Lethbridge Minute: Water Meters, Downtown Fires, and an ENMAX Centre Anniversary

Lethbridge Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Lethbridge politics

This Week In Lethbridge:

• There will be a City Council meeting on Tuesday, beginning with a closed session at 12:30 pm. The meeting opens up to the public at 1:30 pm, and the agenda includes a discussion about designating the Whitney Block of 411 - 3 Avenue South as a Municipal Historic Resource. Administration will ask Council to spend up to $200,000 of grant funding from the Government of Alberta’s Ministry of Indigenous Relations to continue to implement the City’s 2021 Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) Recommendations and Work Plan.
  
  
• A meeting of the Safety and Social Standing Policy Committee, originally scheduled for Thursday, has been cancelled due to lack of agenda items.
  
  
• The ENMAX Centre is celebrating its 50th anniversary, having opened its doors in 1974 as the Canada Games Sportsplex for the purpose of hosting the 1975 Canada Winter Games. Home to the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes, the venue has since hosted notable events like the 2022 Montana’s Brier, Professional Bull Riders competitions, and performances by renowned artists such as KISS, Carrie Underwood, and Elton John. The ENMAX Centre unveiled a commemorative logo to mark its milestone.

Last Week In Lethbridge:

• The Downtown Lawlessness Reduction Task Force received a report revealing a 133% increase in downtown fires from 2022 to 2023. Lethbridge Fire & Emergency Services outlined that 77 fires occurred downtown in 2023, compared to 33 in 2022, posing increased risks to the public, property, and economic well-being. The report classified fires into categories, including incendiary, accidental, natural, and undetermined.
  
  
• Volunteer Lethbridge launched a new web service to enhance the connection between volunteers and nonprofits, coinciding with Random Acts of Kindness Week. The website offers community members a personalized experience to discover volunteering opportunities, while charitable organizations can manage profiles and showcase their mission and volunteer requirements. The initiative aims to attract the right volunteers to the right organizations. As part of Random Acts of Kindness Week, Volunteer Lethbridge is also organizing “Kindness Tables” at Lethbridge College and the University of Lethbridge, featuring free cookies and the chance to create Valentine's cards for patients at Chinook Regional Hospital's Geriatric Unit.
  
  
• The City has announced that it will upgrade approximately 10,000 water meters over a three-year period to enhance convenience in meter reading without entering residents' yards. The new technology allows meters to be read remotely, eliminating the need for staff to visit properties. The targeted replacements are based on the City's records of the oldest meters, with residents notified through door hangers. The upgrades will require brief, approximately 30-minute appointments to replace the meters inside residences, leading to increased efficiency, reduced intrusion, and more accurate billing. There will be no cost to residents for the installation.

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