Council Notes
From the regular meeting of Monday, July 25, 2016

Council held a public meeting to consider a bylaw to close a portion of airspace above the East Coulee Hotel on 1st Avenue in East Coulee. The owners of the building are renovating the exterior to construct a two-storey balcony and breezeway in front of the building. Two speakers and one letter were received by council in favour of the project, including the hotel owner, with one speaker at the meeting in opposition, being the owner of a property directly east of the hotel. Co-owner of the hotel Len Gerrard said the addition will improve the appearance of the front of the building while also making the hotel and restaurant wheelchair accessible. When asked by council, Gerrard said the estimated investment in the project was nearly half a million dollars. Lehigh resident Shawn Lumsden spoke in favour of the project, saying the economic and employment spin off from the addition will generate positive development in the area. Don Gerlinger, representing the estate of Elizabeth Gerlinger, owner of a residential property adjacent to the hotel, said the expansion would devalue the property as well as continue problems with noise, litter, and generally lower the quality of life at the residence. Gerlinger said the owners of the hotel had approached him offering to purchase the residence on June 20, and asked for time before the bylaw was passed to allow for the possible transaction to take place. Council assured Gerlinger that it would take up to 90 days to get approval from Alberta Transportation to approve the closure.
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Acting commander of Drumheller RCMP, Kevin Charles, made a delegation to council reintroducing himself and providing a short brief of detachment operations. Charles, who previously worked in Drumheller before taking a position in Hanna, is filling in while a new detachment commander is found for Drumheller. He said a replacement for Corporal Rod Gutherie is already in Drumheller but has yet to begin duty.
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CAO Ray Romanetz presented council with amendments to the Land Use Bylaw for first reading. He said the amendments addressed concerns made by council over environmental controls, and added additional conditions. Councillor Jay Garbutt showed concern over a clause of "environmental significance" and how to determine what is significant without demanding businesses produce expensive environmental reports that may deter business from the town. CAO Romanetz said he will refer this to Palliser and the Municipal Planning Commission for review.
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Director of community services, Paul Salvatore, updated council on the Dino Arts Footprint project, which would see dinosaur footprints created in pavement throughout downtown. Salvatore said the only update on this is his department has contacted Dino Arts lead John Shoff on holding a meeting. CAO Romanetz said there has been discussion about tree placement downtown, of creating a dinosaur made of Catepillar parts, and placing a dinosaur at the BCF. Council provided direction to discuss the science behind footprints with the experts at the Tyrrell, but also to keep the project fun. Councillor Lisa Hansen-Zacharuk provided direction to evaluate trees downtown which may be blocking business signage.
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Council approved the appointment of director of protective services Greg Peters, and bylaw enforcement officers Don Urlacher, and Tom Pozzolo as weed inspectors, in compliance with the provincial Weed Control Act.
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The CAO and department directors presented their quarterly reports to council, highlighting major projects and developments in their respective departments over the last quarter. Detailed information is available in the July 25 published agenda on the town's website, dinosaurvalley.com.
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Mayor Terry Yemen opened discussion over vendor cart contract concerns raised by a vendor. A vendor had a concern after he and another vendor were told by community services that generator units were prohibited at the Rotary Park. Louise Sharpe and Dwight Constable acquired licenses for two locations on concrete pads near the spray park in Rotary Park in the spring of this year. They were informed they were not allowed to use generators, and purchased a hot dog cart and two freezers. Jolene Powell and Mary Anne Vogel operated a Mini Donut truck near Sublime Food and Wine but requested a move back into the Rotary Park this summer. In early July, the Mini Donut operators were given approval by community services to use a generator for their truck. This week, Constable and Sharpe lodged complaints to the mayor and council regarding this exception made for the Mini Donuts vendor. Director of community services Paul Salvatore said historically his department has discouraged motors at the park but it has been condoned before. Salvatore said everything that was communicated to both parties was supported by town guidelines for vendors. Councillor Garbutt said the policy is regulations, not rules, which are adapted to different situations. Salvatore suggested council provide power to vendors to avoid this issue down the road, and CAO Romanetz said bringing power to two or three locations would be a small expense. Mayor Yemen said he will discuss the issue with the complainants.
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Mayor Yemen congratulated the success of this year's Gran Fondo bike ride which was up 145 participants from last year.
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The council received a letter from Minister of Municipal  Affairs Danielle Larivee concerning the Gas Tax Fund. This year, $218 million in GTF funding will be provided to Alberta municipalities. Drumheller will be allocated $432,868 towards building and revitalizing local public infrastructure. This was a 2 percent increase over last year.
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The council received a letter from Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation Brian Mason in response to an earlier meeting on Tuesday, March 8. The letter was in regards to a meeting with council, in which, the turn out at the bottom of the hill and the truck route being paved was discussed.  Minister Mason anticipates there will be funding in the 2017 budget for the both projects. Regarding the Newcastle Sewer odour as reported in the June 22 edition of The Drumheller Mail, Minister Mason said he was studying the area to see if a lift station can solve the problem. If the study is conclusive, a lift station will be built.
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The Drumheller Chamber of Commerce presented their Semi- Annual update to council. The Chamber have 231 members in good standing, 16 outstanding members. Future projects include the Canada Day parade, the "Jurassic Classic" Golf Tournament in August, Small Business Week in October, and the Jingle Mingle member appreciation event in December. The Information Center has seen a 16.5 per cent increase in visitors from January 1- May 31, 2015, over the same period from 2016. The Chamber of Commerce also highlighted the Mobile Visitor Information Centre which is operational Thursday afternoons at the Royal Tyrrell Museum. Mayor Yemen asked how many dollars had been returned into the community from the World's Largest Dinosaur in total, and Executive Director Heather Bitz answered $585,000.
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Council received a request for decision regarding the Wheatland County Regional Infrastructure Program. Wheatland county has approved the distribution of 0.25 mill of Non Residential Property tax  to neighboring municipalities who provide infrastructure services to residents of Wheatland. Dumheller is set to receive $17,974.86 of a total of $750,000 grant distribution annually over 5 years on a specified formula. CAO Ray Romantez suggested to pass the motion and meet with Wheatland for further discussion. Coun. Zariski questioned how the county came up with the formula, CAO Ray Romantez answered saying the town had no input on the agreement. Coun. Garbutt expressed concern on how the specification on money was set to be used. Coun. Lisa Hansen-Zacharuk madethe first  motion to accept the proposal, Coun. Shoff seconded. The motion was passed with Coun. Jay Garbutt opposed.
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