Ashcroft council news
Ashcroft adopts mail-in voting
The Village of Ashcroft is adopting the use of mail-in ballots for the 2022 municipal elections.
The new voting option was included in the Corporation of the Village of Ashcroft’s Local Government Elections and Other Voting Procedures Amendment Bylaw, which passed at council last month.
Mayor Barbara Roden noted this will be the first local election where mail-in ballots will be implemented.
“That’s going to be an interesting experience for many local governments,” Roden said. “I’ve noticed a lot of local governments are taking up this option for the first time in municipal election history, so this is going to be a learning process for everyone.”
Residents who wish to vote by mail this summer will be able to do so by making an application to Ashcroft’s chief election officer and providing their name and address. After receiving their ballots, they’ll be able to mail them in until 4 p.m. on Oct. 13, two days before the general election. The bylaw outlines that voters will place their ballot into a secrecy envelope which will go into a certification envelope.
There will also be opportunities for advance in-person voting.
Village takes steps to mitigate future flooding
Future culverts in Ashcroft will be twinned and at least 750-mm wide.
This new policy was adopted following the village’s North Ashcroft Storm Drainage Study. The study was commissioned to examine how the village could best mitigate potential storm runoff across Highway 97C from the site of the Elephant Hill wildfire in 2017.
Chief Financial Officer Yogi Bhalla said the comprehensive study has given Ashcroft a clear way to deal with the flooding that neighbouring communities have seen in recent years. Bhalla said he was proud of the work staff did on the report and recommended that council arrange to meet with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure to discuss further steps.
Mayor Barbara Roden echoed his praise for staff and the fact they’re being proactive about the issue.
“As we’ve seen so often, these climate events are happening more frequently and in unexpected places,” Roden said. “Until 2015, I think we all felt safe here, in a desert, from flooding events, but we’ve seen the fallacy in that and we need to get out ahead of this.”
editorial@accjournal.ca
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