The Organizational Meeting for the Newly acclaimed Three Hills Town Council began with the Call to order and the administration of oaths wherein the Chief Administrative Officer had Timothy Shearlaw take his oath of office as Mayor of Three Hills. He, in turn, had each of the acclaimed Councillors take their oaths of office as Councillors of the Town Three Hills.
The Council Members then had the official "group photo" taken by Jason Ewert.
The Organizational Meeting then dealt with specifics which included the following:
• The Nomination of a single candidate and his acceptance for the position of Deputy Mayor. Councillor Ron Howe will serve as Deputy Mayor;
• The appointment of Council representatives on Boards and Committees. They include:
AIRPORT COMMITTEE - Council Members David Nadeau, Vernon Wiebe, Admin Rep Lori Conkin CAO, Airport Manager Dennis Fox, Prairie Aviation Michael Fox.
ASSESSMENT REVIEW BOARD - Council Members Ron Howe, Terry Ann Diack. Clerk Sherry Reid, Clerk Lori Conkin CAO.
AUDIT COMMITTEE - Council Members Tim Shearlaw, Al Campbell, Ron Howe; Admin Rep Lori Conkin CAO, Admin Rep Director of Finance.
BOOMTOWN TRAIL - Council Member Vernon Wiebe; Admin Rep Lori Conkin CAO.
CANADIAN BADLANDS - Council Member Al Campbell.
CAO APPRAISAL COMMITTEE - Council as a Whole.
CENTRAL ALBERTA ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP (CAEP) - Council Members Tim Shearlaw, Terry Ann Diack; Admin Rep Lori Conkin CAO.
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE - Council Member Al Campbell; Admin Rep Lori Conkin CAO.
COMMUNITY FUTURES WILD ROSE - Council Member - Tim Shearlaw.
KNEEHILL REGIONAL EMERGENCY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - Council Member Harold Leo; Alternate David Nadeau.
KNEEHILL REGIONAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY - Director of Emergency Management Sherry Reid; Deputy Director of Emergency Mgmt Lori Conkin.
JOINT INTER-MUNICIPAL PLANNING COMMISSION - Council Members Tim Shearlaw, Vernon Wiebe.
KNEEHILL REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP - Council as a Whole.
KNEEHILL AMBULANCE SOCIETY - Council Member Al Campbell.
KNEEHILL HOUSING CORPORATION - Council Members Vernon Wiebe; Ron Howe.
KNEEHILL REGIONAL FCSS BOARD - Council Member Harold Leo, Alternate Tim Shearlaw.
KNEEHILL REGIONAL DOCTOR RECRUITMENT & RETENTION TASK FORCE - Council Member Al Campbell, Admin Rep Lori Conkin CAO.
KNEEHILL WATERSHED ADVISORY COUNCIL - Admin Rep Mike Jones Operations & Infrastructure; Alternate Greg Sprecher.
POTABLE WATER COMMITTEE - Council Member Tim Shearlaw, Alternate Al Campbell; Admin Rep Lori Conkin CAO.
THREE HILLS LIBRARY BOARD - Council Member (Chair) Ron Howe, Council Member Terry Ann Diack; Members at Large - Ed Stephan, Donna Dubois, Grant Alford, Mitzy Frere, Karen Ireland.
MARIGOLD LIBRARY BOARD REP - Council Member Ron Howe.
MUNICIPAL PLANNING COMMISSION (MPC) - Council Member Chairman Al Campbell; Council Members Tim Shearlaw, Vernon Wiebe; Members at Large Arlin Koch, Ray Wildeman; Development Officer Sherry Reid; Admin Rep Lori Conkin CAO.
THREE HILLS DETACHMENT'S COMMUNITY ACTION COMMITTEE - Council Member David Nadeau.
NEGOTIATION COMMITTEE – CUPE - Council Members Harold Leo, Ron Howe.
RED DEER RIVER MUNICIPAL USERS GROUP (RDMUG) - Council Member Ron Howe; Alternate Harold Leo.
RED DEER RIVER WATERSHED ALLIANCE - Council Member Harold Leo; Alternate Ron Howe.
REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP STEERING COMMITTEE - Council Member David Nadeau; Admin Rep Lori Conkin CAO.
