Room with a view

Sharon McLeay    

Times Contributor   

 

A new bed and breakfast is being developed in the Rosebud area. It will be situated in the old Rosebud fire hall. 

“We are asking council to approve this as discretionary commercial, as bed and breakfasts exist in other categories, but not in commercial designations,” said Gareth Webster, assistant planner.

Council approved the recommendation and passed it through second and third reading unanimously.

 

Stop work order issued

A building along Gleichen’s main street is receiving covert renovations under the County’s radar. Planners investigated and found out the current tenant was doing renovations without a development permit. There were concerns about the condition of the building and so they also consulted with the health unit.  Subsequently, the owner was issued a stop work order.

“We would like to have a safety codes officer look at it to make sure the work is up to code,” said Linda Henrickson, planning manager.

She updated council for their information, and they will be updated once a response to the stop work order is received.

 

Line painting

A tender for long line painting on county roads was awarded to Volker Stevin, who came in with a bid of $37,005.50. 

“As far as I know the roads are being groomed as we speak and crews will get going on it as soon as possible,” said Mike Ziehr municipal development officer.

Ziehr said Volker Stevin was the only bid, with one other bid disqualified as it came in late. There were two parts to the bid, but no one bid for the 1 km of durable line painting that needs to be done. The bid came in under the budget allotment which was set at a maximum of $59,000. Ziehr said that they will rerun the tender for the durable line painting in the spring.

Chief Administrative Officer Alan Parkin suggested to council that instead of having the painting tenders issued in the fall, they may consider having them put out to contractors in the spring of each year. He said it would allow more time for completion, increase the durability due to the increased setting time, and there would not be the threat of inclement weather to contend with. Council took the suggestion as information.

 

Waste water feasibility study

Council has taken a step further in researching alternate wastewater treatment solutions that may be the solution to the wastewater woes along the west boundary of Wheatland County and Rocky View County.

An application for a feasibility study was requested, and creative thinking secured funding for the study under Municipal and Sustainable Resource funding. The study will cost $180,000, with Wheatland County contributing $30,000 and Sustainable Resources putting in $60,000 in cash and work in kind, with the remaining $90,000 secured through a municipal grant. Representatives from the two counties will be meeting in the future to discuss what actions, or cooperative actions, can occur to move toward effective solutions. The motion passed with one councillor in opposition.

 

No Grinch here

County of Wheatland councillors want to make it crystal clear that they will contribute money towards the Christmas hamper fund.

“It was never our intent not to fund the Christmas Hamper. Wheatland County still supports it, but we want to set up a cost share with the Town of Strathmore,” said Reeve Glenn Koester.

A rumour that the hamper money was withdrawn started with a misinterpretation of a letter sent to the Town of Strathmore, with a subsequent news article which covered the discussion held in council chambers. Wheatland County had requested a possible cost share formula with Strathmore for the hampers. It suggested splitting costs based on population distribution in the two areas. The misunderstanding has subsequently been corrected. With the Town of Strathmore’s cooperation, both councils will vote on funding in upcoming council meetings.