Village of Alix Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Troy Jenkins told council that despite claims by a local group, Municipal Affairs hasn’t appointed an inspector yet to investigate their complaint.
CAO Jenkins, during council’s regular meeting March 2, read an email correspondence from a Municipal Affairs representative stating that Municipal Affairs has not appointed an investigator to investigate a petition by a group of Alix residents.
The email read: “Once the minister appoints an inspector, written notification will be provided to both the village and the petition representative.
Subsequently, the inspectors will make residents aware of how they can be contacted to schedule interviews.”
The email from Municipal Affairs to the Village of Alix, dated Feb. 27, also stated that: “Municipal Affairs has no jurisdiction over a resident’s Facebook page or content.
“I would encourage the village to ensure that the facts are posted and the residents have access to that information.
“At this point, the village can make the residents aware that an inspector has not been appointed. Once that happens, then the residents will be advised of the process that will occur.”
A Facebook page called Alix Petitions Information posted on Feb. 2 that a municipal investigator/inspector was selected Jan. 27.
“We look forward to starting the process of finally getting to the bottom of some of the councils (sic) actions,” the Facebook post stated.
The Alix Petitions Information Facebook page stated that Municipal Affairs investigation is into “the past and present council and staff. If they find anything that might warrent (sic) further investigation, then the minister may order a forensic audit.”
Last year a group of Alix residents presented a petition to Municipal Affairs asking the government to investigate.
Coun. Rob Fehr said it was good to receive the clarification from Municipal Affairs.
Council accepted the CAO’s verbal report of the email update from Municipal Affairs as information.
High speed Internet
Village of Alix council, during its regular meeting March 2, approved a Municipal Access Agreement with Axia Fibre Net.
In February, a representative from Axia gave a presentation to council on fibre technology in the hopes of getting about 30 per cent of residents to sign up.
Axia said they could provide rural communities with better Internet connections than people in urban centres get. They are working on bringing fibre optics to 40 FiebreTowns.
Alix Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Troy Jenkins, told council that unofficially, 30 per cent of Alix residents have expressed interest in Axia.
“There are a couple of local residents who are working hard, knocking on doors the past few weeks,” he said.
CAO Jenkins said there would be no cost to the municipality for this project.
