News Room

At its regular council meeting on Feb. 15, Mountain View County Council agreed to provide funding to the Red Deer River Watershed Alliance - of which the County is a member - with certain conditions attached.

The decision was made to cover the County's contribution to the RDRWA at 50 cents per capita (just over $6,000) on the condition that RDRWA hold its regular meetings in an open and public forum, and that the County's funding portion be contributed towards filling the "data gap" in the alliance's state of the watershed report in regards to water usage for hydraulic fracturing.

In a separate motion, Council also approved requesting the RDRWA increase the municipal representation on the board to the level of municipal funding.

Currently, the RDRWA is funded 80 per cent by the provincial government, 18 per cent by participating municipalities and 2 per cent by industry.

Mountain View County officials will be going over the numbers from the 2011 Census of Population - released Feb. 8 by Statistics Canada - to see what, if any, impact the population figures will have on County operations.

According to information released by the federal agency, Mountain View County's population in 2011 was 12,359, an increase of 0.4 per cent over the 2006 figure. In 2006, the original population number for MVC, as determined by Statistics Canada, was 12,391. Following annexations in 2008-09, the total population was adjusted to 12,308.

However, in 2007 the County conducted a municipal census that pegged the municipality's population at 12,570. After adjustment for annexations Mountain View County's population was determined to be 12,499.

According to County CAO Tony Martens, administration will review the released numbers, and what they'll mean to County operations, before considering whether the County would undertake another municipal census.

"Having accurate population figures is important for a number of reasons, including current and future grant programs that are funded on per capita basis, as well as how we fund our local shared services with the urban municipalities, such as recreation, regional waste management and library services."

The information released also highlights statistics about Regularly Occupied Dwellings and Total Private Dwellings. In both areas, Mountain View County saw an increase over the previous census with Regularly Occupied Dwellings up 1.5 per cent, and Total Private Dwellings up 4.2 per cent.

Overall, Alberta saw its population grow by almost 11 per cent since 2006 to 3,645,257, according to census data.

More census information is available by visiting Statistics Canada's website at: www.statcan.gc.ca.

Media inquiries may be directed to
Tony Martens, Chief Administrative Officer
Mountain View County
403-335-3311
Tony.Martens@mountainviewcounty.com

Downloadable Press Release: Click Here

Mountain View County Council has given the go-ahead to a $2.7 million replacement of the Big Prairie Bridge that was lost due to fire in 2009.

At their February 1, 2012 regular council meeting, County Councillors approved entering into a contract with Trevcon Enterprises Ltd. of Calgary for the replacement of the bridge in 2012 and approved a budget of $2,719,737 for the project based on the company's tender.

MVC Reeve Bruce Beattie said the decision was overdue for the Big Prairie community that had been living without the vital link over the Little Red Deer River.

"It is clearly the right decision to approve this project," he explained. "We have good support from the community stakeholder group and this is a good long-term investment with an expected life-span of 75 years."

"Most importantly all our approvals are in place including from Alberta Environment, Fisheries and Oceans and NavWaters. This means work can begin as soon as possible on the site which is something the County and this community in particular has been waiting for."

"We thank the Big Prairie community and the residents who have been working with the County through every step of this long process. We recognize what an important asset this will be to the community in terms of emergency, commercial and social value."

Of the total project cost, the provincial government will be funding $1,420,000 through the Local Road Bridge Component of the Strategic Transportation Infrastructure Program. The remaining $1.3 million will be covered by the County, of which $800,000 was previously approved by Council from the Federal Gas Tax Fund. At the Feb. 1 meeting, Council approved funding the additional $500,000 the County needed to cover and that it also be drawn from the Federal Gas Tax Fund.

The provincial contribution is an increase of $620,000 over the previous approved amount of $800,000. When tenders received in the summer of 2011 exceeded budget expectations, the municipality re-applied to the province in order to secure funding for additional eligible costs.

The single-lane concrete bridge will be built to approved Alberta Transportation standards with construction expected to begin when conditions allow. The bridge will have a load capacity of 110 tonnes.

There were a total of nine tenders received for the project. The Trevcon Enterprises bid was the lowest one received, although administration reported that the bidding was very competitive with five of the bids being within $200,000 of the lowest bid.

Council has previously requested that the project be completed by Autumn of 2012 at the latest.

Mountain View County Council gave the official approval to a donation of $10,000 towards the Sundre and District Skatepark Project.

