[0:00] All right. Thank you everyone for coming
to the 2026
[0:04] MD of Taber annual general meeting. My
name is Tamara Miyanaga. I'm the
[0:08] counselor for division 4 and the current
Reeve for the MD. So, um before we get
[0:14] started, just wanted to make sure if you
didn't hear the prior announcement,
[0:18] washrooms are out that door down the
hallway. And if there was an emergency,
[0:22] then out in the far end of the parking
lot would be where we would muster.
[0:28] Hopefully, no emergencies.
So, on behalf of the MD, we'd like to
[0:32] thank you for taking the time to come.
Many of you have been very involved in
[0:37] providing feedback to the MD over the
last few years.
[0:42] And we just really appreciate your
input. So, before we get going, I'm
[0:46] going to just introduce everyone. So,
we'll start with the residing counselor.
[0:51] For those who aren't aware, we have
moved um our annual general meeting to
[0:56] different locations throughout the MD so
that it's easier for people in that
[1:00] area. And to complement our annual
general meeting, we also do coffee with
[1:05] council once a quarter. So, it works out
quite nicely that we end up Grassy Lake,
[1:10] Enchant, Vauxhall, Hays, and we go back
to the operations building for those um
[1:16] divisions that are close to Taber. But,
we're happy to be in Grassy Lake, and
[1:21] counselor David Tory is the counselor.
So, would you like to just give a wave
[1:27] or you can say something?
[1:31] So, and next to him is division 1 deputy
Reeve Lane Johnson.
[1:37] Beside him is division 2 counselor John
Turcato.
[1:42] Beside him is division 5 counselor Ernie
Peters.
[1:47] And division 6 counselor Murray
Reynolds.
[1:50] Uh unfortunately, counselor from
division 7, Mr. Condor, couldn't join us
[1:55] tonight. And I'd also just like to
acknowledge that in the crowd we have
[1:59] past division 5 counselor John DeGroat
here with us. So, thank you for coming
[2:04] with us. And I'm just going to introduce
our staff before we get going. The
[2:08] format for tonight is going to be
individual presentations by the staff.
[2:16] And at the end of those presentations,
we'll set aside time for questions.
[2:22] We can take a question during, but it
would probably be best to wait till the
[2:26] very end. This meeting is being
recorded, so you can watch it on YouTube
[2:31] later. And so, when you do ask a
question,
[2:35] one of our staff will bring you the
microphone
[2:38] so that you can ask it, it can be heard,
and recorded so that those watching
[2:43] after. We recognize it's a busy time in
the municipality, so we understand not
[2:48] everybody could be here. So, before we
get going, I'm just going to introduce
[2:52] our staff team who's with us tonight.
So, at this end on this table is Mr.
[2:58] Bryce Serina, director of community
services.
[3:01] Beside him, Mr. Corey Green, director of
municipal operations.
[3:06] Mr. Mike Passy, director of corporate
services.
[3:10] Beside, on the front row, is Carly
Grant, our communications manager, and
[3:16] she has um
definitely elevated our communications
[3:20] game on our social media and on our
website. So, if you have things that you
[3:25] are interested in
and need to have communicated, let one
[3:28] of your counselors know and they can
work with um
[3:32] Carly to get that on.
And we also have Dean. He is the IT
[3:37] manager. So, he makes things run at the
MD that is um very important to us. At
[3:43] the back, we have manager of lands,
planning, and development, Brian Peers.
[3:48] Can give a wave back there. And we have
Lace Lutz, legislative and corporate
[3:54] affairs officer. She's in the back. And
then we also you just walked in a minute
[4:00] late, but uh past division 3 counselor
Brian Hildebrand. I acknowledge the
[4:05] other counselors who are here. And I'd
also like to introduce Taber police
[4:09] chief Graham Abella
and constable Henry Classen, who serves
[4:15] with the town of Taber police. We have
contracted services with them for our
[4:20] community standards office.
So, if you are ready, we will have our
[4:27] staff begin all the presentations.
The MD of Taber has been undergoing lots
[4:32] of public consultation in this last few
years, whether it's land use bylaw,
[4:37] lands, we've done recreation studies,
we've done road
[4:42] studies. So,
we're at that point now where things
[4:45] need to be implemented and get things
going. So, this council's been working
[4:49] hard. We've just established a new
strategic plan that will be discussed at
[4:53] the following council meeting um
upcoming on Tuesday. So, there'll be
[4:57] some new things that this council's
going to
[5:01] try to strive for as we've sort of set
these policies into place. So, tonight,
[5:05] as you listen to the presentations, just
keep your questions, and then either
[5:09] staff or any member of council can
answer your question at the end. All
[5:14] right. We're going to start with Bryce
Serina. He's going to give an update
[5:19] from the RCMP, and then we'll go
directly to Corey Green on
[5:22] infrastructure projects.
[5:29] Thanks uh Reeve Miyanaga. Uh
So, I'll just start with um we'll try to
[5:34] follow the the list of the agenda here,
and I will uh
[5:37] I'll just touch on the priorities for
2026 that have been established by
[5:41] council uh through the RCMP. And so, uh
Sergeant Stu Gimmel
[5:46] uh
with the Taber detachment uh sends his
[5:49] regrets. Uh he did share he did share
some information with us, and and uh I
[5:53] am going to just speak on behalf of
these standards.
[5:56] Uh sorry, uh on behalf of these three
priorities.
[5:59] Uh so, the first priority, as you can
see, is traffic safety. And so, traffic
[6:03] safety, and again through education and
through enforcement, have been
[6:07] identified that is uh the priority, one
of the first priorities. Second priority
[6:11] is community relations. And so, that is
through visibility, participation uh at
[6:16] community events and such uh throughout
the municipality. And then the third
[6:20] priority that's been established is
crime reduction. And uh so, a focus on
[6:25] uh property crime
uh has been identified as well. So,
[6:28] again, those are the three priorities
that have been established for 2026, and
[6:32] those were established through
interactions with council as part of uh
[6:35] the process that they go through in
trying to establish those on an annual
[6:38] basis. So,
I will um
[6:41] I will proceed, and the next uh topic
we're going to move into is the 2026
[6:46] infrastructure projects. And I'll just
ask Corey uh Green, director of uh
[6:50] municipal operations, to come up.
[6:57] Hi everyone. Uh thanks for coming. So,
[7:02] I'm going to talk about 2026, what we're
doing for infrastructure projects. Um
[7:07] so, the first one we got up there is the
Hamlet truck parking study.
[7:12] Uh what we heard from the Hamlet
residents is um
[7:16] they want to see better truck parking
areas in those hamlets.
[7:19] So, we did hire a consultant. They're
they're looking at each each three each
[7:24] of the hamlets, and uh
going to advise to us where the proper
[7:28] location would be, and and if it's in
the proper location, what upgrades are
[7:33] needed. So,
that's that project. Um the Enchant
[7:37] wastewater lagoon upgrades.
So, we did a we did a capacity study in
[7:43] Enchant, um and we found that uh the
current lagoon is at its capacity.
[7:49] So, to um
[7:53] Sorry. To to not limit um
the growth of Enchant, we need to
[7:58] upgrade the lagoon in uh in Enchant. So,
we've applied for some grant funding for
[8:03] that project. We're just waiting to see
if that's been awarded to us.
[8:09] The next project, um
Hays wastewater replacement. So,
[8:19] main that runs from the hamlet uh down
to the lagoons.
[8:23] We found that um
it's deteriorating more than we
[8:27] expected. So,
we have hired a consultant to design
[8:31] that project as well. Uh we're hoping to
go to construction late this fall
[8:36] uh to replace I I believe it was about
700 m of of main line for that that
[8:42] pipe.
Uh the next project is Township 12 range
[8:47] 14 road development.
Um so, this this is a a new road. Um it
[8:53] will see
five
[8:56] uh 4 miles of new road being built um on
undeveloped road allowance. Um
[9:02] this road will service the expansion
acres uh south of Scope Reservoir.
[9:08] That's currently being designed, and we
hope to uh go to construction late this
[9:13] year. Uh it'll depend on
um
[9:17] our application for environmental
approval. So,
[9:21] Range Road 180 and 182 gravel road
upgrades. So,
[9:25] um
this project is waiting for grant
[9:31] funding as well. We've applied for the
grants. Um
[9:34] we're just waiting for that approval,
but this will see 5 miles of road
[9:38] upgrade um in the Enchant area.
It's um
[9:43] directly
affected by the confined feeding
[9:46] operations in that area.
Uh the roads in that area were not built
[9:51] to handle that amount of traffic. So,
um
[9:54] once we once we get this project done,
hopefully uh
[9:58] it will.
Hard surfaces rehabilitation. So, this
[10:02] is a yearly project. Um we set aside
some funds to
[10:07] um do patching on our hard surfaces all
throughout the MD.
[10:12] Um it's it's more than more
bigger patches that our internal staff
[10:17] can handle. Um so,
something that a paver needs to be
[10:21] brought out for.
>> [snorts]
[10:25] » And then we got some carryover projects.
So,
[10:28] we have um
two carryover projects. So, the Enchant
[10:33] fire hall um and greater shed expansion.
That was um
[10:40] a project that was slated for 2025, but
the the parcel land that we had decided
[10:46] to
put the building on um
[10:50] needed more work than we we were
comfortable with. So, we did acquire a
[10:54] new parcel land this this spring or
earlier this year.
[10:58] And uh the design for that building is
ongoing. We're hoping to get
[11:02] construction started late this year on
that.
[11:05] Um and the last one is the Enchant
landfill expansion. So,
[11:10] that one we have had designed, but um
we're just waiting for environmental
[11:14] approvals on a
the liner type for that um that cell
[11:20] expansion. But, as soon as we get that
approval, we will
[11:24] tackle that project with our our
in-house crews.
[11:29] And then the last few slides here, we've
got some maps.
[11:33] Um so, the first map is our graveling
program.
[11:38] All the the brown lines are where you'll
see all of our our gravel haulers
[11:43] distribute gravel on those roads.
We're we're aiming for 716 km this year.
[11:49] That's
probably the most we've had. So, we'll
[11:53] we'll see what we can get done this
year.
[11:57] The next next map is two of our road
maintenance uh crews.
