CLEARWATER COUNTY TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATION 

MEETING MINUTES 

APRIL 13, 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.  Robert Brattberg moved that we approve the agenda as presented.  Larry Titford seconded.  Carried.

3.0   Minutes of the last Meeting 

   3.  Marianne Cole read minutes of March 9, 2017 meeting.  Ron Hallahan moved that minutes be approved as recorded.  Marlene Brattberg seconded.  Carried.

1.   Financial Report

   4.   Pat Butler read the financial report.  Pat Butler moved that the financial statements be accepted as presented. Ron Hallahan seconded.  Carried. 

5.0 Business arising from the minutes

5.1 Letter to Council.  Marianne read the letter that was sent to our county councilors inviting them to CCTA meetings.

  5.2 Info from Municipal Affairs re:  putting question on the ballot in fall election.  There are a few options to move forward with putting a question on the ballot: 

• Attend a council meeting to make a request
• Council can put a question on the ballot but it is not binding
• Petition to have a question put on the ballot – results are binding to council

Ken Qually moved to work to prepare a question for the ballot to present to council.  Dennis Anderson seconded.  Carried.

5.3 Report from joint council meeting March 14, 2017.  Highlights of the joint meeting were:

• Presentation by Clearwater Broadband Foundation – there was a presentation by the foundation of their vision and efforts to promote broadband services in the area.
• Area Structure Plan – Reasons for the development and the process so far were outlined by Ron Leaf, Mayor Nash, Reeve Alexander, Rick Emmons and Bill Shaw.
• Opinions were expressed by each councilor from the county and the town if they were in favour of the development and their concerns.

1. New Business

6.1 Guest Darryl Park re:  how can we be more visible/ get our info out to more people?  Darryl gave an informative talk of his business and how he could help the CCTA get their message out to more people.  Using his services will be discussed at an upcoming CCTA meeting.

6.2 April 11 County Council Meeting Highlights.  Topics of the meeting were:

• Summer Tour – an ATV trip is being planned for August to promote Public Land Use Zones and to advocate the work the county has been doing to maintain west country trails.

• Clearwater Regional Fire Services – Pivotal Project has been retained as project manager for the construction of the new Condor/Leslieville Fire Hall.
• Nordegg Historic CIBC Building – Building is slated for demolition.  TdB Construction has offered to stabilize the structure by reinvesting the demolition cost.
• Pine Beetle Resilience Project – A student from UBC was granted approval to use a focus group to study strategies to make our forests more resilient to pine beetle attacks.
• Financial Matters – the federal budget, reserve transfers, 2016 audited financial statements and the tax rate bylaw were discussed.  There will be a 0% tax increase in municipal taxes!
• CCTA Letter of Invitation – our letter of invitation was discussed.

1. More election Issues.  Marianne received an email from a concerned resident that listed several concerns with the direction of the county.  Some of these concerns were:  Employee numbers in the county, money that has been spent on the north development, councilors not communicating with electors, broadband in the county, and concerns with county employee work environment.
2. Speaker for May or June meeting.  Discussion took place regarding a guest speaker for upcoming meetings.  It was decided to invite our local Clearwater Broadband Foundation to speak at the May meeting.
3. There is a meeting time change for our upcoming CCTA meetings for May, June, September and October.  Meetings will start at 7:30 pm.

1. Open Forum
2. Citizen Concern – CCTA were given pictures of gravel in the ditch and trash left in a ditch following brushing.  Other concerns that were discussed were the fresh water being used for fracking taken from the Lobstick and a lake.  Also, the Rocky Ag Society is having meetings as advertised in The Western Star and The Mountaineer re:  Ag recreation building.
3. A member relayed their experience with the county concerning communication with two different departments.  The waste authority and the public works departments made contact promptly after being sent messages on the contact form on the county website.
1. Next Meeting May 11 @ 7:30 pm.
2. Adjournment.  Laverne Ahlstrom moved for adjournment @ 10:00 pm.  Seconded by Al Gaetz.

CLEARWATER COUNTY TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATION 

MEETING MINUTES 

MARCH 9, 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.  Ron Hallahan moved that we approve the agenda as presented.  Dan Warkentin seconded.  Carried.

3.0   Minutes of the last Meeting 

   3.  Marianne Cole read minutes of February 9, 2017 meeting.  Jack Leslie moved that minutes be approved as recorded Marion Schafer seconded.  Carried.

1.   Financial Report

   4.   Pat Butler read the financial report.  Pat Butler moved that the financial statements be accepted as presented.  Sharon Rubeling seconded.  Carried. 

1.   Business arising from the minutes

5.1 Meeting with Pat & Curt.  No meeting has taken place.  There hasn’t been a meeting time set up with them after letters and talking to them.  Marianne Cole will write a letter to council with our communication concerns and to invite councilors to our monthly CCTA meetings.  Marianne will look into other county policies regarding communication with residents.

1. Report from Area Structure Plan Open House.   Regarding the open house that was held, it had a map of the proposed development but no financial figures.  There are questions if there is an area structure plan in place and legal issues.  There is going to be a special joint meeting between the county and the town on Tuesday @ 2:00.

1. New business
1. Report from Council Meeting---February 28 written by Helge Nome.  Summary is as follows:

• There was a delegation from the town of Rocky to report on public concerns about discharge from the lagoon into the North Saskatchewan River.
• Funding was approved for maintenance of the Aquatic Centre.
• There was a delegation from the Clearwater Broadband Foundation promoting optical fibre for internet in the county.  They are looking for a loan from the county of 3.48 million.
• On a recommendation from Public Works, council decided to post “No winter maintenance” signs on roads in the west county that are not being graded in the winter.

1. Invitation to councilors to attend meetings.  This was addressed in agenda item 5.1.
2. Election Update.  Dan Warkentin presented a list of 5 election issues that we would like to see county council adopt.  To summarize:

• Increase lead time for councilors from agenda to meetings
• County council to develop a communication policy
• County council to adopt a policy to prevent or reduce competition with private business
• County council to adopt a policy to limit the term of the Reeve to two years.
• County council to adopt a policy to clearly communicate Special Council Meetings.

1. Getting a question put on the ballot at election time.  Discussion took place regarding the process to achieve this.

1. Open Forum.

7.1 There was a concern brought forward from the budget deliberations.  What is the long term debt interest for that was in the budget?  This question was asked in a letter to councilors dated October 14, 2016 and there hasn’t been a reply as of todays date.

1. Next Meeting April 13 2017 @ 7:00 p.m.

1. Adjournment.  Marlene Brattberg moved for adjournment.  Al Gaetz seconded.