Nov. 2, 2021 meeting

Joe McWilliams
Lakeside Leader

Public hearings

The new council’s first regular meeting commenced with four public hearings, which are required when some bylaws are being changed. Judging by the turnout (nobody from the public), the matters are not controversial at all. Three of the hearings had to do with the same application – by Dog Island Brewing. The fourth had to do with adding a permitted use in the Highway Commercial District. See below for more on these.

Recruitment

Acting CAO Garry Roth’s report for council included the news the town has recently hired a new lifeguard for the pool and an operator for the public works department. Meanwhile, the hunt is on for an operations supervisor for the parks department.

Downtown site

The refurbishment of Rennie Hall Plaza in downtown Slave Lake is – as earlier reported – on hold for the winter. The site has been “winterized,” Roth’s report said. In the meantime, the town is working on an additional grant for the project. It already got one, something in the area of $300,000.

Trail connection

The trail connecting 6th Ave. NW with the Big Fish Bay entrance has – also as previously reported – been paved and is open. What remains to be done on the project is a traffic control device at the Caribou Trail crossing, plus signs. Roth’s report for council estimated these items would arrive in the middle of this month. In the meantime, temporary signs are in place. Fire chief Alex Pavcek tells The Leader he’s seen “quite a few people” using the trail this fall, although it had slowed down with the recent colder weather.

Fire service week

Roth told council the regional fire service had another busy week, mostly responding to motor vehicle collisions. There was one structure fire in town. Fire chief Pavcek later told The Leader it could have been bad, but in the end didn’t amount to much. It was caused by a furnace malfunction.
Quite a few of the calls for incidents out on the highways were due to vehicles hitting animals.

Unpaid utility bills transferred to property taxes

Council accepted a recommendation to transfer certain unpaid utility accounts to the property taxes of the responsible parties. This is something that happens every year, several times a year. In this case, the amount was $29,339, comprised of accounts 90 days past due. On two previous occasions this year the transfers were $32,403 and $51,381.
These amounts are less than they used to be, thanks to a change in the way utility billing is done. With landlords now responsible when their tenants default, results tend to be better, council heard. Prior to that system being implemented, “we wrote off $300,000” said the director, by way of example.

Green light for Dog Island Brewing

After hearing no opposition at the earlier public hearings, council gave second and third readings to the three bylaw amendments required to clear the way for the brewery to operate a restaurant in an industrial district. This item had also received the approval of the Municipal Planning Commission a day earlier. More details appear elsewhere on this page.

Medical for Cornerstone

Adding medical type businesses as a permitted use in the Highway Commercial District was next up for council. They voted in favour, as the MPC had done already.
Commenting on it, mayor Warman noted that the town had originally wanted to reserve that sort of use for the downtown area, but things have changed.
“Sometimes growth is messy,” he said.

Airport land re-zoning

This was Step #1 in the process of re-zoning a chunk of airport land to allow it to be used for a homeless shelter. The applicant is the Slave Lake Airport Services Commission and the lot in question is next to the animal shelter on 7th St. NE. To make it work, a re-zoning would be necessary – from the current Business Industrial District, to CDC (Council Direct Control).
There was no discussion, which is customary on first reading when the application is from an external (I.e. not the town itself) source. Presumably there will be plenty of discussion at the Dec. 7 public hearing. The Municipal Planning Commission will review the application at its Dec. 6 meeting.

Human error

In council’s package was a letter from a property owner, asking for the penalty for a late tax payment to be waived. What seems to have happened is the tax notice was sent to the wrong address; plus, the man made a wrong assumption about payment deadline, based on the deadline in the M.D.
Council was generally sympathetic with the request.
“This gentleman’s not trying to dodge anything,” said councillor Gramlich. “Human error happens.”
Council voted in favor of a Brandle motion to waive the penalty.

Mayor’s corner

Wrapping up the meeting, Warman spoke about the heavy workload the new council faces, with meetings on top of meetings – much of it stuff in the orientation line. Followed by strategic planning sessions, to be followed soon by budgeting sessions.
“It’s always really busy after an election,” he said. “But this one feels more busy.”
Warman likened it to “jumping onto a moving train. It’s a lot to absorb.”

Possibilities in regional cooperation

Warman’s final bit of news was that he had spent some time working with the new North Central Regional Alliance (NCRA) on a grant application. It’s through CEDI, a federal agency whose full name is First Nations – Municipal Community Economic Development Initiative.
The NCRA, Warman explained for the benefit of the new members on council, is a recent agreement between five First Nations and five municipalities in the region. He called it “a great process.”
CEDI has previously provided a grant for the Regional Tri-Council initiative, which involves Sawridge, M.D. of Lesser Slave River and the Town of Slave Lake.