Irricana council is hoping to eliminate frustration caused by the challenge of gauging the needs and wants of local residents with a creative, new method. On Jan. 17, about 30 people took part in Idea Fest, an open house aimed at educating residents on the workings of the town and gathering input on what residents would like to see in the future.
“We’ve had more people than we anticipated already,” said Mayor Lisa Constantini, early on in the evening of the event.
CAO Alvin Melton said Idea Fest was, “very much a success,” with around 30 people attending. He said he would have liked more residents to attend but, according to information he gathered from representatives of other municipalities, 30 people was a good turn out for an open house.
At the council meeting on Jan. 21, Melton provided feedback from participants that indicated the event was helpful to them. Thirteen people responded to a questionnaire about Idea Fest and of them 100 per cent indicated they liked the form of public engagement and 85 per cent, or 11 of the 13, indicated they would like to see Idea Fest become a yearly event.
When residents arrived at the community hall, they were greeted by the smell of popcorn and hotdogs, and several large tables set up.
The capital budget table allowed residents the opportunity to give input on projects such as water and road infrastructure, as well as public buildings like the community hall and library.
Residents put colour-coded dots onto a sheet with Irricana’s capital projects. The colour of the dot indicated if the project was a high, medium or low priority to the resident. There was also space for participants to write in their “wish list” for new facilities and rank the importance of the suggested facility with the dots. Some of the “wish list” items included an area for equine or rodeo grounds and a new recreation facility.
Irricana resident Doug Mayes said he came to the event to get information on what is happening in the town and to see, “Where they are planning on spending our money.”
Mayes indicated the event was helpful for him and he participated in the capital projects priority sheet.
Several of the tables had multiple-choice questionnaires, including the economy table, which featured questions about Irricana’s businesses and encouraging new commercial and industrial development.
The governance table also had a multiple-choice questionnaire, aimed at gathering information on what Irricanians understand about the workings of the town. Questions included: Who are Irricana’s bylaw officers? and What is the role of council? The culture table included a 30-year vision of the town, which “looked” to 2039 and described possible changes. The vision indicated a population growth while still maintaining small-town qualities.
The table also had a multiple-choice questionnaire asking about what Irricana culture is and who creates culture in the community.
The environment table had an old-style water meter and the new water meters the town has in place now. The new unit is capable of a radio uploads and means employees collecting the data do not have to deal with cold, slush, snow or dogs when getting readings from the meters because they can upload the information from their vehicle.
The table also had a multiple-choice questionnaire for residents and included questions on the importance of shovelling snow from driveways and sidewalks, and how the government could encourage responsible environmental stewardship.
The society table included information from the emergency management agency, community services, Community Links and the Boys and Girls Club of Airdrie and Area, which will be setting up shop at the Irricana Youth Centre “The Crib” on Feb. 4. Representatives from Rocky View County were also on hand.
One of the hands-on stations at the event was the capital budget table. At this station participants were given $200 in “Irricana Dollars,” which had no monetary value but were used as a way for residents to “invest” in the programs and services they are most interested in.
In order to maintain the key works of the town such as infrastructure and emergency services, residents had to immediately give back $160, or 77 per cent, of their Irricana Dollars.
They then had the opportunity to put their remaining $40 towards the areas they felt were most important. Choices included parks and recreation, community services, infrastructure and administration to name a few.
“Hopefully we want (residents) to learn how the Town works,” Melton said. “When they get to the budgeting table we want them to think to themselves where to spend the money.”
He added he hoped the event would demonstrate the difficulty of budgeting.
Resident Tracy Shields said she got a lot of information from the event but wished some of the information was more up-to-date. She said she was especially interested in speaking with the people at the Boys and Girls Club and brought her daughter, Suzanne Shields, along to speak with them.
Suzanne spent a good chunk of her time at the Draw Your Town table where participants were encouraged to get creative and draw pictures of what they would like to see Irricana.
“I think we should have more flowers and art centres,” said Suzanne, 9.
