Vermilion’s Mayor, Caroline McAuley on January 8. Photo Angela Mouly
According to Mayor, Caroline McAuley, the last two and a half months have been busy for council members, and she is looking forward to a new year full of activity in Vermilion.
She went on to say that Town Council will be doing strategic planning from the end of January to beginning of February so they can better articulate to residents what the next four years will look like.
“I would like to let residents know that we are beginning to explore the opportunity of bringing Senior Level 4 housing to Vermilion,” said McAuley.
She went on to say that council is in the early stages of working with Alberta Health Services and MLA Dr. Richard Starke, to gather statistics and match what the need is to what the service could look like.
According to McAuley, the Town of Vermilion will be placing a stronger focus on industrial and retail economic development going into 2018. As a result, they will be sending a member of council to the International Shopping Conference in Whistler, British Columbia.
The Mayor is also thrilled with how well the New Commercial Retail Development Incentive Program has been going. Expecting more businesses in the future, along with the four previously approved for the program, McAuley said, “I see good things for our downtown; by the summer, Vermilion is going to look very different. We are also very grateful to a community resident who has donated $50,000 to support the program.”
McAuley went on to say that what is exciting to her about the donation is that she feels that it shows that people are starting to believe in the growth of Vermilion.
McAuley noted that Vermilion would see a few large infrastructure projects in 2018 including a Water-Sewer Treatment Plant, the ice plant needing some work, and Broadband as a regional project.
“We have to be thinking bigger, and right now, I am going around meeting with businesses to find out how things are going and if there are any niche businesses that we could bring in to benefit them. This will be a tougher financial year for us, but bringing in new business will help cover the cost of development land. I think overall we are heading into an exciting year!
Honestly, I have a great council and staff at the Town Office; and we are open, so if people have concerns or ideas, please feel free to come and talk to us,” said McAuley.