The main purpose of these meetings is to review the upcoming Council Meeting agenda, and to discuss these topics and any other topics that are of interest and importance to our community members, and to consider what actions can / should be taken.
The meeting began just after 7:00pm, following a delicious dinner and visit.
There was a short discussion on the fact that no agenda was posted for the upcoming Council meeting, but that that was okay today as there were other topics planned to be discussed.
Information was shared on messages received from Sturgeon County residents regarding actions being taken regarding their LUB rewrites. Attendees will be updated on further findings at the next meeting, after a follow-up with those residents.
ACTION ITEM: Learn more by checking out the Sturgeon County Council meeting on October 10th at the 39:00 minute mark to hear the motion brought forward by SC Councillor McLennan and the debate regarding it. You can access it here.
More discussion on the comments made by Thorhild County Councillor Dafoe and Deputy Reeve Zilinski regarding revisiting the TC LUB rewrite. It was decided that we will learn more about Sturgeon County’s strategy before making further plans on how we could approach ours.
There was discussion on the Rebel News story and the recent update to their appeal on their FOIP request results, and that Thorhild County has retained a lawyer regarding it. We shared that the same FOIP was submitted by Thorhild County residents, and that numerous attempts were made to contact Rebel News to share the information, with Rebel News ignoring all attempts to connect. It was discussed how Rebel should report on the many Alberta rural municipalities that are making strides in demanding answers on their LUB rewrites if they are truly concerned about rural Alberta municipalities.
Reeve Pierce’s announcement to step down as Reeve was discussed. Everyone shared thoughts on who they believe may be nominated and who would best fit the role. This led to more discussion on previous actions discussed regarding Council conduct, and if any of the previous suggested actions should still take place. The overall thought was to watch how the next few months go with regard to conduct.
Lots of discussion took place on seeking involvement by more community members and most importantly, finding candidates from each division for the next election. The type of individuals that would best suit and the characteristics they should hold was discussed in great detail.
ACTION ITEM: Start meeting more neighbours and be cognizant of any and all candidate possibilities. Get the word out and find nominees.
There was great dialogue and discussion on the County, the history of various communities within the County, and how they get along (or don’t), and why that may be. Some long-time residents of the County were able to share some great insight into how the community has worked and things that have happened over the years. It was great to get that insight.
Training for Municipal Council roles was discussed, and what resources there are to learn more about that.
There was some discussion on Waste Management, which let to discussion and history on the Thorhild dump, as well as overall current operations.
Two community members updated the group on the progress of the Radway post office, and how helpful many have been. They suggested the best way to continue to help right now would be to provide meals, and that typically there would be 5 or 6 people working at any given time.
A community member provided information on petition cards to send to Alberta MPs to demand that natural health products remain accessible. Lots of discussion took place on more of the details pertaining to this, and what the current Liberal Federal Government is proposing regarding natural health products, and the detriment this will have on society.
ACTION ITEM: Complete your card and send it to your MP. Many cards were taken to distribute to others. More cards will hopefully be available at the next meeting.
It was a fantastic meeting with more new faces. Thank you everyone for attending! We will see you all, and hopefully many new neighbours, at the next one!!
Council Contact Information:
All Council council@thorhildcounty.com
Reeve Pierce Division 3 joyce.pierce@thorhildcounty.com 780-271-8458
Deputy Reeve Zilinski Division 2 angela.zilinski@thorhildcounty.com 780-307-5846
Councillor Filipchuk Division 1 richard.filipchuk@thorhildcounty.com 780-656-0522
Councillor Paly Division 4 janine.paly@thorhildcounty.com 780-307-5978
Councillor Dafoe Division 5 trevor.dafoe@thorhildcounty.com 780-656-8165