JULIE BERTRAND
Independent reporter
As in previous years, Stettler town council voted to give the Apollo Lodge a rebate on its municipal taxes for the lodge hall.
Council’s primary reason for doing so is that the Apollo Lodge hall is made available for community use.
Thus, the Apollo Lodge will get a rebate of $978.07 for this year.
“They will continue to pay school taxes,” said town CAO Rob Stoutenberg.
Stettler agrees to sell parkland
After receiving many letters of protest from Stettler residents, council decided to sell a smaller wedge of parkland at the East End play park to residents Mike Lhor and Kalena Rowland.
“Council has approved the sale of land, but slightly less than what the couple has desired,” Stoutenberg said.
Lhor and Rowland own the property south of the Viking ship playground.
They were unaware of how close the property line was to their house until the town surveyed the playground lot this past spring.
In an effort to please Lhor and Rowland, the Stettler Kinsmen and Parks and Leisure Services agreed to put a six-foot fence with privacy slats past their backyard.
In July, council had voted to sell the couple a wedge of parkland of about 112.5 square metres.
After receiving 10 letters from Stettler residents protesting the sale, however, they revised the size to 74.5 square metres.
Should Lhor and Rowland want to buy the strip of parkland, they will have to pay $5,365.49, plus $3,435 for the associated costs, which include subdivision, park disposal, rezoning and title transfer, for a grand total of $8,804.49.