Council Highlights - May 15, 2018

Citizens' Minute with Council

Residents are welcome to speak to Council about issues, events, celebrations or concerns during Minute with Council. At the beginning of each regular Council Meeting, Mayor Michaels opens the floor to the public to speak and share with Council members, administration and meeting observers.

Jan Vassbotn
Vassbotn spoke on behalf of CEAC, referencing a letter submitted earlier in the day by the board's Chairman.

Bill McDonald
McDonald came before Council to request information pertaining to a Destination Marketing Fund.

Delegations

Presentations are required to be arranged through the Executive Assistant, so that presenters can be sure time is set aside for their presentations on the Council agenda. Find out more about how to be a delegation by following this link.

1. Free Play - Presented by Jackie Delves and Tori Odell
Delves and Odell came before Council to share information on their programs, operating through the Town of Hinton FCSS Division. Topics covered included Parentlink, HKFS, and Discovery Camp. View the presentation file online, available here.

2. Hinton Youth Advisory Council - Presented by Madison Sharman
Sharman presented frameworks for a Youth Advisory Council. View the presentation in the Agenda Package for this week, available here.

Public Hearings

In some instances, Council is required to conduct public hearings regarding land use bylaws, rezoning, etc., or on any other matter council deems appropriate.

There were no public hearings.

Action Items

1. Automated Traffic Enforcement Policy PS-2600 - Presented by Todd Martens
The Automated Traffic Enforcement Policy PS-2600 is for the management of the Automated Traffic Enforcement (ATE) program to ensure public awareness, fairness and consistency to residents and visitors within the Town of Hinton and to ensure the Provincial Guidelines are followed, recognizing that this is only one tool available for speed or stop sign enforcement.

It was moved that Council approve removing from Section 7.4 of the Automated Traffic Enforcement Policy PS-2600 "It is required that all enforcement Operators wear a shirt and/or jacket that clearly identifies them as photo enforcement Peace Officers". This motion carried. It was then moved That Council approve removing from Section 7.4 of the Automated Traffic Enforcement Policy PS-2600 A magnetized sign identifying the vehicle as an ATE Enforcement vehicle must be on the vehicle while conducting photo enforcement in the Town of Hinton. This motion also carried. Finally, it was moved that Automated Traffic Enforcement operators add magnetized sign to the vehicles with the Town of Hinton logo. This motion also carried.

2. Committees of Council Review - Presented by Denise Parent
This item is before Council to review the proposed revisions to the Council appointed Boards and Committees as directed by Council at the May 8, 2018 Standing Committee Meeting. Council then made a series of motions:

That Council receives the Youth Committee as information. This motion carried.
That Council receives the Tourism Committee as information. This motion carried.
That Council representation for the Hinton Police / Town Liaison Committee be changed from Mayor to Mayor and one representative, with Councillor JoAnn Race as the Council member and Councillor Trevor Haas as the alternate. This motion carried.
That Council direct Administration to develop a Terms of Reference for a Community Sustainability Plan Update Task Force to be presented at the 2018 Organizational meeting with potential implementation in 2019. This motion carried.
That the RFD Committees of Council Review Recommendation #4 be tabled until a meeting between the whole of Council and CEAC can be arranged with information from that meeting to be brought back for future decision. This motion carried.
That Council remove its representation from the Hinton Historical Society. This motion carried. That Council remove its representation from the 911 Call Centre Committee. This motion carried.
That Council remove its representation from Mary Reimer Park Society. This motion carried.

3. 2018 Public Auction of Tax Arrears Properties - Presented by Carla Fox
This item is before Council to approve a public auction of tax arrears properties. There are four properties on the list whose property taxes in the amount of $45,090.14 are over 2 years delinquent. The Town works hard to ensure every effort is made to inform residents of their property obligation and works with our citizens to ensure reasonable payment options have been extended to them. All affected property owners have been advised a number of times that their taxes were in arrears. Section 419 of the Municipal Government Act (MGA) RSA 2000, c-M26 requires Council to set a market value reserve bid for each property that is to be offered for sale at a public auction and to set the conditions that apply to the sale.

It was moved that Council approve the reserve bids shown on Attachment 1 for tax arrears properties that will be offered for sale at public auction on June 25, 2018. This motion carried. It was then moved that Council approve the following sale conditions for tax arrears properties that may be sold at the public auction:

a) That a deposit of 10% of the purchase price be paid at the time of purchase.
b) That the balance of the purchase price be paid by June 29, 2018.

This motion also carried.

In Camera

In-camera is a legal term meaning “in private.” When a council goes in-camera, it means the Council meeting is closed to the public. In general terms, the exceptions include matters where disclosures could be harmful to personal privacy, individual or public safety, law enforcement, intergovernmental relations, or economic or other interests; reveal confidential evaluations, local public body confidence, or advice from officials; or disclose information that is subject to legal privilege.

Following returning from In Camera, Council made the following motions:

1. Water Treatment Plant Agreement (Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, RSA 2000, Chapter F-25, Sections 16, 21, 23, 24 and 25)
It was moved that Council direct Interim CAO Denise Parent to follow direction per the In-Camera Meeting of May 15, 2018 for Request for Decision titled “Town of Hinton – Water Treatment Plant.” This motion carried. It was then moved that all attachments remain private pursuant to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, RSA 2000, Chapter 25, Sections 16, 21, 23, 24 and 25. This motion also carried.

