Monday, October 16, 2017

CLEARWATER COUNTY TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATION 
MEETING MINUTES 
September 14, 2017
LESLIEVILLE ELKS HALL 
1.0   Welcome and introductions

  1. At 7:30 p.m. President Marianne Cole welcomed all those in attendance.  Those in attendance introduced themselves.

2.0   Approval of Agenda 
    2.  Items 6.3, 6.4 and 6.5 were added.  Pat Warkentin moved that we approve the agenda with the additions. Ron Hallahan seconded.  Carried.    
  1. Minutes of the last meeting
3.   Marianne Cole read the minutes of the last meeting held June 15, 2017. Ken Qually moved that the minutes be approved as presented. Larry Titford seconded.  Carried.
  1. Financial Report

4. Pat Butler read the financial report.  Pat Butler moved that the financial report by accepted as presented.  Trish Bingam seconded.  Carried.

  1. Business arising from the minutes
There was CBF discussion at council and discussion concerning councillor compensation.
      5.1 Future action/page in the Western Star.  Topics for election discussion:
    • No new pavement for 2 years in county
    • Candidates
    • Issues
    • Electoral boundaries
    • Debt load = individual $
    • High taxes impeding business
    • Crime in the county
    • County roads are not being maintained.  Maintenance is not being done and is going to cost us more in the future. 

Marlene Brattberg made a motion to place 2 half page ads in the Western Star prior to the forum, on September 20 and September 27 and investigate with Daryl Parks for social media/facebook ad with a $200 limit.  Tim Hoven seconded.  Carried.
The committee to work on the ad will be Laverne Ahlstrom, Ron Hallahan, Marianne Cole and Trish Bingham (tentatively).

5.2  Election
       Candidates Forum will be held Thursday September 28 @ 7:00 p.m.  
      MC – Ken Qually moved that Marianne Cole be the MC for the forum.  Robert Brattberg seconded.  Carried.  It was discussed that we will prioritize questions so they aren’t redundant, questions from the floor and time limit on responses.  Timer will be Marlene Brattberg.  Pat Warkentin, Pat Butler and Laverne Ahlstrom will vet the questions.  Marianne Cole will draft an invitation letter to candidates to respond by Friday September 22.

  1. New Business
6.1  Annual Meeting, November 9, 2017 – Guest speaker?   Trish Bingham moved that we invite the Reeve to speak at our annual meeting.  Seconded by Ken Qually.  Carried.
6.2  Councillor evaluation suggestion (Dan Warkentin)- Dan Warkentin brought up the idea of an annual performance evaluation for councilors.  Possible input from a survey on a website and feedback from groups.
6.3  Daylight Savings Time – We took an informal vote for/against Daylight Savings Time and vote was pretty much split evenly.  It was suggested to draft a letter to Jason Nixon that the issue should be put to a public vote via a provincial referendum.
6.4  Meat Inspectors/Abattoirs – There is a concern that the rules and regulations from government are discouraging business.  There needs to be cooperation between provincial and federal levels of government.  Locals have lost options to sell and buy local product.
6.5  New Tax Regulations- The county is sending a letter to the federal government with concerns.
7.0  Next meetings:  September 28 (candidates forum) @ 7:00pm, October 12 @ 7:30 and November 9 (AGM) @ 7:00.
8.0  Adjournment – Laverne Ahlstrom moved to adjourn @ 9:30pm  Merv Pidherney seconded.

                             

                             

  1. Next meeting September 14 @ 7:30 pm. 

9.0 Dan Warkentin moved for adjournment @ 9:10 p.m.  Dennis Anderson seconded.
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CLEARWATER COUNTY TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATION 
MEETING MINUTES 
June 15, 2017
LESLIEVILLE ELKS HALL 
1.0   Welcome and introductions

  1. At 7:30 p.m. President Marianne Cole welcomed all those in attendance.  Those in attendance introduced themselves.

2.0   Approval of Agenda 
    2.  Item 6.4 was added.  There is an update on the town sewer lagoon.  The final report is due in July.  Pat Butler moved that we approve the agenda with the addition. Marion Schafer seconded.  Carried.    
  1. Minutes of the last meeting
3.   Marianne Cole read the minutes of the last meeting held May 11, 2017. It was noted that on item 6.1 that Ron Leaf was at the meeting as well.  Marlene Brattberg moved that the minutes be approved as presented with a correction to 6.1 to include Ron Leaf.  Dan Warkentin seconded.  Carried.
  1. Financial Report

4. Pat Butler read the financial report.  Pat Butler moved that the financial report by accepted as presented.  Al Gaetz seconded.  Carried.

  1. Business arising from the minutes
    1. Highlights of last Rocky Ag. Society Meeting – there was poor attendance at the meeting (only about 12 people).

