Mountain View County council has voted to keep the amount paid to landowners for land purchased for county projects unchanged in 2016.
The motion on the landowner payment schedule came during council's recent regularly scheduled council meeting.
“Operational services inquired with the county assessment services department for current land sales data,” said Ron Baker, director of operational services. “From the county's assessment data, the average sales price is $3,548.73 per acre and the median sales rate is $3,396.35.
“While the median price saw a slight increase from 2015, the average remained essentially unchanged. With the land purchase price for 2015 set at $3,500, operational services believes that this is a fair rate to carry forward in 2016.”
The 2016 landowner construction payment schedule for operational services projects includes the following:
• Land purchases -- $3,500 per acre (minimum $200) for right-of-way widening, corner cuts and curve expansions.
• Land disturbances -- $500 per acre (minimum $200 payment) for damage to lands, stockpiling of material on land, non-crop related damage, and all other types of damage.
• Crop loss -- $500 per acre (minimum $200) damage to crops before harvest, lost crop and all inclusive crop loss.
• Fences – replace and repair all fences damaged at no cost.
• Borrow pit dugouts – under 7,000 cubic metres, no payment, over 7,000 cubic metres, $0.25 per cubic metre.
• Landscape borrow -- $0.25 per cubic metre removed for removal of hills and levelling.
• Backsloping of the ditch -- $500 per acre for distribution (minimum $200 payment) and $500 per acre for crop loss (minimum $200 payment) extension of ditch slopes.
• Test holes - $500 per acre disturbed (minimum $200 payment) for soil testing for engineering.
Meanwhile, councillors have approved a new policy for the control of northern pocket gophers in the municipality.
The county's agricultural services board has had an incentive program in place for some time regarding the gophers, with residents paid a fee for the tails of the animals, which have been declared a nuisance under the Alberta Agricultural Pest Act.
The board recently recommended that the county adopt an official policy regarding the program.
The purpose of the new program is to recognize the “damage the animals causes to field crops and equipment and aims to provide education and an incentive program to encourage their control.”
The northern pocket gopher is a 20-centimetre burrowing rodent with a large head, small eyes and ears, stout body, thick muscular forearms with long curved claws. The incentive does not apply to Richardson's ground squirrels commonly known as gophers.
The program is available to Mountain View County residents only and the legal land location where the animal is taken must be provided to receive the initiative.
Council is responsible for setting the spending limit for the program, which runs from April 1 to Oct. 31.
Reeve Bruce Beattie and councillors Jeremy Sayer, Patricia McKean, Duncan Milne and Ken Heck voted for the new policy.
Coun. Al Kemmere voted against, saying he did not support it because its impact on the overall population is not known.
“I see this as an unproven, unmeasured program. There are other programs that can be measured. I struggle with the whole concept,” he said.
With the land purchase price for 2015 set at $3,500, operational services believes that this is a fair rate to carry forward in 2016."Ron BakerDirector of operational services
