Catch Council on Monday?
Lots of numbers. Here are some highlights:
- Mayor Elaine Manzer started the meeting by acknowledging the passing of former Mayor Tom Tarpey and tragedy in Vancouver at the Lapu Lapu Day festival.
- Metrix Group LLP presented the draft 2024 Town of Peace River consolidated financial statements, which were subsequently approved by Council. You can dive into them here: https://peaceriver.civicweb.net/filepro/documents/?expanded=9574,141215…
- Council passed Bylaw No. 2173, Tax Rate Bylaw for 2025, enacting property tax rates for 2025. As part of the tax-supported operating budget for 2025, the Town requires a municipal requisition of $12,569,880. In 2025, the amount to be raised by municipal taxes is increasing 0.89% from $12.46 million dollars to approximately $12.57 million dollars – or around $112,000. Thanks to growth in property assessments, the municipal portion of the residential mill rate has dropped from 10.536 to 10.128 this year. That means for every $100,000 of assessed value, you're paying $40.80 less in municipal taxes compared to last year. For example, a home assessed at $300,000 would see a $122.40 reduction on the municipal portion of their tax bill. Even though the Town is collecting 0.89% more in total, assessment growth of 2.53% means that cost is spread out across a larger base, so most residents will see a small decrease on the municipal portion of their bill. (Note: The school and housing authority tax portions are separate and set by other governments.)
- Council appointed Gabrielle Fraser, Inga Lanctot, June Hickey, and Maxine Elter to the Town of Peace River Municipal Library Board for three-year terms, while accepting the resignation of Cathy Hewko. Council also appointed O. Babalola and R. Ashfield to the Municipal Planning Commission for three-year terms.
- Council directed Administration to compile a report providing advice to Council around Council appointments to informal groups.
- As Energy Alberta is proposing a Peace River Nuclear Power Project approximately 30km outside of Peace River, Council directed Administration to engage the project assessment lead and schedule a meeting to learn more about how the Town can participate in the assessment process. The Project is still in the early stages of planning, and on April 14 their Initial Project Description (IPD) was formally accepted by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) and Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) with public notice of the IPD being posted. Following the submission, the IAAC launched a 30-day public comment period to gather feedback on the IPD. Comments received will formulate the summary of issues, which IAAC will look to Alberta Energy to address as part of the impact assessment, such as concerns over housing may result in a requirement to complete a housing study, or concerns over impact on local traffic may result in a transportation study. Members of the public can access the full IPD report and a summary (available in both English and French) using the following links: EN http://iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/evaluations/proj/89430?culture=en-CA FR: http://iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/evaluations/proj/89430?culture=fr-CA Public Notice EN: http://iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/evaluations/document/161290?culture=en-CA FR: http://iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/evaluations/document/161290?culture=fr-CA
The IAAC-facilitated public comment period began April 14, 2025, and comments are due to IAAC by no later than, May 14, 2025. - Council discussed Coun. Orren Ford's notice of motion, which called into question the Town's process for hiring temporary positions. Council directed Administration to initiate a review of the CAO bylaw in the future.
Always more.
You can read the agenda here: https://peaceriver.civicweb.net/filepro/documents/?expanded=9574,141215…
And watch it again here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KagqSuIIh0E
Our next meeting is a Governance and Priorities meeting 5pm Monday, May 5.
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