News briefs

RCMP contract under discussion

With Didsbury hitting the 5,000 population mark recently, the town will soon need to pay for its own policing service.

At its regular meeting on July 24, council carried a motion to set a meeting with the provincial RCMP to discuss the contract for 2020. The meeting is scheduled to take place in early September.

"Once a population of a community is over 5,000 people, it is mandatory that the municipality contribute to policing costs," said CAO Harold Northcott. "The town has little input into the contract. It will not mean more officers for Didsbury unless the municipality is willing to pay for those costs."

Town of Didsbury mayor Rhonda Hunter said they've already had one meeting with the RCMP financial representatives, adding it went well.

"These are information meetings presented by the RCMP," she said. "The topic is the transition from provincially funded policing to municipal contract. The one meeting we had with the financial representatives went well and there was a lot of information presented. Council and administration will be provided with all of the information we need to be prepared for the costs of this transition."

Hunter said that nothing else with the RCMP detachment will change other than the contract.

"The difference is that this contract means the Town of Didsbury will be responsible to pay for our portion of costs associated with policing in Didsbury," she said. "We go from paying nothing to paying 70 per cent of the cost. This will be a town budget item starting in 2020. We will continue to have the RCMP detachment and presence in Didsbury as well as the continued great relationship with the Didsbury detachment under the direction of the detachment commander, Staff Sgt. Chad Fournier."

-Lindsay

Open Farm Days tours held

Mountain View County farms, ranches and attractions will figure prominently into this year’s Open Farm Days.

The collaborative, province-wide, two-day event is billed as an opportunity to experience the farm and understand where food comes from.

From Aug. 18 - 19, more than 100 farms, ranches and ag-tourism operators open their gates and invite visitors to share in local stories, see on-farm demonstrations and purchase locally grown and produced products.

“Alberta has some of the best farmers and food producers in the world. Open Farm Days is a great opportunity for Albertans to support this industry and meet the people who put food on their tables. A strong local food industry creates jobs and connects communities,” said Oneil Carlier, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry during the launch of the event at a recent news conference.

There are 12 combined hosts and events in Mountain View County over the weekend.

Mountain View County will be hosting a bus tour on the Saturday that will make stops at four farms participating in Open Farm Days.

The tour will stop at VanDenBroek Dairy and Huntcliff Dairy in the morning and Reese Cattle Company and HGB Bison Ranch in the afternoon.

Participants have the option of joining the morning tour, afternoon tour or both.
A barbecue will be held at the county office for all tour participants. There will be locally sourced foods provided by the Olds College Meat Store and Shirley's Greenhouse.
- Smaldon