Bashaw town council denied Friends of the Majestic Theatre’s request to waive the sign fee and development permit during their July 5 meeting.
Friends of the Majestic Theatre is a non-profit organization working to restore the Majestic Theatre.
According to council, the sign fee and development permit are the same and will cost them $95.
Friends of the Majestic Theatre is requesting they waive the fee because they are a non-profit society and must pay development permits to the province.
“So my concern with this, honestly, is consistency moving forward,” said Mayor Rob McDonald. “What qualifies as a permit that we will waive and what does not qualify.”
The council was told that there were approximately 40 non-profit organizations in the Bashaw area, and they determined that it could cause issues to waive the fee for one organization and not the others.
While the theatre is historically significant to people in Bashaw, the theatre is not a proclaimed historic site.
If they wanted to link the theatre with historical value, they would be required to provide a letter or some recognition from the province stating that the placement of this sign is indeed in alignment with its historical value.
Water and sewer usage
There has been an increased amount of traffic in the RV park and dump, leading to an abuse of water.
According to a report created by Chief Administrative Officer Theresa Fuller, people with lake properties have been going to the dump, filling jugs and tanks, and excessively cleaning their tanks.
They now have a monitor, so people must pay for the water they use. The water is 25 cents per 12 gallons.
Valves were also being left open which wasted a lot of water that could have been used.
They are also having issues with the sewer cap being left open in the past leading to jams. Historically people had to pay $2 for the lid to open.
This year it has been left open, and there has only been one call about it needing to be fixed. The blockages have been caused when items such as rocks have been pushed into the sewer, concluded Fuller.
Council is considering increasing the water price to compensate for the sewer cost.
Council has agreed to leave the sewer cap open for two months before the issue is brought back to council for a final decision.
Jessica Campbell
ECA Review
