Lacombe City Council held a regular council meeting on Feb. 26.  

Here are the highlights from the meeting. 

 

Open Forum: 

Bylaw Tickets Process - Sidewalk Clearing 

On Open Forum presentation was held to discuss the Bylaw Tickets process for sidewalk clearing in the community. 

 

Requests for Decision: 

Council Strategic Plan Review Alternatives  

Municipal governments across the province schedule dedicated time to formally review their strategic plans to work on their vision, mission, values, goals, and objectives and identify key issues and future opportunities. While council meetings are forums for decision-making, many Councils find them not ideal for exploring new ideas and asking big questions about the community's future. For this reason, some use offsite and professionally facilitated strategic plan reviews to keep tactics current and relevant.  

The Council approved the proposed Strategic Planning Review Option 4, which maintains the current practice, amended to include a local committee meeting for implementation. 

 

Campbell Block: Municipal Historic Resource Designation 

The purpose of this Bylaw is to designate the building known as the Campbell Block (the current location of the Home Hardware store) as a Municipal Historic Resource under the provisions of the Province of Alberta Historical Resources Act.  

Lacombe’s Heritage Resources Committee (HRC) and Administration supported the proposed Bylaw. 

Council gave second and third reading to Bylaw 508 as presented. 

 

Presbyterian Manse: Municipal Historic Resource Designation 

The purpose of this Bylaw is to designate the building known as the Presbyterian Manse as a Municipal Historic Resource under the provisions of the Province of Alberta Historical Resources Act.  

Lacombe’s Heritage Resources Committee (HRC) and Administration supported the proposed Bylaw. 

Council gave second and third reading to Bylaw 510 as presented. 

 

Supplementary Assessment 

The City of Lacombe levies taxes twice per year. In the spring, the City of Lacombe imposes the general tax levy, which it determines based on the annual assessments prepared as of December 31st of the previous year. The general tax levy does not consider the portion of properties constructed and completed after December 31st of the previous year.  

To account for these properties and ensure fairness and equity amongst all properties, the City of Lacombe also issues a supplementary tax levy in December of each year to account for improvements completed after December 31st. This is an incremented tax and only applies to the period from completion to the end of the year.  

Council gave second and third reading to Bylaw 512–Supplementary Assessment. 

 

Municipal Police Commission  

This draft of the Municipal Police Commission Bylaw 511 includes proposed changes directed by Council following review and consultation with the Lacombe Police Commission. The proposed Bylaw will replace the current Municipal Police Commission Bylaw 78, which governs the Municipal Police Commission. Some of the proposed changes include: 

  • The "Purpose" section discusses the need for updates to reflect changes in Police Act legislation, which has not been updated since 1986. Changes include adding a definition for "Non-Association Staff.” 

  • The "Appointment of Commission Members" section proposes increasing the Commission's membership to nine, with the government having the authority to appoint up to three members. 

  • The "Meeting of the Commission" section suggests changes to calling special meetings and adhering only to the discussion topics as per the reason stated when calling the meeting. 

  • Other sections, such as Rules Governing Meetings, Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy, Chief and CAO Attendance, Secretary's role, Information to Council, Powers and Duties, Funding, Appointment of Chief, Appointment of Members, and Preparation of Policing Plan and Budget, also including proposed modifications. 

  • Other notable changes involve adjusting quorum requirements, updating references to legislation, and ratifying the initial appointment of the Chief of Police by the Council. 

At the Feb. 8 Police Commission meeting, there was one request to add the term “or delegate” after the words Vice Chair if both the Chair and Vice Chair are absent simultaneously. 

Council amended the Municipal Police Commission Bylaw 511 to include the term “or delegate” in section 7.1(b) and approved the third reading of the Municipal Police Commission Bylaw 511 as amended. 

 

Notice of Motion:

Councillor Gullekson made the following Notice of Motion: 

“That Council direct Administration to bring, for Council’s consideration, a plan to use Recycled Asphalt Millings as a surface improvement for the East/West portion of the Michener Park Parking Lot.”  

The motion was approved by Council. 

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