Rocky View County (RVC) council voted unanimously in favour of incorporating an “enhanced governance training component” into the orientation package for the 2017 municipal election, following a recommendation from administration.
Administration’s report was a response to Councillor Bruce Kendall’s Notice of Motion at a meeting on July 26, requesting council consider conducting an effectiveness assessment of council.
“Councillors would be provided a facilitated session on governance,” RVC General Manager Kent Robinson said. “This session would focus on best practices including roles and responsibility, policy development, decision making, interaction between council, interaction with administration and communication.”
According to Robinson, this type of training has been provided in the past, but there is “room for improvement.” The enhanced training may also incorporate a component on future board performance assessment.
Following another Notice of Motion presented by Councillor Kendall and a unanimous vote from council, administration will begin working on an outline to provide options to fund the design and construction of the next stages of the Langdon Wastewater Treatment Plant. These options may include a borrowing bylaw, funding from reserves, possible grant opportunities, levies and developer funding options or a combination thereof.
“It’s important that this motion be given a positive outcome so that we can get the design done,” Kendall said. “The intent is to advance (this project) given the fact that we have pending developments that need servicing now.”
Administration’s report will be presented to council for consideration at a meeting Nov. 22.
A Terms of Reference was adopted by a unanimous vote for the development of a comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. According to David Kalinchuk with RVC’s economic development office, the strategy will help the County achieve greater economic prosperity and tax-base growth, and will help the municipality move towards the desired 65 per cent residential and 35 per cent non-residential assessment split by 2035.
The strategy is anticipated to be presented for council’s consideration in the second quarter of 2017.
Three adjustments to the Bragg Creek Local Improvement Tax were considered by council and two were approved. The amount owed by these landowners will be recalculated according to council’s decision.
The tax was established in 2013 for the construction of the water/wastewater treatment plants and distribution system.
The requests were received from landowners proposing a reduction in the tax on their property, due to “unusual” parcels and one lot having both residential and hamlet commercial land uses.
