Wednesday, March 1, 2023 Vol. 46, No. 09
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Viking Council exploring possibility of moving Town Office to Main Street Leslie Cholowsky Staff Reporter
Viking Town Council agreed to ask administration to explore available options to move the Town Office to the Main Street in a motion from Councillor Cindy Lefsrud. Lefsrud says, “This motion is something I have been passionate about since I ran for Council; I just have not had the opportunity to bring it forward until now.” She says, “I go to many small municipalities and I have never seen a town office in a hockey rink. They have all been on Main Street, which adds to the activity there.
“We as a Council are saying we want to revitalize Main Street, but I believe we have to be part of it if we want our businesses to step up.” She thinks that situating the Town administrative office in the town core would give residents the ability to go to the office more if they would like to. “For some, it makes them feel like part of the community if they are able to pop into the town office and talk to staff. I’d love to see that happen.” She adds, “Having the town office on Main Street would bring more activity to the street, too, which I believe would make a difference if a business is looking to come to our community.”
Having the town office within the Carena, Lefsrud says, has a number of disadvantages. “It’s a very small space to try and operate the municipality from professionally, and it’s not accessible to residents, being situated on the outskirts of town. “I honestly cannot think of any advantages to having it where it is.” She says the issue hasn’t been seriously considered by Council until this motion, and she hopes that it will spark not only good information about the pros and cons of moving the office, but will generate feedback from the community about how they feel about the existing situation, and about potentially changing it.
Irma aerial application company charged by Alberta Environment Alberta Environment and Protected Areas announced in a press release on Monday that the province has laid charges against Douglas Larson and Bravo #1 Aerial Application Ltd. for allegedly not following pesticide regulations and environmental legislation. Larson’s company, based out of Irma, is alleged to have applied a pesticide in a way that did not follow the directions on the pesticide label, and without a valid registration. Larson was charged on Feb. 22 and Bravo #1 Aerial Application Ltd. was charged on Feb. 23
in contravention of the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act and its subsequent regulations. Both Larson and the company are facing nine charges: • seven charges for contravening the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act. • one charge for contravening the Pesticide (Ministerial) Regulation. • one charge for contravening the Pesticide
Sales, Handling, Regulation.
Use
and
Application
According to the release, Larson, is also facing: • three charges for contravening the Pesticide Sales, Handling, Use and Application Regulation. All offences are alleged to have occurred on Aug. 30, 2021. The first court hearing is scheduled for March 27 in Vegreville Provincial Court.