testing.
Good morning everyone. [clears throat] Welcome to the regular council meeting
of August 26th. Um, we'll call the meeting to order.
Before we do introductions, uh, just a few housekeeping items. If you have a
cell phone, if you could please ensure your cell phone is turned to off.
Um, please note that all council meetings are being livereamed, recorded,
and retained. All personal information collected will be managed in accordance
with the access to information act. And with that, I will start with
introductions. And I'll start with Ryan, please.
» Good morning. Ryan Morrison, director of operational services.
» Good morning. Mike Kger, manager of assessment services.
» Good morning, Chris Ratchen, director of legislative, community, and agricultural
services. >> Good morning, Margareta Bloom, director
for planning and development services. >> Jeff Holmes, chief administrative
officer. >> Good morning. It's nice to see so many
people in the gallery. I'm Jennifer Lutz, division 7. And if you don't know
where division 7 is, it's the east corner of old surrounding area out to
the kneehill red county borders. Good morning. Peggy Johnson, counselor,
division six, which is Eagle Hill, Eagle Valley, and Westward Hoe. Uh, south, no,
northeast of Sunundry. >> Tiffany Nixon, division 4, uh, soy
Bergen up through Zella and Melville towards Dsbury.
» Good morning, Angela Alers. Uh, division 5 council and Reev.
» Good morning, Angela. Look, division three counselor just um, west of Dsbury
to the kneehill border running straight through here. Morning,
Greg Harris, division 2. That's uh way out Cremona Water Valley Way.
» Good morning. [clears throat] Uh Dwayne Fton, division one counselor uh rule
cares south to Rocky View and East Hill. >> Good morning, Laura Catman's executive
assistant. >> Good morning, Ray Pole, planner.
Morning, Shelley French Communications. >> Thank you. And we have an agenda in
front of us. Are there any additions to the agenda? Councelor Harris, if
» I could add an item RMA uh committee appointment.
» Okay. So, we'll add that under 9.8.
Is there any other additions or any other changes to the agenda?
Seeing none, could I have a motion to adopt the amended agenda, please? Moved
by Councelor Nixon. Uh, [clears throat] I will call the
question. All in favor? And that motion is carried.
Okay. And we have um regular council minutes of our August 12th meeting. Is
there any errors or omissions in those minutes?
Seeing none, could I have a motion to adopt those? Moved by councelor Lutz.
I'll call to question. All in favor? And that motion's carried.
Okay. Okay. And so before we get into uh the council agenda, just to point out a
few things. We do have two delegations today. We have the Legacy Land Trust
Society coming at 11:00 and we have Olds College coming at 11:30. So wherever we
are in the agenda, we will endeavor to accommodate those um uh delegations as
uh um um as appropriate on the agenda times
11:00 and 11:30. And then 9.1, the future airport management structure. We
will be um addressing that agenda item after our close session.
So we will move right into the public hearing
and that is agenda item 4.1. [clears throat]
This is bylaw number LU2026 being a bylaw of Mount View County in
the province of Alberta to amend land use bylaw number uh 1024 affecting
Southeast 153365 plan 1711620
block one lot 2 pursuit pursuant to the municipal government act. This received
first reading on July 8th 2026. And with that I will open the public hearing and
turn it over to planning please. >> Thank you. The beginning of the
presentation starts on page 25 of the agenda. The applicants and land owners
are Gary and Heather Crouch. This application is proposing to redesate an
approximate 2.63 acres from agricultural 2 district A2 to country residential 1
district.
The next slide is the location map and shows that the subject property is in
the rural neighborhood of McDougall Flats about 7 kilometers west from the
town of Sundry.
The next slide shows the figure three map from the municipal development plan
and shows that the proposal is within the potential multi-law residential
development area. This is a policy area that may consider a maximum of four
titles within a quarter section.
The redesation site sketch on page 28 of the agenda shows that the application
seeking to redesate an approximate 2.63 63 acres of bare land from the southwest
corner of a 71.91 acre agricultural parcel. The subsequent
subdivision application proposes the creation of the fourth title for the
quarter.
The surrounding land use map shows that the subject property is predominantly
surrounded by agricultural zone land. The subject quarter does already contain
one residential parcel east of the parent parcel.
Surrounding the subject quarter, there's also a residential parcel in the quarter
to the west. The quarters to the north and northeast are both crown land. Four
of the neighboring quarters are currently unsubdivided and four contain
two titles.
The well and pipeline facilities map is shown on the next slide. The subject
quarter contains one natural gas pipeline along its north boundary along
with foothills natural gas lines that are used to service nearby residential
sites. The closest oil and gas facility surrounding the parent parcel is a
flowing gas well located over 530 meters northwest of the proposal within the
neighboring quarter. Oil and gas facility should have a minimal impact on
the proposal.
The next slide shows the topography and water map. The parent parcel is more
elevated along its north boundary and slopes down to the south. According to
Agressid, the landform is mostly considered hammocky low relief. Barberry
Creek is located about 490 m south of the proposal within the quarter to the
south.
Looking closer, you can see that there appears to be unclassified creeks to the
north and west of the proposal. During the site visit, it was noted that these
creeks appear to be seasonal, representing the natural drainage
throughout the quarter. This seasonal creek eventually drains into Bberry
Creek.
Because the topography map does not capture the proposal's feature, this
slide shows historical aerial images of the proposal area that shows some of the
site's characteristics. The proposal consists of an elevated area near its
center and is bordered by gentle hillsides. There appears to be um
adequate space near the center of the proposal with more level topography that
can accommodate future development.
Soil information is shown on this next slide. According to Canada Land
Inventory, the parent parcel contains class 5 soils. Eggressid shows that most
of the parent parcel contains soils with an LSRS rating of 4H, indicating that
the soils have severe limitations to produce spring grains. According to the
farmland field sheet, most of the parent parcel contains soils with a farmland
assessment rating that ranges from 34 to 39%. While the soils with the greatest
limitations appear to be within the lowerlying areas. The data shows that
the north portion of the parent parcel contain soils with somewhat higher soil
capabilities.
The environmental scan map on this next slide shows that there are no
environmentally significant areas identified within the parent parcel.
There is a class 4 ESA within the quarter to the south that surrounds
Barberry Creek and its tributaries.
Starting on page 36 of the agenda are some site photos. Um this slide shows
the approximate location of the proposal's boundaries. Photo A was taken
um near the proposal southeast corner and photo B shows the proposal southwest
corner that is bordered by the adjacent quarter to the west. You can see how
this area of the parent parcel contains a gentle hillside.
The next slide shows the approximate location of the proposal's north
boundary. Photo A shows the proposal's northwest corner, and you can see how
this boundary has been angled to follow the edge of a tree stand near the bottom
of the hill while allowing the wetter areas to remain within the balance of
the parent parcel. And photo B shows the approximate location of the proposal's
northwest corner.
This next slide shows views within the proposal area. Photo A and B uh both
show that the proposal is slightly more elevated here and consists of a slightly
undelating topography. This would be the location of a future residential site
should the application be approved.
The next slide shows views of the surrounding uh parent parcel. Photo A
shows the areas north of the proposal and photo B shows the lowlying area to
the east of the proposal. The applicants intend on continuing using the
surrounding lands for pasture.
This next slide shows access and sight lines to the subject property. The left
side shows the potential location for a future approach that would need to be
constructed into the proposal and the right side shows the existing approach
into the proposed remainder. Should the application be approved, one condition
of subdivision will be to ensure that both approaches meet the county's
current access management policy.
The application proposes a third subdivision from the quarter to create a
new residential parcel and was evaluated against the municipal development plans
residential land use policies. As the proposal would be um seeking to create
the fourth title and is within the potential multi-illot residential
development area, it does remain within the maximum density of four titles per
quarter. The proposal mostly complies with the policies of 433 for lowdensity
residential subdivisions and are summarized on this slide. A more
detailed evaluation of policies 433D and M is provided on the following slide.
The land owners have owned the property for more than 5 years and the higher
quality agricultural lands will remain within the proposed balance of the
parent parcel. The proposal is between 2 to three acres and would have access to
a county road and can establish services located on an elevated area in the
southwest corner of the quarter. The proposal is expected to have a minimal
impact on the continued agricultural use of the remaining lands. The applicant
also consulted nearby land owners before submitting the application. The site
visit confirmed that the proposed parcel contains a relatively level building
area despite the surrounding gentle slopes and appear suitable for
development. A geotechnical report may be required at the development permit
stage depending on the scope and location of future development. As the
subdivision would create the third title within the quarter section, municipal
reserve dedication will be required as cash inlue in accordance with county
policy and the municipal government act. The environmental land use policies were
considered due to the unclassified creeks. However, given that the nearby
creeks appear to be seasonal and Barberry Creek is well removed from the
proposal, it should have a minimal impact on the surrounding environment.
A key policy consideration is MDP policy 433D.
The quarter already contains a 7.14 acre residential parcel that was created in
2008. Combined with the proposed 2.63 acre parcel, the total residential area
within the quarter would be approximately 9.77 acres exceeding the
preferred maximum of 9 acres. The applicants have provided additional
rationale to support this variance which has been included in the report to
council for your consideration. Analysis of the development history
within the quarter shows that it currently contains three dwellings. One
in the previously subdivided residential parcel and two on the agricultural
parcel along the east half of the quarter. The applicants have confirmed,
however, that the mobile home within the agricultural lot has been sold and is
expected to be removed early in September. If the proposed parcel is
approved and developed, the quarter would then contain three dwellings with
the potential for a fourth dwelling on the remainder parcel remaining compliant
with the land use bylaws dwelling density provisions.
Administration recommends refusal of this application as the proposal seeking
to exceed the total area of 9 acres for residential use within the quarter
established by MDP policy 433D. However, given the applicant's
rationale, the size of the 2008 subdivision and the modest size of the
proposed parcel, council may consider approval with a variance of the total
residential acres policy. That concludes my presentation and the applicants are
available if you do have any questions. Thank you.
Thank you. Do the applicants have any new or additional information they'd
like to provide? No. Okay. Thank you. The applicant
waves. Is there anyone in the gallery who would like to speak in opposition of
this application? Is there anyone in the gallery who would
like to speak in favor of this application?
Is there anyone online who would like to speak either in favor or in opposition
to this application?
Okay. Uh, seeing none, then I will open the, uh, floor for council to ask any
questions they may have. Council Johnson,
[clears throat] thank you. Question to planning. If the, um, second dwelling
um, [clears throat] doesn't get moved, does it become legal
nonconforming in order to allow for an additional dwelling on the proposed
parcel? How does that work? >> Margaretta, please. So the only
provision there is for a legal non-conforming second dwelling is if you
have a farmstead and it is considered as part of the redesation and subdivision
process.
» Thank you. Is there any other questions? Uh councelor Harris.
» Um [clears throat] just to clarify, Ran, I heard what you said, but on a couple
of the maps there's actually showing a residence
on the west part of the quarter. I'm looking at page 35.
and it's showing a residence on the west half of the quarter immediately west of
the residential subdivision that's 7 acres
» and then others it doesn't show it so I'm not sure
we're it is confirmed that there is no residence there though
» through the chair um so the 7.14 acre subdivision has one residential site
there and then the east half of the corridor has um a residential um
building there and then a mobile home just along the periphery of the quarter.
Um the parent parcel itself doesn't contain any development. Um, so the
applicants did confirm that the um the mobile home because they owned the um
agricultural parcel on the east side had been um used by a family member, but
they've recently moved out and the mobile home's been um sold and services
have been disconnected and they're just waiting to have it removed offsite. So
if um that [clears throat] confirmation can be provided prior to the subdivision
meeting um then it would have been addressed and we'll have um only two
dwellings within the quarter at this time um and ensuring that we remain
within the maximum of four dwelling units of um considering that the new
residential parcel will need to accommodate a residential site as well
as the remainder of the parent parcel. >> Okay. So Brian, just to just to clarify,
those dots are rural addresses. Are they is that correct? Not dwellings
» on page 35 of the agenda. Yes, they uh some of those dots there are all rural
addresses and you'll see they'll correlate with dwellings. Uh but the
parent parcel has got a rural address that's indicated by the dot, but there
is no dwelling. >> Thank you. Yes.
Thank you. Is there any other questions?
» No. Then I will ask if planning has any closing comments.
» I do not. Thank you. >> Thank you. And does the applicant have
any closing comments? >> Thank you. The applicant waves. So with
that, I will close the public hearing and I will look for a motion. Please. Uh
councelor Nixon. I would move that council give second reading to bylaw
number LU 20226 red designating the lands within the southeast 153365
plan 1711 620 block 1 lot 2. >> Thank you. Is there any discussion?
Seeing none, I'll call to question. All in favor
and opposed. And that motion's carried. and councelor Nixon.
» I would further move that council give third reading to bylaw number LU 2026
redesating the lands within the southeast 153365
plan 1711620 block one lot 2. Thank you. Any further
discussion? I will call question. All in favor
and opposed and that motion is carried. [clears throat]
Okay, we will move on to um we have no uh bylaws, we have no
directives, so we'll move right into 8.1 operational services quarterly report.
Ryan, please. >> Good morning. Uh container in your
agenda is the operational services quarterly report. Um always a little bit
awkward doing these ones because it's a month behind from where we're actually
at today. So, um, I'll give you, uh, an update of where we're at today along
with this update that's contained in the report. So, our our chipping crew with
the weather here we've had in August, they've been making some really great
progress. Right now, we've been, uh, spending a lot of time down in uh, the
Water Valley area is where they're currently at right now. Um, we haven't
had a whole lot of setbacks besides the weather we had in June, but everything
is looking good right now. They should be rounding up here at the end of
September, getting close to to completing all their programs.
[clears throat] The base stabilization work, we we just completed the last jobs
on that. So, those two program that program is wrapping up and the majority
of the staff that work on that program are are younger staff and they're
heading back to university here right now. We're starting to see them leave
one by one as the as the week goes on. And uh by, you know, in another week and
a half, they'll probably all be be gone. So, we're we're working on that.
Drainage, we've been working on on some different things all around. Uh we
definitely have been getting requests coming in from different people in the
public uh asking for different ditching projects going on.
um bridge work. We're seeing uh rounding up most of the bridge work is is has
been complete for the year. We still have to do this one on Range Road 20
just north of of uh DDsbury. The the one on the Bergen Road, which I know some of
the counselors ran into when they were coming to the last meeting. That one is
complete and now we'll move on to the other one. It's the same contractor
doing both of them because they are each other's detour route. So, uh they should
be getting that. We're just getting the the final fabrication on the girders and
then that one will start. That one shouldn't take super long for them to do
and then we can get everything paved up and everything completed here before the
summer. Um, Acme Road, big one that we're working on with with staff right
now. So, the contractor is is underway. We have had some some setbacks on that
road with uh some of the third party contractors that we we deal with um on
there and I can I can elaborate on that in the CEO's uh meeting later. um when
the contractor has been working there, we have been hitting very interesting
geotechnical um issues there. We've been hitting a
lot of rock and uh rock is a very strong matter to build a road out of, but it's
also inherently difficult to deal with. So, we've been ripping a lot of rock. If
anyone has ever taken a tour through there, if you got lost and you went
through the signs, there's a lot of rock. A lot of rock coming out of that
road. A lot of sandstone. We're we're ripping it up. we're we're working on.
