County of St. Paul No 19

Council Meeting

AGENDA

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

Following the June Council meeting, administration spoke briefly with the County's lawyer regarding our obligation to pay 30% of the cost for groundwater monitoring fees which amounts to $5,257.96, based on the wording in the Joint Use and Operation Agreement for the Modified Sanitary Landfill located at NE 21-57-9-W4.  These fees have been accumulating since April, 2008.  Our lawyer suggested that he could review the Agreement in more detail and provide comments, however based on our conversation he feels it would be in the best interests of the County to pay the invoice.  It is not a large amount and it would cost the County more for him to review it further and the outcome may be the same.

 

After this payment the annual fee would be approximately $1,300.

Following the delegation at the June meeting, Council gave administration direction to amend Land Use Bylaw No. 2013-50 for a provision to accommodate a 30 acre parcel for the W 1/2 SW 16-58-7-W4 only.

 

Bylaw No. 2014-18 is now being presented to Council to address the request from the owner of W 1/2 SW 16-58-7-W4 to create a 30 acre subdivision to accommodate the yardsite and some trees.

At the June 19, 2014 Council meeting, a Public hearing was held in relation to Bylaw No. 2014-09 to amend the Land Use Bylaw 2013-50 by rezoning PNE34-56-11-W4 from Agriculture to Country Residential One (CR1).  2nd and 3rd reading of this bylaw was tabled until an amendment to the Lac Sante Area Structure Plan was approved.  Council will need to consider providing 2nd and 3rd reading to this bylaw following the 11:30 Public Hearing pertaining to the Lac Sante Area Structure Plan Amendment.

The following properties were advertised for sale in the St. Paul Journal and Elk Point Review the weeks of June 24 and July 1 on an "as-is where-is" basis:

SW 8-57-7-W4 - Armistice Hall - Due to the large amount of interest in this property, Administration held a public viewing on July 9th.

Lot 98, Block 2, Plan 7922205 in SW 14-57-10-W4

Lot 1, Plan 0022983 in SE 20-62-10-W4

Lot 19, Block 1, Plan 1379CL in SW 27-59-11-W4

Lot 25, Block 1, Plan 3909TR in NE 1-60-11-W4

The ad states that Council reserves the right to not accept bids that may be under the market vale.  Sealed bids will be opened in the presence of Council.

At the June Meeting, Council denied the request from the owner of Lot 1, Block 4, Plan 1209TR to purchase part of Lot 6R, Block 3, Plan 1209TR and requested that administration send a letter to the landowner requesting that he remove the debris from the MR.

 

Mr. Darren Bannink, owner of the property, has an appointment for 11:00 a.m. to request that Council reconsider their decision not to sell the reserve land to him.

At the June meeting, Council made a motion to give first reading to Bylaw No. 2014-14 as it relates to amending Section 2.2.(a) of Bylaw No. 1542, Lac Sante Area Structure Plan.

 

Bylaw No. 2014-14 was advertised in the St. Paul Journal the weeks of July 1 and 8.

 

Krystle Fedoretz will attend this Public Hearing.

At the June Meeting, Council gave first reading to Bylaw No. 2014-13, which is a bylaw to amend Bylaw No. 2013-50 as it relates to rezoning Lot 2A, Plan 9020404 in NW 31-56-6-W4 from Agricultural to Industrial/Commercial,

 

A public consultation was held on June 26,2014 at the Elk Point Seniors Recreation Centre and there were 9 people in attendance,

 

Bylaw No. 2014-13 was advertised in the Elk Point Review the weeks of July 1 and 8, 2014 and adjacent landowners were notified via letter post.

 

Krystle Fedoretz will attend this Public Hearing.

The 2014 Strategic Plan which has been updated for the 2nd quarter is attached.

County Pins/Promotional Items – The County of St. Paul, on request, may provide County Pins and /or Promotional items to individuals, teams and various organizations, at the discretion of Administration. Administration will provide a quarterly report to Council regarding distribution of these items.

Attached is a list of the donations that were distributed since January, 2014.

The 2014 ARMAA Conference will be held September 3-5 in Drumheller. We are looking for approval for Kyle Attanasio to attend. 

