ELK POINT – A pair of Intermunicipal Area Structure Plans (IASPs) dating back to 2020 and 2022 received Elk Point Town Council’s final approval after a pair of very short public meetings on Dec. 9, with only one resident on hand briefly, and “No correspondence, no phone calls or walk-ins” to comment on the plans, according to CAO Ken Gwozdz.
David Schoor, Sean Novak, Courtney Lawrence and Jackie Prior of ISL Engineering and Land Services attended the hearing online to provide brief comments.
Approved back in 2019 and aimed at setting out a 50-year vision for the areas, the South Buffalo Trail IASP was initiated in the spring of 2022 and involves three full and two partial quarter sections to the south and west of Elk Point’s currently developed area, while the Buffalo Trail North IASP, dating back to the fall of 2020, involves three full quarter section and three fourths of another quarter section on the north side of town, some of it currently developed. Parts of both areas are located in town and partly in the County of St. Paul, and the $200,000 cost for each ASP was covered by and Alberta Community Partnership grant.
Bylaws approving the massive documents, totalling just over 600 pages in length, were given first reading at the Nov. 12 meeting of council, with the final two readings approved following the required public hearings. Additional public hearings were scheduled for the following day at the County of St. Paul council meeting.
Elections bylaw
Council gave first reading to their Election Bylaw on Nov. 25, before it was given a once-over by the town’s legal counsel, where it was determined that an election candidate cannot be required to submit a Level 2 Criminal Record Check with their nomination form. It will be up to the returning officer to decide if a candidate fulfills the regulations and while results of a criminal record check will not prevent a candidate for running for office, the public will be informed of the results.
Second and third readings of the revised bylaw were passed at the Dec. 9 meeting.
Dec. 23 meeting cancelled
With CAO Gwozdz assuring council that “As of today” there were no pressing issues that would require council to meet on Dec. 23, a motion was passed to cancel the regular council meeting that would be held in Christmas week. The Town has since sent out the message that the Town of Elk Point Administrative Office and Public Works office will be closed from Dec. 24 to Jan. 1, inclusive, but will accept emergency calls at the Public Works shop during that time.
Library name change
Having received a letter from the Elk Point Municipal Library board stating the board’s approval of renaming the library to the ‘Laverne Wilson Public Library’, council passed a motion to accept the change.
Policies passed
The latest series of policies, including Ethical Conduct for Members of Council Policy, Street Light Standards Policy, Employee Records Policy and Pay Administration and Method of Earned Pau Policy, were approved by council.
Bad debts
Two uncollectible utility accounts, one for a property where the owner sold and moved away without paying a penalty of $19.80 and one for a load of bulk water by an individual no longer in the area, dating back to September 2023, will be written off by the town.
ACP grant
Council agreed to send a letter of support for an application for an Alberta Community Partnership Grant for design plans for staging areas along the Iron Horse Trail, with the Village of Horseshoe Bay as the lead partner.
Service break
In his monthly report, Manager of Operations Jay Duffee gave council a complete rundown on the 51 Street apartment service issues which had shown up as seepage as early as April of this year, but became a break on Nov. 15, with Duffee returning early from a Water Week conference in Edmonton to deal with the situation. He discovered that the apartments, built in 1987-88, had been serviced with blue poly pipe, which was not municipally rated.
Nikiforuk Construction arrived on Nov. 18 and was able to get the line replaced and service restored by the end of the day, with backfilling completed the following morning.
Duffee also reported that the north Elk Point sign had been repainted and returned to its location on the poles near the Peter Fidler statue, Christmas lights installed with assistance from Jonny’s Electric and snow plowing and removal now underway.
