County of St. Paul No 19

Council Meeting

AGENDA

Meeting #:
Date:
Time:
-
Location:
5015- 49 Avenue, St. Paul, AB T0A 3A4

At the September meeting, Council was presented with an amendment to the Fire Protection Services Bylaw.  Municipalities that have a trestle or bridge along the Iron Horse Trial were requested by Muni Corr to include a clause in their Fire Protection Services Bylaw regarding a setback for open fires near the trestle or bridge.  Proposed wording was presented to Council, however Council requested that it be amended to include permission for the adjacent landowners to burn.  

 

Bylaw No. 2017-27 is now being presented to Council to amend Fire Services Bylaw No. 2017-08 to include the following clause under Section 7.7:

No person shall set, permit, maintain or operate an open fire or burning barrel at any time of the year within one hundred (100) metres of a trestle or bridge structure located on the Alberta's Iron Horse Trail. The person who set, permitted or maintained such an Open Fire or burn barrel shall extinguish the fire immediately upon the order of a Fire Guardian or his designate.  If the person who set, permitted or maintained such an open fire fails to comply with an order to extinguish, the fire services may extinguish the fire and recover the cost of extinguishment form the person in accordance with the Fee Schedule Bylaw.  An adjacent landowner to a trestle may be permitted to maintain or operate an open fire for agricultural purposes provided that a fire permit is issued and the conditions therein are adhered to.  

Policy ADM-6 is being presented to Council to amend the County's practices for managing cellular phones. This Policy was brought before the Policy Committee on September 27th, 2017. 

Policy HR-8 is being presented to Council to amend the County's management of conference and education activities. This Policy was brought before the Policy Committee on September 27th, 2017. 

Policy HR-29 is bring presented to Council to amend the County's sick leave and family medical benefits program. This Policy was brought before the Policy Committee on September 27th, 2017. 

Policy HR-33 is being presented to Council to amend the County's management of vacation time. This Policy was brought before the Policy Committee on September 27th, 2017. 

Policy PW-59 is being presented to Council to amend the County's gravel sales program. This Policy was brought before the Policy Committee on September 27th, 2017. 

Parks Policy REC-121 is being presented to Council for approval.  These changes were approved by the Parks Committee on September 28th. 

9.  Prebooking of sites for group events will be permitted for weddings, family reunions, and other events at Westcove and Floatingstone in designated sites.  and will be restricted to the small gazebo and sites 65, 66, 67, 68, 69A, and 69B. Prebookings for the above events fall outside of Section B1 above.   All fees must be paid in advance and are subject to cancellation requirements as set out in B7.  

 

10.  Monthly site rentals will be permitted at Westcove, Stoney Lake and Floatingstone.  Designated sites will be determined by administration.

Bylaw 2017-28 is bring presented to Council to amend the County's cemetery management practices. This Policy was brought before the Cemeteries Committee on September 26th, 2017. 

A copy of the 2017 Regional Strategic Plan which has been updated for the 3rd quarter, is attached for Council approval.  

The 2017 Strategic Plan which has been updated for the 3rd quarter is attached.  

The Draft 2018 Strategic Plan, as updated after the Planning Sessions was forwarded separately.  Following approval of the plan, administration will proceed with the 2018 budget process.

The Payroll Services Agreement with Mallaig & District Ag Society and Recreation Association for the Arena Caretaker positions is being presented for renewal.  The caretakers are seasonal County employees.

The St. Paul Town and County Joint Fire Services Agreement is being presented to Council for approval.  The proposed changes are in red and have been approved at the committee level. 

The Town of Elk Point and County Joint Fire Services Agreement is being presented to Council for approval.  The proposed changes are in red and have been approved at the committee level. 

Further to the discussions at the September 20 Public Works Meeting, a Service and Maintenance Agreement with North East Muni-Corr for the Mallaig Siding is being presented for Council's approval.  The conditions of the agreement are as follows:

  1. The County shall continue to maintain the road right-of-way, as per Schedule "C".
  2. If Muni-Corr's current access to their staging area located at Lot 1, Plan 9721067 as shown in Schedule "D" is ever blocked, removed or becomes otherwise impassable, the County shall construct an alternate access to the staging area at a location to be approved by Muni-Corr.

The agreement was approved by Muni Corr at their October 5th meeting.  

We have received a request from a resident to purchase the NW 24-58-7-W4 adjacent to Kehewin Lake.  

 

This land is currently being leased to the Elk Point Elks and they have been leasing it since 1988 and they have a building on the property.  They have a ten year lease which is up for renewal in 2018.  We contacted the Elk Point Elks and they are interested in continuing to lease it for another 10 years.  

At the September 26 Public Works Meeting, Council was presented with a request from the owners of Lots 7 & 8, Block 1, Plan 3063MC at Bayview Beach to have the water line which will be directionally drilled to his neighbour's property (Lot 3) extended to his property.  Following the Public Works Meeting, letters were sent to the adjacent landowner to see if there was any other interest in connecting to the water distribution line.  We have not heard from any of the residents in that area.