Alberta C.A.R.E. will be holding their 14th Annual Recycling Conference from September 3-5, 2014 in Lac La Biche.

The International City/County Management Association Conference is being held September 13-17 in Charlotte, North Carolina. We are looking for approval for Kyle Attanasio to attend.

Kyle applied for a scholarship to attend the conference as a first time young professional and has been given a generous offer of $1060 which includes the $710 conference registration and a $350 travel stipend.

Part of the conference schedule is attached.  The full agenda can be viewed at www.icma.org\en\icma\events\conference.

Daisy Fraser will be attending the Senior Canada Summer Games from August 26-29 in Sherwood Park in the swimming competition.  She is requesting if the County would sponsor her.  Mrs. Fraser is a County resident.

The St. Paul and District Arts Foundation is in the beginning stages of setting up their foundation.  Their project will house visual arts studios, a musical theatre space, literary arts space, music spaces, a dance studio and programming offered for youth to develop and promote all aspects of the arts.    They are applying for a Community Initiatives Grant to help offset the costs of renovating their building and they are requesting a letter of support in to include with their application.

We have received a grant application from the St. Paul Education Regional Division No. 1 for $30,000 for the Family School Liaison Worker Program (FSLW).  The funding for this program comes from the County budget, therefore the FCSS Board referred the application to Council.

The St. Paul & District Ambulance Society had requested a quote from Smyl Motors in order to procure two new ambulances.  Smyl Motors, in order to get the best pricing, put the quote in the name of the County of St. Paul.  The St. Paul & District Ambulance Society went ahead with the purchase, but arranged for a leasing company to pay for the ambulances so that the society could lease the ambulances from them on a monthly basis.  In order to complete the transaction properly, the St. Paul & District Ambulance Society is looking to the County to make the following motions:

That the County of St. Paul purchase two ambulances from Smyl Motors on behalf of the St. Paul & District Ambulance Society.

That the County of St. Paul sell two ambulances to Element Financial Corporation .

In 2009, Council passed a Loan Guarantee Bylaw on behalf of the St. Paul & District Ambulance for $300,000 (Bylaw No. 1538).  The bylaw states that the County will become responsible for 50% of the money borrowed; the Town of St. Paul had passed a bylaw for the other 50%.  The bylaw is outdated and ATB has requested that the St. Paul & District Ambulance provide a current copy.

 

The Bylaw has been amended so that the County is the only guarantor.

 

This Bylaw should be renewed every year, much the same as we renew the County's Borrowing Bylaws.

Servus Credit Union is currently reviewing the loan that the Elk Point Regional Allied Arts Society has with them.  In 2008 the County and Town of Elk Point passed a bylaw to be responsible for fifty percent of the money borrowed.  The Elk Point Regional Allied Arts Society still requires this line of credit and is therefore requesting that the County renew the loan guarantee bylaw.

The County has representation on the St. Paul Airport Committee and shares the net cost of the Airport 50/50 with the Town of St. Paul (per the St. Paul Airport Operating Agreement) .  Each year the County provides the municipal tax revenue from the Airport Hangers for the St. Paul Airport Committee to use for activities they are responsible for at the Airport.  It has been discovered that the owner of parcel  SE11-58-10-W4, Block 1, Plan 5633RS Lot D&E has not paid the property taxes, even though these taxes were sent to the Airport Committee.  Now the Airport committee has requested that the County write-off the tax arrears as the property has been sold and the new owner will be paying taxes from now on.  The amount of tax arrears to write-off is $2,124.85 with the municipal portion of those taxes equaling $805.42.

The Tax department has already issued a cheque this year to the Airport Committee comprising the municipal portion of tax revenue reported in the County's ledger for the 2014 taxes. 

Brian Ho, with the ID VIP Team, is once again requesting to use the Floatingstone Campground for their Harvest Moon musician event weekend from September 5-7, free of charge.  In exchange the team is willing to perform at a County event free of charge.  Last year they performed at the Ashmont Canada Day celebration.

