Congratulations: to the Priddis Community Association board, members and Priddis Panthers Hockey families as you have worked with dedication to bring about the refurbishment of the Priddis Outdoor Arena. It’s looking great and is such an improvement to the venue. Wishing all member families and guests many hours of fun – skating and playing hockey. Thanks to all those who donated time, talent and money towards this effort! Site projects are not yet done, but this effort is praiseworthy and should inspire us to keep going… BTW, it was a pleasure to see many of you out to the Priddis Fall Supper for an excellent meal and visits. Looking forward to the next event, Skate with Santa, on Sunday, December 15, from 1-3 pm.
A New Job Description: On October 23, 2019, our Council gave me the opportunity to represent Foothills County as Reeve, by voting me in at our annual organizational meeting. The title “reeve” originates from British history, but currently indicates the role of the elected president of a municipal council, in Canada, similar to a “mayor”. Because a few people have inquired, I’d like to clarify that I will continue to serve you as your Division 4 Councillor – just have some more homework, meetings and chair the Council meetings. I thank Council for their support and also note that Division 1 Councillor, Rob Siewert, is the new Deputy-Reeve. Along with our talented Team, I hope to bring creativity in the face of challenge, champion our rural perspective and assets and strategize for a beneficial future for Foothills County residents. I will work with our Council and Staff to help us navigate change, budget, operations, municipal relations, the Calgary Metropolitan Region Board, development, and continue to lay the groundwork to attract business into our corridors.
RMA: Our Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) Conference took place from November 12-15, giving our Council the opportunity to do a lot of business in four days. This trip was filled with meetings and dialogue, providing a first-hand sense of Rural Alberta priorities from the many municipal participants and provincial government direction. We met with: the rural municipalities from the two growth management boards around Calgary and Edmonton, our South RMA Zone rep, Mayors and Reeves, MLAs, Alberta Transportation Minister regarding infrastructure projects, and RCMP K-Division reps regarding rural crime and enhanced policing. We asked questions at a Ministerial Forum and also took part in the 20+ resolutions session to bring attention to matters of importance and ask for RMA support to lobby for our priority topics, including requests for: an AEP process change, municipal agreements to allow Peace Officer access of RCMP encrypted AFRRCS (radio) channels, an increase of 911 cell phone user fees to cover the cost of technology and operational changes to accommodate NexGen 911, and a request to reconsider the growth management boards or adjust the voting structure, rework the regional evaluation framework, create a third party dispute resolution process and more.
2020 Municipal Budget: As provincial matters unfold, we now have an idea of the types of changes and potential expenses we will be facing. A few have yet to be finalized, including the proposed policing costs to address rural crime, but we will begin reviewing our municipal budget and discuss strategies with all this in mind. Premier Kenney outlined that there will not be an increase in taxes, but with the NDP debt at 62 Billion and with mounting interest payments, measures to balance the provincial budget will be put in place. Overall, there will be a 2.8% reduction in spending over 4 years with no losses to front line services, along side of the red-tape reduction strategy to generate savings, relief and ways to attract and get business done faster in Alberta. Apparently, Albertans are full of ideas, with over 4,000 submissions sent in so far to the red-tape reduction department. This will definitely help us with municipal business and hopefully some savings we can pass on to you.
Broadband Update: Information is coming out about how Alberta will be served by the new SuperNet 2.0 agreement with Bell in place as of summer 2018. Also, in the news earlier this year, Telus purchased the rural residential internet component (formerly with Axia) from Bell, and now promises a $16B infrastructure investment over 5 years. Service Alberta will create a current state of play (inventory) and leverage access to assets, strengthen relationships, facilitate partnerships, and lobby for federal program dollars to be fairly distributed to AB. Next up is Telus providing an 18 month go-forward plan to Service Alberta, which we’ll monitor.
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a New Year “2020 Vision” with health and happiness!
For Other News & Updates: Please visit my website: suzanneoel.com
www.facebook.com/CouncillorSuzanneOel
Best Regards,
Councillor Suzanne Oel
