News
Sports
Weather
Classifieds
Opinions
Obituaries
Special Reports

Home
About Us
FAQ
Links
Advertising

Carstairs Courier
Didsbury Review
Innisfail Province
Mountain View Gazette
Olds Albertan
Sundre Round Up

Commercial Printing
Great West Newspapers

Centre Street businesses will be consulted
Sundre town councillors have instructed administration to send letters to business owners along Centre Street regarding parking concerns.

The owners will be asked to provide comments and input into parking issues.

The town has recently received a number of letters of concern regarding parking on the main town roadway.

Meanwhile, town enforcement officer Lavar Adams has been instructed by administration to enforce parking setbacks on the road and to bring back suggestions regarding possible improvements.

Assessment review board decision upheld
Sundre town councillors have passed a motion reaffirming an earlier decision to have the town become a member of a new regional assessment review panel.

In December town council passed a motion making Sundre part of the new Red Deer-based regional assessment review board set up in West Central Alberta.

The board will exercise the function of a local assessment review board and the functions of a composite assessment review board in respect of assessment complaints.

A local board will hear assessment complaints regarding homes, while the composite board will hear assessment complaints.

The new board will consist of 20 public members from area municipalities appointed by a nomination review committee from a list of eligible persons submitted by the regional partner municipalities.

The composite board will include a province member appointed by the province.

Last week council heard that Mountain View County was considering offering a similar review panel process for area communities.

After a presentation by tax and utility clerk Debbie Hilts at last week’s governance meeting, during which Hilts recommended the town stay with the Red Deer panel, councillors voted to reaffirm the earlier decision to do just that.

Sign bylaw being reviewed
During last week’s governance meeting, councilllors instructed administration to conduct a review of the town’s bylaw provisions regarding the use of portable signs.

The existing bylaw provision states, in part, that no sign in town will "conflict with the general character of the surrounding streetscapes or the architecture of nearby buildings or be liable to create a cluttered appearance to the streetscape."

For portable signs in particular, the bylaw states, in part, that "no portable or ‘A’ frame signs relating to a commercial enterprise may be placed on any public property", and "Any portable signs deemed by the development officer or the municipal planning commission to be in contravention may be subject to immediate removal of the sign by the Town of Sundre or its designates with no notice given to the owner of the sign."

Administration will report back to councillors once the review is completed.

Senior staff policy being reviewed
Councillors have instructed administration to ensure that an upcoming review of town policies gives high priority to the review of the policy regarding the hiring of staff.

Under existing policy #104, "all full time permanent positions will be advertised in the weekly town advertisement and on the town website for a minimum of two weeks and any other applicable locations as required", and "all resumes will be forwarded to the Director of Corporate Services and will be disbursed to the hiring department for evaluation. Resumes should be evaluated based on job related criteria and must be done in writing."

Under existing policy #105, internal candidates from within the town of Sundre are to be given priority, all things being equal, for job openings.

Councillor Bob McIntyre said the policies appear to conflict, and therefore should be reviewed.

Chamber rental policy in the works
In response to a letter from the Chamber of Commerce requesting the use of the new town council chambers for regular meetings, councillors have instructed administration to draft a policy regarding use of the facility.

The chamber’s current meeting room at the Visitor Information Centre has recently been found to be too small to accommodate everyone attending chamber meetings, council heard.