[12:03] So, a lot of you are probably familiar
with the shoulder pull crew. Um
[12:07] that crew
disturbs all the way down to ditch
[12:10] bottom and pulls the shoulder onto the
road and and kind of rebuilds the road.
[12:15] Uh we're planning for 35 km this year of
that. And then the gravel recovery, the
[12:20] blue lines.
That's a that's a new program that we
[12:23] brought on about 2 years ago.
Um
[12:27] it's kind of a uh
heavier maintenance. It really just gets
[12:30] rid of that ridge on the shoulder.
And what we're finding is is that sheds
[12:35] the water um the way the road was
designed for. So, we're getting a lot of
[12:39] success with with that program. And as
you can see, we can get a lot more miles
[12:43] done with that that equipment as well.
And the last map is our drainage
[12:50] project. So, we have a drainage crew.
Uh their primary focus is culverts and
[12:55] ditch, anything to do with drainage. Um
as you can see, they span all throughout
[13:00] the MD. And those are the 54 sites that
we're planning
[13:05] to do this year. So,
and I will
[13:09] pass it back to Bryce.
[13:14] Thanks, Corey.
>> [clears throat]
[13:16] » Um I just wanted to step uh back to uh
[14:36] the future as well.
[14:41] We we continue to include the why now
because of the just purely based on the
[14:45] fact that uh we wanted to introduce the
uh the time there's a timing element to
[14:50] uh our lease policy development. Um so,
we have 82,000 just approximately 82,000
[14:55] acres of land that the MD manages um
that they the MD owns and manages.
[15:00] Uh the aim is to uh develop the policy
and strategy ahead of the expiry. So, we
[15:05] have had some expiring leases just
currently. Uh we have expiring leases
[15:08] again in 20 uh 2026 2027. And so, this
is the the policy development is
[15:13] intended to try to
um try to uh reach that target of trying
[15:18] to have some of that policy in place uh
to support that that land base that that
[15:23] owned land base for the MD of Taber.
[15:27] Uh our current state. So, this is this
is just a representation of the lands.
[15:31] Uh again, I do apologize some of these
slides are uh repetitive. You've seen
[15:34] these before if you've uh been to any of
our land management project meetings or
[15:38] our public consultations. Um our current
state. So, this represents uh what we
[15:42] have currently. Um the expiring leases,
the grazing MD grazing leases, MD
[15:48] cultivation leases, and uh MD tax recov-
or sorry, tax recovery grazing leases.
[15:53] Uh so, you can just you can see the uh
uh the number of acres and the number of
[15:57] lease holders that are being represented
as part of our current state for MD of
[16:01] Taber owned lands.
[16:05] Uh so, for specific to our cultivation
lease uh our cultivation leases. So, uh
[16:10] you can see that uh they're uh up here
as February 24th, 2026. Uh we had a
[16:15] recent policy adopted uh the most recent
policy version adopted. And that is
[16:21] going to be effective March 1st of 2027.
Uh we just wanted to and then just as
[16:25] part of the presentation here just uh
list a few of the key the key terms in
[16:29] the lease. Uh this is a again very
specific to cultivation leases.
[16:33] Um just that all cultivation land
tenders
[16:36] uh after the 2026 crop year, uh so
they'll be 5-year terms. Uh
[16:41] one first-time right of uh first Sorry.
Right of first refusal for current lease
[16:46] holders. And that's for the initial
term.
[16:49] Uh assignment to immediate uh immediate
family is permitted.
[16:53] Standardized lease terms across all of
the cultivated lands. And lease holders
[16:57] uh may initiate potential land purchase.
Now, that is that is going to be
[17:01] dependent upon
uh and I'll get to that in the next
[17:04] couple slides just related to uh a
sale of MDT lands policy that's being
[17:08] considered uh by council currently.
[17:14] Uh grazing lease policy. Uh so, grazing
lease policy changes. Again, this is
[17:18] this is a very current some very very
recent adoptions.
[17:21] Uh just recently on April 15th,
uh grazing lease policy uh has been
[17:26] adopted. Um so, this just to go through
um some of the the main the more uh
[17:32] upper uh tier uh
categories, I guess, would be the types
[17:36] of leases. So, when you look at uh the
tax recovery leases and traditional MD
[17:40] grazing leases will be consolidated into
transitional grazing leases.
[17:45] Uh leases awarded uh through an open
tender will continue to be administered
[17:49] that way. So, they would be administered
under a tender grazing lease.
[17:52] And lease uh lands that are leased
through the five community pastures
[17:56] within the MD of Taber will fall under
what was considered to be a community a
[18:00] community pasture grazing lease. So,
that has been identified as part of the
[18:04] new policy that's been adopted and uh
and associated leases. So, each one of
[18:08] those categories will have its own lease
associated with it.
[18:11] Uh and distinct terms and conditions
that apply to each of them.
[18:18] Okay. So, the grazing lease policy
we wanted to share uh just in chart
[18:25] format. It's just a little bit easier to
represent. Uh you can see uh
[18:29] for each of the different types of
grazing lease uh grazing lease types,
[18:32] the transitional, the tendered, and the
community pasture,
[18:35] um the lease rent, the length of term,
the assignment to family, and the
[18:39] ability to sell lease. So, we we broke
it down in a chart form just uh just to
[18:43] make it simpler to see uh or easier to
see in comparison of the different
[18:46] types.
Um
[18:48] I can go through each one of them. So,
the lease rent uh for the traditional is
[18:51] $30 per AUM.
Uh tendered is established through the
[18:55] tender. Uh $30 in AUM is for community
pastures as well. And that is the lease
[19:01] rent.
Uh the length of the term. So, for
[19:03] traditional grazing leases, the length
of term will be a 10-year with a 10-year
[19:08] first right of refusal option.
Uh tendered is under a five has a 5-year
[19:12] length of the term. And community
pastures have a 10-year with a 10-year
[19:17] first right of first refusal option as
well.
[19:21] Uh assignment to family members. So,
that is permitted for traditional or
[19:24] sorry, a transitional grazing lease.
Uh it is not permitted for the tendered
[19:29] and is not permitted for community
pastures.
[19:31] Okay?
The ability to sell lease uh lease
[19:34] rights. So, that is permitted for under
the transitional.
[19:37] Uh it is not permitted under the
tendered or under the community pasture
[19:41] leases.
[19:44] The option to purchase. And so, again,
this is dependent on some of the some of
[19:47] the policy that's being considered by
council currently.
[19:49] Um based on the leases and uh leases and
policies that are in place for grazing,
[19:54] it would be permitted under all three
categories and uh of lease types. Under
[19:59] the uh grazing lease uh under the
grazing leases themselves.
[20:03] And uh finally, the oil and gas payments
for lease holders uh
[20:08] for traditional or sorry, transitional,
tendered, and community pastures, um you
[20:12] can see I won't I won't read them all
through, but hopefully you can see them
[20:15] clearly here. Um basically, there's a
there's a three I guess tiered for lack
[20:20] of another term, uh 300 a well uh over
$1,000, 200 a well that is at between
[20:26] 500 and 1,000, and then $0 uh per well
for rent that is under 5 under 500. So,
[20:33] that's been established for oil and gas
payments to lease holders for the three
[20:37] different types of grazing leases.
[20:41] Okay, and I'll go on to uh a again, as I
mentioned a couple times, uh we have yet
[20:46] to yet to finalize approvals on any of
the MDT proposed MDT uh sale of lands
[20:53] policy.
Uh couple of things just to note on
[20:55] that. Uh land sales may be initiated by
the under the proposed policy, land
[21:00] sales may be initiated by the MD or the
lease holder, and so the tenant.
[21:05] Uh the MD may declare the land surplus
uh
[21:09] uh to municipal needs.
Uh
[21:12] the sales may proceed uh by tender, RFP,
just to list a number of the different
[21:17] methods that can be utilized in the sale
of lands.
[21:21] Uh reserve sale price is based on the
average of two appraisals, and again,
[21:24] this is all proposed.
Um this is uh that's that would set
[21:28] what's considered to be the reserves the
reserve bid price or the reserve the
[21:32] market price on lands.
And the lease holder purchase request
[21:37] may be approved at no less than market
value, and that is determined by the
[21:41] averaging of the two appraisals under
the current and proposed policy.
[21:49] Uh
and finally, uh uh
[21:52] what we've determined here is just
listed out a couple of next steps just
[21:55] as a way of communicating where we're
headed with the with these strategy.
[21:59] Uh the next steps implementing the
cultivation lease. Uh of course, it's
[22:02] it's been adopted now, and so that'll be
implemented for the 2027 crop year.
[22:06] Implementing the grazing lease policy,
so that has been recently adopted, and
[22:11] the land policy uh presenting that to
council uh further consideration of that
[22:15] policy by council on April 28th is the
next uh is the next
[22:21] uh uh next significant step in our in
our strategy development. So,
[22:24] uh lastly, just to complete a
comprehensive review, and that would be
[22:28] something that's going to be brought
forward to council, a comprehensive
[22:30] review of our policy, uh just to ensure
that we don't have any conflicting
[22:34] policy, and that uh
we have a comprehensive uh review of all
[22:38] of the policy that applies to our lands
as we complete our strategy.
[22:47] Okay.
So, I will um and and certainly the
[22:51] certainly at the end, we can certainly
take questions uh on any of the
[22:54] different topics, and so I'll just
proceed forward. We'll just keep going
[22:57] through the uh next steps. Uh the next
presentation we have here is on the
[23:00] Grassy Lake North subdivision
development.
[23:03] And um
we've got a [clears throat] a map up
[23:06] here. So, this does show a
representation of the lots that are
[23:09] going to be available in the northeast
northeast portion of the Hamlet of
[23:12] Grassy Lake. Um there is uh
>> [sighs]
[23:16] » there is uh
48. Yes, I was just want to make sure I
[23:21] got that right. 48 lots. So, there'll be
48 lots available.
[23:25] Um you can see the naming the road
naming strategy. So, 4th Street North,
[23:28] Griggs Avenue Northeast, so you can see
the the general location and how it ties
[23:32] into the community.
