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County council news

A request to rezone a parcel of agricultural land to mixed-use/highway passed second and third reading.

Zoning bylaw passes

A request to rezone a parcel of agricultural land to mixed-use/highway passed second and third reading, with only councillor James Nibourg opposed. The current owner wished to rezone the property to increase its value to assist in the selling of the property. Nibourg opposed because of taxation concerns.

Grandfathered water request

When council decided to up the cost of rural water hookups to $15,000, they allowed for a case-by-case examination of situations where potential customers were told they could hook up for $10,000. Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Griesser wrote to council asking for the county to honour the $10,000 price. The Griessers approached county prior to the Jan. 1, 2016 price increase, but had only an option of taking a loan with the county or paying the whole cost up front. The Griessers opted to pay up front and were provided with a water service agreement stating the cost was $10,000. The couple took time to raise the money and, when they came to pay, found the cost raised. Council voted in favour of grandfathering the Griessers at the $10,000 price.

Feral cats discussed

Joan Kerbes and Juergen Ross appeared before council to ask for financial aid in establishing a program to curtail the feral cat problem in the county. The pair had appeared before county council before, as well as town council, to talk about programs that either neutered or spayed feral cats before returning them to the wild, or offering discounted spaying or neutering to residents.

The pair were concerned that the county spends money on dog control, but nothing on feral cat control. The pair want a humane option that doesn't include capturing and destroying the cats, but rather curtailing their ability to reproduce and add more wild cats to the problem.

Council listened and thanked the pair for their presentation, which turned combative toward the end. Reeve Wayne Nixon suggested the issue would be something suitable to be brought up at a joint council meeting between the town and county.