ATHABASCA – One community member’s vision of the benefits a community coordinator would provide to the region left local politicians fired up about the idea, with one councillor referring to it as “genius.”
During the Town of Athabasca’s Oct. 17 council meeting, and Athabasca County’s Oct. 26 council meeting, Lori Claerhout, a resident of Athabasca, pitched the idea of a dedicated community coordinator — someone who could act as a formal support for the region’s volunteers, who she said are aging, and starting to burn out.
“If someone is choosing between communities, how do we encourage them to choose us?” asked Claerhout during her presentations. “We know why people should move here, but how do we sell them on it?”
The town had already reached out to discuss the topic further with the county, after mayor Rob Balay said the town was interested in the project and saw it as a regional position.
“You’ve given us some food for thought for sure, but like (town Coun. Jonathan LeMessurier) said, things are a little tight at times. We also have to judge what value we put on things for the community.”
At the core of Claerhout’s pitch was the idea that good things happening in both the town and county could be amplified with further support. In the six-page document Claerhout provided to councillors, she listed a variety of locations and clubs she thought could benefit from an increase in inter-club communication.
“A community coordinator could be tasked with attending board meetings, locating the right people to talk to in order to find out what’s happening, or calling congregational meetings where members of each society, club, association or other group are invited to attend,” said Claerhout.
How does it fit in?
While county councillors were all sold on the idea — councillors voted unanimously to have administration gather more information for budget discussions — some councillors had a slightly different view of where the role would slot in.
“I absolutely love the idea, but I don’t think it’s something that to me, fits under the county’s umbrella,” said Coun. Ashtin Anderson. “I really love the idea and think it has great benefit to the community, but I wonder if it could go in a community group, with us providing support.”
Other places for the job included the Athabasca Regional Economic Development (ARED) committee, which was recently restructured.
“I could see it being part of economic development, where they would be hosting town tours for potential employers. I get the point of it going to a (community group), but we could expand this to have a lot more benefit to us as a municipality,” said county councillor and ARED chair Camille Wallach.
County reeve Brian Hall and Coun. Natasha Kapitaniuk pointed to the county’s strategic plan as a reason to support the idea — Kaptianiuk highlighted the overlap with the third pillar of the document, titled “A Community that Cares.” Hall referred to the idea of ‘community vibrance’ and the role that council played in maintaining it.
“There’s creative ways to do this that may or may not involve us actually doing this, it may also involve us having support from our municipal partners,” said Hall. “There was absolutely a direction from the town for us working together on this, and it could be something that we phase in in sections.”
Both municipalities will be meeting in late November, with the coordinator position on the list of topics.
