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Bear Hills Wellness Centre hoping council will get on board

The biggest topic of discussion at the May 2 Bashaw town council meeting was that of the development permit application for the Bear Hills Wellness Centre.
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The Bear Hills Wellness Centre project is using images of bears in their branding and promotional materials. (Stock photo/Metro Creative Connection)

The biggest topic of discussion at the May 2 Bashaw town council meeting was that of the development permit application for the Bear Hills Wellness Centre.

Council will be looking to reach out to other agencies including Alberta Health Services in order to get feedback and other opinions.

“If agencies choose not to contact at least we did our due diligence,” said registered professional planner Elizabeth Armitage during the meeting.

Proposed at the current Bashaw Retreat Centre, the project would partner with regional First Nations and provide a variety of community wellness services.

A development permit was originally submitted for the project during the summer of 2021, which was initially denied by the council at the time.

Resubmitted Jan. 10, 2022, the town has deemed the application incomplete several times since.

One of the owners of the retreat centre building, Dr. Tony Mucciarone, attended the meeting with his wife Dawn Mucciarone. Other representatives were not permitted to attend council as a delegation at this time, according to Lucy Smolcic.

A designated review meeting was set for May 16 with a second review meeting to be determined.

Council also decided that in order to handle this correctly, an extension will be necessary since the priority needs to be going through the process and materials and not rushing to make a decision.

“It’s been a long, drawn-out process and we’re thankful that after a year, (council) is finally looking at our printed materials,” said James Carpenter, co-owner of the building.

Carpenter said the owners have been working to support the Bear Hills Wellness Centre representative’s application for a development permit.

When they first were asked to support the application with a letter to the town, they didn’t realize it would require rezoning.

“But here were are,” Carpenter said.

He added he’s confident that once councils review the information they’ve provided, that will dissolve issues of misinformation and council will become as excited about the project as “they have been for the past 15 months.”

READ MORE: Wellness centre back before Bashaw town council

Council highlights

• The designated public utility lot bylaw was passed unanimously.

• The operating budget had a projected increase of 3.97 per cent.

• The property tax bylaw passed unanimously.

• New emails for council were looked at however council couldn’t get behind the price of $960 and decided it was not worth the money.

• A request was made for a public washroom facility at the racquetball courts. Council decided seek information on other washroom options.

• The Fortis franchise fee renewal was discussed and passed. Fortis is the main service provider of electricity in the community.

• The RCMP will be contacted to come and speak to council due to concerns regarding what will happen with a possible merger that has been rumoured.

- With files from Sarah Baker, Black Press News Media



Emily Jaycox

About the Author: Emily Jaycox

I’m Emily Jaycox, the editor of Ponoka News and the Bashaw Star. I’ve lived in Ponoka since 2015 and have over seven years of experience working as a journalist in central Alberta communities.
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