Ponoka town council held a public meeting regarding the proposed closure of a road in a park space that isn’t being used, as well as a public hearing on a bylaw to rezone an area in the same park during their virtual council meeting on May 26.
The town wants to close a portion of road that goes through Central Park from the east end of 54 Ave. Close to 52 St. as it is currently being used as part of the park.
There were no participants from the public in the Zoom meeting and no comments were received.
The space north of the road in question is currently being used as park space and the rezoning would just reflect that, applying the Park and Recreation designation to the area.
The town received no comments or objections from adjacent landowners or the five referral agencies that were contacted (ATCO, etcetera).
Coun. Teri Underhill asked if in the scenario that Alberta Transportation doesn’t accept the road closure, if that would affect the rezoning.
CAO Albert Flootman answered it would not, as the two items are separate and independent of each other.
Council passed second and third reading of the land use bylaw and made a motion to prepare and submit the road closure package to the Minister of Transportation for consideration.
Operating statement
As of April 30, 2020 the town has a net operating surplus of $1.36 million.
Revenues of $6,215,989 had been received and there were expenditures of $4,638,782.
Sandra Lund, general manager of corporate services, reported that revenues are within range and expenditures are slightly below budget for this time of year, somewhat due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the timing of seasonal projects.
Capital statement
There are 38 capital projects planned for this year, consisting of 16 new and 22 carry forward projects.
The total capital budget for 2020 is $6,844,600, of which $247,182 has been spent to-date.
Seniors Week
Town council voted to recognize June 1 to 7 , 2020 as Seniors Week.
At this time, no activities are being planned by the town for Seniors Week.