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Parking covered in traffic by-law amendments

Council passes third reading of new traffic by-law
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Eckville Town Council passed the new traffic by-law that was last discussed at the June 12 meeting.

Traffic by-law 739-17 replaces two old by-laws, 688-08 and 721-12, which were repealed when the new by-law was put into place.

The new additions to the by-law clean-up old language and clarifies issues with previous renditions of the by-law.

The amendments added to part five, parking, of the by-law. These amendments include parking in the direction of traffic while on the highway, unattached trailers are not allowed to be parked on the highway.

The big issues discussed were not with the by-law, but with the enforcement of them.

Councillors Scott Kinley and Colleen Ebden questioned if these by-laws will actually be enforced by the patrollers the Town pays.

“They are paid to do it, so they will have to. Especially after this is passed,” said Chief Administrative Officer Jack Ramsden.

In the past, Council had noticed some by-laws going without enforcement. They would like to see more active enforcement on the by-law officers part.

Kinley said it isn’t just speeding the by-law officers should be concerned with, as he doesn’t see it as a real issue for the town as a whole.

“It’s just laziness on their part, sitting in one place for an hour looking for speeders,” said Kinley.

Coun. Ebden agreed, though did add she has seen cars speed through playground zones lately.

Ramsden mentioned to Council he has been speaking with the by-law officers to pay more attention to enforcing all by-laws. He will continue making this point to them.

The town’s Intermunicipal Development Plan (IDP) needs to be updated. According to Mayor Helen Posti, the changes will be made shortly and are expected to be in place before the election in the autumn.

Eckville is the first town who will have their IDP updated, and Posti says this is a good thing because the Town and Council will be more prepared with it.

“It will also help others by having ours done first, it will give them something to look at and change for others I think,” said Posti.

Currently Eckville does not have any agreements in place with other municipalities, and Ramadan doesn’t expect that to change any time soon.

“I don’t expect a lot will actually change in the revised IDP,” said Ramadan.

While discussing the upcoming Canada Day events, Mayor Posti mentioned she wanted to see the Canada 150 flag hanging before the event.

It was decided to fly both the Canada flag and the 150 flag.

“Some people seem to have an issue with flying one over the other,” commented Coun. Ebden.

According to Finance and Administrator Supervisor Darcy Webb, there is a certain procedure to flying flags.

In the case of the Canada 150 flag, normally either the national flag or the commemorative flag would fly.

“If you want to fly both, the Canada flag must be in the centre and either the provincial or municipal flag would be taken down,” Webb explained.

Council decided to remove the municipal flag for Eckville, which means the flags will fly with Canada’s in the centre, the commemorative flag to the right and the Alberta flag to the left.