ST. PAUL - The Town of St. Paul hosted its third teletown hall on Dec.3, this time focusing on the future of the community and the current council's focus.
Mayor Maureen Miller opened the meeting, explaining that a number of town councillors were on hand to be part of the discussion and help answer questions.
"We do want to hear from you," said Miller, in her opening remarks. She noted that the town's recently developed strategic plan will help guide decisions and includes six pillars, which were then presented by various councillors.
Pillar 1 – Enable Economic Vitality
"The Town of St. Paul aims to enable a resilient and prosperous environment for employment, business, service and tourism to grow."
Coun. Nathan Taylor introduced the first pillar, noting that part of the pillar was to reduce red tape for businesses in the community.
Pillar 2 – Enrich Health and Safety
"The Town of St. Paul aspires to be a welcoming, accessible, safe and vibrant community to enhance work and play for all."
Coun. Brad Eamon introduced the second pillar, noting that a focus of the pillar includes attracting medical professionals to St. Paul. He explained that the town has been working with Alberta Health Services and offers incentives for medical professionals to come to the community.
Pillar 3 – Empower Organizational Excellence -
"The Town of St. Paul plans to empower our people to integrate best practices for responsible fiscal management, open and accountable government, and professional and efficient service."
Coun. Norm Noel spoke to the third pillar, stating there is "little or no tax increase (planned) over the next few years."
Miller also spoke on the pillar, stating council was very thankful to the town's administration for stretching every dollar as far as it can go.
Pillar 4 – Excel in Environmental Stewardship
"The Town of St. Paul strives to excel in key aspects of environmental stewardship and to positively influence consumer awareness."
Coun. Taylor also introduced the fourth pillar. He noted that it's important for a few reasons to decrease energy consumption. While he believes the whole world needs to be aware and not waste resources, cutting energy costs also saves money for the municipality.
Pillar 5 – Enhance Quality Infrastructure
"The Town of St. Paul will invest, plan and maintain municipal infrastructure for current and future community needs."
Coun. Ron Boisvert was on hand to introduce the fifth pillar. Boisvert noted that the first priority of council is to maintain what is already in place. It was also pointed out that much of the town's infrastructure is underground and isn't necessarily something that can be seen by residents.
Pillar 6 – Engage Essential Relationships
"The Town of St. Paul seeks to engage in, nurture and deepen relationships outside and within our community, and collaborate for shared investment, benefit, and advocacy."
The mayor introduced the last pillar, which focuses on relationship. She explained that the town works "very strongly" with MLA David Hanson, and works hard to bring light to what the needs of the community are.
She pointed out to a success bid in getting additional funds for the waste water treatment plant that is under construction, as an example of being successful in building relationships.
Questions
After each of the pillars was introduced, the phone line was opened to questions and a few poll questions were asked.
The first poll question asked if respondents thought the strategic plan captured key priorities for the town's future. Results showed that 73 per cent of people on the line said yes; and 27 per cent said no.
A second poll question asked respondents how long they had lived in St. Paul. Results showed that 61 per cent of the participants lived in St. Paul over 10 years; 17 per cent lived in St. Paul between five and 10 years; 17 per cent did not live in St. Paul; and just six per cent had lived in the community between one and five years.
A focus on tourism was brought up a couple times throughout the question and answer period, with the mayor saying there is a need to capture all the work that's being done in tourism for the area, which is why it is included in the town's strategic plan.
Another question asked what can be done to make visitors feel more welcome. Coun. Eamon responded to the question, saying it's all about "small gestures," and encouraged people to be kind and respectful to each other. He also stated he felt it was important for residents to be aware of the programs being offered in St. Paul, and to get involved themselves.
"We have some very welcoming groups," said Eamon.
Another question about how the town is working to improve relationships with Indigenous communities was asked. Miller responded, stating this was something that was very important to all of council. She pointed to training that has been done for town staff with Blue Quills University, and how the town has raised both the Treaty 6 and Métis flags.
Miller said she also encourages future conversations on this topic.
One of the last questions of the night asked if COVID-19 had affected any of the town's goals. Miller responded to this question also, noting that there are still many groups working around despite the pandemic.
"I don't think COVID actually stopped what we are doing," said Miller. Instead, she believes it allowed the municipality to sit back and see how it could better engage with the community.
Coun. Noel also responded, saying he felt the situation has made the town push ahead with some priorities, such as the need to livestream council meetings, which in turn ensures transparency.
The town's strategic plan is available through the municipality's website.
Earlier in the fall, a teletown hall on crime was held, and included local RCMP representation. More recently, a teletown hall on the town's plans to move toward using roll-out garbage bins was also held.
A teletown hall on Jan 13 is also being planned to discuss the town's Land Use Bylaw.
