At its regular meeting held on December 14, 2021, Cold Lake City Council approved its strategic priorities.
The council’s strategic priorities will guide the efforts of the administration to ensure that municipal resources will fulfill the council’s vision for the community.
The priorities were established after the two-day session held on November 29 and 30 which had all elected officials in attendance like CAO Kevin Nagoya, and senior managers.
“This is an important exercise that focuses our efforts on what we consider most important for the community, while also leaving room for the City to tackle any other opportunities that present themselves,” Mayor Craig Copeland said. “There are limited resources on the street and in City Hall, and so ensuring we are focused means we make the most out of our effort.”
The progress on the council’s strategic priorities is reported in the City’s Annual Report. Past priorities included finalizing the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range Agreement, completing an Intermunicipal Collaboration Framework with the M.D. of Bonnyville, completing an economic development strategy, integrating properties brought into the City through the 2019 annexation, crime prevention, and updating the City’s Municipal Development Plan and Intermunicipal Development Plan.
Each of the previously listed projects has seen significant progress since being adopted by the council.
“Just because something becomes a top priority does not mean that we will magically solve the issue, but we have proven that we can find innovative ways to make progress and allocate our resources efficiently,” Copeland said. “Focusing our efforts on our goals has allowed us to bring a police dog service to Cold Lake, target new grant programs where they are needed most in the community, and transform routine infrastructure rehabilitation into a project that will also support economic development, beautification and tourism in our community. We saw this at play when the Lakeshore Drive project was expanded to include a sea wall and a linear parkway.”
The five top priorities selected by Cold Lake City Council as its main focus are as follows:
- Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) Resolution
- Homeless/Vulnerable Population
- Community Safety Programs
- Medical Clinic and Medical Services Options
- Aquatic Facility: Design Development and Feasibility Study
Other priorities include:
- Public Works Operations Centre – Funding
- Lakeshore Drive Implementation
- Social Inclusion Funding Policy Review
- Arts and Culture Needs Assessment/Concept Framework Development
- Highway 28
- Taxi Bylaw Review
- Cold Lake Regional Airport – Expansion Options – Commercial Passenger Service
- Municipal Census
- Safe Community Forum