Youth and volunteer recognition, extended Twinkle Tours – all priorities for CSAB in 2026

By Serena Lapointe

Each year, the Whitecourt Community Advisory Board (CSAB) holds a planning session where
volunteers review existing facilities, programs, services and service levels to see where
changes could or should be made and how best to tweak municipal amenities to serve the local
populace. The board also pinpoints different topics and priorities to look into and possibly
implement in the next year or in the longer term.
Town Council also creates a planning document each year, in a similar format. The items
brought forward by the CSAB align with the priorities set by Council, in the hopes of assisting
Council in achieving the strategic priorities they have set their focus on, creating synergy
between the two entities.
During the October 14 Regular Meeting of Council, the final council meeting before the election,
Brigette Moore, Vice-Chair of the CSAB, alongside Director of Community Services Chelsea
Grande, presented the 2026 CSAB Priorities Report, outlining the board’s eight priorities they
hope to achieve next year.
Town Council’s priorities are Economic Health, Livability, Organizational Excellence and
Governance Excellence. Under Economic Health, the CSAB focused on the community’s youth.
“It was brought up that perhaps highlighting our youth and the contributions they make in our
community would be something to spotlight in the Community Spectrum. Maybe a few youth
every issue, just so that people can see how involved they are in the community, because we
have some really great youth in our town,” said Moore.
The CSAB also focused on youth under the Livability pillar. “We have two priorities. One, under
Community Health/Wellness, is expanding programs for teens and adding resources for the
teenage group,” explained Moore. The second priority touched on the cultural/recreational side
and had to do with enhancing the Party in the Park festivities.
Moore said they would like to expand the size of the “adults only” section at Party in the Park
and add more tents to the public area, just in case the weather doesn’t cooperate. “It seems like
it doesn’t matter what time of year Party in the Park is,” chuckled Moore. “We also want to
include a Best Food Truck competition,” she added.

Under Organizational Excellence, Moore said the CSAB had two priorities, one of which had to
do with pool maintenance. “We have heard from a lot of people who get upset when the pool
maintenance happens, so we looked into why and when it happens.” She said they intend to
release the information and expand on it, further detailing why the shutdown happens when it
does. Every two years, starting around mid to late February, the pool closes and receives
maintenance for several weeks.
Grande expanded on it. “It’s very difficult to change the time of the pool maintenance because
we’ve had it there for so long, and it’s where we are slotted in for different contractors to come
in. It would also affect our lessons, and if we delay it, it will affect the Blue Dolphins. So, when
you look at it, it’s very difficult to have it in a different time of year. The board talked about really

explaining that more to the public so that they understood it. There’s no opportune time. Any
time is going to conflict with either school vacation, weekends, parties or someone’s birthday or
lessons. So, it’s about making sure we advertise it early enough and that we explain why it’s
done during that time and why we do it every two years.”  
Secondly, the CSAB plans to expand the Twinkle Tours. “They are always popular, so we
thought perhaps we could even have specialty tours for seniors that would maybe be a little
quieter and a bit earlier, so they don’t have to stay up late, or whatever that might look like to
better cater to them,” explained Moore.
The last pillar, Governance Excellence, included three priorities, of which two had to do with
regional partnerships. The CSAB felt that bringing Woodlands County on board to host National
Volunteer Week and Seniors’ Week would enable Woodlands County residents to take part.
Moore said that county residents who volunteer in Whitecourt would then be able to be
recognized by the municipality. She also said there could be cost-saving measures by jointly
hosting. The board also proposed expanding the Family & Community Support Services
(FCSS)
department by adding a Volunteer Coordinator position to help support the community’s non-
profits.
Other items discussed by the board but not deemed priorities for 2026 included water fountains
at the Off Leash Dog Park, renovations to the women’s change room in the McLeod Arena,

opening the Pembina Gas Infrastructure Aquatic Centre early on Tuesdays, Thursdays and
Fridays in the summer, expanding transit service to Pat Hardy Elementary School, extending
Dial-A-Bus hours, adding a swimsuit dryer to the pool change rooms, support for community
groups that wish to hold hockey watch parties, and changing the level of diamond maintenance
at Graham Acres. Items from the non-priority list could become priorities in future years.
TAGLINE:
The Community Services Advisory Board recently presented its priorities for 2026. The
volunteer group has selected eight priorities to focus on that include regional partnerships,
information sharing and youth recognition.