County: Landlords on the hook for tenants' water bills

Landlords will be on the hook for any outstanding charges on their tenants ’ water bills, as Athabasca County council passed a bylaw on June 30 that allows a renter ’s account to be transferred to the owner if the account is in arrears.

Timelines between an overdue account and when service is shut off has been shortened from 60-90 days down to 30 days.

County manager Ryan Maier said there would be no changes to rates. Rather, the changes were to collection.

“This bylaw should eliminate most write-off accounts and reduce administration and staff time now spent on collection and turning water services off and on, ” he said.

Meanook mailbox

The push for a community mailbox in Meanook will mean significantly more work for county workers than expected.

Meanook community members approached county council June 7 about sending a letter to Canada Post to bring a mailbox to the area. The members said the letter and county workers to install the box was all that was required from the county.

However, that was not the case when Maier spoke with Canada Post.

Maier said that the county would have to identify the geographical area that would be served by the community mailbox, and then mail all the residents in that area asking if they support getting one.

“Even if one person objects, (Canada Post) would prefer not to change the way the system works, because there is such significant change, ” he said.

The neighbouring hamlet of Colinton has its own community mailbox and Maier said that Canada Post would want service in only one of the communities, not both.

Multiplex financial commitment

Council also passed a policy amendment to guarantee a maximum annual commitment of $560,000 to the Athabasca Regional Multiplex Society.

About $510,000 will go to operating costs, and another $50,000 will cover capital expenses.

Maier said it would streamline the budgeting process so that the Multiplex society will not have to come back to council to approve expenses, unless it is above those parameters.

Mowing reinstated

Walking through Athabasca County right-of-ways and county land will no longer be like trekking through a jungle.

Council has reinstated a full grass cut across the county. The move comes on the heels of a mowing budget cut that would have saved the county $130,000 for only doing a half cut, instead of a full cut.

Coun. Warren Griffin brought up the motion due to the abundance of weeds on county land.

“We ’re starting to see a normal rain cycle and a lot of growth in the ditches, ” Griffin said. “As we ’re cutting back on mowing, we ’re starting to see the effects of that. ”

Reserve funds will cover the gap to bring back the full cut.