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Wednesday, July 3, 2024 Vol. 47, No. 27
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Minister meets with local officials
On June 25, Minister for Mental Health and Addiction, Dan Williams, visited Camrose to gather feedback and to share the path forward for mental health treatment in the province called the Recovery Model. Engagement and representation came from all areas of the Camrose Constituency. Two sessions were conducted with participants sharing the challenges which are also faced in the Camrose Constituency. In the photo, from back left to right: Don Rosalind City of Camrose, Tracey Boast-Radley Director of Tofield/Beaver West FCSS, Sherie Allen AHS Central Zone, MLA Jackie Lovely, Minister of Mental Health and Addiction Dan Williams, Dawn Chrystian Director for FCSS Viking/Beaver, Acting Camrose Chief of Police Rene Brisson, Heather Barr Camrose abd District FCSS, Kevin Smook Reeve of Beaver County, Lyndel Kasa Director for Camrose and District FCSS. In the front, left to right: Brooke Grove Flagstaff FFCS, Elaine Fossen Forestburg, Joy-Ann Murphy City of Camrose, Jamie Nestor St. Mary’s Hospital, Dale Pederson Division 5 Councillor for Beaver County, and Agnes Hoveland City of Camrose.
Viking proceeding with land sales for 27 properties Patricia Harcourt Editor
The sale of townowned properties is expected to proceed following a review at Viking council’s regular meeting June 17. “Currently, the Town of Viking owns several properties of different sizes and locations in town, some with miscellaneous features,” said town CAO Doug L e f s r u d . “Administration feels that now the timing is
right to start promoting the availability of these parcels of land.” He explained that “the town has acquired these parcels mainly through tax arrears and the landowners turning the parcels over. “In situations where tax arrears were the issue, the town conducted open public auctions,” he continued. “In some cases, due to lack of public interest, these properties were turned over to the town.” He asked council to
choose one of the options for sale provided in the town’s land sale policy, “to promote and sell these properties.” The policy also requires an appraisal be cone by an independent accredited appraiser prior to the land going up for sale. “There are various ways to sell these properties,” he said. Mayor Jamie Butter said council should “stick to the policy,” in making its choices. But
he wanted to see the assessments on the properties “to see if they are within the ball park.” He noted these are “usable properties” from which the town could derive taxes if they were sold. “We have to give it a go,” he said, for that reason. A motion by Councillor Dana Ewashko for the town to choose Alternative #4 was passed. The sales would be
done by public posting on the internet with lands “sold to the first bidder that meets the minimum sale price and any sale conditions,” as outlined in the land sale policy ADM-008. Council decided to defer a second motion to determine the remuneration cost structure required for the sales. Buttner explained: “We’ll leave the second motion until we get appraisals back at the next council meeting.” Lefsrud had asked for
council’s opinion on the pricing of the properties after the appraisal process. This includes if council wants to include any back taxes, unpaid bylaw fines, administrative fees (established at $1,000) and advertising costs, or any maintenance costs such as those needed for site demolition or cleanup in the final asking price. On a map provided for the presentation made to council, there were 27 sites marked as eligible for sale by the