And then the other one we've hit there is we knew going into it that we were
going to be hitting a lot of black dirt. We are hitting a lot of black dirt.
There's some interesting photos that we've shared with the CEO on on some of
the test pits in the center of the road. You know, six foot tall surveyor stand
in the in the pit and the black dirt's over his head. So, it's uh it's not
surprising that we haven't been able to keep this road together with the
changing traffic conditions. I know the the detour routes in that area. We have
been getting uh um some feedback from the local residents about the traffic
moving around trying to get around the detour, taking some of the gravel roads
uh that aren't on the detour road. We've been seeing a large spike in traffic
through uh um township 290 going through the the kind of the hamlet of dog pound
there. We're seeing a very large uptick of the the county residents who probably
are migrating or or commuting to Erdri, Crossfield, Calgary. That way they're
they're starting to go through through that area there and and uh dogging
through through Madden. We've had some some different [snorts] uh interesting
conversations with the fellas at Rocky View County as well about they're
starting to see this this uptick on traffic, especially uh a lot of the
heavy traffic that was using that road. they're trying to figure their way
through there and then the residents in that area are are feeling a lot of that
that that extra traffic on their roads. Um far as the other projects we're
doing, uh long patching, uh most of the counselors had long patching in their
areas. The long patching is complete. Central City Ashefold did that out of
their pit in Garington and uh that's all good and done and we were we were very
pleased with the work that they did and the time frame to which they did it.
They hit it very hard and got everything done probably in about a week and a
half, two weeks, including the uh the paving and sundry at Willow Hill behind
uh the subdivision there where Saunders and and uh Coleman Forest Products is.
That's that's all done. So, we got all that done. Um this summer, Richardson
Brothers Construction, we were looking at our workflow and they helped us
complete the uh the two base jobs we had to do. one across the lake here just
south of southwest of Olds. So, they got that one done quick and then our crews
came in and uh and chipped that one and then they did that uh elevator road that
332 which we originally got them to come do that because it was only like a half
mile from their shop. We said we need some help. Can you guys come help us?
And they're like, "Yep, we can come help you." So, uh that one's all done. So,
we're we're definitely seeing most of our projects are either done or starting
to wrap up. We have a couple stragglers out there with bridge stuff to do, but
then once those get going, um they'll get done pretty quick. We're not
expecting to roll over any of these projects into the new year. Um with the
exception of the Acme Road upgrade, that's going to be a wait and see, see
how we go. They just passed the Passu farm road. So now they're they're
through the most difficult stretch of road and now they're getting into the
flatter, easier stretch. We're hopeful. We've been doing some test holes there
that will we'll see some of the geotechnical issues improve out there
and hitting less rock in some of these boral pits we're going to dig, but we
won't know until we dig the hole. >> Just a question for you, Ryan, on the um
Bergen Bridge on the Bergen Road just past um
» the office here >> there. Yeah.
» Yep. Uh I are we going to also repair or replace um the patch that's between the
train tracks and the bridge because that is still pretty crappy. I saw that there
was some work that was done around the tracks which made it a lot nicer coming
over it this morning but there's still that that little gap.
» So Vulker Ste's going to pave from the railway tracks past the bridge. So,
we're going to pave that little segment of road from Range Road 21 to the tracks
and then portray across the where the bridge was where the new culverts were
installed. >> Thank you.
» Then they're actually going to jump across the tracks and do the uh the
south shoulder of the Bergen Road as well because that's starting to just
migrate its way in. The guys went out and patched it. But you can see Central
City did those other patches leading up to there and we had originally had them
to do it and then them and Vulker worked out of things and we'll just do it when
we come. So, we'll get that all polished up.
» Councelor Luck, >> Tiffany asked or sorry, Councelor Nixon
asked my question about 320. Um, with regards to Acme, what are we doing with
the excess rock and excess black dirt? >> So, we're working with our engineers
coming up with different plans on the design template to try and get that
material out. So, you have the the road trapezoid, I guess you would call it. So
the center of the road by design has to be new good material. The shoulders of
the road can be that excess material. So we're taking that mixed organic material
and that's what we're building the shoulders of the road out of. And then
there are some of the areas too where we've over excavated the ditches and
we'll fill the ditches with that material to try and maintain that
template. Now, hauling that material and changing these templates does come at a
cost, but we have to we have to find some place to get rid of this material.
And then we're also working with the the farmers in that area saying, "You want
some black dirt? We'll we'll we'll we'll give you some black dirt because there's
there's no no shortage of it out there." And then there's some of the areas there
like on the west side of the pass through farm road um where we cut
through the black dirt. We cut through like 6 in of subs soil and then it's
just shale. Shale below that pure rock. Now shale that's we can we can use that.
We can we take that material and use it. But most of the large sandstone we're
ripping it with the D9s, smashing it up and putting it in the road.
Okay. Uh uh councelor Johnson >> uh related question. Um later on uh
Christopher is going to talk about um uh how many top soil permits and stuff we
do. So I'm trying to understand like the the way that the black dirt is being
treated on Acme Road. Is that kind of standard policy or in general across the
county? What happens to the black dirt? Does does the contractor just deal with
it? [clears throat] Do we need a soil permit? How does that work? So, no, we
don't require a soil permit for when we're doing the road construction. And
then when we strip a quarter section of land, we don't ever move that top soil
off that quarter section. So, if we strip the quarter section the side
adjacent to to your property, we don't move that top soil onto another quarter
section. We try and maintain within those half mile junctions. And that's to
do with a lot of things. We used to do strip like larger sections and make big
piles of dirt. We don't do that anymore because a lot of the farmers after uh
the construction's done were complaining about weeds. Like I take good care of my
black dirt. My neighbor does not. Or that was uh the big one we've seen is uh
one quarter section's cultivated, one quarter section is pasture. You move the
top soil from the pasture into the cultivated portion and you have a
incredible bloom of weeds come up that the the farmer hasn't been dealt with
before. So we uh we keep the land we keep the dirt per quarter section.
» Yeah. >> Okay. [clears throat]
Ryan, do you have anything further? >> Uh yeah, I'll keep going here.
» Um contained here is also the industry activity we've been seeing here. So um
this includes when roadbands came off in June and uh we saw an uptick in drilling
rigs in the Eagle Hill area again which was uh not unexpected. Um but generally
we haven't seen um the same activity that we saw late
last year. Uh I don't know why there was a lot of D56s that came in for for
additional drills, but I'm not an oil guy. I can't comment on how the oil
industry works and how they do their exploration. But we did see a lot of
D56s come through in January. So we're expecting a lot more drilling to be
happening and we haven't seen those rigs come into the county quite yet. So,
might be a big push still this fall. [clears throat]
» Councelor Johnson, >> an additional question if I might on
page 84. I was surprised uh Ryan when I looked at this report that the the
gravel road maintenance which is about the fourth or fifth line down shows that
there was only four requests in in uh up until the end of June for gravel
maintenance. Is that based on the fact that uh we've had quite a bit of rain
and the gravel roads are in pretty good shape. It just looks a lot different
than than the historic requests. >> It is. And then the other one that
really populates that gravel road uh service request is the dust ones. So, we
haven't had as many dust ones come in because we have had sporadic rain
throughout the season. So, we've kept that kind of down. But, you know, last
fall we had that super dry fall and then we got lit up. So, not saying that
that's the indicator on how the year will finish by any means. And especially
with with silage harvest going on, guys are moving their bales right now. We'll
start to see those go up, I'm sure, as the the agricultural truck traffic
begins to increase here as coming to months end and definitely getting into
September. >> Okay, Ryan.
Um, and then the last parts are just the service requests uh per per quadrant,
the maps that that council has requested in the past. We've included those for
for for council to to to stay informed on on where the actual requests are
coming. It's a you know, a wide birth of of requests. And then the last map
that's on there is our continued uh attempt at letting council know where
we're actually seeing the road permits coming in. So no surprise it's it's
Eagle Hill and north of Sundry are leading the way once again in in all of
our oil field over dimension overweight permits. They're all coming in in that
area. And then the last one of the dots is the actual sites that they've been
hauling to. So definitely Eagle Hill north of Sunundry leading the the charge
as far as industry traffic in Mountain View County.
» And uh >> Councelor Johnson,
» um I really appreciate that map on page 94. If um if you look at where um
they're drilling, where they're fracking, and you look at the most
recent soil uh dry soil maps from Alberta agriculture, you'll see that
there continues to be a correlation between where we're pumping the water
downhole and where the dry soil is in Alberta. And u so I very much appreciate
this map. Also would comment on the long patching that was done uh this year. It
was extraordinarily good. Um certainly the improvements on Range Road 44 and on
340 are are really noticeable. So thank you for that.
» Thank you. Is there any other questions for Ryan? Ryan, do you have anything
further? >> Nope.
» Okay. [clears throat] So we have a motion on
the screen page 81. Uh councelor look. I move that council receives the
operational services quarterly report as information.
» Thank you. Is there any further discussion?
Seeing none, I'll call question. All in favor? And that motion's carried. We'll
move on to corporate services quarterly report. Mike, please.
» Thank you, Reeves. The RFD for the corporate services quarterly report is
90 on page 95 with the report starting on page 96.
On the assessment side, we worked through reinspections. Assessment
notices were mailed out for May 15th and uh we addressed any inquiries prior to
the role closing which occurred on July 14th. At the end of roll closing, there
were three assessment appeals that had been filed.
Through [clears throat] that inquiry period, revisions were completed u
municipally and proincially. This resulted in about $1,500 in reduction of
municipal tax base. Uh the chart below kind of outlines the change in the
assessment of the different classes as well as the tax impact from uh the
municipal standpoint. Looking ahead, we'll continue to inspect
uh all residential, commercial, and industrial properties throughout the
county. Uh work through the appeals as well as prepare for upcoming market
analysis. On the tax side, we included a chart of
the pre-authorized debit yearly comparisons.
Below that we have the tax incentive deadline was June 30th. We did see a
decrease in the amount of taxes collected through the incentive program.
However, we did ste see about 50% of properties taking advantage of that
reduction. Chart below shows outstanding balance.
You can kind of see the difference between last year and this year um at
taxes collected as of June 30th. Um but we should see that level out as we
approach the the tax deadline of September 15th.
business services on IT security saw um nine low severity security incidents
reported which did not result in any data breaches. So it continues to
educate staff and make updates to keep our systems secure and our devices
secure. GIS continues to work with departments to meet their needs and
begin work on the ownership map which are updated every two years.
Update on our financial software replacement noted as the ERP project.
Our targeted go live to date is uh early Q4 of this year. The current system will
remain operational during this transition. Uh the project is noted it
is behind schedule uh due to data conversion and software readiness. This
is common not just for us but other municipalities converting to the new
platform. So we look to uh avoid being the lead in development of the software
and and allow other clients to kind of work through the kinks so to speak.
Uh service request transition Cclicks fix implement implementation is underway
and expected to go live um Q4 prior to the expiration of our current software
through syllogis. We also introduce a citizen portal. This will allow public
to make payments to access historical transactions. Uh view properties
associated with their accounts along with tax and assessment notices. Uh
users will be able to register for tips, pay bills, produce tax certificates all
through the portal. Another change that will um be expected
are assessment and tax notices. If you can recall a couple years ago, uh, June
of 2024, council approved the separation of assessment and tax notices with this
new software. To help with that transition, we're kind of looking to
maintain traditional mail uh target time frames as as we have in the past for for
2027. and with that communicate changes that that will likely be expected for
2028 which include an earlier assessment notice mail date outside and separate
from their tax notice mail date later in the year.
So lots coming up with updated programs and systems. Um
on the finance for revenues some variances throughout either above or
below due to timing of specific bill building billing and payments received
but overall revenues are in line with year-to- date budgets and expectations.
Return on investment has outpaced the year-to- date budget due to favorable
short-term interest rates and higher than expected returns from early
investment sales. On the expense side, some variances as
well noted throughout the departments. Again, due large part to the timing of
the expenses compared to when this report was generated, but overall
expenses look in line with the budget. Looking ahead, finance system
replacement will take some time uh with training and testing ongoing through Q3
with anticipated Q4 uh application. inventory count of the
Disbury shop scheduled for the end of Q3 and the budget process is currently
underway with operating budgets being compiled in anticipation of the October
special council meeting. Grant status updates are provided in
tables below including annual grants, new ongoing and project grants and
completed grants are outlined in three tables.
Also attached for your reference are uh the consolidated statements of
operations 2026 project reporting and the CO CAO
contingency funding all as of June 30th 2026.
With those attachments, that concludes the corporate services quarterly report.
Jen and I are happy to answer any questions.
» Thank you, council. Any questions?
» No. [clears throat] Seeing none, um just one note, I did
speak with the assessment department this year and um they were extremely
helpful. Uh explained my assessments very well to me and uh congratulations
to your to your staff. They did a fantastic job. So, please feed that
back. And I've been encouraging everyone to call the assessment department if
they have any questions or concerns or if they just want to understand the
process better. Um, so hopefully you haven't been overwhelmed with calls, but
uh um I I do encourage all the counselors to to um point uh point their
constituents to the the assessment department and uh they'll get some great
information. >> Absolutely. Thank you very much, Ree. I
will pass that on. >> Thank you. And we have a motion on page
95. >> So maybe if I could, I just wanted to
share one um experience from our return on investments. Um we had a really
profitable one this year that came um up for early sale. So, back in 2024, we had
purchased a 7-year PPN, which is a principal protected note, uh, at an
original investment of about $200,000. Uh, earlier this year, we sold off half
of that and, uh, actualized a return of $138,000.
So, just over a 100% return. Um, and here in August, we actually sold another
$60,000 of that principle and brought in another $94,000 in interest. So on that
original 160, we realized uh $232,000 in interest. Um when when looking at
that opposed to budget, this PPN actually didn't have a cash flow planned
for this year. So that is all above and beyond what our expectations had been.
Uh we retained about $40,000 in that investment just because the underlying
index is still up and we don't want to lose out on any um future growth that we
might see. But I just wanted to share that as kind of one of the indicators of
why that return on investment is coming in um above budget and we're working
really hard with our portfolio managers to find good replacements so that we can
get these you know windfalls when they're available. [clears throat]
» Fantastic. Thank you. Uh councelor Lutz, >> speaking of windfalls, um is there any
strategy? I know it's really early days, but we have a lot of green equipment and
arts are going to be tariffed. Are you guys talking as a group on um
what to do with tariffs,
» Jeff? >> Well, it's an everchanging question. Um
we have had conversations with tariffs as we've
moved through the the changing landscape over the last couple of years, but we
have not looked at the anything new announced yesterday or that kicked in um
yesterday. So remains to be seen uh how that'll impact us. We we do also rely uh
significantly on RMA and canoe procurement to help mitigate some of
that landscape as a lot of our procurements do go through the the canoe
portfolio which is run by RMA. There'll be interesting budget
discussions this year, I'm sure, in the fall.
