Letter To Clearwater County Council re. Broadband

Marianne Cole, President Clearwater County Taxpayers’ Association RR #1 Rocky Mtn. House, AB T4T 2A1 mcmajic@telus.net

Clearwater County Council Box 550 Rocky Mtn. House, AB T4T 1A4 jnorthcott@clearwatercounty.ca dmckay@clearwatercounty.ca bpowell@clearwatercounty.ca hletwin@clearwatercounty.ca tmccauley@clearwatercounty.ca bcermak@clearwatercounty.ca lhumphrey@clearwatercounty.ca CC: remmons@clearwatercounty.ca

January 19, 2026

Dear Reeve Northcott, Deputy Reeve McKay, and Councillors Powell, Letwin, McCauley, Cermak, and Humphrey:

At our Clearwater County Taxpayers’ Association monthly meeting Wednesday, January 14, 2026 we passed the following motion:

“Moved by Helge Nome, seconded by Julie Layden that the CCTA formally request concrete information on Broadband finances and operational plans from the county finance department, tech department, and current operation contractors involved with the Broadband project by February 14, 2026.”

There was significant discussion related to Broadband at our meeting with several questions/concerns regarding the financial impacts on taxpayers. Consequently, the above motion was made and we look forward to getting information from each of the three groups noted above.

Thank you for your attention to this matter and we look forward to hearing from you.

Yours truly,

Marianne Cole

IN THE NEWS

By Marianne Cole

• BUDGET DELIBERATIONS   Significant discussion and questioning took place on the 2026 budget during council meetings December 10-12, 2025, with final approval taking place December 19^th.  Highlights included:

• Operating Budget   This included expenses of $58,866, 409.  Of special note in the operating category were:

• Assisting the town with the washroom facility at the new bike park for $60,000.
• Expansion of the Leslieville Cemetery for $253,000.
• Support of the Ferrier Community Hall project for $125,000.
• Helping fund the warming shelter in Rocky for $300/day to a maximum of $20,000.
• Increased work plan for broadband operations for $60,000.  (These monies will be used to gather information and legal advice on current operations.

• Capital Budget   This approved budget provides for expenditures of $40,311,347.  Of special note in capital plans were:

• Postponement of building a heated storage facility until 2027.
• $2,000,000 support for the Caroline Arena Ice Plant.
• $250,000 support in 2026 for the Nordegg Cemetery expansion, with the remainder to be discussed during 2027 budget deliberations.
• Postponement of the Nordegg south townsite access road until 2027 with $25,000 allocated in 2026 to explore alternative road locations.
• Hold Broadband expenditures to $2,826,601 until a decision can be made regarding the future of the broadband project.

Several notable items/topics will be brought forward in future deliberations including policies on dust control, grading, solid waste management plans, community hall and rec. board policies/funding, Nordegg development plan, infrastructure in Caroline, and broadband.

Special kudos to our dedicated councillors for their serious consideration of the budget including their requests for complete, accurate information as they wisely work for financial responsibility.

• BROADBAND   This has been a significant topic of discussion throughout the county with various opinions and concerns.  A specific meeting of the Broadband Committee (made up of all councillors) was held on November 27, 2025.  Notable information presented/discussed included:

• Fibre installation to be completed in 2026 include Ferrier/Crimson Lake, Nordegg north side, and initial Rocky East.   Plans for 2027 include Rocky east to county of Lacombe border, Rocky north to county of Wetaskiwin, and Rocky south to Caroline and Mountain View county border.
• To date 932 homes have been passed with 288 ready for service.
• The total project cost is estimated to be $140M with approximately $87M to be funded by federal and provincial grants, leaving $52M to be funded by the county.
• If there would be a 50% uptake by residents there is a possibility of the project cash flow to reach a break-even point in 2029.
• A possible pricing model would have customers pay a monthly fee of $90.00 with $25.00 going to the ISP (Internet Service Provider) and $65.00 going to the county.

Throughout the meeting there were excellent questions and concerns expressed by council members.  Most of these focused on finances with a strong desire for answers related to current and projected costs along with potential revenue.

