School site planning
Sturgeon County council is making moves to plan a new school site in an area that may soon become part of St. Albert.
County council moved to tweak its subdivision and development authority bylaws Nov. 10 to let the county work with St. Albert to plan a proposed high school site in Erin Ridge North.
In September, St. Albert and Sturgeon County councillors signed a letter in support of a proposal from Erin Ridge North developer Landrex to give St. Albert Public Schools about eight hectares of land in the proposed Erin Ridge North subdivision just north of St. Albert to use for a high school. This land is currently part of Sturgeon County but would become part of St. Albert under a proposed annexation agreement.
County corporate planning and intergovernmental services manager Jennifer Lavallee said the province supported the idea of the school site, but wanted more details. These changes would give St. Albert the power to plan the details of this school site while the land is still part of Sturgeon County. Council heard it would still have to rezone the land on the city’s behalf (as it could not transfer that power) and should write an agreement with St. Albert to cover issues such as fees and charges related to the school site.
Councillors Wayne Bokenfohr and Kristin Toms said they are excited to see this proposal for a new school site and called it a true example of regional collaboration.
The two motions return for second reading Dec. 8. The St. Albert/Sturgeon County annexation, if approved, was expected to take effect Jan. 1, 2022.
More speed?
A county transportation committee says Sturgeon County should crank up speed limits on Cardiff Road.
County council received a report from transportation advisory committee chair Don Levers during committee of the whole Nov. 10.
Levers said the committee recommended the county raise speed limits on Cardiff Road to 50 km/h from the current 40 within Cardiff and to 100 km/h from 80 between Range Rd. 245 and Hwy. 28 east of the community. He said the committee had learned that the lower limit in Cardiff was brought in to protect a group of children with developmental needs who no longer live in that region, and believes these speed limits could be safely raised.
Levers also called on the county to consider increasing its subsidy for dust suppression treatments on gravel roads next year.
The county currently gives residents a $775 discount on the first 100 m of dust control applied to any stretch of road, after which they are charged full price. Levers said in an interview the county should consider increasing this subsidy, as it is less than that offered by other counties and dust control could reduce the need for more paved roads.
Levers said the committee approved of council’s recent decisions to put $2.23 million toward drainage issues and about $3 million toward gravel road stabilization this year, especially given the record rains and floods seen this spring.
Council referred the committee’s recommendations to its 2021 budget debate.
Committee cleanup
County residents will be booted from council committees if they miss three meetings in a row under proposed revisions to Sturgeon’s committee bylaw.
Sturgeon County council approved first reading of the revised council committees bylaw Nov. 10.
Council did a review in 2019 to expand its use of council committees.
In addition recommending the creation of a consent agenda and new powers for the committee of the whole, the review noted the county has been letting committees propose amendments to their own terms of reference which council then approves by resolution, which goes against the Municipal Government Act, which said council is to set out such terms and to do so via bylaw. Council is now working through a long list of bylaws to set such terms of reference for its 11 committees.
The revised committee bylaw applies to the county’s sand and gravel, community services, economic development, and transportation advisory groups, explained county corporate services director Jesse Sopko. It has no major effect on their actual mandates, but makes the rules that govern them more consistent and enshrines their terms of reference in law.
The proposed law would let council appoint public members, chairs, or vice-chairs to these committees for consecutive terms, and specifies that committee members must live in Sturgeon County (except for industry representatives on the gravel committee). Public members would have to attend orientation at their first meeting of each calendar year, and would lose their place on a committee after missing three meetings in a row without authorization. The law would also add a representative from the Greater St. Albert Catholic School Division to the community services board.
The bylaw returns for second reading Dec. 8.
