The Municipality of Jasper is in no rush to replace or refurbish the Jasper Cenotaph, which staff say is only showing some signs of wear and tear.

On Tuesday (July 14), committee of the whole directed administration to continue to support the Jasper Legion with the Jasper Cenotaph Project, but at this time, it did not commit municipal funding or staff resources beyond current capacity.

“While the existing cenotaph is showing signs of wear and would benefit from improvements, administration does not understand the structure to be at risk of imminent failure or to present an immediate risk to public safety,” said Christopher Read, director of Community Development.

Located across the street from the Legion, the local cenotaph memorializes the local war dead of the First and Second World Wars and more broadly serves as an important community space that recognizes military service and sacrifice.

The Legion has been developing a project to support improvements to the landmark. Last fall, council received a request from the Legion during budget deliberations for $250,000 in funding. It chose to add the project as an unfunded item in the amount of $240,000 in the 2027 year and direct administration to work with the Legion to further develop the proposal.

Read said administration has established “a collaborative process” with the Legion, focusing on clarifying the condition of the existing cenotaph, the information required to advance the project and the next necessary steps.

Because staff determined the matter wasn’t urgent, Read said the project was best understood as “a planned improvement to an important community space.”

The Legion will need to develop concept drawings and obtain quotes so it can prepare a project proposal for council’s consideration. Read said this work was already ongoing and that the project may be eligible for federal funding.

Mayor Richard Ireland noted council had allocated an additional $10,000 to the cenotaph if immediate repairs were required.

Coun. Danny Frechette asked if Morgan Kitchen, the 24-year-old firefighter who died battling the 2024 Jasper Wildfire, could be honoured at the cenotaph.

Read said different locations have been considered for a future memorial but no plans are confirmed.

Unsolicited donations policy

Council is considering a new policy that will outline how unsolicited donations should be allocated.

The draft policy comes after council decided to give more than $32,600 in unsolicited wildfire donations to the Jasper Community Team Society’s Caring Community Fund. It also asked staff to return with a policy for dealing with unsolicited donations. 

“Currently, there is no formal process,” said Natasha Malenchak, director of Finance and Administration. “Each donation must be considered individually, which can lead to inconsistency and uncertainty.”

The policy would direct these donations to the Municipal Financial Stabilization Reserve. Malenchak said this would preserve council’s authority over how the money is spent and ensure the funds are managed through the existing reserve framework.

Council will consider this policy at next week’s meeting.

Audit services

Staff recommended that council switch to a new auditor for a five-year term.

While Metrix has been providing its services since 2011, Malenchak said MNP met all the requirements and would charge $36,000 less over a five-year term. She noted the recommendation was based on overall evaluation and not price alone.

“We just see that it’s a good process to have somebody new to evaluate the Municipality and where we’re moving forward,” she said.

Coun. Ralph Melnyk was not opposed to a new auditor but warned they would have a “learning curve” taking on a new client, particularly a post-fire community such as Jasper that also had to report to both the provincial and federal governments, and hoped the Municipality wouldn’t be charged extra because of this.

Coun. Laurie Rodger agreed that it was good to get a fresh perspective, noting 15 years was a long time to have the same auditor, and suggested council consider a policy limiting the period.

Council will return to this matter at their next meeting.

Peter Shokeir, Local Journalism Initiative // info@thejasperlocal.com