St. Paul Town Council Highlights – September 10, 2018

Bylaw 1242 – Cannabis Amendments

Council passed second and third readings of the amended Land Use Bylaw 1242 in preparation for the legalisation of Cannabis. More details about this portion of the Council Meeting can be found here.

Communities in Bloom

Penny Fox from St. Paul Champions for Change was in attendance to award Council, and Councillor Gary Ward in particular, with a 2018 Communities in Bloom Award. On their website, Communities in Bloom describes itself as a program that “is about greening through environmental, natural heritage conservation and horticultural actions that involve citizens, businesses, institutions, and municipalities. The program is focused on environmental stewardship through enhancement of green spaces.” The program judges participating communities on several different categories and criteria and awards one winner per population category.

St. Paul has been part of Communities in Bloom for several years. For the first time, the Town received Five Blooms (the highest possible rating) and won the Population 2,001-6,000 category in the Alberta Provincial Edition. Councillor Ward, who has been a strong proponent of the program said:

“After multiple years and attempts of getting Three Blooms or Four Blooms, it’s really nice to finally get the Fifth.”

Penny Fox (left) stands with Councillor Gary Ward and Mayor Maureen Miller with the 2018 Communities in Bloom award.

Transfer Station Signage

Council is concerned over the amount of dumping that takes place just outside of the grounds of the Transfer Station. They suspect that the high level of dumping comes from those who come to take their cardboard, garbage, and more to the Transfer Station, only to find that it is closed – so they dump their trash and leave.

To remedy this situation, Council moved to install two signs on Township Road 582 that display the summer and winter hours of operation for the transfer station. The two signs will cost approximately $900. Council hopes that if people realize early enough that the Transfer Station is closed, they will choose to return another day and time rather than dump their garbage.

Holiday Hours

Late last year, Council moved to close Town offices for the Christmas holiday from Monday, December 24 through Thursday, December 27, 2018. Council moved to allow Town staff to take a vacation day or use banked time, if they choose to, on Friday, December 29, giving them the full week off of work. This closure would be combined of two statutory holidays, two civic holidays and one Vacation day.

Some staff will still be working on the Friday (December 28) but not enough to keep the Administrative office open on that day.