Jan Koenraadt will be hanging on as Mayor of Halkirk, at least until the village dissolves into Paintearth County.
The Village of Halkirk held an organizational and council meeting on Oct. 10, the first since the dissolution vote in which the village residents voted overwhelmingly to fold within in the county.
Coun. Dennis Cordel will continue to serve as deputy Mayor.
Organization meetings are required to be held every fall under the Municipal Government Act by all municipalities in the province.
Until the village officially dissolves, the elected council will continue to serve on their assigned committees.
Following the organizational meeting, a regular meeting of council was held.
One of the first items on the agenda of the regular meeting was the results of the dissolution vote.
"I'm still a bit shocked by the zero (votes) to remain," said chief administrative officer (CAO) Marcy Renschler.
"(The province) will appoint an official administrator just to help out with the transition ... They will send the minister's ministerial order down that will lay out everything."
While a timeline hasn't been laid out for the dissolution, the village is still anticipating the county's takeover on Jan. 1, 2025.
It is still unclear what services the county will retain in the community; deputy Mayor Cordel notes that the two big ones are "garbage and mowing."
The county has stated that it will likely maintain the status quo for at least several months after the takeover before any changes are made.
Tax Sale
A property on Berry which went up for tax sale did not sell, and the village has begun the process of taking over the title.
By becoming the owner of the property, it will be exempted from taxation in future years, at least until it is sold to a private owner again.
Despite the imminent takeover of the village by the county, Halkirk must start the process in order to get the property off the tax roll for 2025.
"If you leave it for another year, there will be another tax charge on it," said Renschler.
"I think it's best to do it now and start the process."
Fire Grant
The Village of Halkirk has used some grant funding from Paintearth County to upgrade the fire department radios.
The replaced radios included new base units in the trucks and 15 new portable units for the firefighters.
A planned update for the cascade system for refilling air packs has been placed on hold due to costs.
Land Use Bylaw
An updated Land Use Bylaw has passed the third reading by council.
The bylaw was started with the previous administration and council and was forgotten about during the subsequent council resignations and by-elections.
Updating the Land Use Bylaw was a requirement of the previous viability mandates from Municipal Affairs.
The bylaw will remain in effect after the dissolution of the dissolution until it is repealed and subsequently replaced with the county's own.
Council meetings
The village will continue holding council meetings on the second Thursday of the month until the dissolution proceeds.
