Update from the Community Meeting at Newbrook Hall on January 10

Hello Neighbours,

 

On Saturday January 21, we had a public meeting for County Residents at the Newbrook Community Centre. There was very little advance notice by emails, Facebook post and word of mouth, so we were impressed with the turn out. 

 

The purpose of the meeting was to inform residents of our legal options to achieve acceptable Land Use Bylaws for the County and to identify the course of action members of the community want to pursue. Information for people wanting to participate as delegations is at the end of this email. To be clear, we are a small group of concerned citizens and are not in any way associated with County Council or staff.

 

As promised, here is an update on yesterday’s meeting and our viable steps to move forward. 

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO RIGHT NOW:

 

1 - Communicate to your councillor that you want him or her to vote against the proposed Land Use Bylaw and defeat it.  If council refuses to defeat the bylaw, ask that a second public hearing be held BEFORE the second reading and AFTER the amendments have been made to the proposed Bylaw 14-2022.

This can be done by regular mail, phone call, or email. (Click here to take you to their contact information)

 

There is a letter attached to this email which was available to sign at the meeting but we ran out of copies. Signed copies collected at the meeting will be sent through the Radway Post Office to show Council that Radway Post Office is still relevant. You can print and sign it or attach it to an email you send to council.

 

2- Go to County Council meetings. These take place every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month at 9:30 a.m. at the Thorhild County Building. Next Meeting: January 24, 9:30 a.m.

 

County Council has promised to notify the public of when they will discuss the Land Use Bylaw next. We will send out an email update when we hear, as well.

We must show Council that we are serious, will hold them accountable, and will pursue every avenue available to prevent an unacceptable Land Use Bylaw from being implemented.

 

Radway Post Office

 

We have a Petition to Council to Rescind their resolution to close the Radway Post Office circulating in the community. We will be submitting this petition in the near future. Please contact us if you want to sign the petition to keep the Post Office open.

 

For people who signed the petition in Radway or Waskatenau, there was a printing error on our forms, PLEASE CONTACT US.

 

Thorhild County Council announced that they chose to close the Radway Post Office due to it running a deficit of $65 000 in 2023 despite the fact that the Library and Fire Department operate out of the same building. The Radway Post Office has about 235 post boxes in use, serving 300 to 400 people in the community every day of the year. Many people cannot or do not drive, and the Post Office allows for the delivery of MANY essential orders to the residents: seniors and the disabled to name a few. It is also the hub of information and communication in Radway - this is where people come for their news. The Post Office is the only thing left in the Radway community, with all other commercial businesses having been shut down by the County or left town - currently the Post Office is the bus stop where kids can safely wait for the bus in the mornings and their parents in the evenings.

 

While we are NOT advocating for the closure of the Long Lake Ski Hill or the Thorhild Swimming Pool, here is some information for perspective (available on the County website through many of the Council meeting minute documents):

 

The Long Lake Ski Hill runs an annual deficit around $250 000 for four months of the year, open only on weekends and days that Aspen School Division is not in school. That is approximately 60 days of the year.

 

The Thorhild Swimming Pool operates at an annual deficit around $167 500 to operate for four months of the year as well, with an average total of about 3100 entries noted per season. That’s an average of about 775 entries per operating month.

 

Discussion of Proposed Land Use Bylaw

 

Our concerns about the proposed Land Use Bylaw 14-2022 are vast. We presented Retroactive Non-Conformity (specifically section 1.4.1 (b) on page 2) and Enforcement (Section 7 on pages 91-94, but specifically sections 7.4.2 on page 92 and 7.5.4 on page 93) as our two biggest concerns yesterday, though you can find a collection of the issues we find in the bylaw at our website. This is not a complete list of issues, but a starting point for people who are interested in reading more. (And yes - according to this proposed Bylaw, all barbed wire fencing requires permitting, even in Agricultural Land Use Districts - see Page 107, section 9.4 subsections j-m under materials).

 

Our website: We have done the bulk of the work to find the relevant documents and there are links out to the Thorhild County website and their publicly available documents.

 

Here is the link to the proposed Land Use Bylaw on the County website: https://www.thorhildcounty.com/Portals/0/2022-10-27%20LUB%20Final%20Draft%20for%20Council.pdf 

 

We had many people stand up and address the room. Most expressed how this Bylaw will negatively affect us, our businesses, and our children for generations to come. Many believe this government overreach is unacceptable and needs to be reigned in, and the general consensus was that as electors and residents of this County, we need to be paying closer attention to what our Council is doing and hold them accountable.

