The Village of Cremona council has passed a motion to have the municipality entered into an emergency management agreement with Mountain View County.
The move came during the recent regularly scheduled council meeting.
“The Village of Cremona is obligated under the Emergency Management Act to have a director of emergency operations and operate an emergency management agency,” administration said in a briefing note to council.
Mountain View County was contracted to provide the village with a director since 2011. However that agreement has now expired.
“Mountain View County no longer desires to enter into a long-term agreement for director of emergency management duties. The county has agreed in a short-term agreement to the end of 2019 to allow the village to determine who it would like to move forward with emergency management duties.”
The new agreement sets out the duties of the village and the county.
The county will provide the village with an individual to fulfil the requirement of the director of emergency management and if that person is unable to perform the duties, another employee will be made available to discharge the duties.
Under the agreement, the village will appoint an emergency advisory committee and appoint an emergency management agency.
The village will also pay the contractor (county) time expended to complete the responsibilities of the director and provide that person with office space and electronic devices appropriate to the tasks to be undertaken.
The new agreement will be in effect until Dec. 31.
In other council news, councillors have passed a motion excusing Mayor Tim Hagen for his absence from the recent April 16, May 21 and June 18 council meetings due to illness.
Under the Municipal Government Act, a councillor is disqualified from council as a councillor if absent for all regular council meetings held during any eight consecutive weeks, starting on the date of the first meeting missed.
That disqualification can be waived if authorized by resolution of council.
Meanwhile, council has approved amendments to the classification of assessed property bylaw.
The move was made to bring the municipality in line with recent changes to the Municipal Government Act.
A 2018 review found a deficiency in the bylaw, something the amendment corrects.
Residential property is now defined as property that is not classed by the assessor as farmland, machinery and equipment, or non-residential, and is classified into sub-classes.
The low density residential subclass includes single dwellings, semi detached dwellings, duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, manufactured homes, mobile homes, modular homes, manufactured home parks or mobile home parks, townhouses, rowhouses when under condominium plan or otherwise, farm buildings, and vacant residential land.
The non-residential property means linear property, components of manufacturing or processing facilities that are used for the co-generation or power of other property on which industry, commerce or another use takes place or is permitted to take place under a land use bylaw passed by council.