2. Land Matters 1(Freedom of Information & Protection of Privacy RSA 2000, Sections 24 & 25)
It was moved that Council direct Administration that the Direction Request and action items as discussed in-camera move forward for Land Matters titled “Hillcrest Mobile Estates Status Update.” It was then moved that the attachments remain private pursuant to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, RSA 2000, Chapter 25, Sections 16, 21, 23, 24 and 25.

3. Land Matters 2 (added to agenda at opening of meeting)
It was moved that Council direct Administration to move forward with Dow Drive in support of development with Request For Decision to be presented at a future Council Meeting. This motion carried.

Information Items

Councillor Trevor Haas: Councillor Haas reported that a library committee meeting is to come at the end of month. Haas also informed Council that he was in attendance at community transit meeting last night, reporting that roughly 90 people were in attendance to receive the presentation. He informed Council that July 5 will be the next workshop, at which time the findings from the former open house will be presented, with recommendations likely to come in August.

Councillor Tyler Waugh: Councillor Waugh reminded the general public of the coming seniors lifetime achievement awards, encouraging that individuals nominate their friends, family or coworkers who are over 65 years old, volunteer in a number of diverse areas, a current resident in Hinton or the county and have served in a way that benefits Hinton and area. He went on to speak to the Harry Collinge Prom event over the weekend, saying that the venue looked incredible and that he was happy to speak on behalf of the Mayor and Council.

Councillor Ryan Maguhn: Councillor Maguhn also spoke to the Prom event, saying he was proud of the students and community, and thanked Deputy Mayor Waugh for his speaking role. He also spoke to the Transit Open House, as well as a recent debrief, stating that feedback from contractors was largely positive. Maguhn also spoke to working with Hinton Fire on the compilation of a Fire Master Services Plan. Speaking to his role with the Golf Society, Maguhn notified council that the beginning of industrial league Monday evening went well and that the level of excitement around the program amounts to a growth for the Society.

Councillor Albert Ostashek: Councillor Ostashek reported regarding his one on one discussion with the transit review consultants, saying their were many options for efficiencies being considered and discussed. He went on to speak to a coming HREDC meeting, saying he looks forward to sharing more on changes to the HintonFirst Public Market and other activities.

Councillor Joann(Jo) Race: Councillor Race reported her discussions with the transit consultants, as well as to her attendance at the stakeholder discussions, and public open house. Race went on to speak to her attendance at a recent ASH meeting, saying the group is working towards launching fundraising initiatives. Finally, Race spoke to the coming Kick it to the Curb event on June 2 and 3, and the following Town large item pickup June 4-8.

Mayor Marcel Michaels: Mayor Michaels proclaimed June 4-10 as Seniors Week - View the proclamation in the Agenda Package for this week, available here. Michaels was also proud to announce his attendance at two new openings, RV Rescue and the Wayfinder project, saying he was excited to open these new employers. He went on to speak to his tour at the Pembina Saturn Facility, and his recent role MCing the Foothills Male Chorus Spring show.

Interim CAO Denise Parent: Interim CAO Parent informed Council of the Hinton Victim Services speaker series fifth year. The event will be a Property Crime Prevention presentation at PATH on Wednesday, May 30, 2018 @ 7:00 pm. The presenters will be our local Staff Sgt Chris Murphy and Cpl TJ Parker who will discuss statistics in Hinton as well as tips on how to avoid becoming a victim. Parent also informed Council of the Spirit of the Rockies Spring Concert on May 23.

Administrative Inquiries

If Councillors have queries they would like to submit to admin, this will be the time at which they do. This is in accordance with Council's procedural bylaw.

There were no new inquiries.

Town of Hinton Newsflash

Warm Weather Favourites Reopen

Get ready Hinton! Parks and Recreation is pleased to announce that on May 18, the Athabasca Riverfront Park and Rotary Spray Park will officially reopen!

Spray Park hours are 9:45am – 8:45pm.

Download the poster above, or share our post on Facebook, to let all your friends know!

Council Video Recordings

As some residents may have noticed, we have recently experienced difficulties with our streaming video provider online. The service provider has changed the accepted methods of posting, which has made all older videos in the inventory non-functioning. These non-functioning videos will removed from the inventory for the time being, however, administration is investigating ways of making a larger library available for residents to access online. In the interim, a new format has been selected, and new recordings are being posted as before; however, the new format is slightly larger, and so less videos will be accessible online than in years past. Recordings of the videos are also available on DVDs at the Hinton Municipal Library, which can be checked out and viewed on either computers or DVD players, or by contacting the Town of Hinton should those DVD recordings not be available.

The Town of Hinton is on Facebook!

As close to 700 people have already figured out - The Town of Hinton now has a corporate Facebook page! This new tool adds another resource to the communications toolbelt, and will house information on many different areas; some days, you’ll see information on bylaws, others recreation programs, others information about council decisions or highlights from Council meetings. We will, however, endeavour to ensure that we are sharing content relevant to the widest possible audience. Like us today by clicking here!

You can view the entire agenda package here.

The next Council meeting will be held May 22, 2018, at 4pm
in the the Committee Room.