Mountain View County (MVC) Coun. Al Kemmere will seek a third, two-year term as president of the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) at the association’s annual convention in Edmonton this week.
A longtime Division 7 councillor, Kemmere received support from his fellow councillors for a re-election bid several months ago.
“Council has been gracious in supporting me,” said Kemmere.
RMA represents 69 rural municipalities. It advocates for its members with the provincial government on issues facing rural Alberta.
The election is scheduled to be held during the convention on Nov. 21.
Key issues facing the association going forward include the upcoming provincial and federal elections, he said.
“We are going into an interesting time,” he said.
Meanwhile, council reviewed a number of resolutions set to come before the upcoming RMA conference.
The update came during the recent regularly scheduled council meeting.
The resolutions call for action by the provincial government on matters impacting rural municipalities. They will be voted on during the conference and, if passed, would be used to lobby the government for action.
The 24 resolutions deal with things such as linear taxation, high-speed Internet access, cannabis consumption, and separation of industrial hemp from cannabis regulations.
Mountain View County has put forward two resolutions.
One relates to community peace officers and access to the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC).
The resolution calls on the “Minister of Justice to work with the Canadian Police Information Centre and any other ministry necessary to provide direct, mobile and timely Canadian Police Information Centre access to community peace officers (CPO) that can be used as a proactive and preventative tool within defined guidelines.”
The CPIC computer call-out system provides tactical information about crimes and criminals, such as whether warrants are outstanding for individuals questioned by police.
The background note accompanying the resolution states, in part, that, “Granting enhanced and timely access to CPIC for CPO would provide municipalities added flexibility to determine their internal processes and protocols for CPOs when dealing with the public. It would provide a potential for increase in safety of employees as well as operational efficiencies of the organization.”
A second MVC resolution relates to the annual release of date of assessment year modifiers, which relate to linear taxation.
Assessment year modifiers are mechanisms to adjust the base assessment value of linear and other property types up or down to reflect present costs. Alberta Municipal Affairs sets the assessment year modifiers for valuation on an annual basis.
The resolution calls on the provincial government to “set the annual date of release of assessment year modifiers at Sept. 15 or the nearest business day afterwards to allow municipalities to be properly informed when making budget decisions.”
A resolution put forward by Lac La Biche County requests that the Orphan Well Association prioritize the reclamation of abandoned oil and gas sites on the following basis: health, safety and environmental needs; agricultural lands, all other lands.
“Currently the number of sites the Orphan Well Association is tasked with cleaning up exceeds the annual budget available,” the background note states. “Lac La Biche County is requesting that the Orphan Well Association, subject to health, safety, and environmental concerns, reclaim abandoned sites on actively farmed property prior to reclaiming abandoned sites on unfarmed property.”
Council accepted the resolutions for information.