In the meantime, resident concerns have focused on:

• Distinct lack of information on the project being provided by the county.
• Over reliance on using the county website to access information.
• Difficulty manoevering through the county’s website to find the information wanted. 

To counter these concerns various methods of providing information including newspaper articles, neighborhood sandwich boards, and door to door visits are being planned.

UP-COMING MEETINGS:  Wednesday, January 14, 2026, 7:30PM, Leslieville Elks Hall;  Wednesday, February 11, 2026, same time and place.

 “Approach the new year with resolve to find the opportunities hidden in each new day.”Michael Josephson.    

“What the new year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the new year.”  Vern McLellan

Board member list: Ron Schultz, Susan Durand, Pat Butler, Reg Belyea, Leona Bertagnolli, Christine Foesier, Jim Foesier, Julie Layden, and Leah Schultz.

IN THE NEWS (Special Election Info)

By Marianne Cole

WHO ARE THE CANDIDATES???

• Ward 1:  Gennifer Mehlhaff, Breanne Powell
• Ward 2:  Cammie Laird, Hazen Letwin
• Ward 3:  Leona Bertagnolli, Daryl Lougheed, Andrew (Drew) McKay
• Ward 4:  Jordan Northcott, Deborah Skeels, John Vandermeer
• Ward 5:  James Cuthill, Jamie Gallagher, Tyler McCauley, Neil Ratcliffe
• Ward 6:  Brenda Barker, Russell Barnett, Bryan Cermak, William Davies, Ashley Perepelkin
• Ward 7:  Lorne Humphrey, Michelle Swanson

Information on each of the candidates may be found on the Clearwater County website by searching  “2025 Municipal Election”.

WHAT WARD MIGHT YOU BE IN???   

This is a brief summary of where the wards are:

• Ward 1  is south west of Rocky Mtn. House, taking in the Hardindell, Everdell, and Cow Lake areas.
• Ward 2 is generally in the Leslieville area, south of Highway 12 and includes the Bingley and Condor areas.
• Ward 3 is south of Ward 2 and includes the Arbutus and Evergreen areas east of Hwy. 22.
• Ward 4 is in the Dovercourt area and west of Hwy. 22.
• Ward 5 is around Rocky Mtn. House and then west through Farrier and out to Nordegg.
• Ward 6 is south west and west of Caroline and in the Crammond area.
• Ward 7 is north of Hwy. 12 in the Frisco and Gimlet areas.

CANDIDATES’ FORUMS   

Three different Candidates’ Forums will be held, giving you a chance to hear what each candidate’s position is on county matters and how they intend to work on your behalf.

• October 1, 2025, 7:00PM, Caroline HUB, hosted by the Caroline Chamber of Commerce
• October 2, 2025, 7:00PM, Rocky Mountain House Legion, hosted by the Rocky Chamber of Commerce
• October 8, 2025, 7:00PM, Leslieville Community Hall, hosted by the Clearwater County Taxpayers’ Association

We certainly encourage you to attend these events.

VOTING TIMES AND LOCATIONS   

Advanced voting will take place Monday, October 6, 2025 from 10:00AM to 6:00PM at the Caroline Hub and the Rocky Regional Recreation Centre. 

Regular election day voting will take place Monday, October 20, 2025 from 10:00AM to 8:00PM.  The various voting locations are as follows:

Ward 1:  Arbutus Hall,  Rocky Regional Recreation Centre, Dovercourt Hall, Everdell Hall, or Hardindell    Hall

Ward 2:  Bingley Hall, Rocky Regional Recreation Centre, Condor Hall, or Leslieville Elks’ Hall

Ward 3:  Arbutus Hall,  Rocky Regional Recreation Centre, Condor Hall, Evergreen Hall, or Leslieville Elks’   Hall

Ward 4:  Caroline HUB, Rocky Regional Recreation Centre, Dovercourt Hall, or Everdell Hall

Ward 5:  Bingley Hall, Buster Creek Hall/Crimson Lake Hall, Rocky Regional Recreation Centre, Frisco    Hall,  Nordegg Public Services Building

Ward 6:  Caroline Hub, Rocky Regional Recreation Centre, Crammond Hall, Evergreen Hall, James River     Hall

Ward 7:  Bingley Hall, Rocky Regional Recreation Centre,  Frisco Hall, Gimlet Hall, Leslieville Elks’ Hall

We certainly encourage everyone to get out and vote.  This election will determine how our county operates for the next 4 years.  May your voice be heard as the in-coming council considers your input in the most beneficial way.