And we always retain the option to defer purchasing new equipment if we can get
an extra year or two out of the lifespan. I don't know if we'll make
three years or I guess two years to the end of the term. [laughter]
We'll see. >> Yeah. And [clears throat] you know, I
think that is a good comment, Reeve. Um, you know, in in large part to council's
planning and preparations in previous years, the the fleet is in pretty good
shape. So, you know, if we do hit a few wrinkles, I think we can withstand them
and and wait them out to see what what the landscape looks like uh moving
forward. Um, but certainly it could be painful depending on how it plays out.
» Thank you. Is there any further questions? If not, we have a motion on
page 95. Uh, councelor Nixon, >> I would move that council receives the
corporate services quarterly report as information and that no further action
be taken. >> Thank you. Is there any discussion? I'll
call to question. All in favor? And that motion's carried. And we'll move on to
8.3 LEG Community and Agriculture Services Querly Report. Christopher,
please. >> Thank you, worship. I'm on page 105 of
the agenda package is where my report starts. A couple things I'll highlight
for you here on the first page under our economic development strategy. Uh quite
busy uh doing a lot of marketing right now uh with all of our local businesses.
We really focus our marketing endeavors internally this year uh and trying to
showcase uh all of those uh great businesses that uh people can uh
utilize. Getting a lot of good feedback on that process. So certainly interested
to hear from council if you've heard of anything uh from any of your local
businesses or residents on that. Film office has also uh been uh pretty busy.
If you recall during my last quarterly report, we updated that we received a
grant through the Northern and Regional Economic Development Program to support
investment attraction. Uh we have proceeded with those grant dollars to do
a lot of uh publications around the film office. uh and it also gave us the
opportunity to participate in the BA world media festival which we have done
for the last couple of years and that's a great opportunity for our economic
development and marketing officer as well as those from DDsbury and Sundry uh
to meet with various uh industry partners uh as you can see in the report
had over 20 meetings highlighting our area uh and what we can offer uh to
folks. So that's a great uh return on investment especially because we were
able to do it with grant dollars I believe. As far as airports are
concerned at the bottom of page 106 uh a lot of work going on at the airports uh
over the summer uh specifically looking at internet connectivity issues that
we've had. I've updated previously that we're looking at some Starlink
capabilities. So those are proceeding and are proceeding uh currently in
various different forms. We expect that in 2027 that project will be completed.
And then you'll note uh that we've done a few things at the Sunundry airport as
well after uh some discussion from the aviation and advisory committee uh
specifically on the terminal building at the Sunundry airport. Uh a roof
inspection was done, some repairs were done in June and then there was also
some upgrades made internally there uh to the electrical system as well as to
smoke and carbon monoxide uh alarms. Into the communications uh report, a lot
going on in communications. very very busy time of year for uh both Shelley
and Sydney uh producing a lot of great documents that our residents have come
to rely on. The 2026 annual tax brochure which outlines uh the uh deliberations
from council around property taxes and uh where those tax dollars are going.
Uh, one of the bigger campaigns that we have put forward uh, this year is our
service level video series which I think has been a great addition to our overall
communications um, portfolio where we've started to highlight, you know, a lot of
the work that happens around the county specifically within operational and
agricultural services that lots of residents might not understand, might
not understand how um, how the process actually works and that's where a lot of
those budget dollars are ultimately going. So, we've started to get some
great views on those which are updated within the [clears throat] report there
and those are continuing to be uh released. They're all also available on
our website if council wants to distribute to any residents that may
have questions on those various service levels or if any residents just want to
look at the entire package. Uh they are offered there as well. The community
budget report is uh I would say likely our biggest publication we do annually
in collaboration with corporate services. uh that is the document that
we put out that outlines the entire budget uh package where all all the
dollars are going to where they've been allocated
uh some of the main projects that we're looking at uh within 2026. And so that
report was released within this quarter as well. Combined with that is the 2026
budget video which then walks everybody through that budget package in uh more
of a plain language, easy to understand um campaign. uh and that usually gets
some very good views as well. So again, that's also available on the website for
council to distribute or if any residents are interested.
One of the bigger events that council participated in and communications was
uh was key in hosting there as well uh was the Canada Day pancake breakfast and
our stars logo unveiling which was a great event. Uh we estimate we had about
500 residents that attended and we also produced a video uh that was released in
July of that opportunity which uh was the uh recognition of our milestone of
hitting that $500,000 mark of uh contributions to STARS and having the
county's logo placed on the helicopter. Moving down into uh public
participation, a lot of workshops being hosted over the summer months. Uh
obviously um the Eggy Days is is our largest one that we have had, but we've
also had uh some participation in the ARAR roundup of 2026 uh where there's
about 300 participants there as well. A couple coming up here in the next little
bit. Uh the uh Reed Ranch Country Fair is coming up uh in the middle of
September. And then we're also doing a talk, ask listen workshop uh with do
more egg. Uh and the details on that are still to be decided on uh but likely in
November. The mobile app continues to be a very um
uh important way of getting information out there. You'll note in this quarter
we had a large amount of downloads and submissions coming out of it. Had over
almost 150 new downloads, which is is a lot for an individual quarter
considering that we already have 2,200 downloads uh prior to the quarter. So
continues to be a way that residents are using to get information as well as to
submit information. You'll note the right hand column there is the form
submission. So that tracks how many uh residents have submitted through the app
uh service requests or uh general inquiries that the county tracks
for legislative services. A few uh programs still uh after this quarter are
are in the implementation phase now. So the remotely piloted aircraft system
operations policy council approved that's the drone policy is easier to uh
understand that policy was approved by council and is now being uh worked
through with ledge and uh communications as well as with our IT team looking at
producing a video there on what that looks like for residents. Uh that was a
request that came out uh from council is to do a short little video similar to
our service level video uh that we'll be able to distribute to residents. So, I
know they were just doing some filming here in the last couple of weeks. So,
that video should be available within the next month, I would say, for
distribution. Privacy management program. Uh, this was approved by
council within the quarter. Huge, huge project, uh, that William undertook here
on the privacy management program for the county, bringing all of our
documentation up into compliance and putting it all in a one-stop shop for
residents uh, to be able to access. A lot of now the action items coming out
of that privacy management program we're now seeing such as things such as the uh
development of the personal information bank that's required and some privacy
management assessments. So you'll start seeing those uh being available within
the next couple of months as well. >> Councelor Luck, do you have a question?
» I was just going to say it was a pleasure to see the drone in action on
the Acme Road. That sure opened it up for for me personally and I assume
others to to see what's going on there and the massiveness of that project.
» Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's where the value is that we see it uh as
well. So, it's good that you were able to identify that as well.
» Thank you, Christopher. >> Uh governance review had a very large
governance review in June of this quarter. You'll note our stats there. Uh
the far right column is the one that I track the most. that is the one that
highlights the percentage of documents that are still left to review. Uh so by
the end of 2026, I would like to see both of those numbers at least at 75%.
So you'll note that we have met both of those thresholds with 75% of bylaws
still to review this uh term and we only have 60% of our policies left to review.
So well in line to be able to accomplish that uh within council's term. Our egg
stats service level uh reports is at the bottom of page 111. Uh not a lot to
identify quite yet. These are the beginning of the um of the egg stats. So
our big quarter for egg is Q3. That's where you see most of our service level
will get uh obtained. Uh but a couple of the stats are starting to roll through
there. You'll note that at the time of this report, 17% of our service level
was completed uh for mowing. Uh we expect that that will be able to uh hit
that 100% threshold before the end of the year.
Uh, one other thing I would update council on is at the bottom of page 112.
Uh, an egg plastic roundup day is scheduled for November 19th over at the
county egg shop. That's the opportunity for residents to bring in grain bags,
bor twine, etc. Uh, between 9:00 and 3:00 where we will have staff available
uh to be able to be able to assist uh with preparation of that. Uh, so we'll
be communicating that to residents as well.
our grant programs uh very much uh are in the process of being uh fully
allocated. Uh so you'll note that the difference between the approved funding
and the allocated funding may be a timing based on the specific program or
just may be that the organization hasn't requested their entire funding that was
approved for them this year. But you'll note that almost all of our grant
programs are fully expended now uh and are in the process of being fully
allocated as well. emergency services. Uh a lot going on
there um in the uh in the second quarter here. Some vegetation fires, you'll note
uh started to pop up there. A large amount uh within the Sunundry area. Uh
and and then uh some motor vehicle collisions and traffic traffic
collisions also uh mixed in kind of across the board there as well. Not
inconsistent with what we would expect in quarter two uh of any given year.
our patrol stats. Some very high stops of the quarter once again. A 65 over in
the Bergen area uh and a 62 uh over in the Hantock area. So those are obviously
uh limits that are very very fast and our team is out there
looking at uh trying to uh trying to find those ones specifically, but uh
looking at lots of violations as well this quarter at 154 95 total warnings
were issued within this quarter. Councelor Nixon, just a quick question
on that Bergen stop. Was that at a transition or was that
» I would have to look into that specific situation for you and get back.
» Could you maybe because that's quite high.
» Sure. It is. >> Thank you.
» And then I'll pop all the way down to the very end of my report on the bottom
of page 117. This was information that council asked uh during the last
presentation of my quarterly report around the transition between two peace
officers and three peace officers. So this occurred in 2023.
Uh so we were able to go back and pull some information um based on what was
available to us on what was the typical uh expectations in prior to 2023 and
then what do we see today. So you'll note that first uh first box there is
around how many days did we not have an officer on duty in 2020. So before that
2023 mark uh we had 104 days without an officer on duty. That was under the
two-piece officer system. And then under the three-piece officer system, last
year there was only nine days where we didn't have an officer on duty. And
that's typically because of a holiday or a vacation uh day where, you know, there
just wasn't somebody available to go on there. We do try to get 365 days minus
uh some of our statutory holidays uh covered. So likely aiming for that 355
mark is what we would be looking at in a typical year. As far as the kilometers
patrolled, I think a question. >> Sorry, councelor Lutz.
» Sorry. Um, so we there's more than nine stats. So, they are working stats.
» We do have uh officers that do work stats. Specifically, the summer stats
where we see uh lots of traffic on the roadways uh will be working those stats.
We don't work, you know, days like Christmas, for instance, where there's
not lots of activity. >> Sorry to interrupt you.
» Yeah, no worries. >> People are on their best behavior over
Christmas. >> Yeah, nobody does anything wrong on
Christmas. >> Thank you. Uh and then the last stat
here that I provided as well, these are the kilometers that are patrolled, which
I think is a bigger indicator and if council recalls was kind of our
objective of trying to institute the third officer is that we went from about
65,000 kilometers being patrolled uh to 160,000 km being patrolled. So really a
success in being able to get officer time out on the roads and getting um
getting more visibility uh with our officers out there as well. So those
were the stats that council requested I believe. Um but certainly I can answer
questions on anything that I have presented or anything that is contained
within the report. >> Thank you. Are there any questions for
Christopher? Uh councelor uh Johnson. >> Um thanks for your report Christopher.
Um, if we look at page 112, it looks at the pasture sprayer use and um, I know
that [clears throat] communications has done really excellent work and I'm
wondering if there is time that we could do a communication um, piece on the fact
that we have pasture sprayers available and also that we have a herbicide rebate
program. um given all the good rain we've got uh maybe a bigger problem on
the west side of the county than the east side as uh Ryan sort of uh referred
to u most cultivated land is sprayed anyway but um some of the pastures um
are have hedges of thistles in and so I'm wondering if uh I'm wondering if we
could promote the fact that we have pastor sprayers and a herbicide rebate
program that uh farmers could use to look after some of those thistles in
their pasture. >> Yeah, absolutely. We can continue to do
that. I know both of those programs uh Shelley and the team uh do communicate
out through our channels. We can continue to do that. Our herbicide
rebate program specifically is usually oversubscribed every year. So, it is a
very popular program uh that our land owners are taking advantage of um for
sure. Uh but we you will likely see in the next quarterly report that pasture
sprayers number has increased significantly over the summer months as
well. Uh, councelor Harris. >> So, Christopher, just for clarification,
going back to page 114, um, the fire department calls by
incident type and and looking at sunundry in the medical calls and here's
where we're supposed to have an ambulance. Do we keep a record of how
many are first instance versus second instance, ambulance not available, and
then we're responding? Uh so our stats would be able to show
whether we have been dispatched automatically or whether our our service
was requested. Also tracks the um the emergency classification level as well
from alpha to echo so that we can track whether you know these are emergency
calls or these are you know just somebody that's not feeling well type of
thing. So we can certainly track all of that. But yes, your comments are
certainly taken that there's a large part of AHS's service level that that
department specifically as well as the Cremona district emergency services
department typically picks up for Alberta Health Services.
» Yeah, I I mean Cremona I understand we we don't have an ambulance there. Um but
it's indicative I think of ambulances being redirected to places and then
being not being there to serve our residents. So I think one of the things
that's difficult too is Sundry has now been downgraded. It's no longer a
priority ambulance um service in Sundry. So the Sunundry Wellness Committee's
been trying to figure out why that change has been made and why Sundry is
no longer um a priority ambulance um center and so stay tuned for that. So
we're trying to figure that out. Uh we haven't gotten any answers yet, but I
know that Sundry is always uh one of the higher ones with uh with the medical
assists from the fire department. Uh even though Sundre's supposedly had a um
an ambulance, it is very rarely in Sundry. It is um it it's always being
diverted to uh other communities, but I think it's a great question.
» Perhaps those stats would be helpful to the committee then and highlighting the
the change there. Yeah, we'll take that back councelor Harris to the committee
and councelor Johnson and I can try and get a better answer for you um on that
for sure. It's a it's a great question. Uh councelor Lutz,
no I thought sorry I thought before I got councelor Harris I thought I saw
your light come on. Thank you. Okay, any other questions for Christopher?
No. Uh then we have a motion way at the top on page 104.
Uh, councelor Harris. >> Okay, I'll move to receive the report.
» Thank you. Any further discussion? I'll call question. All in favor? And that
motion's carried. And we'll break till 10 uh 5 minutes past 10.
All right, >> we'll resume the regular council meeting
of August 26th and we are on 8.4 Planning and Development Services
Quarterly Report. Margaretta, please. Margaretta with the uh cane, please.
» Thank you, Ree. Uh so the quarterly report starts on page 118 of the agenda.
