Village Council briefs
Curfew bylaw repealed
Fort Simpson councillors vote to repeal long-standing rule that hadn't been enforced
April Hudson
Northern News Services
Monday, January 9, 2017
FORT SIMPSON
Village councillors for Fort Simpson voted on Dec. 19 to repeal the village's long-standing curfew bylaw.
The decision was made with all five councillors who were present voting in favour of a final reading to repeal. Councillors did not discuss the motion prior to voting, a change from past meetings where the topic was one that generated intense debate.
The curfew bylaw in question had originally been passed on Aug. 16, 2004 but the village had a curfew for decades before that.
Village re-instates NACC funding
Following a plea from the Open Sky Creative Society and the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre (NACC) for council to revisit their decision to cut their annual $5,000 contribution to the centre, Fort Simpson will once again be contributing.
During the Dec. 19 regular meeting of council, Coun. Muaz Hassan brought the topic back up for discussion. Hassan noted the village charges Open Sky $500 in rent each month, and questioned whether the village could instead give the $5,000 to Open Sky to be used toward NACC's programming.
That was an argument originally put forward by Coun. Charles Blyth, a board member for Open Sky who declared a conflict of interest on the topic at the Dec. 19 meeting.
The four remaining councillors all voted in favour of re-instating funding.
Village councillors crack down on signs
Two after-the-fact development permits for commercial signs in Fort Simpson provided a source for debate at the council table.
Councillors voted to deny a development permit to James Pearson, who had erected a large sign on the side of Fort Simpson Lodging advertising his bed and breakfast.
The sign exceeded village specifications for residential properties and had been put up prior to Pearson's application for a development permit.
At a previous council meeting on Dec. 5, Pearson made his case for the sign before council and suggested he could turn it into a mural instead of a commercial sign.
Following their decision on Pearson's sign, councillors agreed to approve a development permit for Kirby Groat, who is the president of the Fort Simpson Chamber of Commerce.
Groat had installed an LED sign at the Ice Breaker Lounge prior to applying for his development permit. However, the sign conformed with village size specifications for commercial properties.
Coun. Sean Whelly questioned whether the village should look at its zoning bylaw and tailor a section of it to deal with LED signs, given the brightness of some colours on the sign that he feared might create too much light pollution.
However, Mayor Darlene Sibbeston noted part of the village's bylaw includes a statement that a sign essentially should not be distracting to drivers.
Councillors noted they should also take a look at their own LED sign by the recreation centre, which could distract drivers.
