Poor growing and deteriorating crop conditions throughout the county led Lacombe County Councillors to declare a state of Agricultural Disaster at the regular County Council meeting on June 25.

Rural lands adjacent to Sylvan Lake are under growing pressure for conversion from agriculture to urban/suburban residential uses. Lacombe County recognized the need to develop an Area Structure Plan (ASP) to manage these pressures and the future growth potential. The ASP deals with the entire area (east and west sides) surrounding Sylvan Lake, within Lacombe County, and will serve as a tool for controlling and directing future land uses and development. AECOM Canada Ltd. has been retained to continue their work on the development of an ASP. Work on this project has been initiated with an initial public meeting scheduled for July 18th starting at 10:00 AM at the Royal Canadian Legion in Sylvan Lake as outlined in the attached media release.

2009 Season Schedule

The county-wide fire ban has been lifted, effective Tuesday May 19, 2009 at 10:00 AM.

Please see the attached document for details.

At the County Council meeting on April 9th, 2009 Council was provided with an update after public hearing which was held March 10th, 2009 at Lincoln Hall. Due to uncertainties with the proposed compost sewage disposal system, Council is waiting for a response from Alberta Environment and have requested scientific evidence supporting this form of disposal system prior to considering changes in the Land Use Bylaw, or considering second reading of Bylaw No. 1090/08.

Until a solution is reached or it has been demonstrated that the composting system will work second reading will not be considered to redesignate a portion of land from Agricultural “A” to Residential Lake Area “R-RLA” for the development of an 88 lot housing development.

At the County Council meeting on April 9th, 2009 staff presented an analysis of public submissions regarding the Skyy Country Golf and RV Resort. The report provided a summary of the main issues and concerns that were raised at the public hearing held on March 4th, 2009. After a lengthy discussion regarding the issues and concerns regarding the Skyy Country Development, Council gave second reading to Bylaw No. 1087/08, to redesignate a portion of land from Agricultural “A” to Recreational Vehicle Resort “RVR” for the development of a 423-unit bare land condominium recreational vehicle resort at the intersection of Rainy Creek Road and Sunbreaker Cove Road with 84 daily rental lots, a 9-hole par 3 golf course and other public recreational amenities.

Staff are now preparing a development agreement which should be finalized late spring/summer 2009. After this agreement is in place, a date can be set to consider third reading to the bylaw to rezone the land for recreational vehicle resort use.