Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion
A husband and wife in Kindersley’s west end have told town council they have concerns about a pair of businesses in their area.
Todd Ecklin and his wife appeared before council at its Dec. 11 regular meeting to continue discussion about a couple of business operating near the couple lives on Sixth Street West.
Ecklin told council that he and his wife met with the mayor to present their concerns and, since that meeting, there has been no communication with the town with respect to what’s being done at the two commercial properties. The enterprises in question are a cleaning business and a towing business along Sixth Street.
Ecklin presented a list of concerns and inquiries he would like to see addressed near the residential property. His list included privacy fencing, a plan for rodent control at a compound where damaged vehicles are being stored, the plans for future zoning and land use along Sixth Street West, the timing of curb and street repairs, and a concern with an alley running from north to south behind the property. Another area of concern involved a damaged Super B trailer in the compound used for hauling crude oil.
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Mayor Rod Perkins said the town has spoken to all of the parties involved about Ecklin’s concerns. He said the town spoke to the businesses about operating later in the evenings, but it was recognized that with a towing business, an accident could happen at any time.
Ecklin said the night loadings have slowed down and he realizes the towing company has to operate at odd hours. He said his main concerns with the businesses now are the privacy fencing and the rodent control at the vehicle compound.
He noted that with the onset of winter, he believes rodents will be looking for spaces to find shelter and the damaged vehicles would fit the bill. He noted that the rodent concern is more with the compound and not the cleaning business.
Perkins said he has talked to one business about the privacy fencing and they will be looking into it, and he has talked to the towing business owner to ask if the turnaround time for damaged vehicles could be sped up. He noted that the compound is not very large.
The damaged oil hauling Super B trailer is sitting along a fence line in the compound and has been for several weeks. He asked about the town’s bylaws regarding the storage of any dangerous goods because he believes the residual crude oil in the trailer, which has likely been drained of its contents, could end up being volatile and a concern in the future.
There was a discussion about whose jurisdiction covers dangerous goods. Perkins suggested that it was not the town’s jurisdiction, but Ecklin said the ministry of environment told him to talk to the municipality. A bylaw officer working for the town later told council that she has spoken to ministry officials about the concerns, but she was told any investigation could not be discussed.
As the discussion continued, there was also talk of a shipping container at the business that’s not being used for purposes Ecklin believes are permitted. He was told the property owner has a short-term permit to have the container on location, but the time frame was about to expire.
Councillor Randy Ervine asked Ecklin if he has noticed an increase in rodents in the area. Ecklin said it has not been a problem but he’s worried it might.
Perkins said the town would check with his alley concern, and he pointed out that the buck is getting passed around with respect to his concerns about the damaged oil trailer.
Other council meeting highlights
• Council passed the required resolutions to give all three readings to Bylaw 14-17, to regulate the clearing of snow, ice and any other debris from public sidewalks and roadways.
Kim Vogel, the town’s director of transportation and environment, was asked to address the bylaw during the meeting. She noted that it was last before council in 2010 and officials have updated the town’s snow removal priority map and bus route information to tidy up the bylaw.
The director said none of the intent with respect to the actual clearing of sidewalks has been changed, but the town has taken the waste and recycle cart collection program into account for snow clearing.
Vogel told council the payment and notices of violation section has been updated similar to other bylaws, with the introduction of the new municipal bylaw court in Kindersley. Council members discussed bus routes with the director to better understand the bylaw.
Councillor Dean Galbraith said the ice buildup on the service roads after an early snowstorm, in his opinion, was embarrassing for the town. He said people stopping on their way through town would not be impressed. He said it would not take much for a grader to blade the snow to the ditch.
Vogel said the town’s employees do use a grader on the service roads to push the snow into the ditches along the service roads. She added that several of the town’s employees were taking a professional course that very weekend, so the timing was not good and some of the regular snow clearing did not get completed.
• Council approved a two-year agreement with Kindersley Minor Ball (KMB) to operate and maintain the town’s baseball diamonds.
Mayor Rod Perkins said the latest agreement will be for the 2018 and 2019 baseball seasons. The agreement includes annual operating grants of $25,000 and a sum of $75,000 for capital expenses to be spread out over five years. He noted that council members had an opportunity to go through the list of improvements KMB has made in recent years.
“I think our experience has been very good on this in the last few years,” Perkins said, adding that the baseball diamonds look as good as ever and there have been no major concerns with KMB in the past.
• Council appointed three individuals to be bylaw officers for the Town of Kindersley. Chanell Brick, Bernie Morton, the town’s chief administrative officer, and Melissa Torrens have all been appointed, in accordance with the Municipalities Act.
• Council passed a resolution to transfer $77,630 to the town’s recreation reserve. The money was budgeted for various projects in 2017, but the projects weren’t completed and the money is going into the reserve to be used when it is needed.
• Council has passed the necessary resolutions to give three readings to adopt Bylaw 15-17, a bylaw to fix the rates to be charged for the use of equipment and custom work labour. The bylaw sets the rates for using town equipment and operators for custom work.
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