Development of a new, updated strategic plan for the town is now the next goal council would like to achieve.
Bashaw town council and staff, along with its planning consultant Brian Austrum, reviewed the plan 2010 plan at its Oct. 2 meeting, and discussed the next steps that need to be taken.
“With updated planning bylaws in place, now we can arrange a public meeting to get a look at what the town should do from here,” noted Austrum to council.
The last strategic plan was only tailored for the end of 2013 and he suggests council should invite the community groups to participate in planning for the future. The new strategic plan will span from 2019 to 2023.
“There are a lot of great ideas in these plans, but the reality often is, not many of them have been implemented,” he said.
The plan includes a mission statement to outline the purpose of the document along with fundamental values and vision or goals for the future of the community. The goals listed in the previous plan focused on improving the town’s visual perception, develop and beautify more green space recreation, promote more economic growth and tourism, work on infrastructure development and prudent fiscal responsibility.
Austrum lauded Bashaw councils for what has been done on enhancing the town’s infrastructure and continuing to operate in a sensible manner with respect to its finances. However, what’s been done is only a drop in the bucket compared to what needs to be done.
“Now, we need to go out and talk to the public…It’s not just about infrastructure, but there are social services, parks and other things such as emergency services,” he said.
No specific date has been decided for the community consultation meeting, but some day in mid-January is being looked at.
Bylaws pass
Both the amended Land Use Bylaw (LUB) and Municipal Development Plan (MDP) had final readings approved during the Oct. 2 meeting.
Public hearings on both documents were held prior to the meeting, though only council members were present and there were no written submissions made. An open house held in August for the public to look at the changes drew little interest.
There was one minor revision made to the LUB prior to final passage — the weight limit for commercial vehicles parked on residential property was set at 4,000 kg, mostly in response to a question regarding weights of newer pick ups already exceeding the previous 2,000 kg limit in the LUB.
Fuller explained the regulation is designed to prohibit long term parking of commercial units.
“I believe the spirit of this section is that we don’t want overweight commercial vehicles parked on residential property,” she stated.
“This isn’t intended to target larger personal trucks or work pick ups, since some of these vehicles are upwards of 4,000 kg now.”
Other business
A few issues regarding the Bashaw Fire Department were also discussed.
The first was a request to move the water fill valve so crews don’t have to move the truck outside in order to fill it and that the valve be repaired at is currently leaks, which is causing some troubles with water getting some of the truck’s controls.
CAO Theresa Fuller added that firefighter honorariums are being reviewed, including pay for the two chief officers, plus discussions are continuing about the potential of a new town fire truck — which council has allocated $20,000 in reserve to assist in purchasing.
jordie.dwyer@ponokanews.com
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