Bylaw 20.22 Public Hearing – A Public Hearing was held for Bylaw 20.22. The proposed bylaw would allow for a property in NW 32-53-17-W5M to be redistricted from Rural District (RD) to Country Residential District (CRD) and Protection District (PD). This would allow for a subdivision of the property to create two new country residential parcels. The Bylaw will be brought back to an upcoming meeting. 

Council Strategic Priorities – Council has scheduled their annual review of their strategic priorities as part of the current 2022-2025 Strategic Plan. This plan creates the foundation for Council’s direction for the municipality and focuses on current and future priorities for Yellowhead County. The 2022-2025 Council Strategic Plan is available at www.yhcounty.ca/strategic-plan.

Cascade Power Plant – Following an invitation from Kineticor, Council will be visiting the Cascade Power Project site for a tour of the new plant. The new 900-megawatt (MW) power generation facility will have the capacity to supply over 8% of the province’s average electricity demand and will be fueled by natural gas. The power plant is scheduled to commence operations in 2023.

YCE Multiplex Grant – Council approved moving ahead with a joint application with the Town of Edson for the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) grant for $20 million in federal funding for the YCE Multiplex. Although the gymnasium component will be part of the plans for the final design and tendering process, it will not be part of the federal funding application. This will allow for flexibility once the tender process is started if the final costs are prohibitive.

Pathway to the Park – A request for Yellowhead County from the West Yellowhead Trail Society to join an ad hoc committee was not approved by Council. The society’s stated goal for the committee is to develop a business plan for the future operations, maintenance and ownership of the proposed Pathway to the Park project – a 26-kilometre trail from Hinton to Jasper Park. Council stated that the County is not in support of the project at this time or with the current proposal.

Municipal Planning Commission – Municipal Planning Commission Bylaw 23.22 passed second reading by Council. A Municipal Planning Commission would give the municipality another option for facilitating development requests for unique or contentious development proposals. This approach allows for increased public engagement during the development approval process. The item will be brought back to Council at a later date for continued deliberation and a possible third reading.

The next regular Council Meeting is January 24, 2023 at 9:30 AM.

The next Governance and Priorities meeting is January 17, 2023 at 9:30 AM.