THREE HILLS MEMORIAL COMMUNITY CENTRE SOCIETY - Council Member Vernon Wiebe; President Norm Campion; Director Terry Ann Diack; Vice President Brad Luijkx; Secretary/Treasurer June Kanderka.
SUBDIVISION & DEVELOPMENT APPEAL BOARD (SDAB) - Council Member Chairman Ron Howe; Council Members Terry Ann Diack, Alt David Nadeau; Members at Large Ron Wilson, John Boxma, Secretary Lori Conkin.
GENERAL STORE COMMITTEE - Council Reps Al Campbell, Tim Shearlaw; Members at Large Heather Pliva, Todd Darling; Vendor Reps Karen Olson, Oswaldo Benavides; General Store Manager Jacqueline Buchanan; Administration Support Lori Conkin CAO
ISP COMMITTEES
Sustainable Growth Committee - Council as a Whole.
Social Wellness Committee - Chair Council Member: Harold Leo; 2nd Chair Council Member Vernon Wiebe; Members Alana Frere, Kevin Peters; Administration Rep: Lori Conkin CAO; Ex-Officio Member: Mayor Tim Shearlaw.
Economic Growth Committee - Chair Council Member Al Campbell; 2nd Chair Councillor Member: Terry Ann Diack; Members Murray Shadlock, Jason Thompson, Dennis Fox, Byrne Lammle, Marie Muddle; Ex-Officio Members Mayor Tim Shearlaw, Lori Conkin CAO.
Leisure Services Committee - Chair Council Member Ron Howe, 2nd Chair Council Member David Nadeau; Council Member: Vernon Wiebe; Members Bruce Sommerville, Darlene Sommerville; Administration Rep: Norm Campion; Ex-Officio Members: Mayor Tim Shearlaw, Lori Conkin CAO.
• The confirmation of regular Council meetings and dates & times (as per Council Procedure Bylaw 1350-13) was set.
• The appointment of the Auditor was carried.
Included in the agenda of the Organizational Meeting was the second and third reading of the bylaw to provide for a Revolving Line of Credit Loan with RBC Royal Bank.
The Organizational Meeting adjourned at 5:37 and the Regular Council Meeting was called to order at 5:38.
Here there were a number of items under "New Business" but most were quite straight forward and dealt with directives to Administration to take some particular action, or to support by letter some action by another group, or to deal with a budget adjustment.
Specifics concerning a few of the items are given in motions as below.
Carried: "... that the 2014 Kneehill Regional FCSS Budget and Allocation be approved as presented";
Carried: "... that Council, accepts as INFORMATION the Town of Three Hills Wetlands Redevelopment Report prepared by the Stantec Consulting Ltd.";
Carried: "... that Council "gift in kind the use of the Community Centre to the Chamber of Commerce for the November 27 "Here Comes Santa Cause" event.
Carried: "...Council approves a rental reduction to Arts Alive in Kneehill for the monthly rental fee for their space in the General Store, for a six month period subject to review at the end of this time.
In other matters it was a case of approving that Councillors or Mayor Shearlaw attend meetings and expenses be met.
Others were letters of support.
The Town Office will be closed to the public from December 23 until January 2.
A request from The Boomtown Trail Community Initiatives Society seeking support for their effort to secure a grant to host a 3 day event at Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park in September 2014, was turned down. A recorded vote indicated zero in favour.
Mayor Shearlaw received Council input concerning the matter of the speed reduction request on Highway 21. It was the consensus that while the concern may be mentioned at upcoming meetings with Alberta Transportation, along with other highway matters, the formal presentation will come in talks with the Minister. These talks will be supported by signed petitions and letters of support.
Management Team Reports touched on the prospect of the FCSS having telephone and computer services in place and being moved into the Provincial Building by November 1.
At some point Emergency Management will require some form of Emergency Response Simulation. Recent rail accidents, and other disasters are bringing the reality of the need for preparedness into focus. The Town Administration are keenly aware of this and it is already being addressed.
Street repair and conditions, trimming of troublesome trees, the landfill situation and street lighting were all part of the discussions and with the concerns were also the receipt of praise for the various departments and crews for their services and accomplishments.
The regular meeting ended at 7:25 and Council went into Closed Session to deal with two matters.