So what is included is our stats for the second quarter which includes the
individual months of April, May and June which is from page 122 to 126. And then
the last attachment is the second quarter uh enforcement file report on
page 128. So if it works for council, we'll just go through the project
updates which is on page 119. So for the municipal plan and land use bylaw review
process, we had two meetings on June 22nd and July 14th and the next meeting
is scheduled for September 16th. The agenda minutes as well as the
recordings are all available on our websites and for development and
permitting there's no uh official updates to provide.
That takes us to the end if there's any questions. Thank you.
Wow. Uh, Christopher, you need to shorten your reports.
[laughter]
» I'm think I'm thinking Christopher will pass airports over to planning and
development. [laughter]
» Sorry, Kessa Harris. >> Margaretta, there does seem to be a a a
general drop in in a lot of the categories. Is is this another one of
those just it's just a timing with this quarter 2 report? Um cuz generally I
think a lot of people it's that two quarter two where they start submitting
these things hoping to get in the construction season. Um or are we just
seeing a a slower year?
» It's a slower year relatively comparable uh to the previous year. So again if you
um take the you know on page 120 for the second quarter. So if you look at the
first table, the second last column, we have the total amounts uh for 2026 to
date. So that is 188 total of all of our development permits, redesignation and
subdivision. So if you compare that to the column of the 2025 totals, you'll
see that there's 334. So again, uh you know, more or less uh
you know, half of it at half of the year. So very comparable to the previous
year. And it is all dependent on applica applicants bringing forward
applications. >> So you're good with airport. [laughter]
» Thank you. >> Okay. Is there any other questions from
Margaretta? >> No. All right. Then we have a motion on
page 118. Councelor Lutz. I move that I move that council receives planning
development service quarterly report as presented or as information.
» Thank you. Any further discussion? I will call to question. All in favor?
And that motion's carried. And uh 8.5 CEO uh services quarterly report. Jeff,
please. >> Thank you, Reeves. Starting on page 131
is the health and safety report. A couple of statistics to highlight. Um,
you will note we've had a a few uh more asset related incidents, specifically
uh damage to the light fleet. There seems to be a rash of deer incidents.
Three out of the five were were deer related. Um, one of those being um
rearended when stopping for a vehicle in front of us that was encountering a
deer. So, it's a wide variety of of circumstances related to deer attacking
county vehicles. Um, on the health and safety side, also
important to note this is our external audit year and so that means we are
being peer-reviewed by an external municipalities health and safety team.
Uh, so that audit actually kicked off this week and they do documentation
reviews. They will do um a sampling of all of our our staff and interviewing on
the health and safety program as well as doing facility inspections um from a
handful of selected facilities. In exchange uh later in the year,
Mountain View County's uh health and safety team will end up uh doing a
health and safety inspection for another municipality and we'll be doing the town
of Devon's health and safety audit for 2026. So, we look forward to the
external uh health and safety audit results which will probably uh come out
maybe in another uh month or so is probably when we'd anticipate those
results. They usually come out kind of in the early October time frame
depending on when um Alberta Municipal Health and Safety Association uh
endorses and accepts the final report. On the human resources side, that report
starts on page 133 and you will note some uh some some updates there. Uh
notably, you were introduced to Bailey today. Uh Bailey was our term employment
that was completed uh for the operational services Matt leaf coverage.
Uh and as well the 2026 in-ear retirement. Um you you don't see the
development officer that has resigned. Uh that was Jaden Rhyr who resigned.
That'll be in the Q3 report and Bailey is filling in that position.
And also we had our uh an egg field operator uh that um resigned following a
maternity leave. So she won't coming back to join our team and our manager of
IT services and our community peace officer retirement which I think council
is well aware of. So with that, that is the conclusion of the report and if
there are any questions, I will try and answer them.
» Thank you. Any questions for Jeff? Uh, councelor Harris,
» not a question, Jeff, but just I I it's years now and I continue to be impressed
by how we are able to bring people on um as relief or part-time and the
organization is is such that it attracts them to come back and work for us
full-time. I think I think that's an invaluable thing to recognize that that
we provide a a real uh desired uh place for people to be employed.
» Thank you, Council Harris. I would I would echo those comments and uh I think
it is one of our our recruitment strengths um that recognition from
applicants.
» Any other questions for Jeff? >> No. Seeing none, then we have a motion
on page 130. Um, councelor, um, look,
» I would move the council receives the CAO services quarterly report as
information. >> Thank you. Any further discussion? I'll
call question. All in favor? And that motion's carried.
Okay. So, uh, we will defer 9.1 until after our close session. So, we'll move
on to 9.2. Tax penalty cancellation, Tanstone Energy Limited. Jeff, please.
» Thank you, Ree. I will ask Mike to introduce this item as it is in his
business area. >> Thanks, Jeff. Uh, so the RFD for the tax
penalty cancellation is on page 137 of the agenda package. Uh for background,
on July 29th, 2026, administration received a letter from Canstone Energy
Limited requesting council's consideration for property tax penalty
cancellation as it relates to penalties applied to the 2025 property tax
balance. So the summaries uh of the incurred penalties include nine roles
with penalties amounting to $1,673.3.
Penalties were applied as the 2025 property tax payment was received and
processed on September 19th past the September 15th date of 2025.
Attached for council's uh review is a request for Canstone Energy Penalty
cancellation on pages 139 through 145. administration included uh excerpts from
the Canada Post website as well as uh image from the envelope we had received
that was postmarked and stamped. Um those pages 146 to 148 for the Canada
Post and pages 149 to 150 for the photos of the envelope.
Uh with that I'll turn it over to council for your discussion and
consideration of the request. >> Hey uh councelor Nixon. Uh just one
quick question. So, um just to confirm, other than the um penalties, is their
account up to date? They've been paying their their
um property tax portions on time >> other than
» the 2025 balance was paid in full. >> Y
» um so it was just the >> previous years were good as well to your
knowledge. >> Yeah, to my knowledge, I don't don't
have any concerns. Yeah. >> Thank you.
Is there any other questions or uh I'll entertain a motion. Uh councelor
Johnson. >> Um taxes were due on September 15th. Is
that correct? >> That is correct. That's the deadline for
[sighs] to pay taxes prior to any penalties incurred. September 15th.
» Ree, if I may just expand on that question for Mike to answer. Um, just
could you clarify if uh if if the payment is postmarked by September 15th,
does that meet the criteria of paying your taxes on time even though we may
not have received the money um yet? >> Yeah, thanks Jeff. That is that is
correct. If if it is postmark date of payment due and we receive it later, we
will accept it as on time without incurring or applying any penalties.
Okay. [clears throat] Uh, looking for a motion.
Uh, Council Nixon, >> I would move that council that council
cancel property tax penalties incurred totaling $1,673.3
for the nine property tax roles as listed. 1 0 024
2- 26310500 080 27310
060 273 1 5 0 1 1 0 273 1 27 0 1 0 0 2732
160160 273320
030 27330 3070040
and 2832190070.
» Thank you. [clears throat] >> Okay. Is there any discussion on the
motion? Uh councelor look. Everyone knew of the postal strike or impending postal
strike and businesses know that taxes are an
important part and are penalized if late. To send a check out 4 days before
taxes are due, dated the day of claim a postal strike
begs me to question why they didn't just send it out or deliver it if they were
concerned with the postal strike. [clears throat]
» Okay. So, the motion is to cancel the property tax penalties.
So, is there any further discussion on that motion? Councelor Harris,
» I'm I'm looking at the um at their documentation for uh cutting the check
and I note it's done on the 8th of September um in the full amount. I think
the intent was there um to pay it um I think three or four days late, three
days late, the 18th. Um yeah, I'll support the motion.
Okay. So, Councelor Harris brings up a good point. Uh, Jeeoff, did I
misunderstand you then with the if it's post-dated prior to the 15th? So, what
am I missing here? >> I don't think you're missing anything,
Reeve. the the point that Mike clarified was that uh if we receive mail that's
postmarked by the due date, so se if it had been postmarked September 15th,
» even though we didn't receive it until a day or two later because Canada Post has
to deliver it, we would accept it as an on-time payment. Okay?
» But in this case, the letter does not show a postmark date of September 15th.
» Right. Okay. Okay. Now I'm understanding. And for the record, we do
not look at when a check is dated. We would look at when it's received. Um,
and it's deemed received when it it's either physically in our possession or
postmarked. >> Okay. Thank you for that clarity. Uh,
councelor L. >> And just to confirm, it's postdated.
That fine print means that it went to the the post office September 18th.
Correct. >> That's what it looks like to me. I just
want to make the assumption. Yeah. So, I'm not going to support the the motion
because they missed the deadline completely. Okay. [clears throat] Uh,
councelor Harris. >> Yeah. Just what I'm basing it on is I
see when they cut the check. Um what we don't have is the date they delivered
the post office and I think what they're rising raising is the issue that mail
was was and it's supported by the Canada postup that mail was sometimes being
left for longer than normal periods in post offices before it was processed and
put out for delivery. So um they've been a good
taxpayer so far. So, I I just don't see any reason to penalize them because of a
labor short uh disruption. >> Okay. So, I have a motion on the floor
to cancel the property tax penalties. With that, I will call to question. All
in favor? >> And opposed? And that motion's lost.
Okay. 9.3 2026 Rapier Harvest Lunch. Christopher, please.
» Thank you, Worship. Just seeking council's consideration once again
whether you would like to hold a rate pair harvest lunch. We've done it for
the last few years. Uh typically it's held in October or November depending on
uh the season and counselor's availability. Uh and we typically have
it catered by our local business as well. Last year we had about 300 people
that we believe attended the rape pair harvest lunch. We have included in the
RFD a list of possible dates uh that may work for council. Uh, and but of course,
council may choose an alternative date if you wish.
» Uh, councelor Nixon, >> I would propose Friday, October 23rd
because we're here.
» Oh, I see. Gotcha. >> Um, I have that from
9 till 4. That's our budget meeting and normally
um we don't have a time here. Um >> that will likely be a full day meeting.
Yes, it traditionally has been. >> Yeah. So, um my question to Christopher
is what is we don't have a date. We don't have a time for the harvest lunch.
Did I miss it in here? >> I I believe it's usually from 11 to 1.
Is that right, Josie? Yeah. Right. 11 to 1.
» Yeah. And so council will remember we used to have the budget meeting on the
Wednesday but we flip-flopped with the egg service board which is the now the
23rd date. >> Yeah.
» So I think I think that is going to be too difficult for us to accommodate. So
I think it's probably best if we take that one off.
» Um the one that I can make the easiest is the 29th. Um but I don't know if that
works for everyone. October 29th. Uh, councelor Lutz,
» I just think uh with harvest I think if we want our farmers to be there 15th
16th it's a little early. I think they'll still be in the fields.
» Okay. So just looking if October 29th would work for council. I'm seeing that.
Oh, can you make a different date?
» You're gonna be here. >> Okay.
Okay. If with regards to the 23rd, if we have the budget meeting scheduled from
9:00 to 4 with our usual 1 hour break for lunch, would council consider
starting at 8 that day, allowing us the 2-hour break for the harvest lunch and
then carry on with the the budget meeting? I I think it's just too much.
Um because we usually have people that stay longer or that come earlier. So, um
I think it's just better if council has more flexibility to engage and we're not
kind of trying to rush off to a to a budget meeting. So, um I'm hearing the
29th would work. Yeah.
So, I'll move the council schedule the 2026 rate pair harvest lunch to be held
at Mountain View County uh office on October 29th.
So we'll start with that and then I think Christopher you had another
question in here as to whether or not we wanted to just status quo with the
catering or whatever. If we don't discuss that then that is the direction
that the administration has. >> Yeah. So that's what's been budgeted for
in the 2026 budget. So unless council wants to choose an alternative such as
cooking lunch yourself uh then uh yeah that's why we said status quo would
would be uh what is being presented. >> Okay. So we'll start with the date. Um I
have a motion on the floor. Is uh any is there any discussion on the motion? No.
Then I'll call the question. All in favor? And that motion's carried. And is
there any discussion or does everyone like the format of the way we've always
done it? Okay. Councelor Harris,
» just curious at in the past we've used it as an opportunity to highlight
particular things that we're doing or pass on information. Is there any plans
to to do so this year? We'll wait for final direction from
council, but we anticipate it will be a large MDPLUB public engagement session
for the review. We'll further determine that through the MDPLUB
committee that will provide the direction on the public engagement, but
administratively, that's what we're thinking. Similar to what we did in
2019, you may remember we'll set up this room with all the boards and the
information and have the people available to have the conversations and
the food and social activities out in the main hall.
» Two pigeons with one stone. >> Uh, councelor look,
» do we have a just on the MDP LUB, do we have a proposed date or or where we're
thinking for that survey to be out? So, uh, we have the 16th that's coming up
and then that will be part of the agenda item to, uh, determine, uh, further
discussions. >> Okay? Because the harvest lunch, I
think, is a perfect opportunity. When I requested the 2019 survey results, it's
kind of a gas to see that there were only 56 replies.
» Um, a lot. Well, but if we've got 300 people coming to lunch that know it
might be coming up, maybe we could increase that number to make it a little
more reflective of what people are thinking. Yep. So, we can have that
discussion on the 16th. [clears throat and cough]
Excellent. Is there anything further on this agenda item?
Okay. Um,
look at um Mr. Chemies are joining us very early. Thank you for coming.
[clears throat] Uh
uh 9.3 2000. Uh no, we just did that one. 9.4 council strategic priorities.
» Did I miss one? >> No, you were right on schedule, Reeve.
And so on page 153, you will see the updated visual layout of the strategic
priorities for council for 2026 through 2030. And note that uh council did
provide the one direction to modify the wording under community well-being and
that would be the third bullet point. It has been amended to now read foster
opportunities for people to age in their communities.
» Okay. [clears throat] Council any um any discussion?
No. So uh Jeff, what is the once council approves this? what is the uh direction
for getting it out there to the public? >> So, I'll maybe defer some of that over
to Shelley, but certainly we'll update our website and uh replace the existing
version with the new version if approved by council. And Shelley can maybe speak
to any of the other communication plans for sharing the information.
» Shelley, please. >> Hi. Um if council desires, we can
certainly do a social campaign on it. update the website like Jeff said, um,
put it as notice on our website. Anything that you guys would like.
» Okay. So, uh, councelor, let's just, uh, I don't know if it's a typo, if it's
meant to be, but people might think it's a typo. Uh, the double dash between 2026
2030. >> There is
» uh, strategic priorities 2026- 2030. >> Yeah, it is dash.
» I only I only see one dash. on mine. Mine's bigger.
» It's dash dash. >> Oh, violated it.
» You can fix that. You can [clears throat] fix that. Okay. So, we
have a motion uh on page 152. Councelor Harris,
» I'll move the council approve the 2026-2030
strategic priorities as presented. >> Thank you. Is there any further
discussion? Okay. With that, then I'll call
question. All in favor? And that motion's carried. And we've heard the
communication plan for this. Is there if there is anything in addition that
council would like the opportunity I again um probably the uh the rate payer
lunch is a good opportunity to have maybe the board um with the strategic
priorities in the one pager uh for public consumption.
