WORKING ON quality of life
It is important for the City to make reasonable investment into Quality of Life for residents. People deserve to enjoy where they live. Opportunities to build friendships enhance safety. And having an attractive community to live in is vital to our economy by supporting labour attraction and retention.
If re-elected, I intend to advocate for:
Continued reform to Council’s Community Group Funding framework. Supporting non-profits in the community is a cost efficient and effective way to enhance Quality of Life. But funding decisions should be more transparent, streamlined, and aligned with community priorities. Once funding is set at an appropriate level, it must keep up with population plus inflation growth.
Replacement indoor recreation in Avondale after the Leisure Centre is demolished. It doesn’t need to be a state-of-the-art facility, but this key piece of land located between two high schools deserves investment.
Increased staff resources be put into developing and supporting Neighbourhood Associations. If properly fostered, Neighbourhood Associations are an excellent tool to recruit volunteers, raise private funding, and provide advice to the City to enhance their communities.
Close gaps in the City’s Active Transportation Network. To allow people to safely walk or bike everywhere in the City, an investment of approximately $7 million is needed (source). A plan should be put in place to make this happen within the next 5 years.
Collaborate with non-profit, sporting and cultural groups to create a Community Calendar so that you never have to say “I had no idea that event was happening” again.
Exploration of an indoor park and garden space on the Montrose Cultural Centre site to help residents maintain mental health through our long winters.
Working with community partners to create more opportunities for young adults without children and seniors to connect with others and have fun. These are two demographics that frequently move from Grande Prairie. Retaining them will help our community and economy.
During my time on Council, I undertook the following work to enhance Quality of Life:
An overhaul of the City’s approach to Boards and Committees to give more voice to the Youth Advisory Council, Neighbourhood Associations, and other bodies made up of everyday residents. This allows for feedback and ideas outside of City Hall to be heard and acted on.
Served on the Grande Prairie Sport Connection and Regional Recreation Committee boards to help develop sport and recreation opportunities in Grande Prairie while also enabling organisations and municipalities to be more efficient by working together.
Pushed for the creation of a Recreation and Cultural Needs Assessment so that we can create an overall strategy for enhancing Quality of Life rather than just looking at projects on a case-by-case basis. This work has been initiated and will be presented to Council next year.
Supported the creation of a Low Cost Recreation Facility in Smith and a bike skills park in Crystal Lake. More recreation opportunity was needed for residents in the northeast corner of town, and these projects will provide opportunities with limited ongoing operational costs.
Advocated for the City to focus on getting more services built east of the train tracks. A new grocery store in Cobblestone, activity Centre in Smith, and bike park in Crystal Lake are new services that eastside residents will soon be able to access without crossing the tracks.
Do you have questions, ideas, or feedback? I’d love to hear from you! Find me on social media (@DylanBresseyGP) or click here to contact me.