We have received notification from the Province that the County's Recreation Lease 129 on Stoney Lake expired on April 30, 2014.  At the June Public Works Meeting, Council decided that they want to renew this lease.  Linda Meger has contacted SRD and is waiting for a response as to what the next step is after Council makes a motion to renew the lease.

As discussed at the June Public Works meeting, the Canadian Sunday School Mission is requesting to renew their lease for PNE 8-56-4-W4 (Old Landfill Site) from June 25 to August 10, 2013.  During this period of time, they hold a summer camp for children and they use the old landfill site to graze the horses that are used at the summer camp.  This is an annual lease.

 

Section 61 of the M.G.A. allows a municipality to grant rights with respect to its property.

We have received a request from the adjacent landowner to lease the N 1/2 SW 34-58-11-W4, where the old Lottie Lake dump was located.  Dennis went out to the property and found that there are two areas where there is no vegetation growth, which he suspects are the result of the old landfill - chemical storage spot and storage asphalt area.  The adjacent landowner wants to use the property to pasture cattle.  There have been other cattle on this property in the past.

 

Dennis does not feel there should be an issue leasing this property for livestock purposes, however he is recommending that we have our lawyers add a clause to the lease agreement which states that the lessee is aware that this was an old landfill site and the County is not liable in any way.

 

In 2013 we had a similar request - where one of the adjacent landowners wanted to lease NE 2-62-12-W4.  At that time Council decided to notify both  adjacent landowners to see if they were interested in leasing the property.

At the June Public Works Meeting, Council discussed a request from Alta Gas for permission to install a gas line through the Municipal Reserve along highway 867 to connect to Lot 1, Block 1, Plan 0123860 on Lower Mann Lake.  Council was concerned with the line going through the MR as well as the landowner not permitting the line to continue through their property if the need arose.

 

Krystle spoke with AltaGas and there is a clause in the agreement that is signed with the landowner and then registered on title, which states that the landowner must allow AltaGas to continue the line through their property should service be required elsewhere. 

Cardston County sent a letter regarding the negative experiences with the implementation of the New Home Warranty (NHW) Program.  Their concerns are the

1.  Lack of response from the Governments New Home Warranty personnel.

     a.  People do not answer phones, we must leave voicemails,

     b.  Calls have not been returned for over three weeks in some instances,

     c.  When calls have been returned, the NHW personnel have been unable to even send out a simple email to assist our taxpayers.

2. Inability of NHW personnel to explain how applications for exemptions for self-build homeowners will be assessed, our citizens have had to submit the mandatory, and nonrefundable $750 exemption application fee not knowing the requirements in order to have the application approved,

3. As there have been delays in simply receiving information from NHW personnel, delays in a person's ability to acquire the necessary safety code permits, as well as financing commitments from financial institutions,

4. Banks have their own requirements and some will not recognize an exemption for a self-build home,

5. The estimated cost of a new home warranty prior to the program implementation was approx. $1700. The reality is that the cost of a warranty is closer to $3400, and

6. The $750 non-refundable exemption application fee is punitive and merely seeks to dissuade people from applying for an exemption. The potential costs associated with the exemption were not disclosed before the program was implemented.

 

Is this something that should be addressed at the Zone meeting?  Do we want a resolution on the NHWP?  If so what do we want to see changed?  What outcome do we want?

Bylaw No. 2014-15 is being presented to Council to amend Land Use Bylaw No. 2013-50 as it relates to rezoning Lot 1A, Plan 9020405 NW 31-56-6-W4 from Agricultural to Industrial Commercial. The property will then be used for a Service Station/Gas Bar and Commercial Service Centre, which is not a permitted use under the current zoning.

 

After first reading, the Bylaw must be advertised according to Section 606 of the M.G.A. and a public hearing held according to section 230 of the M.G.A. The adjacent landowners will be notified of the proposed rezoning.

 

The applicant is also required to hold a public consultation prior to the public hearing being held.

In April, 2014 Council made a motion to deny a request from St. Paul Education to purchase the Fire Hall until Council can explore all options for use of the Fire Halls.

 

Councillor Amyotte has now received a request from the Mallaig Rec Society to store picnic tables in one bay of the Fire Hall.

