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Town of St. Paul Briefs: Community Standards Bylaw gets first reading, new Lagasse Park playground open to the public

A range of issues from the Community Standards Bylaw, to Seacans, and recreation facilities were brought up during the Sept. 26 council meeting.
New Park ready
The new playground at Lagasse Park is open to the public. / Photo courtesy Town of St. Paul.

ST. PAUL - Town council has approved the first reading of its Community Standards Bylaw, which deals with a range of topics, from snow removal to noise and unsightly premises. 

“This has been a lot of... hard work,” said CAO Steven Jeffery, crediting town employees for all their work on the bylaw. First reading of the bylaw took place at the Sept. 26 regular council meeting.

Director of Municipal Enforcement Trevor Kotowich was on hand during the meeting and went over changes made to the bylaw.  

One of the changes related to snow removal around places that are deemed essential services. The definition of “essential services” is now defined as public services deemed by the CAO, and considered critical to preserving life, health, public safety and basic societal functioning, according to the document.

Much of the language in the bylaw mirrors the Municipal Government Act, heard council.

Another change related to trees in a boulevard. “A person shall not plant trees or shrubs on boulevards without prior written approval,” reads the bylaw. Administration will take into account the fact that there are existing trees planted in some boulevards in town.

The flow of water away from residences was also reviewed in the bylaw. “A personal shall not allow discharge of these waters from a downspout or eavestroughs, or hose and similar device, to cause damage to municipal lands," reads the document.

Rules around noise were also discussed in the bylaw. Previous discussions had requested Town of St. Paul staff look are reducing some of the decibel ratings, but Kotowich said the levels included were industry standard and consistent with other municipalities of similar size.

“That's why we purchased a sound meter,” said Kotowich.

The document states: “No Person shall cause, or permit to be caused, sounds that may be heard in a Residential District during Daytime Hours at a level greater than 75 DBA unless such sounds are of a temporary or intermittent nature,” and situations where the Chief Administrative Officer deems appropriate, including snow removal from essential services locations. 

A motion to by Coun. Brad Eamon to approve the first reading of the bylaw with the included amendments was carried.  

Seacans 

Intermodal storage containers, better known as Seacans, were the topic of discussions at a mid-September meeting, and brought back to the table during the Sept. 26 council meeting.  

Discussions regarding where and for how long Seacans could be located within the Town of St. Paul took place.

Town of St. Paul Mayor Maureen Miller noted that the conversation around the table was that Seacans are sometimes more secure than backyard sheds; and they can be much more attractive now than they used to be.

Of course, changes would ensure that there wasn't a “Seacan village,” but council was open to allowing Seacans with some rules in place. 

Changes to the rules would not mean it was a "free for all," and considerations about site coverage are being taken into account.   

“You still need a permit,” said Miller. And neighbours are still protected as far as drainage and other issues, heard council.

“I’m looking forward to getting feedback on this,” said the mayor. 

A motion to approve first reading of Bylaw 2022-11, being the Land Use Bylaw 2021-04 text amendment to repeal and replace Section 5.18: Intermodal Storage Containers (Seacan), to amend the Storage Facility definition, to amend Section 7.1: Development Not Requiring a Permit, and to add an Intermodal Storage 
Container (Seacan) as a use each land use district was carried.

Watershed alliance renewal 

Since it is mandatory for the Town of St. Paul to be part of the North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance in order to pull water from the river, municipal funding of $0.50 per capita has been requested and approved. The total cost for the Town of St. Paul to be a member of the alliance is $2,981.50. 

Crime prevention grant  

The Government of Alberta is currently offering one time funding through the Alberta Crime Prevention Grant.

The project or program must focus on direct delivery of services or supports for crime prevention or community safety and well-being, heard council. Grants are available from $25,000 to $150,000 per year for Alberta based programs or projects.

A grant application was due by Sept. 30, according to information presented at the Sept. 26 council meeting. The Town is looking to partner with the St. Paul & District Chamber of Commerce, local RCMP, County of St. Paul, Summer Village of Horseshoe Bay and tentatively the Town of Elk Point, with the County of St. Paul being the managing partner for the grant.

A motion to proceed with the grant application was made.  

“This is a great opportunity,” said Jeffery, adding, “I want to proceed. I want to move forward with an application, but I’m not sure what the partnership looks like.” 

Discussions about working alongside the County of St. Paul took place, but council was unsure if partnering with the Town of Elk Point would be an overreach due to the municipality having a different RCMP detachment area and their own Chamber of Commerce.

The motion to proceed was carried.

Playground at Lagasse Park

The playground structure at Lagasse Park has been installed and the rubber surfacing and engineered wood was installed last week. As of Sept. 30, the playground was open to the public. 

Golf course 

The Golf Course continues to remain open with a desire to keep the facility open until Oct. 10. The weather will dictate if this will be a possibility, according to a report from Director of Parks and Recreation Harvey Smyl.


Janice Huser

About the Author: Janice Huser

Janice Huser has been with the St. Paul Journal since 2006. She is a graduate of the SAIT print media journalism program, is originally from St. Paul and has a passion for photography.
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