BONNYVILLE – The Town of Bonnyville will move forward with a Retail/Commercial Gap Analysis following Town council’s approval on Aug. 22. A total of $31,363.50 will be pulled from the Town’s General Capital Reserve to cover the cost of the analysis.
The purpose of the retail and commercial gap analysis is to assist the municipality in identifying opportunities to grow the existing commercial base, attract new investment and increase available jobs in the Town of Bonnyville.
A Request for Proposal (RFP) was recently sent out for the project with the Town receiving two responses.
A proposal was received from Torthorwald Management Consulting, which came with a total cost of $44,205. A proposal from FBM Planning Ltd. came with a total cost of $31,363.50 to complete the analysis.
Administration recommended that council approve a total cost of $31,363.50 to hire FBM Planning Ltd. to complete the analysis, which will be funded from the General Capital Reserve.
Because the cost of the Retail/Commercial Gap Analysis was not included in the final 2023 capital budget council’s approval was required to allocate funds from the General Capital Reserve for the project.
The retail and commercial gap analysis will not include information on any potential residential property needs in the municipality.
Regular meeting cancelled
The Town’s regular council meeting scheduled for Sept. 26 has been cancelled.
The last meeting of September was cancelled due to a scheduling conflict with the annual ABMUNIS Conference. Council members will be travelling that evening to attend the conference.
The next regular meeting of council will be on Oct. 10.
Council renews membership for Lakeland tourism organization
The Town of Bonnyville will once again become a member of the Alberta’s Lakeland Destination Management Organization.
The annual membership will cost the Town $1,774.50, which is based on a $0.30 per capita cost for municipal memberships.
The Town had previously been a member of the Alberta’s Lakeland DMO from 2002 to 2018.
Seeking why the membership had not been renewed following 2018, Renee Stoyles, the Town’s General Manager of Corporate Services, replied to Coun. David Sharun’s inquiry, stating, “In 2019, we were approached by Go East and we decided to go to their membership instead. But now we figure it could be beneficial to do both.”
Correspondence was received from Marianne Janke with Alberta’s Iron Horse Trail/Travel Lakeland outlining the benefits of becoming a member of the. Membership in Alberta’s Lakeland DMO includes 10 core destination marketing activities annually and savings for bulk advertising.
Alberta’s Lakeland DMO is a member-based, not-for-profit that has been serving the visitor economy in northeastern Alberta since 1977. Its mandate is destination marketing and development of the Lakeland, stretching from Waskatenau, east to the Saskatchewan border and Highway 16 north to Lac La Biche and Plamondon.
The organization is the engine behind the Escape to the Lakeland Contest, the Travel Lakeland website and curated adventure itineraries for the region.
“I think it's a great idea. I'm happy this request is coming for us to renew our membership. There's a lot of different initiatives going on right now with Travel Alberta and a lot of that information is being sourced through this organization,” said Mayor Elisa Brosseau.
Coun. Phil Kushnir made the motion that the Town renew its membership for Alberta’s Lakeland Destination Management Organization for 2023, which was carried.