» I assume we're changing >> uh we'll change all of that. Yeah. So uh
is there anything special that council would like to see as communications?
Otherwise, we'll leave it in the competent hands of Shelly.
Okay. >> Maybe just a quick comment that um I I
[clears throat] think that people um maybe wouldn't realize that the
strategic plan hasn't changed, just that the the um look look the layout and the
the look of it has changed. So, I think we might want to include the whole idea
of of continuity. um as we have moved from the last strategic uh priorities to
the present one and I think that um that in in a world of chaos having things the
same is very useful. >> Thank you [clears throat] for those
comments. Okay, so we'll move on to 9.5 town of
olds funding requests. Jeeoff, please. >> Thank you, Ree. Starting on page 154 is
the RFD for this item and this is uh one of our policy and procedure 806
intermunicipal collaboration funding requests brought to council. And so the
Olds IC Committee last met on June 11th and reviewed and discussed the Town of
Olds projects and application for 2026 and did recommend that the projects be
forwarded to Mountain View County Council for consideration. So in today's
agenda package, you will see the background information from the town of
Olds on the projects they are proposing to complete. And the cumulative total
for 2026 is is uh projects that would be cost shared by the county in the amount
of $188,000. So council will note that exceeds the
policy maximum of $125,000 that that's in our policy. However, when
we reviewed this as an ICC, we discussed that the sports electrical repairs is a
carryover project from 2025 that was approved by Mountain View County
Council. And so you will recall when we did our year-end financial transfers to
reserves, we did transfer $68,915 into the carry forward reserve from 8006
funding in 2025 related to the town of Olds's projects. And so that's why the
motion you will see in the recommendation is only asking for
council approval of $119,000 recognizing the balance of that 188 that
the town of Olds is requesting is going to be funded from 2025 carry forward
amounts. And so that again is largely related to uh changing uh project scope
for the electrical repairs and upgrades uh following some further investigation
and engineering completed by the town of Olds.
With that uh I will pause and see if council has any questions for myself or
the town of olds ICC members. >> Council any questions? Councelor Lutz,
» just my only comment is it's good to see our municipalities catching on to using
the the u the fund more. I I think that work that we did on communicating that
it's available is is paying off and it's good to see they're using it.
» Okay. And then I'll look for a motion. Councelor Lutz,
» I move that council approve cost sharing the municipal portion of the 2026 Town
of Olds projects to the maximum of 119,455
to be funded from the intermunicipal collaboration reserve.
» Thank you. Any further discussion? Seeing none, I'll call to question. All
in favor? And that motion's carried. Uh 9.6 proposed RMA resolution. Jeff,
please. >> Thank you, Reef. So, in advance of our
um September 2nd resolution deadline for the upcoming central region RMA meeting,
uh council is being asked to consider a dissolution resolution. We have engaged
uh the county of Clearwater inquiring if they would be interested in seconding
this resolution and they have indicated there would be support for that should
Mountain View County Council proceed with uh endorsing this resolution to be
sent to the CRMA meeting. >> Thank you. And and again this resolution
pretty much is in line with the RMA [clears throat]
um paper on the post dissolution uh impact study. So if you are interested
in any of that information, if you read that, this um resolution pretty much
mimics that and pulls out the important components that Mount View County found
uh with respect to the whole process. So the dissolution paper is much greater
and there's way more recommendations within that, but we tried to condense
the ones that we thought were the most relevant to Mount View County and would
be the most supportive moving forward. Councelor Johnson. Um uh just one uh
very picky suggested word change. Um if we could go to page 158 under the first
uh therefore be be it resolved. Uh the last sentence says those that are beyond
uh life expectancy. Um oh sorry I should read the whole
sentence. Uh reflect audited infrastructure needs and those that are
beyond life expectancy. And I think where it says and providing funding, I
think that should just be the word provide.
I think the content is excellent. I think we just need to change that word
to provide.
» Okay, we can clean that up. >> And I I would be happy to make the
motion. >> Okay. Uh [clears throat] no, you go
ahead. We can we can move the resolution and then still make changes. So
» Okay. So I would move that council endorse uh submitting the dissolution
dissolution process resolution to the 2026 fall RMA convention.
» Thank you for the motion and councelor Lutz.
» The one thing that stood out for me in this one I thought coming from two
counties the whereas most villages already set very high mill rates I kind
of wondered where I assume that came from RMA but I I wondered if the county
should be evaluating that or saying that or or how we back that up. I thought it
was a bit it just stood out to me as um >> maybe not appropriate. But
» so when I reviewed all of the dissolution uh reports, if you look at
all of the uh villages that have gone under the viability review study, their
mill rates are significantly higher. Like I'm talking, you know, between 12
and 18 mill rate. So is it most small villages that have gone through the like
it's not I read it is all small v most small villages in the province of
Alberta are already setting very high mill rates. So it's just the way I read
it. Um read maybe I read it differently. >> Okay. Yeah. Um
I I think what this was trying to address is it's trying to address the
fact that municipal affairs has come back in our last district meeting to say
if you take on these villages just increase their mail rates. You you can
you can do that by putting in a special um what's it called? Like a special tax
for serviced um communities versus the rest of the rural communities. So, we
just wanted to get across the point that um increasing mail rates is not going to
be um it's not going to generate enough revenue because uh those villages have
already um utilized that opportunity to increase their mill rates to increase
revenues. Uh and it didn't work. So, it if council wants to change the wording,
we can, but that was the purpose of that. I read it the same way as
councelor Lutz >> and I'm wondering if some word smithing
around most small villages facing dissolution or considering
um that we can narrow that down to those and not all small villages in the
province. >> How about if we just take out the most
» or if we say often >> small villages because you have come
across several that you use to to for this point. So often small villages are
already >> okay. Is everyone okay with changity?
» So is everyone okay with changing most to often?
» Councelor Harris, >> I was thinking more along the lines of
just after villages uh
undergoing review. >> So
» well I don't just think it's the ones undergoing review though. I think that's
the important distinction here is I don't think it is just those undergoing
review. Oh, I'm sure it isn't. But I think the focus of the of the resolution
is the review process. >> Okay. So, we have a couple suggestions.
Is everyone uh is everyone okay with either saying often or is the preferred
wording to go small villages uh undergoing viability review?
» Do you want to focus on that? >> It was the um missing the undergoing
viability review that caught me the most. So, okay. But I'm not going to
words it either. Just you point. >> Okay. So um is is the direction then to
to um kind of modify the whereas to include or the focus on the viability
review those those um villages going through a viability
review. Everyone's okay with that? >> Okay. Okay. Uh so uh councelor Johnson
if we could just add as amended to your motion would you be okay with that and
then and then we can capture those two changes that council has brought to to
our attention. Yeah. >> Yes. Yes. Thank you. Okay. So, everyone
is good with that. Is there any other suggestions or is there any other
concerns with moving this forward? No. Thanks for that. Thanks for that. Those
are good catches. Okay. So, I have a motion to accept or
to um move this resolution forward as amended.
[clears throat] Any further discussion? I'll call to
question. All in favor? And that motion's carried. Thank you for that
great discussion.
Fine. And we'll go to 9.7 upcoming special council meeting schedule. Jeff,
please. Uh, >> thank you, Reeve. So, for council's
information, wanted to highlight on page 160 of your agenda some changes uh that
the Reev and I have worked on and coordinated for some special council
meetings upcoming. Uh, this is a receive as information item as the Reeve has
approved changing the schedule. Uh so for your information, council will be
aware the October 7th meeting has been moved to September 30th with a start
time of 8:30 and the budget special budget meeting that was set for October
21st was moved to October 23rd to accommodate a change in dates of the
regional egg service board conference. >> And thank you very much to council for
being accommodating. I um I know it's always difficult, but there's a lot
going on. So, I really appreciate everyone's quick responses. And because
we have council motion setting these dates, I think it was important that we
brought this back for council's uh approval.
So, is there any discussion or I'm looking for a motion? Uh, councelor
Lutz, >> I um move that council receive as
information the scheduled changes for the special council meetings regarding
2027 budget and economic development strategic plan.
» Thank you. And also thank you to administration for accommodating those
changes for council. Always appreciate we know how much work goes in uh to uh
creating those agenda packages. So thank you for all your work on that. Okay, any
further discussion with that then I will call the question. All in favor? And
that motion is carried.
Uh, and I see that we have our um 11:00 delegation. Are you waiting for anyone
else to come to join us? Would you be all right to start um earlier?
Fantastic. Oh, we still have 9.8. So, uh, we're
going to get to that right after 9.8 because I have apparently forgot one.
» Yes, but I have it written down. Uh bear with us. We'll still get you in before
11. Uh so 9.8 RMA committee approval. Uh Councelor Harris.
» So as everyone has seen, the um RM has reached out uh um a couple of months ago
looking for [snorts] members to apply for their justice committee. I was
unable to at that time because of some family issues I was dealing with. Those
are now settled. They've extended the deadline. So I would very much like and
I've been encouraged to apply for the justice committee uh appointment of RMA
um and asking council's approval. It would result in um because RMA won't
pick up PDMS etc that pdiums and transport or traveling costs would be
borne and it should be ending in uh spring of 2027.
Uh yeah, so we uh it's actually in the uh agenda package on page 163, but Laura
actually also has it on the screen. Um I think this is going to be an excellent
uh thing for Mount View County to participate in. I think councelor Harris
has the um the skill set to make to make this committee actually function really
really well and get some great results. So I think it's it's absolutely awesome.
We have a motion that's been created in order to address this. And councelor
Harris, I think you said that uh part of the application process requires that
that you have the municipality support. >> That's correct.
» Yeah. >> Councelor Nixon,
» I would move that council endorse councelor Greg Harris applying for RMA's
justice committee and that the council res assumes all costs associated with
attending meetings should he be appointed.
» Thank you. This is a great use of taxpayer dollars. I think our rural
constituents would get a lot out of having councelor Harris sit on this.
Any further discussion? I will call question. All in favor? And that
motion's carried. Send it in. Get her done.
All right. Okay. Is anyone going to stop me from moving to the delegations?
All right. So, if I could ask our um legacy land trust society to come
forward. The mic will be live. Um I believe everyone knows everyone, but
just in the spirit of making sure that you know who you're talking to, I'm just
going to do a quick round of introductions from our counselors. And
I'll start with um uh councelor uh Fulton, please.
» Morning. Uh Dwayne Fultton, counselor, division one.
» Morning. Thanks for coming. Greg Harris, division 2.
» Hi, Angela Look, Division 3. Good morning, Angela Alers, Division 5 and
Reeve. Tiffany Nixon, division 4. Good morning. Peggy Johnson, division
six. >> Jennifer Lutz, division 7.
» Okay. So, what I'll do is I will turn the floor over to you. Um, delegations
have 10 minutes to uh uh to address council and then we'll have loads of
questions. If you need any uh any time in addition, if you tell me now, then we
can look at extending that. Do you think you'll be able to fit within the 10
minutes? >> Uh, we think so.
» Perfect. All right, then. I will turn it over to you. So, I won't waste any more
of your time. >> Okay.
Madame Reev and counselors, uh, thank you for having us here today. Uh, I'm
Doug Kollister. I'm Legacy's current chair. And with me today is our
executive director, Kevin Franovski. So, we're here to update you on Legacy.
We've done that a number of times in the past, and ask for your support. And, um,
Kevin will present the first part of what we have to share today. and I will
finish up. So, I'll turn it over to Kevin.
» Thanks, Doug. Morning, counselors. Um, as you can see on the screen, um, our
vision and mission is focused on working with communities um, in the Mountain
View uh, county and surrounding environments uh, on conservation and
stewardship of valued landscapes including uh, ecological, agricultural
and heritage values. Next slide. So we were founded in 2013. We became a
registered charity in 2015 uh with support from Mountain View County and we
signed our first conservation easement or CE in 2015.
Uh we currently have more than 3,800 acres on 21 CES and it helps um our
stewardship helps maintain and improve the health and biodiversity of uh these
uh lands including rangeand. Uh 85% of oures are working landscapes i.e. they
include agriculture. Um 16 have eco gift status from environment Canada. So,
Environment Canada has certified them as ecologically sensitive and we have four
more in addition to the the 21 that are listed there. We have four more in
progress and we'll talk about term easements in a minute.
So, this is just some visuals of um some of the CE donors and uh that's a the
type of sign that we put on them to uh let people know that this is a
conservation easement property.
Originally, the Alberta Land Trust Grant Program, which was a provincial funding
program launched in 2011, provided funding to land trusts like Legacy to
place permanent or perpetual CES on private lands. In 2025,
this program came to an end and it was replaced by the private land
conservation program, which focuses only on term easements. So it is still
possible to put a perpetual or permanent easement on land but now that needs to
be funded through private sources. The provincial funding um is only for term
easements now and those can range from 20 to 50 years.
Um the unexpected cancellation of the ALTGP program um was a significant
impact to all the regional land trusts in Alberta. um at the time that it came
down last year, none of our existing land owners who were considering putting
um easements in place were interested in moving from perpetual to term. And so we
made no applications for term easements last year. Um if you move to the next
slide, we do have some um people who are interested in now putting term easements
on and so we will be submitting PLCP applications um by the September 15th
deadline and if successful those funds will start flowing um sometime next
year.
So we're in a financially healthy position. The year-end financials are on
our website if anyone's interested. Those 21 CES that I mentioned, they're
valued at almost $10 million. We have almost a million dollars in endowment
funds that we managed through um a Mau investment um professionally managed
investment and the income that comes from that pays for our annual monitoring
and stewardship. So, for example, last year $32,000 of income was generated
from those endowment funds and we ended the year with a surplus of $10,000 or 9
$9 9,783. Doug,
» yeah, the next few slides um talk about Legacy's future and what we've we've
done uh in that regard. So, we hired a fundraising consultant in late uh 2025
to help us examine the feasibility of a capital campaign going forward. And we
early this year we held a uh a professionally facilitated strategic
planning session which identified uh three options for us going forward. Um,
option one uh was uh what we called expand and
evolve and basically it was business as usual going forward and it was
contingent on receiving uh a grant that we'd applied for from the center for
land conservation. We did not get that grant. Option two uh was a protect what
we call protect and consolidate which was to withdraw into a a skeleton
situation where we take care of existing CES and and uh involve more volunteers
and option three was merging with another land trust. So legacy land trust
ceasing to exist.
Um at our board meeting on June 3rd of this
year, the board agreed to uh implement a modified option two that would uh that's
the withdraw and and take care of existing C's and so on. um but uh also
involve a an operating fund donation campaign
uh in an attempt to raise uh $100,000 to help fund operations in 2027 and into
2028. We have funds to operate through 2026
into early 2027. Um board members have seated that
operating fund donation campaign with $20,000. every one of our our directors
has made a contribution. Um our plan is to transition to option
one. In other words, get back to a a business as usual model over the next
two to three years. Um and that would involve a capital campaign uh to try and
uh get a an operating endowment um fund in place of somewhere in the range of$1
to $2 million. Um while this is going on, we'll of
course continue to reassess our position and if we feel like um what we're trying
to do is not feasible, uh we will go back and revisit the merger option.
