Public hearing rescheduled

By Sharon McLeay Times Contributor

On April 16, Wheatland County staff brought information forward for council consideration, concerning commercial properties in the West Wheatland Highway 1 Industrial Park.
Council rescheduled the public hearing until May 21 so that adjacent landowner notifications could be circulated, which is required under the land use bylaw.
Three landowners have already sent in letters about their concerns for the area.
One letter asks for a closer review of the area structure plan (ASP), input from the Calgary Metropolitan Region Board, piped water and sewer infrastructure for the area, storm water management issues and proposals for transportation accesses to Highway 1.
“With all these issues hanging in the air, we look with interest to understand how the county council will view the overall West Highway 1 ASP, when considering the applicants submission,” stated Pervez Nasim, president of AFIN Investments Ltd.
Two submissions questioned adding commercial businesses to the area. They felt the changes did not reflect the county’s stance on the preservation of farmland. They questioned whether measures would be imposed to curtail increased noise and light pollution, excess garbage left in the area and increases to traffic flow. They strongly objected to passing extra commercial development before storm water and flooding issues are resolved, because those issues are currently affecting adjacent landowners.
“The parks owners, or Wheatland County, have not been held accountable in the past, for their promises, with regard to limiting impact and we would appreciate your support in giving us the recourse to be protected, while allowing Wheatland County and its current owners to develop this property,” wrote Eldon and Heather Culshaw.

Subsidy denied for local libraries
Wheatland County denied funding $45,765 to the various Wheatland County libraries from the county library reserve fund. This money was not part of the funding allotted to Marigold Library System. It was originally created to help the smaller libraries with staffing, building maintenance and utility costs. There are 1,851 library card holders in Wheatland County.

Compliance certification
Wheatland County will now require a certificate of compliance from applicants making upgrades to their properties. The certification requires two original copies (not photocopies, scans or faxes) of the real property report (RPR). The RPR needs to be prepared by a licensed Alberta land surveyor, whose license will be confirmed by county staff.
“It is meant to be a snapshot in time when the survey is done, so that is what we look at to determine if it is compliant or not,” said Megan Williams, Wheatland County planner.
The report has to be done within a two-year deadline, prior to the date of application, and needs to identify all buildings and structures on the property and identify setbacks.
With payment of fees, which is currently about $75, and the corresponding paperwork, staff will review that development permits are in place and validate that the upgrades comply with Wheatland County land use bylaw. Wheatland County staff will then send a letter to applicants confirming or denying the certification, and listing missing or additional criteria that are needed for compliance. Non-conforming use and variance requests will be done with the development permit process.
If a property had a past compliance, it will not necessarily be considered valid for the new review.

Wheatland County shaves budget
Wheatland County staff presented $670,000 of savings to the 2019 budget that they gleaned from a review of various departments areas. They looked at investments, the contingency plans, administration and human resources, training and education, road and bridges, fire services, water and waste water, and contracted services.
“We think they are pretty straightforward and we are comfortable with those. As the year goes along, if areas arise that we feel are in jeopardy, we will let you know and bring it back to council,” said Alan Parkin, chief administrative officer with Wheatland County.
Council approved the reductions to the budget and the new tax rate will be based on the revised budget amount.
“I support the motion. I am glad we could easily find this kind of reduction, as hard times are coming for people,” said Councillor Scott Klassen.

Setting advocacy priorities
The Calgary Metropolitan Region Board (CMRB) Advocacy Committee has asked regional member representatives to go back to their areas and compile a list of priority issues to bring to the committee. However, several suggestions offered by Wheatland County council were discouraged by Reeve Amber Link who represents the county on this committee.
She said not all issues will be considered as it was too difficult to achieve consensus for some issues and other issues will be covered under other committee plans.
“Because this advocacy committee will be representing the entire CMRB municipalities … it will have to be something that all 10 municipalities can agree on.”
Councillor Scott Klassen suggested determining a timeline for the transportation corridors, specifically the Highway 1 re-development. Link said the committee has deferred talks on storm water management, pending a release of a plan from the province.
CAO Alan Parker suggested waste, water and air quality issues, along with environmental concerns.
Councillor Jason Wilson said he would like to see a strong support for agriculture.
“There is ag land around the city that will be eaten up,” said Wilson.
Link said farmers are not in favour of this top down regulation and planning process, but said those ag concerns may be dealt with in other areas of the CMRB plan.
She said they would be advocating to different levels of government, more than within the CMRB.
Link did not indicate how residents could give input on the issues they were concerned about, if the advocacy committee is not the venue to address those concerns. She listed other ideas the committee could look at, such as stable funding mechanisms for municipalities, emergency service issues with Alberta Health Services, affordable housing, policing, energy and resource management, and economic development.