ECA Review - 2024-01-04

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2 January 4'24 HANNA/CORONATION/STETTLER, AB. ECA REVIEW VIEWPOINTS The opinions expressed are not necessarily the opinions of this newspaper. Boycotting Bashaw library Dear Editor, I recently read a library book which asked the reader to ponder what it means to be a good ancestor- whether our actions in life will allow future generations to consider us as a good ancestor to them. Today, I ask the board members of the Bashaw Library Board to reflect on your legacy. Are your recent actions and decisions, accomplishments which your descendants can look back on with pride? When future generations look at your decision to let community advocate, literacy lover, tireless volunteer and long time library manager Cindy Hunter be let go from your organization just days before Christmas with no warning, how will they view that action as serving our community and the people within it? I urge each board member to sit, meditate and reflect on your legacy. The decision to remove Cindy Hunter from your library after more than 17 years service, is your legacy in our community. Whether you vocally supported and championed this decision of your board, or if you voiced your neutrality or disagreement through silence and inaction: both actions are ultimately a vote in favour of this board decision. The website for the Bashaw Library Board, states three major roles, one of which is to advocate. You state “The Board acts as a bridge between the community and the library. The Board promotes the library to the community and encourages everyone to use its collections, programs and services.” There are currently children, families and seniors grieving the dismissal of their favourite employee. These patrons have now vowed to never step foot in your library again because of the decision you made and endorsed. And if, after personal reflection, you still believe this is an action you support wholeheartedly, a decision that makes you a good ancestor, then so be it. However, I want you to know that I’ve speculated on how my support of R R R R R Published by Coronation Review Limited Subscriptions: $52.50 in Canada; $98.70 in US; $183.75 Overseas. PARLIAMENT Year-end 2023 message by Damien C. Kurek, MP Battle River - Crowfoot As we reflect on the challenges and triumphs of 2023, I am reminded of the resilience and unity of Canadians in the face of adversity. While political debates and controversies shaped the year, they also reflected the democratic values that underpin Canadian society. A freedom that we enjoy and must do everything we can protect within our borders and beyond. This year has been outlined by many significant, history-making events: two major conflicts in different parts of the world, we coronated a new King, war against two of our allies overseas, another election in Alberta, and a divided country under the leadership of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Not to mention some instances in Parliament, including the first ever time a Speaker of the House of Commons (Anthony Rota) resigned, followed by calls for the next speaker, Greg Fergus, to resign less than two months following his election because of a trend of overtly partisan activity. Kurek Turn to Had, Pg 8 MAIL BAG your organization will reflect on myself as a good ancestor, and that’s why I’ve decided to boycott your library despite my previous 25 plus years of patronage and advocacy for it. I believe that to be a good ancestor, I should only uphold community organizations that prioritize the needs, desires and values of our community. Devon Hunter Meeting Creek, Alta. Cancelling request to Elnora council Dear Editor, This letter is in response to your article in the Dec. 21, 2023, pg. 5 titled ‘Council talks about culvert responsibility’ under Elnora council. Council talks about culvert responsibility since I was not given the opportunity to give this information. First, and foremost, I was not informed that the council would be addressing this issue again. In fact, I have heard “nothing” further from council or Chief Administrative officer (CAO) Westgate on this matter even though Mayor Bissel said that he would reach out to me on this matter before next council meeting in November’s council meeting. It was implied that they would not be fixing my culvert based on information Westgate allegedly obtained from someone at the Red Deer County offices. This lack of communication is a constant trend with them as they seem to not want public input or to be challenged even though we have proven to do more investigation and confirming with Municipal Affairs (MA) and Red Deer County than Elnora’s CAO does. In the same November meeting, when the CAO provided this information, I asked for the documentation required by Red Deer County (Elnora has adopted their Building and Development policies) that a resident must submit to build or repair the access to confirm if the village had made previous repairs on it. I asked this in order to avoid this discussion of 72 pt East Central Alberta EVIEW 60 pt 48 pt 36 pt Website ECAreview.com Office Hours Mon. - Fri. 9 am - 5 pm R 30 pt 4921 - Victoria Avenue Tel. (403) 578-4111 R 24 pt Mail: Box 70, Coronation, AB Canada, T0C 1C0 LETTERS POLICY • Letters to the Editor are welcomed • Must be signed and a phone number included so the writer’s identity can be verified. • ECA Review reserves the right to edit letters for legal considerations, taste and brevity. Letters and columns submitted are not necessarily the opinion of this newspaper. MEMBER OF: setting a precedence. Because if the village had installed or repaired the culvert in the past, it would be “their” responsibility to fix it now. They said that they didn’t think they had such information!?! I contacted the Red Deer County Engineering coordinator and he informed me that they treat every access repair request differently. There is no set policy and they do quite often fix