Notes from August 26, 2014 MD of Pincher Creek Council meeting

• MD withdraws from Emergency Management Agency
• No opposition to Bylaw 1253-14 
• Bylaw 1252-14 received third and final reading 
• MD receives Agricultural Service Board Grant 
• Rolling out the barrels to cost over $30,000 
• Johnson Controls Planned Maintenance Proposal discussed 
• MD to maintain RR 29-1 from the north access 
• Application in place to move water intake to Oldman Dam Reservoir * (corrected for accuracy)
• Rotary Club requested to make a presentation at Council 
• MD Council approved CARLS budget 
• Alta Link is proposing a transmission line northeast of Pincher Creek 
• MD to support Awards of Excellence 
• Stars of Alberta Volunteer Awards 
• PCDHS asks for funding for Turcott / CIBC building project 
• Grant money available for regions that collaborate 
• New Home Warranty Program found lacking by Cardston citizens 
• Goose Lake telecommunications upgrade to begin 
• Thank you letters from COP and McMan 
• Molluscs a concern for Councillors

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MD withdraws from Emergency Management Agency

A Special Meeting of the Council of the Municipal District of Pincher Creek No. 9 was held on Tuesday, August 5, 2014. Present were Reeve Brian Hammond, Councillors Garry Marchuk, Fred Schoening, Terry Yagos, and Grant McNab.  

In addition to several other subjects, the council carried a motion by Councillor Fred Schoening that the MD of Pincher Creek withdraw from the Joint Emergency Management Agreement with the Town of Pincher Creek effective immediately.

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The Regular Meeting of Municipal District of Pincher Creek #9 was held on August 26, 2014. In attendance were Reeve Brian Hammond and Councillors Terry Yagos, Fred Schoening, Garry Marchuk and Grant McNab.


No opposition to Bylaw 1253-14

The meeting was preceded by a public hearing for Bylaw 1253-14. The request is from the landowner to change the designation from Agriculture to Multi Lot Heavy Rural Industrial for land located at W 12-7-29 W4M. Development Officer Roland Milligan explained that this is "For the development of a gravel resource on that property. They still want to maintain use north of it, which is the Summerview Feedlot." To change this to for a gravel resource there are two designation choices; windfarm industrial, and multi lot heavy rural industrial. "This is what we need to rezone it, to allow for that gravel extraction." Mulligan indicated that no letters, written submissions, or calls have been made regarding this bylaw, and no one stepped forward during the meeting in regards to this rezoning.

Bylaw 1252-14 receives third and final reading

Bylaw 1252-14 went through second and third readings. This bylaw refers to agricultural operations, and has changed to include aquaculture, aquaponics, and small greenhouses.

Aquaculture or cultured fish, refers to where the use of land or building produces aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants.

Aquaponics is a subset of aquaculture and refers to the use of land or building, that combines conventional aquaculture with hydroponics.

The bylaw now also includes greenhouses that measure smaller than 500 square feet.

Operations report 

MD receives Agricultural Service Board Grant

Director of Operations Leo Reedyk informed council that the MD has received from Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development for the Agricultural Service Board Grant for 2014-2016. The Province of Alberta has confirmed that they are prepared to grant the municipality of Pincher Creek $168,359.46 for the Legislative Funding Stream and $20,000.00 for Environmental Funding Stream per year of the three year agreement. The Environmental Funding Stream grant requested and budgeted for was $5,000 more than the Province has granted in the past. "It is more than I received last year, and it is a good day," said Reedyk. "Certainly there is a lot of good work we can do with the money that is being granted." Council moved to accept the draft of the grant as presented.

Rolling out the barrels to cost over $30,000

Outdated road care products may prove to be costly for the MD.  Approximately 80 drums containing unused amounts of lignin and oil based products used for patching roads and dust suppression will require to be disposed of by the municipality. The use of these products ceased within the municipality approximately ten years ago. The drums of unused product remain at the Public Works Yard and at other storage areas within the municipality. In addition to the drums, two tanker bodies are still stored at the sand shed site each containing an unspecified amount of these products. "For the most part, they are outdated. Some are congealing, or separated. It's time to get rid of them," said Director of Operations Leo Reedyk. Reedyk has contacted Tervita Waste Management who has provided an estimate of $30,510 to package, transport and dispose of the 80 drums of outdated material. The material has solidified or separated, the drums are unmarked and in some cases damaged and rusting.

Reedyk said that a number of these containers have been around for more than 10 years. He answered that he did not know why they had not been used, or disposed of. "Some have been sitting there so long, the bottoms are starting to rot out of the drums," he said. Councillor Garry Marchuk was disturbed that the older items were not used first on various subsequent projects. "Certainly, the road patch material that we use now, we order it as we us it. I cannot speak to 15 plus years ago," explained Reedyk.

