Redcliff town council passes Smoke-free bylaw

Redcliff town council passes Smoke-free bylaw
By Philip Buisseret
The third and final reading for a Smoke Free Bylaw was passed at Redcliff’s Oct. 9 town council meeting.
Previously, Redcliff did not have its own tailor-made bylaw to control smoking but residents were required to comply with the provincial regulations.
Council decided to treat the smoking of cannabis in the same way as regular smoking, but not as restrictive as alcohol use.
With the final reading, Redcliff refines and narrows down more precisely where smoking is allowed.
The definition of smoking is comprehensive and includes tobacco, cannabis, shisha, herbs, and e-liquid substances, vaping, vaporizers, cigars, hookahs, and pipes.
Smoking in Redcliff will only be permitted in a private residence, along a sidewalk, roadway, street, in a parking lot at least 10 metres away from a park or recreational area, or exit, doorway, an openable window, or air intake of a public place or workplace and in a designated smoking area.
The fine for smoking in a prohibited area will be $100.

Landfill buildings

Council received a request to loan the Redcliff/Cypress Waste management authority funds to construct new buildings at the landfill.
“It will be a state-of-the-art facility,” said Corey Popick the director of public services. “The public will not be required to drive down into the actual landfill cell, but rather dump waste using a ramp facility” he said.
There will be new operations building and weigh scale, which will allow the driver to stay in their vehicle during the entire weigh-in process.
The loan would be made to the landfill authority at an interest rate of approximately 2.9% over 10 years, the funds could be used from an “unrestricted surplus” account of $9,946.958 that has been used in the past to assist with projects at the Landfill. The vote to approve the loan was taken by council and passed unanimously.

Closed-circuit camera

There was discussion regarding the purchase of a closed-circuit camera to inspect sanitary sewer pipes in the town.
In the past contractors were hired to survey the sewer pipes, however this was costly and inefficient, and did not always lead to problems being resolved with blockages. With the new system, it is planned for town employees to first flush the pipe, then inspect with their own closed-circuit camera, then repair problems as they are seen.
Arlos Crofts, the town’s municipal manager, informed council that “the new system will be more cost effective and provide efficiencies.
“There are up front costs involved but over the long run it will save the town money and be more effective, however we will need more manpower.”
Council approved the submitted recommendation to perform the closed-circuit camera testing “in house” rather than use contractors. This gives the town administration direction to include the expenditures for submission in future budgets.