Whitecourt Town Council briefs

May 25 meeting

As part of the public consultation process for a wastewater treatment plant study currently underway, the Town of Whitecourt is hosting a facility tour and public information open house on Tuesday, June 14. You are invited to attend to ask questions and share your comments.

Facility Tour: Wastewater Treatment Plant 3420 Flats Road (east of Graham Acres) 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. (Tours to take approximately ½ hour)

Open House: Whitecourt Golf & Country Club 1 Flats Road 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.

The tour will highlight how the facility functions and operates, and will be followed by a public open house with further information on the master plan study and odour mitigation strategies currently underway. Representatives from the Town of Whitecourt and Stantec Consulting will be in attendance. Please take this opportunity to ask questions and provide comments.

The Town of Whitecourt is asking for your assistance to track trends in regards to odours from the wastewater treatment plant in the east valley area. By tracking when residents and other public members are being affected by odour, we will be able to:

• Assess if there is a correlation between odour and operations at the plant.

• Evaluate the effectiveness of existing mitigation strategies.

• Identify how operations can be changed to address area concerns.

We appreciate you taking the time to assist with our data collection process. Odour tracking diaries, which include instructions, are available at the Town Office and can be downloaded from www.whitecourt.ca. Tracking sheets are available for residents and recreation facility users.

Council has approved an amendment to the Whitecourt Regional Landfill Authority Budget to complete capital and operational changes that will extend the life of the current landfill site. A review of the closure/post closure obligations for the site determined that the life of the landfill could be significantly increased if the filling method was revised and the height increased. The budget changes will allow improvements to be made starting this year. To fund the improvements, Council has passed first reading of Borrowing Bylaw 1518 which would allow the municipality to borrow $1,690,000. Advertisements regarding the proposed bylaw will be published to notify the community of the proposed debenture.

Whitecourt’s Economic Development Strategic Plan has been approved. The plan, which follows the same format as Council’s Strategic Plan, identifies goals and initiatives for the Economic Development Committee and will assist with scheduling projects and resources specific to this function. Current priorities include implementing a business visitation program both on a local and regional level, researching the potential of business revitalization zones, and creating an ambassador program for handling business inquiries.

Council had the opportunity to review the proposed West Whitecourt Area Structure Plan document which has been drafted by Opus Stewart Weir on behalf of Woodlands County. The area structure plan item will be discussed further at the June Policies and Priorities Committee Meeting, and Council will be providing feedback to our municipal neighbours on the document.

The Whitecourt & District Chamber of Commerce will be hosting West Coast Amusements Carnival on June 6&7. 52nd Avenue from 49 Street to 50 Street will be closed to accommodate the event.

For further details on the carnival please visitwww.whitecourtchamber.com.