Rimbey town council may look at instigating a cat bylaw after the issue was brought up at a town hall meeting on Jan. 15.
About 40 people attended the meeting held at the Peter Lougheed Community Centre.
“Why don’t you have a cat bylaw?” said Alvin Goetz.
Mayor Rick Pankiw said during his time on council he had been approached about half a dozen times regarding a cat bylaw. He said he had told everyone who brought up the issue to write a letter to council asking that the matter be put on the agenda. However, he said a written request has never been received.
Coun. Paul Payson said the public needs to be aware that even if a cat bylaw was put in place by the current council, the next council may want to repeal it.
One of the residents in attendance at the meeting said he has a problem with his neighbour’s cat urinating on his property and he would be pleased to have a bylaw in place to deal with the issue.
He said he has politely asked his neighbour to keep his cat on his own property, but the neighbour denied that it was his cat that was causing the problem.
Rimbey resident Chuck Hendricks said he believed town crews should spend less time on keeping the trails clean and more time on ploughing the streets in town. While at the open mike he asked for a show of hands to indicate how often the trails were used and seemed somewhat surprised that the majority of those in attendance raised their hands.
Mayor Rick Pankiw said the trails are well used and he is pleased that the Rimbey Lions Club has worked hard to make them a reality.
“We owe a great deal of gratitude to the Lions for those trails. The cost to the town (for upkeep) is minimal,” he said.
Ian Giebelhaus wanted to know if the present council had considered looking into tax incentives to encourage more building in town.
He said he knew of individuals who had looked at moving to Rimbey, but opted to move elsewhere because of the tax incentive offered.
Pankiw said he is open to meeting with any developer interested in bringing forward a tax incentive suggestion to council.
A question about installing a the cross-walk on Hwy. 53 to link the walking trails was brought up.
Pankiw said the request has been forwarded to the Province.
The mayor also talked about the $4.5 million requested from the provincial and federal governments for the last five years. The funding is needed for the intersection project that includes the four-way stop.
“We have met all the guidelines and our MLA supports us,” he said. “Eventually it is going to become a safety issue.”
Brenda Martin from Community Futures said, overall, Rimbey is in pretty good shape.
“I see people working together. You just need to ride it out. It could be a lot worse and it will get better.”