If you just proceed to the next slide,
[23:35] we have uh the land use zoning is
residential for all of the lots. There's
[23:40] 48 serviced and they're serviced
underground serviced lots, so that is uh
[23:44] that's important to note. Um survey plan
and block numbers, and that these are
[23:50] these are going to be available quite
soon. Uh we are hoping uh for a sale of
[23:55] the lots in uh May May June of 2026
coming up real real soon here. And these
[24:01] will be the only residential lots that
we have available in the Hamlet
[24:04] currently. So,
um those will be available. We're again,
[24:07] we are hoping, so stay tuned, but for
May or June of this of 2026.
[24:12] Uh some project costing summaries. So,
we wanted to share some information with
[24:16] regards to the the actual project in the
development. So, the project itself um
[24:21] the project cost was $6,541,440.
[24:26] That included phase one uh number of a
number of common infrastructure
[24:30] components that apply to phases one,
two, and three.
[24:33] And uh the total project cost uh for
phase for this particular phase
[24:39] uh was four uh sorry, $5,341,849
[24:44] or $859, pardon me.
And the uh the revenue that we propose
[24:51] based on the prices that we're going to
show you some ranges of prices here,
[24:54] um but based on the revenue that we
planned uh for the lot sales and the
[24:58] prices, uh we planned it to recover
$5,440,000,
[25:03] okay? And the uh out of that, there'll
be some some revenue will be reserved
[25:09] for ongoing maintenance of the lots. Uh
we can uh sell lots over a period of
[25:13] time, whether it be a number of years,
and so the municipality then has costs
[25:16] associated with maintaining those lots
and marketing those lots. So, there'll
[25:20] be some some of the revenue will be
associated with that, uh $98,141.
[25:28] Uh I did want to uh go over just a
number of uh
[25:31] a number of uh components, contributing
factors for the lots. So,
[25:36] lot pricing is broken is is made up of
uh design and engineering costs,
[25:42] uh shallow utilities, so underground uh
lot servicing, and that is very
[25:45] specific. This is this servicing of uh
this subdivision is is essentially
[25:50] underground. And I If you have any
questions around what the definition of
[25:53] that is, uh you know, uh Corey Green is
here, too, and he could take some
[25:56] questions on that at the end. Uh that is
unique to the subdivision where it is
[26:00] all underground.
Uh deep utilities, Atco, Fortis, uh
[26:03] legal survey documentation, land
acquisitions, uh and com and I mentioned
[26:08] common infrastructure uh for phases two
and three are included. So, uh parts of
[26:14] parts of two and three are included in
our in our costs to date.
[26:20] The sales and marketing of our lots, um
so this has been approved the uh the lot
[26:25] uh lot pricing has been approved as the
first step towards the sale of the lots.
[26:30] Uh on an average, the lots approximately
113,333
[26:35] is the the average number that came out,
and so that is the average lot price for
[26:39] those uh the particular lots. Um lot
prices do range from 9 90,000 to
[26:45] 165,000.
Uh they are based on the size of the
[26:50] lot. That is the the primary factor.
And um
[26:54] and I did mention on here that the uh
marketing promotion will be available on
[26:58] individual lots. So, we just wanted to
share with you a little bit more about
[27:00] how we're going to go about that. So, we
will have signage out in the community.
[27:04] Uh there'll be a large sign in the
actual subdivision. There'll be signage
[27:07] on each of the individual individual
lots, pardon me.
[27:10] Uh that will help to just really show,
you know, as people are interested in
[27:14] lots, what those prices are
individually, uh just to make sure
[27:17] that's really clear.
They'll also be available information on
[27:20] our website, and uh and we hope to uh
market uh put it out on all of our
[27:26] social media, website, newspaper, just
so that that information is readily
[27:29] available.
Uh
[27:32] it will be based in in our lot sales
policy that the MDT has. We do have a
[27:37] current policy, but we are looking at
some proposed uh lot sales lot sales,
[27:41] not not land lot sales policy, and very
specifically uh I'm just trying to make
[27:46] it more efficient um just the process as
much as we can for both council, for
[27:50] administration, and just to support the
sales of our lots better. And just to
[27:55] improve on some of the learnings we've
had over a number of years and number of
[27:58] subdivisions. So, that is yet to come,
and that is being proposed, so that has
[28:02] not been adopted as of yet.
Uh we did we do have a current lot sales
[28:06] policy again, just like I mentioned, but
we have some proposed policy that is
[28:09] coming uh to be considered by council
soon.
[28:14] Uh so, the uh again, I did mention May
June, so
[28:17] uh I think that that does bring our lots
to a summary, and uh we'll move forward
[28:22] into our next topic. Um
So, policing alternatives uh monetary
[28:27] impacts. So, uh what we wanted to do
here, this is primarily information that
[28:32] uh the municipality has received over a
number of years
[28:35] uh as we as we take a look at the cost
of policing uh for the municipality. Uh
[28:40] just some of the information uh this
isn't all of the information. This is
[28:44] just it's a summary of the information
that applies that we can start to share
[28:48] the what what we're learning as we go
forward with the province of Alberta and
[28:51] with the municipality taking on the cost
of policing our portion of the cost of
[28:55] policing. And so, the policing the
provincial police service agreement that
[28:59] exists for Alberta, uh we do fall under
that agreement. The the agreement is
[29:03] broken down in 70% provincial costing,
30% federal costing at at the agreement
[29:08] level.
And then, when you get into the actual
[29:11] the provincial costing, that 70% is then
broken down under a a police funding
[29:16] model. Uh PFM PFM is the acronym we use
quite regularly. And so, that breakdown
[29:22] essentially takes that 70% and and uh
applies a portion of it to the
[29:26] municipality and a portion of it to the
province.
[29:29] Um I will uh just go through a few of
the objectives of the police funding
[29:32] model, and that includes uh covering
those front line costs that are shared
[29:36] again between the province of Alberta
and the municipality.
[29:39] Um municipal contributions, uh the the
goal uh from the province is to by 2031
[29:46] to share that cost at 30% to the
municipality.
[29:49] And they've shared a 5-year plan with us
that essentially has a 2% increase over
[29:55] the next 5 years. And so, again, just
information that the municipality has to
[29:59] work with with our budgeting and with
our next our steps as we move through
[30:03] the next years on the cost of policing.
So,
[30:06] further cost share formulas will be
released here in 2028, 2030
[30:12] as they revise some of those formulas on
how to share those costs as per their
[30:16] provincial regulations. So,
um
[30:21] Just some information on budgeting. So,
in the 2025 year, we our actual cost for
[30:27] policing that we that we that we paid at
the end of the year paid
[30:31] was $577,599.
[clears throat]
[30:35] We are planning in 2026 a proposed
budget of $600,000.
[30:41] And these are numbers that that we do
get we get a regular updates from the
[30:45] province. So, as we as we get them, we
can adjust some of these these figures
[30:48] and some of these projections.
And then the numbers that are being
[30:52] shared for 2030, again, these are
estimates, but these are based on
[30:55] estimates that we've we've been given to
to help us start planning.
[30:59] 1,353,
and that would be it for 2031.
[31:04] And that is again just a prediction,
it's an estimate, it's just to share
[31:07] just the the experience of looking at
this cost sharing over time.
[31:12] You can see a number of contributing
factors that we listed
[31:16] that go into the formula and the actual
cost of breakdown that they've that's
[31:19] been shared with the municipality.
Number of population, density changes,
[31:23] equalize assessment changes, occurrence
statistics,
[31:27] vacancies in in hiring and employment,
annual inflationary increases play a
[31:32] factor.
[31:35] Um
We listed this just just to share that
[31:39] there are policing act changes that are
also going on that are that are part of
[31:42] this this whole process that
through the province of Alberta that
[31:46] that now add a number of different
contributing factors to the options that
[31:49] are available.
We don't There's a lot of information
[31:52] still yet to come. So, we just wanted to
share this just that that we do have
[31:56] some work ahead of us as far as looking
at it new options as they become
[32:00] available just to just for consideration
as a municipality and council
[32:04] consideration. And and again, those
those are those are being presented here
[32:09] as, you know, regional collaborative
combinations
[32:13] naming different factors even in our
current state where we work closely with
[32:17] the RCMP and the Taber Police Services
in our regional community standards is
[32:21] an
is an example of some of that
[32:23] collaboration that that we're referring
to.
[32:27] Ongoing rural and urban municipal
advocacy efforts are ongoing.
[32:31] This is our two the two associations
that represent municipalities that are
[32:34] doing doing work in this area to try to
provide more information and just try to
[32:39] provide the municipalities
more information as we move forward so
[32:42] that we can,
you know, have the whole picture and
[32:45] consideration so that we can put that in
front of council and they can have
[32:49] have consideration or ask questions and
comments related to next steps in this
[32:54] in this area.
[32:58] Okay. So, the
future Sorry, and now I'll pass the mic
[33:03] off. This is where I end and Mike
begins. So, thanks.
[33:14] As as we mean mentioned at the
beginning,
[33:17] within the
the updated strategic priorities that
[33:20] are coming forward to council at this
next council meeting,
[33:23] council is identifying
property taxes and revenue as an
[33:27] important area to investigate and to
focus on.
[33:32] So, some of the areas that we'll be
considering are
[33:35] where revenue is generated in this, you
know, the idea of whether it's property
[33:38] taxes, user fees, licenses, or or
leases, different areas where revenue is
[33:43] is is being earned currently and what
opportunities might be available later
[33:47] or in the future. Alternatives to
general property taxation
[33:51] is to explore what other options are.
We are governed by the Municipal
[33:56] Government Act
and and we can only act within within
[34:00] the realms of that of that legislation.
And so, the opportunity now is to
[34:04] explore within that legislation to see
what opportunities lie before us to um
[34:10] to find what might be available for for
for revenue generation.
[34:13] How property taxes are generated. So,
looking at what the balance of the levy
[34:19] breakdown is between assessment classes
and and what opportunities might lie
[34:23] there for for providing that.
And then in what opportunities exist
[34:27] within the legislative framework. This
is similar to the alternatives area
[34:30] where looking at what those options
might be
[34:33] and and and what opportunities exist.
What is the what what is permissible.
[34:39] I know we hear lots of great ideas from
the community, but not all of them are
[34:44] are allowed by by the the provincial
government. And so, this is a as this is
[34:50] a forthcoming
priority,
[34:54] administration has not delved into these
areas deeply at all
[34:58] or
not delved in deeply, but we are aware
[35:00] of some some options.
