Clearwater County Council Meeting Notes

by Helge Nome 

All councillors, except Councillor Graham, were present at the regular meeting on September 13. Several delegations made presentations at the meeting including local MLA Jason Nixon; Michelle Swanson and Bob Haagsma from the Clearwater Broadband Foundation and Alice Murray and Ryan d‘Abadie from Shell Canada.

Jason Nixon responded to various issues raised by council and noted that while the upgrading of the Rocky Hospital is on the top of his agenda, it is not even on the priority list of the Provincial Government.

Michelle Swanson and Bob Haagsma said that they represent a group of local people dedicated to the improvement of internet services in the local area and asked for county support in this. They invited someone from the County Council to join the group

which is currently in the process of formulating bylaws and registering itself as a society.

Reeve Alexander responded by saying that Council will conduct an organizational meeting in late October and the request would be considered at that time. He also intimated that there are other folks in the area working to improve internet service at this time.

As a sign of the times, Community Liason Officer Alice Murray from Shell Canada informed Council that the Shell Caroline Gas Plant is scheduled to shut down income producing operations in 2018. During the last 25 years or so Shell has used its privately constructed road (TWP Rd. 35-1A), running west from Highwy 22 through privately owned land for about 1600 meters. The company is now looking to turn this road over to someone for ownership and maintenance. It currently serves as the access road for 8 shareholders in the land it traverses and some of them were present at the meeting.

The question for Council to resolve is: Should this industrial road, which is currently the only access road for several county residents, be taken over and maintained by the County, or can some other resolution be found? Public Works staff will discuss this matter with Shell and residents before Council makes any decisions.

Councillor Laing raised the issue of needing more time to study the agenda package for upcoming council meetings, suggesting that the package be made available on Thursdays, rather than Fridays, prior to the Tuesday meeting the following week. There was a lot of discussion and little support for this idea from the other councillors and CAO Leaf. The matter was tabled untill the September 22 council meeting, at which time the Procedures Bylaw will be examined.

Another item of interest to taxpayers is a request from Wilderness Village to have changes made to their property taxes for 2016. Councillor Laing presented their case but had no luck in reducing the whopping tax increase of some $20,000 (if I heard it right)

Letter to Clearwater County Council

Clearwater County Taxpayers’ Association

c/o Marianne Cole

RR #1 

Rocky Mountain House, AB  T4T 2A1

September 6, 2016

Clearwater County Council

Box 550

Rocky Mountain House, AB  T4T 1A4

Dear _________________________:

At the July 14^th meeting of the CCTA, a concern was brought forward regarding the short amount of time before council meetings that agenda packages are made available either to council or on the county’s website.

Discussion focussed on the following rationale for increasing the lead time:

• Taxpayers need to know the items on the agenda in order to be able to express an opinion to either their individual councillor or council as a whole.
• Councillors need to have adequate time to peruse the agenda, do research if necessary, and develop an opinion on matters to be discussed.
• Councillors should have adequate time to confer with constituents.

The suggestion was then made that we contact neighboring jurisdictions as to the timeline upon which they operate regarding agendas and meetings.  After contacting Brazeau, Ponoka, Lacombe, and Red Deer counties we learned that the standard operating procedure for distributing agendas in advance of meetings is approximately one week.  If meetings are on Tuesday, agendas are out the previous Wednesday; if meetings are on Thursday, agendas are out the previous Friday. 

Some notable comments from discussion with the other jurisdictions were:

• I would be offended if I didn’t get it in enough time; ratepayers and councillors both suffer.
• After I get the agenda I try to get into the local coffee group to see what they have to say about the issues.
• If you just go by what administration recommends without doing your own research and thinking, why do you need elected officials?

One of the recent goals noted by Clearwater County council was to improve citizen engagement, and increasing the agenda lead time would assist in addressing that goal.

In conclusion, we ask that council develop a policy which stipulates a greater amount of lead time in which agenda packages are made available prior to council meetings.  We suggest that this lead time be a minimum of one week and that this policy even extend to all committees of council.

We would be happy to discuss this matter with you and look forward to your reply.

Yours truly,

Marianne Cole

IN THE NEWS

1. Highlights of July 27 Special Council Priorities Meeting

• Development North of Rocky

--- More information is needed on the water and waste water servicing costs and funding.

