It doesn’t happen often but on Sept. 23, 2019, Delburne Council held their meeting at the Delburne Community Hall with the Grade 6 class from the Delburne Centralized School in attendance.
Mayor Bill Chandler outlined what the duties of the council are, the decisions council must make, what a bylaw is, how tax money is spent and what responsibility council members assume when taking government office.
The Mayor compared council’s work with what a family does at home with budgets, expenses and decisions that impact the family.
The students were encouraged to ask questions at any time during the meeting.
All agreed it was good to see this display of civic government in action and hoped it would occur more frequently.
Video surveillance policy
The video surveillance in public areas policy was accepted by council.
The policy states the objective of video surveillance in public areas is to apprehend those who are committing more serious crimes against both persons and property, as well as to discourage those who may consider committing a crime.
Council has not committed to costing or purchasing video surveillance equipment as of yet.
Subdivision contract
Council voted to award a contract to Carbon Earthworks Ltd. to develop Fawn Meadows Phase three residential subdivision for $381.625 on a motion made by Coun. Tim Wilson.
The funds for the infrastructure costs will come from the Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) provincial government funding.
In other business, administration discussed the need to begin a study to expand the lagoon system for the village.
The current lagoon system with seven cells has a capacity to handle a population of 1,200 citizens, explained
Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Karen Fegan, but would require an additional cell to handle the growing population.
Presently, the population of Delburne is 892.
Fibre optics line
A delegation attended the meeting from Red Deer County including County Manager, Curtis Hertzburg and Communications Director, Darren Young who updated council on installing a fibre optics line in the county.
Phase One would involve a line from Range Road 242 west to the town of Penhold and the hamlet of Springbrook.
Phase Two would be a line eastward toward the villages of Delburne and Elnora.
Funding for the project is not yet in place although the federal government funding is confirmed.
Funding at the provincial and municipal levels has not been determined.
Cost estimates are pegged at $1 million to $1.5 million.
Council agreed that a supernet is vital for the growth and sustainability of a municipality.
Ray Reckseidler
ECA Review