But so, to help shape this conversation,
[35:05] I encourage you to speak with your
elected officials and and to help
[35:09] provide your input to to find out what
those opportunities might be in the
[35:12] future and moving forward. It's a, you
know, the the last item on the on the
[35:19] presentation talked about policing costs
downloaded from the province being
[35:23] a significant increase in costs. And so,
there's having to find that balance of
[35:27] of how do we fund these costs that are
passed down from the province is a real
[35:33] a real
problem-solving opportunity to look at.
[35:37] Um
And yeah, if if you have any questions
[35:40] about this area or want to provide your
input,
[35:43] speak with your elected officials.
[35:50] Thank you, Mike. Thank you to our
directors for providing an update. So,
[35:54] I'm just going to talk about a couple of
different things and then we'll open it
[35:58] up for questions. So,
most notably, this is volunteer week.
[36:03] So, this hall that you're sitting in is
run by volunteers. Mr. Turnbull and Mrs.
[36:08] Torcius, they are the main drivers in
Grassy Lake and they have a board, but
[36:14] they are the ones who have kept the
lights on, kept this amazing facility.
[36:20] And that happens throughout the MD and
all of our hamlets. All of the
[36:24] recreation services, they're provided by
volunteers. And another aspect that
[36:29] you're probably well aware of, but we
have 85 firefighters throughout the MD
[36:33] of Taber, they are all volunteers. In
the last year, we moved to a what's
[36:38] called a paid on-call service. So,
before they used to get $1,500 a year
[36:43] for training every week, training on
weekends, and coming out to calls. But
[36:49] we have changed that to make it more
appealing because they give up work
[36:53] time, family time that they'll still get
a base rate if they happen to be from a
[36:58] hall that doesn't have a number of um
firefighters. But these men and women
[37:03] now, if they go out on a call, they get
paid an amount for on-call.
[37:09] And they've also added emergency first
response. Now, we formalized that with
[37:15] the province of Alberta because often
times our ambulances are busy or they're
[37:20] away
and it takes time. But if you're having
[37:24] a heart attack, you want someone to come
who knows CPR or can do
[37:29] first aid action that would help save
your life. So, our firefighters now
[37:34] throughout all of our halls are equipped
as emergency first response, and we're
[37:39] very grateful for them for taking that
on. That's much more than worrying about
[37:44] a traffic accident or taking down a
fire. They're now coming on people's
[37:50] worst days. So, those men and women are
volunteers, and we'd like to at this
[37:54] time also acknowledge their employers.
Their employers have agreed to let them
[38:00] go when those calls come in, and it's
never at 4:30, it's at 11:00 when
[38:05] they're busy or it's at a time where
they're actually um
[38:09] in need, but their employers recognize
that someone's worst day of their life
[38:13] is happening on that tone, so they get
to come out for that. So, we're very
[38:17] grateful and especially to their
families. You know, emergencies happen
[38:22] on Christmas, on birthdays, and these
firefighters still continue to come out.
[38:26] So, we're very grateful to all the
volunteers that have provided safety and
[38:31] recreation throughout our municipality
as well as museums, senior centers, the
[38:36] list is endless.
So, I'm very thankful for that and all
[38:40] members of council. We prioritize that
in our budget.
[38:44] I also want to talk about um you heard
that there's lots available now in
[38:47] Grassy Lake. There's new subdivision in
Enchant as well. There is no lots
[38:53] available in Hays. All of our
residential lots are sold, but each of
[38:58] these hamlets also have some industrial
lots. That information is all available
[39:03] on the website. And just outside of
Vauxhall, which we have a truck rest
[39:09] stop, right beside those, there's two
lots that could be developed for
[39:13] industrial commercial. So, if you have
interest or you hear of someone who
[39:17] might want to develop something, please
let them know. Again, all available on
[39:21] the website. Another area that I'd like
to share with you today is
[39:27] we provide, similar to what the
Department of Highways does with 4-H or
[39:31] other service clubs, the MD has
roadside cleanup. So, if you're with a
[39:37] service club or a group that's trying to
raise money, there's an application that
[39:41] needs to be filled out and then we will
offset the cost for that club cleaning
[39:48] up and to help keep our municipality
looking good. It's a win-win situation
[39:52] for everyone.
I also wanted to just reference, you've
[39:56] heard a little bit about the lands
policy. We've also worked with that.
[40:02] We're developing a project with the Bow
River Irrigation District, Scope
[40:06] Reservoir.
And they are
[40:10] looking at going to tender in June. So
there's information available on our
[40:14] website and on our the Bow River
Irrigation District. They'll be looking
[40:19] at it. They'll be 23 developed irrigated
quarters. And I'm not going to go into
[40:24] those details, but that's available or
if you want to talk to one of your
[40:27] counselors, that's
we can help you with that or put you on
[40:31] to the right staff person.
We talked a bit about what's happening
[40:36] for our municipal projects.
We all know that the graders can't be
[40:40] everywhere. So if you run into a concern
that we haven't had a grader down a road
[40:45] or there's been an incident that um
someone's done donuts and now there's
[40:50] dangerous ruts. So we have what's called
our service tracker. So if you have a
[40:55] concern, you can put that in as a road
concern or call your counselor, they'll
[41:00] put it in or you can call the office and
it'll get submitted.
[41:04] Even though you might find that the
questions or the process is a little bit
[41:08] onerous, it helps us identify where the
bigger problems are in the municipality
[41:12] and it also allows our um directors to
determine if work needs to be done. So
[41:17] not just on roads, but if you have a
concern with a development, a concern
[41:21] with a sidewalk in a hamlet, snow
removal, any of those things. If it's a
[41:25] safety concern, you also have the
ability you can call if it's an
[41:30] emergency 911 for the RCMP, but if it's
something like someone's pivot is
[41:36] repeatedly watering the road or
someone's not dealing with their
[41:41] properly, then service tracker or you
can call Taber police and they'll assign
[41:45] it the community standards officer. So
service tracker is available on our
[41:51] website, but we also have an MD app
that you can sign up for. It's right on
[41:57] your phone and then you also can sign up
for a weekly newsletter. At the back
[42:02] table, our regular newsletter that gets
mailed to everyone is there, but every
[42:06] week we provide an update for those
people who may be not on social media or
[42:10] checking our website. It's a very good
system and we've also sort of tailored
[42:15] it to help
our
[42:19] volunteer groups, our libraries, our
seniors clubs, any of those things that
[42:23] are happening.
The other area I wanted to just touch
[42:27] base on, let me just make sure.
So we recently passed our budget.
[42:35] So I know there's been some discussion
in the community.
[42:38] So the budget's been passed. We've had
first reading of the tax bylaw.
[42:44] And some people are quite concerned and
so I just want to put it out there. So
[42:48] if people have questions, they have a
bit of the information.
[42:52] There has been a 55.52%
increase on farmland.
[42:58] So that's a huge number. No one wants to
have a 2% increase.
[43:03] But
this council looked at the budget,
[43:06] evaluated [clears throat]
what the breakdown of
[43:10] rates of return on taxation and who was
carrying the tax burden in our
[43:14] municipality.
And we have a sheet um that is available
[43:19] for you to look at. But residential
homes in the MD of Taber, so acreages,
[43:26] houses that are in the hamlets have
carried the burden
[43:31] in our municipality to the tune of 19%.
So with this increase, that will have
[43:37] farmland having a carrying the burden of
17%.
[43:42] So for those who are on irrigated land,
that equates to about $3 a acre, so
[43:48] about $150 a quarter. So it is
significant. There's no doubt about it.
[43:52] We we don't take that lightly, but at
some point we had to make the
[43:56] adjustment. Our non-residential
rates are um
[44:04] pipelines, oil wells, our factories,
they still carry 52%
[44:10] of the burden for the MD of Taber. So
we're very fortunate that we have that,
[44:14] but without
making an adjustment on farmland, we
[44:19] weren't going to be able to operate in
the same capacity.
[44:23] And farmland assessment hasn't changed
since the '80s. Whereas businesses
[44:30] and houses their assessment continues to
go up. There's a formula that's
[44:35] implemented every year and if you're
ever if you're buying a house right now,
[44:39] you know everything is on the incline.
Someone said, "Well, my
[44:44] I don't want to pay that. My
assessment's too high." And my reverse
[44:47] question to them is
what would you sell your acreage for?
[44:51] What would you sell your house in Grassy
Lake for? And they'll chuckle and say,
[44:55] "Well, way more than that." So
assessment and appraisal are different
[44:59] and there is a formula and if you have a
concern with your assessment, you get
[45:04] your sheet on the back of it or you call
the MD to make sure you understand what
[45:08] your assessment is and you can call
Benchmark and you can find out how they
[45:12] valued your home or your acreage. But on
your farmland, that won't have changed.
[45:17] It will have stayed the same
for the last 25 well, last 35 years. So
[45:23] it is a big increase. We'll be prepared
to answer questions on it, but I just
[45:28] wanted you to be aware. We've only had
first reading of the mill rate bylaw, so
[45:33] there still could be dis-
discussion and change.
[45:37] But
it wasn't come upon lately. There were
[45:41] lots of debate and discussion on how we
arrived at these numbers.
[45:46] So I think that's more or less all the
things I just wanted to bring forward.
[45:51] Council's available to answer any of
your questions. Well, we'll do it
[45:55] through the mic and then you can also
ask staff questions. And then we will
[46:02] also be around to visit informally, but
just know that then your answer isn't
[46:07] recorded or your question isn't
recorded. Okay?
[46:11] So once again, just one moment.
[46:20] I talk lots, but this wind has just been
drying me out.
[46:24] Um
we really thank you for taking the time
[46:27] to come.
The seven of us who ran for council, we
[46:31] very much care about the municipality in
its entirety.
[46:35] We have a great staff
>> [cough]
[46:39] » who work day in and day out to provide
services. That is our main goal at the
[46:44] MD. That's what we're chat um asked by
the province is to provide services for
[46:50] people, clean water, sewer, roads that
are safe to travel. And so that should
[46:56] be our main goal, our main objective so
that we continue to live in a great
[47:01] area.
There's many who are envious of our MD
[47:05] of Taber and the rates that we pay here.
And so the council and the staff will
[47:10] continue to work hard to make it
affordable, to make it a good place.
[47:15] Do we think there can be improvements?
