ECA Review 2020-03-26

ECA REVIEW HANNA/CORONATION/STETTLER, AB March 26'20 5
VILLAGE OF ALIX
Village hasn’t seen ‘hoarding’ problem, hears council
Stu Salkeld
LJI reporter
ECA Review
The Village of Alix has been
lucky enough to avoid the
“hoarding” problem commonly
encountered in other communities
in the coronavirus
outbreak, councillors heard
during their regular meeting
March 18.
Village CAO Michelle White
provided councillors with a
detailed update on what Alix is
doing to handle the coronavirus
outbreak.
Coun. Vicki Soltermann said
she thought Alix had avoided
much of the “panic buying”
problem which plagued other
communities, which she saw in
Stettler.
Coun. Ed Cole agreed that
Alix appears to have so far
avoided that problem.
The CAO noted village staff
along with local and regional
emergency management began
responding to various
announcements made by the
provincial and federal governments
that week.
White said, so far, there
doesn’t seem to be any direct
financial implications on the
village from coronavirus.
Mayor Rob Fehr asked, “Are
we looking at a pandemic plan?”
White responded that staff are
working on a plan.
Felt was also at the council
meeting and noted staff are
going over the contingency
plan, on the phone daily,
reviewing regional partnerships
and feel they are on the
right track.
She stated the Alberta
Medical Association is happy
with the village’s efforts and the
village is planning to host an
unofficial operations centre to
handle coronavirus issues.
Felt stated information for the
public will be posted on the village
website or Rec Department
Facebook page. Paper copies of
statements will also be available
at the village office, which
remains open to the public as of
the council meeting.
“At this time, our office and
staff are maintaining a ‘business
as usual’ approach with a
heightened hygiene regime and
social distancing practices,”
stated White in her report to
council.
The mayor stated he wanted
to make sure staff know all of
the various benefits available to
workers right now from various
levels of government.
White said she also wanted to
make sure nobody thinks they
are financially required to go to
work even though they’re ill.
White also pointed out that if
the situation changes, councillors
will be notified as soon as
possible.
Financial statements
Councillors listened to
auditor Dan Luymes of BD
Canada report on the village’s
audited financial statements.
In his memo to CAO White,
Luymes noted, “During the
course of our audit into the
financial statements of the
Village of Alix for the year
ended Dec. 31, 2019 we did not
encounter any significant matters
which we believe should be
brought to your attention.”
Councillors went through
various sections of the audited
statements with Luymes’ help.
Coun. Soltermann said the
audited financial statements
were nice to look at.
“All in all, it looks a lot better
than it did last year,” said
Soltermann.
Councillors accepted the
audited financial statements.
Emergency Management
bylaw
Councillors had a modified
Emergency Management Bylaw
returned to them for second and
third reading.
Coun. Ed Cole asked if he
understood correctly that the
new bylaw allows the mayor,
acting alone, to declare a local
state of emergency, or the
deputy mayor or two
councillors.
White responded, yes, that is
correct.
White noted that authority is
required by the provincial
government.
Councillors unanimously
approved second and third
readings of the new bylaw.
Year end adjustments
White provided council with
a memo regarding year end
adjustments, specifically a total
unrestricted surplus of
$668,222.
“These are funds the village
holds that are not
already designated to a particular
reserve account and
are also not part of a grant
that is being held to sue on a
particular project,” stated
White in her report.
White said councillors
had options for the funds,
including buying out a debt.
Coun. Cole stated, with
the price of oil dropping,
provincial grants may be
scare to come by this year
and the funds could come in
handy for projects.
Councillors agreed to
leave about $200,000 in
unrestricted surplus,
agreed to pay out the debenture
as of April 30, 2020 in
the amount dictated by the
Alberta Treasury Board &
Finance but not to exceed
$250,000 and that of Dec. 31,
2019 the Village of Alix
council will add $100,000 to
roads and streets reserve,
$100,000 to wastewater
reserve, $8,000 to the cemetery
reserve and $10,000 to
the community hall
reserve.
Too late to cancel
During staff reports it
was noted the Rec Dept.
held a scheduled cooking
class, despite the coronavirus
outbreak.
White explained the decision
was made to go ahead
with the class because all of
the food for it was already
purchased and it would
have gone to waste.
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