By Marianne Cole
2024 BUDGET
Clearwater County Council approved the 2024 budget at a special council meeting on December 19,2023. Items of special note include:
- Operating revenues. Potential revenue is slated to be $62,163,392, up $1,061,311 from the 2023 budget of $61,102,081. This would be a 1.7% increase.
- Operating expenses. These are budgeted to be $49,626,693, an increase of $2,019,592 or 4.2% over the 2023 budget of $47,607,101.
- Capital expenditures for 2024 are budgeted to be $40,366,896. No figures from 2023 were presented for a comparison.
- Where necessary, short falls in revenue will be covered through restricted surpluses.
During discussion on the budget, questions were raised re a potential new fire hall in Caroline, road maintenance/improvement on the Beaver Flats, Taimi, Rainbow Ford, and Airport roads as well as future funding for seniors' housing.
BROADBAND
This was a separate item of discaussion at the budget meeting. 2024 revenues are anticipated to be $350,000 while expenses are projected to be $2,086,972. this would be an increase in expenses of $648,371 or 45% over last year's budget of $1,438,602. A question was raised where the revenue would come from with a reply saying it comes from the ISP's (Internet Service Providers) not the end users.
While not mentioned at the budget meeting it is interesting to note that the county has entered into a contract with Rigstar Industrial Telecom, a company based out of Calgary, to operate as the "Network Operator" for the county's broadband operations. According to information on the county's website, Rigstar, "together with Arcadis, stands at the forefront of managing Clearwater County's Open Access Network"... It is unclear what role Arcadis, a company based out of the Netherlands, has in this operation.
COUNTY/CAROLINE AMALGAMATION
Joint meetings of both county and village councils were held on December 4th and 5th, 2023. Decisions on the following matters were made:
- The "new" municipality would continue with the same boundaries as are currently being used.
- The name would remain as is for Clearwater County but the village of Caroline would be known as the Hamlet of Caroline.
- The municipality's council would continue with 7 councillors, one for each division.
- The divisions would remain basically the same with the north side of Caroiline joining the county's Division 4 and the south side joining Division 6. Highway 54 would be the dividing line between the two.
- The amalgamated municipality office will remain at the county's current location and Rick Emmons will be the Chief Administrative Officer.
Concerns were again expressed regarding the potentially restrictive timeline, extra staff responsibilities, and maintaining current service levels.
Up-coming public engagement will involve in-person meetings in Leslieville and Caroline as well as a virtual/on-line meeting. In addition, a survey is being drafted and will be available on the county's website, the county and village offices, and potentially in local papers.
The next amalgamation meetings are scheduled for January 25th and 26th, 2024.
UP-COMING EVENTS
Regular Monthly CCTA Meetings
Wednesday, January 10, 2024
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
All at 7:30PM at the Arbutus Community Hall