100%. Every one of us do. Every one of
[47:19] us have unique ideas that we'd like to
bring to the forefront, which is why we
[47:23] ran for council. But we're very
interested in your ideas as well. We've
[47:28] We're a very open council and our staff
is very available. So if you have a
[47:32] concern or a complaint, and I know many
people call me, so I know you're not
[47:36] hesitant to let me know your opinion. We
appreciate that because many times the
[47:41] ideas come from residents that we
haven't explored. So tonight, I really
[47:46] appreciate you taking the time. But
don't let that stop here. We have coffee
[47:51] with council and our numbers are
published and available on the website
[47:54] and if you don't have time to phone us,
shoot us a text or an email and anyone
[47:59] of us will be happy to respond. So thank
you and we'll now move into the question
[48:04] and answer portion.
[48:40] So I I I I get your proposal with
regards to your your tax increases that
[48:46] are happening and
got a few questions with regards to
[48:50] what's happening with the whole
lease agreements and how that's coming
[48:54] forward and
we understand that might be a little bit
[48:58] on hold a bit due to some commission
requests or how does that How is that
[49:04] working? Because
I I just seem to be It seems like this
[49:08] as presented here today
that the leases are going to be going
[49:12] forward as they were proposed. And
Tamara, if I look at what
[49:17] if I was here a year ago
and there's been a lot of changes in the
[49:21] in the lease proposals
that uh
[49:25] seem to
Could you kind of reflect on or can you
[49:28] tell us where we're at with that and how
does that look going forward?
[49:34] I can speak to that. So um, as the
director Serena spoke to, the cultivated
[49:41] lease policy has been approved and the
grazing lease has been approved. What
[49:46] hasn't been approved is the sale of how
of how those sale of lands will happen.
[49:52] So, council has been working on this for
2 years. There was some decisions made
[49:59] and then there was a new council and
then there was some different decisions
[50:02] made. So, right at this point, we have
approved those two lease policies and
[50:09] now we're waiting on sales policies. So,
I think what you're referring to and
[50:13] it's been not a secret. There was a
motion made to Municipal Affairs to do
[50:19] an inspection just to clear the air on
that. It was approved by council same as
[50:25] how the leases were approved. Now it is
in the hands of the minister. They've
[50:30] asked to meet with council. They will
determine whether an inspection should
[50:34] happen or not. And it isn't just based
on any one thing, but there's nothing in
[50:39] the act that stops
the business of the municipality from
[50:45] carrying on and we are carrying on.
So, if the commission votes the other or
[50:50] if the commission for municipalities, if
they vote the other way on that
[50:54] or determine that there is a conflict of
interest with with council
[50:59] what is the feedback to us as members of
this of the MD
[51:04] with regards to agreements that are in
place for 10 years?
[51:09] Well, it was a a vote made by council
that was the majority and those policies
[51:15] have passed. Municipal Affairs is
definitely watching what's going on and
[51:19] at this point they're they don't have a
level of urgency other than they've
[51:23] asked to meet with council.
[51:29] Yeah, I got a question too. I I see
>> I should have asked people to say their
[51:33] name. So, it was David Beckering was
first. I'm sorry, Art Bondus. But, um, I
[51:38] have a question too. On these oil
leases, what I understand, maybe if I'm
[51:42] wrong, just correct me like some of the
money goes to the lease holders. Why is
[51:46] the MD giving that money away? Like they
already have a
[51:50] heck of a deal on the lease.
What why why do they need to get
[51:53] subsidized, you know? And I I see that
the taxes go up and I have no problem
[51:57] with well
nobody likes it, but you know
[52:00] everybody has more cost and so does the
MD. So, I see that the taxes have to go
[52:04] up. I totally see that. But, you know,
why are we giving that oil money away?
[52:08] That's just community money. Are we
giving it to 35 lease holders?
[52:13] So, the
on the leases, there's an a a clause in
[52:17] there that they're going to receive some
of that lease money for the disturbance,
[52:23] the inconvenience, and the potential
risk that they face while oil um
[52:28] companies or pipeline companies are on
their land.
[52:40] Allison Davey, what is that costing the
MD by giving up those payments?
[52:57] Give me 1 second, Allison. I figured
that question would come, so I have it
[53:03] with me.
[53:30] You need to understand
[53:34] Oh, yeah. So, approximately $150,000.
[53:46] But, now with the new uh lease
agreement, is there a recon up? Like is
[53:50] there is there is the MD getting more
revenue out of it?
[53:54] So, yes, the MD's going to get some
increased revenue.
[54:01] The new rate that's been established is
two times the provincial rate and unless
[54:08] it's less than $30 unless $30 or two
times the provincial rate. It won't go
[54:14] below $30.
So, it is a significant increase.
[54:21] What's the value of that increase to the
MD as a total dollar value?
[54:33] So, the amount of revenue that we'll be
receiving
[54:38] in 2026
compare So, 2026 approved
[54:46] is 900 um
900 and
[54:51] 937,040.
[54:58] And is the Scope Lake uh developing a
part of that number of the 940,000?
[55:03] » No, that amount was that Scope
development that has been removed from
[55:07] the lease holder and it's a separate
standalone.
[55:13] All right, thank and then one other
question, if if the last year's proposal
[55:18] would have gone through
is there any estimates of what we as MD
[55:22] stakeholders are losing because of the
agreement that was passed by this
[55:26] council?
So, I don't have that number right with
[55:29] me, but
the number is actually more because of
[55:35] the change in rate.
But, we had removed all the oil revenue.
[55:41] So, it's not the the rate still puts us
in the positive.
[55:47] But, maybe not as positive as it could
have been. Is that a fair statement? So,
[55:52] the
council of the day evaluated what the
[55:56] best benefit for the MD would be and we
landed on this decision.
[56:17] Uh also, just uh Brian here was able to
just uh dig up a little like Remi and
[56:21] Aggie mentioned it was approximate uh it
was it's 140,000. Just just to be a
[56:25] little more accurate with that number
that we represented for the payouts to
[56:28] the lease holders.
Thank you, Brian.
[56:37] Hi, uh Chris Siemens. Just just for
perspective, what uh surface lease
[56:42] revenue does the MD retain
from the total? So, 140,000 goes to
[56:47] lease holder, what does the MD retain?
[56:54] We'll just invite Brian up to have a
[57:03] I think the total uh revenue received
from oil and gas surface revenue is
[57:07] about 1.4 million a year.
[57:19] Daryl Johnson. I'm wondering how much um
revenue you guys expect to generate from
[57:25] the Scope uh irrigation project? Um as
that land was removed from the lease
[57:30] holders, but how much will that benefit
the MD?
[57:33] So, I don't have that with me. Um I
should have brought that. I was more
[57:37] focused on what the leases I thought
people would be after that. But, um we
[57:42] do have a projected dollar amount. Is
that Do we have that budget? I have my
[57:48] laptop, we could look it up, but um
right now, we have a base idea of what
[57:55] we hope that the
leases go for and then we'll be
[57:59] evaluating. We know that the debenture
that we're looking at taking out is
[58:04] Mike.
[58:08] Uh
[58:11] Yeah, we thought
[58:14] Right. So, what Mike said is we have an
authorization of a debenture of 10
[58:19] million, but what we we don't anticipate
using that. We are hoping more to be
[58:24] around the 9 million dollar mark and
it's a 50/50 project with BRID.
[58:29] Initially, they had wanted us to do all
the roads, but we said that wouldn't be
[58:34] agreeable to us. Everything had to be
50/50 with the returns also at 50/50.
[58:44] So, the we just just doing the at the
minimum bid. So, set at 400 an acre is
[58:51] the minimum bid and we calculate that
out to be approximately and again, it'll
[58:56] vary depending on what the bids are.
800,000 dollars would be the would be
[59:01] the be shared revenue.
[59:06] And one other question to go to go with
that. What what's the strategy for the
[59:11] payback then? Are you guys looking to
draw some revenue every year or to be
[59:16] more aggressive and pay back the the
loan or is has council determined that?
[59:20] So, it has not been finalized. So, we
have a few policies that are coming down
[59:25] the pipe right now and one is on the
Scope revenue and then the other once we
[59:30] figure out what we're going to do with
land sales, then we have to establish a
[59:34] policy on how we're going to deal with
any land. Now, our Hamlet lot sales has
[59:40] a policy. Those lots go for a cost and
we return that money to pay the
[59:44] debenture, so it's an in and out minus a
little bit for marketing.
[59:49] Otherwise, um but on land sale or scope,
that has not been finalized and this
[59:55] council will be working on that in like
right away.
[1:00:19] Anyone else?
[1:00:22] Couns- uh
[1:00:26] Yeah, Brian.
[1:00:29] Just No, if you could use the mic, so
it's recorded for the live stream and
[1:00:33] just your name, please, too. Uh Brian
Hildebrand.
[1:00:36] Um so,
there's a lot of expenditures that need
[1:00:40] to happen with the MD.
Um
[1:00:42] Clearview Lodge,
uh $4.5 million over the next little bit
[1:00:47] for the renovation project. Uh the
master tra- master transportation plan
[1:00:52] uh identifies $80 million
just to maintain the hard service roads
[1:00:57] that we have in the MD over the next 5
years. As we just saw,
[1:01:01] uh the policing funding uh going up from
$600,000 up to $1.3 million yearly.
[1:01:08] Yearly, um Taber recreation is going to
need additional funding.
[1:01:12] This year's budget, um
what, $5 million was pulled out of
[1:01:17] reserves
and taxes were up $1 million.
[1:01:23] Where is the path to sustainability
here?
[1:01:26] Where is the money going to come from?
My credit card is getting close to the
[1:01:30] limit.
[1:01:36] I appreciate your question
and um
[1:01:40] this budget, like the last eight,
haven't been easy for council.
[1:01:45] Um we we made some changes. We reduced
some things. Clearview Lodge, for those
[1:01:53] who aren't aware, they're going
They've been approved for a $9 million
[1:01:58] Alberta um funding injection to renovate
and redo the lodge.
[1:02:04] If you're at the lodge,
most of the rooms don't have showers in
[1:02:09] them.
So, you have to use a communal shower, a
[1:02:13] communal bathroom. So, the upgrade will
increase the size of the rooms, plus
[1:02:18] make sure everyone has
a shower and a toilet.
