BYLAW 582 – FEES AND CHARGES BYLAW

Council gave all three readings to Bylaw 582, the Fees and Charges Bylaw.  The bylaw amends water fees by adopting an increased block rate structure as a conservatory measure.  Water charges for the first 30 cubic meters used will remain the same however three additional blocks have been added to the structure with the cubic meter charge increasing with each successive block as per the table below.  The bylaw and charges take effect January 1^st, 2022.  The changes affect residential water use only and not commercial or industrial properties.

TAX SALE – RESERVE BID AND CONDITIONS

Council approved conditions of sale and a reserve bid of $210,270 be set for the November 25th, 2021 tax sale of the parcel identified as roll #53003443 500 and legally described as Plan 7920256, Block 03, Lot 11.

FLAGSTAFF REGIONAL EMERGENCY SERVICES SOCIETY – LEASE AGREEMENT

Council approved entering into a 3-year lease agreement for the fire hall with the Flagstaff Regional Emergency Services Society.

OCTOBER REGULAR MEETING AND ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING – RESCHEDULING

The October regular and organizational meeting have been rescheduled for Thursday, October 28th at 6pm.

TOWN OF SEDGEWICK LIBRARY BOARD – MEMBER APPOINTMENT

Council appointed Todd Armitage to the Town of Sedgewick Library Board for a three-year term ending on September 30th, 2024.

The Town of Sedgewick has removed all watering restrictions and outdoor watering may resume as outlined in Bylaw 542, the Outdoor Watering Bylaw.

The bylaw can be found here.

Sedgewick Town Council held a Special Meeting at 10:30am on September 16th for the purpose of discussing the newest Provincial Covid protocols and the recent increase in infections in Alberta. At the meeting, Council unanimously approved cancelling the concert due to the state of Covid in our province.

Refunds will be issued and tickets should be returned to the Town of Sedgewick administration office at 4818 47 Street.

We regret and apologize for any inconvenience.

In light of the recent AHS Provincial mandates on liquor sales, the Streetheart concert will start at 6:30pm on Saturday, September 18th rather than 8pm which was the time set initially.

Who Made Who, the definitive tribute act to AC/DC, will take the stage promptly at 6:30pm with Streetheart to play shortly after. An afterparty will be held in the curling rink beginning at approximately 9pm featuring Who Made Who and all are invited.

We regret any inconvenience this may cause our attendees and appreciate your understanding in these turbulent times.

Doors for the event will open at 5:30pm.

The outdoor water ban for the Town of Sedgewick has been lifted. The restriction remains on as we monitor the situation over the next few days. This means outdoor watering may only happen on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays between 7pm and 11pm.

Further information will be released in the next few days regarding the restriction.

The Town of Sedgewick’s imposed outdoor watering ban remains in effect as reservoir water levels have not yet risen to appropriate levels. Levels have increased somewhat since the ban was declared 7 days ago with the greatest jump recorded on Monday, August 23rd, a day that saw low temperatures and steady rain. Prior to the ban being put in place the reservoir had been depleted by over 25% which is a level considered to be critical.

Based on historical data, average overnight water demand has been approximately 2.5 liters per second in summer months. This overnight rate allows the reservoir to replenish itself rather quickly. Despite a current water ban and previous to that water restrictions being in place, levels during this time period in the last few weeks have rarely fallen below 4.0 liters per second. While there have been limited instances this summer of the water demand falling to 2.5 liters per second, the duration has not been long enough to make significant headway in replenishing the reservoir.

The Town of Sedgewick reminds residents that outdoor sprinklers including those on timers need to be completely shut off during a water ban. Once the water levels recover to their normal level, the ban will be lifted.

The Town of Sedgewick has imposed a Total Watering Ban in response to critically low reservoir levels. The ban is in effect as of Thursday, August 19th and will be in place for a minimum of one week with its status updated again before Thursday, August 26th. Should water levels be replenished by that time, the ban will be lifted.

A total watering ban applies to all properties both inside and outside of town corporate limits which use the Town of Sedgewick domestic water supply system. The ban restricts all watering of lawns, filling pools and hot tubs, and other outdoor water usage. Drip irrigation, hand held hoses, and using water containers continues to be permitted.

The reservoir levels have been depleted in excess of 25% of capacity. These levels place the Town in a challenging position in our preparedness for the risk of fire. Despite a watering restriction which permitted watering on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday evenings, watering has continued outside of this schedule resulting in the water treatment plant not been able to keep up to demand and levels continuing to fall. The Town of Sedgewick would like to remind residents that a healthy lawn requires no more than 1 inch of water each week. This summer, water distribution rates have regularly risen to 5 or 6 liters per second in the middle of the night which points to automatic sprinkler systems being used more than once/week and during restricted hours.

Although the ban focuses on outdoor watering, we ask residents to conserve water in any means possible during this period. 2018, 2019 and 2020 saw no water restrictions being put in place in Sedgewick demonstrating that the reservoir was able to serve the community adequately. There is no data pointing to a deficiency in the water system, but rather there is data showing demand is beyond what it has been in past years.

Bylaw 542 authorizes the Town of Sedgewick to issue violation tags to offenders of a watering ban. A person who contravenes any provision of the bylaw can be liable under summary conviction to pay a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $2500.

The Town of Sedgewick is reminding residents that a water restriction is still in effect with watering only permitted on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays between 7pm and 11pm. The water treatment plant reservoir continues to be at low levels and this would be alleviated if all outdoor watering was limited to this schedule. Excessive watering outside of the permitted hours is leading to the reservoir being at dangerously low levels. Should this not be corrected shortly, a full water ban will need to once again come into effect.

The following issues were discussed by Council at their August 5th, 2021 regular meeting.

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After an almost 2-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Town of Sedgewick is proud to announce that they have secured legendary Canadian rock band Streetheart to perform on Saturday, September 18^th at the Wild Rose Co-op Recreation Centre with the performance billed locally as “The Day the Music Came Back”.  Streetheart, originally from Regina, Saskatchewan and later based in Winnipeg, is best known for turning out the 80’s hits “Here Comes the Night”, “What Kind of Love is this?” and “One More Time” among others.

The performance brings live music back to the Campbell-McLennan Chrysler Stage for the first time since the community hosted Honeymoon Suite on October 19^th, 2019.  Gord Bamford’s #REDNEK tour was slated to make a stop at the venue in spring 2020 however the show was postponed and ultimately cancelled due to the coronavirus.  Streetheart formed in 1977 and by 1980 had won the Juno award for “Most Promising Group of the Year”.  The following decades earned them six gold and four platinum albums in Canada and several more awards including a People’s Choice Award as most popular Canadian act.

Taking the stage at 8pm as supporting act will be Who Made Who, the definitive tribute act to AC/DC.  Formed in 2005, the band quickly became the most in demand and unrivaled tribute to AC/DC in Canada.  Who Made Who takes pride in having the largest stage production with all the exacting gear to reproduce the sights and sounds of an AC/DC concert.

Tickets go on sale on Wednesday, July 28^th at 10am and can be purchased at the Town office in Sedgewick, at the Sedgewick and Killam Wild Rose Co-op Food Stores, and on Ticketmaster.ca

Ticket prices range from $64-$74 plus fees and taxes and corporate tables can be purchased by calling Randy at (780) 720-8779.