Courtesy: Town of HL Agenda
Organizational Structure Changes
As part of the budgeting process, Council approved the 2022 Organizational Structure on December 13, 2021 (Council Resolution 438-21).
The Organizational Structure planning and recording has been upgraded to more effective and attractive software and some minor changes have been made to the structure by
Administration with no effective changes to the budget.
Changes to the structure are:
1. The Land Use & Planning department has been renamed Planning and
Development.
2. The position of Land Use & Planning Manager has been renamed Director of
Planning and Development to represent the changes involving the reporting of staff
to the position and the expectation of Director level management of the department.
3. The position of Bylaw / Peace Officer Consultant has been included in the
Organizational Structure. This position did form part of the budget but was
erroneously not included in the Structure presentation to Council on December 13,
2021.
4. Other positions in the Planning and Development department have been renamed to
represent the renaming of the department.
5. The position of Summer Events Coordinator has been renamed to include reference
to the support of the Chamber of Commerce and will be reporting directly to the
Director of Community Services.
6. The position of Heavy Duty Mechanic (050) has been renamed to Journeyman
Mechanic.
7. The position of Heavy Duty Mechanic (051) has been modified to Assistant
Equipment Technician to reflect the focus on smaller mechanical equipment in
Public Works and will be reporting to the Journeyman Mechanic instead of to the
Public Works Foreman.
Airport Reserve Transfer
The Town of High Level levies a Passenger Fee (Airport Improvement Fee) against most flights landing at the High Level Airport. From this fee the Town has consistently
budgeted an annual allocation to the Airport Reserve of $90,000.00.
In 2020 restrictions on air travel resulted in a change of usage at the High Level Airport with decreased flights resulting in decreased fee revenue. In 2020 $48,000 was
transferred to the Airport Reserve, all of which was allocated to the purchase of equipment.
In 2021 the Town received $73,771 in Passenger Fees. A $90,000 transfer to the reserve was budgeted in both the 2021 and 2022 budget, but no funds have been transferred to
the Airport reserve in either year.
In 2021 the Federal Government announced the Regional Air Transportation Initiative (RATI) to assist regional airports with operating funds due to the loss in revenues as a
result of Transport Canada’s air travel restrictions. The Town of High Level applied, and has been approved for funding under this initiative in the amount of $348,000. To date
the Town has received $187,610.
Administration is requesting Council allocate the following to the Airport Reserve:
Previous Year Top-up
2020 Passenger Fee top-up $42,000
2021 Passenger Fee top-up 16,000
Total Top-up allocation $58,000
2021 Passenger Fee revenue 74,000
2022 Budget allocation 90,000
Total Transfer to Airport Reserve $222,000
Beautification Taskforce
In March of 2020 the Town of High Level crated an Airport Beautification/Enhancement
Taskforce. The scope of the taskforce as outlined in the terms of reference is:
2.1
The Task Force is established to:
a) Review design work completed to date in conjunction with other planning documents,
such as the Community Sustainability Plan, Pedestrian, and Trails Plans.
b) Evaluate and prioritize options and make recommendations to Council regarding short and long-term beautification/ enhancement opportunities, including, but not limited to,
street and sidewalk scraping, infrastructure, signage, etc.; and
c) Make recommendations to Council on funding strategies and partnerships.
The taskforce has met regularly over the past 2 years and has made recommendations to
Council on the reallocation of the former kitchen space and the repainting of the passenger area of the air terminal.
Administration is recommending a budget be set for the Airport Beautification/Enhancement Taskforce for the 2022 fiscal year. This budget would be funded from the
Airport Reserve.
Keith Hopper, Trending 55
