Picture Butte council briefs

By Kathy Bly
For the Sunny South News

The following are Town of Picture Butte council briefs from the July 20 meeting.
Architectural controls
Picture Butte town council has approved the architectural controls for the new Sunset Park residential development.
The new subdivision, just north of the town’s water plant, is in the development stage. The new agricultural controls will now be registered with the land titles for each property in the subdivision.
Buyers will be required to pay a $2,000 deposit, which will be returned once the requirements under the architectural controls are met.
Safety codes agreement
A new three-year agreement has been approved by Picture Butte town council with Superior Safety Codes to handle all safety codes inspection services for the town.
Under the agreement, the fees for the service are paid by the individual who takes out the permit requiring an inspection.
Free pool passes
As in years past, Picture Butte town council has approved a motion to provide family swim passes to volunteer firefighters in the community.
Annually, town council has approved the passes, as a thank you to firefighters for their service in the community.
Piron Place
A change order for just over $44,000 has been approved by Picture Butte town council for the Piron Place project, currently under construction in the community.
The work is in part to allow for a stormwater extension from Sunset Park to Piron Place, as part of the Sunset Park subdivision project.
A portion of the work will be completed with the Piron project but not tied into Sunset until work is done to accommodate the difference in elevation between the two residential areas.
Movie in the Park
As part of this year’s Jamboree Days, Picture Butte town council has agreed to contribute $500 to a Movie in the Park slated for Aug. 15.
Due to the success of the recent Canada Day event, organizers of the movie night want to increase the screen size they had originally planned for in order to accommodate the anticipated crowd size.
The Picture Butte and District Recreation and Culture Committee is hosting the movie night.
“I think it’s an awesome idea,” said Mayor Wendy Jones.
Course costs approved
As part of his contract with the Town of Picture Butte, town council approved a request from Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Larry Davidson to cover the cost of a Community Engagement and Consultation course.
Davidson said the course is required for him to obtain his National Advanced Certificate in Local Authority Administration (NACLAA) level II designation.
Course costs of $765 plus GST were approved by council.
CPR Subdivision
Picture Butte town council has approved a revised design for the subdivision of former CPR land to the east of 4 Street.
Davidson said three local companies have already expressed interest in lots in the subdivision and he anticipates more now that the final design has been approved.
Council rescinds $3,600 in fees
A clean-up order issued in 2013 for a property in Picture Butte resulted in over $3,600 being applied to the tax roll for the property.
Documentation has since shown the clean-up order required the work to be completed by Aug. 15, 2013. The town records show a contractor entered the property on Aug. 15 and did the clean-up.
With this in consideration, town council authorized the removal of the clean-up fee, penalties and administration fee from the tax roll.
Financial report
In a review of Picture Butte’s financial position, CAO Davidson indicated this year the town has collected all but approximately $110,000 of its $1.5 million in municipal taxes. He also touched on the town’s current budget and said by October he would like to update council on the budget figures.
“My goal is to always end up with a surplus.”

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