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.