Town of Leader ready for summer with boosted staff
By Stu Salkeld
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Your West Central Voice
The Town of Leader is looking forward to a busy summer and has all of its extra staff in place too. Town council approved summer staff wages at their regular meeting May 19.
Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Erin Romanuik stated in a May 21 phone call with Your West Central Voice newspaper that councillors examined and approved wages for a number of summer staff positions, including four to five for the public swimming pool and one tourism coordinator.
Romanuik confirmed the Town of Leader applied for Canada Summer Jobs funding and landed all the grants they applied for. The tourism coordinator works out of the tourism booth.
Committee work
The CAO noted that councillors reviewed and adjusted various committee and board appointments after a new councillor was named after the recent by-election.
Romanuik noted it's likely committee work will have to be adjusted again in June as the Town of Leader is conducting another by-election to be completed by then.
Closed session
The CAO confirmed councillors moved into closed session to discuss human resources. After they re-entered the public meeting no resolutions were made.
Asphalt work
The CAO noted that councillors passed a resolution to award Leader's 2026 paving request for quotes (RFQ) to Affordable Paving of Redcliff, AB. She clarified that the RFQ process was different from a tender; readers should note an RFQ process tends to be quicker and price-focused, while a tender is more detailed and complex.
Romanuik stated the value of Leader's 2026 paving work is $100,000 including tax and includes base work to repair spots where water utility work was conducted, some milling, spot paving and paving.
The entire project is about 13,000 square feet. The CAO stated there's no definite start date but no streets will have to be closed for the work.
Wild West Days
Romanuik noted that councillors approved a community event license for Wild West Days' beer garden. The CAO observed the license was applied for through the Leader Curling Club.
The CAO noted Wild West Days is scheduled to include a parade, ball tournament, mud bogs and tractor pull. The event is scheduled to run June 12 to 14.
Bylaws passed
Councillors approved two bylaws at their meeting. The first was Bylaw 03-26 to establish an Iceplex advisory committee, with the CAO noting there were no issues with the bylaw. Councillors passed second and third readings.
Next up was a bylaw to extend time required for completion of the tax roll. The CAO clarified municipal staff request extra time to get the tax roll ready as usually it must be opened May 1. All readings of the bylaw were passed.