    1. Future action—info page in the Western Star in September- no price as of yet.



  1. New Business
    1. Highlights from council meetings.
 May 23, 2017 (Dan Warkentin) 
  • Concerns by local contractors that county rates are too low
  • County passed motion to take over 400m of industry resource road
  • Report from Withrow Wastewater delegation
  • Womans shelter delegation
  • Council passed motion to reimburse application fee for communication tower for private use
  • Recommendation passed to draft letter to Municipal affairs to request reimbursement for uncollectable school taxes.
  • Council passed a motion to approve more money for new financial software
  • Recommendation passed for $ 5 million operating line of credit. (Three readings in one meeting)
  • Telus delegation
                             
                           June 13 (Helge Nome)
  •   Approval for households to keep six chickens (no roosters)
  • Sundre Forest Products/West Fraser reported problems in regards to American duties and pine beetles.
  • Update of Japanese student  exchange program
  • Bill Shaw Consulting presented revised draft of North Rocky Major Area Structure Plan
  • New provincial electoral boundaries were discussed
  • Council will not change its 2/3 majority requirement in regards to the request from the Hamlet of Withrow in regards to a municipal wastewater system.
                             
    1. Major Area Structure Plan Highlights- A summary of the comments from the open house of February 16, 2017 revealed that there were 40 negative, 11 in favor and 20 other.

    1. Election considerations.  Nomination deadline is September 18, 2017. Election is October 16, 2017.  Next meeting is September 14, 2017 prior to nominations of September 18, 2017.  It was discussed and decided that we would hold a candidates forum at the Elks hall on September 28, 2017.  We will finalize the details at the September 14, 2017 meeting and advertise in the paper for 2 weeks.


    1. Public Input Policy.  The government has come out with a public input policy.  There is a document from Municipal Affairs called the Public Input Policy Toolkit that is 200+ pages.  The municipalities have a timeline to complete the policy.  Do other municipalities have policies we can look at?  We will watch for further developments for this.

  1. Next meeting September 14 @ 7:30 pm. 
9.0 Dan Warkentin moved for adjournment @ 9:10 p.m.  Dennis Anderson seconded.


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CLEARWATER COUNTY TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATION 
MEETING MINUTES 
May 11, 2017
LESLIEVILLE ELKS HALL 
1.0   Welcome and introductions

  1. At 7:35 p.m. President Marianne Cole welcomed all those in attendance.  Those in attendance introduced themselves.

2.0   Approval of Agenda 
    2.  Larry Titford moved that we approve the agenda as presented. Al Gaetz seconded.  Carried.    
3.0   Guest Presentation:  Clearwater Broadband Foundation 
   3.  Clearwater Broadband Foundation represented by Michelle Swanson and Clayton Berg gave an informative talk about their foundation and what their goals are.  Internet access was the number one concern of Clearwater residents on the county survey.  The internet is the information highway and can benefit businesses, schooling and health services.  With wireless the distance is limited and continues to cost money due to upgrades whereas fibre optic’s limit is the speed of light.  A question and answer session followed their presentation.  Clearwater Broadband Foundation web address:  Clearwater-broadband.org.  CCTA had a draw for two $75.00 gift certificates to The Source, these were won by Ron Hallahan and Robert Brattberg.
  1. Minutes of the last meeting
   4.   Marianne Cole read the minutes of the last meeting held April 13, 2017.  Dennis Anderson moved that the minutes be approved as presented.  Marion Schafer seconded.  Carried.
  1.   Financial Report

    1. Pat Butler read the financial report.  Pat Butler moved that the financial report by accepted as presented.  Ron Hallahan seconded.  Carried.



  1. Business arising from the minutes
    1. Dan and Marianne’s meeting with Pat and Curt.  Dan Warkentin and Marianne Cole met with Pat Alexander, Curt Maki and Ron Leaf to address our communication concerns.  Pat and Curt felt it was important to encourage people with concerns to phone their councilor.  There are going to be policies for public engagement in the new MGA.  CCTA feels it is important to have a timeline for a response to concerns.
    2. Info from Municipal Affairs re:  question on the ballot at this fall’s election.  The information received from Municipal Affairs was that Municipal Affairs does not provide legal advice but that a question presented on a ballot has to have a yes or no answer.

  1. New Business
    1. Highlights of the Rocky Ag. Society’s meetings to promote the Rocky Ag. Rec Facility.  There was a poor turnout for the meetings.  There was a good presentation from the Rimbey Ag Society that brought up potential issues.  Discussion by CCTA brought up concerns with ongoing operating costs of a facility and it not being self-sustainable.
    2. County Council Highlights from May 9th 
  • Development on County land in Caroline 
  • Land use Bylaw Amendment passes first reading
  • Condor Community Centre request
  • Compassionate Care Hospice Society letter of support
  • Town on Rocky recreation Master Plan
  • Clearwater Broadband Foundation
    1. Future action???
Discussion took place regarding future actions by CCTA by holding a public meeting re:  current development plans/ election issues.  An info page in the Western Star with our concerns with the development and election issues and including a survey was discussed.  A survey could also be posted to Facebook that the public could access.  For September we need ideas for questions to be put in the survey and find out the cost of an ad in The Western Star for a centerfold.
                7.4 Next meeting date??  Postpone one week due to Rocky Rodeo?  Robert Brattberg made a      motion to delay our next meeting to June 15th.  Ron Hallahan seconded.  Carried.

  1.  Next meeting June 15th @ 7:30 pm. 
  2. Pat Butler made a motion to adjourn @ 10:00 pm.
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