Reedyk said that the two tankers are trailers that could not be re certified for the road, and each has a small amount of product inside of them. "The tankers are basically obsolete." According to Reedyk Tervita Waste Management was not prepared to give a quote for the removal of the tankers as well as the drums. "Certainly, an option going ahead with this is to do a tender for the whole works."

Reeve Brian Hammond asked about the cost-efficiency of draining the tankers for the waste product to be taken separately from the tankers themselves. Reedyk thought it would be feasible to empty the tankers, if it could be done safely. He said that there are staff that has the background on how to heat the product, but he was concerned about how separation, and age may affect the procedure. He indicated that even empty the tankers themselves would not be something to sell, and would still require disposal.

One of the concerns that Reedyk's voiced is that legislation is coming into place that will require the MD to report on environmental liabilities. Councillor Fred Schoening asked about possible long term and leakage issues. "The bulk of these drums are within 50 feet of the bank of Pincher Creek," said Reedyk.

Reedyk said that Tervita did not indicate whether the waste products would go to Swan Hills hazardous material treatment centre or to a class 2 landfill for disposal. Reedyk indicated that at this time the only quote for disposal has been from the Tervita Waste Management.

Councillor Garry Marchuck brought up that the MD has paid for the products, the storage of them, and now the disposal of them. Marchuck said "This is the kind of thing that we have to keep control of, and be aware of, and make sure it doesn't happen again."

Reeve Brian Hammond said "I understand the urgency of it, but I need more information if I am going to agree to a particular action." The motion was tabled, and Reedyk was requested to bring more information to the next meeting.

Johnson Controls Planned Maintenance Proposal discussed

The new MD building has a variety of control systems,that were installed by Johnson Controls who has offered two quotes to do regular maintenance work based on the either quarterly or semi-annual service work. This includes regular maintenance on the building automation system, boilers, rooftop units, heaters, server room cooling unit, and pumps. The proposed price for this service contract is $15,888 quarterly or $8,053.29 semi annually plus tax. Councilor Garry Marchuk asked if there were local contractors that could do all or part of a regular maintenance on the building. "Absolutely. There is no reason why a couple of local contractors couldn't do this work," said Reedyk. Marchuk suggested and council agreed to table the issue until after there was input from local contractors on their capabilities, interest, and pricing.

MD to maintain RR 29-1 from the north access

The Municipal District has been requested to maintain the Spring Point Colony access from Highway 785 to the Colony buildings. The request includes regular grading and gravelling as well as winter snow removal. Administration had indicated in return for this an agreement can be reached to allow municipal equipment access to RR 29-1 from Highway 785 within the municipality rather than having to go around through the Municipal District of Willow Creek adding several miles to each visit.

According to administration, Springpoint Colony Manager Mike Walter indicated that the colony is prepared to enter into an agreement with the MD to allow access across the Colony lands for access to RR 29-1. This was discussed, with concerns about staff time, and MD equipment leaving the MD, and MD equipment being on private land also being addressed.

Councillor Fred Schoening made a motion to have administration contact Springpoint Colony to thank them for their discussion and input, however council has chosen to continue the current practice of going around the colony and using the northern approach for maintenance on RR 29-1.

Application in place to move water intake to Oldman Dam Reservoir*
corrected for accuracy

Reedyk informed council *of an application to change the 2013 Castle River intake project done in conjunction with the Village of Cowley. "As of two weeks ago, the amount of water in the Castle River was leaving our intake slightly dry, so we switched pumps to the pump that is lower volume, and our clean water is 20 to 24 hours a day, rather than 12 hours a day." Reedyk said that he had applied to the Alberta Community Resilience Program for relocation of the water intake from the Castle River to the Oldman Dam Reservoir.

Correspondence

Rotary Club requested to make a presentation at Council

The MD have received an email from a third party saying that the Rotary Club of Pincher Creek is looking to raise $25,000.00 to put towards a community enhancement grant of an additional $75,000.00. This $100,000.00 is to then be used to determine a location, costs associated with and feasibility of a Performing Arts Theatre. Conceptual drawings of the building and facility will also be included. The letter indicated that the Rotary Club has raised $6,500.00 and are confident they can raise the rest from the support of the community.

Councillor Fred Schoening was concerned that the request for funds did not come directly from the Rotary. "Shouldn't that come directly from the Rotary Club to our council, rather than second hand?" Council directed administration to contact the Pincher Creek Rotary Club for a request for a presentation.

