Mountain View County (MVC) council has passed a motion to defer a vote on the approval of a new fire services sub-agreement with the Town of Olds.
The move came during the recent regularly scheduled council meeting.
“The inter-municipal collaboration committee, as part of its mandate to review existing service agreements, has completed its review of the fire services sub-agreement and is recommending approval of the agreement to both the Town of Olds and Mountain View County councils,” county CAO Tony Martens said in a briefing note to council.
The sub-agreement was reviewed by county and town administration, as well as the committee, he said.
Under the updated agreement, the town and county would agree to apportion the cost of services under the terms and conditions set forth in the agreement based on the following principles (quoted from agreement):
• There is a base cost to provide fire services for urban and rural residents irrespective of the volume of fire calls which should be shared equally.
• There are building costs of a capital nature required to store and protect firefighting equipment to which the county will make annual financial contributions.
• There is firefighting equipment required to which the county will purchase or cost share depending on the reasons for these equipment purchases.
Under the agreement, municipal councils would have to approve equipment purchases, he said.
At the suggestion of Coun. Angela Aalbers, councillors voted to defer the vote on the new sub-agreement pending in-camera legal discussions.
The matter will come back to council on Jan. 11.
The Town of Olds has already approved the new sub-agreement.
In related news, council approved the purchase of a replacement fire engine for the Olds Fire Department with the county cost not to exceed $369,263.
The move also came during the recent regularly scheduled council meeting.
The purchase will be funded through the general reserve.
In other MVC news, council has received and reviewed the South Red Deer Regional Wastewater Commission draft 2017 financial plan and budget.
The move also came during council's recent regularly scheduled meeting.
The 2017 draft budget identifies a rate of $2.15 per cubic metre of measured volume of actual wastewater delivered to the system, said Martens.
The rate would translate to $10,101 for an estimated 4,698 cubic metres in 2017, increasing to $2.20 and 4,792 cubic metres in 2018 and $2.25 and 4,888 cubic metres in 2019.
“For 2018 and 2019 SRD estimate a two per cent increase in the amount of wastewater effluent from the county in each year,” he said. “The rate increases are based on a combination of an increase in the treatment cost, and from changing from a direct contribution basis to recovery based on volume.”
Councillors passed a motion to receive the financial information as information.
Meanwhile, council approved a proposed fabrication, processing and repair facility at the site of the former Midway School in Division 3.
The OK came during council's recent regularly scheduled meeting.
The facility will be located adjacent to Rge. Rd. 274 about one kilometre north of Twp. Rd. 304. The subject propery is designated as direct control and the applicant is Old School Holdings Inc.
“This application is for a fabrication, processing and repair facility for agricultural equipment and storage uses,” said Martens.
The redesignation to direct control was approved in November 2015.
In other news, Reeve Bruce Beattie has been nominated as a community leader as part of the Canada 150 Community Leaders Network.
The network has been set up by the government of Canada and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) as part of the 150th anniversary of Confederation in 2017.
“Community leaders will be asked to share information through their networks, and if available, to participate in local events,” said Martens. “There are no associated costs or travel requirements and the time commitment is estimated at less than two hours per month.”
Community leaders will act as official community voices for Canada 150 events in municipalities.
“As the municipality designate for Canada 150 celebrations, community leaders will form part of a nationwide network. When national events are held in a community, the leader will be invited to participate and bring the municipal voice to the celebrations.”