[1:02:23] If we don't honor our old people, and I
know this is a bit of a heartstring
[1:02:27] answer, Brian, so you won't necessarily
like this, but
[1:02:31] there are forefathers who went before us
who took some risks to make advances
[1:02:36] and taking care of our seniors, to me,
is one of them.
[1:02:41] The hard road surface, it is a disaster.
We're very worried about that. All of
[1:02:46] our hard surfaces, and that's whether
it's paved or chip seal or um compressed
[1:02:52] concrete, all those surfaces are coming
of age, 30 to 40 years old. They're
[1:02:58] breaking apart. They were never intended
for this amount of traffic and this
[1:03:03] heavy road. So, we can blame past
councils, like I hear what's happening
[1:03:07] in Calgary,
blame them for not fixing things, or we
[1:03:10] can start fixing them now. And so,
figuring out how we're going to manage
[1:03:14] this budget and figure out do we have to
turn hard surface roads to gravel, might
[1:03:19] be one of the options. We're doing We've
asked our administration to do a cost
[1:03:24] analysis on this. We've turned some
roads to gravel. People are wildly mad.
[1:03:29] They hate it. But,
to pave a mile of uh road, it's a
[1:03:35] million dollars. So, we definitely don't
have that.
[1:03:39] Police funding, we've asked our staff to
give us some options, but more so, we've
[1:03:45] asked the province give us some
indication of what we're going to deal
[1:03:47] with. And they they aren't clear on
that. They don't give us a a clear path
[1:03:53] of what we can do, so we haven't left
that alone.
[1:03:56] Taber recreation, whether it's Vauxhall
recreation, Barnwell, Grassy Haze or
[1:04:01] Enchant, we know if people don't have
things to do, they'll leave. Their kids
[1:04:05] won't stay. They'll go on to Lethbridge.
They'll move to Coaldale. So, recreation
[1:04:11] does matter and will most likely, I
don't know for sure, will make an
[1:04:15] investment in Taber's recreation, like
we made an investment in Vauxhall's. And
[1:04:21] thank heavens we did.
We gave $700,000 to the Vauxhall arena
[1:04:26] and curling rink. When Taber's arenas
blew up, it gave our athletes, our
[1:04:32] users, the opportunity to go to Vauxhall
and they welcomed them with open arms,
[1:04:36] no different than Bow Island and
Coaldale, but Vauxhall we see as one of
[1:04:41] our regional hubs, no different than we
do Taber or Barnwell. So, yeah, there is
[1:04:46] a lot of money and whether we can find a
way to continue, we're looking at
[1:04:50] alternate sources. Um
Director Passy talked about that. We're
[1:04:55] We're trying to find different things.
And some of it becomes taxation, some of
[1:05:00] it becomes special fees.
But, this council isn't looking at these
[1:05:05] numbers lately. We're We get the same
tax bill each one of you do.
[1:05:10] And so, we are aware of how expensive it
is and what's left at the end of the
[1:05:14] month to buy bread and milk.
And we want young families here. We have
[1:05:18] the youngest population in the province
in the MD of Taber.
[1:05:23] And those young families want to have
houses, have acreages, and make a way.
[1:05:26] So, we don't want to out-tax them, but
we want them to have a road to drive on
[1:05:30] or a rink to skate in or a ball diamond
in
[1:05:34] Enchant or in Haze or Grassy Lake.
You know, this hall, it's an amazing
[1:05:39] hall, been well kept by volunteers,
but it's old. And I mean, we're
[1:05:44] thankful, but at some point, this
council is going to have to look at
[1:05:48] that. And the difference of the MD of
Taber compared to the town of Taber
[1:05:53] is it's volunteers who clean this floor
and hang these tiles. It's not MD staff.
[1:05:59] So, if we start to change that kind of
recreation, it will be a drastic
[1:06:03] difference either in service level or in
what we have to pay. So, do I hear what
[1:06:09] you're saying, Brian? Absolutely. We
know that the costs are out there.
[1:06:14] We're trying to figure out alternative
solutions and we hope some of it will
[1:06:18] come through alternative ideas, like
scope project, looking at perhaps
[1:06:24] um some different taxation on feed lots
or road user agreements that we haven't
[1:06:29] had to have in Taber, because we've been
very fortunate.
[1:06:33] But, if we're going to keep having heavy
trucks and heavy loads, maybe it's time
[1:06:37] then we have to charge people. And
you know, there's a general sense of
[1:06:42] what we need to do to take care of each
other and our job as a council is to
[1:06:46] provide those services in the most
cost-effective way we can.
[1:07:04] Raising
[1:07:08] Raising land taxes, how much of an
increase?
[1:07:11] So, through on irrigated land, it's
about $3 an acre. What's the total that
[1:07:17] you
>> Oh, the total amount? Let me get that.
[1:07:22] Oh, sorry.
You've been called out. You need to say
[1:07:26] your name. John Edward Krass. Thank you.
I heard you were the mayor of Haze.
[1:07:32] M.O.H., mayor of Haze. Okay.
Thank you.
[1:07:36] So, yeah, it's about a million dollars.
So, in 2025, farmland raised 2.286
[1:07:44] million and in 2026, it'll be 3.5
million.
[1:07:50] Thank you. Yeah.
And if you're really interested and have
[1:07:54] time, like I know some of you do, you
can go on to our agenda meeting packages
[1:08:00] and all of our budget discussions were
there. And we have an analysis that's
[1:08:05] open to the public and it takes
properties right from a house to a
[1:08:10] business to a CNRL battery to an acreage
to a large farm and it shows you what
[1:08:17] the costs are going to be with these
current tax rates. And it includes what
[1:08:22] we're going to be requisition from the
province for school and for policing and
[1:08:26] for housing and for the MD. And you
could look at it to see
[1:08:31] what 2025 was to 2026.
So, on our very last agenda, which what
[1:08:37] date was that?
April
[1:08:40] 14th, that is where our bylaw
um mill rate bylaw is. In that agenda,
[1:08:48] all of these analysis are there. So, you
can see what numbers we're working with
[1:08:53] and looking at just as much as each of
us do.
[1:08:58] Okay, I got a
[1:09:01] some paper to read here. Okay.
I'm here to express concern regarding
[1:09:06] the conduct displayed
beginning of December
[1:09:11] Johnny Turcato and Billy,
which I found inappropriate for an
[1:09:15] elected
government official representing
[1:09:18] taxpayers.
While the counselor issued an apology
[1:09:22] to council, no apology was extended to
Billy.
[1:09:27] none of you
counselors
[1:09:30] reached out and apologized for Johnny's
behavior.
[1:09:36] I'm also concerned that the
Hey.
[1:09:41] I'm also concerned that the actions of
certain council members are contributing
[1:09:46] to division within the community,
creating tension
[1:09:49] amongst families, friends, and
neighbors.
[1:09:52] As Reeve,
I would appreciate clarification on your
[1:09:57] role in influencing council discussions
prior to formal deliberation and voting.
[1:10:04] These matters raise concerns about
accountability and the handling of
[1:10:07] public trust. I would appro- I would
[snorts] appreciate your response.
[1:10:14] Can you read me the last sentence where
it calls out me?
[1:10:19] The last sentence?
[1:10:23] Oh.
[1:10:26] I would appreciate clarification on your
role in influencing council discussion
[1:10:31] prior to formal deliberation and voting.
And I don't know if
[1:10:35] you should do that or should not. I'm
And that's a question to you.
[1:10:39] Yeah, so those who know me
know that I'm pretty strong in what my
[1:10:44] opinions are.
[1:10:47] And we've had some good conversations as
council.
[1:10:50] But whether I'm having pre-meetings or
sidebar meetings with
[1:10:56] my council or with other user groups,
then you would know that that's wrong.
[1:11:01] Have I had a discussion with counselors?
Sure, I I do all the time. I've had
[1:11:06] discussions with John De Groot. He's
what helped me understand what community
[1:11:11] pastures were and helped me make a
decision to ensure that they would be
[1:11:15] stable.
There's no pre-voting that I'm aware of.
[1:11:19] It concerns me because I mean, there's
definitely people who are influencing
[1:11:24] council, but that's part of government.
These are your elected officials. They
[1:11:28] have to listen to their ratepayers. So
that that occurs all the time, whether
[1:11:33] it's by phone call, whether it's by a
meeting, whether it's by a comment on my
[1:11:38] social media, or someone's mother
phoning me and screaming at me for 40
[1:11:42] minutes,
calling me a devil.
[1:11:45] You know, sometimes as a counselor,
we have to navigate the chair we sit in.
[1:11:53] And making hard decisions is one of
them.
[1:11:59] This leasehold stuff hasn't been easy.
What should have been harder was having
[1:12:04] to set the farm mill rate.
But that wasn't as divisive cuz we
[1:12:09] worked together to find a way for
everybody in the municipality to take
[1:12:13] care of it.
The leaseholds became a very divisive
[1:12:18] subject
because there were some changes. But
[1:12:22] that's elections. That's government and
that's what happens.
[1:12:26] So myself as Reeve, do I try to corral
these guys? Do you know any of them? Not
[1:12:32] one of them is going to take my opinion
very well.
[1:12:35] They're all strong, independent people,
and I would feel the same way for them
[1:12:40] if they wanted to do that to me.
Do we share our ideas and our
[1:12:45] suggestions? 100%. I text them all today
to remind them about the meeting. I send
[1:12:51] them information on how they could do
their job better or have access to
[1:12:56] information. But I can get the same from
someone else. Someone will send me
[1:13:01] information from a meeting they went to
on an opportunity for funding. So do we
[1:13:06] work together outside of council? 100%.
These men and I serve on 61 different
[1:13:12] committees in the community.
We spend hours and hours of time trying
[1:13:17] to figure it out. So as far as our
conduct, there's an election every 4
[1:13:22] years, so that could be debated. But
we've worked darn hard to find a
[1:13:28] compromise, to find in a solution. Has
it been divisive? 100%. Have some
[1:13:33] members of the community helped make it
divisive? 100%.
[1:13:37] They've gone behind people's backs.
They've said things, but that's part of
[1:13:41] politics. So if you heard tonight when
the question was asked on leases, this
[1:13:46] council came to a consensus, and we have
a decision, so we're moving forward.
