the presentation, Gord and his colleague Sean Kleiner readdressed the measures Chevron takes when performing hydraulic fracturing to mitigate any seismic activity within the area. Also discussed was the company’s response to the global commodity price collapse, which resulted in the reduction of the Kaybob Duvernay program to one rig and one completions crew. Gord ended with Chevron’s continued support for community projects, like the new Fox Creek Library space, the new snow machine for the Nordic & Trail Club, and the online program delivery from the Telus World of Science at the school, just to name a few. The community can also look forward to Chevron relocating their Fox Creek staff to the building previously occupied by Paramount Resources Ltd.
The Community Resource Centre (CRC) announced that they received an extension and additional $11,000.00 towards the Reaching Home program, which works towards preventing homelessness. The CRC also received a notice that they were one of nine Alberta communities to receive funding to help cover the cost of the Taxi Pass and Medical Transport Programs. For the year of 2021, they will receive $23,160.00 to assist in increasing the amount subsidized per Taxi Pass ($5 to $8), and the funding of volunteer driver expenses.
The Director of Recreation provided Council with updates on how the construction of the bridge at Iosegun lake and the renovations of the Fox Creek Greenview Multiplex restaurant area are going. He was proud to announce that the bridge and the Pass-Through window in the restaurant have been completed. The final renovations for the restaurant are expected to be completed by February 14th.
The Chief Administrative Officer announced that the Town of Fox Creek has been awarded a Marketing Canada Award by the Economic Developers Association of Canada. With this award, our Town will be recognized nationally via the Association’s website and social medias, as well as a “badge of honour” that we may include on our platforms.
Soon the Whitecourt Press will no longer be providing the paper portion of the Press to Fox Creek, so to accommodate the legislative requirements of the Town, Administration has drafted a Bylaw for advertising and public notification. Bylaw 856-2021 received first reading during the meeting and a Public Hearing has been scheduled for February 22, 2021 at 6:00 pm via ZOOM. A link to the hearing will be made available the Friday prior on both the Town social medias as well as its website.
Council has approved the request to change the Chevron Aquatic Centre’s hours of operation from its previous 8:00 am to 9:00 pm, Monday to Friday, to 10:00 am to 9:00 pm. This change came as a result of the low usage observed during those hours. This change will also allow additional time for staff to perform regular maintenance without disturbing patrons during hours of operation. The facility is still currently closed to the public, and so these changes will not take effect until its reopening.
Administration was also directed to bring Temporary Required Face Coverings Bylaw 854-2020 to the February 22, 2021 Council meeting for their review. Since the provincial requirement supersedes our municipal bylaw, Council would like to deliberate on rescinding our bylaw.