Stettler town council received a special delegation during their Oct. 4 meeting.
In the chambers were members of the 15U AA Stettler Storm baseball team, the 2022 Western champions.
According to head coach Clint Greiner, the team should have made it to Westerns in 2021, however those plans were derailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“These kids grinded it out for two years to accomplish this goal,” said Greiner.
The team was initially supposed to attend the second September council meeting, however the meeting was cancelled as it was just prior to the Alberta Municipalities conference attended by council and staff the same week.
Greiner told council about the impressive quality of Stettler’s baseball program and walked them through the team’s championship play at Westerns.
Refreshments were provided to the team after the town presented a plaque acknowledging their win.
Score clock tender
Town council has approved the replacement of both scoreboards in the Stettler Recreation Centre, despite a price “hiccup.”
Originally approved for $28,000, Recreation and Culture manager Brad Robbins was back before council Oct. 4 requesting more funds as, during review of the original quote, it was found that it did not include cost of installation.
Tendered through the province’s Alberta Purchasing Connection website, three proposals for the project were received with the lowest coming in at just over $44,000.
“It’s not a show-stopper increase for an organization our size,” said Robbins.
“We got three vendors who put in bids for the (request for proposal), and (the low one) committed to Stettler Electrical for doing the electrical.”
Included with the new score boards are two new control panels, and timing clocks in each of the dressing rooms, including the referee change rooms.
“I like that there is that local component,” said deputy Mayor Gord Lawlor, about the electrical work.
When questioned about the timing clocks in the dressing room, Robbins said that they will help “manage the operations of the building” by getting players and referees onto the ice on time.
Another question Robbins received was regarding the existing scoreboards, and why they couldn’t be used any more.
“Our current scoreboard, is it still functional, or just outdated?” asked Coun. Wayne Smith.
Robbins replied that beginning in the spring of 2022, both boards developed “a number” of electrical issues which required games to be stopped and the equipment to be reset.
“Both went within two weeks of each other,” said Robbins.
Ultimately, in a motion put forward by Coun. Cheryl Barros, council approved the extra expenditure.
Natural gas supply
The Town of Stettler has locked in the rate for its natural gas supply for the next four years, and it is not going to be cheap.
When the existing contract ends on Dec. 31, 2022, so will the current supply rate of $2.67/GJ of gas. The new rate kicking in on Jan. 1, 2023 is a little over double, at $5.46 /GJ.
“We procure our energy directly from the market,” said chief administrative officer Greg Switenky.
According to Switenky, administration has been holding off on signing an agreement for natural gas supply, waiting for a window of potentially lower prices.
“No windows are appearing,” said Switenky.
While the price is locked in at $5.46/GJ for the commodity, the carbon tax levy will be increasing to $3.29/GJ in April 2023 before going up to $6.33/GJ in April 2026 when this agreement ends.
“This is a four-year, locked-in price,” said Switenky.
“All told, it adds about $80,000 to our operating budget.”
The contract, already signed prior to the meeting, had to be ratified and was done so in a motion by Coun. Scott Pfeiffer.