The St. Paul Ag Society is requesting the use of a 40 yard bin for a "Chip Handling Facility", at no charge.  They expect that the bin will only need to be dumped a couple times a year.  

 

Policy PW-87 states that Applicants must be a County resident or company that is utilizing the bin at a location in the County of St. Paul.  Some exceptions shall be made for businesses that are affiliated with the County of St. Paul such as the MD Foundation, or special events in the Towns of St. Paul and Elk Point put on by non-profit groups.  Any other exceptions must be requested in writing and approved by resolution of County Council.

 

The County currently provides the St. Paul Ag Society with a 6 yard bin on a weekly pick up schedule at a reduced rate of $51.30 (1/2 price).

The County also provides the St. Paul Legion with a 4 yard bin on a monthly pick up schedule at a reduced rate of $37.80 per month. 

The Annual Town & Country Ladies Funspiel will be held on November 4, 2017 in St. Paul and the organizing committee is requesting a donation for their event - cash, gifts or gift cards. 

 

For the past six years, Council has donated $100 towards this event.

The 10th Annual Fall Classic Farmer's Spiel will be held November 2 to 4, 2017 in Mallaig.  They are requesting cash to help cover expenses or items to be used as prizes.  Registration for the spiel is $160.

Currently the St. Paul Fire Department is using a set of air bags for vehicle rescue that are 25+ years old.  At its September 5, 2017 meeting, the Joint Fire Services Committee recommended the purchase of a new set of Holmatro Air Bags.  The funds will come from the Joint Fire Services Reserve account that was established to replace or purchase equipment.  Funds are recovered from Alberta Transportation when the Fire Department attends incidents along Provincial highways.  

Further to the discussions during Strategic Planning, Public Works has requested quotes from local contractors to complete a bin pad extension at the St. Paul Seed Cleaning Plant.  The quotes will be presented to Council on Tuesday.  

Administration/Public Works met with Muni Corr on October 5, 2017 to determine if there was any opportunity to change the alignment of the road and adjust the land purchase due to a "pinch point" that was discovered on the west side of the road project where the Muni Corr siding widens.  After much discussion, Muni Corr determined that they could not change the approval as it required unanimous agreement to sell the land, and any change would also require unanimous approval which they could not achieve at that meeting.  Alternatively, Administration proposed purchasing a small parcel of land to the north of the Muni Corr Right Of Way that would mitigate the "pinch point" and allow for a different alignment of the road that would fall within the approval previously given by Muni Corr.  Public Works has determined that the subdivision and purchase approximately .1 of an acre from the owner of SE 4-59-10-W4, who has agreed to the sale to the County, will provide the space needed to change the alignment.   

The Alberta Community Partnership Grants will be announced shortly for the 2017-2018 intake. The Intermunicipal Collaboration (IC) component is the stream where municipalities collaborate to carry out initiatives. IC applications are anticipated to be due in the late fall of 2017. 

  • IC project ranking criteria have been updated to ensure that projects that directly produce frameworks for regional approaches to service delivery, such as shared service agreements or intermunicipal development plans, under core service categories receive the highest priority for grant funds.
  • The IC project maximum is $200,000.
  • Projects related to implementing regional services including facility construction, equipment purchases, pilots, training, and system upgrades are no longer eligible under the IC component.
  • The IC application limit is one application per managing partner. Municipalities can participate as a project participant in more than one application.

CAOs from the Town of St. Paul, the County, the Town of Elk Point and Summer Village of Horseshoe Bay have had preliminary discussions regarding potential applications and are recommending the following projects and partnerships:

- Stormwater Management Plan Study (Town of St. Paul lead; with County as a partner)

- Rural ICFs (County lead, MD Bonnyville, Smoky Lake County, Lac La Biche County, County of Vermilion River, and County of Two Hills as partners) ** This is subject to approval by these neighbouring municipalities. Administration has contacted CAOs of all five neighbours to gauge interest. 

- Urban ICFs (Town of Elk Point lead, County, Summer Village of Horseshoe Bay, and Town of St. Paul as partners)

Administration is currently seeking quotes for the projects listed above.  Administration is looking for motions to submit an ACP application for these three projects subject to resolutions being passed by all partnering municipalities. 

The Draft Northern Lights Library System Budget as approved by the Board was forwarded as a separate attachment.  The budget is based on the 2018 levy remaining the same. 

The regular date for the November Council Meeting - November 14th - conflicts with the AAMD&C Fall Convention.

The regular date for the November Public Works Meeting - November 28th - conflicts with the New Councillor Orientation in Vermilion.   

 

Section 193 of the MGA allows a Council to change the date of a regularly scheduled Council meeting.

Attached is a letter from the Minister of Municipal Affairs in response to our letter regarding the requirement for a municipality to pay requisitions for education property taxes and seniors housing which are not collectable from delinquent industrial properties.  Municipal Affairs has assembled a cross-ministry working group exploring ways to address uncollectible property taxes related to delinquent industrial properties - specifically oil and gas properties which do not have easily seized assets.  He is awaiting a report from the working group.

A copy of the budget to actual will be presented to Council for review.

A listing of Accounts Payable will be provided for Council's review.

Council fees for the past month will be circulated for review.