Here is a rundown of highlights from Monday night’s town council meeting in Battleford, chaired by Susan McLean Tady in the absence of Mayor Ames Leslie.
Town council has voted in favour of providing the use of the Battleford Arena free of charge for the 2018 Saskatchewan Winter Games Feb. 18-24.
The decision was in response to a written request from the local Winter Games committee to waive the fees for the arena. The arena is hosting the speed skating and female hockey competitions at the games.
The request had come up at the previous recreation committee and the feeling was, according to officials, it was appropriate to match similar contributions made by North Battleford.
Town council does have a policy that usually denies such requests, but it was felt this was an exceptional circumstance. The vote by council to provide Battleford Arena free of charge for the Winter Games carried unanimously.
In other business: council has voted to amend the Developer Incentive Program, the Commercial-Industrial Building Incentive Program and the Residential Building Incentive Program to abate only the municipal property tax, effective June 6, 2017.
Up to now Battleford has abated both the municipal and school property taxes as part of the incentive, but the change is being made now as the school tax was an expense the town must pay. Town CAO John Enns-Wind indicated that to the best of his knowledge the town was the only one in the area that still abated the education tax as part of the incentives.
The policy change carried unanimously. Any applications for the incentives received from June 6 on would be subject to the change.
Afterwards, council voted on an application that was already in, approving a residential building incentive for a property at 141 Heritage Court.
Council also voted to send a reply to Community Planning on Sahara Developments’ plans to develop the highway commercial area near Kramer in the northwest part of town.
That correspondence would basically assure Community Planning that the intended land use is compatible with the surrounding area, that no facilities will be affected, that there is adequate surface drainage and other requirements. A servicing agreement is still to be finalized and will be brought forward to council at a later date.
Council has also approved a proposal by Alberta Mak of Action Realty ASM, Ltd. to construct and maintain two What’s Up Battleford! Billboards to help local residents communicate about local events such as garage sales and community events.
Proposed locations include near 29th Street and 4th Avenue, or at the Battleford Springs Community Park parking lot.
There is no cost to the Town; the boards would be sponsored by Action Realty, Battleford Home Hardware and Signs of the Times. If these are a success, there could be more put up.
In reports, the June 5 development and building permits report was presented.
Five permits had been issued for $753,800. Those include three residential permits totaling $464,000, one commercial permit for a $120,000 interior renovation, and an industrial permit for an accessory office building for $169,800.
A couple of housekeeping items came up in bylaws: first reading was granted to a bylaw that will address an inconsistency between the Official Community Plan and the Zoning Bylaw. The bylaw change re-designates a number of lots in Heritage Landing from one- and two-unit dwelling residential (R2) to multi-unit residential (R3) in the Future Land Use Concept Map, bringing the OCP into alignment with the zoning bylaw so that both say the same thing.
First reading was also granted to a zoning bylaw amendment to expand the definition of public works. Both bylaws will return at a later meeting for second and third reading; there will be advertising done on both bylaws in the meantime.
Finally, in announcements, Councillor Judy Pruden said that 200 limited edition Canada 150 collector pins have arrived and will be available for sale.
The pins, which feature the Canada 150 and the Town’s logo on them, are available for sale at Town Hall and at the Fred Light Museum for $5 each.
The next town council meeting is June 19.