We received the following e-mail from the President of Mallaig Minor Hockey - I am writing to you because I was given your name as the person to speak to about our arena keeper situation. We currently do not have anyone and with today’s economy it has become impossible to find someone. I am looking to the county for a full time employee to maintain our facility in town or to keep anyone we find on with full time summer employment. Being such a small community and having 3 large facility’s that accommodate all the surrounding areas it has become impossible to maintain  purely on volunteer support wearing everyone thin. I really do not think it should be up to a small board of volunteers to hire and support a full time arena keeper when there are so many employment guidelines that must be met. I hope you are able to assist me in some way with this as the season is fast approaching and we will have trouble opening the doors without someone to maintain the ice or facility. If you are not the right person can you please direct me in the right direction.

 

In the past, we assisted the Mallaig Hockey Board by employing their caretaker as a park attendant during the summer months - giving him full time employment.  Administration is suggesting that the Mallaig Hockey Board may want to consider two caretakers who can share the position and if they are both interested they can be employed by the County during the spring and summer months.  The basis for this consideration is the long hours and lack of time off during the winter that is expected of the individual that fills this role.  The County and the Hockey Board may have more luck retaining staff if they hours and expectations are more realistic.

 

Councillor Martin is planning for construction of approximately 500 metres along Range Road 90 for the 2015 construction season and is requesting that the brushing along the road be done this year.  The acreage owner to the south has agreed to provide a 5 metre right of way without compensation.  This road is adjacent to SW 7-58-8-W4 which has one subdivision that is still unregistered and another proposed subdivision that was presented to Council at the last meeting for rezoning (Bylaw No. 2014-12).

Tervita, as a foreign-owned corporation, has made an application to Service Alberta to acquire land within the County of St. Paul's boundaries. Tervita wishes to use three wells that have already been drilled on the land. Two wells will be used for disposing oilfield produced waste water and the third well will be used to create a waste disposal cavern. 

Tervita requires the permission of the County and an order-in-council from the Minister to acquire use of the land. Previously in 2009, Tervita obtained permission from the County and received an order-in-council for a similar land acquisition. 

Tervita requires the County's approval to move forward with their application to the Minister. The proposed order-in-council will contain conditions requiring all the necessary approvals, licenses, permits or other authorizations of any kind under municipal, provincial, and federal law.  

Public Works has been dealing with a season of wet weather as has been reported to Council on various occasions.  Some of the successes we have been experiencing with road maintenance and repair has been attributed to the use of cold mix rather than trying to oil with our conventional methods.  The use of cold mix has eliminated the process of drying gravel over and over before applying oil to it for the re-oiling of roads. 

Leo has been in conversation with a couple of batch plants for the mixing of cold mix.  He is proposing that we use the oil CNRL has allocated for Division 1 and 2 and use it to make cold mix - they have agreed to purchase the gravel for the roads as per our previous agreement - we would supply the gravel for the batch plant and use cold mix to repair the roads in Division 1 and 2. 

Even with CNRL supplying the oil and paying for some of the gravel required to do this, PW will need an increase to their Oiling budget of approximately $605,000 in order to change to this process of oil road repair.  Leo is proposing that we use some of the revenue we have been able to collect for road use to pay for this additional expense.  As well we are far behind on other road projects which should reduce budgeted expenses.  The balance of any shortfall could be funded from unrestricted surplus.

The AAMDC has invited member municipalities to participate in an upcoming event, the AAMDC Premier Candidates Forum. This event offers an opportunity to hear each of the three participating PC leadership candidate’s platforms and learn more about the candidate’s views on rural municipal issues. There will also be an open microphone opportunity with each candidate.

The AAMDC Premier Candidates Forum will offer each candidate some time to share their platform and vision, and answer audience questions. The AAMDC values the strong working relationship we have established with the Government of Alberta. We see this event as an opportunity to share some of our key rural municipal issues with the candidates. 

The Premier Candidates Forum will take place Thursday, August 7, 2014 from 1:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m., at the Nisku Inn (1101 4th St.) in Nisku, AB.  Coffee and snacks will be provided. More information will be available in the upcoming weeks through Contact!

