Kevin Hanson – Division 1
Quick Bits
Continuing to anticipate extended fire bans, there is a likelihood of province-wide fire restrictions in fire protection areas. Historically, the Oct – May 2024 180-day precipitation was “moderately high” for the western parts of Rocky View, which occurs once every 3-6 years. Note that the past precipitation record does not preclude a potentially dry period for the summer months ahead.
RVC Water Shortage Plan
The Province has shared their prioritization for water management this year, it is:
1. Human Health
2. Aquatic Health
3. Livestock Health
There is commitment to align regional messaging and measures while respecting unique local circumstances, which includes municipalities proactively engaging with high water use communities to develop relationships prior to any potential restrictions.
RVC has done its part and developed a Water Shortage Plan. This plan is focused on County-Serviced residential water customers and includes 3-levels of increasingly severe restrictions. The focus is initially on the low hanging fruit – residential outdoor irrigation – as typically water volumes double with summer irrigation habits. As drought severity increases, restrictions ramp up, eventually targeting business / commercial usage. This plan is a building block for future enhancements for a successful and measurable water conservation strategy for the County.
2024 County-Wide Citizen Satisfaction Survey
The survey reached 1,307 residents through a combination of online and telephone survey, ensuring a representative cross-section of our community’s views. Division 1 supplied 16% of the responses, so thank you for your feedback!
Key Findings
- Quality of Life: A robust 88% of residents rate their quality of life as good or very good.
- Service Satisfaction: 61% of residents are satisfied with the services provided by the County.
- Communication and Public Engagement: There remains a strong call for more robust engagement practices. This reflects a desire among residents for greater involvement in decision-making processes.
- Comparisons to Alberta Benchmarks:
- Rocky View County exceeds Alberta benchmarks in several critical areas, including quality of life and overall quality of programs and services.
- The County falls below benchmarks in bylaw enforcement, planning, fire services, and perceived value for taxation.Administration is currently preparing the external communication of the results for residents.
Municipal Development Plan Review Project
The MDP outlines the vision for Rocky View’s future from a planning and development perspective and helps guide how and where the county will grow. It is important that the MDP reflects the shared vision, values, and priorities of those who live, work, and play in Rocky View County.
Stage 1 Public Engagement was completed with a report to Council, providing
a comprehensive overview of how engagement was conducted, who we heard from, what we heard, and how feedback will be used. This focussed on:
- Raising awareness of the overall project;
- Validating the community vision, values, and priorities that were identified through previous MDP engagement (2019 – 2020);
- Gathering input on the distinct areas throughout the county; and
- Hearing ideas and feedback on new and existing county-wide policy areas.
The full report, including comments, is linked via the “Plans Under Review” area of the RVC website, leading to: maps.mcelhanney.com/mapsportal/apps/sites/#/rockyview-county-mdp
There were approximately 275 respondents to online surveys and in-person events with over 1,000 individual comments collected. The next opportunity for Stage 2 engagement kicks off with a June 18th open house in Springbank. I urge folks to participate in Stage 2, either in-person or online, and help define our new County Plan.
Planning is also considering employing “MDP in a Box” for community-driven engagement. I am quite excited about this possibility, especially for communities like Elbow Valley, as a great means of conveniently collecting and aggregating community feedback.
Fire Smart Grant – Branch Collection Days
RVC Fire Services applied for and received a $30,000 grant from the Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta (FRIAA) to host Branch Collection and Public Fire Smart Education events in the greater Bragg Creek area. The goal is to help reduce the amount of deadfall and tree branches (fuel sources) close to resident’s homes, which helps reduce the potential damage a wildfire can cause.
In addition to the regular May to October branch disposal service available at the BC waste transfer site, extra days to handle increased seasonal volumes are now scheduled:
June 2 – 12 – 5pm
(extra bins available on site)
July 6 – 8 – 9am – 5pm (multi-day stockpiling)
Sept 21-23 – 9am – 5pm (multi-day stockpiling)
As with the normal branch collection, no large stumps – only organic material 6 inches or smaller in diameter will be accepted. Fire Smart education will also be occurring on-site during those times.
Contact: KRHanson@RockyView.ca or call 403.463.1166.