---The Area Structure Plan and Joint Development Plan need to be worked on and mutually agreed upon by town and county before more concrete plans proceed.

---So far Council’s only commitment for 2016 is for the site grading, the salt/sand storage facility, and completing the design plans.

(Note:  Conversations with town residents suggest they are not in favor of spending any money on annexation/services to the north.)

• Leslieville/Condor Fire Hall

--- Land has been offered, as a donation, for a site along Hwy. 11 between Condor and Leslieville.

---More work needs to be done to identify all potential sites and bring the information back to council and the community.

• Nordegg

--- Discussion took place on how to proceed with further development in Nordegg.

--- Interest has been expressed by a developer for a commercial venture on Upper Center Street but services would need to be put up there first.  Cost for that may be $3million.

• Ag. Rec Facility

---The committee working on this proposal hasn’t met lately.

--- Concern was expressed if there is a general “appetite” for this building.

--- The suggestion was made that in other areas this type of facility was “community” driven and the question was posed if this is council’s responsibility.

• Internet/Telecommunications Development

---There was major discussion on this topic.

--- Pros.--- Provides significant economic development potential/influence;  would attract both new residents and businesses

--- Cons.--- Cost, and concerns with “up-take” by residents who would subscribe to the service.

--- More information is needed on costs and installation options (towers, towers and fibre, just fibre).

--- A pilot project was suggested.

1. County’s Municipal Inspection

A letter from Municipal Affairs has been received by the County indicating that a preliminary review will take place on October 18.  Following that, Municipal Affairs will determine if a full scale review /inspection is necessary.  This is what took place in the town of Rocky earlier this spring/summer.

INTERESTING RESEARCH

Several rainy days provided ideal time to do some research on issues that may be of interest to taxpayers.  The results will be published in succeeding newsletters and focussed on three areas:  net municipal taxes collected per person; municipal operating expenses per person; and CAO salaries.  Information was gathered from the 2015 audited financial statements for rural municipalities with populations over 10,000.  With our tax due date just around the corner, perhaps it is timely for you to see where Clearwater County ranks according to the amount of taxes collected per person.

Net Municipal Taxes Collected Per Person in 2015

1. MD of Bonnyville         $6066.88
2. Yellowhead County      $5447.16
3. Brazeau County            $4076.00
4. Gr. Prairie County        $3589.64
5. Clearwater County      $3582.22
6. Leduc County               $3301.88
7. Lacombe County         $2563.14
8. Red Deer County        $2401.12
9. Mtn. View County      $2355.20
10. Ponoka County           $2162.62
11. Sturgeon County        $2038.92
12. Wetaskiwin County   $1838.68
13. Rocky View County   $1672.62
14. Parkland County       $1656.60
15. Lac St. Anne County $1601.62
16. MD of Foothills          $1489.98
17. Lethbridge County    $1462.70

Average amount of taxes collected per person:  $2782.76

(Note:  Brazeau County and Ponoka County have populations less than 10,000 but were included in the research because they are neighboring jurisdictions to us.  Population figures used to calculate the per person amounts for each area came from Wikipedia figures.)

ROSES:  A special bouquet of roses this month goes out to the County’s road side mowing crew for their great work.  The suggestion was brought forward by a resident in the Prairie Creek area who was particularly impressed by the work done there.  We agree that the rest of the County also looks great and that the whole crew needs to be commended, along with administration and council that makes the program possible.

RANT:  No special rant this month---except for frustration with the uncooperative haying weather!!!

Quote of the Month:  Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that 

matter.  Martin Luther King Jr.

COMING EVENTS:  September 8, 2016, Regular Monthly Meeting, 7:30PM, Leslieville Elks’ Hall

      October 13, 2016, Regular Monthly Meeting, 7:30PM, Leslieville Elks’ Hall

    November 10, 2016 Annual Meeting, 7:00PM, Leslieville Elks’ Hall

IN THE NEWS

County passes motion for review. 

At their June 14th meeting, council passed a motion by a 4-3 vote to request a municipal review. In conversation with Municipal Affairs on June 28 we learned that this procedure may involve different types of activities and results depending on the type of request made. Basically there are two possibilities:

Municipal Corporate Review. If the request is made for this type of review, the inspection is usually done by municipal advisors from the Department of Municipal Affairs. It focusses mainly on the internal workings of administration and council. There is limited opportunity for public input in this procedure. 