We ask that you RSVP by July 30 to confirm our catering numbers. You may confirm your attendance with from Cindy Carstairs at 780.955.4095 or by email at cindy.carstairs@aamdc.com   

The CAO attended a meeting with the Manager of Evergreen Regional Waste Management Commission as well as consultant Al McCann.  This meeting was a followup to the Minister's meeting that the Chair and Vice-Chair of Evergreen attended.  The purpose was to discuss Toluene levels in the leachate.  At the meeting, Alberta Environment staff indicated that in order to change the allowable levels of Toluene, the Waste Control Regulation: AR192/1996 would need to be amended.  This regulation sets limits for hazardous waste.  The regulation allows for 0.5 mg/L we are recommending or requesting to have the limit rated to 5 mg/l in accordance with recommendations in the 2006 Final Report, Updating Alberta's Hazardous Waste Regulatory Framework.  In addition we would be looking to have ammonia deregulated as per page 52 of the 2006 report.

At the meeting it was very clear that this amendment could take years to get on the political agenda - since it has been 8 years since the 2006 report was completed making those recommendations - and no changes have been done to the regulation.  The Alberta Environment staff felt that it was up to us to try to move this up on the political agenda.  This was discussed last Friday at the Evergreen Regional Waste Management Commission Meeting.  Evergreen has made a motion to send a letter to the Minister and request a further meeting to discuss this.  It was suggested that the County of St. Paul could write a resolution to bring forward to the AAMDC Zone 5 meeting in September.

Why is this important to the Comission and our municipality?  Well we currently exceed the amount of Toluene indicated in the Waste Control Regulation therefore we are limited to which type of facility can accept the leachate.  Currently Evergreen has to haul the waste to Redwater or Edmonton.  As a result they have already exceeded the budgeted amount for the disposal of leachate, which could likely exceed 2X the budgeted amount.  This will affect the amount paid by the taxpayers of the member municipalities of the Commission.  AE staff indicated that we could put in a treatment plant - also at a cost to taxpayers.  This 2006 report indicates that the current limits in the Regulation are far too stringent - if the rates were changed for both Toluene and Ammonia as per the 2005 report the leachate could be disposed of at Triveta reducing our costs.

The owner of NE 36-56-7-W4 is requesting that Council consider cancelling the penalties in the amount of $33.91.

 

The landowner also owns another property and said that he mailed two separate cheques (#45 and #46) for his property taxes in the same envelope - cheques were dated June 30th.   He received a receipt for cheque #46.  We have no way of knowing if cheque #45 and the stub from the bottom of the tax notice was inadvertently left in the envelope, if it was attached to the other stub and the second cheque was missed when the payment was processed or if it was in fact mailed.  The cheque numbers that the landowner said he mailed are consistent with what was quoted on his receipt.

 

Section 347 of the M.G.A. allows a Council to refund or cancel all or part of a tax.

Larry Bazian is applying for a licence agreement for the undeveloped road allowance situated between NE 13 and NW 14-56-5-W4 for agricultural purposes.  He owns the property on both sides of the road.  Mr. Bazian completed the application and paid the $100 application fee.

 

The County, under Section 18 of the M.G.A. has the direction, control and management of all roads within the municipality.  Under Section 16 of the Highway Traffic Act, a municipality may grant a licence for the use of a road allowance.

 

After first reading the bylaw must be advertised.

The Heinsburg Community Club is requesting a $500 donation to pay for the Kikino Metis Dancers to come as entertainment for the Wild Pink Yonder on August 14.

We have received requests from the Greater Lakeland rural Crime Watch, St. Paul & District Arts Foundation and St. Paul United Church for the proceeds from the rodeo supper.  We have not had any groups apply to clean up after the rodeo performances.  We will be running an ad for the next couple of weeks and hope that we get a group to apply.

 

We have also had a request from Dean Hedrick to hand out plates at the rodeo supper and he would give the money to his 4 year old great-nephew who has colon and pelvic cancer.  This request does not fall within the guidelines of the policy.

 

7.32

7.33

7.34

7.35

The listing of Accounts Payable will be circulated at the meeting.