Upcoming Halloween decorating contest, snow angel program, street improvements highlighted in admin. report

Posted on October 24, 2024 by Sunny South News

By Nikki Jamieson
Sunny South News

The following are selected briefs from Coalhurst town council’s Administration Report from the Oct. 15 meeting.

• As members of council and the town’s CAO, Kathleen Betteridge, will be in Edmonton during the week of Nov. 4 to attend the Rural Municipalities of Alberta Convention, the Nov. 5 council meeting will need to be council, as there won’t be the necessary members needed to meet quorum.

• This year’s Organizational meeting for council will take place of Oct. 19 during the regular council meeting.

• The leaf and compostable yard waste collection is scheduled to go Nov. 4.

• The 2024 Street Improvements program is almost complete, with asphalt overlays done and 212 of 330 sidewalk repairs having been completed. Coun. Deborah Florence asked when the sidewalk project would be completed, as a date wasn’t listed, which Betteridge replied they don’t have a final timeline on that, but will provide an update when they do.

• The town will be planting six apple trees within the week, some in Miners Park and the others in Imperial Meadows Park. Funding for the trees was provided through an Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada grant will be planted within the next week. Florence called the tree planting “exciting” to see, and it was “one of the coolest parts of the agri-food grant in my opinion”.

• Fortis Alberta has provided a lighting plan for the parking lots south and west of the town’s Community Center. Some revisions had to be made to the plans to accommodate the parking lot design, as provided by the town’s engineers, and the town met with Fortis and MPE Engineering to align the plans. The installation of the underground electrical and lighting, as well as the tendering for the sub-base and paving will take place over the fall and winter. Coun. Scott Akkermans asked, for clarification for item 2d, asked if they won’t see the area paved until spring realistically, which CAO Kathleen Betteridge confirmed, saying “Currently our plan is to ensure that all construction around that parking lot is around school season. So, we would like to, just for the safety of our students and people coming around parking as well. We are working with Fortis Alberta to ensure we have the proper lighting set-up for that space, as well that it will be fully lit, so it will be phased throughout the next year, hopefully completed by the beginning of next year’s school season.”

• The 2024 Halloween House Decorating Contest will go Oct. 30, with council members starting the judging at 7 p.m. Those wishing to participate in the contest need to register their property address online, with the registration form being available for residents on the town’s website and their Facebook page.

• The FCSS Snow Angels program is coming back to Coalhurst. Coalhurst residents who are unable to clear the snow from their own driveway and/or sidewalk this upcoming winter may apply to request help from community members. Signs will be posted outside homes asking community members to help, and while volunteers do not need to register to volunteer as a snow angel, they can be entered in monthly prize draws for volunteers. Residents can find out more information about the program can be on the town’s website or by calling Cindy at FCSS at 403-915-7063.

• The 2024 Community Garden season has ended. While the town did have a late start to the growing season, administration reported that half the garden plots were used, and expect all the plots will be used for the 2025 growing season, and registration will open up on March 1, 2025. More information on the Community Garden program will be available on the town’s website. Coun. Heather Caldwell said they needed to start putting photos up on Facebook, noting that some family members had on of the gardens, and they kept sending her photos of their garden’s bounty, which she was “astonished” about, citing a zucchini as long as an arm.

• As of the start of October, 29 Development Permits was approved by the town, including six new dwellings, 11 rooftop solar arrays, and five home occupation permits. Additionally, 88 Safety Codes Permits were applied for between Jan. 1-Sept. 6, 2024.

• An application for a Home Occupation 2 for a Nail Salon will be going before the Municipal Subdivision Development Authority for consideration of approval. Akkermans noted while it was discretionary (4c), “it was important that if we are having these conversations that it kind of gets our to a few more people”, if people had (4c) concerns or wanted to learn more about the process they could participate, and was happy to see the notice.

• The town’s municipal enforcement department reported 59 files during the month of September. When asked what the ‘other’ six enforcement files were, Betteridge said she’ll ask the CPO to provide more information on the next report. The file breakdown was:

  – Traffic enforcement: 15 (included speed violations, poor parking and abandoned vehicles)

  – Animal control: 6

  – Unsightly property/ alleyway clean-ups: 32

  – Other: 6

  – Tickets issued: 1

Council passed a motion to cancel the regular Nov. 5 meeting of Coalhurst town council. They also passed a motion to cancel the Oct. 17 Intergovernmental committee meeting.