UP-COMING EVENTS: 

October 8, 2025, 7:00PM, Leslieville Community Hall, Candidates’ Forum

November 12, 2025, 7:30PM, Leslieville Elks’ Hall, CCTA Annual General Meeting

“As we express our gratitude we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter word but to live by them.”  John Fitzgerald Kennedy

“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” Melody Beattie

“Each day is a gift from God.  What you do with it is your gift to Him.”  T.D. Jakes

In The News

By Marianne Cole

Expensive Land Purchase

Clearwater County recently purchased 138 acres of land east of Leslieville for $1.76M through an on-line auction conducted by CLHbid.com.  Rationale given for the need for this property was to expand the Leslieville Sewage lagoon.  Concerns have since been raised as to not only the significantly high price paid but also the need for 138 acres for a lagoon.  The response suggested that the portion of the property not used for the lagoon could be developed and sold for “lots”.

Land Use Bylaw Update

Following the July 24^th Public Hearing in Caroline, two joint meetings were held with PAC (Public Advisory Committee) and Council on August 15^th and August 22^nd.  A chart summarizing comments expressed at the Public Hearing was reviewed and some changes to the LUB were subsequently made.  Most notably suggested changes included:

• Allowing year round camping on major campgrounds, and from April 1^st to November 30^th on minor campgrounds.
• Increasing the time limit to 60 days for continuous occupation of RV’s on private property without a development permit.
• Removal of the “imprisonment” clause related to enforcement.
• Allowing direct market sales without a development permit provided that they are a personal endeavor and not related to a business or commercial use.
• Increasing the number of development options exempt from requiring permits in the various land use districts.

While there have been some positive changes, it is still a lengthy document of 200 plus pages with numerous guidelines for development permit applications and signs.  Revised copies of the LUB will hopefully be available shortly.

Even though there was significant support at the Public Hearing for delaying approval until after the fall election, the majority of participants at the PAC/Council meeting on August 25^th supported putting final consideration of the document on the agenda for Council’s up-coming September 9, 2025 meeting.  At that meeting Council will have the option to pass, amend, delay, or refuse acceptance of the Land Use Bylaw. 

 While the public will not have opportunity for input at that meeting it may be interesting to attend and hear the discussion as well as witness the vote on a document that determines land use rules in our county.

Special Guest Speaker Coming

Mr. Brian Hudson, IT Manager for Blue Mountain Power, will be addressing concerns about the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as well as operational concerns with data centers at the next CCTA meeting on Wednesday, September 10, 2025 at 7:30PM at the Leslieville Elks’ Hall.  We encourage everyone to come to this informative evening and learn more about how AI could impact your life.

Up-Coming Candidates’ Forum

The CCTA will be hosting a Candidates’ Forum on Wednesday, October 8, 2025 at 7:00PM at the Leslieville Community Hall.  All Clearwater County candidates running in the up-coming municipal election in October will be invited to participate, present their platform, and answer questions or concerns from the general public.  We encourage everyone to attend as we hope it will be a great opportunity for you to hear from your future councillors.

• Another fall;  another turned page.  Wallace Stegner
• Autumn shows us how beautiful it is to let things go.  Unknown
• Days decrease, and autumn grows, autumn in everything.  Robert Browning.

