Town of Raymond Oct. 13 meeting highlights

Posted on November 12, 2026 by admin

By Heather Cameron
Westwind Weekly News

The Oct. 13 Town of Raymond Council meeting began with approval of the agenda and Councillor Kindt making a motion for Council to enter a public hearing for Bylaw No. 1170-26 Solar Collector Permit Change.

Town of Raymond Development Officer Tyler Nelson explained to Council that the purpose of Bylaw No. 1170-26 is to amend the Administrative Section of Land Use Bylaw 987-11 to allow for people to install solar collectors mounted on a roof without being required to obtain a development permit.

“They’ve become more and more frequent in town,” said Nelson. “We’re doing, on average, about 50 to 60 a year, and what we’re finding is there really isn’t an occasion where we don’t permit it. They’ve become so regularly put in and so many communities in Alberta have taken them off of lists of permitted uses that require development permits. They are just allowed in the same way that you don’t need a development permit to put a fence in your backyard if as long as it meets certain conditions. It’s an effort to eliminate red tape where we don’t need it.”

This bylaw, Nelson explained, doesn’t allow residents any exemptions from electrical permits or building permits for snow loans on roofs and things like that. The bylaw, Nelson stated, simply means that residents don’t need an actual development permit from the before they begin that work, Residents, however, still have to work with an electrician and builders to ensure that the roof supports the weight.

That said, Nelson stated that his office had no concerns about the bylaw and there were no concerns with public safety, nor did the planners have any concerns.

“This is quite common now in Alberta for larger municipalities and mid-size organizations like ourselves to just make these permitted things without development,” said Nelson.

Raymond resident Tim Striebel also contributed to the public hearing, stating that he was in favor of the bylaw.

“I totally agree with that change,” said Striebel. “It sounds like it’s something perfect for our community to help reduce red tape.”

Following Striebel’s comments, Councillor Johnson made the motion to close the Public Hearing and the motion was carried.

Several delegations attended the meeting: Lauralee Leishman spoke first, seeking an appeal of a Vicious Dog Order placed on her adopted black bulldog, Rick, as she felt her dog wasn’t dangerous and didn’t warrant such an order. Leishman explained the effort she had put into training Rick and making him feel safe and that he perceived the person he attacked as being ‘a threatening situation’ and acted out of fear, not viciousness while off-leash. Specifically, Leishman expressed hope that she could successfully appeal the Vicious Dog Order and be allowed to take the muzzle off of Rick in specific scenarios so that he could still enjoy chewing on sticks and also be allowed to use a leash longer than 1 meter to allow him to swim in appropriate areas. Council thanked Leishman for her presentation and promised to review her information.

Local resident Caroline Robinson then spoke to Council requesting a re-rezoning of 21 East 200 North from commercial back to residential, stating that it doesn’t seem suited for a commercial build unless the house and outside buildings on site are removed and asked Council if the Town would consider buying or expropriating it if they consider it such a valuable commercial lot. 

“Raymond is in great need of affordable housing,” said Robinson. “This would be a good choice for a small family. I feel it would be to my advantage to have somebody living there. They tell me no person can live in a commercial property. Even if I could have one person rent a bedroom, it would be a help to me. We are in a strained economy, and affordable housing is the number one need.”

During discussion with Council, Robinson did verify that she knew upon purchase that the property was commercial and she had a secondhand shop in there, but it wasn’t viable to recoup money out of such a store. At that point, Mayor Coppieters stated that the previous Council deemed the property commercial with the idea that it would meet the needs of the town for future commercial development among Main Street. Council did, however, thank Robinson for her presentation.

Kristen Gibb then spoke to Council, requesting that Council pass a resolution that Halloween 2027 activities be on October 30, 2027 because October 31, 2027 is on Sunday. Gibb began by stating in October 2010, then Mayor Bohne and his Council passed a resolution for trick or treating within the town to be held on Saturday, October 30 instead of Sunday, October 31, per a hundred-year tradition and that decision ‘put Raymond on the map.’ Councils, Gibb explained, have passed similar resolutions regarding Canada Day celebrations when Canada Day has fallen on a Sunday. In 2021, however, Council ended up foregoing the resolution due to complaints, thereby changing the hundred-year tradition.

