79 applicants for CAO position
The municipality has a plethora of people to choose from for the chief administrative officer position.
The competition closed earlier this month with 79 applicants submitting their resumes for consideration.
That鈥檚 34 more applicants than in 2011, when Peter Waterworth applied and accepted the position.
Waterworth announced his resignation in February鈥攖wo years after he joined the municipality.
At that time, he said his decision had nothing to do with Jasper, but rather had to do with a change in his own circumstances.
In light of his decision, the municipality earmarked $30,000 in the 2014 operating budget for the recruitment of a new CAO.
Human resources is now shortlisting for the position and will begin interviews soon.
Revenue loss from arena fire
During the three-week closure of the Jasper Arena, following the Jan. 26 fire, the municipality lost $15,675 in revenue from missed ice rentals.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what鈥檚 been sent off to the insurance company,鈥� said Yvonne McNabb, director of culture and recreation. 鈥淭hat does not include any tools or any parts that were destroyed in the fire, that was just loss of revenue from the tournaments that would have occurred and the ice rentals that would have occurred during that three week period.鈥�
According to McNabb鈥檚 report to council, there are still a number of items that need to be replaced in the arena, including the netting and the shroud around the overhead Zamboni room door.
There is still an extensive list of tools and parts that need to be replaced, as well. Because the list is so long, replacement could take a considerable amount of time.
Clean financial audit
The municipality received a clean audit on its 2013 financial statements.
Michael Epp of Edmonton鈥檚 Hawkings Epp Dumont attended the April 15 meeting of council to present the auditors鈥� opinion and to give council an overview of the municipality鈥檚 financial position.
He noted that, unlike most municipalities, Jasper carries about $840,000 in net financial debt, and for the size of the town it also has a significant amount of tangible assets鈥攗nderground infrastructure, roads, sidewalks and buildings. That infrastructure鈥攚hich amounts to more than $58 million worth of assets鈥攊s necessary because of the huge influx of tourists during the summer months.
鈥淲e [audit] 30 other municipalities and we do not work with another municipality that has that significant variation in residents and therefore in infrastructure,鈥� said Epp.
鈥淵our net debt position is unusual, but given the nature of your community鈥攚here you are located鈥攊t is what it is,鈥� he said, noting that Banff is also in a financial debt position. 鈥淪o I guess it鈥檚 not uncommon given the nature of your position.鈥�
Vote on land use memorandum
Council will vote on a memorandum of understanding for the joint land use review it hopes to undertake with Parks Canada at its May 6 meeting.
In the Jasper Community Sustainability Plan, Parks agreed to a review of land use planning and development. The memorandum鈥攚hich was written by Peter Waterworth, chief administrative officer for the municipality, and Cathy Jenkins, manager of municipal and realty services for Parks鈥攊s the first step toward an agreement between Parks and the municipality on how the review will unfold.
The next step, if council approves the memorandum, will be to agree on the terms of reference for the tender.
If both are approved and council chooses to move forward, the municipality will fund half of the cost of the entire review: $125,000. As things stand, the municipality has $15,000 in its budget to cover its portion of the first stage of the project: a baseline analysis to inform the review and to promote a constructive dialogue between the municipality and Parks.
This stage will give the two parties a starting point for a discussion on how to streamline and provide an integrated development process that will provide clarity for citizens and staff. The review will also consider the possibility of jurisdictional change.
Nicole Veerman
[email protected]