 

It was made clear that Green Space Alliance Urban Planning Firm has produced an unacceptable document and the community distrusts the Green Space Alliance Urban Planning Firm.  

 

At the end of the meeting, we presented the viable options that the Government of Alberta Office of Municipal Affairs indicated are available to us. They were presented from least aggressive to the most aggressive actions. Support was indicated by a show of hands.

 

OPTION 1 - Work with Council and get this Bylaw right. A good 90% of the room was interested in pursuing this option.

 

There are no petitions or officially organised actions with this option. It includes community involvement: phone calls and emails to our Councillors and CAO, requests to the County for a second Public Hearing once the amendments have been made, and allowing Council to listen to our input and do the right thing. 

 

It is 100% within Council’s power to reject the proposed bylaw and vote against it - if we are not happy with it. Contact your Councillor and our CAO. Request that they hold a second Public Hearing AFTER amendments have been made, but BEFORE the Second Reading.

 

OPTION 2 - Petition Council to Rescind the Resolution to Pass Bylaw 14-2022. 90% raised their hands in support of this option.

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If the proposed Land Use Bylaw is passed and it is still unacceptable to us, we will launch a petition to ask Council to reverse their decision. 

 

OPTION 3 - Petition the Minister of Municipal Affairs to Inspect the Affairs of Thorhild County Council and County Office. About 70% support this as an option to pursue.

 

The Minister may recommend a variety of options from firing/hiring staff, removing Council members and calling a byelection, to appointing an administrator to act in replacement of Council. IF Council passes the Bylaw that is not acceptable to us as a community, and won’t rescind their decision following the petition in Option 2, this will be our next step.  This is a process similar to that of the 2014/2015 petition. 

 

Side note: this option can still be pursued regardless of the outcome of the Land Use Bylaw. If enough people are dissatisfied with how the County is operating, this is always an option. 20% of the electors in Thorhild County have to sign the petition for a sufficient petition (approximately 540 people minimum).

 

OPTION 4 - Petition the Minister of Municipal Affairs to Initiate a Viability Review for the County. 6 people supported this option.

 

If enough people are disgruntled with how the County is being run, instead of Option 3, the Minister of Municipal Affairs can initiate a review of the County’s viability.  This is requesting a review to dissolve the county. Effectively, once the examination of our County is complete, the Minister may dissolve the County of Thorhild and partition portions of the County out to other surrounding Counties. This petition can be undertaken at any point, and 30% of the County electors must sign the petition for it to be sufficient (about 810 signatures). It was apparent that most County residents present do not want the County Dissolved.

 

OPTION 5 - Launch Recall Petitions Calling for the Removal of One or All Council Members. 23 people were in favour of this option. This petition would trigger by-elections or another County Election.

 

OPTION 6 - Hire a lawyer to represent the interests of Thorhild County Residents. 5 people were in support of this option.

 

Delegations

 

To address Council at a regular Council Meeting, presenters - individuals or groups- have to submit a Delegation Request Form. Delegation presentations are limited to 15 minutes each and there are a maximum of 3 delegations per meeting, unless otherwise determined by the CAO.

 

Protocol stipulates that Delegations regarding any aspect of a Public Hearing (The Land Use Bylaw in this case) are prohibited between the conclusion of public presentations at a Public Hearing and Final Reading of the bylaw. 

 

We are organising Delegations to speak on behalf of the Post Office and to move forward with the proposed Land Use Bylaw, should the Land Use Bylaw be passed and we are unhappy with it. If you put your name on the Delegation list on Saturday, we will be reaching out to you. If you didn’t put your email on this list and would like to be included in the group of Delegates, please email us to let us know!

 

The Delegation Request form can be found here: https://www.thorhildcounty.com/Government/Council/Requesting-an-Appearance-Before-Council

 

HOW TO KEEP INFORMED AND SHARE INFORMATION AMONGST RESIDENTS

 

Join the Facebook group: Thorhild County Friends Fighting the Land Use Bylaw

 

Our website: We have done the bulk of the work to find the relevant documents and there are links out to the Thorhild County website and their publicly available documents.

 

Email: thorhildcountyresidentsunited@gmail.com

You can share letters you send to Councillors and the CAO to the email or website so others can read what has been sent.

 

Email us any suggestions, feedback, or other information that isn’t directed to your councillor or the CAO. It might take a day or two to respond, but we will reply to everyone.

 

Share these emails with your friends and neighbours and come to future public resident meetings. 

 

WE WELCOME OTHER RESIDENTS TO WORK WITH US TO KEEP THE INFORMATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY PROCESS GOING