Kevin Hanson – Division 1

Quick Bits
Highway 8 bridge construction is underway. There is a lay-down / construction office space site prepared on the SW corner of Lott Creek intersection, and lots of activity with the storm water collection area between the old and new bridges. The big pile of rock fill on the north side of the highway is being “massaged” – all good news. The sooner the province gets this project completed the better.

Rocky View County MDP
Work continues updating our highest-level statutory plan – the Municipal Development Plan. Multiple rounds of public engagement were completed, culminating in a Public Hearing on July 10th. Council received the public comments, questioned Administration, gave the Plan first reading, and referred the Plan back to Administration to incorporate forthcoming Council feedback.

Each Councillor has now sent in their amendments for consolidation by Administration into Amending Motions. These will be debated in early September. If the amendments are “substantive” then a new Public Hearing is needed to consider the “new” information. This may occur on September 2nd, but please check the website for the latest schedule.

Updating the plan allows us to continue to modernize it to reflect the latest higher-order legislations, and emerging trends in the economic environment and development pressures.

Prairie Economic Gateway – Land Use Approved
The last Council meeting before the August summer break saw Council unanimously approve the Shepard Logistics Centre concept scheme and land use. This is a joint project between RVC, City of Calgary, Shepard Development Corp, and CPKC rail. As the city wrote in their letter of support “This project represents a significant step forward, not only for Calgary and Rocky View County, but for the broader regional and provincial economy. The vision for a rail-served inland port aligns with our shared goals of fostering sustainable growth, attracting investment, and creating long-term economic development.”

This is a very strategic investment for Rocky View that continues to build momentum for economic development RVC, and in his case, now in partnership with the City of Calgary. However, this is also a piece of business that requires significant capital investment, and Rocky View Administration and Council has had to up its business development game significantly to ensure that the risk/reward equation does not go sideways or upside down.

FireSmart
The committee met July 7th and discussed the draft Bragg Creek Wildfire Mitigation Strategy. The detailed modelling work that went into this report is astounding. It incorporates the latest research from the University of Alberta. A risk rating for every structure in the study area is mapped out in the report.

An update on the Vegetation Management Programme was also heard. The County is putting out a Request For Proposal (RFP) for the work this fall clearing out the Priority one areas as I previously reported.

New Capital Budgeting Process
RVC’s Capital Committee had its second meeting on July 15th. Administration laid out the path for various capital-related budget decisions Council will need to make finalizing the 2026 County Budget by the end of the year. Rocky View is at a critical point in its development as a municipality. Issues are coming into play that are the result of past growth (good and bad), continued growth, ongoing maturity, and aging out of infrastructure. On the resident front: increased services expectations of both Hamlet and Country Residential folks, factoring demographics related to aging in place, and younger families moving in. On the economic development front: pressures for growing in multiple locations, focusing growth and making necessary infrastructure investments. On the Lifecycle Asset Management front: putting away the reserves necessary to maintain our infrastructure into the future without leaving a disaster for those future residents and businesses to deal with.

A quick outline of the scope and scale of the Capital spend/investments that Council will be considering later this fall: See tables below.

Note that Prairie Gateway investment is included under the “Strategic Initiative” column, those costs involved are significant, and in general required sooner than later. There is a wealth of detailed information found in the attachments for the July 15th Capital Committee Agenda on the website if you are interested.

Contact: KRHanson@RockyView.ca or call 403.463.1166.