Our current executive director, uh Kevin, is under contract until May of
next year. Um, we also have a part-time conservation coordinator who does who
pretty much does our monitoring and stewardship
um, at the moment. So that's on an hourly basis. Um in the winter coming
up, we anticipate having an intern work with us through the winter. Um mentored
by Kevin and uh hopefully gaining sufficient experience and organizational
knowledge that that person can take over when Kevin um has to give up his
position. So that's our successional plan. Uh additional staff are very much
dependent on successful implementation of a capital campaign.
This is just a picture of one of our CES, West Hawk Farms. Um, and it's a
working landscape. Uh, what matters. This is what we've
heard from the community and our constituents and and we agree with these
values. They're very much our values as well.
So, so what we're coming to you with is an opportunity to support what you care
about and the constituents in Mountain View County uh care about. We very much
appreciate the support that that Mountain View County has provided to
Legacy. Um, I don't think it's far off to say that Mountain View County is a
founder of Legacy and we're hopeful that Mountain View County can support us
again at this important juncture with with the donation of operating funds for
2027.
Uh, this is our value proposition um that we're that we're presenting to
potential donors. Uh some important points are we're the only land trust
working exclusively in West Central Alberta.
We protect landscapes that matter to the people of Mountain View County and
surrounding areas. Uh we really value and try and build
lasting relationships with our land owners, communities, and partners to
protect places that define Mountain View County.
and the members of the board and our staff
all live and work here and we understand the land and we understand the
conservation challenges that Mound View County faces.
Your support will provide operating funds obviously help us transition to
the new funding environment that was forced on us by the change in programs.
allow us to establish an operating endowment fund. That is, it'll give us
breathing space to implement our capital campaign and uh and hopefully get an
operating endowment fund in place. Uh it'll help us achieve our target, which
is $100,000 and it'll build on the $20,000 that our
board members have contributed already.
And that concludes uh our presentation and we'll we're happy to to answer any
questions or discussion that you might like to have.
» Thank you for [clears throat] your presentation. I will open it up to uh
council to ask some questions. Councelor Johnson,
» thanks for your presentation. Can you tell us a little bit more about the
merger option you talked about? Um uh what would that look like if it goes
forward? How would that affect uh the the um land that you already have um
easements on? Can you tell us a little bit about what a merger option would
look like? >> Sure. Sure. I'll be happy to do that.
So, we've had preliminary discussions with another land trust, Western Sky,
and and they're quite interested in in in us merging with them if if that
becomes the thing that that is the most rational uh to do. um
we're required if if if we wind up to move our assets to a similar uh
organization and Western Sky obviously would be that. Um I think that it would
be it would be pretty seamless for the current CES and the owners of those
lands that that we have right now. Um, but having said that, clearly clearly
Western Sky would not have the same focus on Mountain View County that that
Legacy does by virtue of it being a Mountain View County entity. So, we
certainly uh the board uh I'll refer back again to that meeting we had in
June, the board meeting we had in June when we came up with this plan that
we're that we're trying to implement. Um uh the board the board really doesn't
want to go that way. However, we're we're sensible enough to realize that we
may not have a choice depending how things go. And so and so we're keeping
communications with Western Sky open and keeping them updated on how we're doing
and what we're trying to do so that so that uh if that option becomes the one
that we have to pursue that it's still there.
Thank you. So, who is Western Sky? >> Um,
good question. Well, they're a land trust. Uh, and they've been around a
little bit longer than we have. Um, they're not a whole lot bigger than us.
Uh, there's they're uh their offices in Calgary.
Um, they've stolen two of our people over the years.
um which is I guess a compliment but you know a loss to us and u uh they're a
good organization I think that's my that's my impression with them knowing
them and and having had some discussions with them I think they would they would
do a good job by our existing CES and and and the assets that we have but uh
our board doesn't really want to go there if we if we can avoid it.
» Okay. Um, councelor look. >> Thank you. Um, how many of the 21
easements that Legacy holds are in Mountain View County?
» Yeah. Do you want >> I can look that up. Just give me a
moment. We can move to the next question. I'll come back.
» Thank you. Not being totally familiar with CES. Um, from a financial p
perspective, where does the bulk of the the financial obligation lie? Is it in
filing the legal documents? How how is this money being spent? I didn't have
time to um look into your financials today.
» Yeah, the operating funds that we're asking for.
» Um yeah, I'll speak a little bit just to
how uh what our business model is. So we apply for for grants for in you know if
a land owner comes to us or or we establish a relationship with a land
owner and the land owner would like to put a CE on their land then we work with
the land owner to make an application to the to the existing program which now is
the PLCP the private land conservation program and uh so there's money uh all
of the costs associated with putting a C in place are contained within that grant
if we get the grant and the grant is segregated. It's a separate fund and it
uh that money can only be spent on that particular conservation easement project
and there's monies within that uh that envelope to to uh fund our people our
activity in developing the agreement and organizing the baseline and organizing
the appraisal and other and other things that go with the C. But there is um and
and I think it's a typical thing with nonprofits. There there are there are
monies needed um just to operate our business and operate our organization
that that are not provided in those grants and we need to fund you know we
need to come up with that money in other places. And why we have found ourselves
in a bit of a pinch here is because is because as Kevin mentioned, none of our
our prospects when the change occurred between the
programs and it was only a month or six weeks before the deadline. So it was a
very short term. I think the only land trust that actually got any applications
in last year was in fact Western Sky and they just happened to have a big project
that was just sitting there waiting. So um so because we didn't make any
applications last year, we had no new projects come in this year. The previous
year we'd only received one project from the old program and uh so as a result uh
our our business slowed down and there wasn't and so we needed more non-project
money to to fund our internal operations. And so so we found ourselves
short from that from from that perspective.
» Councelor Harris, >> Doug, couple questions. Um,
» is there anything I'm not familiar with this new private land conservation
program? Is there anything to prevent people with a a trust on a private land
at its end reapplying and continuing with a new trust on the same
land? while the old trust is in place.
» Well, no. If I say I put a 50-year trust on in my family, then at the end of that
50 years, of course, we won't know what a government will do. And then, but is
there any thing in the legislation or the program that says you can't reapply?
In other words, >> no.
» Continue. Okay. >> No. No.
Um, is there any indication or maybe it's too early to see if some of the
people who were interested in a land trust uh and now with a term through the
province um maybe looked federally to the Nature Conservancy or I have a
couple of those in my area that have been out your way that have been there
forever. >> Yes. Um I'm wondering if that would
redirect people to to that program away from uh Legacy. It's possible uh
counselor, but um one of the real needs that Legacy has
filled is that and and and let's just use Nature Conservancy as a a good
example because they're the biggest land trust um in Canada is that uh Nature
Conservancy got to a point where they um couldn't see themselves dealing with
small parcels, quarter sections. And I have personal experience with that
because when I wanted to put an easement on my property near Water Valley, um I
contacted Nature Conservancy and they were very nice, but they said, "Sorry,
we just we just can't do that. We're doing these big projects in southwestern
Alberta and elsewhere all over Canada and so on. We can't do that." And
fortunately, um it was about that time that Legacy with Montre Countyy's help
and others >> got going and and uh and that's how I
ended up with, you know, an easement on my property. So, I think it's possible
what you say, but I but it would be going back um in a direction that we
were pushed away from not that long ago. So,
» I I agree with you, Doug. I I'm just trying to highlight that that there
isn't an alternative, >> right?
» Um that if legacy goes away, um other than a merger, there's nothing to
to pick up where legacy leaves off. I just
» Thanks. >> That's right. Uh uh councelor lights.
» Yeah, I was just I don't know the differences uh real greatly on the two
different programs, but I I I know that the the money the financial benefit
isn't the same as it used to be under the new program. Um is there any um work
with the government to try and get that inequity financially?
Um >> you want to speak to that
» so uh people are more uh apt to put land under the conservation easement? Yeah,
that's a very good question. Um, so under the ALTGP program, especially with
the EcoGift, um, you would get a tax receipt from CRA for the value of the CE
and then the EcoGift, um, component of that, um, allowed you to extend the
amount of time that you had to use that tax receipt and it gave you a break on
capital gains. under PLCP because it's a term easement not a perpetual easement
all of that disappears and instead what the um provincial grant provides as a
onetime cash payment for the value of the CE and so you know you're left with
full capital gains you know impact on that sort of stuff you can't use it for
estate planning etc etc so it is it is a pretty significant um change
going back to councelor look's question 17 of the 21 are in Mount Buchanan
Okay. Uh, councelor Johnson. >> Um, because, uh, I guess I'm I'm
concerned that what we've built in Mountain View County stays in Mountain
View County. So, um, question to Jeff. When I look at the, um, the alternative
um, uh, option for a motion. I'm prepared to make the motion. So, um,
councelor Johnson, let's finish with the, uh, um, it's important that we
finish with the delegation first and that we have, um, the opportunity for
council to ask more questions and gather more information. So, is there any other
questions for um, uh, councelor? Look, >> I just have one more. Does legacy
actively um, pursue land owners or opportunities to offer this to? um how
how does a average land owner for example out there know um that this even
exists or is an opportunity for them? >> Yeah, that's a good question. Um you
know and that's one thing we have uh struggled with. I guess all
organizations do to try and uh increase our profile so people know we're here
and and and know what they do if they if they do want to uh do something, you
know, along the lines of what we provide for for their legacy. Uh but we're you
know we have our radar up and um uh if we run into somebody uh
uh and and and see that you know you know they have land and they're thinking
about their how they're going to pass it on and so on. Uh you know we'll mention
that to them. So we we you know we act as ambassadors ourselves and and and the
folks who know know us do that and we have people who call in. Uh certainly
that's what I did with Legacy was I just called into the Legacy office back back
when I was interested in putting a CE on and and asked for it. Yeah. And I'll
just add to that um we obviously have a website that includes information for
landowners. Um Sally Banks um maintains a Friends of Legacy um email list and
there's a newsletter that goes out and uh you know we've got calendars and
other promotional material that that we do. we hold events and so we we do the
best to sort of make people aware. Um word of mouth obviously and referrals,
personal referrals are are sort of the the core thing that that allows people
to understand who we are and what we do. >> Thank you. Uh councelor Lut just trying
to figure out the financial position. So your endowment um um that's that's
pretty substantial. That's a a really nice endowment. So, are you looking at
the shortage like the the 32,000 of income that was from the endowment funds
withdrawn in 2025? Was that just a accumulation of um investment revenue or
is is that kind of an annual expected revenue from that? And uh what's the
difference on um what what's the gap for you guys in operations?
» Yeah, that's endowment. >> That's another good question. So the
critical um challenge with our particular financial model is that um
whether it's the ALTGP or the new PLCP um grants when they come to us um the
endowment that comes as part of that is what we call restricted funding. And so
when it goes into the endowment the investment income that comes off of that
annually can only be used to monitor and steward the existing CES. it can't be
used for operating costs, right? And so that's the challenge is that
[clears throat] um under ALTGP there was a certain amount of money that was
available to us for sort of you know doing the necessary operations and and
bringing in um you know advertising and stuff bringing in new CES that
disappeared under the new program. And so the gap that we're looking at is not
for funding to do monitoring and stewardship and maintain the existing
CES. it's to do the the necessary operating costs. So, you know,
bookkeeping, advertising, um you know, reaching out to to land owners, holding
events, that sort of stuff. Those are the costs that aren't covered under the
restricted funding. >> Okay.
» Thank you. And uh just you call it a capital campaign, but do you do you
actually spend any capital or is it mainly just operating?
» Yeah, maybe I confused things there. So, we have this uh you know, our campaign
that we're we're we're on now until the end of this year is is to raise $100,000
worth of operating funds that we think will will allow us to operate through
2027 and 2028. Um once that's done and hopefully we're
successful on that, then then that consultant that we hired back uh in late
2025 that that did a study on the feasibility
of a capital campaign, we'd like to try and implement that and go uh and look
for uh potential endowment funds that would provide us
with operating funds through the income in the longer term. So, we're looking
for, you know, the $100,000 campaign we're on right now as a short-term fix
for the next year and a half or two years. And and then during that time,
uh, we would endeavor to build an endowment fund that would provide us
with operating funds in the longer term >> that would be unrestricted.
» Correct. >> Yes. Okay.
» Yeah, that's the key. Yeah. >> Right. And maybe just um u elaborating
from counselor um Lex's question. What is your annual operating costs?
» Speak to that. >> Um yeah, that's a tricky.
» Yeah, it's it's a bit under 100,000 per year.
» Yeah. >> Bit under 100,000 per year.
» Yeah. >> Okay. And that's including everything.
That's including your monitoring and stewardship and and as well as the other
advertising and administrative >> cost. the monitoring and stewardship is
covered by the endow the restricted endowment returns and so this would just
be the unrestricted so it's office rent it's it's you know it and and
» and that's 100,000 roughly per year okay >> yeah maybe if if I can just add
something to that so an important thing to be aware of is Kevin so Kevin's our
executive director right now and and uh uh his remuneration is as an executive
director an experienced executive director and so on he's on he's on
contract until May of next year. Uh I mentioned in my remarks that we're that
we're going to bring an intern in over the winter and try and get her or him up
to speed such that they can take over. Not as an executive director, though. It
would be a lower position. It would be it would cost less. So, so um we're
looking at reducing our operating costs over the next year, one to two years, uh
by virtue of that because it's a big part of our annual operating cost is the
salary for whoever is leading the organization from an operational point
of view. >> Right. And my last question is really
kind of like a high level. So founded in 2013, uh it it's crazy to think how much
the world has changed in the last 13 years. Um land values, I don't think
anyone could have ever anticipated they were going to go as high as they are. Um
sustainability moving forward, uh what are the biggest challenges for the
sustainability moving forward? You've got provincial grant changes, you've got
um land value changes, you've got a different demographic out there right
now. I see a lot of large farms uh children don't want to take them over
anymore. They're selling them off peace meal. What is the sustainability in your
opinion of a land trust moving forward given all of the challenges that have
happened over the last 13 years? >> Do you want to speak to that or I can
follow? You you can follow up. Um the the important sort of foundation
that we have with the perpetual CES that that we have lays the foundation to make
us somewhat resistant to to sort of these changes because there's a there's
legal documents in place that you know allow these CES to continue on. Um the
you know what's going to happen with people being willing to put term
easements on that have a sort of defined end date. um you know the land values as
you mentioned are keep going up and so I'm not going to you know put a CE on
because I can subdivide it and become a millionaire and and all that sort of
stuff. It it's definitely a challenge but I think the the other side of the
scale is that people are becoming more and more um aware that preserving the
agricultural and and ecological character of the county is super
important. And the simple fact of putting a CE on a quarter section or
more to say, you know, this will be used for sustainable agriculture going
forward allows them some comfort that despite the pressures of, you know,
everyone wanting to move out here and buy their own acreage and whatever that
at least, you know, their children, their grandchildren or, you know, others
who can take on that land will, you know, that it it contributes to sort of
the the overall vision of what, you know, our local landscape should look
like. Our biggest sort of immediate to medium-term challenge is figuring out
those unrestricted funds. You know, that's why Doug talked about if we can
set up an unrestricted endowment that provides us that would solve sort of
that that sort of, you know, immediate headache. And then longer term, I think
we need to look more strategically and how we work with the county or, you
know, other land trusts or whatever to sort of stitch these parcel to parcels
together into something that that works for sort of all the all the uh
stakeholders in in the county. >> And maybe one last question just
following up on yours, how do the existing CES
contribute to the financial viability of the land trust moving forward? Do you
continue to get funds from from those? Is that part of the grant program?
