Tag: Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo

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The Council for the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo Hesitant to Write Off Almost $250,000 Owed

Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, write off unpaid dent
Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, write off unpaid dent

A recent meeting of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo council showed that at least some members were hesitant to write off unpaid debt in an amount close to a quarter of a million dollars. The meeting on Monday was scheduled for an audit and budget committee meeting, and the councilors expressed a need for further information before they decided whether or not to write off unpaid debt from two different companies. One of the companies owes $216,000 and has filed for bankruptcy. The other debt included in the amount is a company still in the collection process which owes the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo $23,522. At the council meeting Councilor Bussieres said “I just can’t believe we’d write a quarter of a million dollars off. I think we need more information … I’m not prepared to write this off.”

One concern that the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo councilors expressed was the amount involved to write off unpaid debt by just two companies. Committee Chair, Councilor Sheldon Germain, “The questions were regarding those particular situations, but the bigger thing that came out of it, to Coun. Bussieres’ credit, is what policies and procedures do we as a governance board have to put in place so we’re not writing off large numbers (of money). It’s about trying to get policy in the future that doesn’t allow accounts receivable to get that high and … make sure that the municipality doesn’t get caught in that position again.”Councilor Tyran Ault asked “Who’s going to fault this company for setting up under a different name two months later?”

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Entertainment Ft Mac

A Jubilee Plaza Winter Launch is Expected

Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, Jubilee Plaza
Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, Jubilee Plaza

The Jubilee Plaza is in the final construction stages, and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo can not wait until spring to launch the project. The first visitors may not see all of the features right away as some will be added even after the launch. Arndis Bildfell, a community services staffer with the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, said “It’s a natural gathering place in the heart of downtown, so I’ve been meeting with a lot of our community organizations … to see the space for what it can be and what it is, and to bring their programming down to the space. We will program such events like a lunchtime activity or something to get the local office people out of their office down in the plaza for 20 minutes or whatever … to give them a little fresh air and sunshine, which we all need.”

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo had hoped to open the Jubilee Plaza in October, but the delay was not that long and the project is on track to come in at the budget amount of $16.9 million that was set. According to Arndis Bildfell “We had anticipated October. Obviously, when you get into construction projects and stuff, you always encounter certain things such as construction schedules, dealing with sub-consultants and those kind of things. And the reality is we’ve come pretty close to target.” Bildfell continued by saying “With the winter opening, as Marc had mentioned, two of the major elements won’t be in place until the spring. So it leaves us a unique opportunity to test out the space over the winter, to offer it to community groups and organizations into the space to test it out for their own programming.”

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Economic Ft Mac

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo Hears Budget Requests

Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, budget requests
Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, budget requests

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo has started hearing budget requests in an attempt to determine how to use the small budget to fund numerous projects. The budget hearing was held Tuesday, and the councilors were briefed on the finances of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo before the hearing started. There are several projects who are all rated at the same priority level, and that makes it harder to allocate the available resources in the best way possible. Fort MacMurray Mayor Melissa Blake said “Going forward, council is going to have some serious considerations to make. We’ve got some unassigned resource projects, which means, historically, that’s below the line, we don’t have the funding for it.” There is currently $394 million available according to Kola Oladimeji, who is the director of finance for the RMWB.

The $394 million available to the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo is not all available for budget requests though. $288 million of this has been committed already, being promised for multi year projects that have already been started. This only leaves $109 million for the council to use on new projects that are proposed. Mayor Blake commented “We’ve got three full days of budgets where we’ll receive the presentation, come to understand why the priorities have been allocated the way that they were, and then council starts the jockeying game. You juggle for position, trying to get things that are relevant and important to go above that line if necessary.” Coun. Tyran Ault stated “It’s exciting in the sense that we’re going to take a good, hard look at all of the projects that are on the books. It’s different for this municipality,. There are more projects than there is money, and some of the talk that we have endless pots of money are going to be scrutinized this time around.”

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24 Hour Residential Service Line Launched by Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo

Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, 24 hour residential service line
Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, 24 hour residential service line

The residents of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo now have a new option for non emergency questions and needs, a 24 hour residential service line that was recently launched in order to help residents and improve the service that they get. This hotline is not for emergency calls, instead it provides residents with one more option to get the latest news and information about the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo and the municipal operations that impact residents in the area. The hotline is called Pulse: Wood buffalo Call Line, and it will help keep residents informed and provide vital information that may be needed. According to those who know the line will be staffed with live people who can answer questions, provide non emergency assistance, and perform other duties as needed as well.

The 24 hour residential service line that was recently launched by the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo is not intended to replace the emergency 911 system, and residents who have an emergency are still advised to call 911 instead of the Pulse line. The hotline can help residents find out about anything that is going on in Wood Buffalo, from important snow removal information to when potholes are expected to be fixed. Residents can also call the 24 hour residential service line for the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo to report a stray dog or even ask for assistance in locating lost keys. Hopefully this will provide residents with additional resources that will prove to be very helpful.