Town of Picture Butte council briefs

Posted on February 1, 2024 by Sunny South News

By Heather Cameron
Sunny South News

The following are selected briefs from the Town of Picture Butte council meeting that took place on Jan. 22

Mayors and Reeves of southwest Alberta – Drafted new terms of reference

Mayor Moore shared with council that the mayors and reeves have decided to allow the secretary to keep the books instead of leaving it with each town or county, and there have been three different chairs in three years and each time the books have had to have been moved. Moore said the current secretary has agreed to take on the books and more of a role in. Because of that change, Moore said, there had to be a new terms of reference drafted for that, so everybody’s bringing it back to their council to agree to the terms of reference. A motion was made to agree to the terms of reference and carried.

Federation of Canadian Municipality Membership

Mayor Moore explained to Council that at one time, the Town of Picture Butte was a member of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, but they eventually decided to not be. However, Brown said that there are advantages to being a member and recommended that council re-review that topic for a budget discussion. A motion was made to the effect and carried.

Town wreaths

Council discussed that the Town had five Remembrance Day wreaths in the basement of the Town office and they were looking to donate one to the Elks Lodge, as the Elks club requested that the Town donate a wreath if the Town had one to donate. Councillor Neels made the motion for council to donate the wreath to the Elks Lodge and the motion was carried.

CAO report highlights

Keith Davis, chief administrator for the Town of Picture Butte, reported to council that in terms of the Wastewater Project, WSP and him are working on the final design details and right of ways for utilities. Davis has discussed that and Phase 3 of the sanitary main upgrade.

Davis also stated that regarding the Sunset Park Phase 2 project, he is waiting on Fortis to provide right of way agreements on the utilities so that the overhead power lines can be removed and Sunset Park Phase 2 can be powered via the underground power that was installed. 

On top of that, Davis also provided an update on the multi-unit residential development drafted Area Structure Plan, stating that the planners that drafted it are making requested amendments and that he expects that the plan will be coming to council sometime in February.

Other highlights of his report, Davis stated, were that a Community Facility Enhancement grant was submitted on behalf of the Happy Old Timers for air conditioning to be installed at the Community Centre. He has contacted Fortis to have additional street lighting installed on 4 St. in front of the town arena and is waiting for proposed costs for the options. Administration has re-enforced the requirement for staff to be in the arena during public skate time with the direction to remove anyone who is behaving inappropriately. Davis added that a parents and tots skate has been scheduled at an earlier time than public skate so parents and tots have a chance to skate safely.

A motion was made to accept the CAO’s report and the motion was carried.

Emergency Services Report

The director of emergency services’ report from December 2023 was presented to council. In terms of fire events from January to December 2023, there were 16 town events and 83 county events. In terms of medical events from January to December, there were 352 events and 861 other events. There were also four town motor vehicle collisions and 27 county collisions.

In addition to that, fire crews responded to 14 events specifically in December 2023, those events including two motor vehicle collisions, one hazardous materials incident, one ice rescue, and seven medical emergencies.

According to the report, Picture Butte Emergency Services also held their annual awards ceremony on Dec. 19, 2023 and are grateful to Picture Butte Town Council, Lethbridge County Council and Administration, and MLA Minister Schow for their presence at the event.