The approval, which follows a recommendation from the County's Policies and Priorities Committee, is conditional upon rules being put in place regarding the mandatory use of helmets for anyone under 18 years of age.

Division 6 Councillor Paddy Munro said the Sundre Skatepark is a project the County is proud to support because it's an initiative that's been organized and promoted by the Sundre regional community.

"I think it's a good thing to have activities such as this
available in our communities."

Division 7 Councillor Al Kemmere said the success of the Olds Skatepark and the response to the Sundre Skatepark proposal illustrates the demand for "non-traditional" facilities, such as skateparks, in the local communities.

According to a verbal report by administration to council, the County has received a positive response from the Town of Sundre in regards to the helmet rule being supported and promoted by County Council.

Funding the project was recommended by the Policies and Priorities Committee on January 11, following a presentation by Bill Lough, project manager for the Sundre and District Skatepark Society.

The project plans call for Newline Skateparks Inc - the same designer as the Olds facility that opened in 2010 - to design and construct the Sundre facility. The Town of Sundre has donated land to house the outdoor facility and will oversee administration and maintenance of the skatepark once constructed.

The total projected cost for the facility is $230,000.
MVC Reeve Bruce Beattie said this is another example of a project where the County has been consulted at the early stages and thus has been able to offer support.

"The process for this has been good ... because it's been brought to us early."

Mountain View County's Operational Service department winter snow removal priority is keeping major public roads clear of snow and ice and ensuring transportation networks are operating at peak capacity.

The County is pleased to offer a list of private snow removal contractors for clearing of lanes and private properties.

See a list of snow removal contractors at this link.

Mountain View County's Agricultural Services Department is pleased to present a variety of workshops and information sessions throughout the year.

Some workshops are sponsored by Mountain View County and others are done in cooperation with partner municipalities, the provincial agriculture department and other agriculture organizations.

Check out the informational posters on our latest list of workshops. Please note any upcoming registration deadlines.

On January 1, 2012 Bylaw No. 14/11 Community Aggregate Payment Levy came into effect.

Under the terms of the bylaw a $0.25 per tonne levy will be applied on all shipments of aggregate from any pit within the boundaries of Mountain View County. The levy will be applied against sand and gravel business operators and not the individual landowners.

Exemptions to the Community Aggregate Payment Levy Bylaw include shipments for provincial or municipal projects. However, those shipments must be accounted for in the semi-annual reports provided by the pit operators.

Council passed the bylaw on October 19 after a public input process, which included a public hearing that featured numerous representatives from the local sand and gravel industry. Council determined through the public hearing process and by reviewing submissions in regards to the bylaw to dedicate funds raised from the levy towards the cost of infrastructure upgrades and maintenance - in particular County roadways directly affected by the gravel industry.

Under the terms of the bylaw operators must provide semi-annual reports to Mountain View County within 30 days of June 30 and December 31. The reports must be submitted using an Aggregate Tonnage Roll that will be available from the MVC office or on the County's website at www.mountainviewcounty.com.

Within 45 days of receiving the report, the County will send out to each operator a levy notice in the form of an accounts receivable invoice. Payment will be due within 30 days of mailing of the levy notice.

In developing the bylaw, Council took into account that the levy is supported by the Alberta Sand and Gravel Association, an organization that collaborated with the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties, the Alberta Road Builders and Heavy Construction Association to develop the Community Aggregate Payment Levy concept.

According to the Alberta Sand and Gravel Association, 22 Counties and Municipal Districts in Alberta were collecting a Community Aggregate Payment in 2009. In November Red Deer County also approved a Community Aggregate Payment Levy Bylaw and southern neighbour Rocky View County has had a similar bylaw in place for several years. Additionally, the MD of Bighorn has had a similar bylaw in place since 2008.

The full bylaw can be viewed HERE and the tonnage roll can be downloaded HERE or by contacting the County office at 1-403-335-3311 or toll free at 1-877-264-9754.

Mountain View County invites all heavy equipment companies that are interested in doing contract work for the County to register their equipment with us.

To register, please fill out the registration form found below.

Submit your registration form (one form for each piece of equipment) to the attention of Alison Howard either by:

Email: Alison.Howard@mountainviewcounty.com
Fax: (403) 335-9207 (Attention: Alison Howard)

Application deadline is February 29, 2012.

• Registration Form
• Instructions
• Expectations