Big Valley council put the kibosh on installing traffic controls at the intersection of Railway Ave. and Main St. at the Sept. 24 council meeting.
After hearing public feedback and investigating costs for sidewalks or stop signs, council opted to leave the issue alone.
Council has been investigating how to direct the flow of pedestrians arriving from the train across Railway Ave. without causing too much disruption to traffic going through town or parking by the railway station.
“I don’t think the crosswalks for the money are going to do anything,” stated Mayor Lois Miller.
Coun. Sandra Schell agreed with Miller, stating that pedestrians would likely continue to cross anywhere on Railway Ave.
Water woes
The Big Valley lift station is working overtime to keep up with water flowing into the sewer system from sump pumps, consequently, the settling ponds are rising too fast.
According to Big Valley’s Bylaw 801 – water and sewer, sump pump hoses must not be connected to the septic system, but instead must drain outside. The water then follows surface drainage patterns.
According to CAO, Michelle White, council will encourage people to abide by the bylaw with an extensive educational plan first but will consider fines if households continue to connect sump pumps to the sewer system.
Fines are set at $100 for the first infraction, $250 for the second and $500 for the third.
Library services
Council approved Parkland Regional Library’s 2016 budget, which sets a two per cent increase for 2016. The 2016 fees for membership will be $2907.00 from the 2015 $2850.00.
Parkland provides a number of services to its member libraries including interlibrary loans, e-services, equipment loans and so on.