[1:13:52] We care about the community, but
things are going to divide, and farming,
[1:13:58] it's one of those. Ranching, another
one. It It is a difficult thing to deal
[1:14:03] with, and water's going to be worse when
we have water shortages or water
[1:14:07] concerns.
We're very fortunate where we live.
[1:14:10] We're not worried about whether we have
a house or a road to drive on.
[1:14:14] So when I hear critical comments of this
council, I get very defensive because I
[1:14:21] do know that these men
and I serve this municipality the best
[1:14:26] we can.
Is there things we should do better? You
[1:14:29] brought up one incident.
100% we all can do better.
[1:14:34] Should I have reached out and apologized
on behalf of council?
[1:14:39] That's not my role.
And plus, if you knew background for me
[1:14:43] on that situation, it would be very
difficult for me to even have a
[1:14:49] conversation. But know that tonight or
this week, I sent a text message out to
[1:14:55] most everyone whose number I have. I
sent it out to Billy and Joe. They would
[1:15:00] have been welcome to come tonight, too.
And
[1:15:04] whether council gets in disagreements
with people,
[1:15:08] again, I'm not their mom.
They're going to have behaviors that,
[1:15:12] you know, we can all do better. Right
now, there's no code of conduct.
[1:15:16] There's going to be a code of con-
similar thing come into play if this
[1:15:20] bill 20-
eight gets passed, the omnibus bill,
[1:15:25] that also includes banning books from
libraries, changing the time. Like
[1:15:30] there's all kinds of things in that
bill. And that will help
[1:15:34] deal with counselors. But for those of
you who know,
[1:15:37] in my second year, a code of conduct was
placed on me for discussing how I could
[1:15:42] have a better relationship with the CEO.
So code of conduct,
[1:15:47] I have mixed feelings. So I know I've
talked a long time, Johnny, but
[1:15:51] we all should do better, and I think
this council is working hard to do
[1:15:55] better. We've come to some solutions.
Now we need to move forward. Thank you.
[1:16:01] Hi, John De Groot. I I just
was pretty involved
[1:16:05] with the lands discussions the last 2
years of my
[1:16:09] on council.
And it And And it was divisive. But our
[1:16:13] council came up with some pretty hard
decisions. And uh
[1:16:19] And I didn't agree with all of them, but
that's that's council. I respect the
[1:16:23] decision this council has made. But one
thing we have to understand in
[1:16:28] agriculture here, and I've heard the
word subsidy, and it's uh free to the
[1:16:34] grazing operations. When I started my
farming career, land was 100,000 bucks a
[1:16:40] quarter.
What's land worth now?
[1:16:45] What was an intensive agricultural
operation? Cuz I I get pissed off when
[1:16:50] people start picking on feedlots or or
picking on one
[1:16:55] the potato growers, whatever.
An intensive agricultural operation in
[1:17:01] 1980 was what?
You know, what's a big What was a big
[1:17:06] potato storage? Doesn't matter. Just
think about it. What was a big feedlot
[1:17:09] back in 1980?
3,500 head. Where are we now? So stop
[1:17:16] throwing the word subsidy around because
if if you think it's a subsidy to the
[1:17:21] grazing association
or the individual leaseholders, pull
[1:17:26] your head out your backside because
irrigation is a subsidy.
[1:17:32] By how many millions of dollars
do we get canals and Chin expansion and
[1:17:39] Horsefly spillway?
So figure out
[1:17:42] how we can work together.
And I am proud that you guys went up on
[1:17:47] land. When land's going for between
three and five million dollars a
[1:17:53] quarter,
and we're
[1:17:55] running our visa drive over three bucks,
give your head a shake.
[1:18:06] I just wanted to say
Is it on? You can hear me? Um that
[1:18:10] Tamara and I have probably voted against
each other more than we voted together.
[1:18:14] But I respect this lady a lot. We don't
have to agree
[1:18:19] to be friends.
Um she's been amazing. And even on
[1:18:24] little things in the background, if one
of us is sick
[1:18:28] or on the phone or any She She watches
out for everybody on this council. If
[1:18:33] somebody can't hear what's being said,
she makes sure that we speak up so that
[1:18:36] the people that are hard of hearing can
hear. Um And so like I say, we don't
[1:18:40] have to agree to to care about each
other and to actually love each other.
[1:18:45] And she She gets a lot of abuse as the
as the Reeve, and I'm just honored to be
[1:18:51] able to work with her. And so thank you.
[1:18:57] And it goes for all of council. And
we're very fortunate to have a
[1:19:00] supportive staff, too, who check in on
council and make sure we're not going
[1:19:06] sideways, either. We try to do our very
best, and we'll always have to do
[1:19:10] better, but that's being human.
One question here. Yeah, go ahead, Bert.
[1:19:16] Hey, uh
you know, I just came to the meeting. I
[1:19:18] thought, you know, you had raised the
rate by 55% was it?
[1:19:23] No one really complains.
You raised mine by 55, I'd be
[1:19:27] complaining pretty hard right now.
So, I'm just sitting here going, "Hm, I
[1:19:31] see the farmers around here, but no
one's saying anything, so must be
[1:19:36] must be good or easy still."
[1:19:40] I think it's reasonable. I think that's
more so what it is and because
[1:19:45] we didn't raise it to make money. We
made it raised it to make our budget
[1:19:49] balance and so that we didn't have to
continue having residential and business
[1:19:55] carry the load when we know egg is a a
stick is the main stable contributor to
[1:20:01] our municipality. It needed to have a
level of equity. Yeah, just to readjust
[1:20:07] things to get more things in line a
little bit.
[1:20:09] Okay, yeah, good job.
[1:20:26] Uh Tamara, I think you know, we all like
to you know, we all like to thank this
[1:20:28] council being I know we ask some tough
questions sometimes of you guys, but
[1:20:34] you know, the increase of $3 an acre,
you're right.
[1:20:37] When you really think about it,
I mean, when I first started dealing
[1:20:40] with the the now SMRID or TID, I think
our rate was
[1:20:45] $8 an acre for for irrigation.
And what are we paying now?
[1:20:50] 33, right? So, I So,
So, we're we've seen a see seen an $8 to
[1:20:56] 30-some plus number come from the
irrigation side of it, but yet the
[1:21:01] as a uh for our rate paying for our
taxes,
[1:21:05] we've seen three bucks.
You know, I mean,
[1:21:09] the question is is like we talk about
certain industries like maybe feedlots
[1:21:14] or potato farmers or high use
environments paying more.
[1:21:19] You know, who's really paying a lot is
the is these people that are in the
[1:21:22] acreages and stuff like that.
I have a house in the acreage and my
[1:21:26] brother has a house in the acreage and
we pay for taxes relative to how much
[1:21:30] services we get is considerably higher
than what the farmland, like you say,
[1:21:34] it's gone from $100,000
to $35,000 I think an acre almost. I
[1:21:41] mean, when we bought land even in the
'90s, I think we paid $800 an acre for
[1:21:44] irrigation.
$800 an acre.
[1:21:48] And at that time, we were charged a tax
rate of based on that $800 an acre,
[1:21:52] which was the 25 years ago,
right? So,
[1:21:55] I think
the direction that I'm trying to tell
[1:21:58] council is is that you
everybody's got to pay their fair share,
[1:22:03] right? Everybody has to pay their fair
share, whether it's what's the
[1:22:06] agricultural side of it or it's the
leaseholder side of it or we all have to
[1:22:11] pay somewhat of fair share.
And I think that
[1:22:14] cuz if we don't, like you say, the
infrastructure
[1:22:17] is falling apart. We've got some
highways and blacktops and the MD of
[1:22:21] Taber
that I think Mexico might have better
[1:22:24] roads.
So, I mean, we have to we have to think
[1:22:28] about that, right? For a bit, right?
Well, no, I've been to Mexico. There's
[1:22:30] some of the roads are better there.
So, I mean, I grew up in Saskatchewan.
[1:22:34] You should go drive some of theirs.
>> [laughter]
[1:22:37] » Yeah, that's true. That's true, but that
is Mexico, so.
[1:22:42] So, anyway, that's all I have to say
about it, so.
[1:22:53] Okay, council, do you have any Does
anyone want to speak?
[1:22:57] You're welcome to if you want. Oh, we'll
take some more questions.
[1:23:04] Yeah, I'm Peter Donns.
Uh I'm I'm in on, [clears throat] you
[1:23:09] know, like uh
uh lived here uh almost 50 years in this
[1:23:14] country
and uh
[1:23:17] the massive opportunities there were for
us.
[1:23:21] Mentioned subsidy, irrigation,
livestock.
[1:23:25] You know, I've been kind of in all of
it.
[1:23:28] But you know, the the responsibility as
a counselor
[1:23:32] and and what you guys have to
fix what was not
[1:23:38] was locked behind
20 years ago and not taking action and
[1:23:44] taken for granted.
You know, and now we have to play catch
[1:23:47] up.
And some of them get angry.
[1:23:52] You know,
shame on them. We have to live with
[1:23:55] reality.
You know, and $150
[1:24:00] I gladly pay.
You know, uh
[1:24:05] the school system, the school buses.
If you if you look everything, it is
[1:24:10] just massive.
An MD like this,
[1:24:14] um you know, a little bit of a pity it's
it's
[1:24:18] um questions asked and and what has been
put
[1:24:23] onto the council and we've
uh
[1:24:27] you know, I would like to ask every
counselor
[1:24:30] and and do a little spiel
on their own thoughts
[1:24:34] and where they stand for.
Thank you.
[1:24:41] That was Jerry Zeinstra. So, uh I'll
give council the mic, so you just want
[1:24:46] their opinion on the taxation or on the
state of the MD?
[1:24:51] Sure. I will let them come one at a
time. You've heard enough from me.
[1:25:03] Okay, we're back. Um I'm um
that first rate meeting
[1:25:10] um
when you've never been on council was a
[1:25:12] bit shocking to realize that we had to
move
[1:25:16] farm tax rates by 55%
to get $1 million.
[1:25:21] And the road, the Purple Springs Road is
going to cost $12 million to rebuild.
[1:25:25] One road that's completely dissolving.
And so,
[1:25:30] I don't think we're going to solve all
this by doing taxation. We've got to do
[1:25:33] some investment in the future of this MD
and we're looking at everything like
[1:25:38] data centers, wind, solar, what and we
don't know what's the right answers.
