Eckville Town Council has agreed to providing incentive to those moving into the Eckville Estates Mobile Home Park.
Recently the mobile home park was sold to a company in British Columbia, and they are offering new owners three months free pad rent as an incentive.
The Town is offering a similar incentives to new owners in the park with three moths free utilities.
This incentive to bring in new owners, would save roughly $200 in utilities for new owners.
“…In the past two year, five different homes left the park and no new ones moved in… It should be noted that when the homes were moved out of the park, the Town also lost revenue, both in taxes and in utilities,” the Council package said.
The package continued to note there ultimately would be not negative impact on the Town’s budget with this new incentive as they “aren’t receiving any utility payments (or tax revenue) on the vacant lots or pads.”
Council is also considering allowing smaller “park model” homes to be placed in the Eckville Estates Mobile Home Park.
The first reading of the amended bylaw No. 773020 was given on Nov. 9, which will lower the minimum square footage to 380 square foot, with a minimum 10’ width.
This will make the process more straightforward and “cut a lot of red tape,” Jack Ramsden’s management report states.
The Town tested the new Christmas lights in preparation for the Tree Lighting which is planned for Nov. 26.
Town staff said they wanted to see what they look like, and that everything worked, ahead of the annual tree lighting.
The Town is keeping a firm eye on the current pandemic and regulations coming Alberta Health Services and the Province, regarding gathering sizes.
It is a concern that the annual tree lighting will have to be cancelled due to size regulations. Announcements made about the tree lighting on Nov. 26 will be made closer to the date.
A letter from Alberta Health Services about potentially reopening laboratory and diagnostic imaging services at the Eckville Community Health Centre.
The letter states these services will not be reopened at this time, but any changes to this will be presented to the Town first.
Services such as immunizations and home care continue to be available through the Community Health Centre.
“We recognize that there are challenges with access for some local seniors. That is why we continue to provide residents of the Eckville Manor with access to lab collections through Home Care or mobile collections on a weekly basis,” the letter states.
The letter continues to state a new state-of-the-art x-ray unit is being built in Sylvan Lake and is available to Eckville residents.
As well, the closure of the services in Eckville “allowed AHS to re-deploy staff to areas of greater need in nearby facilities,” like AACS in Sylvan Lake.
“Recruitment and retention of health care professionals is a challenge in rural communities across the province, as many in our rural areas like Eckville are choosing to take opportunities in larger centres.”