The severe thunderstorm watch that was issued at 12:21 p.m. on Tuesday is no longer in effect for Drumheller.
The watch, which caused large hail, wind and heavy rainfall to areas near Drumheller, didn’t hit as hard as was expected.
Drumheller is expected to see some showers with a chance of thunderstorms throughout Wednesday. 

The Village of Acme has rezoned a park in a residential area that has been the center of some recent controversy.

A Public Hearing was held on Monday, July 13, to amend the Village’s Land Use Bylaw to change the land known as the Tire Park from Community Service District to Residential. Mayor Bruce McLeod said the public meeting went smoothly.

“There were two individuals who showed up and spoke in favour of it. We had two letters that I read out for people who were opposed to it. These were both taken into consideration, and we adjourned the meeting,” said McLeod.

The Council then went into its regular council meeting and the bylaw passed second and third readings.

McLeod said Council put a lot of effort into the decision.

“It has been a long process, but from day one we wanted to do it right, and make sure it was correct according to the MGA (Municipal Government Act),” said McLeod. “We also wanted to make sure that the public had an input.  We received a lot of input and took it into consideration.”

The new designation will allow the land to be divided into four parcels for residential expansion. McLeod says this was a cost efficient way to allow the community to grow.

“Our CAO did some research on expanding Heritage Estates, which is part of a subdivision, and the difference was extraordinary. It was roughly $250,000 to develop this land, and Heritage Estate would have been up in the neighbourhood of $1.3 and $2 million. There was no way we could do that …any community couldn’t afford that nowadays,” said McLeod. “I think the salability of those four lots is tremendous because of the area it is in. It backs on to the school and there is access. They will be nice lots.”