Municipal Inspection. This request involves Municipal Affairs hiring a 3rd party for a full investigation into county operations. There is more opportunity for public input and is a more thorough investigation into all aspects of the county’s operations. This is what is/has been taking place in the town of Rocky Mtn. House.

Currently we do not have information on what type of request has been formally made. Whatever the case, it will take almost a year to receive the results.

Land development status. 

Following the May 30th meeting at Dovercourt a joint town/county open house was held on June 15th at the Rec. Centre in Rocky. It was hoped that information on, and/or copies of, the joint municipal development plans might have been available but they weren’t. Most of the information presented dealt with the need for the town to annex property to the north and for the county to proceed with their development in order to “stimulate economic diversity”. Subsequently, in the June 28th county agenda package, information was noted with the following timeline for further action: 

Late July/early August. The Intermunicipal Development Plan committee will meet to review comments from the open houses. 

Late August/early September. Joint Development Area plans and a Joint Service Agreement will be provided for councils’ reviews. 

It is county staff’s opinion that the JDA and JSA should be approved before a next open house is scheduled.

Note:  This means that the public would not have input into the JDA and the JSA until after their approval by town and county councils.

ROSES:  This month’s roses go out to everyone involved with Market Place on Main.  It is a great community effort and huge bouquets go out to the organizers, the booth participants, the entertainers, the parking supervisors, and of course the attendees.  Everyone can be extremely proud of this very special summer time activity.

RANT:  This month’s Rant focusses, again, on the county’s development plans for their land north of Rocky.  It has recently come to light that town residents may, potentially, be drug into the fracas through water/sewer development proposals.  It is suggested that the town help cover these costs as this infrastructure would go through lands that the town may annex.  Consequently there may be a future benefit as development takes place on the annexed land.  When asked if a feasibility study or an economic development plan had been done to evaluate the economic need and/or return on investment potential for this north development, the answer was no. It is inconceivable how councils (both town and county) can think of spending taxpayer dollars on something that has not had an extensive evaluation as to its economic return.  What citizen would ever contemplate investing hard earned dollars without considering the amount of risk and return in a specified time...but then I guess if you’re spending someone else’s money the standards may be different.

COMING EVENTS:

September 8, 2016--- Regular meeting of the CCTA, 7:30PM, Leslieville Elks’ Hall

October 13, 2016---Regular meeting of the CCTA, 7:30PM, Leslieville Elks’ Hall

• Watch for future open house meetings on the county’s land developments
• We will do everything we can to keep you informed on both the municipal review and land development plans.

QUOTE:  A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. George Bernard Shaw.

Greetings all!

Here is a copy of the letter I e-mailed the councillors this morning.  I also brought in the actual copies of the letter to the county office as well.  Will be interesting to get a reply.

Have a great week-end.

Marianne

Marianne Cole, President,

Clearwater County Taxpayers’ Association

RR #1

Rocky Mtn. House, AB   T4T 2A1

June 17, 2016

Clearwater County Council,

Box 550

Rocky Mtn. House, AB   T4T 1A4

Dear___________________________:

Following a motion made at our CCTA meeting last night I am writing to address some of the issues brought forward.

1. Notice of support.  First of all we would like to express our support for your involvement in promoting the improvement of telecommunications in the county.  We strongly feel that better internet service is vital for assisting established businesses as well as stimulating further economic development.

Also, we encourage you to lobby the provincial government for a complete and thorough investigation into matters surrounding supernet access.  According to information presented at our meeting last night, Alberta taxpayers have at least partially funded this installment, but are now being forced to pay exorbitantly for access to it.  This, in turn, presents a significant hardship to companies who could assist with the provision of better internet service.  Ultimately it makes it less affordable for the potential user who has, really, already paid for the service.

1. Concerns regarding the land development on the Airport Road.  At the May 30 meeting at Dovercourt Hall it was mentioned that further meetings would be held and that decisions will be made according to what the people want.  This brings forward three concerns:

1. Timing of the meetings.  We are soon into the months of July and August, typically holiday months.  People are often gone and unable to either read their local papers to get meeting notifications or attend the meeting.

