Peace River Town Council Highlights

It was a busy night in the Town of Peace River Council Chambers.
A packed agenda led to a three hour meeting.
Here are most of the highlights:

Council honoured Dianne Lavoie for 25 years of service on the Municipal Planning Commission Board.

Dennis Simoneau of Simoneau Honey spoke on Urban Beekeeping.
He talked about local residents showing an interest in getting him to supply their yard with Bees.
He suggested that the town discuss putting a bylaw in place, that could lay out needed conditions.
Council passed a motion to direct administration to move forward with developing a report and bylaw suggestion.

The 2021 Annual Financial Report was presented by Cheri Peterson of MNP.
After reviewing the highlights with council, closed session was called to discuss private aspects of the statements.
The report was approved by council, and once it is signed, the document will be released to the public.

The Tax Rate Bylaw was passed. It must be voted on annually.
It showed an increase of 0.91% in total assessments for private and commercial property in the Town of Peace River.
The amount of municipal taxes to be paid in 2022 will drop from 11.67 million to 11.53 million. A decrease of about $140,000.

A Fees and Charges Bylaw was moved through.  It is something that is reviewed yearly.
Fees for Town Facilities and Rental Rates will go up around 2% across the board.
Changes to rates go into effect July 1st.
Previous bookings wouldn’t be effected.

Town Council proclaimed the following weeks:
– Economic Development Week (May 9 – 13)
– National Public Works Week (May 15 – 21)
– National AccessAbility Week (May 29 – June 4)

Business License Write-offs were discussed.
Over $32,000 sits unclaimed by the town.
There was talk on how to proceed with better collection of the fees moving forward.
It was suggested that adding the towns businesses to the website in the future could be a good idea, and would maybe add an extra perk to licensed businesses..
It was moved to write-off the outstanding debt owed to the town by the 117 businesses.

It was decided to appoint Councillor Orren Ford to work with the newly forming Mental Health Task Force. He will represent Peace River Council until the group is more established. At that point it’ll be decided whether a continued role in the task force is desired.

Town Council agreed to be part of the Opening Ceremonies for the Alberta 55+ Summer Games coming up June 16-19 in Peace River and area.

The Social Media Policy for Public Terms of Use was updated.
Added words included degrade & belittle in the section about the right to delete comments.
The policy outlines what is acceptable online behaviour on the Town’s platforms.

The Neighbourhood Infrastructure Renewal Open House is scheduled for next week.
Resident comments and concerns are valued and in the past have been used to change timelines or adapt plans for their area.
The open house provides an opportunity for residents to get an overview of the project as well as specific information on local impacts. Typically, the open house addresses matters such as:
• Expected start and end dates for the disruption;
• Changes to traffic patterns and parking;
• How access will be provided if streets are not passable;
• Changes in garbage service;
• Any impacts on school busses;
• Hours of work;
• Duration of disruptions to water and power; and
• Any questions or concerns posed by residents.
This year’s open house will be held at Athabasca Hall on Wednesday, May 18 at 6:00 pm.

The Woodland Cree First Nation expressed meeting with the town on a more regular basis.
Peace River Council extended a formal invitation to Woodland Cree First Nation Council.

Creating an Additional Bank Account was discussed.  The need is for a high interest savings account, which the town currently doesn’t have. Having one would give greater flexibility for cash management and earn a slightly higher interest rate on cash held by the Town. It was felt that interest rates are poised to rise this summer, so it would be timely to open one.

There were two appointments to the Community Services Board.
Council appointed Nasar Iqbal and Katelyn Martineau to the Community Services Board for three-year terms as public members at large.

The town shared the response of a letter sent to the Alberta Utilities Commission regarding the increase of utilities.
View the Letters Here

The full meeting notes can be found on the Town of Peace River website.
-Damien Gnass, Trending 55 Newsroom