Colin Sheldon (left) and Guy. St.Hilaire (right) are excited to get to work. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)(

By Nigel Maxwell

Rural Politics

New councillors and bylaw officer introduced at RM of Prince Albert meeting

Nov 12, 2020 | 5:00 PM

For the first time in nearly eight months, every chair at the Rural Municipality (RM) of Prince Albert council meeting was occupied for the meeting’s entirety.

Newly elected councillors Guy St Hilaire (Div. 3) and Colin Sheldon (Div. 5) were officially sworn in at the start of Thursday’s meeting. St. Hilaire, who had 20 more votes than the incumbent Barton Franc, told paNOW his priorities will include road maintenance, beaver control and flooding.

“Some good concerns and a lot of them weren’t being heard,” he said.

Colin Sheldon is no stranger to politics, having previously served on council for two terms. He acknowledged he missed being able to serve the rate payers.

“I recently retired from working so I thought I’d like to try this again,” he said.

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Sheldon fills the chair previously occupied by Wayne Acorn, who after a code of ethics breach, was ordered to leave a meeting in February and did not return again until a meeting one month before the election. Sheldon said he personally had no issue with the way the division was being represented, adding he was more focused on the job that lies ahead.

“Division 5 is the busiest division in the RM with all the highway commercial and country residential properties. There’s a lot to be done,” he said

Election numbers

According to the RM’s official election results, 355 people voted for the position of reeve, 88 for Div. 3, and 119 for Div. 5.

During Thursday’s meeting Administrator Roxanne Roy acknowledged the numbers, which included mail-in ballots and advance polls, were down slightly from the last election, but explained a lot of it had to do with the additional snow from the day prior.

New bylaw officer

In addition to the two new councillors, the RM’s new bylaw officer was also introduced at Thursday’s meeting.

Dean McLeod work primarily for the RM of Buckland but will be charged out at an hourly rate plus mileage to the RM of PA on an as needed basis.

At this time, McLeod does have the authority to issue tickets for offences such as speeding but will be certified to do so early in the new year.

In the coming weeks, Dean McLeod plans to familiarize himself with every corner of the RM. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

In the meantime McLeod plans to proactively patrol the RM reporting crime and issuing nuisance letters when required. Council was also advised to email or call McLeod with any complaints they have received from rate payers with respect to potentially problem areas.

Preliminary discussions

A change to the RM’s fire management bylaw was briefly discussed during Thursday’s meeting.

The change will essentially make it possible for someone renting or leasing a property, to obtain a burning permit. Under the current bylaw, the individual would require a written letter of permission from the landowner.

Several councillors advised the bylaw change must reflect that if there was any damage or cost incurred as a result of a fire, the landowner would remain liable. The proposed bylaw change will be discussed further at next month’s meeting.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell