Moving forward with its plans to give the downtown core a face lift, the City of Grande Prairie is now looking to hire a consulting firm to look at what’s needed both above and below ground.

City Planner Stuart Wraight explains that while the public may not see it, infrastructure underground is vital to our community’s ability to grow.

“If we do get a request for a hotel building, or it may be for trying to promote for commercial office development to come down that may be mixed use, even including residential, that it can be accommodated with what’s underground at the moment; that’s what we really don’t know.”

Once approved by city council, an RFP will be sent out to find a company that can both assess the current condition and capacity of downtown, as well as help plan the rehabilitation project.

The capital costs are expected to be included in next year’s budget considerations.

In an effort to improve the amount of time it takes to get a building in Grande Prairie inspected, the Community Growth Committee has recommended creating four new positions in its inspection department.

Mayor Bill Given explains they’re currently having difficulties keeping up.

“The Quality Management Plan says that we will do inspections between two days or five days from the time that it’s requested. We’re finding that more often than not, we’re starting to bump up on that five days.”

There would be two new positions, including another building safety code officer, and two temps being converted to permanent.

The estimated increase in salaries would be between $175,000 and $200,000.

It’s hoped the additional revenue from inspection would help cover that cost.

Once created, filling the positions is the next hurdle, as they have to be properly certified in Alberta, making the pool of qualified applicants limited.