“The inadvertent consequences of not officially changing Halloween to the 30th were first confusion,” said Gibb. “There were a lot of residents who were new to Raymond who were unsure of what was going to happen because most of the long-term residents wanted to keep the tradition. There was also a lot of division. While the vast majority agreed to honor the tradition, many residents argued to observe on the 31st. This led to unnecessary contention on an issue that should have followed precedent in the first place and not had any contention at all. Lastly, when arguing happens between adults on a matter like this, the people who ultimately suffer are kids because trick-or-treating is for the children.”

Gibb recalled talking to another Raymond resident last year and encountering confusion because the resident observed the previous Sunday Halloween on a Saturday, only to find themselves facing confused trick or treaters because there had been no official announcement about Halloween.

Gibb then requested that Council pass a resolution to observe trick or treating on October 30, 2027 and also pass a bylaw to ensure that all instances where Halloween is on a Sunday are celebrated on Saturday and to also apply that law to July 1st celebrations: if July 1st is on a Sunday, the celebrations be held on Monday, July 2nd.

Council thanked Gibb for her presentation and promised to discuss the issue.

Following that, Nelson brought forth Bylaw No. 1170-26 Roof Mounted Solar Development Permit Change with the recommendation that it receive second and third reading. Councilor Stewart made a motion that Bylaw No. 1170-26 Roof Mounted Solar Development Permit Change receive second reading and the motion was carried. Councillor Sieben then made a motion that Bylaw No. 1170-26 Roof Mounted Solar Development Permit Change receive third reading and the motion was carried.

Then, Nelson brought Bylaw 1171-26 – LUB Amendment to Council for consideration, stating that it was an application to rezone Lot 8, Block 192, Plan 4489J from “Industrial – I-1” to “General Residential – R-1 and that the property in question was surrounded by industrial lands. 

Nelson stated that both he and the planners had concerns, including the isolation of residential lots and placement of them behind industrial lands, as that creates a risk of potentially making a nuisance problem, and making the area less inviting for future industrial development. 

Ultimately, a motion was made to address the Land Use Bylaw amendment for Bylaw 1171-26 – LUB Amendment and the motion to approve was opposed and denied.

Nelson then brought Bylaw 1172-26 R-1 Lot Width Minimum for Single detached homes forth to Council for potential first reading, stating that the current width the minimum lot width for a single detached home is 50 ft, but there has been discussion about lowering that width to 44 ft.

“There are advantages economically for developers,” said Nelson. “There are advantages for homeowners looking to buy homes. The lot prices are less. The downsides are you have increased density. We don’t really have the ability in Raymond to go a whole lot smaller than 44. This would be maintaining five-foot setbacks. We’re not changing side setbacks at all.  We’ve had consistent comments from developers stating that they’d like to try to go smaller if they can. This does allow developers to adjust their costs for things and try and make it more affordable, and people get to choose. There are developers that have larger lots that are available as well. It’s good to have opportunity all like options.”

Ultimately, following a discussion for clarity, Council decided to allow Bylaw 1172-26 R-1 to be posted on Let’s Talk Raymond and give the community opportunity to comment. Councillor Johnson also made a motion for a public hearing regarding Bylaw 1172-26 R-1 to be held on November 9, 2026. Council also heard and passed a motion on first reading.

Nelson then brought forth a proposal to renew their membership agreement with Oldman River Regional Services Commission the Oldman River Regional Services Planning Commission has undergone a revision of their membership agreement. 

A new Chief Administrative Officer was hired a couple of years ago, Nelson explained, and she has been working on formalizing the agreement and updating the language. and she’s been working through formalizing the agreement and updating the language.

“They’re looking for all municipalities who are interested in participating to renew or their membership by adopting this new agreement,” said Nelson. 

Councilor Sieben, who is on the Oldman River Regional Planning Commission’s Executive Services Committee, expressed his support for the move and encouraged Council to do likewise.

“As a member of the executive committee of Oldman River Regional Services Planning Commission, but from an administrative perspective, we greatly value the services that Oldman River Regional Services Planning Commission provides us and we have no desire to hire our own independent person or try to find an additional regional entity. We feel that the planning department is excellent, the GIS service that they provide is excellent, and we’re extremely happy to be part of the appeal board and the assessment appeal boards so that the training and regulatory requirements are something that we’re not having to incur.”

Ultimately, Councillor Sieben made the motion that the Town of Raymond renew their membership with Oldman River Regional Services Planning Commission and the motion was carried.