MD Council approved CARLS budget

Chinook Arch Regional Library System (CARLS) presented the Municipal District of Pincher Creek Council with a 4 year budget. This budget is for 2015-2018 and includes a 3% increase to the municipal levies per capita for each of the four years. This will result in an $0.86 per capita increase at the current population by 2018.  The fee is to remain the same for the four years. The MD Council approved.


AltaLink is proposing a transmission line northeast of Pincher Creek

AltaLink is proposing a transmission line project located approximately 12 kilometres northeast of the town of Pincher Creek, named the Windy Point Wind Farm {130L Transmission Line Interconnection) Project.

The project involves constructing a new 138 kilovolt transmission line to connect Windy Point Wind Park proposed Boulder Run 5015 substation to the electric grid. The council received the package from AltaLink as information.

MD to support Awards of Excellence

The Pincher Creek & District Chamber of Commerce sent a letter to announce their 18th Annual Awards of Excellence that is scheduled to be held on Wednesday October 22nd, 2014. Council moved to be a gold sponsor for $250.

Stars of Alberta Volunteer Awards

Stars of Alberta Volunteer Awards 2014 sent a call for nominations for outstanding volunteers. The awards are presented on December 5, International Volunteer Day. This was received as information. For more information or to nominate a volunteer you can go to the Stars of Alberta website. http://www.culture.alberta.ca/community-and-voluntary-services/events-and-recognition/stars-of-alberta-awards/

 PCDHS asks for funding for Turcott / CIBC building project

The Pincher Creek and District Historical Society (PCDHS) sent a letter to council explaining that they had been offered the former Turcott / CIBC Building. The PCDHS expressed excitement to have this opportunity because they said that this building is the only piece of commercial history left in the community that could be re-located to the Kootenai Brown Pioneer Village, in Pincher Creek.  The PCDHS asked the MD Council if they would like to assist in the funding of this project, but did not give a requested amount.  The council received the package from PCDHS as information.

Grant money available for regions that collaborate

Council received a letter from Premier Dave Hancock that outlined some upcoming changes to the Municipal Government Act. The letter expressed that a revised Act will be introduced in the Legislature as early as spring 2015. Some of the key points that this letter stated significant financial support may go to municipalities will be through the Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI), Alberta Community Partnership (ACP), and Building Canada-Gas Tax Fund (GTF).  The new Alberta Community Partnership (ACP) is to replace the former Regional Collaboration Program (RCP).

The ACP has six program components. Two new components, lntermunicipal Collaboration (IC) and Metropolitan Funding (MF), have been created from the former Regional Collaboration component, and a new Viability Review Support (VRS) component has been added to provide support for municipal restructuring activities. The IC component provides support up to $350,000 towards collaborations of two or more municipalities to explore, plan, or implement new or enhanced regional municipal services. The council reviewed and received this as information.

New Home Warranty Program found lacking by Cardston citizens

Cardston County Council sent a letter to inform the MD of Pincher Creek about some of the negative impacts of the New Home Warranty Program (NHWP) that certain residents of Cardston County have experienced. This includes: A lack of response from NHWP through both phone and emails, an inability of NHW personnel to explain how applications for exemptions for self-build homeowners will be assessed, and other delays and issues.

Green space in Cowley environmentally unfriendly

The MD received a letter regarding the Village of Cowley green space that has been used in the past as a burning area. The author of the letter was distressed that there were other items including plastics, vinyl, rubber, paint, glass, and asphalt being dumped there as well. The person is concerned that when these products are burned they can release toxins. Reeve Brian Hammond indicated that this is not under the MD's jurisdiction.

Goose Lake Telecommunications Upgrade to begin

AltaLink sent a letter to Council informing them of the Goose Lake Telecommunications Upgrade.

AltaLink said in the information package that they planned to begin construction in August 2014, and  anticipate it will take approximately two months from start to complete. Where construction activities are required to take place on private property, AltaLink indicated that they would contact the owners of that land in advance to discuss the specific dates and times that they would require access to the property.

Thank you letters from COP and McMan

Citizens on Patrol (COP) sent a thank you letter to council regarding the $2,500 council allowed for the purchase of equipment. The McMan Agency sent a thank you letter for the support received from the MD for the Pincher Creek Food Bank.

Mollusks a concern for Councillors

During reports Councillor Fred Schoening brought forward concerns from the Ag Service Board regarding aquatic species invasion. The Ag Service Board would like to see government take a more serious role in policing. "Particularly, the molluscs, if they get into an irrigation system, absolutely destroy it," said  Schoening. Currently there is no mandatory boat inspection. "At this point, they are very casual about it. The province is not yet taking it seriously."

Councillor Marchuk was in full agreement. "This will be a 100 million dollar problem in this province in the next few years, if it's not addressed."