Notes from September 29, 2014 meeting of Pincher Creek Town Council

• Flooring issues for Children's World Daycare 
• West Avenue laneway may be closed
• AltaGas and Fortis franchise fees to rise 
• Council partially agrees to CUPW request 
• Council approves GTF agreement 
• Arena concession area to be upgraded 
• $20,000 to go to barrier free access for multi purpose facility 
• Town decides items to take to Joint Council 
• Tammy Rubbelke to join AUMA committee 
• Most of council attends AUMA conference
• Senior Huskies ask for reduction in practice time ice costs (link)

Toni Lucas

Council for the Town of Pincher Creek met on the evening of September 29. In attendance were Mayor Don Anderberg and Councillors Adrian Hartman, Mark Barber, Tammy Rubbelke, Lorne Jackson, and Doug Thornton. CAO Laurie Wilgosh was also in attendance. Councillor Wayne Elliott was absent.

Senior Huskies ask for reduction in practice time ice costs

Pincher Creek Senior Huskies Manager Jeff Kaupp appeared before council, to request reduced practice time ice costs and to explain more about the team. For the full story, click here.

Flooring issues at Children's World Daycare

Children's World Daycare Director Marie Meckelborg addressed council about concerns regarding the flooring in the daycare area. According to Meckelborg, the daycare has to replace the old flooring that is starting to break down in three of the rooms. She said the flooring is showing signs of wear through chipping and scratching, and may contain asbestos. "Having said that, the amount of asbestos would be minimal, there would probably be less than 4% in a tile," Meckelborg clarified.

Meckelborg said that Public Health Inspector Michael Swystun has given the daycare until January 5, 2015 to have the flooring replaced. "This is a requirement, now," said Meckelborg to the council, explaining the area to be replaced would be over 2,400 square feet.  She said quotes have been obtained for various types of flooring and also said that she has discussed a reduced installation rate from a contractor that has worked to fix the flooring issues for the daycare in the past. When questioned by council she explained that there were no carpeting quotes due to the difficultyof keeping carpets clean in a daycare environment.

"We realize that as renters, if we wanted to do cosmetic upgrades to the building, that would be our responsibility. But this isn't cosmetic." Meckelborg said that she believes that the flooring that has to be replaced was originally installed in the 1960s.

Council thanked her for her time and explained that they will be discussing the issue in the near future, suggesting it may be brought to the Wednesday October 1 Committee of the Whole meeting.

West Avenue laneway may be closed

The property owners at the residence at Plan 3291O Lot 303 have expressed an interest to the Town of Pincher Creek in purchasing approximately 140 feet, or 2,100 square feet of the lane that is adjacent to their property. This property is on West Avenue off of Schofield Street. Council held first reading to Bylaw 1616-14 for the purpose of closing public travel and disposing of a portion of the public roadway.  Council will hold a public hearing on November 10, and will contact the Alberta Minister of Transportation before holding a second or third reading.

AltaGas and Fortis franchise fees to rise

Council voted to increase the AltaGas natural gas distribution fee for 2015 from 20% to 25%.   The fee has held steady at 20% since 2006. They additionally voted to increase the fee from Fortis Alberta from 8% to 13% for 2015. This franchise fee has been stable at 8% since 2009. Councillor Lorne Jackson said "This has been very stable for the last 10 years, and many of our neighbours have rates much higher than ours." At the September 8 meeting of council Jackson said that the highest allowable percentage for natural gas is 35%.

Mayor Don Anderberg said "We took it to a budget meeting, and had a discussion about franchise fees." Anderberg explained that the council discussed this at the September 8th meeting of council, and at a budget meeting.  "It will show up on your utility bill, but it will mean less money on your tax bill."

Councillor Thornton wanted to clarify that the percentage of increase, "That is not on a person's total electric bill, that is just on the distribution charge, not the total bill. That would also apply to gas."

Council partially agrees to CUPW request

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) have requested support from the Town of Pincher Creek by having council draft a letter to the Minister in charge of Canada Post to reverse the changes in services announced by Canada Post including the increase of postal fees, eliminating door to door delivery, and downsizing or closing post offices. In addition the workers would like public consultation about what kind of postal service the public need before major changes are made to public postal service.

Councillor Doug Thorton expressed concerns about this issue. "Inserting the credibility of the Town of Pincher Creek into a discussion between the Canadian Union of Postal Workers and Canada Post, a Crown Corporation of Canada, I don't think that is correct. I am opposed to taking sides in this."

Councillor Lorne Jackson said "They are basically telling us how to write this letter, and that's probably not a good thing." He wanted the letter, if drafted, to focus more on the concerns of this community.

It was agreed by Council that there would be a letter drafted to the Minister in charge of Canada Post expressing council's concerns about rural mail service as it affects our community.

Council approves GTF agreement

Council unanimously agreed to approve the Gas Tax Fund (GTF) Memorandum of Agreement to access the new GTF funding. The program guidelines are available at:
www.municipalaffairs.alberta.ca/gastaxfund.cfm

Arena concession area to be upgraded

Council unanimously agreed to to increase the 2014 arena capital budget by $10,000 to upgrade concession
equipment including the stove, deep fryer, and range hood. This is to be funded by the 2013 budget surplus reserve account.

$20,000 to go to barrier free access for multi purpose facility

Council unanimously agreed to to increase the 2014 multi purpose facility capital budget by $20,000 to modify all the doors in the multi purpose facility change rooms to be barrier free doors. This is to be funded by the 2013 budget surplus reserve account.

Town decides items to take to Joint Council

Council agreed to have administration include several items on the October 6, 2014 Joint Council agenda. The Municipal District of Pincher Creek has indicated that they have three items that they are including on the agenda: Water, MESA Canada Consulting Company Proposal, and Windy Slopes Health Foundation.

Town council originally had nine items that they narrowed down to:

• Review of Joint Funding Application Process
• Airport Project and upgrades - Regional Collaboration Grant
• COPS Funding
• Multi Purpose Facility Residency Tracking

Tammy Rubbelke to join AUMA committee

Tammy Rubbelke has been invited to her name forward for an Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) committee. "I would like to request that council supports me in putting my name forward for a standing committee." She said that she has requested to be on either the Safe and Healthy Communities Committee, Women in Government, or the Small Communities Committee.

Rubbelke said that she may not actually be chosen for one of these committees but be placed on an alternate committee, or not selected at all.

Report notes

During reports all the council members except for Mark Barber reported that they attended the
Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) Conference.

The next regular Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 14 at 6:00 pm.