It’s been nearly two years since members of Sexsmith municipal council were able to take in a meeting at council chambers, but a return to their traditional home may be finalized by the end of the year.
Currently using space in the municipally owned Community Centre, Mayor Kate Potter says members of council, as well as staff across the municipality have been trying to do the best with the hand they’ve been dealt, but the time for a more concrete plan has come.
“They don’t have office space, and we currently have a staff member who has their office in the old council chambers, because there is no space for them due to COVID-19 restrictions,” she says.
“We went online when COVID-19 first hit, and it would have been May [2020] when we came back together, but we couldn’t stay in chambers because it was too tight a space,” she adds.
Potter says the plan at this point is to look towards creating more office space in a vacant building near the municipal chambers, which will then allow the municipal government to return to their pre-pandemic home. She adds the move to a more suitable home will also free up the space truly meant for members of the public.
“We were at the Civic Centre, then we moved to the Community Centre because we could use it more permanently… but of course then it takes rental space from the community, and it’s intended for community use,” she says.
“We end up having extra meetings for other things, and we try to work around those schedules, but if we can find a permanent solution that resolves the issues, and it gives the community the space back, it would be wonderful.”
No financial details about the proposed office move have been finalized, but Potter says the hope is to have any construction and moving complete by the fall.