Persistence is not working out for the city’s environment committee when it comes to convincing municipal council a soil deposition bylaw should be a short-term priority.
On Monday, Nov. 25, council considered a recommendation from the environmental advisory committee to bump up the creation of a soil removal and deposition bylaw from medium to short-term priority and, once again, council said no.
This wasn’t the first time the committee has made this request of council, and each time the answer has essentially been the same.
City corporate officer Corey Paiement explained the bylaw is recognized in both the official community plan and the city’s new strategic plan as medium term, meaning 2018 is the soonest it would be begun.
Coun. Alan Harrison said the city took into account all of the priorities brought forward in the process of creating the OCP, and that it’s council’s job to look at the big picture.
“I’m not willing to change that priority at this time,” said Harrison. “I think we do have a plan, it’s going to get done. It might not happen as soon as some people want it done, but it will get done, fitting in together with a lot of other things we have planned.”
Coun. Chad Eliason said the city already has relevant tools in place to cover the short term in the form of temporary use permits.
Coun. Denise Reimer asked if the city could just find and utilize a similar bylaw from another community.
Paiement said it’s possible, but emphasized council first has to determine what it hopes to achieve locally with such a bylaw.
Only Coun. Marg Kentel, the environment committee’s chair, spoke in favour of the recommendation.
“It’s important to people in my committee and I will support it for that reason because, we all know sitting at this table, as people bring things forward over and over again, eventually it becomes priority,” said Kentel.