[1:25:42] We've We've got to get a lot of data
together. We've got to study this out.
[1:25:47] One of the things that was really a
shock to me that I had no idea, um just
[1:25:51] being naive, but that we have 150
bridges in the MD of Taber and they're
[1:25:56] almost all of them are bridges for
irrigation. They're for all of our
[1:26:00] canals. And
um I didn't realize that that was a
[1:26:05] liability that the the MD has to fix.
Now, it'll be shared with the province
[1:26:09] and the feds, but we have to pay a
portion of that. And it wasn't very many
[1:26:13] years ago that that was actually SMRID's
responsibility, but the legislation got
[1:26:18] changed and now it's government's
responsibility. And so, it's a huge
[1:26:22] liability, but it could be a huge
opportunity. What if we figure out how
[1:26:27] to make box culverts, I'm in precast
concrete, so I wouldn't be doing it.
[1:26:32] That would be a major conflict. Or if we
figure out how to train one of our crews
[1:26:37] to fix these bridges because there's a
whole bunch of them in the county of 40
[1:26:40] Mile and there's a whole bunch of them
in the county of Lethbridge. We don't
[1:26:43] know what the answers are, but something
in the future's got to change, not just
[1:26:46] taxation. We've got to bring And if we
keep taxing the businesses at too high
[1:26:51] of a rate, they won't come to our MD.
Like we want like more processing
[1:26:56] plants. We want food processing. We want
things to happen here that actually
[1:27:00] makes it better for everybody. We're in
a like I agree, an amazing place of
[1:27:04] opportunity, but we've got to keep
looking. Like John's going to Toronto
[1:27:09] next week for a
a few days
[1:27:12] to
a big, you know, economic development
[1:27:14] type convention and some of the staff is
going with him. They're looking for
[1:27:18] things to bring to this MD that are
going to make it a better place to be.
[1:27:22] And so,
um and we're going to keep doing those
[1:27:25] things and we are going to start more
businesses and
[1:27:29] in 10 years, we're going to look back
and see that
[1:27:32] um even though this land policy has been
very, very contentious, we've been
[1:27:36] pulling in millions of dollars from the
oil leases off of that land.
[1:27:41] And now we're going to sell a bunch of
it and we're building the irrigation
[1:27:44] project.
It's going to be our seed money to do
[1:27:48] different things. It's not all going to
get solved by this land policy, but we
[1:27:52] are going to move on to to new things
and it's going to take a lot of debate
[1:27:55] and we're not going to agree on
everything that we but we are going to
[1:27:58] try to put this money into a place where
it will bring some security for our So,
[1:28:03] I'm very positive about the future and I
am sorry for the lack of knowledge that
[1:28:08] I have on a lot of things. I'm trying to
to get up to speed and I really
[1:28:12] appreciate the patience of council
working with me.
[1:28:21] So, I'm a new member of council and it's
been an interesting experience to say
[1:28:25] the least for me stepping into this
situation.
[1:28:29] Uh first of all, before I say anything,
I want to echo
[1:28:33] uh David's comments about working with
Tamara.
[1:28:37] She does a great job. As a council, we
put her in difficult situations
[1:28:44] and she manages it and manages it well.
And I appreciate her role and what she
[1:28:50] has been doing in leading us together
through this process that we have gone
[1:28:54] through.
As I reflect on
[1:28:58] the role of community,
I think the most important asset we have
[1:29:04] in the community
is relationships. And it's relationships
[1:29:09] with one another. It's relationships
with different groups.
[1:29:13] And if there's anything that is going to
be more
[1:29:18] um difficult to manage going forward,
it's going to be division.
[1:29:24] And we have got to recognize that there
is going to be differences of opinion
[1:29:30] and come through that process of making
decisions and still have respect for one
[1:29:35] another.
Um
[1:29:38] being able to
work together in pursuit of difficult
[1:29:44] decisions that we have been dealing with
and have yet to deal with in the future
[1:29:51] is one of the things that we all need to
invest time and effort into and I hope
[1:29:58] that that's something that as a
community
[1:30:01] we're prepared to work on together.
Cuz as we've talked about tonight, there
[1:30:07] has been difficult things that we have
been through already.
[1:30:12] But I'm sure that there's going to be
even more difficult decisions ahead.
[1:30:16] Um Brian Hildebrand
raised the question. There's all kinds
[1:30:21] of needs that are out there and where's
the money going to come from? And that's
[1:30:25] going to be
an ongoing conversation that we're going
[1:30:29] to have to work through together. I
appreciate you coming out tonight. The
[1:30:33] fact that you're here
tells us there's interest in what's
[1:30:37] happening. That's great to see.
I appreciate the comments that you've
[1:30:41] shared.
[1:30:48] Thanks for making me come up here,
Jerry.
[1:30:51] » [laughter]
>> I appreciate that. So, when I uh first
[1:30:54] put my name forward to be on council, it
was
[1:30:57] it was because I thought that the roads
could use more help and more work. I
[1:31:01] thought that uh we could do a better
job.
[1:31:04] And one of the things that disappointed
me the most is over the last 8 years
[1:31:08] the most the least amount of time we
spend on decision-making is about roads
[1:31:13] and road infrastructure.
When that is what affects every one of
[1:31:16] us in this room. And so, that that
disappoints me a little bit, but there's
[1:31:20] so many other things that we have to
deal with and some of them are quite
[1:31:24] challenging. And I would encourage
anybody if if there's something I've
[1:31:28] done I I encourage you to reach out to
me personally. Um calling me out in open
[1:31:33] meeting isn't really the right way to do
it, but if that's how you choose to do
[1:31:37] it, that's fine, too.
Uh I can take it. And uh this this
[1:31:40] council, just like the last two I've
been on
[1:31:43] uh there's differences of opinion and
that's a good thing. We can't all agree
[1:31:47] all the time and we shouldn't.
Thank you.
[1:31:58] Well, talk about being put on the spot.
Anyways, what do I think?
[1:32:04] Well, I'm going to start off with a bit
of history. I've been on boards for 30
[1:32:08] years.
Um
[1:32:10] this has been the toughest
experience on a board that I've had
[1:32:15] trying to make
wise decisions
[1:32:18] and you realize, too, that you don't
know
[1:32:21] what you need to know sometimes and that
gets a bit frustrating and
[1:32:25] it's a learning experience, for sure.
Uh one thing I did want to mention
[1:32:30] tonight is
um you know, a couple weeks ago
[1:32:34] we went on a tour of the Horsefly
Spillway.
[1:32:37] And people have talked about subsidy
and and uh
[1:32:43] and subsidizing the grazing
associations. And I looked at the
[1:32:46] Horsefly Spillway and I said, I don't
know how much money the MD spent on
[1:32:49] that,
but I don't think there's too many
[1:32:51] leaseholders that getting any benefit
out of that spillway.
[1:32:56] So,
there are a group of people that have
[1:32:59] subsidized that spillway
that helps a lot of people in a
[1:33:03] different area of the MD.
And I think
[1:33:06] it's the fact that
[1:33:10] we're never going to get everything 100%
right,
[1:33:13] but
we can try and average things out the
[1:33:18] best we can.
[1:33:28] Yeah, I'm usually the one that uh has
the most to say at the meeting. Very
[1:33:32] quiet.
But uh when I this my I'm a third term
[1:33:36] now and when I got on, I just wanted to
try and make the MD a better place than
[1:33:40] what it was and
hope to win.
[1:33:44] I I believe that it's better yet, but uh
roads is a big thing.
[1:33:50] I don't know why out in the country and
how it come about years ago, why there's
[1:33:54] a little paved section for 4 miles here
and then
[1:33:57] you go to another area, it's another 4
miles there.
[1:34:01] And a number of the same roads that
we're talking about now that are
[1:34:03] breaking up, they were more or less made
for
[1:34:06] half ton cars and maybe 3 ton trucks or
tandems and now it's
[1:34:10] big trucks. That's why they're falling
apart, so
[1:34:14] what do we do?
Spend millions of dollars fixing them up
[1:34:17] or turn them back to gravel or
I guess anybody that's got any good
[1:34:22] ideas for me, let us know cuz uh
it's a lot of money to spend in one
[1:34:26] area.
And with the expansion of that
[1:34:29] irrigation, it's sure to take time to
pay for it, but I think there'll be
[1:34:33] revenue gained from that and it'll help
everybody out with
[1:34:37] recreation
and everything else in the community, so
[1:34:42] that's what all I have.
[1:34:50] Okay, thanks, council.
So, um last call for questions.
[1:34:56] I heard Lace tested every donut, so
they're all good.
[1:35:00] Don't look underneath them.
[1:35:08] It for those who don't know, Lace is the
person who keeps our council organized,
[1:35:13] moving forward, ensuring that we show up
at the right places, have the right
[1:35:18] documents and then with the support of
our staff. Um you may notice tonight our
[1:35:23] CAO is not here, Mr. Arlis Crop. He is
um taking his dad to a nephew's wedding
[1:35:30] and that's probably more than I should
share, but I want you to know that this
[1:35:34] council and the last two councils I
served on prioritize family and that is
[1:35:41] very important to us and work-life
balance.
[1:35:45] I would say most farmers don't have a
clue about that. I live with one.
[1:35:49] And um but at the MD of Taber, we do
think it's important to have work-life
[1:35:54] balance and plus many of our staff, all
I would say all of them contribute back
[1:35:59] to our community and I'll just call Lace
out. She is the president of the Taber
[1:36:04] Curling Club and helps her kids' sports
teams. So,
[1:36:08] we do strive for work-life balance and
when I hear people say, "Well, they
[1:36:12] shouldn't be shut down at at uh 5:00.
They should be working till 9:00." Well,
[1:36:17] maybe we all could learn a little bit
and but that's not how farming works.
[1:36:21] So, we have a strong team. We as a
council support our staff and we're
[1:36:26] thankful for the work that they're
doing, right from our summer students to
[1:36:30] our directors to our CAO. And um if we
don't have those folks, there's not one
[1:36:35] of these guys you want grading your
road. So, it's uh important that we have
[1:36:40] this strong team.
It wasn't that bad of joke, Bryce.
[1:36:45] Okay, any other last questions before we
have a coffee?
[1:36:54] All right, thank you for coming tonight.
We appreciate your community
[1:36:57] involvement.