MD of Pincher Creek Council Meeting, November 8, 2011

Chris Davis, Pincher Creek Voice

The Municipal District of Pincher Creek No. 9 met on Tuesday afternoon, November 8.  Following a public hearing regarding a windmill-related rezoning bylaw detailed here, the regular public meeting commenced.

Fencing and paving near Castle Mountain

Brent Barbero of the Castle River Stock Association (CRSA) appeared as a delegation before council.
Councillor Rod Cyr asked Barbero if the CRSA would object to a fence being constructed as part of a paving project along the the stretch of Highway 774 leading up to the Castle Mountain ski operation.  "We would welcome it, at least on one side," Barbero said.  He said ATV and camping activities in the area was a concern for the CRSA.  "That's our primary range," he said.  "Once that's gone we can't get it back.


There's a lot of random camping in the area, and every camp is a staging area, it just destroys those meadows," said Barbero.  Councillor Helen Cyr asked about the severity of erosion in the area due to ATV activity.  "It's pretty severe," replied Barbero.  Deputy Reeve Terry Yagos wondered who would maintain the fence after it was built.  "We (CRSA) would have to," answered Barbero.  Councillor Cyr asked how long the new stretch of paving and fencing would be.  "About 7 miles to the ski hill," was the answer, potentially meaning a total of 14 miles of fencing.  "We've had some success fencing off areas so quads and campers can't use them," concluded Barbero.

Public Meeting scheduled to discuss Livingstone Colony Area Structure Plan

MD Council gave first reading of proposed bylaw 1219-11, regarding the Livingstone Colony Area Structure Plan.  A public meeting regarding the bylaw was then scheduled for Tuesday,  December 13, 2011, 6:30 pm.

Director of Operations report

Director of Operations Leo Reedyk presented his report to Council.  He said the gravel program was now at an end for the year.  Snow fencing is ongoing, as is the cleaning of Texas gates in the MD.  The process of reclaiming the Summerview gravel pit is expected to take "the better part of three weeks" depending on the weather, Reedyk said in response to a question from Councillor Helen Cyr.

Draft of Texas Gate Policy 302

"I do believe we have a policy that is quite workable," said Leo Reedyk, recommending Council adopt policy 302.  "I do have an application on my desk just waiting for a policy to approve it," he later added.

Highlights of the proposed policy:

• The MD may take a survey of landowners with property adjacent to Texas gates to determine if the gate is needed.
• If a Texas gate is determined to be unnecessary the MD will pay for the cost of the initial fence installation as required to replace it, according to terms and specifications outlined in the policy. 
• No new Texas gates are to be installed on major roads except in exceptional circumstances.

The full text of the proposed policy is available on the MD website. Click here.

The council spent a fair bit of time fine-tuning the wording of the policy.

Councillor Helen Cyr recommended the MD hold a public meeting to get feedback about the policy.  Councillor Rod Cyr concurred with that suggestion.  Reeve Rod Zielinski recommended the council pass it as a draft policy before bringing it to the public.  He said that came with a caution as to possible public reaction.  CAO Wendy Kay suggested putting off the public meeting until the new year so that constituents could be contacted.  Councillor Rod Cyr then moved that council accept the policy as a draft, as amended, and that the MD hold a public meeting about it in January.  The motion passed unanimously.

Road closures approved

After some discussion and explanation by one of the homeowners affected, Council voted unanimously to approve the closure of a virtually unusable road allowance that crosses through a private property west of highway 22.

The closure of two small portions of road allowance bordering on Lynch Lake was also approved, with the land to be consolidated into the existing title  of the adjacent landowner.

Heritage Acres

Council received a thank-you letter from Heritage Acres for their joint-funding support.  Council agreed to write a letter of support for Heritage Acres' Community Facility Enhancement Program (CFEP) grant.  application.  Heritage Acres also asked fo r300 cubic metres of gravel to for foundation footing for a new workshop and for the show-entry road.  Reeve Zielinski suggested donating the grave but having Heritage Acres take responsibility for the trucking.  Councillors Helen Cyr and Bjorn Berg suggested giving Heritage Acres the same amount of gravel as was supplied earlier this year, 150 metres.  In the end it was decided to ask Heritage Acres to be more specific about the need for the amount of gravel requested.

Council unanimously voted to approve the MD paying the insurance premium for SUmmerview Hall, dust control on Heritage Acres' roads, and the use of an MD water truck for the 2011 annual show, provided a certified MD person is willing to drive it.