Westlock County will hold a plebiscite regarding the future operation of the Tawatinaw ski hill in conjunction with this fall's municipal election.
Westlock County will hold a plebiscite regarding the future operation of the Tawatinaw ski hill in conjunction with this fall's municipal election.
Councillors voted unanimously at their April 11 meeting to instruct administration to prepare a series of options for them to view by May 9.
Coun. Bud Massey had put forward a motion to discuss a plebiscite at council's March 28 meeting.
The plebiscite will ask ratepayers whether they want the county to continue owning the Tawatinaw ski hill and how they want it to be operated.
'The first question is whether it should be maintained as a recreational asset or not and then whether or not it should be sold, leased, managed or operated by the county," said Massey.
The request for decision points out that council is not bound by the results of the referendum, which is backed up by the Municipal Government Act.
County CAO Leo Ludwig said that having the extra vote will add some costs and requires the county to alter its budget. Voters head to the polls for the municipal election Oct. 16.
'If council does decide to have a question, there will be a minimum of one polling station in every division, even if we have candidates acclaimed," he said. 'The extra costs would be for advertising, printing ... there would be more counting time at the polling stations and then of course any public relations, or communications council may choose to pursue."
The exact costs of running a plebiscite have yet to be determined, though Ludwig estimated that it would be around $2,500.
'It would be appropriate now to consider what council wishes administration to do as a follow up in terms of the process," said Ludwig. 'We will need some direction on what we would need to work on."
Massey then motioned to direct administration to draft a series of questions on the future of the hill for council to review May 9 - it passed 7-0.
'That's very open ended and allows administration to bring a series of questions for our consideration that we can discuss as a group," he said.
Reeve Don Savage noted that he expected the plebiscite to be a straightforward affair.
'I think the plebiscite is a good thing," said Savage, who was confident that the residents would vote to keep the hill.
'It will be what it will be. In my heart, I have no regrets. That ski hill functions in the darkest part of our season. It's an important economic development tool. Some people really enjoy skiing and they want to a community that has a nice ski hill."
