The MD of Bonnyville heard first-hand about crime levels throughout the municipality.
During their Wednesday, April 10 council meeting, Bonnyville RCMP S/Sgt. Sarah Parke, Cold Lake RCMP S/Sgt. Scott Buchanan, and Sgt. Ryan Howrish laid out the numbers in terms of crime across the MD.
Through the Cold Lake RCMP's provincial contract for the last fiscal year, they've responded to close to 3,000 files.
"That's not too far off of what we usually have," Howrish noted. "You will see a dip in 2015, a peak in 2017, and that's going to be consistent with a lot of our stats."
In terms of the Bonnyville detachment, Parke outlined the work they've been doing within their jurisdiction.
In total, officers have responded to 6,129 files, 3,835 of which were within the MD.
"There's really nothing staggering, we see the same trends in (the Cold Lake area) as well as ours, because ultimately, we're dealing with some of the same people," added Parke.
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MD to support Imperial in loom of appeal hearing
The MD of Bonnyville is hoping to have a say about the Imperial Oil Cold Lake Expansion Project during an appeal hearing.
“Their next big phase expansion has been appealed by the Elizabeth Métis Settlement,” outlined Reeve Greg Sawchuk. “We’re asking council to intervene on this and make comments to the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) in regards to Imperial, seeing as they're our biggest taxpayer and their operations are very important to our community."
The municipality will be writing a letter to the AER expressing their concerns and interest in participating in the hearing.
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Council passes MD cannabis consumption bylaw
Residents now have a concrete idea of where they can and can't consume cannabis after the MD passed third and final reading of their bylaw.
“You gave it first and second reading on March 22, and we believe there was a period of time where we thought we might get feedback from the public, and now, we’re bringing it back for final reading,” noted director of public safety Chris Garner.
No one from the public expressed whether they were in favour or against the bylaw, however when it came down to the vote, councillors Mike Krywiak and Marc Jubinville held their stance and were opposed.
They had agreed during a meeting in March that the regulations in MD campgrounds were unacceptable.
Currently, users can smoke marijuana within their RV or camper when parked in a stall, but not outside.
Krywiak and Jubinville believed if you were allowed to smoke in your RV, you should be able to consume it outside as well.
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Creating a policy around Strychnine
After the province's decision to restrict the use of Strychnine, the MD created a policy of their own.
“(We’re changing) the timeline we’re allowing farmers to use the poison. The timeline will be the start of spring, until the end of May. Previously, we would let them use the poison right up until the summer or even late in the summer,” expressed director of ag and waste services Matt Janz. “Another highlight in the policy is to restrict farmers to two cases (of Strychnine). We’ve never had a case where farmers wanted more than that, but we thought we would keep that in the policy."
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Council agrees to form Regional Recreation Committee
The MD of Bonnyville, City of Cold Lake, Town of Bonnyville, and the Village of Glendon will all be working together on recreation within the region.
The committee, which will consist of three members from each of the respective councils, will act as an advisory to the respective councils in matters pertaining to community parks, sports, and recreation, noted Chris McCord, director of parks, recreation, and culture.
Options for waterline tie-ins
Council wanted to know more about their options for residents wanting to tie into the regional waterline running from Cold Lake to Bonnyville.
According to Amid Malik, director of infrastructure, there is an opportunity for those interested.
The main waterline is 24-inches, and some of the residents with land-use agreements with the contractor have agreed to tap into the line via a trickle system.
“We’re getting water from Cold Lake through a 10-inch line coming to Ardmore, and then from Ardmore to Fort Kent, we have a six-inch line that transitions to a four-inch line in Fort Kent,” detailed Malik.
CAO Luc Mercier said, “What council had asked, was for us to look at the options for our residents to tie into these lines. The issue we’re struggling with is we can’t make changes to the project to any degree at this point. It’s too late. The good part, is that the six-inch to four-inch line that’s in the ground between Ardmore and Fort Kent, is going to be somewhat not needed in the future, because those hamlets will be tied into the main 24-inch line with direct connections."
Municipality invited to Ottawa
According to Sawchuk, a group lobbying the government in regards to Bill C-69 has invited representatives from the MD to join them in Ottawa for a press meeting.
However, Sawchuk wasn't in favour of the idea.
He said the trip would "have very little value," for the municipality.
“This little lobby group of Alberta politicians doesn’t have the ability or resources to motivate people in Quebec or Ontario, or the east. But our association, the Rural Municipalities of Alberta and Alberta Urban Municipalities Association, are doing that already," Sawchuk stressed. “They’re motivating people across the country to take a look at this bill. I think they’re working on our behalf."
Council agreed not to send a representative.
Mapping out their playgrounds
Pretty soon families will be able to see exactly what's offered at playgrounds throughout the MD, with the creation of a playground map.
McCord said all families have to do is go to the map and select a location in order to discover what the playground has to offer.
The program, which is expected to be up and running in May, will include the age group the playground is geared towards as well as any amenities at the park.
Boat launch at Vezeau Beach in the works
The MD is waiting patiently for Alberta Environment to give them the green light on their upgrades to the Vezeau Beach boat launch.
“The boat launch itself, we won’t be able to do any work without getting Alberta Environment's approval to make the changes to the actual launch,” explained Mercier.
Rather than replace the entire launch, the municipality has decided to make some necessary repairs, and install extension pieces.
“I think we will go with the original system, if it all works, and then buy some pieces that extend to it that we will be able to remove and put in depending on the water level. We just have a few more things to tidy up with that, but we think we will be in time for June in terms of the boat launch,” stated McCord.
Council to consider their options for Chatwin Lake
Chatwin Lake is the home away from home for the 2nd Bonnyville Scouts, but that could all change if Scouts Canada says so.
McCord explained how Scouts Canada has been conducting liability reviews throughout the country, and is shutting down parks that aren't up to snuff.
“They’re closing 41 of them throughout Alberta. One of the issues was, one of the camps had a lot of safety things happening, so they decided to shut down most of these camps,” she added.
The MD did hold the disposition for the campground at one time, however, due to partying and lack of sustainability, decided to let it go four years ago.
The local scouts group was asking the MD to step up and once again hold the disposition for the campground, however, prior to making a decision, council wanted more information about their options.
MD encouraging residents to SCAN
Following their presentation from the local RCMP detachments, Coun. Dana Swigart stressed the need to inform residents about the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods (SCAN) program, which allows the public to call in concerns, such as possible drug traffickers within their community.
“People don’t know about it,” stressed Swigart.
Sawchuk agreed, adding, “It doesn’t help if municipalities call in, it has to be the community itself."
The topic will be brought back to the table for further discussion.
Paving the way
Council agreed to pave three miles of the Muni-Corr Trail between Range Rd. 482 and 485.
The trail runs through Glendon and is approximately 4.8-kilometres long.
Fire halls expected to break ground June 30
The Fort Kent and Ardmore fire halls are expected to break ground June 30.
These projects will see new fire halls come to the area after the MD decided to move ahead with updating their older buildings.
Ardmore Duck Race scheduled
The Ardmore Duck Race is just around the corner and is slotted to take place June 2.
The annual event has thousands of ducks racing down the Beaver River as Ardmore School's biggest fundraiser.