Council Notes From All Over

LEDUC CITY COUNCIL
Lorna Lowe

    Council was called to order at 1:30 pm with Mayor Whaley and Councillor Schonewille absent. Councillor Stumph chaired this meeting in Mayor Whaley's absence.
    There was one addition to the agenda and no public commentary.

Staff Introduction: 
    Council was introduced to Mrs. Renee Klimosko, the County's new Manager of Financial Planning. Mrs. Klimosko has lived with the County of Leduc for the last 12 years, and in Beaumont for most of her life. She previously worked for the City of Edmonton for many years but over the last few years had chosen to stay at home with her family. 

Concert And Special Events Bylaw Revision: 
    A review of the Concert and Special Events Bylaw was deemed necessary by Council following the Mad Hatter Festival which took place in August of last year. The proposed revision gives the County Manager a stronger position to grant or deny Special Event Licenses, as well as set out more defined terms and conditions on the license as to the functioning of the special event.
    County Peace Officer Clarence Nelson came forward to present the proposed revisions to Council and also to answer any questions they had.
    Councillor Glassman asked why the changes did not specifically address noise issues? PO Nelson responded that the hours of event operation would be listed right on the license and if they were contravened the event could be fined. He stated that it would be the County Manager and his delegates that would decide on the limits required for each license.
    Councillor Mackay asked if the new Bylaw would be stringent enough to enable RCMP to act on it if required? PO Nelson stated that whether to act on any complaint received would be at the RCMP's discretion.
    Councillor Kelto inquired if the County would have the authority to go in and shut down an event that was causing problems? PO Nelson replied that they were only able to fine them if they contravened their license but no, the County was not able to enter a function and shut it down. Councillor Kelto queried "So they can carry on as late as they want?" And PO Nelson replied, "Not legally, but yes. In order to shut an event down you would have to get a Court Injunction against them. This would mean modifying the County's Land Use Bylaw but that would require some in-depth changes."
    The question was called and Council defeated the changes to the Bylaw with Councillor Mackay in favour.
    It is to be noted that the organizer for the Mad Hatter Festival, Sarah Dantzer, was in attendance in the gallery. She was given the opportunity to speak to Council but declined the offer.

Tourism Inventory Plan:             The County Director of Parks and Recreation, Dean Ohnysty, came before Council to present a plan whereby Leduc County would partner with Leduc's Regional Chamber of Commerce to produce a Regional Tourism Guide for Leduc County.  This would require research in compiling information on new attractions within the County, updating and confirming accurate information on the attractions, B&B's, etc., and compiling a brochure in an electronic format. The County would compensate the Chamber $5,000.00 for their help on this project, with all staff and supply costs covered by that amount. At the end of the project the final regional inventory would be owned by Leduc County. Dean commented that in his opinion it just made sense to partner with the Chamber on this project. Council approved unanimously.

LNEDB Amending Agreement: 
    It was being recommended to Council that the County authorize entering into an amendment agreement with with the City of Leduc to facilitate the transition of the Leduc-Nisku Economic Development Board to a Not-For-Profit organization. Councillor Mackay made the motion to approve the agreement with the comment that the addition of Keystone Consulting to the board has been "fabulous". She stated that after sitting in on the last meeting, more has been accomplished in the last four weeks than in the previous year. Council voted unanimously to approve the agreement.

Municipal Election And School Elections: 
    Council appointed Gale Miller as Returning Officer for the 2013 elections, and Election Day has been set as Monday October 21, 2012, with Nomination Day being Monday September 23, 2013.

Additional Item:
    Stop Order Recommendation:  Councillor Mackay motioned that administration create a policy for the enacting of Stop Orders including, but not limited to, notification of Council members prior to the issuance and registration of Stop Orders on land titles, and that this policy be brought before Council no later than April 19, 2013. Council passed the motion unanimously.
    Council was adjourned at 2:35 pm with no items in camera. 

CITY OF WETASKIWIN COUNCIL

Barry McDonald

    Proposed Utility increases fail to give unanimous consent for third and final reading. 
Recorded votes: For – Elliot, Ruecker, Crabtree, MacQuarrie; Against – Hawkes, Branco, McFaul
Bylaw 1806-13 Amend Waste Management Bylaw 
     The proposed budget for 2013 calls for rate increases to residential solid waste collection to ensure sustainability of the service.  The rate increase will be $0.75 per month for a 121 litre toter, $1.50 for a 242 litre toter and $2.35 per month for a 363 litre toter.
Bylaw 1807-13 Water Utility Levy Bylaw  
    New Rate: Effective April 1, 2013, for water used bi-monthly, a charge of $2.25 cents per cubic meter or $6.37 per 100 cubic feet.  The new rate is an increase from $2.20 cents per cubic meter or $6.23 per 100 cubic feet.  

