Meet Your Elected Officials

The evenings are getting cooler and the days are getting shorter as we head into fall. This year, of course, is vastly different as our students head back to school under COVID-19 guidelines. Unfortunately, this fall the Indoor Pro Rodeo and the Fall Rummage Sale have been cancelled due to restrictions on large gatherings.

Plans are being made to be able to safely open indoor recreation facilities such as the Arena and Curling Rink. This will permit organizations such as Minor Hockey, Figure Skating, and Curling to proceed following COVID-19 protocols and Return to Play guidelines established by their respective governing bodies.

Starting Sept 14, Centennial Place will move into the next phase which expands the operating hours to 9:00 am – 9:00 pm weekdays, closed weekends. Pre-registered evening programs will be held in the Canalta Field House during the week (see Community Events pg. 3) and patrons of the Fitness Center will continue by appointment. In addition, Kiddies Korner Preschool will open in a modified fashion and Hanna Dance is establishing protocols to have a safe dance program this fall.

This summer’s construction season was remarkably busy. Each year the Town of Hanna receives infrastructure funding from both the Federal (Federal Gas Tax) and Provincial (Municipal Sustainability Initiative) Governments. These funds have been committed to major infrastructure projects every two years to get the most bang for our buck. This year the Town used funding accumulated in the past three years as well as additional funding received from the Provincial Government (Municipal Stimulus Program). The Road Rehabilitation projects included resurfacing a portion of Pioneer Trail (east entrance off Highway 9), several road, sidewalk and infrastructure replacements at Stephens Crescent, Winkler Drive, Shacker Crescent and 1st Street West between Railway & 1st Avenue. In addition, the 400 block of 2nd Avenue West saw the installation of new water and sewer lines: including both main lines and the service lines to each property, new granular base and asphalt road rehabilitation. These projects were recommendations outlined in our infrastructure study completed in 2014 with the total costs of the above infrastructure projects totaling approximately $2 million.

Town of Hanna staff constantly monitor the COVID-19 guidelines set out by the province and Alberta Health Services to be well prepared as we move into the winter months. On that note I would like to personally thank all the residents, businesses, and health care workers for doing an excellent job of following the guidelines to keep our community safe.

Respectfully
Chris Warwick, Mayor