At a council meeting on June 16, CAO Sheldon Steinke gave an update on the activities of a number of municipal departments.
Administration & Finance
The Director of Finance is undertaking a budget review. Administration will be working with a contractor to update the municipality’s business plan. Staff will be commencing preparation of the 2016 budget plus planning for the 2017 and 2018 budgets. Council has defined the 10-year capital plan now that debt commitments, capital equipment purchasing and capital projects have been finalized.

Corporate services
The municipality is bidding farewell to its Fire Chief and the Director of Finance.
Michele Schalekamp, Director of Finance will resign as of June 26. Jamie Wilkinson, Fire Chief/Manager of Protective Services’ resignation will take effect July 6.
The departing employees were honoured at a barbeque on June 22.
According to a municipal release, administration has advertised for the fire chief position with two former fire chiefs set to help choose a successor.

Planning, operations and engineering
The sewer-flushing program is continuing, tree trimming near power lines and the grading of gravel roads is in progress. The street sweeper is in for radiator replacement and street sweeping will resume when the repairs are completed.
Last week’s Service Plus Program garnered five large bins of rubble, one large bin of scrap metal and an amount of e-waste items from Blairmore and Hillcrest.
The Service Plus Program is a new initiative designed to allow residents to bring large items for disposal to locations throughout the community. This program is a cost-effective solution that will allow residents to conduct spring cleanups without incurring the costs and travel needed to take items to the landfill.
Bins for metal and regular waste were set up in Blairmore, Hillcrest and Coleman.
Residents brought electronics and paint to the Recycling Roundup (Toxic Roundup) at the Crowsnest Sports Complex in Coleman on Saturday, June 21.
Residents of Bellevue needed to make the trek to Hillcrest bins to dispose of their waste. In a statement, the municipality apologized for the inconvenience.
“These three locations were chosen strategically by balancing the distance residents would need to travel as well as minimizing staff and bin costs,” said the statement.

The SCADA project is in progress and there will be a public address to place the community on water restrictions for a period of time when the system will be on manual operation to allow the contractor to install and calibrate an automated system this week.
The replacement of Sentinel Bridge is ongoing. Contractors have been working on the site and are installing piles.
Work is being completed on Gold Creek and Adanac roads.

Protective Services
The peace officer is patrolling Highway 3 in Coleman and Frank to slow traffic and is responding to unsightly property complaints. Agricultural Service is implementing their plan for the season as projected in their budget. Fire/Rescue participated in Bellecrest Days and will be participating in the Canada Day Parade July 1.