Tire troubles are continuing and now becoming tiresome for Ponoka County.
Council was provided an update on the situation with the Cutting Edge tire recycling facility located within the county borders at their regular meeting on Tuesday, May 10, an issue administration has been attempting to actively solve for the past year.
Chief administrative officer (CAO) Charlie Cutforth explained the situation remains a concern for the county.
“We received notice earlier this month that the current owner is attempting to refinance the business or sell it,” said Cutforth.
“The owner did submit an application for a permit to complete a building on the property, but that was denied and nothing will be approved until there is progress made on eliminating the number of large tires, especially those located on county property.”
Cutforth added he once again has been in contact with the Alberta Recycling Management Authority (ARMA) on the issue and explained there is still interest from other businesses in the large truck tires as well as a market for the tires that are part of the ARMA recycling program.
“The owners of the (large) tires are talking with those interested in them and (ARMA) is anxious to get the program tires,” Cutforth told council. “The only thing standing in the way is who is going to pay for the trucking.”
Cutforth noted he is guardedly optimistic about the situation resolving itself soon, though he stated the county is looking for a sign of action or good faith or it will have to proceed with further actions.
“Otherwise, we will have to issue an order for removal or use the courts for an injunction and have it done,” he said.
The county was also set to have a fire inspection done at the facility last week, which could also be used should the county decide it needs to involve the courts to resolve the issue.
ARMA also imposed a deadline on the Cutting Edge owner to deal with the program tires, which passed on Friday, May 13, but it wasn’t known at press time if anything had occurred by that deadline.
CPO extended
A request from the Summer Village of Parkland Village for the county peace officer to extend his patrols and enforcement to the village was approved by council.
The summer village made the request after its contract with the Town of Rimbey to supply that service ended following Rimbey letting its bylaw enforcement and peace officer go.
As it turns out, Cutforth explained, the county’s peace officer can easily take on this extended role as he has spent much less time on patrol and enforcing the rules on county roads with the fall in traffic due to the slowdown in the oil and gas sectors.
“Our relationship with the village is very good and they are prepared to pay,” he added, “And the summer village is a tremendous asset to our residents.”
Now that both councils have approved the extension of the service, a request will now go to the provincial Solicitor General for approval.
Rezoning denied
A pair of public hearings on rezoning applications took place at the meeting, where one was denied.
Both applications wanted to rezone land from agricultural to country residential to allow for the properties to be subdivided to allow homes to be built.
The request that was denied involved a 40 acre property located along Highway 611 and Range Road 24. Council was unanimous, stating the need by its planning department and Alberta Transportation for an area structure plan, along with potential water supply issues due to the land’s potential for multi-lot residential development were factors in the decision.