 

Letter to Council

Marianne Cole, President Clearwater County Taxpayers’ Association RR #1 Rocky Mtn. House, AB T4T 2A1 mcmajic@telus.net

Clearwater County Council Box 550 Rocky Mtn. House, AB T4T 1A4 mswanson@clearwatercounty.ca bcermak@clearwatercounty.ca gmehlhaff@clearwatercounty.ca dlougheed@clearwatercounty.ca jnorthcott@clearwatercounty.ca nratcliffe@clearwatercounty.ca bgibson@clearwatercounty.ca

June 16, 2025

Dear Reeve Swanson, Deputy Reeve Cermak, and County Councillors:

At the Clearwater County Taxpayers’ Association meeting on June 11, 2025 a motion was passed that we write a letter to Council with an urgent request to postpone passing the Land Use Bylaw draft until after the up-coming Municipal Election. Rationale for this request are as follows:

1. In the What We Heard Report, Page 8, response to the question, “What is your level of support for the proposed LUB, 48% did not support (38% strongly do not support; 10% do not support), only 31% supported it (12% strongly support; 19% support), and 21% were neutral (15% neutral, 6% unsure). According to those figures over 3 times (38%) were strongly non-supportive while only 12% were strongly supportive. Clearly the general public does NOT approve of this current draft document.

2. In the WWHR Comment Summary significant concerns were mentioned about the regulations, the restrictions, complaint based enforcement, short term rentals, permitting related to land use, seacans, and signage. While there have been some revisions made, there is a significant amount of work left to address these issues.

3. Repeatedly we have heard public concerns that the document is overly restrictive and not user friendly. This was also noted at our PAC/Council meeting on Monday, June 9th with these comments: “We need to simplify the document”, and “We don’t want rules we don’t support.”

In this regard, I draw your attention to the attachments from Ponoka County’s Land Use Bylaw. Clearly, it is much easier to read and less restrictive. First of all the developments not requiring a development permit are visibly listed and then described. Further, the requirements for an application for a development permit are significantly less and easier to read. Another example of the more user friendly Ponoka document is the section on signs which is also attached.

4. In support of postponement, we remind you of the responses to the CCTA survey handed out at the LUB information meetings we organized in Leslieville on March 12th and Caroline on March 18th. Those

responses indicated 88% of respondents (46 out of 52) wanted final approval postponed until after the election. (Note: A summary of all responses from both meetings were sent to Council later in March.)

Support for the delay noted that this document would be dealt with by the newly elected Council so it is only reasonable to have them become familiar with it and subsequently approve the final draft.

5. Finally, the proposed timing of the Public Hearing is most inconsiderate. Farmers are very busy in their hayfields in July and August so the possibility of/opportunity for their participation is certainly reduced. Furthermore, many people are away on holidays at that time.

While a response to the suggestion at the June 9th meeting of holding the hearing the first week in September suggested it was too close to the election, it is worthy to note that early in September would be a month and a half away from the election. Furthermore, with children back in school people are likely home from holidays and farming activities may be somewhat reduced between haying and harvesting.

6. Another disturbing comment that has been reiterated during the LUB review is that it is a “living document” and can be amended at any time. While this opportunity exists, it would be significantly onerous to amend the numerous, troublesome clauses and general format of the document. As an old adage goes, “Better to get it right the first time.”

In conclusion, we sincerely ask that you consider the voice of the people that has clearly indicated:

Ø Lack of support for this current draft

Ø A need to simplify the draft and make it more user friendly

Ø A review of the timing for the Public Hearing, if the process continues

Ø Ultimately a delay in passing the document until after the election

Throughout the review process you asked for, and received, public opinion. You organized, and paid for, public engagement meetings to gather information from your constituents. We now trust that those efforts and costs will be validated as you make a decision reflective of what you have heard.

Yours truly,

Marianne Cole

CC: Rick Emmons, Tracy Lynn Haight

IN THE NEWS

By Marianne Cole

We are still here!!! We apologize for this later than usual sending of The Beacon but we were waiting until after the June 9^th PAC/Council meeting so we could report the latest news on the Land Use Bylaw review.  Here it is!!

