Council wages discussed
As is council policy, the wages of the mayor and council are being reviewed ahead of the municipal election, scheduled for Oct. 21.
A report prepared by retired town manager George Krefting, outlining the wages for municipal councils across the province, was presented to council on Oct. 1, without a recommendation.
Council then requested more time to discuss the report, in order to determine how to proceed.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 really vital that this kind of motion happens in this council term,鈥� said Coun. Gilbert Wall, noting, though, that it isn鈥檛 an easy decision, 鈥渆specially on the fly.鈥�
Peter Waterworth, chief administrative officer, offered to go over the review with two retiring members of council to come up with a recommendation.
Council was to discuss it again on Tuesday at the committee of the whole meeting, and a decision should be made at the Oct. 15 regular meeting.
鈥淚 think there does need to be a little bit of an increase,鈥� said Coun. Brenda Zinck, who will be retiring after 15 years of service to the community. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think [the wages] reflect the amount of work that鈥檚 done.
鈥淔or sure the mayor is way too low.鈥�
Alto award finalists
Tourism Jasper is a finalist in three categories in Travel Alberta鈥檚 Alto Awards, and Jasper is a finalist in one.
In the first category, Marketing Excellence (up to $10,000), Jasper鈥檚 marketing agency was selected for its #MyJasper campaign. The second, Marketing Excellence ($10,000 to $50,000), is for the Star Correspondent contest and the last, Service Excellence, is for the Visitor Information Centre.
Jasper is also a finalist in the Sustainable Tourism category for being a Dark Sky Preserve.
The winners will be selected in Banff on Oct. 28 at the Alto Awards Gala.
Emergency training
Municipalities across the region, including Jasper, recently participated in emergency training through the Justice Centre of BC.
鈥淭he plan was that we train together and in a common format, so that in the event of an emergency we can stand in for each other, send some support to our other regional communities,鈥� Peter Waterworth, chief administrative officer, told council Oct. 1.
With the emergency centre training behind them, now members of administration are completing specific training. Christine Nadon, manager of communications and IT, just completed training for information officers. Alice Lettner, director of finance, will do a specific finance course and Waterworth will be taking a logistics course.
鈥淭he quality of training is very high,鈥� he said, noting that the training was also a good example of regional cooperation.
鈥淢y counterpart in Hinton and I are going to look at how we can further develop this, as well.鈥�
Operations director hired
Bruce Thompson of St. Albert will be Jasper鈥檚 new operations director, beginning Nov. 12.
The current public works manager for the City of St. Albert brings 20 years of management experience with him.
He is also an avid outdoorsman, who has visited Jasper on numerous occasions.
Martha Fleming, human resources manager for the Municipality of Jasper, said she is excited to see the position filled by someone with a wealth of knowledge and a love for the Jasper lifestyle.
