Children at play signs to be installed near residence

County of Paintearth is heeding a request from a family north of Coronation to install ‘Children at Play’ signage on the paved road near their home.

Allysha and Aaron Davies sent a letter explaining the speed limit has already been reduced to 60km/hour ‘though no one goes 60 km’ so they felt the added signage may help caution drivers ahead of time.

“Our house is very close to the road and we have a little boy who will be playing outside come spring. It would put our minds at ease and allow him to play with a little more comfort with these signs up,” they said in their letter.

They added that they understood the signs may not stop others from ‘drag racing or speeding’ but at least give them a heads up.

Council passed a motion to erect signs near this acreage.

Tax forfeiture property

Tax Roll #34140000 is described as bare land located in the hamlet of Throne. It was placed on the tax arrears list in 2019 and was subsequently not sold at a public auction which was held on Feb. 2, 2021.

Councillors were presented with two choices in regards to handling this property now that it has gone through proper process.

Council passed a recommendation that was a combination of the two options including the county register a tax forfeiture instrument on title and try to sell the parcel at a price close to assessed value.

Council also chose to write off the taxes in the amount of $149.68, pay for the advertising expense and let arrears continue to accrue as a growing liability on the tax arrears list.

Offer declined

The Rural Municipality Association (RMA) approached administration with an offer to have RMA Benefits give a complimentary audit of the county.

Corporate services director Lana Roth explained in her report that they would price their program on an ‘apples to apples’ basis in the marketplace and also price any plan design consideration that the county would be interested in.

The ultimate goal of the program is to gain the county as a customer.

County of Paintearth is already under benefits with the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) saying they have been satisfied with their service.

There was also no increase to the 2021 premium rates as all remained constant from 2020.

“During the 2020 year, AUMA even provided the county with a reimbursement of $5,000 due to COVID-19.”

Council made a motion to decline the offer and not participate.

Fees bylaw

Council passed all three readings of the updated schedule of fees bylaw, focusing on adjustments to the planning and development section.

Development permit application fees are now $100 for permitted use, $200 for discretionary use and $400 for discretionary use of commercial or industrial properties.

Penalties for these if work has started without a permit, is $250.

Pipeline crossings were added at $300 per permit.

Seismic explorations on county land or right of way is $300, subdivision and development appeal fees are $400.

For tax penalties in Bylaw 697-21, five per cent is added on July 1 and 10 per cent is added on October 1.

 

Terri Huxley

ECA Review

About the author

ECA Review

The East Central Alberta Review (ECA Review), formerly known as the Coronation Review, is a newspaper that services 28,000+ homes each week.