culverts and other issues with residential accesses at the cost of the municipality. And gave me examples of times when they have repaired culverts and other times when they have not. I contacted the Ministry of Municipal Affairs office and spoke in length to a manager there and was told that the Municipal Government Act (MGA) does give explicit responsibility to the municipality for public roads, but allows for councils to treat repairs like this on a case-to-case basis. Fixing one culvert does not mean that council has to fix every case. Also, if they have fixed them in the past, then by their interpretation of “fair”, does that not mean that they must fix this one. Elnora council seems to be implying that if this one extremely damaged culvert is replaced that they will have to replace all culverts. Why would taxes go up to replace one culvert? Also, I believe council had access to grant funds for infrastructure maintenance such as this that they wasted on bailing out a local business owner. If taxes have to go up to maintain Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada. MAIL BAG JOYCE WEBSTER Publisher/Editor office@ECAreview.com YVONNE THULIEN Marketing/Digital 403-575-9474 digital@ECAreview.com Elnora’s infrastructure, it will be their fault. Also, Westgate’s quote of the date I purchased my property is completely incorrect. I took possession in Nov of 2021. This is, in my opinion, just another sign of the lack of due diligence that our CAO puts into the information she provides the public and to council. Followup letter to council Although I am glad that you have not forgotten about this issue and have discussed it in two council meetings so far, I am withdrawing my request to this current council to have the culvert fixed in the access to my property. This is not because I don’t think the village should replace it, it is because of what I consider to be insane reasoning of council at the last meeting and the clear indication that you just do not want to fix it. Anyways, now you can stop spending taxpayers dollars discussing and investigating this issue and stop implying that fixing a culvert on public property is going to cause everyone’s taxes to skyrocket. My hope is that if this current council is presented with another decision to spend over $400,000 of tax monies like they did this year in June/ July, that they will put at least as much discussion and thought into that decision that they did into this one so far. Lee Staats, B.Comm. Elnora, Alta. STU SALKELD LJI Reporter 403-741-2615 reporter@ECAreview.com JUDY WALGENBACH Marketing 403-740-2492 marketing@ECAreview.com LANE KOSTER Reporter 403-862-0777 lane.koster@gmail.com LISA MYERS-SORTLAND Graphic Artist R 18 pt
ECA REVIEW HANNA/CORONATION/STETTLER, AB January 4'24 3 BASHAW COUNCIL May have solved mysterious, expensive water leak Stu Salkeld Local Journalism Initiative reporter ECA Review The efforts of a contractor specializing in water leak detection may have solved an ongoing mystery that’s caused the Town of Bashaw some lost water. The issue of water leak detection was discussed at the Dec. 18 regular meeting of council. Town Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Theresa Fuller presented more reports performed by Enviro Trace Ltd., a contractor that specializes in detecting underground leaks. This was the second time Enviro Trace was in Bashaw. In a phone call to the ECA Review Dec. 22 Fuller stated the company found a location on Main Street between two businesses that appeared to be leaking and, once excavated, a main line with a connected service line were the culprits. Furthermore, as they detected leaking fluid sounds, the company tracked down an abandoned underground fixture with a hole and corrosion that was also leaking. Fuller reported to councillors the town knew a leak was occurring because the water purchased every year didn’t add up to the community use, yet no leaks were bubbling up to the surface making it difficult to find the problem. It turned out the leaking water was running into an abandoned sewer line nearby. The CAO noted, since this was identified and repaired, town staff have already seen a reduction in water usage. Councillors stated they appreciated staff efforts in finding the leak. Club delegation Councillors hosted a delegation from the Bashaw Curling Club, which has a relatively new board of directors. The delegation and council discussed an issue which recently arose between them: repairs performed by the Town of Bashaw on some curling club property. The CAO stated the curling club reached out to her and asked for the town to repair an overhead door and storage shed and while it’s not townowned property, the town agreed to do the repairs. However, the repairs turned out to be more expensive than anticipated. At a previous meeting councillors told town staff to ask the curling club to help pay for the repairs. The club delegation responded it would have preferred to do the repairs itself, as the club has volunteers who could have performed the repair work for less money. It was noted at the meeting there was a communication breakdown between the town and club, as the town stated it received the request but the club responded it never heard back in writing from the town whether the request was granted or denied; apparently there was also confusion about who actually owned the storage shed. STETTLER TOWN COUNCIL It is in fact the curling club’s property. The club also wanted to talk to councillors about a water bill they received; apparently there was a problem with ice-making that resulted in a large water bill, and the club delegation stated they didn’t like the tone of the letter they received from the Town of Bashaw informing them the club was expected to pay that water bill. Councillors accepted the delegation’s presentation as information. Library board Councillors spent a considerable amount of time at the Dec. 18 meeting discussing the municipal library board: it was listed