Kevin Hanson – Division 1
Quick Bits
A few highlights from the February Council meetings: Wings Over Springbank is to receive a letter of support from the County, hopefully it goes ahead this year. RR34 north to the Elbow River will be paved with partial capital support from a Local Improvement Tax on the benefitting residents. Council continues the process to unwind our “Municipal Planning Commission”, as it is an outdated and red- tape prone process that returns minimal benefit for the high administrative cost.
Vegetation Management in Bragg Creek
The County was successful securing $20,000 in Provincial funding for Bragg Creek resident debris chipping. Our Emergency Services folks will again be coordinating this under the Fire Smart program and the location will likely be similar to past practices. Supported by several phone calls from residents, I also had a related discussion with our interim CAO, and our Transportation Services Manager. The concern raised was increased demand due to blow-downs resulting from the early winter windstorm. I was informed of the County’s plans under the brushing program. To mitigate traffic associated with hauling branches it was discussed we look at the potential for a “satellite” site, or mobile locations nearest to the areas with the most property damage. Administration has the matter well in hand, and early indications are there will be no impact to the 2022 brush management budget. Look for more information from the County as plans unfold.
Tsuut’ina North Boundary Fencing Project
I have been coordinating with the Nation on their project to install wildlife fencing along their northern boundary, from the City of Calgary out to Elbow Valley west. The project consists of surveying property lines, surveying for metallic anomalies (unexploded ordinance), brushing, and fence construction. There are a handful of setback / encroachment issues, as well as some garbage. Properties along the project are being notified by the Nation, but the potential for military hardware was a very useful takeaway for me and is a caution to residents unaware of this potential harm.
Leasing Public Right of Ways
The ability to lease an undeveloped road right of way for use as private driveway was back on the agenda. A status report from Administration was looking for direction to continue exploring this matter. You know the County’s size is significant when a policy applicable in remote areas has immediate unintended consequences in our more densely populated areas. I supported doing more work as there are potential benefits to be gained, if the unintended consequences can be mitigated.
I debated that protection of access to rivers / creeks and other recreation opportunities must be protected. I clearly made my point that the access granted would have to be non-exclusive. To ensure public engagement, I made a successful amendment that called for a non-statutory public hearing to occur when this matter returns as a bylaw for consideration by Council.
CAO Hiring Progress
Our executive search consultant assisted Council on February 14th to conduct our three shortlist candidate interviews. All three were excellent candidates which made for a very tough decision as to who we felt would be the best choice to lead Rocky View’s Administration. The execution of the paperwork, the start date confirmation, and the final Council resolutions required to complete the hire should be occurring by publication time, or shortly thereafter. Looking forward to some new positive energy!
Please e-mail me if you would like to be added to my contact list for e-mail and online communications Kevin.Hanson@RockyView.ca or call 403.463.1166.
