CLEARWATER COUNTY TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATION
MEETING MINUTES

JANUARY 12, 2017
LESLIEVILLE ELKS HALL

1.0 Welcome and introductions

1. At 7:05 p.m. President Marianne Cole welcomed all those in attendance. Those in attendance introduced themselves.


2.0 Approval of Agenda
2. Item 6.5 was added to the agenda. Dan Warkentin moved that we approve the agenda as presented. Al Gaetz seconded. Carried.

3.0 Minutes of the last Meeting
3. Marianne Cole read minutes of October 13, 2016 meeting. Marion Schafer moved that minutes be approved as recorded. Robert Brattberg seconded. Carried.

4.0 Financial Report
4. Pat Butler read the financial report. Pat Butler moved that the financial statements be accepted as presented. Jack Leslie seconded. Carried.

5.0 Business arising from the minutes

5.1 FOIP request reply. A FOIP request regarding the details of land purchases in Caroline and north of Rocky was sent. A reply was received October 20, 2016. Many of our questions remain unanswered as council quoted FOIP as grounds for not answering some questions.
5.2 There are two letters that have been written to council that have not been replied to yet. The October 14, 2016 letter brought forward our concerns about agenda lead times, long term debt and the highway management bylaw. The December 15, 2016 letter addressed the concerns regarding a culvert replacement, the over-run of the Tiami Hall demolition and the $200,000 for the county’s IT system fix and using Microsoft Cloud.



6.0 New business
6.1 Survey results. Marianne Cole went over the summary report of the Service Level Feedback Survey that the county conducted regarding enhancements and reductions and capital priorities.
6.2 Budget. Dan Warkentin reported on some highlights of the 2017-2019 budget. Some of these are:
* New admin building Phase 1 and 2 are not in budget for 2017
* Area Service Plan, Joint Development Plan and Joint Service Agreement will proceed.
* County will keep “merit” increases for personnel (est $190,000)
* 2.144 million of unrestricted reserves (from 2016) were used to balance budget.
6.3 Municipal Review. The county received a letter from Municipal Affairs stating that there wasn’t enough of a concern to proceed with a municipal inspection. This letter was discussed at the last council meeting and they decided not to continue with a review on their own.
6.4 February meeting –ask councilors to attend? Susan Durand made a motion to invite councilors to our meetings going forward. Laverne Ahlstrom seconded. Carried. Robert Brattberg made a motion for Dan Warkentin and Marianne Cole to meet with Pat Alexander and Curt Maki to address some of our concerns. Marlene Brattberg seconded. Carried.
6.5 Election. With an election coming up October 2017, it is important to encourage quality people to run in the election.


7.0 Next meeting February 9, 2017 @ 7:00pm.


8.0 Adjournment. Motion to adjourn was made by Dan Warkentin @ 9:20 p.m. Seconded by Trish Bingham.

CLEARWATER COUNTY TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATION 

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

MEETING MINUTES 

NOVEMBER 12, 2015 

LESLIEVILLE ELKS HALL

1.0 Welcome 

1. At 7:05 p.m. President Marianne Cole welcomed all those in attendance. Attendees introduced themselves and stated where they were from. 

2.0 Guest Speaker 

2. Marianne Cole welcomed our guest speaker, Don Bester, president of Alberta Surface Rights Group. Don spoke about the concern over orphan wells and who is liable to clean up well sites. There have been 18 oil companies that have gone into bankruptcy since January 2015. Landowners have been told that they would be made whole when letting oil companies on their land. Landowners are no longer protected through sec. 36. Banks may want an environmental assessment before selling your land. There was a concern raised regarding clubroot infection in the county with soil being moved into the county. Residents in the county have had land infected through oil activity through rigmats.

3.0 Approval of Agenda 

3. Marion Schafer moved to approve the agenda. Lawrence Stewart seconded. Carried.

4.0 Approval of minutes of last annual meeting. 

4. Jack Leslie moved to approve the minutes as recorded. Laverne Ahlstrom seconded. Carried. 

5.0 Financial Report. 

5. Sharon Rubeling read the financial report. Dan Warkentin moved to approve the financial report as presented. Ken Qually seconded. Carried.

6.0 Business arising from the minutes. 

6.1 September letter to county and succeeding events. Marianne Cole had written a letter to council on September 15, 2015 expressing several concerns, including the CAO salary. This letter was discussed at the council meeting on October 13, 2015. Marianne had written another letter disputing the response to our concerns in the agenda for the meeting on October 12, 2015. Marianne attended the meeting on October 13, 2015 and attempted to have a discussion with Pat Alexander and Rudy Huisman. There has been no response to the letter of October 12, 2015. 

6.2 Business Cards. The new business cards are now available and can be distributed. 

6.3 Phone call to reeve of Brazeau County. Marianne Cole called and he is unable to commit to come and speak at a meeting. 

6.4 Letter to Minister of Municipal Affairs re: linear tax pooling. Marianne Cole wrote a letter to the Minister on November 4, 2015. 

6.5 Phone call re: speaker from Municipal Affairs. Municipal Affairs will not send a speaker out to speak to our members at a meeting. 

6.6 Farmers Ticket – overweight ticket. No further action will be taken at this time. 

6.7 Di-Corp issue. Marianne Cole e-mailed a letter to Di-Corp. cc: Rick Emmons and Alberta Transportation concerning no signage on highway 598 and on the Di-Corp site.

7.0 New Business 

7.1 Election of Officers. 

President – Laverne Ahlstrom nominated Marianne Cole for president. Ken Qually moved that nominations cease. Al Gaetz seconded. Carried. 

Vice President – Jack Leslie nominated Helge Nome. Ken Qually moved that nominations cease. Dennis Ross seconded. Carried. 

Secretary – Coral Ahlstrom nominated Susan Durand. Dan Warkentin moved that nominations cease. Marion Shafer seconded. Carried. 

Treasurer – Ken Qually nominated Sharon Rubeling. Sharon Rubeling nominated Dan Warkentin- he declined. Ken Qually moved nominations cease. Al Gaetz seconded. Carried. 

Directors – Ken Qually, Jack Leslie, Trish Bingham, Dan Warkentin and Jim Foesier will let their names stand as directors. Laverne Ahlstrom moved that we accept those named. Helge Nome seconded. Carried. 

7.2 Report on council – Helge Nome. Council is introducing an interim budget. The budgeting process should be an open process with the public. 18 million has not yet been committed to the office project. There is a concern that motions made after an in-camera session are being made after public and reporters have left the meeting. 

7.3 Upcoming meetings. 

November 17th West Central Stakeholders meeting about water use at Lou Soppit Centre @ 6:00. 

November 18th Open house at Hardendale hall 6-8 concerning the development of a gravel pit. 

November 24 or 25th Associated Aggregates open house at Dovercourt Hall 4-7 concerning a gravel pit.

8.0 Next Meeting. The next meeting will be January 14, 2016 at the Leslieville Elks Hall.

9.0 Adjournment. Dan Warkentin moved the meeting be adjourned at 9:40p.m.