under the consent agenda, two items under new/unfinished business and was also listed as a closed session item. Fuller stated councillors wanted to examine the library board’s governance, including examination of minutes from previous board meetings. It appears library board volunteers who record meeting minutes didn’t record them exactly the same way paid town staff do. Councillors passed a resolution to have town staff report back on exactly how the library board is supposed to be recording minutes. Police update Recently placed Bashaw RCMP detachment commander Sgt. Trent Cleveland was scheduled to provide a quarterly update on the community’s Christmas present to business: Town of Stettler boosts tax incentive bylaw Stu Salkeld Local Journalism Initiative reporter ECA Review Stettler town council gave an early Christmas present to the business community in the form of boosting the municipality’s tax incentive bylaw. The decision was made at the last regular council meeting of 2023, Dec. 19. Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Leann Graham made a verbal presentation about updates to the non-residential tax incentive bylaw, which councillors stated they approved in the past as a way to encourage business growth and development in Stettler. Earlier in the meeting a public hearing was held as required by the Municipal Government Act for the revised bylaw, with no members of the public appearing to speak. Mayor Sean Nolls, who chaired the public hearing, asked Graham if she received any written comments either for or against the proposed changes and Graham responded there were none received. Nolls closed the public hearing. It had been noted at a previous council meeting the non-residential tax incentive bylaw, usually referred to as a “business” bylaw, was being boosted by a couple of extra years of benefits over its original form. Essentially the bylaw offers reduced property tax rates for new development or renovation, referred to as “revitalization” in the bylaw, of an existing development. At a previous council meeting when the bylaw’s original version was discussed, councillors included “renovation” in order to address possible concerns from existing business owners; it was thought existing business owners may feel slighted by the substantial property tax rebates offered to new developments. Hence the tax incentive applies to new developments but also to existing developments who wish to renovate. The bylaw allows this program to apply for up to five years, with both the term and level of benefit depending on the original dollar value of the project: From $5,000 to $100,000 of development the property tax rebate is 100 per cent for one year, for $100,000 to $500,000 the rebate is 100 per cent the first year, 50 per cent second year, for $500,000 to $1,000,000 in value the rebate is 100 per cent the first year, 75 per cent second year, 50 per cent third year, for $1,000,000 to $2,500,000 in development the rebate is the same as above but with 25 per cent the fourth year, for $2,500,000 to $5,000,000 in value the rebate is 100 per cent the first two years followed by 75 per cent in years three and four, for $5,000,000 to $10,000,000 the property tax rebate is 100 per cent for four years while new developments or renovations valued at $10,000,000 or more get five years of 100 per cent property tax rebate. No discussion was held and councillors unanimously approved all readings necessary to approve the bylaw. Franchise fees Councillors perused the annual ATCO franchise fee notification; franchise fees are those fees which a municipality charges to utility companies to operate within the municipal boundaries. The CAO recommended extending ATCO’s franchise agreement, noting it was up to council to raise, lower or leave untouched the fee charged to the company if they wished. Municipalities have options for how high or low the rates are set, but it’s been mentioned at many council meetings in the ECA Review coverage region that if councils elected to increase a franchise fee for ATCO or any number of other utility companies it’s assumed the utility companies will simply pass that increase along to the general public who use their services. Mayor Nolls reflected this in his comments, saying that with the current state of the economy, including inflation and cost of living, he felt it wouldn’t be appropriate to increase the franchise fee at this time, obviously acknowledging Stettler residents would end up paying the increase. Councillors unanimously agreed to renew the franchise agreement, leaving the rates unchanged. Coronation AG Society ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Mon., January 8 7pm @ Community Centre Meeting Room Tuesday, January 30, 2024 12 PM - 3 PM GRANT WRITING WORKSHOP Castor FCSS Building (formerly the Golden Circle Club) Learn how to secure Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (S-CAP) program funding for your farm with Karlene Yakemchuk of Scattered Spruce Ag Services Ltd. Register by calling Trevor at (403) 882-3211 presented by crime stats but Fuller noted Cleveland wasn’t able to attend the meeting after all. Instead, she noted a town councillor had recently attended a Bashaw RCMP town hall meeting where similar information was presented and the councillor gave a verbal update to their peers. The CAO stated the police update didn’t contain anything unusual. It was also noted the RCMP training depot in Regina is full, which suggests any areas that have RCMP openings may be getting their new police officer soon. Councillors accepted the report as information. Stettler Swim Club Annual General MEETING Thurs. January 11 6:00 pm at the Stettler Recreation Center in the Upstairs Meeting Room For more info., please contact Jolena Hullmann 403-323-0738. Registration: $10 •Lunch Included County of Paintearth No. 18
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ECA Review - 2024-01-04

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