Bylaw 1808-13 Sewer Usage Charge Bylaw  
    Residential – single unit   Bi monthly old rate was $ 37.86, new rate is $ 43.54 for an increase of $ 5.68; Commercial/Industrial/Institutional: Old - $ 70.47, New - $ 81.04 and an increase of $10.57                

Utility Master Plan Tender Award  
    The budgeted amount for this project was $150,000 with funding coming from the Utility reserve.  The City received 6 RFP’s with pricing ranging from $30,000 to $269,111.  After evaluation, the RFP from MPE Engineering of Red Deer best met the requirements of the Utility Master Plan, and provided the best product for the best price.  Council approved the Utility Master Plan RFP as supplied by MPE Engineering of Red Deer, Alberta in the amount of $101,000 excluding GST. 
 2013 and 2014 Budget with votes recorded.
    Sections 242 – 249 of the Municipal Government Act specify that Council MUST approve an operating and capital budget each year, and Council may not pass a Tax Bylaw until the operating and capital budgets are approved.  
    City Council approved the 2013 – 2014 Operating Budget establishing total operating revenues and expenditures at $27,535,898 for 2013 and $29,728,632 for 2014 with the amount of revenue generated by taxation not to exceed $12,120,432 in 2013 and $13,268,715 in 2014 exclusive of the education and Peace Hills Lodge requisitions.   
    City Council approved the 2013 – 2014 Project Budgets with 2013 expenditures of $14,816,975 of which $661,485 is funded from the tax base and 2014 expenditures of $5,832,653 with $1,030,600 funded  The increases are 7.4%.

Tender of Main Street
    Council authorized administration to proceed with the tender of Main Street Phase II following the design principles previously approved with minor amendments. The project is expected to be complete by September 30, 2013.

Recreation and parks master plan
    In terms of investment in recreation and parks, Wetaskiwin spends approximately $290 per person compared with a range of $322 – $507 for the comparable communities. This accounts for 15.8% of the City’s entire budget. Comparable municipalities spend 18.6% of total budgets on average. It is important to note that these priorities were developed without consideration to the associated capital or operating costs of each.

Low-Flush Toilet Replacement Program  
    In the 2012 Municipal Budget Administration was directed to implement a “Residential Low-Flush Toilet Replacement Program”.  As part of the 2012 budget, a project for water conservation in the amount $38,500 was approved.   
    Starting April 1, 2013, the City’s Residential Toilet Replacement Program offers homeowners a $50 rebate applied as a credit on your Utility bill for each old toilet they replace with an approved low-flow or dual-flush 3/6 litre toilet, to a maximum of 3 toilets per household.    
     The program will require that the applicant must be the registered owner of the property - Old toilets must have a flushing volume of 13 litres or greater. THE LPF (LITRES PER FLUSH) MUST BE INDICATED ON YOUR APPLICATION - Replacement toilet must be CSA or Warnock Hersey Certified and must not exceed 6 LPF - Submit 2 photos: - Photo of old toilet prior to removal - Photo of new toilet installed    
    Who Is Not Eligible For the Rebate? 
• New construction  
 • Addition of a new bathroom to an existing house  
• Replacement of an existing low- flush or dual-flush toilet   
• Toilets purchased  before April 1, 

Safety codes contract 
    The safety codes contract between the City of Wetaskiwin and IJD Inspections Ltd. expires on March 31, 2013. In mid-February, all accredited safety codes agencies in Alberta were asked to submit bids to provide exclusive building, plumbing, gas and electrical safety code services to the City of Wetaskiwin for a term April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2016.   
    City Council authorized administration to enter into an agreement for Safety Codes Services with IJD Inspections Ltd.  at the rate of 70% of the permit fee for the term of April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2016. 

Early Replacement of Unit # 315 Olympic Ice Bear, Ice Resurfacer  
    Request Administration has received a very favorable trade- in offer for the existing 2008 Ice Bear on a new 2013 unit.  The City has received a one-time offer from Big Hill Services to trade in the existing Ice Bear.   The offer provides that the City will receive a brand new Ice Bear Resurfacer unit in exchange for the existing vehicle at a cost of $64,000.  In the 2013 budget $20,000 was established for maintenance.Defeated 

Out of Province Travel Federation of Canadian Municipalities  
    Council approved Alderman Glenn Ruecker and Alderman Particia MacQuarrie attend the Federation of Canadian Municipalities convention. 
    Conference Travel Growing Rural Tourism Conference  
Council approved Alderman Mark McFaul and Alderman Joe Branco attend the Growing Rural Tourism Conference in Camrose from April 8 – 10, 2013.  

Travel Economic Developers, Kananaskis and Alberta Library Conference, Jasper
    Council approved Alderman MacQuarrie attend the Economic Development Conference and the Alberta Library Conference.
    Council convened at 4:00 pm and completed the 228 page agenda at 7:52 pm.