» Uh the endowment that we got on day one is all that we get for any existing CE.
And so that's why appropriately managing that investment is critical. Um we have
put an application into a um a financial organization that's based out of the
University of Alberta to take a look at our the strength of our endowment fund
and give us some advice on is there anything we need to do to strengthen
that. >> Okay. So, it's just a one-time
contribution to the the restricted endowment funding.
» Correct. And that now we need to manage that appropriately because we can only
live off the the income. >> Right. Okay.
» But they're on our list to approach for our operating fund campaign this fall.
So, um um I' I' I'd just like to loop back just for a second if I can take a
bit more time on the sustainability question you had and and um I'm not sure
it came out of our presentation that clearly, but uh um
coming out of the change in programs, we uh this year we had a portfolio of of 15
potential new CES. Um uh and and Kevin mentioned that when the program changed,
they were all thinking perpetual CE and there wasn't enough time or at least not
for them uh to change their thinking and come around to maybe considering a term
CE. Well, you know, some have, and as Kevin said, we're going to make
applications on September 15th, but some are staying with the perpetual idea, and
perpetual CES are not uh illegal. Uh, you know, you can do them. You just
can't, you know, use provincial funding for it. So I think um an important part
of that sustainability question is that we're just you know we're just early in
figuring out other ways to do CES going forward without without those government
uh you know without that government support. So and and and that seems you
know people seem to be be uh coming around to that idea and and there are
some solutions. We won't go into them here today because they're not totally
formulated yet, but but I think that uh you know there are going to be some ways
to do that going forward and that will contribute to our sustainability.
» Perfect. Thank you. All right. Is there any other questions from council?
» I just have one. Sorry, I don't mean to drag this out, but um um you know, you
don't know what you don't know. Um, have has the uh conservation community
thought of um I'm just thinking of the health regions where you know there's
task one health foundation and they do all kind of the nitty-gritty um
logistics stuff on behalf of a lot of different um uh fundraising committees
for health just to make it more efficient. Um, I think there's like 10 U
land trusts in Alberta. Have you talked about forming an umbrella organization
to kind I'm sure they're all in the same boat, right? Same situation.
» Yeah, we have something called the Regional Land Trusts of Alberta. It's um
it's an umbrella organization. So, that's um working quite well. So,
there's six regional land trusts that are conservation focused. There are
other land trusts in Alberta, but the the six that are focused um just in
Alberta and and mostly on conservation are part of the RLTA. Uh we meet
monthly. Um we have um engaged with uh the provincial government. We have a
meeting next week with Minister Hunter to explain um
encouraged them to to reconsider adding perpetual back into the toolbox. Term is
great, but perpetual is is a is a valuable tool. And so we'll see where
those those discussions go. Um the idea of sort of having the umbrella
organization raise funds is an interesting one. I'll bring that up at
the next RLTA meeting. >> Thank you. Well, thank you
[clears throat] very much for your time. We really appreciate the presentation
and all the excellent information you've given us. Um and I'm sure council will
have further discussions. >> Thank you, K.
» Thank you. >> All right. So, we do have a motion on
page 44. Councelor Johnson. >> So, I would move uh that council direct
administration to bring back the legacy land trust society donation request to a
future council meeting for consideration. And can I ask a question
as [clears throat] well? >> Sure. So, my question Jeff would be um
in regard to the process. So, um, uh, as part of the motion, would the process be
that, um, that administration would bring back a project sheet for the 2027
budget? Uh, in this regard, um, or would the process be different than that?
» It would be at council's direction. It could be a project sheet for 2027. As
you're likely aware, there is nothing within the 2026 budget which would
contemplate providing a source of funding. However, council always has the
ability to pass a resolution to fund something from the tax rate
stabilization reserve if it's more imminent in nature or ideally you would
defer a funding request to a future budget deliberation. So, a project sheet
would be um an appropriate way to advance that. So because we don't make
any decisions based on delegations, we don't make any decisions on the day as
part of our process. When we went to the when we went from the policy and
priorities meeting, uh, which was a a a committee of council essentially that
made recommendations back to council, we don't have that anymore. So as part of
our policy, we don't make decisions on the day of the council meeting. So
that's why the alternative option is there. Um, if council chooses to pass
this motion, then we can have all of those discussions at a subsequent
meeting. Thank you.
» Okay, so we have a motion on the floor. Is there any further discussion on the
motion? No. And I'll call question. All in
favor? And that motion's carried. And maybe um because it's standard practice,
uh we will I'll ask for a motion to receive that. Um the delegation is
information uh moved by council f council councelor Bolton, sorry. Uh any
further discussion? I'll call question. All in favor? And that motion's carried.
Okay. Um, you know what? Let's just take a five minute break before we go into
our last delegation.
All right, I'm going to cut all the conversation
short because I want to make sure we have time for lots of great questions.
[clears throat] So, we will resume the regular council
meeting of August 26th and we are on our delegation, the Olds College. Um, would
you like to do introductions? I think everyone knows everyone. So, um, I think
we're good to proceed. So, I will just hand it over to yourself, um, Mr. Camry.
» Yeah. Well, and thank you. And I do believe everybody has been introduced in
the past. So, um, thank you for this opportunity to, um, to present in front
of council. I know, um, we have our our regular gatherings at different stages,
but this is a gathering with a partnership request, and so I will turn
that over to my cohorts here right away. But um I just wanted to give a few
opening comments on the relationship that has been cultivated over many years
with Mountain View County and the college. And um it goes back to in my
time being on council was I started in 2004. We developed a lot of different
partnerships and one of the highest profile ones is the CLC. So the
community learning campus. It's put Olds College and the Olds area including
Mountain View County on the map. It's created an environment that only other
others only wish they could have. And then along with that, there's been the
more direct donations that we've had from the partnerships to the um
processes of developing the meat shop years ago. And then um more recently the
Workland um building and now we're here to talk to you about another um
opportunity to um to enhance the partnership between us through a
request. So, I'm I'm going to turn it over to to Todd and Christopher, but I
just wanted to say thank you on behalf of the board. Um the board really really
relishes the relationship, relishes the fact that you're willing to advocate for
us at the same time, and we've had conversations about um developing a
joint advocacy approach for for the county and and the college. So, those
those works are in the in the thought process right now. So, with that in
mind, I'm going to turn it over to Todd and Christopher and um let them run
through the the package that you already have. And thank you.
» Thanks, Al. Um so, I don't have I'm not going to go through any slides or
anything. I'm just going to speak to you. We've uh produced the book for uh
future reference. Right off the bat, I'm going to tell you on page eight, there
is a error. You will see on page eight, we have ATB in there. We're significant
donors. We put together uh brochures like this and even with seven sets of
eyes on this, we missed that. So, I'm just going to call that out right now.
Um, but first off, thank you very much for allowing us to come and to Al's
point, thank you very much for supporting the college. It has been a
very strong partnership and it's been a very noticeable partnership and today
we'll talk about uh the potential for one more. So, the book that you got in
front of you talks about and showcases what will be our signature building. So,
we have a new trades building coming up on campus and while that building will
house the trades program. Uh, it will also be a significant place for events,
it also has offices and classes as well. So, while the trades program will be in
there, others will use it as well. And I do see especially in the summertime
leveraging that for events and other activities. Now the trades program
itself as you know is a significant program that we have on campus. It is
about 1,500 individuals a year go through that including 500 uh uh bas
dual credit students. So students that will get credits both in high school and
at the college as well. So it's of the programs we have the college that one is
the largest and most significant for dual credit. Now the program itself
today houses a mechanics, heavy duty mechanics, welding, motorcycle repair,
but we also do have two other programs that we'll be looking at. So right now
we're very close to having an electrical program and there will be going forward
a program for plumbing as well that will be coming into that or the plumbing's
trade. And the nuance and the uniqueness is when we bring programs into old
college they always have a bit of a bend for agriculture. So when you are doing a
program around electrical are you doing a program potentially in the future
around plumbing use cases will look at what we do in a rural community. So the
program still focuses very much on the what you're going to find with in any
trades program but again the uniqueness of Olds College is that we focus on an
egg and rural and that is our unique special sauce. Now um also as you guys
know Old's College is a bit of a unique postsecary. So most postsecondaries as
you understand are kind of in a region and develop their jobs and they develop
their programs around that region. Now within this area within say an hour and
an hour and a half drive we have 10 postsecaries.
So comprehensive postsecondaries old's uniqueness is that
we focus very m much on agriculture and rural. Our uniqueness is the fact that
we are in a rural area and that we have 3,000 acres of farmland, 135 head of
cattle, thousand head of feed lot and that ability where there's not cement.
So that allows us to basically execute and drive both on research and education
agriculturalbased pieces. Now, this particular program that we're looking at
in terms of the uh trades is probably the most significant program to support
what happens here in the county. Now, if you look at the county itself, we have
here from an a equipment perspective, Brandt, Rocky Mountain Equipment,
Future, Future Egg, Alberta Egg, Noble Equipment, and a number of other
independent shops. On top of that, there are about 15 to 20 different welding uh
locations and shops here in the county and almost every member that has an
acreage or a farm is going to be utilizing the people that come out of
this program. So, of all the programs that we have at Olds College, this one
probably has the most significant economic impact here [snorts]
at the college. So our hope is that you uh look at supporting the college and
look at supporting this program and what we have uh wrote in the letter and what
we have proposed is similar to what you have done in the past with the workland
and that is a 5-year $100,000 uh donation. And then on page nine of
your book, you'll see that what we're also proposing because again, I think
this program is much more relevant specifically to the county. Now, subject
to board approval, we would be looking at placing the county logo and looking
at how we would place your guys's name in that building itself. And there are
some spaces that we look at. So, one would be a common area. So as you come
into the building, there's a main area where the food is going to be and the
students are going to be. That's a very prominent area. There is also a patio
and there is also specialy labs. So for example, one of the labs that's really
unique in the program is hydraulics. So it's a it is I don't say a very
significant thing in the rural community that skill set around how to manage
hydraulics and there is a specialy lab just for that. So that is another
potential naming pieces. As I said, you will also have the recognition on the
donor wall and then we would also allow you to access that space for your own
personal use twice a year. So if you were going to look at hosting activities
or looking at engaging uh within the piece, we would allow the col the county
to basically leverage that space as well and then also give you free access to
the career side which could help things like your uh on your mechanics side and
your heavy duty equipment side uh as well as for free. So, in conclusion, I'm
hoping you see that this is a key economic driver for the county, that a
lot of the employers in our New York County come to the college and work at
the college, and that this is an excellent opportunity for the county to
support the college and to support the local community. So, I'll leave it
there. >> Thank you. I will open the floor for
counselors to ask questions. Councelor Johnson,
» thank you. Thanks for your presentation. Um, I think I saw yesterday or the day
before in popular media that the federal government has come forward with a grant
for trades. Can you speak to that and and uh whether or not uh that would uh
impact um your program and and this lovely new building?
» We'd have to look specifically at the grants. There are grants and support for
trades and um there is actually new um funding models coming out and that does
support the trades but usually those tend to focus a little bit more on the
student and the operating side not necessarily the capital. So what I
probably missed in the presentation is the government gave us $63 million to
build this uh building. Uh the overall cost of the building is about 70.5
million is what it's going to cost us. So as a college we have to raise just
about a little over $7 million to basically finalize it. So these funds
would specifically go to the capital build of the building itself.
» Uh Al, >> yeah, thank thank you. And I I just
heard about it last night on the on on TV, so on the news. And um the part that
I found really exciting about it Peggy is the fact that it it talked about
technology and agra food technology. So we are on the cusp of of both of those
being old college of agriculture and technology. So to say there is
opportunities would be presumptuous but it is exciting to hear those words all
in the same phrase that tie with us. So I'm just going to say our people will
have will be looking into it. that I think it was a great opportunity that
was just announced and I just caught it last night and then again this morning.
» Thank you. Any other questions? Uh, councelor uh look.
» Thank you. Um, I'm excited. I've always been excited for the 29 years I've lived
here to be in the county that that u supports old schools college. So any
support that now that I'm on council that we can give excites me again.
However, um, in what I read in our agenda and in your book, you talk about
student retention and and appealing to the local. Are there any statistics to
actually say what that retention level is? Because there's so many foreign
students, well, maybe less now with the government change, but the foreign
students that come in and there's rural in every county around us. So, is there
any are there any statistics to show that those students who come from
Mountain View County stay in Mountain View County?
» I can't speak about Mountain View County specifically, but I can talk about a few
of the stats that we do look at in terms of uh employment and some other things.
So, one of the challenges that we have in agg and in general is that about 1.5
to 1.7% of the population is rural. So if you look at the students that we have
um probably about 70 75% come from Alberta and then the rest come from the
other provinces. And the reason that we have to recruit more outside of just
here is there's just no one left. Do you know what I mean? There's less and less
people that really have a rural egg background. And so it is also important
because we're probably going to also have to think about recruiting from more
urban environments to have the environment to basically showcase a real
a world. I think that's the thing too we have to recognize that the uniqueness of
those colleges. We actually have hands-on learning environments and these
dealerships that I mentioned like there's significant partnerships there.
So our students get access to real equipment and the newest things. So that
X- series combine is $1.2 million. They get access to now. Um 96%
of our students have a job in six months. Like our challenge is not
getting jobs for these kids. Our challenge is finding the kids. So that's
a nice thing about this investment is that we now have a learning environment
that is first class and that allows us to attract the right people into the
industry because more and more like I'm an Aggie myself. We are going to have to
think about how we recruit people to industry because they're just isn't the
talent pool to drive to get from.
» Um I'll shrink that down a little bit to be more specific about this building
though. Um, with the apprenticeship programs, they typically are um meant
for students or the policies are meant for students that take apprenticeships
in that province. They're not necessarily transferable. So that means
our students will generally be staying in Alberta. But then when you narrow it
down even further with an electrical or a plumbing program, since there are
programs throughout Alberta, our students will generally be coming from
localities that are much closer to Olds College. So there's a higher probability
they will be staying in the county if they're taking their apprenticeship
program at our at our school. >> Thank you. Is there any other question?
