Pincher Creek Town Council notes from November 12, 2013 meeting

Toni Lucas, Pincher Creek Voice

• Refund of tax penalty denied
• Committee of the Whole to meet on the first Wednesday of the month
• Council meeting in December moved to December 16
• $1000 donation to Philippines disaster relief
• Deputy Mayor now an eight month term
• Budget adjustments due to unanticipated repairs at recreation facilities

Council for the Town of Pincher Creek met on the evening of November 12, 2013. In attendance were Mayor Don Anderberg and Councillors Adrian Hartman, Wayne Elliott, Mark Barber, Tammy Rubbelke, Lorne Jackson, and Doug Thornton. CAO Laurie Wilgosh and CFO Wendy Catonio was also in attendance.

Refund on tax penalty denied
Citizen David Tetachuk approached Town Council on October 28 to discuss a tax penalty that was levied on a property that he owns in Pincher Creek. According to Tetachuk he is the owner of Hot Property Real Estate, which has several properties around Pincher Creek and area and has paid all of his taxes on time with the exception of one property. Due to the timing of the purchase of this one property Tetachuk said that the paper work was delayed. According to Tetachuk he talked to administration after he had received bills on all of his other properties, and that one was missing, having been mailed to the previous owner. He said that he was willing to pay for the taxes on the property, but when he approached Town administration to have a bill made both the amount and the name on the bill were incorrect, so it could not be processed by the financial firm that he uses.

Council discussed the issue in depth. There were concerns from administration that a refund in this case would set a precedent. Councillor Doug Thornton was in favour of refunding the tax penalty to Tetachuk, expressing that it looked like he had repeatedly tried to address the situation through the town administration. Thornton additionally said that Tetachuk has several properties in the area, and every other property was paid on time.

The motion to refund the tax penalty was defeated with Councillor Thornton being the only Councillor to vote in favour of the motion.

Previous story: New Town of Pincher Creek Council sworn in

Committee of the Whole to meet on the first Wednesday of the month
Members of Town Council gave three readings to Bylaw 1608-13 to have the Committee of the Whole meeting date moved from the first Thursday of the month to the first Wednesday of the month. This has been approved by Town Council.

Deputy Mayor now an eight month term
Members of Town Council gave three readings to Bylaw 1596-13A to have the office of Deputy Mayor cover an eight month term rather than a six month term that it had been previously. This is an adjustment because elected officials are now in office for a term of 4 years as opposed to the previous 3 year terms. This change was accepted unanimously by council.

Deputy Mayor rotation schedule:

• November 1, 2013 - June 30, 2014 Wayne Elliott
• July 1, 2014 - February 28, 2015 Mark Barber
• March 1, 2015 - October 31, 2015 Adrian Hartman
• November 1, 2015 - June 30, 2016 Doug Thornton
• July 1, 2016 - February 28, 2017 Tammy Rubbelke
• March 1, 2017 - October 20, 2017 Lorne Jackson

Signing authority confirmed
The Council voted unanimously that the persons to have signing authority for the Town of Pincher Creek would be Manager of Legislative Services Gus Kollee, CFO Wendy Catonio, CAO Laurie Wilgosh, and the Mayor Don Anderberg and elected council members: Adrian Hartman, Wayne Elliott, Mark Barber, Tammy Rubbelke, Lorne Jackson, and Doug Thornton. Any other names will no longer have signing authority for the Town of Pincher Creek.

Budget adjustments due to unanticipated repairs at recreation facilities
Council agreed unanimously to adjust the 2013 Operating and Capital Budget due to unanticipated repairs and maintenance to Community recreation facilities.

This includes exterior painting of the Community Recreation facility, window casing upgrades, and the installation of weeping tile and repairs in the area of the squash courts due to flooding.

$53,285.00 will be moved from the Municipal Sustainability Initiative Grant into general ledger account 6720662000, and $23,000 will go into ledger account 2720625000.

Council meeting moved to December 16
Normally the only date that Town Council has a meeting in December is the second Monday of the month , in this case December 9, 2013.  Due to a conflict with Councillors attending Council Orientation and training on that date, the meeting date has been changed to Monday December 16. Council members from Crowsnest Pass, Town of Pincher Creek, Cowley and the MD of Pincher Creek have been invited to attend this orientation.

Assessment Review Board Training
The Assessment Review Board is holding training sessions during the winter/spring of 2014. Councillors were given the dates when these training sessions will be held, and it will be discussed at the next meeting.

Pincher Creek Town Council votes to donate $1000 to Philippines disaster relief
Councillor Doug Thornton asked to address the disaster of Typhoon Haiyan that struck the Philippines November 8. Thornton requested that the Town of Pincher Creek donate $1,000.00 to ShelterBox Canada. This amount will buy one shelter box that will supply 10 people with shelter, bedding, a water purification system, cooking utensils, a stove, tools and other assorted items. Volunteers from ShelterBox are already in the Philippines offering assistance. Councillor Thornton would like to challenge other Councils to match this donation.

CAO Laurie Wilgosh suggested that the money could come from the public relations funding. Council unanimously voted in favour of the aid funding.

Related story: Pincher Creek Town Council votes to donate $1000 to Philippines disaster relief
Related Link: ShelterBox Canada