Pearl Lorentzen
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Lakeside Leader

Delegation

The delegation was unable to attend, so will come to a later meeting.

Big Fish Bay Resort

Council approved the business agreement for Phase 5 of the Big Fish Bay RV Resort expansion.
See article on Page 1.

Deputy mayor term

Council approved changes to the Procedural Bylaw, which includes changing the role of deputy mayor from a one-year to a four-year term. This will now line up with the election cycle. Shawn Gramlich was appointed the deputy mayor at an organization meeting in October. He will continue in that role until the next election.

The written report says that another slight change is the name of the bylaw from Procedures to Procedural, since that is the standard name. It lists three examples: the City of Chestermere, County of Grande Prairie, and Town of Bowden.

Council passed all three readings to the bylaw, which is the first bylaw passed this year.

Canadian Agriculture Literacy Month

Agriculture in Classrooms Canada requested the town change the lights at Rennie Hall Plaza to green from March 2 to 6 for Canadian Agriculture Literacy Month.

The application said, “Canadian Agriculture Literacy Month (CALM) is an annual initiative held every March, delivered by Agriculture in the Classroom Canada (AITC-C) and its 10 provincial members Canada-wide. AITC-C is a national charitable organization dedicated to connecting youth and communities with Canadian agriculture, providing educational programs that teach about food systems, farming, and the people who grow, process, and deliver our food.”

Mayor Francesca Ward mentioned that administration reviews applications to make sure they meet the requirements. If they do, these are brought forward to council for a final decision.

Council passed a Councillor Kimberly Hughes motion to change the lights.

State of the Lake

Councillor Andrew Achoba spoke about Black History Month.
“Black history is not someone else’s history,” he said. “It’s Canadian history.”

He thanked the black community in Slave Lake for all of their contributions and urged all Slave Lake members to be open and welcoming to all types of people, and to “choose unity without uniformity.”

Achoba invited everyone to the Afro-Cari Society’s Black History Month event at the Legacy Centre on February 21 starting at 6:30 p.m.

Mayor Ward mentioned Frost Fest is February 7 to 16.
Gramlich wished his daughter a happy birthday.
Councillor Lynn Bowes invited all Grade 8 to 12 students to the Youth Valentine’s Dance on Feb. 14 from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Legacy Centre. It is organized by the town’s Youth Advisory Committee.

Closed

Council went into closed session to discuss two sections of Alberta’s Access to Information Act (ATIA).