CREMONA - Village of Cremona council has passed a motion regarding the management of Alberta Safety Codes in the municipality.
The move came during the recent regularly scheduled council meeting. The motion directs administration to complete accreditation with the Alberta Safety Codes Council.
In a briefing note to council, CAO Aaron Gertzen said, “To improve service to citizens of Cremona, the Village of Cremona would benefit from being accredited to manage Alberta Safety Codes and provide permitting, inspection and compliance monitoring services with either our own staff or an accredited agency.”
Currently the village has no accreditation as all applications for building, fire, electrical, plumbing and gas permits are directed to a third-party provider.
“Bringing management of these processes back in-house will allow village staff greater visibility into issued permits as well as provide one stop shop for residents looking to acquire permits for projects in the village.”
In other news, councillors passed a motion adding the Town of Sundre to the village’s Inter-municipal Subdivision Development Appeal Board bylaw.
When the bylaw was originally passed in October 2018, Sundre was inadvertently omitted from the list of towns included in the bylaw.
Under the bylaw, the village is authorized to enter into an agreement with Carstairs, Didsbury and Sundre to provide for the hearing of subdivision appeals and development appeals within the boundaries of the municipality.
Councillors have also agreed to keep the 2020 ATCO Gas franchise agreement fee at 25 per cent, the same as in 2019. The fee is projected to bring in $32,089 next year, said Gertzen.
In other news, village staff members have been keeping busy over the summer with a number of projects, Gertzen said in his regular CAO report to council. Those activities include the following:
• Mulch added and vegetation trimmed around white group signs at east and west ends of the village. Signs will be painted in coming weeks depending on weather.
• New crosswalks, parking stalls and parking zones were repainted throughout the village.
• Doors have been repaired and repainted at council chambers.
• Cremona School has completed its sports court, and is awaiting the installation of basketball hoops at the school.
• New bear-proof bins have been installed throughout the village. Locations will be monitored for use and moved if necessary.
• Chlorine injection line has been upgraded in the plant to sturdier pipe. This should help minimize the leaks from flexible line.
• Valve turning and leak detection has been completed as required annually.
• Trees pruned and removed from Railway Avenue and removed the dead poplars on East Street.
Upcoming work in the village includes prepping outdoor equipment for winter.
The report was accepted as information.
