Grande Prairie Public School District has approved it’s 2014-15 operational budget. District Secretary-Treasurer Jeff Olson says the budget is around 3 million dollars higher than this year, due in large part to a projected increase in enrollment.

“We have been growing about 4-5 percent on average every year. This year we are growing out again, and that works out to a little over 300 students. And with more students, of course comes the opportunity to hire new teachers.”

Olson adds they will hire 16 new classroom teachers for next year, as well as instructors for new specialty programs like French and Music. He adds they also need to bring on admin staff for the soon to be opened Charles Spencer high school.

The town of Valleyview is one step closer to getting a Multiplex. A financing agreement has been finalized that will see the M-D of Greenview responsible for 80 percent of the capital and operating costs of the facility, with the remaining costs picked up by the town. Greenview Reeve Dale Gervais says the agreement ends years of discussions surrounding the project.

“It’s been 6-7 years since we did our community needs study. And the number one item that came up out of that was an indoor aquatics centre. We have been working in conjunction with the town since then to come up with a workable agreement for financing.”

The 31 million dollar multiplex would also include a fieldhouse. The project will now move into the planning stage, with a meeting being planned for early June to get input from the public.

County landowners who want to be involved in this fall’s annexation hearings have just over 2 weeks left to provide submissions or express their intention to take part. John Simpson, who is the county’s annexation consultant, says the Municipal Government Board, the city, and the county need the summer to review all submissions before the hearing.

“What they’re trying to avoid is somebody showing up in October with three binders worth of information that nobody has seen before. It’s all about fairness, it’s all about sharing information ahead of time so all the parties have an opportunity to look at it, digest it, and respond to it.”

The deadline for submissions from the county and it’s residents is June 2, while the city’s is June 9. The hearing will take place this fall, from October 27 until November 7.

GP Wapiti MLA Wayne Drysdale will be sworn in as Minister of Infrastructure tomorrow. Drysdale held the position previously, before being shuffled to the transportation portfolio last December. Former Infrastructure Minister Ric McIver stepped down last week in order to run for leadership of the PC Party. Drysdale’s office says the MLA will likely be managing both the Transportation and Infrastructure posts at least until the party election is held in September.

Canadian Olympic cross country skier Brittany Webster paid a visit to the Swan city today. She was at Aspen Grove school to meet face to face with the Grade two students that she has been working with all year through the Classroom Champions program. Webster taught a monthly lesson in goal setting and perserverence to the children through video conferencing. She says she was impressed with how the class took to her lessons throughout the year.

“The feedback and the work that they are doing and what I have done to be able to inspire them, I mean being able to see what they have done for goal setting, and even being able to see the transition from where they started and where they finished. But that grade two classroom that Jeanine Hay has been working with, they are really great kids.”

Webster has begun her training cycle for the 2015 worls championships in Finland. She hopes to participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, after which she plans to retire.

RCMP are are investigating a the theft of an elderly woman’s purse at the Prairie Mall.

Police say a man approached the 80 year old at the main entrance of the mall early yesterday morning.

The suspect took off with the purse and cash inside, and was last seen near the Prairie Haven and Stonebridge Hotel.

The man is described as Caucasian , around 20 years old and 6′ tall, wearing a grey “Canada” hoodie, grey shorts, and a baseball hat.

Anyone who may have information on the identity or location of the suspect is asked to contact the local detachment.

Just in time for the long weekend…. all County campgrounds are open for business as of tomorrow. County Parks and Recreation Manager Megan Schur reminds you that you can not pre book a campsite, that they are all available on a first come, first serve basis.

“If you want to secure a campsite for the long weekend, particularly at one of our busier campsites like Pipestone, you need to be present at the campground on the 15th, with cash in hand and ready to purchase and occupy a site.”

New playgrounds have been installed at Bear Lake, Hommy Park and Kleskun Hill campgrounds, while electricity and sani dump upgrades are underway at Pipestone. Because of this, Schur says users may see some moderate fee increases at some of their campgrounds.

The Classroom Champions program is expanding in the Peace region. Five additional schools will be added in the Grande Prairie region, along with Aspen Grove school, which took part in the program this year. Program co-founder and 2010 Olympic gold medalist Steve Mesler says they have developed some key partnerships this year, which is allowing the program to grow.

“Such as the Encana’s, who say we see something good happening, and we not only want to get involved, but we actually want to do it more and get it to more kids is a pretty humbling thing for us and a neat way to grow.”

This is the first year for Classroom Champions in Canada, although the program has been active in the United States since 2009. Overall, the number of Canadian schools involved will grow from 27 this year, to 70 next year.

The city is considering making a change to the way they use Aquatera’s discretionary dividends. In the past few years the city has been receiving those dividends, based on any surplus the organization might have year to year. Mayor Bill Given says he’s concerned that how the city is benefiting from the funding is not as clear or transparent as it should be.

“Right now that money comes into the city’s general revenue and is used to support all the different operations of the city. The concept that I’m putting forward is to see if we can make a better link that’ll be easier for the public to understand. With this proposal I believe people will be able to see that in the infrastructure that we are able to support in the ground.”

In 2013 the city received a million dollars in discretionary dividends from Aquatera. Given says those funds have become an important source of revenue for the city.

“The revenue that comes to the city allows us to undertake projects that the city requires. If we didn’t have that revenue coming then ultimately city of Grande Prairie taxes would be higher. I can appreciate that, and that’s one of the reason why I brought this forward, is because I want it to be very transparent about what the city of Grande Prairie is doing with these discretionary dividends.”

Given says he would like to see those discretionary dividends being funneled directly into water and waste-water infrastructure projects that would benefit both the city and Aquatera.

The County of Grande Prairie is still seeking nominations for three volunteers to take an all expenses paid trip to Calgary next month for the Vitalize 2014 conference. The symposium is based around the development of skills for the non-profit sector. FCSS Director Kathleen Turner explains their criteria for selecting who will be attending the conference.

“We’re just going to review, you know, how many organizations a person volunteers with, what their commitment is, hours that they put in per month or per year, and how long they’ve been doing it.”

Turner says the conference will offer a lot of training and skill development opportunities for attendees.

“It’s a really good event for volunteers who can go and get more information on how to operate their boards, how to do fundraising, just new ideas. It’s really a great opportunity to rejuvenate and get revitalized.”

Vitalize is set for June 5-7 in Calgary. Nominations can be made here. The deadline is May 15 at 4:30.