Travel Drumheller delegation seeks to include Starland County in Destination Tourism Plan

Written by Cheryl Bowman

A delegation from Travel Drumheller appeared before council on Wed.

June 8 with a presentation to introduce their organization to Starland County and demonstrate the benefits of working with their destination tourism plan.

Travel Drumheller is a non-profit destination marketing organization that is working towards making Drumheller and the surrounding area into a year-round travel hot-spot by creating multimedia campaigns.

The delegation presented information regarding their operations and how they plan to achieve their goals with the intent to include Starland County.

According to Travel Drumheller, tourism in Drumheller and the surrounding areas is valued to be $70 million.

After the presentation, council members discussed the opportunity and moved forward with pledging funds to be part of the organization.

Starland council moved to pledge $3,500 with an additional $5,000 later on to show their interest in participating with Travel Drumheller.

Highway signage proposal
Starland County council is planning to move forward with the creation of new signs that will be placed along highways in the area.

The county intends to install four large signs at highway entrances throughout the county with an additional four smaller signs located at secondary highway entrances.

Five proposals which included design, construction, installation and pricing were presented to the council for approval.

After deliberation, the council decided to choose the proposal by Lacombe Sign Masters at a cost of $80,557.

Although Starland County has allocated $50,000 for the project, they are going to inquire to see if the project can be completed in two parts.

The council plans to have the first portion of the project to take place in Fall 2022 with the second taking place in Spring 2023.

Alberta Municipal Affairs
Starland County council has received a letter from the office of Alberta Municipal Affairs regarding capital allocations.

Funding from the Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) and Canada Community-Building Fund (CCBF) has been approved.

Under the MSAI funding, $651,812 has been allocated and $111,814 has been approved for operating funds, while the amount for the CCBF will be $122,807.

Starland County has also been approved for the Provincial Education Requisition Credit (PERC) program and will receive $243,940.

Additionally, the Alberta Municipal Affairs Property Tax Branch wrote a letter to the council informing that they are planning to perform a detailed assessment audit of Starland County.

Ratepayer complaint
A ratepayer is requesting dust control on 35-0 in regards to the health concerns it presents to their children.

Starland County has already applied 500 metres of MG30 dust absolvent to the area, but the ratepayer is requesting an additional 1.5 kilometres of absolvent be sprayed in the area.

Council rejected this request as it would be out of their means and suggested that they contact surrounding municipalities to inquire about solutions.

Daniel Gonzalez
ECA Review

About the author

Cheryl Bowman

Cheryl spent most of her childhood in Stettler, growing up on a quarter section north of town. After graduating from Stettler Composite High School she moved to Calgary where she worked in various industries, attended The University of Calgary and raised a family.

She enjoyed volunteering and contributed in a variety of ways, such as writing articles for the Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre and covering charitable events as a photographer.

She moved back to Stettler in 2023 where she still has family.