Capital projects re-allocated

Director of Finance Rob Osmond approached council with a request for revisions to the funding for two major capital projects: the streetlights and community centre sound system.

 Osmond and the administration asked that council approve the annual streetlight upgrade to be funded with $85,000 from reserves. Originally, the upgrades were approved to be funded from a Local Government Fiscal Framework grant.

 The agenda explained that upon application, Town corporate services discovered that the LGFF could not be used because the upgraded streetlights will not be owned by the Town. As a result, the $85,000 project needed to be drawn from reserves.

  The arena/auditorium sound system project was revised to $91,000 from reserves and $105,000 from Community Futures Enhancement Program grant funding, and those changes also needed approval.

 The sound system was approved to be funded with $196,000 from reserves, however Taber Minor Hockey applied for a $105,000 CFEP grant and was awarded it. The funding structure therefore needed to be changed to $105,000 from the CFEP grant and $91,000 from reserves.

 The Municipal Government Act requires that a municipality must outline its planned expenses and funding sources in the budget before approving capital projects. The net impact on reserves from these two changes was a $20,000 increase in unrestricted reserves available for council to fund other projects.

Council approved both changes.

Pedestrian safety

Back on April 14, Coun. Firth moved that council direct the administration to investigate the possible solutions to increase pedestrian safety from 53 Ave. to 56 Ave. on 43 St. The administration reviewed the conditions at the location and came back with a report on May 26.

 The section of road is temporary gravel constructed with the permission of the current landowner on the location of the future 43 St. extension. The construction of a permanent road and services will be triggered by future phases of development, the meeting agenda said.

 The standard street lighting, sidewalks, curbing, and asphalt are not yet in place, all of which are designed to improve pedestrian safety.

 CAO Derrin Thibault told council that since April, the Town has gone out and installed interim 30 km/hr limit signs along the road. Natural washboarding is now occurring and rather than grading it, the Town is “not so inclined to go in and flatten that out. We’ll leave that in as some natural speed-bumping,” Thibault said.

 He said that pedestrian lights for the crossing coming out of Westview are still in the works, which should help with traffic. Thibault said development in the area is still fairly distant; not likely sooner than late 2026 or into ‘27 depending on the developers, and no development permits have yet been submitted.

New ATM for auditorium likely

At an April council meeting, Coun. Sorensen moved that council should direct the administration to investigate the possibility of installing another ATM in the Community Centre. Council wanted to explore the option of installing an ATM within the auditorium space.

 Council previously explored the idea in 2021, but the lessee was not open to installing a second ATM at the time. The facilities department reviewed the request in 2021 and determined a dedicated phone line would need to run from the recreation operations office to the auditorium. A new dedicated phone line meant additional monthly phone costs, the agenda said. The project was not deemed feasible at the time.

 Now, the lessee is open to adding a second ATM at the auditorium space and has one in storage that could be used. The Town’s facilities department confirmed that the make and model of the ATM runs through data or WIFI and only requires a 120V power source, eliminating the external wiring.

 The ATM would have to be anchored to the floor for security and insurance purposes and the lessee would be responsible for bolting down the ATM to the existing concrete subfloor. The Town would be responsible for patching the anchor holes and floor if the ATM is later removed from the location. The 24/7 power consumption of the ATM that would be captured in the lease agreement.

 Coun. Sorensen was pleased with the progress and made a motion to direct the administration to bring an amended lease agreement for the second ATM to a future council meeting for approval. Council carried it unanimously.

Land use bylaw amendment passes third reading

Council gave a third reading to amend the land use bylaw for redesignation of civic address 6997 50 Street. The bylaw would allow multiple land use districts to be converted into a residential comprehensive development multiple-dwelling district.

 Land use bylaw amendments require a public hearing and council held one on May 12. Letters were also mailed to all the properties within 100 meters.

 The Town received two objections–one written and one in-person–at the public hearing before passing the second reading on May 12. The objections came from a farmer adjacent to the area and a previous landowner who sold a portion of those same lands for a lesser value after being unable to develop them due to the zoning bylaw.

 After the public hearing, council proposed going ahead with a second reading and having administration follow up further on the objections..

 When they revisited it on May 26, CAO Thibault said that the Town had followed up with one of the landowners who objected. He explained, “I sent out a communication to council that we had some more conversation with the landowner, and there was no documentation that came forward that suggested we were doing something that we were not allowed to do. Outside of that, we’re just here for the third reading.”

 Council moved to pass the third reading and it was carried unanimously by six councillors. Coun. Bekkering was absent for the second consecutive meeting.