County of St. Paul No 19

Council Meeting

AGENDA

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

At the April Meeting, Council tabled the request from the Town of St. Paul to support their application for a Regional Collaboration Grant to undertake an Area Structure Plan and Traffic Impact Assessment of the area south of TWP 582 between 57 Street and Highway 881, pending more information.

 

After the meeting with the Town of St. Paul, it was determined that the proposed Area Structure Plan would provide Council and Planning and Development direction when determining future zoning in the area.  The Traffic Impact Assessment Study will also provide Council with information on what standard of a road would be required if they decided to rebuild it in the future.

Approval of the County's permit to cross a wetland on RR 104 was reversed following the Environmental Appeal Board Hearing and subsequent ruling by the Minister of AESRD.  The Council discussed three options at the April Council meeting and April Public Works meeting.  These options included:

  • Doing nothing
  • Re-apply for a permit
  • Appeal the decision to the court

 

Council has determined that there is considerable public need for the road as well as safety issues with the existing traffic through Owlseye and building range road 104 would divert most of the traffic from Owlseye.  Council has decided that it would be in the best interest of these rate payers to apply for the permit to cross the wetland.

At the April meeting, Council passed a motion to proceed with negotiations with the adjacent landowner to secure property for a sidewalk east of the Catholic Rectory in the Hamlet of Mallaig.  Administration entered into an agreement with the adjacent landowners to purchase property and erect a chain link fence on the west side of their property which will run parallel to the sidewalk.

Brad Shapka will be in to give Council an update on the road construction and to request an extension for their agreement for the 2014 camping season.  They are hoping that this is the last year they will need access through the park. 

 

A copy of the Agreement for the 2013 camping season is attached.

Dwayne Lindberg will be in to speak to Council about his application to rezone 40 acres in the SE 5-59-10-W4 from Agriculture to Country Residential as well as to discuss access to the property.

Jim Sauve will be in to speak to Council about a road allowance he would like to obtain in the SE 6-59-10-W4.  Mr. Sauve has suggested that when the road was built there was no compensation so he would now like the county to consider giving him the road allowance on each side of the wetland, which is approximately 3.7 acres (highlighted in yellow).  There is currently one title for the entire quarter section, however Mr. Sauve is in the process of subdividing it using the natural fragmentation of the road.  He is also applying for accretion of the wetland which will all be done at the same time as the subdivision.

The Public Auction of Land is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. today.

 

Prior to the Public Auction, we require a motion from Council to go in camera to discuss land issues related to the public auction.

 

Following discussions on reserve bids, we will require a motion from Council to set the reserve bids and to appoint an auctioneer for the Public Auction.

Section 418 of the M.G.A. required Council to offer for sale at a public auction any parcel of land shown on its tax arrears list if the tax arrears are not paid.

The regularly scheduled date for the June Council meeting conflicts with the 2014 Alberta Fire Chief's Association Conference & AGM which runs from June 7-11 in Grande Prairie.  Councillor Dach is registered to attend this conference and is requesting if the June Council meeting can be rescheduled.

 

Section 193(3) of the M.G.A. allows Council to change the date of the a regularly scheduled Council Meeting.

The regularly scheduled date for the July Council meeting conflicts with the 2014 ASB Summer Tour which is scheduled to be held July 8 to 11 in Brooks.

 

Section 193(3) of the M.G.A. allows Council to change the date of a regularly scheduled Council Meeting.

Policy SAF-43 is being presented, as amended, to implement the use of technology and procedures for employees that are working alone. This Policy was brought before the Policy Committee on April 25, 2014.  

Policy PW-59 is being presented to Council, as amended, to implement changes to the County's gravel delivery service in an effort to enhance the safety of our employees and protect the County from liability during gravel deliveries.

Policy PW-102 is being presented to Council to implement procedures for scheduling and assigning duties for Public Works employees during rainy and other inclement weather conditions. This policy was brought before the Policy Committee on April 25, 2014. 

The 15th Annual Emergency Services Golf Tournament will be held on June 4 in Elk Point.

The rate of sponsorship is as follows:

Platinum$1,300 and up
Gold$550 to $1,299
Silver$250 to $549
Bronze$249 and less

To enter a team for the golf tournament, a minimum of a gold donation is required along with $100 registration per golfer.  Since 2006, the County sponsored one team and made a $500 donation.

St. Paul Regional High School is requesting sponsorship to help offset the costs of attending the Provincial Badminton championship from May 1-3, in Lethbridge.

The Elk Point Canada Day Committee started planning activities for their annual Canada Day Celebrations. They are looking for financial support for the celebrations which they are estimating will cost $12,500.

 

For the past 4 years, Council approved a $400 grant for the celebrations.

Mark Krevenky will be attending the Senior Canada Summer Games from August 26-29 in Sherwood Park.  He is requesting if the County would sponsor him.

 

Mr. Krevenky was a County resident for many years until he moved into the lodge.

The 22nd Annual Northern Lights Library Conference will be held September 18 & 19, 2014 in Elk Point.  they are looking for donations for their conference in the form of cash or donations.

 

In the past, Council donated an item to be used as a door prize for this conference.

