September 26, 2023

Public Hearing – A Public Hearing was held for proposed Bylaw No. 05.23 to repeal Bylaw no. 24.02 (Hinton West Urban Fringe Area Structure Plan) as it doesn’t align with the Intermunicipal Development Plan. The proposed bylaw will be brought back to an upcoming Council meeting for continued deliberation.

Letter of Support – Council approved a letter of support for Novus Earth Energy Operation’s Latitude 53 project. Latitude 53 is a proposed geothermal facility in Yellowhead County.

Policy Updates –Council rescinded policies 1100.02 and 1100.05 and adopted policies 1100.01 through 1100.23. The new policies can be found in the September 26, 2023 Council Agenda Package.

Public Library Request for Funding – A request for $378,000 towards the Edson & District Public Library renovations will be included in the upcoming 2024 budget discussions. This amount is in addition to funds previously committed by Yellowhead County towards the project.

Grand Trunk School Facility Usage – Council did not approve funding assistance of $5,000 to the Grande Yellowhead Public School Division (GYPSD) towards rental costs of the Pembina Rec-Plex. GYPSD is looking for locations and financial support for Grand Trunk High School physical education classes while their school is being renovated. The Pembina Agricultural and Recreation Society (PARS) will continue to work with the school to help meet their needs.

Road Plan Closure Request – Council denied a road plan closure request for Road Plan 1260EU in SW-34-52-19-W5M. Closure of the road plan would no longer guarantee public access on this road plan and would go against Council policy.

Public Access Policy – Council will look at options to amend the County’s Road Allowance Policy (3200.04) at a future council meeting to provide road plan adjacent property owners options for their land while still allowing road plans to remain accessible to the public under a set of prescribed criteria.

Niton Fire Station Tender – Council approved the tender for the construction of the Niton Fire Station to the lowest bidder, Vantage Builders for $2,024,000. The amount was $672,850 over the budgeted amount but was approved to prevent additional potential future cost increases. The additional funding will come from the Facilities Replacement Reserve.

Wildfire Damage – Due to damage caused from the wildfire fighting efforts this spring, the repair and replacement of Yellowhead County Fire Department equipment and vehicles was approved by Council in the amount of $367,632 from the Equipment Replacement Protective Services Reserves, as well as of $185,702.45 for the repair and replacement of portable emergency radios and batteries from the Equipment Replacement Communications System Reserve.

Wildfire Finance Admin Support – Council approved funding for a new temporary position for administrative work associated with the 2023 Spring Wildfires.

The next regular Council Meetings are October 10 & 24, 2023, 2023 at 9:30 AM.

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