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Home My WebLink About2024-04-15 Committee of the Whole (Regular) MinutesCOUNTY OF NEWELL Meeting Minutes Committee of the Whole April 15, 2024 The Committee of the Whole Meeting of the County of Newell was held in the County Office in Room 154/156 on Monday, April 15, 2024 commencing at 9:00 a.m. Notice was posted at the front entrance advising the public of the meeting. CHAIR: K. Christman COUNCILLORS: A. Doerksen, Reeve A. Skanderup L. Kopp H. Johnson G. Skriver A. Philpott N. Johnson ABSENT: D. Short E. Unruh STAFF: M. Fenske, Chief Administrative Officer M. Harbicht, Director of Municipal Services G. Tiffin, Manager of Planning, Development and Engineering M. Jackson, Planning and Development Supervisor A. Nielsen, Executive Assistant 1. CALL TO ORDER Councillor K. Christman called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. 2. EXCUSED FROM MEETING W-08/24 MOVED BY COUNCILLOR HOLLY JOHNSON that Councillor D. Short and Councillor E. Unruh be excused from the meeting. MOTION CARRIED 3. ADOPTION OF MINUTES 3.1 Minutes - Committee of the Whole (January 15, 2024) W-09/24 MOVED BY COUNCILLOR ADENA SKANDERUP that the January 15, 2024 Committee of the Whole Meeting minutes be adopted as presented. MOTION CARRIED 4. ADOPTION OF AGENDA W-10124 MOVED BY COUNCILLOR GREG SKRIVER that the agenda be adopted as presented. MOTION CARRIED Committee of the Whole April 15, 2024 5. BUSINESS FROM MINUTES 5.1 Strategic Priorities Update The Chief Administrative Officer provided an update on Strategic Priorities. The following will be added: • JBS Access Road & SH873 Intersection • Newell Region Hydrogen Hub Initiative Updates were provided on the following strategic priorities: • Recreation agreements o set a date during the May Joint Services Committee meeting to begin discussions with Brooks o Village of Duchess has requested updating numbers • Regional Emergency Management Plan o Town of Bassano looking for another consultant • Crop Diversification Centre South Revitalization Committee will meet on April 25, 2024 before Council o shortlist of remaining issues with the draft lease agreements from Alberta Infrastructure • One Clinic Model o suggest renaming to "community clinic model' o working group scheduled for Joint Services Committee members April 22, 2024 to review a proposed plan by venture capitalists that reduces risk to municipalities o two components - the building and the management service organization 6. NEW BUSINESS 6.1 Road Closure Policy & Road Lease Agreements The Planning & Development Supervisor provided background information on this item and outlined proposed criteria for closing road allowances. • formal road closure process takes six months to one year • Council could approve road licenses to allow the irrigation project to proceed while the formal road closure process is initiated. • requested direction on which encroachment situations would require a formal road closure and whether this included dryland farming • recent land acquisitions have permitted the pivot end gun to overhang the new property line Committee of the Whole suggested Administration focus on the complete encroachment situations and those where irrigation infrastructure is encroaching on the road allowance. The Chief Administrative Officer responded to questions regarding liability, indicating there has not been a large volume of claims involving pivots on road allowances. Page 2 of 5 Committee of the Whole April 15, 2024 The Planning & Development Supervisor indicated that Bylaw 2017-21 Regulating Unauthorized Use of Property outlines a procedure for enforcement. • education is the focus of Municipal Enforcement efforts rather than penalties • want to work in favor of the irrigator • not much information available from neighbouring municipalities dealing with this issue • Planning & Development Supervisor to contact the St. Mary River Irrigation District for more information • can estimate the number of instances where pivots are encroaching on road allowances based on the ETD's assessment roll • approximately 60 letters were sent to landowners in Division 4 as part of a previous initiative Committee of the Whole provided the following direction: • road closure and lease agreements would be required for situations where the pivot infrastructure (i.e. the wheel or the end of the steel) is over the road allowance the risks of irrigating over an open road allowance will be communicated to the irrigators along with a recommendation to formally close the road allowance the lease cancellation clause, which is currently 90 days, will be extended to one year The Chief Administrative Officer indicated that a draft agreement can be provided to the landowners to demonstrate how they can protect themselves by formally closing the road allowance. Planning & Development staff will work with the GIS Analyst to identify the encroachment situations and prepare a proposed work plan for Council's approval. LEFT THE MEETING M. Jackson and G. Tiffin left the meeting at 10:20 a.m. RECESS The Committee of the Whole meeting RECESSED at 10:20 a.m. and RECONVENED at 10:28 a.m. 6.2 Prioritizing Recreation Funding Requests The Chief Administrative Officer provided background information on this item, including an overview of how the remaining recreation boards allocate funding. • Would it be beneficial for Council to make all recreation funding allocation decisions? • Would it be beneficial to develop a scoring matrix to evaluate and prioritize potential recreation projects (could be used by Council, Recreation Boards, and Agricultural Societies) • approving funding for a capital project also suggests ongoing support for the operational funding component. Page 3 of 5 Committee of the Whole April 15, 2024 • usage statistics are important for determining which communities the users of recreation facilities are coming from, but this information has been difficult to obtain • consider completing a review and establishing a 10 year Recreation Master Plan and inviting each community to provide their vision for recreation. Committee of the Whole provided the following direction: • not in favor of developing a recreation project scoring matrix • when requests for recreation capital funding are submitted, ask what the ongoing operational funding component will be • discuss at 2025 Budget Planning meeting the development of a Recreation Master Plan for the County: request input from communities • consider funding condition assessments for recreation facilities • communicate shared responsibility for regular maintenance • determine ways to support the volunteers providing recreation services without reducing the sense of ownership • offer multi -year funding agreements so that organizations do not have to submit recreation funding requests annually. 6.3 Canadian Sustainability Standards Board (CSSB) Public Consultation The Chief Administrative Officer provided background information on this item. • CSSB survey is open until June 10, 2024 • if Council chooses to respond to the survey, recommend communicating that Canada align with the United States standards rather than European standards • CSSB is developing the rules, while securities regulators and legislators will determine the extent to which the rules are adopted and whether they will be voluntary or mandatory. Discussion followed and Committee of the Whole indicated that a response should be submitted on behalf of the County of Newell. Further, they suggested that local businesses and individuals be encouraged to respond. It was noted that Dr. Nemeth would be speaking to the Mayors & Reeves Association on May 3, 2024 and could provide some resources to share. The Palliser Economic Partnership could also help raise awareness. The Chief Administrative Officer responded to questions from Committee of the Whole. LEFT THE MEETING Councillor H. Johnson left the meeting at 11:34 a.m. Discussion continued. The Chief Administrative Officer indicated that a draft survey response would be presented to Council during the May 23, 2023 meeting. Potential information would also be prepared for distribution to the public and businesses to encourage them to submit their own responses. Page 4 of 5 Committee of the Whole April 15, 2024 W-11/24 MOVED BY COUNCILLOR GREG SKRIVER that Administration prepares a submission for the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board (CSSB) Public Consultation and presents to Council for review and approval. MOTION CARRIED 7. IN CAMERA There were no in camera items to discuss at this meeting. 8. DATE OF NEXT MEETING The next meeting will be held on Monday, July 15, 2024. The Chairman will be Councillor Ellen Unruh (Division 7). 9. ADJOURN Being that the agenda matters have been concluded, the meeting adjourned at 11:46 a.m. Signed this /5 'day of J� _ , 2024 eeve t A�County Administra Page 5 of 5