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Councillors, and quorum, walk out of meeting

Town council held a special a meeting to talk about off-site levies for the new school when two councillors ñ whose presence made quorum ñ walked out to avoid a vote.
Town council met with members of the Aspen View school division on Tuesday (pictured) and Thursday.
Town council met with members of the Aspen View school division on Tuesday (pictured) and Thursday.

The Town of Athabasca council was holding a special a meeting to address off-site levies for Aspen View Public School Division's newest school project when two councillors - whose presence made quorum - walked out to avoid a vote.

After almost two hours of discussion on April 21 - following a defeated motion to lift the levies at the April 19 regular meeting - Coun. Tanu Evans placed another motion before the council to deny the school division's request.

ìIn light of having no other partners step forward to help cover the infrastructure costs for the new school, such as the initial site servicing and any future costs that levies will help to cover, I am going to make the motion to not waive the off-site levy fees for Aspen View at this time, î Evans said.

Earlier in the week, the school division had asked the town to waive the off-site levy, claiming they were blind-sided with the almost $400,000 fee April 18, only two days before tenders were scheduled to be opened. School division representatives said they became aware of the levy because bidders doing their due diligence had sent inquiries about it to the project manager.

Councillors were allowed to revisit the motion because although defeated in the previous meeting, it ended with a tie. Should another motion pass with a majority vote, only those within that majority would be allowed to bring the issue to the table again.

Evans and Councillors Shelly Gurba, Nichole Adams, Steve Schafer and Joanne Peckham were in attendance, with Peckham acting as chair in lieu of Mayor Roger Morrill, who had removed himself from the discussion due to a ìperceived pecuniary interest. î Coun. Tim Verhaeghe was not in attendance, saying in an interview after the meeting that he had a prior work commitment.

ìIf the two of us walked out of here right now, they wouldn't have quorum and couldn't do anything, right? î Gurba asked in the meeting, referring to herself and Schafer.

ìCorrect, î confirmed interim director of finance Rodney Boyko, who served in the chief administrative officer Josh Pyrcz's role, as he was absent.

ìAnd then we would have to go to the next meeting where it would be equal, and then we could bring it up to the table? î she said. ìAt this point then, I'm leaving the meeting and I think Mr. Schafer is as well. î

Servicing within site

The Town of Athabasca, Athabasca County, the Multiplex society, Aspen View and Athabasca University have all agreed to be partners in good faith for the project, which is also supported financially under the province's educational infrastructure capital investment program.

A letter sent by the council's chief administrative officer Josh Pyrcz following council's meeting on Oct. 21, 2014 confirms that the Town of Athabasca had moved to provide a serviced site at a cost up to $300,000.

ìThat said council has reiterated that there may be additional costs above the noted $300,000 that will need to be addressed over the long-term, î the letter states.

ìWe are confident that any discussions regarding these costs will continue with the explicit recognition that all partners share a benefit in this endeavor, î it continued.

Pyrcz also sent an email with a statement, read by Peckham in chambers at the beginning of the meeting.

ìSite servicing includes bringing underground and above ground infrastructure to the property line, î the statement reads. ìThe underground infrastructure is complete, and the budget for the above ground has been set aside. î

He also noted that, in speaking with Aspen View and Athabasca County CAO Ryan Maier, the topic of off-site levies had not come up. Maier is also the former town CAO, who signed the memorandum of understanding for the town on June 11, 2014.

View from Aspen View

ìThe town is going to be asked to pay for most of the off-site services, and that's been the discussion from the beginning, î Aspen View superintendent Mark Francis said in his appeal to council. ìMy understanding is that county is willing to pay a portion of the cost. î

However, Francis encouraged the council to consider scrapping the levy. He pointed to as many as 23 similar school projects throughout the province where the off-site levy bylaw had either been waived or did not apply to the educational institutions.

It is up to the municipality whether or not that fee should be waived, as stated under Alberta's Municipal Government Act.

Representatives from the province stressed it could not pay for the off-site levy, Francis said.

Should the school division be forced to pay the levy out of its own pocket, it would be forced to dig into its reserves or look into cutting ìsoft costs, î like windows and furnishings, Francis said.

As a compromise to the town, Francis proposed future ways the school will contribute and could benefit the town financially.

Should Aspen View take on the levy alone, it could tip the scales on the school's $29 million budget. Francis said, the school division would be forced to take the project back to the ministry, which could result in further construction delays or, at the very worst, shelving the school indefinitely.

Council concern

Councillors expressed concerns over the future impacts if the town waived the levy, the most pressing being what it could mean for taxpayers in the future.

Not collecting levies now could mean ìhaving to pay for future upgrades to the road, the infrastructure, everything else down the line, î Evans said. It was also pointed out repeatedly that at this time, the town was the only partner being asked to contribute to the levy.

ìWhy our partners cannot also commit to services for amounts ... that's concerning to me, î Adams said.

She and Evans indicated if there were plans for more cash from other partners, they would be open to paying some costs; neither were in favour of waiving the levy.

Gurba, who said she was in favour of waiving the levy, brought up that the project began before the off-site levy bylaw was updated in 2015, and suggested grandfathering it in so the 1982 fees were applicable, bringing the price tag to about $42,000.

ìWe have benefitted from this deal, you guys. We have now been given land that we never, ever had title to with respect to the Multiplex and that is a big thing, î Gurba said. ìI just have real issues with why we're not just waiving this whole thing at this point. î

ìI want to commend the school division for pursuing this project right out of the gate, î said Schafer, who was in favour of waiving the levy.

Tender opening

After meetings with county and provincial representatives, the school division announced tenders would be open as planned April 25 at 2 p.m.

ìI know the original Tuesday meeting was quick for us and quick for the town council. It was a very sudden development, so we appreciate them coming right back to the table a few days later to continue the discussion, î Francis said in an interview. ìI'm disappointed that we're still in the state we're in ... I think once we have a chance to sit down with them again - I'm so optimistic that this can be worked out. î

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