By Kevin J. Sabo
For the Advance
The County of Paintearth council has approved a “child at play” sign for a residence located on Range Road 152.
The resident in question had already spoken to the Public Works Director Bryce Cooke before forwarding the request on to Deputy Reeve Doreen Blumhagen, who brought the request forward to council.
The ratepayer, Steve Maier, requested the sign as they get some traffic off Township Road 400, and his home is located on a curve and at the top of a hill, cutting down visibility.
“Our neighbours are respectful and aware,” said Maier, in his request.
“But we do get non-local traffic.”
Five children, who are homeschooled, reside at the county residence. As the request did fit established guidelines for such requests, it was approved.
County financials
The County of Paintearth has written off nearly $2 million worth of expected revenue over the last few years, and just over a million dollars’ worth of taxes are still outstanding, mainly from oil and gas properties in the region.
By writing off the amounts that they have, the County is able to apply for Provincial Education Requisition Credits (PERC), which pays back the education requisitions paid based on those estimated taxes, which is a small percentage back in the County’s coffers.
Survey
The second phase of the County of Paintearth’s Public Engagement survey has now concluded. Moving to an online forum for phase two due to the pandemic, the County received around 70 of the surveys back, which is around half of the number of people who attended the first phase of in-person settings.
“With COVID-19, we’ll take it,” said Chief Administrative Officer Michael Simpson.
County of Paintearth will take the information gained from the second phase of the public engagement survey and begin laying out the third and final phase of the project, slated for later this year.