By Kevin J. Sabo
For the Advance
After 15 months of public engagement, the County of Paintearth has finally seen the proposed changes made to the Land Use Bylaw.
Bylaw 698-21 was presented to council for first reading during their April 7th meeting of council.
“Coupled with round one last year, and the survey this year, there are 61 pages of updates,” said Todd Pawsey, the County of Paintearth development officer.
“(A bunch of things have switched from) discretionary uses to permitted uses.”
In addition to the changes from discretionary to permitted uses, another area of the Land Use Bylaw to get serious attention is the use of aerodromes, of which there are several in the County.
“Aerodrome standards, and the referral for development in their proximity, have changed,” said Pawsey.
The County of Paintearth did three rounds of resident consultation beginning early in 2020, to get to the final document.
While all three rounds were supposed to be in person, the only one ended up being the first one and the second two rounds ended up going online due to the pandemic.
With the first reading done, the proposed bylaw will be advertised for two weeks, then a public hearing held looking for feedback on the new bylaw on April 20th.
People wanting to submit a statement either for or against the new bylaw must do so in writing in advance due to the current pandemic associated restrictions.
Written presentations must be in four days prior to the scheduled hearing.
A copy of the proposed bylaw can be found under the notices tab on the County of Paintearth web site (www.countypaintearth.ca).
County administration plans to have council pass the third and final reading of the new bylaw in May, once all the feedback has been taken in and final tweaks made.
Fleet rail lands area
Council also received a second bylaw during their April 7th meeting.
Bylaw 699-21-The Fleet Rail Lands Area Structure Plan Bylaw creates newly-subdivided properties in the Hamlet of Fleet along the old rail right-of-way.
The Bylaw, which received first reading, will be circulated to all the residents of Fleet, and will also be subject to a public hearing, prior to the passing of the third reading, which is also scheduled to be done in May.
Request for decision
County of Paintearth administration previously approved the sale by sealed bid of a Degelman REV 1500 mower. Two bids were received by the cut-off date, with a $500 price difference. County council awarded the sale to the larger bid of $13,000 in a motion made by Coun. Tyrrill Hewitt.
Windshield replacement
County council has approved the reimbursement of a ratepayer for a new windshield after taking a rock off of one of the County’s gravel trucks.
Director of Public Works Bryce Cooke told council that after an investigation, the truck’s GPS location and time of the incident line up, so the invoice should be reimbursed.
“It’s the first one this year,” said Cooke.
“We usually get one or two a year.”
There is no policy to cover these types of events, meaning that they must be taken before council every time the situation occurs.
The total cost of the windshield repair for the rate-payer was around $230.