(PHOTO: Council meets January 26, 2016. Sarah Anderson. REPORTER. Copyright Rogers Media)
RMWB Council will welcome a new member to the table Tuesday evening following the by-election held in Ward 2 Monday that will fill the seat formerly held by Councillor John Chadi who passed away in November.
The ward encompasses Fort Chipewyan, Fort McKay and Fort Fitzgerald and 35 per cent of voters cast a ballot in the by-election.
Claris Voyageur was elected by a margin of 100 votes over the only other candidate in the race, Scott Flett.
Debenture by-laws
At the meeting Tuesday night council will begin with four by-law considerations involving borrowing money to fund capital projects.
Any time the municipality borrows money for these kinds of ventures there must be a debenture borrowing bylaw amendment approved by members of council.
The four projects up for consideration, namely the Prairie Loop Project, the Urban Infrastructure Rehabilitation Project, Lift Station Upgrades and the Flood Mitigation Construction Project, have all already been approved by council, as well as some borrowing costs for the projects.
However, changes to the projects mean staff now need an approval to borrow a total of $49,706,567 to be borrowed over either 10 or 20 years with the total amount to be borrowed for all four projects $193,601,567.
The annual debt service payment will be $15,766,851, which combines the principal and interest.
All of these projects are accounted for in the 2016 plan for capital projects.
Trans Canada Trail
Also at Tuesday night’s meeting, council will consider a $500,000 recommendation from the Sustainable Development Committee to connect Frot McMurray to the Trans Canada Trail.
The recommendation is that administration work with the Trans Canada Trail Foundation to link the system to some existing and some new trails within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.
If approved the funding would be included in the five-year capital plan and staff would ask that Mayor Melissa Blake be listed among other mayors in Canada who have been declared “Champions” of the trail.
Street naming
Council is also set to look at three street naming recommendations from the Community Identification Committee.
The committee is suggesting the road within the Abraham Subdivision be called Abraham’s Gate; that the road in Surmont Creek off Hwy 881 be called Tobin Way; and that Wop May Way be the name for the road currently known as Golden Hawk Road.
Cemetery naming
There are also three naming proposals for area cemeteries from the Community Identification Committee.
The committee recommends the cemetery off Real Martin be called the Woodlawn Cemetery, the one in Abasand be called Highview Cemetery, and the downtown one called Pioneer Cemetery.