1. Transparency/meeting notification.  We are concerned how you plan to keep taxpayers informed about future plans.  We had very positive comments/results from the wrap we arranged with the Western Star and suggest that the county do something similar.  People need easily accessible information in order to form an opinion which will, then, encourage them to attend meetings.  Comment was made last night that the county’s notices of meetings need to be larger, more colorful, and in a more prominent place (e.g. front page).  It was noted that using the Western Star is likely the most helpful advertising venue as it goes to almost every county taxpayer, unlike The Mountaineer which is by subscription only.  Furthermore, not all taxpayers have computers and/or internet service.

1. Assessing taxpayer support.  Considering the potentially large expenditure of taxpayer dollars, we strongly feel there is a need to accurately assess taxpayer support.  This was also a concern expressed at the May 30^th meeting.

Making this assessment could be done simply and economically by a mail out survey or by a more costly vote/plebiscite.  It is crucial that decisions are then made according to the wishes of the majority.  We certainly appreciate that this importance was recognized by council and we are now wondering how it will be achieved.

In conclusion, we thank you for your attention to these concerns and look forward to your reply.  You are welcome to reply via e-mail to mcmajic@telus.net.

Yours truly,

Marianne Cole

IN THE NEWS

County’s May 30 meeting:  There was standing room only at the Dovercourt Hall when county council held an information meeting regarding their plans for development on the property north of Rocky.  Reeve Alexander began by describing their plans and the reasons for them.  This was followed by questions/comments from the floor.  He concluded the meeting by saying council intended on having a couple more public meetings and would then make their decisions based on “what people want”.

 Concerns raised at the meeting

Too much money spent on the purchase price ($1.67 million).

Uncertainty of linear assessment income for the county due to economy and potential changes by provincial government on this funding structure.

Potential loss of property tax revenue from oil companies (and maybe others) unable to pay.  A company out of Calgary has already given notice that they may not be able to pay this year’s property tax.  This would be a $3, 000,000 hit to the county.

Questionable revenue from the sale of town lots/buildings.  $4,500,000 of anticipated revenue is budgeted for Phase 2 of the project.  This is 69% of the total revenue needed for this phase.  Concerns were raised about the projected selling price as well as the possibility of not selling at all due to the contamination from the salt/sand storage there.

Questionable need

Comments were made as to the need for 81 offices for current use and 39 for the future.

It was reiterated, again, that there is rental space available in Rocky and that the possibility of staff working from home should be investigated.

Comments were also made on the size of the buildings and a comparison made to the smaller work spaces Pidherneys functions with very successfully.

 Greater need for other services

Comments were made of the need to maintain reserves for necessary items such as roads and bridges.

Several comments were made that a more beneficial expenditure of money would be to improve telecommunications.  This would have a far greater positive effect on creating an innovative economy than new buildings.

 Show of support:  One attendee asked for a show of hands to indicate support for or against the developments.  The result was an over-whelming vote opposed to the projects.

 Continued action/involvement necessary:  The final decisions have not yet been made.  As Reeve Alexander said at the close of the meeting they would make their decisions “ACCORDING TO WHAT THE PEOPLE WANT”.  Consequently it is crucial that we:

Stay informed

Attend future meetings

Call our councillors to express our opinion and ask for up-dates.

ROSES: 

The first rose goes to all the people who attended the meeting on May 30.  It was awesome to see the huge turn-out.  People were generally respectful and expressed excellent comments, concerns, and questions.

The second rose goes to the councillors for the format of the meeting which allowed people to hear, equally, the information, questions, and comments presented.

The third rose goes to the many people who have bought memberships and/or donated money to help support the CCTA and the Clearwater Action Committee.  Your support benefitted all county residents as it helped fund the excellent wrap that was on the May 18^th issue of the Western Star.  This gave everyone very important information about the potential developments.

RANT:  This month’s rant is short and sweet.  It is absolutely crucial that the people’s voice continue to be heard.  Reeve Alexander is on record saying that people’s opinion will dictate their decisions.  Let’s make sure the “promise” is up-held.

COMING EVENTS:

Thursday, June 16, 7:30PM,  Leslieville Elks’ Hall, Regular monthly CCTA meeting (one week later than normal due to Rocky Rodeo.)