» No. Uh, councelor Lutz, >> what's the next big capital project once
this is done? What's what's on the horizon for for next?
» I haven't sold anything to the board yet, Jennifer. So, we have to I have to
be careful what I say, right? Um but I do think that one thing that we do have
to look at is our livestock facilities because that's the other thing too that
again our our uniqueness is um is the fact that we are we have the fields we
have the ability to deal with the animals and so that's what makes us
unique and new and there probably is some need to start looking at that.
» Okay. So I' I've got a few. Um so how has the town of olds been engaged in
this uh capital campaign? >> Yeah. So, we've had similar
conversations with them as well. Um, as you probably know, they're not flush.
So, we wouldn't expect uh this type of um same type of ability to do this. More
often, what we're probably going to look at with the town of Olds is going to be
uh inind kind of collaborations. Okay.
» And just our other part with the town of old that is is so significant is is the
residential part of of the process. You know, we have there is a large number of
our students that um are provided with their housing through the community of
olds too. So, it's a benefit both ways. But when it comes to this project, um
I'll let Todd's comment stand that way. It's just that partnership is is there.
It's just different than this partnership likely.
» Okay. >> Yeah. Uh uh and um for my fellow council
members who maybe weren't here when we did the workland um contributions, one
of the main focuses of the workland contribution was the matching component.
So I believe we had a large donor that said they would participate if we could
if the college could find matching funds. So that was the big benefit and
the big push for the contributions back in the day for the workland.
Is there any kind of uh mechanism to do the same here where any county dollars
would be matched or leveraged with either a donor or some other way?
» To be honest, I didn't think of that and we haven't thought of that, but that
there is possibilities of that. Um we do have right now
two other very significant conversations that I think um they'd be open to that.
[clears throat] I I just know from back in the day that was one of the main
focuses for the county to do the contributions because of the matching
dollars. So, we felt like we were getting a a a bump up of 100% for all of
our contributions and that that was the big draw. So,
» um I would encourage that if you could find that sort of mechanism that may
influence any of the decisions. But, uh for my fellow counselors who weren't
here in the in the time frame when that was done, maybe that was an important
bit of information.
Uh, councelor Lutz. >> So, because it's over five years, um,
the request, how do you um how does the accounting work now that the money that
uh we that it's it's not going to a big pot that the money we donate actually
goes to the building? Because I'm um sure just because it's stretched out
over years and you're you're asking for like what if you raise more than uh what
you need? like what is there surplus that is designated to improvements on
the building or does it just go in general?
» Yeah, so there's a so the the building itself is about $7.3 million but there's
all the stuff inside. So what is inside is also what we'll be raising money for
and I'll maybe let Chris add a little bit to that as well. But um what we will
have access will go into engines and we'll go into equipment that will
basically support that. So right now we're moving everything we can for the
old building over but there is also a whole list of uh other pieces that we're
looking at now to some extent there too we're trying to uh look at in kind. So
there are various companies that are going to potentially donate things on
that front as well but at times we may just have to also purchase things. So
that's probably Jennifer where most of this money would go to outside the
building itself.
Um, so like you've heard in the the previous delegation, the difference
between restricted and unrestricted funds. Um, what we're looking at today
or in this request is this 500,000 over the 5 years would go towards restricted
funds for that capital campaign. If we are
falling short or just meeting that 7.5 million that we need to raise for this
capital campaign, we may even need to bridge with other funds um that the
college has. But this will be restricted to that and it could be to the capital
campaign to the capital building or to elements inside that building and
ongoing repair and needs over the next five years.
» Thank you. And can you give us a timeline of what um because the the
trades building is already built and done. So can you give us an
idea of what the timeline of this project looks like and kind of the large
components of the the project? >> Well, the building itself to your point
should be actually starting and operational this fall. All right. Um,
but there will be continually upgrades and pieces for that. And for if we do
not meet, to Chris's point, if we do not find the $7 million, will be simply
financing that uh independently. If that that answers your question.
» Okay. >> Yeah. And just the furthers um we we
looked at substantial completion um in March of 2027. Rain, right now we have
I'll use the tool room as an example. that's already open because we are we
had students housed out at the overpass for the last year. So now they those
students are moving back in. So we've we've got some of that program open but
the main substantial completion will not really be I believe we're on schedule
for uh March 2027 if that helps. >> And then when does the programming start
like all these great things that you've just talked about like adding the
plumbing u apprenticeship and all that when does all that start? Okay. So,
currently we're on pace for a grand opening for a full student cohort to
come back in September of 2027. So, with the new school year, um between March
and September is when we take ownership of the building from PCL and we start
filling it with classroom stuff, tables, chairs, everything else. Uh we expect to
have our first cohort for the electrical program if it gets passed through um the
Alberta um through AIT which is the apprenticeship um
and training. Yeah. Um we expect that to start in September of 2027 when we
reopen and then we'll be applying almost immediately for that plumbing which will
probably take about a year for us to be able to implement that as well.
Thank you.
All right. Is there any other questions? No. Well, I can't thank you enough for
coming um and giving us all this fantastic information and answering all
of our questions. >> Our pleasure.
» Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and to to share and look
forward to the next time. So, we keep you up to speed.
» Excellent. Have a great day, gentlemen.
Okay. So, um we do have a council motion on
page 65. Uh councelor Nixon, >> I would move that council receive the
Olds College delegation as information. [clears throat]
» Thank you. Is there any further discussion on that?
» Nope. Then I will call the question. All in favor? And that motion's carried. And
Jeeoff, can you walk us through um I think we've missed an alternative option
here. >> Yeah, Ree. So, the the RFD um the
alternative option should have been in the background. That's not the
alternative option, obviously. So, the alternative option for council, similar
to the previous agenda item, following council's um procedural bylaw, decisions
on delegations aren't made the same day the delegation is heard. And so an
alternative option for council would be to pass a motion requesting
administration prepare an RFD with uh funding history and budget options uh to
return to a future council meeting. And we would go through and we would
summarize the history of our partnership with Olds College as well as lay out
similar options what I had mentioned to councelor Johnson in response to her
question for the legacy um how we would fund that through a budgetary
perspective. >> Thank you. Laura, do you have an
alternative motion or alternative motion for us yet? No.
» Okay. >> Wing it.
» Councelor Nixon's gonna wing it. >> Further move that uh administration
prepare and bring back to a future council meeting um some history and
options for uh addressing the Olds College request for funding for the
trades program. >> Thank you. Does everyone understand that
motion? Is it necessary to put it on the screen? Are we good? No. Okay. Uh,
councelor Lutz, >> just a question on that. So, they
offered up some space and they offered up some some things. I was wondering if
if administration could also take a look if there's any um win-wins for
administration on training or or what what would be most valuable um in return
as in kind from the college to us. I'm sure you probably do that anyway, but um
» I would see that as part of the motion um just with the request for options for
the funding. Yeah, I just didn't want to just take what they had offered as as as
it maybe there's um more training rooms, more whatever that would be more
beneficial to Mountain View County. >> So, uh councelor Les, do you want to
deal with this motion? Would you like to make a separate motion regarding that or
do you feel like Jeff's got enough? >> Jeff took a note, so I'm sure he'
probably do it anyway. >> Okay. Thank you. All right. Is there any
further discussion? Look at Laura's put it on the screen. There we go. Uh I'll
just follow the process then, Councelor Nixon. Does that reflect your motion?
» Yes. >> Okay. So, the motion is that council
direct administration to prepare and bring back history and options for
funding the Olds College Trades Program to a future council meeting for
consideration. All right. So, with that, I will call to
question. All in favor? And that motion's carried. Thank you.
» Okay. Um my suggestion is that we if you guys are okay we will finish all of the
open session items and then we'll just come back after lunch for the close
session. So um we'll start with uh council reports. I'll start with Dwayne
please. Councelor Fulton. >> Thank you. Y since the last council
meeting uh on the 13th the final Corona viability committee meeting. Uh you've
seen all the the final report has all been shared with you. And then on the
14th, uh, Mountain View Seniors Housing had a special board meeting, uh, with
the developer from Carsters to introduce the board to them and and then begin the
process of exploring possible partner partnership opportunities for a carers
project. And that is all. >> Perfect. Councelor Harris.
» Yeah, I won't repeat it because Dwayne covered two of them. Um but on the 18th
uh I had the pleasure of going in to the MVSH seniors housing uh summer barbecue
for their residents and families in Ols. Um and it was a hoot. Is that an
official word? Is that a hoot? And >> it is.
» Good time. >> It it was a good time. uh the residents
were were uh just enjoying the the perfect weather other than that we had
to scramble to get up sun shades to protect them and uh that's it. Thank
you, councelor L. Look, I um there was a library board meeting, did Spurbury, and
there was um I wasn't in attendance, but I got a really wonderful detailed
summary of the meeting from Britney, which was really nice of her to do that
for me. There was some discussion about um the
signing of the agreement and still some questions raised about policy 8006 and
how it can apply to the library. Other than that, I've been fielding a lot of
calls from residents on the fear of data centers now moving rural on some changes
in direction from E3 lithium and um the airport. So, lots of resident calls
coming in lately. Thank you, Councelor Nixon.
» Uh, as far as council reports go, um, pretty quiet for me for meetings. Uh, I
had a couple meetings that were cancelled, so that kind of freed up my
schedule a little bit, but I've had numerous phone calls um and emails with
residents over beavers and beaver dams, as everybody else knows, because they've
got some of those uh wetlands and surface water as well as data centers.
Um, and then we're also trying to uh mitigate some concerns or issues
regarding uh road concerns, safety concerns. um more so around roads or
edges of roads and then brushing and visibility.
» Thank you, councelor Johnson. >> Thank you. Um I attended [clears throat]
a virtual meeting with the Red Deer River Basin Water Information
Roundtable. Um really interesting uh where they talk about current river
conditions. Then a gentleman named Brandon Lee from AAP presented uh their
application process and Wernern Herrera presented the AER application process
for TDLS and I think it was um videoed and if it was and if it's going to be
shared I would share it with council because there was a ton of good
information uh in that in that onehour meeting. um attended the egg service
board meeting here. Uh very uh good discussion uh from a resident point of
view. Um again uh lots of um of drilling still going on in division six and of
course uh division five. uh our neighbor um the most uh recent uh temporary
diversion license um for white cap is 162,000 cubes uh put together with the
90,000 cubes from September last year um is a total of um
uh 252,000 cubes uh which uh translates into um
water that would uh supply 100 head of cows for 114.47
years. Uh and that's been used in 16 months. Um so huge concerns about the
water coming out of the Red Deer River between uh downstream from Sundry and
upstream from Garington Bridge. Also, um, uh, concerns in the last couple days
about a large Telus landline outage. Uh, a large part of our community is out.
Um, Telus has indicated that may not be repaired for as much as a month,
although hopefully it would be less than that. They haven't committed to less. Um
big concern about our rural residents that especially elderly people that only
have landline connection and aren't going to have any phone. Some of them
don't have internet. Um so that are going to be uh without a phone for a
large uh large chunk of time. Uh we continue to work on that.
» Thank you, councelor Lutz. I'm not going to say I was fully uh 100%
there, but um I did uh do the egg service board meeting for half of it and
then my daughter had a baby, so it was a little bit hard to focus, but I thought
the conversation on annual payments with Alice and maybe taking a look at that to
encourage more Alice funding was a really interesting start to a
conversation because uh the Alice funding is uh we're approving a lot of
uh projects based on if funding materializes.
So, you know, how to stretch those dollars out to encourage the
conservation. I thought that was a really good conversation to start. Uh
the next day we did the um uh provincial egg service board strategic planning
session. That's hard to attend virtually um when you're doing group work and
stuff like that, but um the survey, they got good participation on the survey.
They're going to send that survey out, the results, and um we'll keep uh the
ASB um boards uh up to date on what's happening there. Um I missed a meeting
today. Um Olds Invest is um uh working with their supply chain management team.
They had a meeting this morning at 9:00. They re received $27,000
of federal funding to complete a market analysis
um for um market analysis for foreign direct
investment on the agricultural industry. And there's an RFP coming out on
Tuesday. So they're still doing lots of work um to support business and
agriculture. And that's probably it for me.
» Thank you. Um, it was nice to see everyone's
expense claims that we actually did take a little bit of time off and
congratulations to council for taking some time off. I think it was a a good
break I hope for every uh for everyone. So, welcome back because things are
going to get hectic right up until the end of the year.
though um the ASB uh I was able to attend for the
whole morning session and then I had another meeting in the afternoon because
the meeting was only supposed to go till 1:00 and I missed the discussion on the
rural mental health. I was disappointed that our AASB decided not to put um a
resolution forward to support um a review or a look at how mental health uh
groups um operate within Alberta. and um that was
a bit disappointing, but perhaps there wasn't enough information. So, I'm
hoping the provincial board may consider looking at a resolution. I think it's
extremely important uh to to bring to the minister's attention that this needs
to be sorted and that there's there may not be a lack of funding, but there may
be a lack of collaboration and communication between all those
organizations that are doing such great work, but just need a little bit more
support to be efficient. Um, [clears throat] and although the
council has been fairly slow over the last month, the environmental appeals
board has been extremely busy. Um, and I think one of the things the
environmental appeals board is seeing is just uh increased appeals uh and the
increased focus on water, which is of course um the the big thing across the
province. And we are definitely seeing that uh with the amount of appeals that
are coming in and with the the reduced success of mediations um in just that
people are not willing to make concessions anymore and come to
agreements. Um
there was one oh the other thing that's uh that I've been busy working with is
um trying to put together the presentation and the information for our
October 7th meeting with all the elected officials regarding the north uh the
South Redier Regional Wastewater Commission. Uh that's been really really
great. Looking forward to that. Um we have just found out that the other two
commissions have also are also going to receive a significant refund based on on
the work that we've done. So, they'll receive that refund in 2026 and then a
further um refund in 2027. So, it's um it's been a it's been a great month for
SRD and for the commissions. Uh and I hope everyone can make the
October 7th if you're interested in wastewater.
That's it. Yeah, everybody everybody's interested in wastewater. Uh all right.
Uh is there any questions on any of those verbal reports?
No. Then I will ask for a motion to receive all those for information by
councelor Fulton. I'll call to question all in favor. And that motion's carried.
And then under correspondence, we have two um contact newsletters. Is there any
questions or any concerns regarding the contact newsletters?
Okay. Could I have a motion to receive those for information? Moved by
councelor Johnson. I'll call to question. All in favor? And that
motion's carried. and we will break for um should I just
ask for a motion to go in close session now or we'll do that when we come back?
Okay. So, we'll break for lunch and we'll come back at 12:45. Five.