StettlerLocal.com July 7, 2021 @ 10:18am
Town of Stettler Council met on Tuesday, July 6th to discuss capital budget, development on West side of town, SRO, tenders for purchases, and salary grid for future councillors.
Town of Stettler Director of Operations, Melissa Robbins, presented council with the recommendation that the request for a decision be approved for phase one of a development project on the west side of town. Councilor Fischer brought forward an inquiry by a concerned resident about the effect the development would have on the area’s wetlands. Robbins explained that the project would actually improve water retention in the area, and in no way would be eliminating them. The motion to approve the request, was made by Councilor Smith, and carried.
Director Robbins presented an update on the tenders for the new intersection on the south side of Highway 12 that would connect the highway to the service road. She reminded council that at the last meeting she had requested, and was approved, to cancel the existing tenders for the original plans of the project since Alberta Transportation was requiring the intersection to be designed for 70km/h access and not the 50km/h. Robbins was happy to report that of the 5 tenders that were completed and valid, two of the lower ones were from the Stettler area and her office was recommending Wally’s Backhoe be awarded the tender. Councilor Fischer motioned the council accept Director Robbins’ recommendation, allowing her office to proceed with the tender approval. The motion was carried.
CAO Greg Switenky then spoke on recent negotiations with Clearview School Board, and County of Stettler to update the agreement between the 3 parties in regards to the School Resource Officer (SRO). The original contract from 2001 and was in need of review, and updating. Although no end date for the contract was set, termination clauses were written in to the new agreement in case either party wanted to opt out later. Switenky said a welcome change to the agreement, which sees the 3 parties paying approximately one-third of the cost of the officer, was the development of a steering committee. This committee would be tasked with solving concerns of each party.
Switenky requested authorization from council to move a large sum of money from one reserve account to another for future costs. He explained since the allocation of funds was from an existing reserve account, it would not affect the town’s operating budget or costs. The reason provided for the move was to ensure that retirement funds were available for senior members of the town who are moving into retirement and for training new staff, and the potential creation of new positions. The allocated funds would then be available to be used gradually over time, and would not require the town to raise taxes to cover the initial costs of new positions, and staff. All 3 topics presented by the CAO were carried.
Council discussed reviewing the pre-set salary grid for future councils. CAO Switenky noted the previous council had not reviewed the town’s current formula for each new council, however recommended looking into possible changes since new rules and regulations had been brought in by the CRA.
Carson Ellis, Reporter
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