Public input wanted on cannabis stores

By Sharon McLeay Times Contributor

Wheatland County is looking for input on sales and public use of cannabis. The county has developed a short questionnaire that will be posted on the county website, to gather the public’s response to the bylaw it has developed on the matter.
In the meantime, open houses to gather input will start tentatively in February, with county staff suggesting they take place in Carseland, Gleichen, Lyalta and Rosebud.
According to Megan Williams, intermediate planner with Wheatland County, the open houses will present education on cannabis supply and provide opportunity to understand residents’ concerns of cannabis retail stores. “Staff will take that feedback into consideration when they take that back to council,” said Williams.
Feedback, reports and revisions will come to council for decision in the summer of 2019.
To date, Wheatland County has not received any inquiries into opening a cannabis retail outlet.

Forest preservation
County council approved a hamlet tree policy on Dec. 4 that will preserve and protect trees, and enhance enjoyment of community environments.
The policy covers the planting of new public trees, maintaining urban forestry, and decisions for the removal of diseased trees or those that interfere with local infrastructure. Threats to public safety will also be a consideration.
“The county’s primary concerns are the impact of private development, construction and general public use on the quality and quantity of trees on county property, the overall impact of any reduction in the number of trees within the county will have on the environment and aesthetic benefits, health and well-being of the citizens, the health of the environment and availability of habitat for birds, and the aesthetic value of county properties,” said Dave Rimes, community services manager with Wheatland County.
New developments will be required to supply a public tree plan to the county for approval. The plan also prohibits removal and damaging a public tree. If residents are conducting activity that may affect public trees, they are asked to contact the county, so appropriate plans can be made; otherwise, damage remediation and/or replacement costs may be charged to offenders.

Memorial benches
Memorial benches could now be obtained through Wheatland County. Costs range from $1,000 to $3,000, and that cost, along with any plaque and engraving, will be charged to the applicant. Sites will be chosen in consultation with county staff, taking into consideration things like maintenance and accessibility. Benches cannot be placed on environmentally sensitive land.

Fire safety education
A creative solution and partnership has been formed to educate the public about fire safety.
“Fire departments struggle to find adequate resources required to develop and deliver fire and life safety education within their communities,” said Mac de Beaudrap, Wheatland County deputy fire chief. “Working together with the partner communities of Airdrie, Cochrane, Rocky View County and Chestermere, along with corporate sponsorship from ConocoPhillips, provides the resources required to develop and deliver education programs specific to smoke detectors and CO detectors.”
de Beaudrap said this will supplement the programs currently given in schools and enable firefighters to interact with the community when it is not an emergency situation.
Crews will conduct door-to-door visits with residents. With the homeowner’s consent, they will do safety checks and discuss fire and safety measures.
There is a $500 membership fee to the partnership that will be refunded at the end of the three-year program.
The group is also looking at a establishing a follow-up program for those affected by a fire emergency. The group state the goal is to help people make the transition back to a normal lifestyle by providing the “emotional overhaul” that enables people to achieve closure. Fire personnel will answer questions and provide referrals to appropriate resources and information.

Writing off oil and gas losses
Financial staff brought a $500,000 write-off proposal to Wheatland council on 11 oil and gas properties that have gone into receivership and haven’t the money to pay taxes, and two properties that have unrecoverable education taxes.
Alberta has a Provincial Education Requisition Credit (PERC) to which the county can apply to – PERC provides municipalities with an education property tax credit equal to the uncollectable education property taxes on delinquent oil and gas properties, upon approval of a qualifying application.
Councillor Scott Klassen asked if there was some way for the county to recover costs for companies that go into receivership, saying he thought it might be a loophole where some companies buy/sell for business advantages. He wondered if there was a way to apply a caveat on equipment or land. He felt it wasn’t a fair process to other ratepayers.
“I have seen it before where one company goes bankrupt, and another company buys it and comes in and then three years later goes bankrupt,” said Klassen.
Brian Henderson, general manager of corporate and financial services with Wheatland County, said if there was some way to collect on the properties, they would not be considering write offs.
“These companies specifically go into receivership. One of the big audit companies takes them over and values all their assets, so those assets are on sale and that is the accounting value of the assets and not necessarily the fair market value of the assets,” said Henderson. “So when you take the cash of the company, the receivables of the company and the assets of the company, and compare all the creditors they owe … they are not going to recover all the payables they do have. So what this PERC program is meant to do is to provide the municipality the funds they have already paid over to the province for the education tax. If we did think they were collectable we wouldn’t be applying for the PERC program.”
Council approved the proposal and directed staff to apply for PERC funding.

Grant sought for Rosebud wastewater system
Council approved the application for a $3.5 million grant to build a wastewater lagoon, lift station, force main and discharge line for the hamlet of Rosebud. About 40 acres of land would be needed for the project. The county had considered an alternate solution through algae cultivation systems; however, the province has delayed an approval and permits for these types of systems and council said it was time to consider other options.