LAND USE BYLAW REVIEW HIGHLIGHTS

“What We Heard Report”  

This report is a brief summary of information gathered from the various open houses held in Nordegg, Caroline, Condor, Frisco, and virtually from May 4th to May 8^th.  A total of 209 people attended the meetings.  A copy of the report is available from Planning at the County office.  Noted highlights are:

• 48% of the respondents DID NOT SUPPORT the draft LUB; 31% supported it; 21% were neutral.
• The most common comments said there were generally too many regulations, concerns were expressed over enforcement (especially with the complaint based format), and there were unfavorable controls being put forward on signs, seacans and RV’s. 

June 9^th PAC/Council Meeting   

There were distinct concerns with the excessive definitions and restrictive rules/guidelines for development permits.  Specific areas of concern focussed on:

• RV Usage.  This focussed on the number allowed on a property and the length of their continuous use.  Public feedback from the What We Heard Report showed that most people felt 6+ RV’s could be allowed on one’s property and 89% wanted longer than 2 week time limits on continuous use. Discussion at the meeting noted the value of year round usage due to current housing concerns.
• Seacans. In the draft, seacans are only permitted in agricultural, industrial, and public airport districts.  They are discretionary in country residential, country residential agricultural, leisure residence, manufactured home parks, hamlet commercial/mixed use, highway development, community amenities, recreation facilities, and some direct control districts.  They ARE NOT ALLOWED in hamlets, Nordegg Urban Residential, Nordegg Commercial Core, David Thompson Development Nodes, Crown Land, or on Compassionate Care/Health Services lands.  Comments made at the meeting suggested that they be allowed in ALL districts as they are much safer as ancillary buildings used for storage.
• Short Term Rentals.  This is a concern focussed mostly in Nordegg.  A very positive idea was put forward suggesting that a development permit for this be only granted initially for only one year.  Re-application and subsequent approval would be granted dependant on comments received about the facility’s past operation.
• Questionable Development Permit Requirements.  There are still many questions/concerns over the numerous items of information needed for development permits.  These ranged from concerns over landscaping requirements to financial information to design/character of proposed buildings.

Next Steps  

During discussion on a timeline for the process from here, some comments were made to delay things until after the election and it was specifically noted that a public hearing should not be held in July or August as people are on holidays and farmers are busy in the hay fields.  Unfortunately the following tentative dates received majority support:

• June 24, 2025:  Regular Council Meeting.  The latest draft will be presented for First Reading.   At that time Council has the opportunity to pass approval of the document, request some amendments and delay approval, or defeat approval.
• July 24, 2025:  Public Hearing.  Possibly at the Caroline HUB.  The public will have the opportunity to provide opinion/input on this document.
• 2^nd and 3^rd Reading to Follow

We certainly encourage you to attend both meetings and/or send your comments to Council.  While you may not be allowed to speak at the Council meeting, it would be beneficial for you to hear the discussion and comments from Council.  That may help you prepare for the Public Hearing that we certainly hope a large number will be able to attend.

Special Comments from the PAC/Council Meeting 

There were two very notable comments made at the meeting: “ We don’t want rules we don’t support” and  “We need to simplify the document”.

RENEWABLE ENERGY BYLAW 

  At Tuesday’s June 9^th Council meeting there was significant discussion on a Renewable Energy Bylaw.  (Note:  There is a similar section in the proposed Land Use Bylaw as well.)  It is noteworthy to mention that in this document solar installations (which would be more common than wind turbines in Clearwater County) are restricted from development on Class 3 lands which form the majority of our area.  During the discussion concerns focussed on:

• Size of installations needing permits (basically personal use vs. commercial)
• Questionable restrictions on small/personal installations
• Setbacks for large operations for both wind and solar
• Decommissioning rules and requirements for bonds/securities
• Concern with the control held by the AUC (Alberta Utilities Commission).

In the end the bylaw was passed.

UP-COMING MEETINGS:

 

June 24, 2025, 9:00AM, Council Meeting, County Office;    

July 24, 2025, 7:00PM ((Tentative)  Public Hearing, Caroline Hub;     

September 10, 2025, 7:30PM, Regular CCTA Meeting, Leslieville Elks’ Hall;   

October 8, 2025, 7:00PM Municipal Elections Candidates’ Forum, Leslieville Community Hall.

WE WISH YOU ALL A GREAT SUMMER!!!