We have received a rebate of $7,497.48 from WCB for our successful participation in the Partners in Injury Reduction Program during 2013.  The refund is based on the surplus in the WCB account at the end of the year.  It is divided amongst the organizations that have the Certificate of Recognition and it is based on the number of employees in the organization.

 

Since we started in 2000, we have received a total rebate of $127,773.81.

Bylaw No. 2014-09 is being presented to Council to amend Land Use Bylaw No. 2013-50 as it relates to rezoning PNE 34-56-11-W4 from Agricultural to Country Residential One (CR1).  The owner wants to subdivide the yard site so it can be sold.

 

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.

This month the first phase of public consultation is being organized for the North Saskatchewan Regional Plan. We have been invited to attend upcoming sessions to learn more about the region as well as share thoughts on the issues and strategies contained in the Terms of Reference for Developing the North Saskatchewan Regional Plan.

 

The North Saskatchewan Region is located in central Alberta and has approximately 85,780 square kilometres, or just under 13 per cent of Alberta’s total land base. The region is bordered by Saskatchewan to the east, British Columbia to the west, the Upper Athabasca and the Lower Athabasca regions to the north and the South Saskatchewan and Red Deer regions to the south.

 

The purpose of regional planning is to support the numerous policies and strategies that guide natural resource development, support economic growth and protect our environment. Regional plans will integrate these policies and strategies at the regional level and provide the policy direction and clarity for decision makers at the federal, provincial and local levels.

 

Sessions are being planned throughout the province.  Local sessions will be held on May 28 in St. Paul, June 10 in Smoky Lake and June 11 in Vegreville.

At the April 22 Public Works Meeting, Council was presented with a request from residents in the area where the King George School existed (SW 6-56-6-W4).  The request was to burry the concrete that was left from the foundation of the building and clean up the site so that they can erect a historic school sign at that location.

Listed below are easements which are required to purchase property to register existing roads that were never registered:

Range Road 82 in SW 14-58-8-W4

SW 14-58-8-W4Cody & Jennifer Kurek
NW 14-58-8-W4Cody & Jennifer Kurek

 Range Road 53 in 27/28-55-5-W4

NE 28-55-5-W4Orest Adam Kiziak & Orest V. Kiziak
NW 27-55-5-W4Orest Adam Kiziak & Orest V. Kiziak
SE 28-55-5-W4Orest Adam Kiziak and Orest V. Kiziak

Twp Rd 571 in Sections 4, 5, 8 & 9-57-8-W4

NW 4-57-8-4Steve, Raymond & Lee-Ann Suvak
SE 9-57-8-W4John & Kay Wozniak
Lot 1, Plan 9220965Floyd & Rita Kunnas
   in NE 5-57-8-W4 
SW 9-57-8-W4Floyd & Rita Kunnas

During the budget discussions, Council decided to allocate $45,000 as a land purchase in anticipation of purchasing a siding.   At the time of budget discussions, the other municipalities were unsure of their contributions, however sine then the MD of Bonnyville has approved a $45,000 contribution which is not tied to land purchase.

The Province has recently allowed the sharing of permit fees with municipalities through the TRAVIS MJ system.  In order to participate municipalities must sign the Memorandum of Agreement (included as an attachment), as well as set the fees that the municipality will collect for each permit issued or canceled.  Based on past permits issued, the County will benefit by approx $50,000 annually by this sharing of fees.  Council will have to amend the Fee Schedule Bylaw in order to properly set the fees for these permits.  Administration will be bringing forward an amendment to this bylaw as a separate agenda item.  Based on information received by Roadata who is partnered with the County on this undertaking, Administration will be proposing a $20.00 fixed fee for both the permit application as well as permit cancelation.

As indicated in the previous item regarding the sharing of permit fees through the TRAVIS MJ System, we need to amend our Fee Schedule Bylaw to set the permit fees.  The amendment is in red.

As per the update that Council received at the Public Works Meeting, the County has received a linear assessment change from Municipal Affairs for Inter Pipelines.  The change is a reduction of 28,702,830 of assessment which equates to revenue lost of $609,820.  $93,579 of that total represents the school tax portion of the total revenue.  Additionally $4,828 is the portion that represents the tax for the MD Foundation.  Both these amounts - total $98,407 - can be recovered through an underlevy, however that would not be realized until the 2015 fiscal year.  This leaves the County with a budget issue of $511,413 to deal with.  This could be taken from the Unrestricted Surplus that is $4,678,866 as of December 2013.

At the Public works meeting, I informed Council that likely this assessment change would affect other municipalities.  Following that meeting it has been determined that there are 5 municipalities in the north east that are adversely affected by this assessment change - for a total of almost 180,000,000 in assessment and in excess of $3,000,000 of revenue lost.  Indications from the other municipalities is that they are in favour of working collectively to approach the Minister of Municipal Affairs as to how these municipalities will be able to deal with the loss of revenue when they have already approved their budgets and Mill Rate Bylaws.

The MD of Wainwright has indicated that they are interested in working with us collectively, however they have also sent a letter from their municipality indicating their concern regarding the large assessment change and lack of notice.

Finally I do have some correspondence that indicates that Municipal Affairs was aware of the potential of this change in March, however municipalities were only notified on April 22.  It is frustrating that some notice was not provided to the affected municipalities so that they could have removed the assessment from their total before finalizing the budgets.

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